Enchanting Evening

In those days I was posted in Ladakh region. I had to go back to Ladakh after the vacation was over. My bus was from my hometown at 10 pm. I caught the bus which was going to Chandigarh at the right time. It was winter season and I sat on my seat and fell asleep and when I woke up it was 4 in the morning.

After getting down from the bus, I took a taxi and left for the airport. On enquiry, it was learned that due to bad weather in Ladakh region, flights towards Ladakh have been cancelled. I contacted my office regarding this issue. I came to know from my office that my leave has been extended by ten days as the weather is going to be like this in the region for a week.

I planned to return home instead of staying in Chandigarh. It was noon time and I had my lunch at a nearby restaurant and ran towards the bus stand. It was 3 in the afternoon when I caught the bus to my home town. It was 11 in the night when I left for my home town by bus.

It had rained a lot here and now the weather was clear. The potholes on the road were full of water and the croaking of frogs was echoing all around. My house was at a distance of fifteen kilometers from here and I had to go on foot. The path was familiar but today it seemed unknown. I was walking on the road when suddenly a dog jumped on me, the attack was so sudden that I fell while trying to avoid it. There was a slight injury to my hand. I quickly got up and looked around but the dog was nowhere to be seen. I was shocked and sat aside for a while.

The fear of leaving one like this shook me to the core. After some time I started walking again, due to fear the body was not supporting me but I had to reach. There was no one around where one could take shelter. Two hours passed while walking but even half the distance was not covered. After covering some distance, it felt like someone was walking along with me. When I stopped, he would stop too. Meanwhile, a nilgai jumped from the fields and came in front of me. The next moment she ran away to the other side. In this way, due to one accident after another, I became even more scared and drenched in sweat.

After walking some distance, I was horrified to see a black panther as these do not exist in our area. He was slowly moving towards me and I had no way to escape, so I stood and waited for his next move. As soon as he came close to me, he also ran to the other side like earlier incidents and I stood speechless watching him going. I didn't realize how much time had passed while standing like this and I came to my senses when I heard the bell of the temple. It was five o'clock in the morning on the clock. Today it took me whole night to cover the same distance which I used to cover in less than an hour. I reached home at seven o'clock in the morning.