Prashant's Solace

I opened my eyes. The left one felt skin obstructing its opening. The right one opened up to a sight of nostrils; beautiful, pale, white nostrils. But it took me both 5 minutes and a year to make sense of this sight. The flooded banks of the mighty Brahmaputra had brought me, or us, asunder onto a remote bank. My head was resting on a woman's belly. She was motionless, just like I was 5 minutes ago. I sat up. On my other side I could see and hear the river in full spate. Hut material, animal carcass and endless stream of branches and twigs drifted past as a stream within a stream. I tried hard to make sense of the sight around. The moment I realised I had leaned on a woman, I jerked myself on my feet and away from her. I looked around. Not a soul. Only nature made sound. I pushed myself for answers towards the woman. She was dead...  Three months ago an Indian journalist had landed at the Guwahati International Airport. Next to him on the same flight was an anxiou...

Events seem to unfold vividly (played out again in our minds) from days bygone, retained in greatest detail, to the time of the day and the dress she was wearing... There used to be a girl who lived just outside my window. We played and laughed together, fought to bruise each other and rushed out to enjoy the first rains as they came down every year in front of our little dwellings, leaving our pains behind. That was joy of the most joyous kind. And then there was social existence. Every year our families had some common rituals. Not of the religious kind but the social ones. For example, after the annual exams comparison of academic performances was an important aspect of community living. Each of our parents tried very hard to ensure that their child's grades were not revealed! But the occasional visitor to each of our houses always slipped some gossip to some other common acquaintance. The look in our mother's faces was enough to gauge how we had fared compared...