O.K. You come with me. The rest of you stay here till I come back. Don’t make any move, there are lots of our people watching you” Suddenly, Rasool got up, held the man by the arm and took him out onto the road. Rasool was saying something, both of them seemed to be having a heated argument. In the meantime, Bhaisahab and I were rendered speechless with fear. None of us said anything. Our eyes were glued to Rasool and that young man. Suddenly their argument came to an end and both of them started walking towards us with determined strides. Our fears increased….!
‘
Part 23
The closer Rasool and the stranger came to us, the greater was the fear we felt. There was a serious look on Rasool’s face which did not augur well for us.
“Now we are finished. I told you our coming here was a mistake. I am sure they are going to kidnap us; this Rasool guy is certainly one of them. I never wanted to take a Muslim taxi driver along but no Hindu was prepared to go so I had no alternative. Frankly speaking, I was not interested in coming but your father forced me and I could not refuse him.Ooff, Babuji andAmma are really responsible for our predicament. “As Baisahab was going on with his diatribe, Rasool and the stranger sat next to us.
“Namaskar mahrah, you are Magazine Sahab, the P.W.D. engineer; Rasool told me all about you.
“My father used to work for you when you were in Reasi, he would always speak highly of you. I am sorry for my behavior. We are all Kashmiris so what is there to be afraid of. I am happy you are going to Srinagar. Do stay there; it is as much your home as it is ours. I have to go now, Aadab” He got up and left before we could utter a single word. Bhaisahab and I looked at each other and both of us looked at Rasool.
“What was all this drama about Rasool?” Bhaisahab asked with a slight tremor in his voice.
“Don’t worry sahab, there are some misguided elements roaming around and they have been told to keep an eye on Kashmiri pundits going to Kashmir”
“Why?”
“They think that some of the pundits maybe government agents or members of the secret police so they do some checking of their own”
“What did you tell them, Rasool?”
“Nothing much, I just said that you were known to me and there was no question of your being associated with the police or the army”
“And they believed you?”
“Why wouldn’t they? It was not difficult to convince him; after all he is just an 18 year old young boy, younger than your Bittuji. Now have your lunch and let us move, must reach Srinagar before dark”
“I have lost all my hunger; I am not going to eat anything. You know, I was sure we were about to be killed but I was not afraid, I am never afraid but Bittu was scared to death” I looked at my uncle, thought of saying something but decided against it.
“You are not hungry, Bhaisahab, but I am and I am going to eat and so is Rasool. Won’t you Rasool?”
“Yes, if our Sahab permits”
“Well, go ahead but be quick. I don’t want to spend a moment more out here, who knows, somebody else might be coming soon” I could see that my uncle was still scared in spite of the brave front he was trying to put up.
I started eating and the food was so delicious that I asked for one more plate.
“One more?” Bhaisahab was aghast. Bittu, you have already had a lot, you will end up with a stomach upset”
“Doesn’t matter, a stomach upset is any day better than death” I replied very coolly
“Yaar Bittu, I am also feeling hungry .Will you order another plate?” I knew he couldn’t resist for long. As soon as the Rajmah- chawal plate was put in front of him, he pounced upon it as if he had been starving for days. The plate was empty in no time.
“One more, Bhaisahab?” I asked.
“That is not a bad idea, Bittu, who knows whether we will be able to get any dinner?” Another plate was served and the contents vanished within the blink of an eye.
Bittu, very tasty, very tasty indeed. I think I can have another plate” Bhaisahb said and ordered one more. Rasool and I exchanged glances and both of us smiled. Finally we got up and asked for the bill.
“I am going to the toilet” Bhaisahab said and left me to foot the bill. If this continued, I would soon run out of the money which my father had given me. My uncle had not spent a single paisa on the journey so far. His miserliness was legendary and, unfortunately, this time I happened to be the victim of it.
