The Last Place On Earth/Arshi SS/ LINK thread 2 on Pg 148 - Page 8

CORBETT FOREST OFFICIALS IN TROUBLE

Uttarakhand: The Jim Corbett National Park is in the news, and once again, it's for all the wrong reasons. The forgotten case of Teakwood smuggling which came up seven months ago has finally seen some turn of events. With two smugglers already arrested and a personnel injured whilst trying to stop the transportation of the smuggled logs, yesterday, a forest official (Shyam Jha) was held in custody for investigation on the same. While Jha has been proven to be not guilty of the crime after a short chat, there are two other officials and three forest personnels still to be investigated further.

One thing what the police is certain about is the involvement of certain members of the Jim Corbett Forest Department in this illegal business. And the team of police assigned for this mission is doing their best to find out the real culprits behind it.

Ankit Negi

Times of India

"Hmm...interesting."

Khushi woke up to the murmurs of her companion with a, "What?? Did you say something? Sorry I fell asleep." Exactly how she could fall asleep on a disturbingly shaky jeep ride to their destination was beyond her. She straightened and focused on her surroundings only to see all greens and browns, and realized that they were nowhere near any kind of human settlement.

Joy Banerjee, her boss, sitting next to her smiled at her amusedly and said, "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

"Good evening to you too, Joy sir." She replied back. She loved and craved to be in the places her work took her to, but it was the travelling part which made her sick in the stomach and extremely nauseous. One would think the tendencies would go away after travelling every few months to difficult destinations, but that certainly wasn't the case with Khushi. And so, as a habit, one with which she sworn by, she slept off the nauseating feelings. And when sleep wouldn't come naturally, she forced herself by closing her eyes and slowly switching off her brain. It required talent and concentration, but worked most of the times. No wonder, therefore, that her boss, having found her sleeping on their journeys on multiple occasions, nicknamed her "Sleeping Beauty". She didn't mind. At least she wasn't throwing up all over the place.

She shifted in her seat. "You were saying something..?"

Joy began to shake his Indiana-Jones-type-hat-covered-head before he realized what she must have been talking about and handed her the newspaper he'd been reading. "This" he said pointing at one article.

"Corbett forest officials in trouble??" she read and looked up confused at her boss before going back to reading again. When done, she asked, "Isn't Shyam Jha the same guy who was super nice to us and gave his approval for all our activities to be carried out here?"

Joy nodded. "He did."

"Why do you sound so unsure about it?" Khushi asked, "I mean, I remember he was nice to us. He even offered the officers' accommodation. You remember the other officer, what was his name again? I don't think I paid attention. But I remember his email address had all initials and his reply to the mail which I had written on your behalf was downright rude. He was so unhelpful and our project almost got called off!"

"He wasn't unhelpful, Khushi. He called me up and explained to me in polite words why it wasn't the right time for this project of ours. And anyways he couldn't help us out simply because he barely got selected for his current post eleven months back. In fact, he was the one who passed on to me Shyam's number. Shyam is his senior by a good many years. Oh, I'm forgetting his name, something starting with an A...Anirudh...Abhinav...Aman? No no no, Aman was the other officer. I talked to him too. Nice guy, that one."

"Why does he think that this isn't the right time for our project? We cannot work in the tourist seasons. So that just leaves us with a few months."

"We all know that monsoons are not exactly the best time to be here." Joy said in a very calm paternal way. "So he might have a point there. Plus the whole thing about this smuggling issue...it wasn't big a few months back when I had talked to him, but now it's..."

"But why did you look so unsure about Shyam Jha?" Khushi asked.

"Aah, I don't know. He's a sweet talker, Khushi. Maybe it's just me who thinks that." Then shaking his head, Joy said, "Anyway now we are here," he said motioning towards the greens all around them from their moving jeep, "and we are about to start working on the project. So it all worked out."

"But...but the police found Shyam not to be guilty." Khushi mumbled and then looked up at Joy "And you're saying that you think that he is?"

"I'm not sure, Khushi..."

"I mean, he does have those looks so I guess your theory makes sense." She said after a while.

Joy looked amused at her reply. "You think Shyam Jha looks like a smuggler?" said he and then threw his head back and laughed. When he recovered he patted her shoulders saying, "Well, miss wannabe Holmes, you mustn't ever choose the profession of a detective. You're sure to fail in that endeavour."

Rolling her eyes and chuckling slightly at her boss's comment, she leaned back on her seat. She knew they had at least an hour or two more to go and the nauseating feeling might, in all possibilities, return again. But the smell of clean leaves and wet woods, the occasional sounds of the animals from a distant yet not very far away place, the excitement for spending her next few months living in this place and the feeling that something big was about to happen, kept her feeling quite awakened and unusually nervous.

