Gopal kept an eye on his flock of sheep as they fed on the dry grass. The sun was above his head and he was waiting to return home. As the sheep grazed, Gopal sat on a stone boulder and watched the extensive cover of the forest. Gopal belonged to the hills and had watched those forests from the beginning, but as he grew older, his fascination with the woods increased.
He finally returned home with the flock. He was hungry and could easily smell the rice cooked in the kitchen. He asked his mother,” What is there for Lunch, Ma?”
His mother replied,” Rice and Kandali ki sabzi.”
Gopal went in and sat down on the floor. He waited as his mother served him the food. He was so hungry that he started eating the food at once. His mother asked him to slow down and poured some water into his glass.
“Amma! I brought the woods”, Harish cried from outside.
The mother went out with a few coins and paid the woodcutter. He took the money and asked for some water. He was continuously coughing. The mother went in to get water. Gopal shouted from inside,” Harish wait for me. I am almost done.” The mother frowned but didn’t say anything. She handed over the glass of water to Harish. “How do you cut the trees with your bad health?”, She asked.
Harish drank the water and handed over the glass to her.” I don’t have a flock of sheep like you or a land, Amma”, he smiled as he spoke back to her.
Gopal was just sixteen years old and Harish was thirty-four. Gopal’s mother wanted him to befriend boys of his age and not homeless adults.
Gopal finished his food and came out speaking, “Let’s go!”
Gopal and Harish would roam near the forest area. Harish would tell everything about his day and how he chose the best trees to cut and everything about chopping the woods. Gopal also wanted to be a woodcutter. He was bored of being a caretaker of the sheep. He wanted to enter the forests and learn more.
As they were talking few people came out of the woods. They had guns in their hand and were smoking beedi (cigarette). They looked at Gopal and Harish and passed by them. As they left the scene, Harish spoke,” How do they sleep at night? …Hunting innocent animals.”
Gopal diverted the conversation,” Leave it brother. Tomorrow you are taking me to the forest right?”
Harish nodded and said,” Yes. Be ready early morning. I will show you the way of the forest”. Both laughed and rejoiced at the beauty of the hills and the forest.
The next day Gopal woke up early. He was excited about visiting the forest. He had his tea and breakfast and ran towards their meeting point to see Harish. He told his mother that he would return by lunch. Harish was already there with his tools. He was carrying his axe, saw, chisels, and other stuff. As they moved into the forest they could hear the voices of other men. They saw from the bushes that the hunters were already there. They were sitting with their guns smoking tobacco.
Harish was angry but Gopal pulled him from behind. Both moved ahead into the forest ignoring the hunters. Gopal asked Harish,” Why were you staring at them? We don’t want any trouble. Mother would kill me if she got to know I was here. You will cut the tree and I will learn. Let’s keep it simple.”
Harish took a deep breath and said,” Okay”.
Harish chose a fine spot and put down all his stuff under a tree. He went close to another tree and spoke to Gopal,” For household fire and regular usage we could have gone for branches. But to sell the carpenter this would be the best choice. It’s a dead tree. What do you say?”
Gopal was excited. “Yes! Sure. Let’s start”, he responded with full enthusiasm.
As Harish held his axe in his hand and was about to strike, he heard something. Gopal also felt it. They heard screaming noises. As they looked keenly they saw smoke at some distance.
“It’s a forest fire. Shit! Shit!…we need to run. Those monsters were burning beedi in the forest. Morons!”, Harish kept cursing as he packed his stuff in a hurry. They both ran in the opposite direction to the smoke.
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Gopal was frightened. “Where are we going? We are moving deeper into the forest”, he enquired.
“Don’t speak. Keep running”, Harish shouted angrily.
Gopal could feel the heat on his back. Harish fell down coughing as he was choked by the smoke. Gopal was completely in control of his fear and he couldn’t stop for his friend. But the fire caught up like a wave of the ocean and drowned everything that came up. Gopal gave up his fight and submitted himself to fate as he fell to the ground.
Away from the forest Gopal’s mother was cooking lunch. Suddenly there was chaos in the village and she heard screaming noises. As she came out of the house she could see the flames from a long distance. It appeared as if the fire made the sky appear orange and black. The villagers gathered and looked at the forest fire in fear.
“Another fire”, one of them spoke.
“It’s been so frequent in the past few years. God knows when the rescue team will arrive”, said another.
Gopal’s mother sat at the doorstep looking at that fire and waiting for Gopal to return. But he never did.
By Khushboo Singh
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