Jayanta was fast asleep in his cozy bed at his house in BBSR. The daytime was extremely hot, and like many others in BBSR, Jayanta's energy level was very low. However, he had finished dinner and was waiting for a reply from Prof. Bhattacharya. The professor was analyzing the appearance of the Blue Rafflesia in real-life photography. Prior to the release of this picture, it was assumed that the Blue Rafflesia was an imaginary plant found in different folklore.
“Yes Sir, I am awake”…Jayanta replied hurriedly. He had just entered the world of dreams and suddenly this disturbance.
“Then come running to my lab. I have something to show you.”..after inviting Jayanta Prof.Bhattacharjee cuts the phone.
Jayanta was shocked but not amazed due to this late-night invitation, as such invitations are common with Professor. Whenever he became extremely excited he invited Jayanta at the wee-hours. So it is assured that he has identified something extremely significant but the problem is he has not divulged about the reason behind his excitement.
However, when your guide calls, it's impossible to ignore it and you have to respond whenever it comes.
Rest of the story can be found at https://open.substack.com/pub/itell/p/the-blue-rafflesia-story-part-18?r=c8bxy&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
“So what have you decided? Whether to leave me alone and allow me to do my research or to continue your “mule job” and spy on me?”.. following a brief interval, the speaker proceeds with their discourse.
“If you choose the latter then I have to make you my guest for the rest of your life and otherwise I will let you go. Many fugitives are living free in our country and abroad. Look for them. Give them some attention also. Why me?”
“Yes, Sir…we understand your problem.”…Raj interrupted the voice. “But we are not the mules you are talking about. I and Rohit are students and although Mr.Gomez is working in the Police Dept doesn’t imply that he is into any type of investigative activity. All three of us are friends and have come to Simplipal to visit different locations of the Forest as a tourist not as a part of any team as you have approximated. So please let us enjoy the beautiful scenery and you people do your work.”.
“That’s what I want also”..replied the voice agitatedly.
“So can we go now ?”..Mr.Gomez now quipped at the voice.
“No..my friend. How can I believe that you will not meddle in my activity.?”
“Do you have any proof that we will meddle in your activity?”
“Oh Ok..You are spot on…OK, friends then you can go away from this place. Just wait a little bit such that I can arrange transportation for all three of you. Other hostages have already been released. But friends please ensure that we are not bothered any further…with this the Voice stopped.
And within 10 seconds the radio blasts along with the speaker.
Three friends, traveling from BBSR, arrived late in Puri and struggled to find lodging. A priest appeared and saved the day by taking them to a motel. Despite not knowing him, they followed him.Next?
This incident took place in 2002 when I was an engineering student in BBSR. We used to visit Puri during the Saraswati Puja. That year we reached Puri late in the night and cant find a hotel to stay.
“That’s very nice. Congrats!”…Gomez added gleefully. “But still you have not told us about the way we are disturbing you, my friend”
“Oh, Inspector. Please be patient. I am going to disclose. And I will also explain how you can stop this nuisance of yours and be a part of this revolution. As usual, I am a person who knows how to compensate people for the work they have done for society. So you all will be paid also.”…voice stopped for a while. The modulation of the voice at the time of speaking the last two lines seems to be changed towards what we refer to as aggressive.
“I will of course release all three of you and also the other hostages. But you have to promise one thing.”
“What?”..Now Raj interrupted the voice again.
“Just ask your Government to stop meddling in my affairs. I assure you that I will give my entire invention to them. They can earn from it. Your ministers can develop a sustainable and stable government from my discovery. As a result, millions of people will be free of Cancer even if they are at stage 4. Against this, I will not charge a single penny from your government.”
“Really..you will not have any profit from your invention? But then why you are not getting help from your Government now.? I don’t think our government will have any problem to help you become successful in your noble work.”..Mr.Gomex added.
“Yes, I will share it but first let me complete my invention. Due to these repeated raids by the police, CID, CBI, and also by military intelligence, I am facing a lot of trouble in the completion of this revolutionary innovation. Now they have sent three of you also as a mule.
But you know when you are inventing something so significant you must be very much aware of not only the external enemies but for the internal enemies. That is why I am secretly doing the works of the invention. Earlier I had approached Research Wings of different government and nongovernmental organizations. But each one of them had rejected my proposal and also threatened me as a conman who would have dire consequences if I further disturbed them.
