“Sanath! W…Wake up. I think it is going to rain,” Shalini
shouted in his ears. Sanath stirred, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Before he was fully awake, it started raining. The thick drops lashed against the tent with all their fury while the wind howled and shook their temporary base. But credit to the American technology, the interiors remained dry.
“Hell! We should have listened to the guides. We would have been safe and sound in Chopta,” Sanath said, peering out to have a look.
“Well, we wanted an adventure and we are getting it,” replied Shalini. “We have no other option except waiting for the rain to subside.”
“I thought I had prepared for every eventuality, but am guilty of not carrying raincoats,” Sanath observed, checking the bag. “Doesn't matter! We will stay dry as long as we are inside the tent,” Shalini said.
The Other Side
183 “It is almost 5.00 AM. It would have been light but for the clouds,” Sanath said, glancing at the luminous dial of his watch. “I think this rain cannot last for too long.”
Both of them were fully awake now. There was nothing to do except wait for the rain to abate. Gradually the storm subsided but it continued to rain incessantly. The dark of the night was replaced by a dull grey morning light.
“I have never seen so much rain,” said Shalini as they opened the flap of the tent to look outside. The level of the mountain spring had risen alarmingly and the gushing waters were threatening to touch their little abode of refuge.
“We'll have to move away from the tent if the water level rises any further,” Sanath decided.
Suddenly there was an ominous roar like the galloping of several horses. It made them shiver in their skins.
“What was that?” Shalini asked. Before Sanath could respond a solid wall of water hit the little tent, ripped it from the ground and carried it along. Sanath and Shalini found themselves drowning in a raging deluge of water as it pushed them in.
“Flash flood!” screamed Sanath as he struggled to stay afloat in the swirling waters. “Grab my shoulders.” Shalini just about managed to cling to him as he struggled to stay afloat. He was a competent swimmer but swimming in pools was a far cry from treading the turbulent waters with a dead weight clinging to his back. It was exhausting backbreaking work and he was ready to give up in a few minutes. He saw a large tree floating past and made a grab for it.
“Let go of me and hold the tree. It will help us stay afloat!” He shouted at Shalini.
The floodwaters gushed down the ravine carrying them along at furious pace. Shalini coughed and sputtered a few times. Her arms hurt. She felt the strength draining out of her rapidly. It was just a matter of time before the flood would crush their dreams. Years of hope would be washed away in murky waters, two young lives drowning in the middle of nowhere. Sanath could almost imagine the headline of the article in a metro newspaper two days after their imminent death.
“Oh God! We are going to die. Please save us,” she prayed.
“Hang on Shalini! Don't quit,” Sanath screamed, pushing himself towards the tree trunk.
Abruptly a big ugly head reared out of the water ahead of them. One moment nothing was there and the other, it seemed like a nightmare come true. The first thing that came to Shalini's mind as she screamed was the fact that it resembled the same bear-like shadow she had seen from the tent last night. The hairy-bear like creature stood at least six feet tall even as half its body lay submerged underwater. Its body was cloaked with grey hair and the shriveled skin beneath had numerous cuts and bruises. However its face was almost manly or rather bear-like with a whitish, deathly pale skin gleaming under the droplets, a short nose and big large black eyes that seemed indifferent to the fury of nature around.
Massive arms caught hold of the tree trunk and it started pushing the tree to the side with powerful strokes. Sanath watched in fascination while the creature managed to steer the heavy tree toward one side of the violent torrent. He felt his feet touch ground. The creature pulled itself up and a sight that questioned all his beliefs confronted Sanath. The creature was massive, almost twelve feet in height. It walked on two feet with a slight bend to his hunched shoulders but looked like nothing he had seen or imagined before. He had seen the world, studied all kinds of flora and fauna but this… this creature straight out of the mythology books stumped him.
It was very unlike the Werewolves and Yetis he had seen in American movies as a teenager. 'It is the half man-half bear the guide was talking about! The beast! We are in big trouble,' he thought, suddenly feeling a new kind of fear rise in his mind.