Custom Search

Rainy Night, Maggi and Fire

by Uddipta Dutta
(Guwahati, India)

It was a cold evening in Assam in the latter part of January. That day I just finished my solo bike trip to Majuli, the largest river island in the world.

Twenty-five years ago from now, in 2000 Majuli was part of the Jorhat district. The nearest city to Majuli is Jorhat and back then the only way to communicate between them was through ferries in the mighty Brahmaputra river. However, unfortunately, I missed the last ferry to Jorhat and got stuck in that river island for that night. I had no guest house booking for that night, nor did I have much cash left with me to pay for the same. Therefore, I decided to stay under a portable camp for that night alone. However, it was not an unusual thing for a twenty-five- year old young male biker. I had faced similar kinds of situations before. Therefore, I always had a habit of carrying a portable camping tent. I just needed one perfect spot to set that up. Deciding that, I checked my fuel tank. It showed more than half tank fuel was left.

I did not have a cell phone, as mobile phone service was not available at my native place at that period of time. I started wandering on my bike. I was slowly roaming near a village area of the island. Amid the silent atmosphere, my bike was rumbling. It was a new moon night. A faint smile of the moon was seen in the sky. Without the street lights, my only guidance was the headlight of my bike. I started feeling quite hungry.

Although it was merely half past seven in the evening, the place was almost sleepy. I could not find a single small hotel or roadside dhaba. As a habit, I always carry Maggi noodles while traveling, but to make that, I at least needed a gas stove or fire. By then it started to drizzle unexpectedly with wind blowing from the river.

I was tightly packed to fight the chill while riding the bike. But the drizzle mixed with wind chilled my spine to its core. In a few moments, the drizzle increased its intensity as well.

With mixed feelings of cold and hunger, I slowed down my bike. I was riding off-road. After riding for more than fifteen minutes, suddenly my eye caught a campfire! Someone was burning a campfire on the left side of the road. I was glad to see a fire burning amid the rain. However, I was also surprised at the same time! While thinking, one sudden blow of a cold breeze shook me to my core. I glanced at the fire. I guessed it was probably half a kilometer away from my bike.

I felt an urge to go near it. My hungry tummy also wanted me to go near the fire, so that I could make my Maggi noodles. In the headlight of my bike, I figured out that the left side of the road was not much deeper and a kind of barren land, so my bike could travel to the fire spot. I started the bike, the engine revved and I turned my bike towards the left and carefully proceeded to the fire-spot.

When I reached there, I saw a tin roof above the fire. Then I understood why the fire was still burning in the middle of the rain. But surprisingly there was no sign of any human being nearby. I was a little bit surprised. However, the warmth of a fire was a much-needed thing. So I decided to embrace its warmth instantly. I parked my bike inside the tin roof and then walked near the fire. The fire was so soothing to me. My eyes searched around the place with the help of the available light from the fire, I found a medium-sized flat stone nearby. I walked to that, pushed the stone with my feet near the fire, and sat on the stone. After that, I moved my hands near the fire.

My hands were freezing and going near the fire instantly warmed it up. I felt as if someone wrapped a nice warm blanket around my shivering cold body. I was thinking of setting up my portable tent in that area for the night. My hungry stomach was also craving for maggi noodles right away.

Upon deciding that, I walked to my bike and opened my traveler's bag to get my campfire cooking tripod, and other essential items: a saucepan, Maggi packets, a spoon, water bottle, bowl, red chili powder, and pepper powder. I set the cooking tripod over the fire and placed a water-filled saucepan over it.

Once the water started boiling I put two packets of Maggi along with red chili powder and pepper powder. I stirred the maggi with a spoon for a while. When the Maggi became like thick gravy, I put the vessel out of the fire. With a half-burnt log, I kept my cooking tripod aside from the fire. I was all alone, ready to eat maggi in the middle of nowhere. There was no one to share. I took everything from the saucepan to a bowl. The rain had almost stopped by then.

“Bon appétit”, I said to myself.

Warm spicy gravy, maggi noodles in that cold weather was a heavenly combination. I put the first spoon into my mouth, my tongue tasted the spicy chili-pepper-flavoured maggi, and I felt instantly warm.

“Wish I had a peg of whisky as well”, I thought. The whole atmosphere gave me the thrill of an adventurous movie, where the protagonist was sitting and eating in the middle of nowhere while exploring the unknown. I was deeply engrossed in savouring the taste of the hot and spicy Maggi noodles while warming my body in the fire.

After a brief moment, when I was finishing my last spoon of noodles, I saw a human-like figure, with a lantern in hand, approaching in my direction. It was indeed very much unexpected. A human-like figure with a lamp looked supernatural on that new moon night. For a moment I thought, "What if it is a ghost?”. Childhood stories of ghosts roaming in the new moon suddenly rushed to my mind. Again for another moment, I thought "What if it is a robber or a thief”? I did not have much cash to lose, but could not afford to lose my bike at any cost. My sixth sense prepared me for the worst possible outcome! I stood up slowly to face it.

With the increasing body size, the human-like figure turned out to be a man with a thin body, wrapped in a sweater, monkey cap, and a woollen shawl. He noticed me sharply for a moment. He even noticed my cooking utensils and started mumbling. But it sounded gibberish to me. I could smell cheap alcohol in him. So I was assured that the human-looking figure was definitely not a ghostly entity, but a real human being. Then I noticed a spade in his hand. I became alert. Although the man was scrawny, I was mentally preparing myself to battle with the spade guy in the worst-case scenario. However, to my surprise, he walked straight to the fire, and with the spade, he started to put the embers into the remaining fire.

Within a few seconds, his muttering became a bit clear and I could understand certain lines. He said with a drunken tongue,
.
“Everyone left?.. Nowadays no one cares about deceased people it seems. Even his sons left without taking the asthi, and here some fool is making food, eating near a funeral pyre like a picnic.”

Asthi!, funeral pyre! These words struck my mind instantly. I looked at the fire and the tin roof above it. I looked around, suddenly a strong lightning came with a roaring thunder. It lit up the entire area for a moment. There were several tin roofs nearby. Subsequently several lightning came with thunder. I understood I was standing in a crematorium.

So the campfire-looking fire that was burning in front of me was nothing but a cremation fire where a deceased body was being burned, and in that fire I cooked my maggi noodles! A mixed feeling of surprise, fear, and disgust ran through my veins. Immediately I started packing my stuff. I took my backpack on my shoulder and started the bike. When the engine revived I looked back at the fire for the last time, the fire had almost been extinguished.

The man was still standing there. In the light coming from the lantern placed on the ground, the man was looking no less than a horror film character. I felt he was staring at me. Slowly I released the clutch, while adjusting the throttle, and left the place in search of a new place for camping.

The rain started pouring heavily again.