We started from Peedah at 2.45. I had my doubts whether we would be able to make it to Srinagar before nightfall. The road from Peedah right up to Bhanihal was very bad. It was a stretch which was notorious for landslides and there was hardly any saving grace. The mountain to our left was rocky and towards our right was a deep ravine. Many a vehicle had fallen into it. I glanced at Bhaisahab, expecting to see a scared look on his face but to my utter amazement, he was sleeping as if he did not have a care in the world. Soon, the snoring also started. Was he the same man who had been staring at death a short time ago and scared out of his wits?
We reached Rambhan after about half an hour. There were lots of security forces moving around, I had never seen such a sight before. It really scared me. Were things so bad? I had no answers so I thought the best way was to think of Anita. I was sure she must have also been thinking of me. Ah, I would have sold my soul to the devil in order to be with be her!.
The road from Rambhan to Bhanihal is scary. The mountain was to our right now and to the left was a deep ravine at the bottom of which ran the River Chenab. The road was narrow with a bend after almost every 200 meters. Some of these bends and curves were blind ones and the driver had to be extremely careful so as to avoid a mishap. Rasool was an experienced driver; he must have traversed this road many times so he did not seem to have any problems. I had also travelled this road several times but always with fear. The greatest fear was of falling into the river. Fortunately, I was sitting on the right side, so I could not see the deep gorge to my left. Bhaisahab had no time to look out of the window as he was snoring away to glory. I looked to my left and I could see a mountain on the other side of the river. It was not very green but it did have some trees and shrubs. There were some structures also on the mountain and Rasool informed me that many local people lived there and survived on some farming of their own. It must have been a tough life. As we neared Bhanihal, the Chenab disappeared from sight. The river went towards Pakistan and we reached Bhanihal.
Bhanhihal is the last major town in the Jammu Province on the national highway to Srinagar. The road goes right through the market and lots of people were moving around. The weather had become cooler. I looked at my watch, the time was 3.45. Rasool had driven at a fairly good pace. I thanked God, Bhaisahab had been sleeping otherwise we would have certainly taken an hour more. He was still snoring, the rajmah chawal ,which he had no interest in eating, was having an excellent tranquilizing effect. The moment we passed Bhanihal, my excitement increased because it would not be long before we entered our beloved Kashmir. The famous Jawahar Tunnel was about 10 kilometers from there and another steep climb lay ahead of us. As we started going upwards, the weather became cold. It was a wonderful feeling. Rasool drove at a good pace but going uphill takes time. The higher we reached, the better became the view around us. I could look down towards my right and see the beauty of the fields below and the glory of the mountains on the other side. Next time I come, Anita will be with me, I promised myself. Suddenly the car came to a halt. I was jolted out of my thoughts, looked ahead and saw that there were lots of vehicles ahead of us.
Rasool, what is wrong? Why this jam?”
“It is normal, Bittuji. There are two tunnels but only one is open for traffic. They allow traffic from one side at a time. At the moment, the vehicles from the other side are coming. After some time, they will stop the traffic from the other side and we will go ahead. It takes time, particularly these days as there is a lot of checking”
Soon the movement started. Our car moved at a snail’s pace. We must have hardly travelled a 100 meters when some security men brought us to a halt.
“Will all of you get down please?” A tall and hefty army man said or ordered. Bhaisahab suddenly woke up.
“We are not terrorists, we are not secret service, we are plain and simple Kashmiris” Bhaisahab’s voice had a pleading tone to it.
“Your names?” The burly soldier asked.
Bhaisahab told him our names. Rasool was asked to get down. He had to go through a thorough frisking. He was down to his undergarments. I felt sickened by this sight.
“What the hell do you think you are doing? He is with us and you are treating him like a criminal?”
“Will you shut up, young man and allow us to do our job?” This was some senior officer speaking, who must have heard me shouting.
“Keep quiet, Bittu, will you? Let them do what they have to do” Bhaisahab had recovered his authoritative tone. Rasool came back, looking unruffled. I was sure it must have been a humiliating experience for him but his face was impassive.
“Why this kind of a checking, Rasool? Don’t you feel angry?’ I asked
“I am used to it, Bittuji, I come this way at least thrice a week”
“Why were we not subjected to the same treatment?”
“Because you are Hindus”, he said very quietly. This was my first encounter with the discrimination that the Indian security forces indulged in.
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