Last flight out of Ladakh: Chapter 1 - The Asylum
It had been nine years since they last met. Nine years, in which Anshul had got back his life together, traveled the world and got married. He had long ago decided to put it all behind, but still whenever he saw the white colors of the snow, it transported him nine years back to Chadar trek. However hard he tried to forget the incidents, they all came back vividly over and over again. So he decided to see Manali only that it took some time finding her. Or that she did not wanted to see him. After much convincing from Ashwin, Manali’s husband after six months in a moment of absolute reflection she didn't protest against meeting Anshul. And he was there at her doorstep the next day. Technically, it was the doorstep of an Asylum in Nagpur.
The room was quite empty, a desk at one end with a lamp, a single bed on another end and a wooden almirah on the third. However it was the walls that told a different story. Plastered from top to bottom with newspaper clippings, photos, printouts, maps of places unknown, and in one corner there were photos of all fifteen of them. All of them who were on that trek, including Anshul and Manali. Manali was reading a book when Anshul entered, but as he entered the room her gaze was fixed on him until he pulled the chair near the bed and sat on it. She lowered her gazed back on the book, closed it and looked at Anshul again. Things had changed, he was looking quite plump now, she thought. She was thinking what to speak when Anshul broke the silence.
“How you doing Manali?” he asked.
“Better now” she replied. “You seem to have changed quite a lot”, she added.
“Yes, it has been nearly ten years you see”, he replied.
“Nine actually”, she corrected.
“Oh yes, Nine. But well you look just the same” he replied.
Manali smiled. She remembered everyone – Pavan with his smart looks, Shweta with her punch words, Rohit with his dedication in trying to save all of them, the doctor couple Ahilya and Arun, the sisters’ duo Vani and Usha, Abhijeet with his vast knowledge of the region, Stalin and his camera that was found later, and then there were Prathap, Ravi, Pathik and KoTI. How could she ever forget KoTI? She blamed him for all their fates.
“Don’t think about it Manali, let it go. I see you have held onto it for all these years but believe me letting it go is for the best.” Anshul said staring at the walls covered with Manali’s work. She had been trying to find KoTI for all these years.
“Yes it’s all right, I know I can’t bring anyone back or change things the way they happened. I know it now. That’s why I agreed to meet you after all these years”, she replied.
“Good to hear that, Manali. So Ashwin told me that you can walk now? Is that true, I would be really happy to see” Anshul said.
“Oh of course, it was impossible at first, I gave up for almost a year but finally all the physiotherapy worked and I was able to walk on these”, Manali said standing up on her prosthetic feet. Both her legs were gone and in their place were mechanical legs. She easily walked across to the almirah and brought some water in a glass and handed it to Anshul.
“Why don’t we go down, there was a nice garden I saw outside” Anshul said.
“Sure, we can go now” Manali replied and put on her jacket.
Anshul drank the water, got up and kept it back near the almirah. Both of them walked and got in the lift. The lift closed and then the numbers started going down, from 6 to 5 and so on till it hit 0. Anshul looked at Manali and said,” So, I think you know”. She replied, “Yes I know you’re not Anshul.”
The lift doors opened and a cold rush of chilled air gushed in. It was pitch white outside. It took few seconds for her eyes to get used to the ice and then she could see clearly. She got out of the lift and stepped on the soft snow that seemed to have fallen only yesterday on the thick frozen ice below. She was back on Chadar, after nine years. Or was it nine years? Time did not matter anymore. It never did.
Anshul stepped out of the lift and as he passed through a thin transparent veil over the lift, he changed. And there was KoTI standing in his place.
“You complained that you can’t bring anyone back or change things the way they happened? Well now you can” he said to Manali and smiled.
The lift behind them had vanished into thin air.
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