Mamta Kalia

from the jungle or people in their huts
without proper roof-top even in the
chilling cold. Those women were also
leading life like nurses of the hospital.
There double shift duty time was not
even accounted for. He had thought.
Once he had crossed gate number six.
There was no passage after that. There
were only hills, dry hills, the trees had
lost their colour, even the small plants
which had come up on hill stones were
not green. He had seen bones of human
beings in the dry-wood branches buried
on the hills. There was a time when
those plants were alive. There were no
planned gardens. That was an image of
a rough patch. One, two, three, four
and then dozens and hundreds of rough
patches of dry-wood. There was no one
to collect-wood. The other side was
invisible. That was “still shot” of a garden
of which he was about to become a
part. It was so simple but so horrible.
He would have fallen down on it and
would have turned into part of it in
the shape of a dry-wood piece.
But, it was so sudden, Sozen had
rushed. She had called Pankaj back. He
was amazed. He was vey much there
along with Sozen and Thomas and of
course the camel with silver wings,
waiting outside the intensive care unit.
His wife was also there waiting for him
but she did not know about the camel.
None of them knew about Chakrata and
its dry-wood.
She had introduced him to Thomas.
He also belonged to Chidambaram. Both
of them had grown together. They were
known to each other since years. Thomas
may have joined this world at the most
two years earlier. A good number of
people from Kerala and the border of
Tamil Nadu were acquainted with the
camels with Wings. The Ameers and
Sheikhs of the middle-east were always
in search of such people. That was simple
mathematics. Sheikhs had money but
no workers. Here people were in search
of jobs, they knew the job but did not
have opportunities. So Thomas laughed
and had assured Sozen before leaving
the country that he will earn a lot of
money and he will hire a camel, which
will have wings and he will regularly
come to meet her. Sozen believed him
as Lord Jesus had said — “Believe me
and I will bless you.”
Thomas had migrated. Sozen remained
here. She got a job with Alfred Hospital.
She had told Thomas that not only for
three years, she can wait for him even
for three centuries. She can take rebirth
for him.
“You see I was on the verge of my
last breath. Sozen saved me, now can
you do me a favour, this is like last
wish of a man who is to be hanged.”
Pankaj pleaded to Thomas. That was three
o’clock in the morning. There was no
one else in the Intensive Care Unit of
Alfred Hospital. Sozen had gone out to
get medicine. His wife who had brought
him there, was not allowed to be inside.
He was not even sure himself at which
bench outside the Intensive Care Unit
April-June 2010 :: 99