The Foothill Footage: Part 3
Sanouj was telling that peacocks come regularly in the morning and break the silence with their honks and squawks. I got excited and went to bed a bit earlier to get up at dawn, the next day. The day breaking signal came with sweet sounds of known and unknown birds. I jumped out of my bed and wearing light woolens crept out stealthily to the terrace. My husband was in deep sleep and I just did not want to break his sweet dreams and to spoil my solo adventure as well.
I appeared on the terrace veranda with my camera and gave a piercing look hoping to see peacocks in tea gardens that stretched out everywhere in a green spell covering my vision in one-eighty degrees. But to my surprise and utter disappointment no peacock was visible — no, not a single one! But the panoramic view of the deep green tea garden and the shadow trees dangling over it, in the dew of early morning, stranded my movements for a good while and I really couldn’t move.
Also Read: The Foothill Footage: Part [1],[2]
The mist covered foggy morning was slowly lifting its magical mystic veil to display the fresh look of nature and the celestial beauty of a different world! I roamed from one end to the other end of the veranda and terrace to capture some rare moods of beautiful tea gardens in the foothills of the Himalayas. The sun in the form of a big orange disc appeared on the eastern horizon, piercing life in the entire living world and the tea garden vista in a special way.
The new light yellow leaves on the upper layers of the tea-plants, looked golden in the first glittering sun-rays. Gradually the sun gained its light and warmth and the green world of Cha-Bari started to dazzle in bright daylight. The enthralled rare beauty of Cha-Bari kept me absorbed, in the silence of morning tranquility. Only the chirping of birds was there to welcome the morning sun and to make the whole of nature adorable in its purest form. I breathed deeply, enjoyed a lot and took some snaps to my satisfaction.
Now I could well deduce the cause and meaning of the words of that lady, who hated tourists and us also and threatened openly to us and to all such tourists who are disturbing their peaceful life in the foothills of their loving abode,
We packed our baggage and after taking bath dressed up to leave Cha-Bari. Sanouj called us for breakfast and we proceeded downstairs. Everything was ready. Sanouj brought our suitcases and kept them in the car. We had just finished our food when a young boy came running to Sanouj and started to narrate something in high-pitched tone. He was very much excited and was breathless.
It seemed he came a long way running desperately to convey some important news to Sanouj, who was looking puzzled. We were also quite perturbed, and could assume that something went wrong. We came outside the dining hall and asked, “Sanouj, what’s the matter?”
“Madam, a chaos has occurred in the nearby village.” He halted and said again, “It is a quiet place and normally is free from any disturbance. This type of problem is quite new and uncommon.”
I looked at Sanouj. He was feeling uncanny and annoyed. Another boy, who came to convey some news was scared and panicky for some unknown reasons. I asked him, “What had happened, please tell me clearly.”
Sanouj said, “Madam, this boy is my friend and is from Gajaldoba village. Yesterday, a tourist car carrying three young tourists came to Gajaldoba. They said they had lost their way and so could not move further. All three of them were drunk and were not in a position to move. They wanted shelter in some villager’s house. The poor villager denied . The drunkards argued roughly and used slang, which made them outrageous. They beat them and they are now in the local health centre. Daroga Saheb came to their rescue and saved them.”
Sanouj stopped his narration for a while and again said, “So Sir, you and madam please change your route while going, and without entering that village, take a bit circuitous route to proceed for your destination. The situation of that village is still quite hot. This fellow, my friend has come to inform the incidence and to prohibit you to move from that side.”
We agreed and bidding adieu to all started our car, carefully avoiding that village route. Cha-Bari gradually faded away. Now staring through the window the vulgar words of that village lady came to my mind. I could assume that these undisciplined tourists, who came to visit the quiet beautiful places of Himalayas, are the root cause of such type of dissatisfaction among villagers which make them atrocious enough to cause violence. Now I could well deduce the cause and meaning of the words of that lady, who hated tourists and us also and threatened openly to us and to all such tourists who are disturbing their peaceful life in the foothills of their loving abode, Himalayas!
All images are generated by AI
Doctorate from Calcutta University. Authored 26 books, two in English and the rest in Bengali, mainly on travelogue, Ramakrishna Vivekananda literature, popular science and miscellaneous topics. Wrote several articles both in English and Bengali. Also delivered invited lectures.
