The Mystery of Bila Land

By Nitish Krishna

A warrior meditating at the foot of snow-capped mountains, surrounded by vibrant flowers with a flowing water stream nearby.

A warrior meditating inside a dark cave with water flowing over his head through a large hole on the roof.

A warrior fighting a battle, with chaos all around

• Language: English
• Publisher: Notion Press
• Release date: Mar 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9789384049768

Book preview

The Mystery

of Bila Land

Nitish Krishna

Notion Press

5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane,

Chennai - 600 005

First Published by Notion Press 2014

Copyright © Nitish Krishna 2014

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-93-84049-76-8

This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However, the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Dedicated to

My Parents

My Wife

My Family

And above all

Lord Krishna

Jai Shri Krishna...

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up my book, it means a lot to me being a first-time author.

The Mystery of Bila Land is inspired by a dream that I had at the age of twelve. As you all know, some dreams stay back in our minds for years together. This was one of those that has stayed back and motivated me to come up with this book.

I would like to call myself a story-teller rather than an author. It took me five years to compile and build a story around my dream. A roller-coaster ride, I would say. A strong passion towards mountains and an urge for story-telling made me come up with this unique story. The book has a sequel to follow. I am in the process of writing the second book called Quest for the lost land, which will complete the journey of our protagonist, Vibhas. I would love to have your feedback on my first attempt.

Please email me at [e-mail]

For more details about me visit:

www.nitishkrishnathewriter.com

I wish you a happy reading.

Best wishes,

Nitish Krishna

1

An early morning of August 1961…

‘Come on!! Give me your hand!’ Vibhas shouted at the lady.

Her swollen stomach made him nervous. He had to save two lives, including the one growing within her. A cold shiver ran down his spine, as he spread his arm towards her. She was hanging on the branch of a bent tree at the edge of the mountain. The early morning dew had made the ground wet. He felt the wet grass, while lying on the ground facing the gorge. He knew that she would not be able to hold on to the branch for much longer.

‘Come on… don’t worry… you will be fine. Please give me your hand,’ he yelled again.

Somehow, he got hold of her shivering cold hand and pulled her up.

The four people they had saved included three badly injured men and a pregnant woman. Two men lay unconscious with severe injuries. The third man, who looked physically disabled with a shorter right leg, had injured his left arm.

Swapnil lifted one man on to his shoulders and said, ‘I will take him to the tent and get help to take the others. Stay with them.’

‘OK, be quick,’ said Vibhas, propping the lady in a comfortable position. He gave her water from his sipper bottle that he carried during his jog every morning. She fell unconscious after gulping the first sip. The disabled man came limping towards the lady to check if she was all right.

‘It’s a panic attack; she’s unconscious,’ Vibhas said to the man. The man frowned in pain and sat down near the lady. His light beard and thick moustache complimented his short hair with a pony tail.

Let’s go,’ Vibhas said to the man, when he saw Swapnil running back towards them, followed by Gyan. Swapnil and Gyan carried the other unconscious man. Vibhas carried the lady and the third man followed him limping.

‘Get the first aid up!’ shouted Vibhas, as he entered the tent carrying the unconscious woman. ‘Check her pulse and give her warm clothes,’ he said to Ritesh. Laying her carefully over a dry rubber sheet, Vibhas rushed out to check the weather. The blue sky had transformed into dark grey, and thunder had already started roaring. He expected the showers to be as severe as they had been last night.

He lay on the ground, trying to calm down his heartbeat. The ground was covered with the thick mountain grass, which smelled somewhat like lemons. The breeze grew stronger and hurt his eyes. He lit a cigarette and thought of the people he and Swapnil had saved. They had saved four lives from the landslide. Three of them were being checked by Swapnil and Ritesh, both of whom were medical students from Delhi.

While having his fag, the incident replayed in Vibhas’ mind. He had been out for a stroll along with Swapnil in the morning, when they had heard loud screams. The sound of screams had come from the forests down the hill. They hiked carefully over the sloped surface covered with trees and bushes. After hiking for a small distance, they had reached the edge of the mountain. Two men, who were severely injured, had fallen over the branches of a giant tree. Fortunately for them, the tree was dense with strong branches that held them firmly.

‘How the hell did they get there?’ Swapnil had wondered.

Ignoring Swapnil’s question, Vibhas had run down towards the bent tree that was holding the injured men.

‘Watch out, Careful!’ Swapnil had shouted, as he followed Vibhas.

Vibhas slithered on the grass and reached the tree. The physically disabled man was crying in pain, holding his left arm. Swapnil had helped Vibhas in rescuing two of the men from the clutches of the giant tree. A woman was hanging on the branches, a gorge of about five-hundred feet deep below her. She screamed loudly in horror.

‘Save her!’ the man with the broken arm cried. Vibhas crawled slowly towards her, under the large stem of the bent tree. While lying prone facing the deep gorge, he stretched his arms towards her.

Vibhas was an adventure freak with a strong attraction for mountains. Nature always appealed to him. He was fascinated about being around the wild, be it the forests or the mountains. His curiosity to hike the Himalayan ranges had brought him to Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain range in India. After a brief trek around the Nanda Devi peak, he and his companions moved to the district of Pithoragarh to experience the mighty Panchchuli mountain peaks. They had plans to hike through these snow-capped mountain ranges, but the extreme weather conditions made it difficult for them to continue with their trek.

