It was the month of May 1981; the
weather was bright and sunny. I went to the school as usual, attending my
classes in grade three. The bell for the break at 10 0 clock rang. I ran
outside to the play field after my science teacher left the classroom. The
break was only for fifteen minutes. Meeting friends and conversation with them
was an everyday routine. As I was chatting with my class friends, my elder
cousin came running and disclosed his plan of running away from the school to
go swimming in the Mau River. He had planned for a picnic with the local boys
of my locality. The weather is good and there would be lot of fun in the
riverside. My cousin urged me to join his group.
Elder to me in age by ten years, I
believed him. My interest in running away from the school increased with his
talk of picnic delectable our friends would be bringing with them. He cautioned
me of the secrecy of their plan. If disclosed our teachers would make plan of
running away to the riverside a big flop. We ran away from the school, hiding,
and met the boys on their way to the riverside with their cows and goats. To my
surprise, the boys were carrying pots, pans and the entire items needed for the
picnic. I got excited and believed that my cousin was right. I was only eleven
years old in age and was studying in class three. My cousin was among the known
notorious students of the school who would bunk from their classes. He received
punishment almost everyday in school for discipline problems.
We made sure no teachers and the
students' saw us running away and knew our plan of going to the riverside.
Being a disciplined student in the school I was scared to join him but I
couldn't help myself with all his enthusiasm urging. The boys got excited as we
joined them. We chased the cows and goats to the destination for the picnic,
Dungcheg Doban, the meeting place of Mau
River Mau River
Bhakul was a known expert in climbing
big trees. He climbed a big fodder tree and slashed the branches providing lot
of leaves for cows to feed on. All of us waited, looking after the cows, to
avoid being hit by the falling branches. As he finished his job we sent the
cows for feeding on them, and proceeded to the riverbank. The sun had just
started shinning on the riverbank. The geographical structure of the place is
such that sun shines only in the afternoon and remains till late evening. We
made a fire from the dried branches and started preparing items for the picnic.
Bhakul and Bhakary, school dropouts, had left their schooling a year ago. They
were experts in catching fish using nets. They left for catching the fish in
the river. Though very young by age they were self-trained experts in catching
fishes. They hardly returned home without fishes whenever they went for
fishing. They were orphans and always choose to be away from home most of the
time to avoid scolding and unnecessary hard work that may be imposed on them by
their relatives.
We prepared various items for the
picnic with the food our friends had stolen from their houses. We were a group
of six. One of our picnic items was boiled and fried eggs. That was the first
time, I saw somebody cooking eggs for eating, which Bhakul had stolen from his
house. My parents never reared chickens and always said it is a sin to eat eggs
and meat other than that of goat, sheep and fish. The belief imparted to me by
my parents was strong within me. I was hesitant to add eggs to our picnic menu
list. My friends, particularly my cousin, convinced me that it's always good to
eat eggs but our parents should not be told. He has been eating eggs for many
years, and they have made him very strong. His reasoning convinced me that my
parents were wrong and I accepted to eat eggs and listened to whatever he said.
To add to the excitement of the
already prepared food, Bhakul and Bhakaray returned with around two kilograms
of fish. It was hard to believe the skill they had acquired in catching fish.
Satisfied with their work, my cousin, the biggest in the group, took charge of
roasting fishes to have the better taste. In a short time he did it. All of us
were satisfied with our menu. We collected broad leaves of banana plant to
serve rice and curry, sat in a circle, joking and chatting and having fun. We
enjoyed our lunch. All were happy and excited.
I, being a disciplined and punctual
student in the school, was reminded of next day's consequences time and again.
In particular the pain of the cane from my dzongkha lopen, was frightening me
time and again. My friends consoled me to forget the future and live with the
present. The excitements of the moment overcome the future consequences. It was
noon by then. The day was becoming
very warm; the sunrays were vertical and was becoming very pleasant for swimming.
My friends, all experts in swimming, decided to swim but I did not know how to
swim. I got scared as they asked me to join them. I chose to stay back at the
picnic spot but my friends did not allow me. They insisted I must go and watch
them swim. Being smallest in the group, I felt forced to do as they said. We
walked to the river bank in a wide spread place called "Dungchay
jagar" particularly used for transporting cattle to and fro due to the
reduced current of water in the river because of its spreading. They undressed
themselves, crossed the river and started to swim. I sat on the big rock near
the swimming spot watching them. I cursed myself for not being able to do what
they could do. It was a big surprise for me to see them diving inside the
water, getting lost for minutes and coming out shaking their head and so on.
Some were competing with each other in crossing the river to and fro from high
current area, others flowing with the flow of the water just moving their legs
but not getting drowned, all was great fun fun for them. My helplessness was
making me more restless and sad. I was tormented by traumatic pressure and pain
for not being able to do what my friends could. My cousin came running to me
and said I will take only a few minutes to learn if I try. His statement
excited me and I quickly undressed myself and was ready to start my training.
He showed me the shallow part of river to start with. The place was prefect for
learning. Even if I rolled there, the current of water will not wash me away.
The depth of the river was only knee deep at that spot. Friends were busy in
the bigger part of the river, very deep and blue in colour. I started training
myself and continued for hours in same place. I ran to the big rock giving
myself the intervals to warm in the sun. They talked of styles, ran back and
practiced the style they had discussed and so on. I helplessly watched their
styles in the bigger portion of the river where I did not dare to attempt to
swim.
The time was close to 3.00 pm , my cousin and Bhakul came to
me and started flattering me, saying that I have become expert swimmer in no
time. I should swim in the big river where others are swimming. I was impressed
to hear their compliments and ran with them to the place for diving. I was guaranteed
all types of help if I needed, during the swim. As I watched the current on the
river and the depth, my heart started beating faster. I got totally scared to
jump from the big height of the rock and swim. They motivated me saying, I
shall never learn unless I try. They assured me that they would not allow me
die even if I were drowned. They will save me, which gave me the courage to
try. I decided to try swimming in the big part of the river whatever the
consequences might be. I asked my cousin and Bhakaray to keep my track of
swimming and provide me necessary help if it is required. They said okay. I leaped from the top of the rock as they
were watching me diving. I remembered that I tried to keep my body in the
horizontal position as I touched the water, but nothing worked in my favour. Slowly
I was drowning. I tried to push myself up, to take my head out of the water but
nothing helped. The water started
rushing into my stomach through my nose and mouth. I tried to scream, to call
my friends for the help. I found myself
taking in more water into my stomach. I started struggling for my life. May be
I struggled for minutes. I do not remember. Then suddenly I realized I was on
the side of the river near the rock I had jumped from. Still I was standing and
my head was out of the water and my stomach was almost bursting. Slowly I staggered
to the riverbank and fell unconscious. My friends removed me to a comfortable place
having lots of hot sand. They laid me down so that my stomach was flat on the
sand. They told me that I vomited the water out, that had been taken in. It has
taken almost an hour for me to come to my senses. I was shivering and was
feeling very weak. My cousin carried me
all the way to the home, with other boys helping him occasionally.
My cousin advised me not to disclose
the incident to our parents. I pretended as if nothing has happened. My grandfather
already knew that I was absent from the school and he inquired for the reason. The
head teacher had informed him that I was missing from the school. My
grandfather was very dear to me; had taken care of me from the childhood after
my mother passed away. Even if I wanted, I was not able to tell lies to him. I told
him the whole story. He did not scold me but said, "My dear grandson God
has saved you". He advised me to avoid the company of these friends and
also of my cousin thereafter, as it is the company you will have to take care
if you want to do good things in life.
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