*****

Frustrated! The DCF of the Corbett National Park, Arnav Singh Raizada was frustrated, frustrated enough to light up a cigarette, something which he had long given up on.

While he was glad that the gruelling session with the police was over, he was far from happy with the way things had gone. Angrily, he took a few long strides away from the huge colonial styled building and kicked up a few wet and muddy leaves along the way only to have them get stuck on his boot covered feet. And that frustrated him some more.

Minutes later when he reached the Officers' Lodge where he had a little cottage to himself, he wasted no time in getting rid of the heavy shirt of his uniform which had managed to get wet from the drizzle outside. Making himself a drink which was a little too strong for a time that early in the evening, he lowered himself on a jute chair placed on his porch area and looked out at the view which his cottage offered. With two sides of the valley covered with the deep dark forest, the river Kosi made its way through the middle curving away into the mountains. The Officers' Lodge, according to Arnav, offered the best view of all the hotels situated within the reserve forest. But this evening, he thought taking a rather large sip of his drink and cringing at its bitter taste, it did nothing to make his mood any better.

Sighing, he gulped down the rest of his drink in a couple of quick swigs and made himself another one. Removing his boots and his wet socks, he began with his evening rituals. Now, Arnav Singh Raizada was not someone who was taught to do chores. As a child and even as a teenager, he always had some someone who did that for him, and cleaning his shoes, if at all it had a place, would have been quite at the end of the list of his future ambitions. So it was quite ironic that it was what he was doing.

He clenched his jaws a little remembering the last conversation he had with his father, years ago.

"If I disown you, you'd be left with cleaning shoes for the rest of your life."

He had wanted to argue then. What was wrong with cleaning shoes? He liked cleaning his own shoes! After a long trip of trekking wasn't it such a calming thing to do, removing the mud and remembering all the adventures and the tiresome work? But knowing his father wouldn't understand, he had let it be. And then, Arnav had turned around and walked out of the door, never to look back or return again.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he proceeded to take some shoe polish to rub it on the boots and in the process, got some on his hands, and on his pants. It was a messy work, but a work he liked to do himself.

Arnav was in process of polishing the other one of the pair when he heard some unsure footsteps and bustling of luggage. Narrowing his eyes at the disturbance, he got up whilst taking a quick sip of his drink, to see exactly who and what it was.

And then, he forgot to breathe.

*****

After about thirty minutes of talking to Shyam Jha, Khushi Gupta was sure of two things. The first was that DFO Shyam Jha was certainly a sweet talker, one who bordered on being a flirt despite, she thought with disgust, being a married man with two kids (this information was provided by her boss, Joy Banerjee). And second was the realization that Shyam Jha most definitely looked like a smuggler, a smooth talking smuggler! Nevertheless, she was thankful to him for granting them the necessary signatures that they needed for their work.

Already being warned by Joy not to go deep into the "mysteries of the jungle" as it wasn't her job to do, Khushi had prepared herself not to dwell deeper into these issues as by doing that, she'll only end up messing her own head. So as to avoid that from happening, and also to escape the company of the Sleazy-Shyam, she excused herself.

Having convinced everyone that she'd be able to carry her luggage herself to her room which didn't look very difficult to reach, she struggled her way to it what with the wet path which led to her assigned cottage. The cottage, a cosy looking colonial-styled brick structure, was everything she could wish for and more. Of all her stays within forests, from the Kanha in Madhya Pradesh to the Kaziranga in Assam, this was the most breath-taking of the rooms she'd got, all to herself. Excitedly, she ran to the door and dropping the luggage, began to put the rather large key into the lock hole.

It was after struggling with it for the next two minutes and after hearing a voice, that the key found its way to the ground.

It was that voice, that very familiar husky voice which started with a clearing of throat to gain attention and which then said,

"Of all the jungles, in all of the countries, in all of the world, she walks into mine..."

With her heartbeat fast and eyes helplessly wide, she turned towards the voice which she never in her wildest dream had thought of hearing again. But there stood the owner of the voice not more than three feet away looking tall, and well - in that uniform - more handsome than she remembered him to be. She noticed how his shirt was carelessly thrown over his black under-vest, unbuttoned. And how his hair was cut into a very appropriate crew-cut as against the longish cut he preferred all those years ago. But more than anything, she noticed how his face had hardened.

"Casablanca." He said then and grinned reminding her of the Arnav she had known in her college.

She knew he was waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from her, but she found no words. All she could manage was, "Ar-Arnav?"

She saw unadulterated relief pass his face which he tried to hide well behind a smirk as he said, "Khushi Gupta, you have changed." He then reached the door, picked up the key and unlocked the lock for her, all in a matter of thirty seconds.

