From Belgium
Year 1996
Beautiful
scenery it was. Vik always enjoyed this solitary moment when he is left
alone in an alien land trying to figure out what more can he do with
his limited resource of imagination.
Vik has never been a disobedient boy despite of the fact that he always enjoyed a
bit of more freedom than other boys of his age. And this time, he
actually had managed a place among the top 3 spots in his class. So
there was no stopping for the little master now.
He
was standing at the small entrance of the hotel. The hotel had two
floors; each had a common alley with all the rooms adjacent to each
other. Just between the 4 rooms, there was the staircase which to Vik's
wonder went downwards instead of the normal city floors. He asked his
father once if the underground rooms can be taken, but was disappointed
when they learnt that all of them have been booked by a group of
foreigners.
He
looked at the other side of the field opposite to their hotel. All the
other kids were closely monitored by the oldest couple of their group.
Vik liked them. Kaka and Nina aunty were two very opposite characters
but highly adorable. Especially Vik liked a few solitary meets with Kaka
who shared his immense experiences and wisdom occasionally.
But
this was no time for a discussion round. The sun was due to set in an
hour and Vik knew very well he will be searched for after sunset.
Vik badly wanted to extend his escapade time. He looked around.
Casually
glancing he caught a glimpse of the outdoor kitchen towards his left
where his parents along with their family friends were all flocked
together discussing over dinner arrangements. But none the less, he had
been in this situation before, and he knew people are making merry.
Further left stood the huge front gate of the hotel premises.
Diagonal
to that towards the right was the dining place. Between the dining
space and the right end of the hotel, Vik scrutinized the path which lay
between the bushes. He had seen it when they entered the hotel and had
portrayed it to be a kind of backdoor in his mind.
Before anyone could catch a glance at him, Vik stealthily moved down the stairs.
Sikkim
trip has always been a pleasure for Vik, for he loved to scamper
through hard boulders and stiff cliffs. And this trip was a superb one,
given the sceneries they caught at Tonglu. However, Vik didn’t get a
chance to stretch his legs there, as they were in very high altitude,
and were in a tight schedule. Coming to Lachen, he knew he had a day to
spare and fulfill his trekking aspiration.
But the real attraction lay elsewhere.
Every
time, Vik has gone for this solitary adventure he has ended up in
something new. Be it the 'seahorse hunt' at Gopalpur, or the 'cave
visit' at Kedarnath, and even the lone trek to the top of a small place
called Varsa in their last Sikkim trip a year back.
At
the age of 9 years, Vik thought he had gathered enough knowledge of
tourism and always craved for some time, when he can scale to places
alone to have the full view of the beauty around and to put his creative
thoughts into actions.
Vik
trotted down the steps, within a while he saw it leading to the road
downwards. Coming to the broad road he turned left. The path seems to
lead to the other hotels of the place. He heard the laughter of some
guys.
Vik turned right which looked more promising. A little way up the way a deviation caught his glimpse. Vik followed by instinct.
After a jostle with the bush and thick tree branches, Vik saw a clearing. Carefully coming forward, Vik smiled.
It
was the kind of place he was looking for. Infront of him stood the
mighty Himalayan range including Kanchenjunga. The beauty of the snow
clad mountains and the sun close to its setting time always amazed Vik.
Just a few steps ahead the clearing ended in a stiff cliff which met the
other mountains around in the dangerous valley below. Dangerous!
Ahh... Cool,
silent, deeming light, snow capped mountains in front. Vik considers
his heaven. He pulled his notepad out and started scribbling down
whatever came to his mind, an old habit of Vik. Half an hour passed by
in no time. Sun has gone behind one of the mountain peaks but it still
held enough light. The sky was all painted red.
Vik
was startled by some voices nearby him. He knew one thing, he is at his
own and he has to be super careful. He was not aware of any danger that
can happen to him. Still he always aligned to his father's warning to
be careful. Vik thought to now end his escapade and be at least at a
range where his voice can reach his parents in worst situation. For the
only thing Vik knew that if he is in danger his dad can pull him out of
it, be it anything, from monsters to bad guys.
Coming
back to the broad road, Vik saw a group of foreigners, merrily swinging
in their path on some odd kind of tune. They were in between Vik and
the upward stairs to hotel. This was a situation Vik had never faced
before. He had seen foreigners at many tourist places, but only from a
distance. He had seen them in a few Hollywood movies, and tended to like
those movies better than the popular Bollywood movies. But he had never
come across this situation, where his path is blocked by a group of
foreigners. They looked quite among themselves, and Vik prayed they had
not noticed him.Vik quickly ran his thoughts. These guys can be good,
but the probability of kidnap still lingered in his thoughts. Vik knew
he is tremendously afraid of snakes and he freezes when he sees one. The
situation now is not that worse, but Vik knew he has to act quickly. He
looked back to the place where he was seating so far. No it’s too late,
darkness has already started and he knew it wasn’t long before his
parents would now look for him. The thought of his parents seemed to
soothe him and he trotted forward. Vik tried to put up a brave face and
walk confidently. He kept his eyes down, avoiding eye contact. Just when
he was walking past the foreigners, Vik looked up and instantly he knew
he made the wrong move.
