WE ARE ON THE MOVE

WE ARE ON THE MOVE

(Story being continued from INTERNSHIP BLUES published on 24 Mar 20)

I was fighting in a wrestling bout, and the opponent had the upper hand. I was struggling to twist and get my hands up to protect my self but was unable to move them. I was gasping for breath and moaning loudly till someone slapped my face and I was wide awake! It took me a moment to realize that I was in a night mare. I found my three friends, Pradeep, Rao and Chandra already sitting up in their berths and staring at me as I realized we were all still in the first class bogie of the moving train hurtling madly ahead on it’s eastern journey.

“Morning guys, where are we?” I asked no one in particular as I stretched my self. and sat up.
“I am not sure, but looks like we have left Bengal and this is a different state altogether!” It was Lt Chandra, the eldest in our group, who answered.

”Well, you should be able to tell us, since you are the only one who.l knows  Bengali!” Pradeep spoke, as Chandra, peered at the name of of another railway station which whizzed by in a flash. “Well, I am not sure, but since we left Jalpaiguri station an hour ago, we could be officially in Assam now!”

“Aha, Assam..the land of the famous tea gardens!” Rao, spoke in a falsetto voice making everyone laugh. 

“Speaking of tea gardens, Why are we still not being served tea?” I wondered aloud “Is there any tea vendor on this train?” 

“OH my God! It’s 7 AM and no one served tea for Lieutenant Saab! Quick, pull the chain and stop the train!” It was Rao again, mocking me. As everyone laughed Pradeep said ”Haan, yaar! What I wouldn’t do to get a hot cup of steaming tea right now! The army has totally spoiled us all, serving bed tea at 5 AM and pushing us in to our morning physical training everyday!! 

We all sat and stared silently at the greenery flashing by, as the train chugged and raced forward toward uncharted destinations. With the threat of war looming over the subcontinent, I wondered what role would await us at the new place and whether any of our families would ever know what we were going through. The last days of our abridged internship were a big blur with the Diwali 1971 functions all over the country cancelled or celebrated in a subdued note, as everyone understood the looming crisis brewing on the East Bengal border! All leave was cancelled and hundreds of telegrams were sent to soldiers asking them to rush back urgently. The news that our internship was cut short and we were ordered to forward areas was exciting, but we understood the ominous portent, the unspoken message, that some of us in the march to forward areas may never return! 

“Hey guys, Did any of you take my transistor radio?” I enquired as I rummaged through my bags on the lower berth. Our first night on the train after leaving Kolkatta was fun, as we played pranks on one  another, conducted a mock antakshari of Hindi film songs and narrated jokes till we got exhausted and fell asleep in our berths around midnight. I was keen to hear the Morning News on the little transistor radio my elder sister had gifted to me as I boarded the train, but couldn’t find it! After a lot of searching in the four berth coupe, the truth dawned on us that my little radio was stolen! Obviously some one had put his hand through the window grills of the bogie (at one of the many wayside stations) and flicked the transistor radio silently. The discovery depressed me I realised that I am in the real world and have to fend for myself and my belongings more carefully in future!

Some time later, we were all standing on the platform of New Bongaigaon ( a small town in Assam) having hot tea with biscuits, while Lt Chandra ran up to the station master to know our bearings. The train resumed it’s journey after a while and Chandra sat down to explain our route ahead. He drew the map of East Bengal on a paper and showed us how the train is taking a long circuitous route around East Bengal, to reach the other side of India, to the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, our ultimate destination. All of us wished that we had carried a map of India with us

The scenery outside was changing fast and we realized that we city bred folk, were missing all these  scenes of rolling hills, lush forests and large tracts of carefully manicured tea gardens, in our cities and crowded streets. The profile of the local populace was also changing as more population with mongoloid features ( from Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland) jostled and thronged the tiny stations with narrow platforms. 

Having nothing much to do in the small confines of the compartment, we chatted with one another, laughed at some old jokes but most of the time was spent sitting on the steps of the compartment drinking in the glorious sights of rural India, waving at little kids and singing film songs loudly trying to keep to the steady rhythm of the moving train.

We had to change trains at a place called Lumding, to a metre gauge train which was 90% occupied by soldiers with kitbags & rifles, all moving towards their battle positions. It was exciting& it was scary too! Our destination was Silchar in Assam 200 km from Lumding.

The journey from Lumding to Silchar by the narrow gauge train was most enjoyable with pleasant climate, lovely greenery, cascading waterfalls and long tunnels through which the steam engine merrily chugged along occasionally giving a long hoot. There were narrow unpaved roads beside the railway tracks with people walking or cycling to keep pace with the train. We waved at them with our Bengali hero Lt Chandra trying to strike a conversation with the cyclists pedalling next to the tracks!

At last we arrived at Silchar (Assam), on the third day of our journey and walked out of the small station, feeling glad for being able to to stretch our feet. It was late in the evening  but there was neither a reception party for us nor anyone could understand the address of our military destination. Ultimately we found an army truck passing by and clambered on it to reach the nearest military transit camp ( like our seniors always told us to do). A few phone calls later, an army ambulance arrived to pick us up from the camp to take us to the military hospital  (simply called MH).

We were received warmly at the MH where they looked at our papers &  told us that this was not our final destination. This was only a section hospital in Silchar and we had to travel by road to another  hospital in Teliamora (in the adjacent state of Tripura), which is the Headquarter Hospital. We settled down for a night of well earned rest in the tiny officers’ mess. Tomorrow would be another long journey by military trucks to Teliamora, the Headquarter of 160 Gen Hospital, close to the international border where a battle was already going on between Indian Army and the Enemy across the border! All of us fell in to a fitful sleep, not knowing where the next 24 hours would take us!

To be continued (watch this space)