"I...yeah...it wasn't happening when I tried." She said avoiding the "you have changed" comment. How could he tell that she had changed? Was it the hair he meant? Besides the hair, she was the still the same, it was he who had changed what with the uniform and all...

Giving a slight push to the door as it opened and revealed a living area, he turned to her and said, "These are quite old. Remember to go left twice, they'd easily open."

She nodded in understanding, although she had hardly listened to any word he had said. Turning to face her again, he gave her a smile which made her breath hitch. "You look like a fifteen year old." He said to her and, then raising his fingers up to her hair, he touched it by taking a few strands of her hair in between his fingers as if feeling its texture before letting go. "Cute hairstyle though. Suits you." He said stepping back. And it was only then that she allowed herself to breathe.

She nervously touched her hair to check if he had lost it. Her hair, cut till right below her ears in a bob, for convenience more than anything else, looked anything but cute right now, after hours of travelling and being drizzled on. But then she remembered he had just called her a fifteen year old. He was clearly making fun of her. So he hadn't changed after all.

"Thanks" she said with a sarcastic expression for the lack of a better comeback and made sure it wasn't missed by him.

He looked at her with an amused expression before walking towards her luggage to carry it inside. "So you didn't tell me, Khushi, what brings you here?" he said as he began to lift her bags.

"Wait, wait. I can do it." Khushi said running towards him but stopped when he lifted an eyebrow at her.

"Still the Miss I-don't-need-a-guy, yeah?"

"I was never..." she started saying but seeing that amused expression on his face again, she said, "Is it a problem that I want to do my stuff on my own?"

"Not a problem at all," He said as he casually walked into her cottage and she followed. "Except you looked like you were quite uncomfortable carrying all these, and frankly, even people like me - the "rich brats" who apparently have no care in the world - do give a shit about that."

She swallowed uncomfortably as she looked for things to do to avoid meeting the look in his eyes. She found the switchboard and decided they could definitely do with some light.

"No lights after six." He said from somewhere behind her. She turned around then feeling stupid of having forgotten such a basic thing and looked up at him to find how he still had that dark, unreadable look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Here on a project." She said.

He lifted his eyebrows. "I'm going to need more than that."

"We are here to make the Detailed Project Report on the bio-diversity of this division of Corbett, basically, photographic as well as the written documentary of the flora. The fauna would be covered later I suppose, when the weather betters." She explained.

"You're Joy Banerjee's intern??" he said in not a very happy way.

She narrowed her eyes. "Not his intern. I work for him. He does the photographic documentation, while I research and write. I'm an environmentalist, specialised in forestry." She said, and then added, "If you remember."

He snorted and with a bitter smile said, "I bet Shyam Jha let you in."

"Well," she said, her annoyance growing with the tone of his voice, "somebody had to after this other official...Wait!" she said looking at the badge hanging on his chest, "You're asr_2007@gmail.com?"

He looked confused. "Yes."

"You didn't want us to come here." She mumbled to herself almost smiling bitterly at the realization. "It was you..."

Looking confused, he said, "It's hardly a good time to come here. There are a lot of problems going on here. It's risky."

She looked up. "We are not interfering in anything."

"Khushi." he said patiently and her breath hitched for a second to hear him say her name like that and suddenly she wanted to cry. Controlling her emotions, she focussed on what he had to say. "It's not interference. Last week, our guy was injured in the forest. You're a girl, we can't let you..."

"God" she said a little too loudly, "What's with the sexism, man?"

In two long strides he was standing in front of her. Grabbing her shoulder, he frustratingly said, "It's NOT about sexism, woman! There are dangerous men here. The blasted rain wouldn't stop. Our men are getting injured, and there have been cases of elephant poaching. It's not just about the stupid teakwood smuggling anymore. Do you understand that, Khushi?" Breathing heavily, he let her go.

It was after a few seconds when she gained her ability to speak again, she heard herself say, "But we're here now and..."

"And this is the last place on earth you'd want to be in right now." He finished for her, turned around and walked out of the door.

*****

DCF - Deputy Conservator of Forest (Arnav Singh Raizada)

DFO - Divisional Forest Officer (Shyam Jha)

Let us know what you thought of it. And I really hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Lots of Love.

Ananya

So excited guys i cant tell u.

Love u guys!

ThanksSandy!

I loved the chapter, Ana.

Now I understand what Anu meant!

This is a brilliant start to this story.

It seems to be a thriller cum romance cum adventure.

A shrtless uniformed Arnav is to die for.

Khushi seems the adventurous sort who will surely land herself in trouble.

The description of the forest and the Kosi river flowing by was beautiful.

I've always been a fan of your writing and this just strengthened my belief that you are a brilliant writer.

I also wanted to add here that this is just a brilliant idea.

Happy Anniversary to us all.

May our friendship last a lifetime. Amen!