It was end October 1999. There used to live a 12 year old boy with his family-a typical Indian family: A family where father works as a teacher, mother as home maker and one elder brother. Like every day, they went to bed around 9 o’clock after having their dinner. People who are familiar with rural life will not surprise here. Yes, it was a small village near Lalitgiri, Orissa (Yes! It was Orissa then not Odisha). It was drizzling outside with a cold wind blowing through trees with a peculiar sound. Sky was cloudy; no stars as well.
Everyone was having a calm peaceful sleep. All of a sudden wind velocity got increased. Huge trees were fallen down over roads and houses. Wind had stared blowing at a very high(260 Kmph as mentioned in Google) velocity-experience never before. People had started running here and there. Some of them were literally flying: they were being blown away. To Readers who are guessing a cyclone: yes, it was cyclone: worse cyclone ever in history-Super Cyclone ’99.
Oh!! Yeah, the story is about a little boy who was still sleeping then, might be dreaming about all the stories he had been reading in Meenabazar, Jhahnamamu and all other odiya magazines.
“Get up!!!Get up!!! And run to the hill top. Take something valuable with you. Storm it is.” His mother was shouting with a constant panic voice. Before he could understand about the situation, all he was able to see his house full of water, scattered household items and not to forget, the roof had already blown away. Having not a moment even to think, he, suddenly, started packing his valuables. Mom was gathering the ornaments, cash and the blanket.By that time some of the walls had already collapsed. They started running like anything to the hilltop: To the hilltop of LalitGiri: people, have you ever been there?? –Famous Buddhist architecture in orissa.
Finally after a sleepless night in the morning when everything was a bit normal, his mother asked him ”babu, what did you got with you??”. Without uttering a single word he brought the box (((Anybody ever got a chance to be a rural school in 90’s!!!)to mom. The state of exasperation and insomnia was the only felling then. Mom open the box eagerly to check any valuable as it was a time thieves were searching for.
“What!!! What will I do with these???”
All she could find were a set of his school text books, some weekly magazines and notebooks. To be frank enough, these were the most precious things for a little kid in his life at that point of time.
The innocent look was still there on his face.
ParthaSarathi Das!!! You still smiling .. ?