He had aspired to be a mountaineer since he was a teenager. Later, he chose to pursue Business Management to secure a profession that would fetch him good money. He thought that it would be easier to go on treks by taking breaks from work, rather than making a career out of it. Being a bright student, he earned admission to one of the best management schools in India. His degree then earned him a lucrative job in a large firm in Bombay.

During his graduation years in Bangalore, he had joined an adventure club that trekked the hills in Karnataka. Almost every weekend, they came up with plans to trek across different peaks in the Western Ghats. He had explored almost all the peaks in Karnataka, including the mighty Kumara Parvata during the monsoons. It’s said that one gets some breathtaking views from these peaks in the wet season. But, the slipperiness due to the consistent heavy rain and the strong winds make it life-threatening to trek during rains. The authorities close all the entries possible to these ranges during the monsoons. Vibhas and his group had to find a back-door entry to the forest leading to Kumara Parvata via the locals around.

After leaving the city of Bangalore to pursue his management education, he shifted over to the city of Jamshedpur for the next two boring years of his life devoid of any adventure. Two years later, he shifted to Bombay to pursue his dashing career. He joined a similar club in Bombay. This gave him an opportunity to explore the peaks within the state of Maharashtra.

One of the reasons for his attraction towards the mountains was a dream. It recurred every night and startled him awake. He had been seeing the same glimpses every night since the age of twelve. It confused him and had made him think about his destiny at a young age.

As he finished his fag, he walked back to help his friends to deal with the injured people. ‘Bad news, man,’ Swapnil said to Vibhas, ‘I just got this weather update from the rangers; they expect heavy rains for the next 48 hours.’

‘OK, first let’s hand over these villagers to the rangers for medication,’ said Vibhas in haste.

They covered all their belongings with plastic bags and tied them tightly to a tree. Vibhas packed up the tents and quickly wrapped them over the luggage around the tree.

Thoughts of the rains last night made it extremely difficult for them to even relax for a minute. Water had seeped into their tents, which had caused them to sit all night on a waterproof rubber sheet. They had to hold all their belongings as the surface had been water-logged. The group had five men, including Vibhas, who was the only one from Bombay. The rest were from Delhi

‘As we move, please mark a cross on the large trees on the way with this chalk,’ he said, throwing a piece each to his group mates.

They marked about fifteen trees, as they hiked down towards the range house to make sure that they did not lose their way back to get their belongings. They only carried climbing knives with multiple blades and ropes with rock climbing belts. The plan was to get to the range house and stay there until the weather eased.

Vibhas carried the unconscious pregnant woman in his arms delicately. Swapnil and Ritesh carried a villager, as did Rabbi and Gyan, the other two members of the trekking group.

The wind got louder as they trekked down. The slippery grass made it difficult to walk down the slope. Vibhas led the way. He was no stranger to such conditions, but this time he had lives to save. The thought of carrying a pregnant woman to safety made him anxious. He watched his friends marking the trees, as they followed him. Things were going fine and working out as per the plan.

A decrepit house stood a few meters away amidst thick forest. The tiled roof house had a half-broken large board that said Forest Department Range House Uttar Pradesh – Pithoragarh District. The approach road to the range house had numerous mud puddles created by the overnight rains. They had to be scarily cautious to get to the finish line.

As Vibhas and company approached the range house, it started drizzling. They were happy to have reached the range house just before the downpour began. Vibhas entered the range house, followed by Swapnil and Ritesh carrying one of the injured men. Rabbi and Gyan were still behind, as they also had the task of marking the trees. Outside the range house, Rabbi overlooked a large tree root that was covered with dry leaves; he tripped over the wood and twisted his ankle.

They heard the click sound of the bone. Luckily, Gyan managed to hold the villager, while Rabbi tumbled to the ground, groaning in pain.

‘Stay here, I will get help,’ Gyan said. He carried the villager to the range house, where he told the others about Rabbi’s predicament. Vibhas and Swapnil went out running to carry Rabbi in.

‘I think it’s just a sprain; you will be absolutely fine, champ,’ Vibhas said.

‘Well, it’s not. We need to take him to the hospital soon,’ Swapnil said, examining Rabbi’s ankle.

The range house was a small 20X20 room with a wooden table overburdened with official documents. It was a typical government office in a worse than expected condition with water stains on the walls. Small pots were kept on the edges of the room to hold the leaking water from the roof.

‘I know this woman, she is from the village down the hill and so are the other two men,’ said the range officer. He asked his subordinate to take them in the jeep quickly to the village hospital. The range house had no proper first aid and hence, they had to take them immediately.

The man with the injured arm who stood outside the range house thanked Vibhas. ‘It’s OK,’ Vibhas said, ‘Your family will be fine.’

‘I am indebted to you,’ the man said humbly, ‘I could not thank you earlier for saving my people, I am sorry.’

‘How did you get there?’ Vibhas asked him.

‘My sister had gone to visit the Krishna temple on the other side of the valley to get blessings for her unborn baby. On our way back, strong winds blew us towards the gorge,’ said the man.

‘My name is Madhav, and I stay on the other side of the valley near the temple. Please visit me if you can,’ he said, pointing towards the valley, ‘If you are here for some more time, you should visit the temple there.’

‘OK, let’s see if the weather improves,’ Vibhas said. He looked uninterested in visiting a temple and was more concerned about Rabbi and their luggage.

Rabbi was sent with the villagers to the government hospital. Gyan and Ritesh accompanied him, while Vibhas and Swapnil decided to stay back in