Then I start to do it alone. But I do not have money or power. So my every attempt to see my invention become a reality failed miserably. After that, I decided to adopt the next way available to me. But my determination to see this medicine as reality was strong. So I find a place in a small town college near the Simlipal Reserves. Now I have accomplished the main model and am trying to develop the capsule from the extracts of Blue Rafflesia.”
The story so far: A snake starts to growl from the nearest bush to the tent where we are staying. But no one, not even the experienced villagers was able to find the snake. But why it is angry?
“Now what to do ?” with a voice of submission I replied to the chairman.
“Let me see. Our people have come. You all kindly move away and stand on something that the Cobra can not reach. Because if it suddenly comes out it will try to bite the nearest living creature which it will conceive as a threat.”…looking at my team the Chairman directed.
However one of my teammates refused to agree with the instructions as he is also from a village located in the other part of Bengal. He also joined the search party. I jumped up to the “Khatia” and the other remaining members moved to a distance far away from the bush from where the sound was coming.
However, after three to four hours of searching nothing can be found. So the villagers stop their search and return to their village as within that time the darkness of night is slowly but steadily engulfing the place. When all the villagers returned the chairman told to the two people who were looking after us :
"Please stay here tonight. Don't abandon the city dwellers."...and with a smile, he departs for his village. Thus, we were joined by the two villagers who were taking care of us for the evening. Following the completion of their cooking and our own dinner, we all gathered to talk about the things that had happened today. We built a fire and sat around it, each holding a cup of coffee.
"...This snake is a cobra which can spit venom but this one is 7 feet long which is quite rare...". The Chandra Story continues. Some snakes are disturbing us in our project in the Chandra Forest.
See Part 2 if you have not yet seen it : https://open.substack.com/pub/itell/p/my-tryst-with-nature-the-chandra-da5?r=c8bxy&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Part 3 :
The villagers were astonished to know that nothing had happened last night.
“None of the three animals greeted us last night.”…I replied.
“Look there is no relationship between our discussions about them and they being observant about us. They are animals. They do not know about your beliefs or whether we were discussing them or not. Even if we could have seen them last night then also your belief does not become a reality. It would have been a coincidence that we have seen them. “It’s OK”..the villagers with disbelief and discontent start to work again. They have to do their duty. So they start to prepare our food for breakfast. We got busy with our work. After a while, we were called for the breakfast.
The breakfast comprised four roti, potato fry, and paneer. The taste of the food was ultimate and we were merrily grasping the food along with a sip from the cup of tea provided to us. The tea cup was made of clay which is a very common way of having tea in rural Bengal.
After breakfast two of us start to roam the forest along with one of the villagers. The villager was extremely knowledgeable about the life of the jungles and their inhabitants.
“If you see a team of elephants then there is no need to panic but if you see a single elephant with sprouted incisors then immediately move away from that place as they are unpredictable. The frequency of their visits increases in the winter due to their affinity towards the Mahua juice.
This juice is a wine-like liquor that is popular in these areas."
“Where did the elephants stay during the other season?”
“They stay in the Dalma region of Jharkhand”..replied my friend.
The Chairman who lectured me yesterday gave us another visit. I promptly take my revenge by telling him that none of the three so-called dangers has till now visited us. In reply, he said, “Then you are very fortunate it seems.”. I took this banter sportingly and continued my chit-chats about the Wild Animals.
Suddenly along with the growling of the clouds, rain started to fall and we all had to run inside the tent for shelter. After 10 to 15 minutes of torrential rainfall, the sun comes out.
After the rainfall stopped our adda restarted. Two to three dogs were circling us from the day we started living in the tents. When we're all busy talking, one of the dogs starts barking nonstop. At first, no one cared as dogs could bark due to any silly reason. But when another strange sound was heard from the same direction in which the dog was constantly barking we became conscious.“It can not be another dog as I know how the dogs bark here”..explained the Chairman.
“Then what it is? I have heard the same sound on our first night.” Hearing this the Chairman gets agitated.
"Why have you not reported this before? Do you know who is making this sound? It's the Spitting Cobra, and from the sound of its grumbling, I'm guessing it's at least 7 feet long and is very angry with us for some reason.
"How can you be so sure?".
"My experience"
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