Abhimanyu
I never knew that early mornings are so stunning in the forest. The beauty of the sunrise in front of a waterfall and the birds
flying around it temporally made me forget my failed escape attempt last night. Having failed grandly in my escape episode,
now I am tending my bruises caused by him when he caught me. I should kick myself for even attempting this. He growled at
me as if he is some wild animal and the whole camp is awake within a second. Stupid fellow. What does he think of himself? I
should treat him with veterinary doctors’ instruments and medicines as well. I would give anything to get access to those
things right now. Angry tears ran down my cheeks.
I am concerned for my Mom and Dad. By now she should have called at least twice and worrying about me. Rangamma must
have informed somebody about my absence. People might start a search. But I don’t know how far I am from Chinturu.
Therefore, I have no hopes about my dumb patients finding me.
After five days, I came to know that my patient Abhimanyu, is a leader of some terrorist group and is injured during a conflict
against another group. This makes me what? Whoever helps these kinds of criminals are also tagged as criminals by police.
Isn’t it? Still, these people put me in this situation. How can they do this to me? I am so outraged; I didn’t notice that
Abhimanyu stood in front me. He is much better now. Apart from the medication I am giving to him, he is using some herbal
medicines also. I am not very sure of which one of these medicines made him capable of standing and walking within five days
of time. He had some serious injuries. I would have made him to go through a lot of medical tests and bed rest in normal
conditions.
His face is as impassive as usual. He gestured for me to follow him and walked towards the isolated hut. He is around six feet
in height and wore khaki trousers and shirt, which fits to his body as if tailored especially for him. Even from this distance I can
see how strong he is. Everything about him spells danger and I want to run in an opposite direction instead of following him.
Anyway, I followed him to the hut.
“I am very sorry for the inconvenience, we caused to you. I wouldn’t have allowed it in the first place, if I was conscious at that
time. At any rate, I should agree that it was smart move. If not I would have been bedridden or died.” He drawled. Though his
voice is mesmerizing and appealing, I am one hundred percent sure that he is not feeling sorry. His eyes told me that,
however beautiful they are.
I was absolutely enraged. “You call this inconvenience? Your people kidnapped me, held me here in this horrible place against
my wishes and forced me to treat your injuries. And you call this inconvenience? You nasty brute”.
“Madamji looks like you forgot that you are still under our custody. I advise you to control your tongue. It will not do any good to
lose your sweet temper,” he informed me. Those beautiful black eyes suddenly became menacing.
Now I actually lost my temper and my eyes blazed with wrath. “You think by threatening me like this you achieved something
great? At the end you are a terrorist, an anti social element, who kills innocent people and a pest to this society” I shouted at
him.
His eyes slowly appraised me. His muscular hand suddenly shot out and caught my wrist. The grip was too painful. “One more
word and I will make you sit on your knees and apologize. Do you understand?” That deep voice I marveled at earlier is
frightening now.
By now frustrated tears streamed down my cheeks. I no longer trusted my stupid tongue so I just nodded my head. I vowed to
get even whenever I get a chance. I am not going to forget this arrogant fellow and not going to let him get away with the
insults he is hurling at me. I just tried to look innocent and obedient. I don’t think that my pretence fooled him. He threw a
suspicious glance at me and rubbed his chin. God only knows when he shaved it last. His whole face was covered with rough
black hair and he almost looked like a cross between bear and man.
“You have a huge knack of diverting the conversations completely and making people forget their good intentions. I never saw
such temper in any woman before. As a doctor you should know that it’s not good for your health.” He smirked.
“I guess you have a split personality or some other personality disorder. One moment you act like a wild animal and the next
moment you are sweet. You expect me to take all this crap? I am only human” I retorted angrily noting that he was still holding
my hand.
He put both his hands up and tried to look apologetic, but such behaviour doesn’t suit him at all. Instead he looked like a bear
ready to attack. This fellow can work in the movie industry and happily apply for villain roles. He will get plenty of offers.
“See, all I wanted to tell you is that, tomorrow one of us will take to Chinturu, before you distracted me. So get ready and don’t
be afraid. You are free to tell the police whatever you want if they interrogate you, which I am sure they will”. He went back to
his usual expressionless look and strode off.
I sat there in the hut, feeling relieved. At last I am going to go home. After five days I am going to get out of this hell hole and
see my world. Mom must be panicing imagining all sorts of bad things that might have happened to me. I have to console her
and tell her that nothing happened to me. This thought suddenly brought me to earth. I have to agree that these people didn’t
harm me. In fact, they treated me with respect after the first day. Except for the dreadful conversation I had with Abhimanyu,
everything was smooth. I get to see the other dimension of these people.
Contrary to public opinion about them, these people are actually humble, polite and educated. Though I was not
eavesdropping, I overheard their conversations about tribal villages’ welfare and the things to do to improve tribal people's
living standards. There are three girls in this group who are quite friendly and tried to reassure me about my situation here.
One girl Vijaya, brought me food and water and accompanied me to the other side of the waterfall to take bath and other
necessities. She told me that she is an engineer and joined this group when her parents were killed by their landlords over
some money dispute. Authorities never bothered to help so she sought the help of this group and eventually joined them. She
is very proud of the path she chose and doesn’t regret it at all. But I somehow feel that this group is in some serious tension or
in a huge problem. They constantly kept vigil and always looked worried. There were some really long meetings with
Abhimanyu though he was in severe pain. And they constantly tried to keep this secret from me. Maybe they are afraid that I
will inform Police about it if knew.
Anyway I have nothing to do with all this. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will be at home and I have no doubt that Mom will
listen to me now. I will use this kidnap thing as a weapon for my escape from Chinturu. Either she has to use her influence and
secure a transfer for me to the city or let me resign my job. I am confident to get a job in any corporate hospital in the city. The
doctors who worked in villages for years are hot cakes in the city. We are more knowledgeable and supposed to show more
patience towards our patients. So I have nothing to worry about. I might miss Rangamma a little, but it’s okay. I will buy her a
nice saree as a parting gift. Come to think of it, I can take her along with me if she is willing. She is a kind woman and can be a
great help in the city.