"Hey young guy, are you lost?" Vik froze.
Thanks
to the English teacher at school, Vik understood what was asked to him.
He saw the man, tall, extremely fair, a bit pale, a nice lock of golden
hairs on his head. He was the last man of the hurdle, and Vik cursed
himself not to have sped up.
Nervously he looked at the man and after what seemed to be ages he could only manage to utter 'No'. He knew he was inaudible, so he took a step forward, nodded his head and this time, uttered loudly "NO",
and started to run towards the hotel. He pushed through the bushes and
when he came out in front of the hotel, he saw all have joined in front
of the dining space for the evening snacks. It was about time and Vik
ran straight to his mom.
He
has never uttered a single word about his lonely doings to anyone apart
from his diary. And he was determined to keep this as secret too.
Everyone
around looked happy. Vik grabbed a sandwich and sipped the tasty soup
served. It says good food cheer you up. Vik was never a great lover of
food, but the warm soup somewhat seemed to add strength to Vik, and his
thought went back to the incident a few minutes ago. He recollected and
he felt ashamed. For his name stands for someone who is not afraid of
anything. Sparing snakes Vik also isn’t much. It kind of hurt his young
eagerness to run like that in an unknown situation. Vik finished his
soup and indicated his mom for a refill. The sandwiches were also quite
different than what he gets back home at Calcutta. By the end of the
snacks, Vik was convinced that he had acted like a coward. Still there
was no solution to it, as there was no question of returning back in
search of the foreigners.
After
the snacks, kids were kept with their parents and everyone circled
around a round table for a drinks round. Vik wondered if the spirits
were really made from the foreigners’ piss.
Vik
saw his mom leaving the table and walking towards the hotel. He
followed her. Just outside the dining place, he looked up to his mom and
asked
"Ma, are foreigners dangerous?"
"No, why will they be?? Did someone do anything to you?" Mom quickly scrutinized Vik's posture.
"No, just asking."
“It’s not about foreigners and Indians, bad guys can be anyone. Same goes for the good guys.”
“But they seem so different!”
“It’s
because we do not know them. We should not suspect anyone unknown; that
is a bad habit. And the only way to know a guy is by talking to him.”
“But how can I talk to them when I don’t know proper English even!”
Mom paused and looked straight into Vik's eyes.
“Come
on, I know you are good with the basics. But the reality is that the
foreigners even do not expect you to know proper English. You know your
language Bengali well, even can manage a bit of Hindi. English is a
bonus for you. They do neither know Hindi nor Bengali. You are certainly
at a better position here. And do not forget, they are the guests of
our country, and it is you who should greet them. They may have come
from different countries, and some may not even know English properly
themselves! Now get on with it. Be smart and confident. You portray the
picture of a young Indian lad to them, and you got to put up a nice
picture!”
Vik
noted all what his mom said in his mind. He wasn’t sure he understood
every bit of it. Still he felt better, more encouraged and extremely
ashamed of his previous cowardice as he realized his folly now. He put
his arms round his mom with a sigh of relief. Mom kissed his cheek and
continued
“You can probably catch a chat with the foreigners staying in our hotel. Let me know how it goes.”
Vik
nodded and went back to the dining space. He knew it was time for his
dad to bring up the card game with his friends. Vik enjoyed sitting
beside his dad, not fully aware of the rules of the game. But the
intensity was attractive enough. After a while he saw his mom return and
rejoin with the other women of the group to prepare the dinner. Vik was
lost in thoughts. He started to chalk out a plan to trigger a
conversation with the foreigners.
“Can you get me my traveler pouch quickly?” Vik’s trance was broken by dad’s voice.
“Yup” and Vik trotted towards the exit door.
Just
outside the dining space, Vik froze again. A group of foreigners was
just in front of him, about to enter the dining hall. Vik recognized the
tall man with the golden hairs immediately.
“Are they following me??” Vik thought.
He
slipped past them and rushed towards the hotel. He looked back towards
the dining space. The foreigners didn’t seem to pay attention to him
this time. He saw them enter the dining space.
Vik
went inside the hotel room, took his dad’s travelling pouch, a kind of
kangaroo pouch which his dad took out every time they travel. He knew
it’s the most important thing, as his dad kept all money and tickets and
every bits of important and miscellaneous stuff for the travel in that
bag. He locked the room back, tightened the pouch on his waist with the
belt, held it tight with his left hand to double ensure and rushed
towards the dining space. He was relieved to see the known faces again.
Handing
the pouch back to his dad he sat down to watch the game. But this time
his eyes were also elsewhere like his mind. He searched for the
foreigners, none could be seen. He saw the upward stairs towards the
back of the hall. Something inside told him the foreigners should be
upstairs only.
