13-10-2022, 02:08 PM
The lady looked up hazy night sky. She took a deep breath and started, “Across those mountains lies a rugged terrain of highlands where raindrops seldom touches the earth. The place is covered in snow for all most of the year. A tiny brook cuts the terrain that supply water to those lands. On the bank of that tiny brook there is a tiny hamlet, Ghushu, where lived a young girl named Rinzen.”
She paused a little and then continued, “Rinzen’s hut was situated at the end of the village. The vegetation is scarce and her family had some ten yaks. They used to weave clothes out of those yaks wools and then bartered with others for food. Her father and uncle used to toil on a small piece of land by the side of the brook. She had two younger brothers. Her younger uncle and aunt also stayed with them. Her aunt, Pema was a beautiful lady. She was pregnant with her first child. All of Rinzen’s family was very happy as a new member was going to come in their small home. During the night, her mother used to apply warm oil on aunts feet as all of them huddled together under thick woolen blankets.”
The lady stealthily wiped the corner of her eyes and continued, “There was a monastery and a college in that village. Children from nearby villages used to come there for studying. Rinzen also studied in that village college. Boys used to study in the morning and evening time was for girls. She wanted to go to Vilasha for higher studies. Although her family was very poor but the teachers of that college were very much helpful. In the evening when she and her mother and aunt used weave clothes or basket her brothers played along with other children in the field across their house. There were no modern equipments in their house. There was no electricity in that village. In general, the people of that village were not used to the noise of machines. People used to walk to the nearby town or in cart pulled by yaks. After night fall either her father or uncle used to tell them tales from mythology. There were few people who used to quarry rock salt and sell those to nearby town. Every person was helpful to one another. They were totally unaware of the world that lies beyond those mountains and kept their life style as simple as possible, unscathed and unperturbed from the foreign materials.”
The lady looked outside the cave. Although the storm had died still there was snowfall. She looked at them and continued, “At times Rinzen overheard her father and uncle’s conversation, that there was some invasion going on in the eastern part of that country. Since Ghushu was situated in a very remote place so her mother persuaded them that they were safe.”
Devesh, Partho and Soumitra waited with batted breath as they were totally immersed in the mesmerizing tale of that strange lady.
She continued, “Then one fine morning few trucks full of uniformed men rolled into that village. The rumbling of the machines was very painful and shattered the sanity. Her father and uncle were in the field at that time along with some other male members. That day Rinzen’s mother was sick so she was resting inside, while her aunt was busy preparing her brothers for college. As she heard the rumbling mechanical sound, she ran towards the door to peep outside. The sight of the huge trucks and machine guns took everyone aback. Everyone was frightened and curious and was lined up on both side of the road. A uniformed person came out of the truck and shouted something in very high pitched voice. Rinzen could not understand the language of those uniformed men as what were they trying to say. Those men went to the college building and tore down the flag and hoisted a red flag in that place. It was then the college teacher came out to protest. On seeing him to protest, others people also joined him. Suddenly Rinzen heard a gunshot. One of those uniformed men shot down the college teacher on his chest. He died instantly. His corpse lay on the earth in a pool of blood. The peaceful morning was shattered by several gunshots. Those uniformed men then lined up all the male folks. They were helpless in front of that fire-breathing nozzle. She stood helpless, looking at the line where her father and her uncle were also lined up. Then those uniformed men grouped themselves in six or seven people. They started dragging people asking them to show their house. People who denied were hit by the gun. Gradually the graveled path was drenched in blood.”
She paused a little and then continued, “Rinzen’s hut was situated at the end of the village. The vegetation is scarce and her family had some ten yaks. They used to weave clothes out of those yaks wools and then bartered with others for food. Her father and uncle used to toil on a small piece of land by the side of the brook. She had two younger brothers. Her younger uncle and aunt also stayed with them. Her aunt, Pema was a beautiful lady. She was pregnant with her first child. All of Rinzen’s family was very happy as a new member was going to come in their small home. During the night, her mother used to apply warm oil on aunts feet as all of them huddled together under thick woolen blankets.”
The lady stealthily wiped the corner of her eyes and continued, “There was a monastery and a college in that village. Children from nearby villages used to come there for studying. Rinzen also studied in that village college. Boys used to study in the morning and evening time was for girls. She wanted to go to Vilasha for higher studies. Although her family was very poor but the teachers of that college were very much helpful. In the evening when she and her mother and aunt used weave clothes or basket her brothers played along with other children in the field across their house. There were no modern equipments in their house. There was no electricity in that village. In general, the people of that village were not used to the noise of machines. People used to walk to the nearby town or in cart pulled by yaks. After night fall either her father or uncle used to tell them tales from mythology. There were few people who used to quarry rock salt and sell those to nearby town. Every person was helpful to one another. They were totally unaware of the world that lies beyond those mountains and kept their life style as simple as possible, unscathed and unperturbed from the foreign materials.”
The lady looked outside the cave. Although the storm had died still there was snowfall. She looked at them and continued, “At times Rinzen overheard her father and uncle’s conversation, that there was some invasion going on in the eastern part of that country. Since Ghushu was situated in a very remote place so her mother persuaded them that they were safe.”
Devesh, Partho and Soumitra waited with batted breath as they were totally immersed in the mesmerizing tale of that strange lady.
She continued, “Then one fine morning few trucks full of uniformed men rolled into that village. The rumbling of the machines was very painful and shattered the sanity. Her father and uncle were in the field at that time along with some other male members. That day Rinzen’s mother was sick so she was resting inside, while her aunt was busy preparing her brothers for college. As she heard the rumbling mechanical sound, she ran towards the door to peep outside. The sight of the huge trucks and machine guns took everyone aback. Everyone was frightened and curious and was lined up on both side of the road. A uniformed person came out of the truck and shouted something in very high pitched voice. Rinzen could not understand the language of those uniformed men as what were they trying to say. Those men went to the college building and tore down the flag and hoisted a red flag in that place. It was then the college teacher came out to protest. On seeing him to protest, others people also joined him. Suddenly Rinzen heard a gunshot. One of those uniformed men shot down the college teacher on his chest. He died instantly. His corpse lay on the earth in a pool of blood. The peaceful morning was shattered by several gunshots. Those uniformed men then lined up all the male folks. They were helpless in front of that fire-breathing nozzle. She stood helpless, looking at the line where her father and her uncle were also lined up. Then those uniformed men grouped themselves in six or seven people. They started dragging people asking them to show their house. People who denied were hit by the gun. Gradually the graveled path was drenched in blood.”