Half an hour passed by, still no sign of the foreigners. Vik looked at the clock, then looked around.
It
was a very warm atmosphere with all friends and relatives flocking
together, some with glasses of liquor in their hand, some with the
various delicacies served around, card game has reached its climax, and
an occasional humming or two came to Vik’s ear along with the constant
flood of gossips and laughter. In short everyone was happy to the
fullest.
Vik
made a sharp glance towards his parents and slipped past. He took the
staircase upwards, careful not to be too hasty to be highlighted, nor
too slow to be caught. As he was at the upper quarter of the stairway,
he heard a heavy laughter. The voice itself shook Vik from head to toe.
“What am I doing.. What am I doing...
“ Vik panted, but before he could put any other thoughts to his mind,
he found himself straight in front of the foreigners’ table.
“Focus… Focus...” Vik
took a deep breath, but nothing came out from his mouth. The foreigners
on that table were deeply engrossed in themselves. The man he
recognized from the earlier party was at the extreme right corner of the
table. Vik realized he had not been noticed and took a step backward, still facing the table awestruck.
“You want something boy?”
A huge guy sitting towards the left of the table growled at Vik, which
Vik thought to be a very rude with an unforeseen chewy tone.
“Where are you from?”
Vik threw the question straight to the man with the golden locks.
Clever move. Vik knew addressing someone would reduce his trouble, and
so it was. There was a general round of laughter on the table, though
Vik never found out the reason for so.
“I’m
Heiner, from Belgium, and most guys out here are too, thou we have a
couple of colleagues from France and Denmark and Mark here is the sole
Brit.” The guy stopped with his finger pointed at the huge figure on the left of the table.
“What about you man, what’s your name?” Heiner, the man with the golden hair bent forward and signaled Vik to come towards him.
The
next few steps are still written in golden letters in Vik’s memory. For
in those 2-3 steps forward, he made up a completely new chapter in his
life!
“Vik. I am from Calcutta.” Vik was in better control now. “Can you give me a coin from Belgium? I like to collect coins”.
Lie.
Plain and simple lie. Vik badly wanted an excuse to talk, but didn’t
know how and where to start from. Vik knew nothing about numismatics but
simply had to make up something to defend his smartness. He didn’t want
to look stupid with a blank face.
“He hey, we have a coin collector here. Does anyone have change of Franc in their pocket?” Heiner asked everyone. None of them seemed to reply positively. Heiner turned towards Vik and said “Sorry young man, looks like everyone is using Rupees out here. Hard of luck I must say”.
Well
Vik found a clear indication that he wasn’t encouraged there any more;
still he wanted something out of his little experience. He continued to
stare towards Heiner.
There
was something in Vik’s eyes that convinced Heiner. Maybe it was the
disappointment, maybe the expectation that lit the two stones suddenly
seemed to be fading away, or it may just be that Heiner was missing the
smile from a very young and enthusiastic face.
“Come with me. Let’s see what can be done.” and Heiner lifted his tall figure and asked Vik to follow him.
Without
any other thoughts Vik followed him. They went passed the ground floor
where Vik saw his people still having fun, dad still engrossed in the
game, but mom was not there. Vik had enough thoughts already than this
and he simple followed Heiner spellbound. Heiner opened his room in the
hotel and invited Vik to come in. Vik preferred to stay outside.
After a few seconds Heiner came back with a smile.
“Looks like we have a pretty lucky evening tonight!” Heiner
handed over a coin to Vik. It was the most beautiful coin Vik has ever
seen, better than any coins in India. It was golden like Heiner’s hair;
one side with a face with is divided by an uneven line in between.
Opposite was imprinted 5 franc.
“Now you gotta show me all the coins you have.” Heiner laughed while locking his door back.
“This is my first foreign coin”. Vik responded in a daze. He heard his mom’s voice upstairs. “I
have some Indian coins, but have not brought them. But from now on I
will collect coins of all countries and show you. I will.”
“Ha ha, sure young man. Keep collecting. I am happy to come first in at least something!!”
Vik thanked profusely and rushed towards his mom upstairs.
Year 2013
Vik
does not remember at all what happened next and have never met Heiner
again. But he still relives that moment. Till day Vik remembers the
whole incident and how he rushed towards his mom with tears in his eyes
and a golden coin in his hand. The whole incident looks to be very
stupid when Vik remembers at later ages, but still he always stores a
laugh whenever the memory flashes back.
The
incident inspired Vik to take up a new habit in the form of
numismatics, in hope of meeting with that man again down the lane. He
has a personal collection of international coins from more than 50
countries currently, with thousands of domestic varieties of coins. The 5
franc coin still shines amidst other coins and still remains dear to
Vik ahead of the new Euros and other currencies.
P.S:
Names of person and places have been slightly altered just for fun.
Everything else pen sieved straight from author’s memory!
