Family BroodCamp

At 15, I was a little adamant and it was all my doing. I had been the loudest.

It was an eerie, hot summer night. It was dark outside, with a few stars that lit the night sky. The room was hot and humid, the lights turned off. The brown noise of the fan added company. Wet clothes hung from one end of the room to the other, occasionally swaying ghost-like. The song from ‘Bees Saal Baad’ was playing somewhere not too far, the sound of the anklets jingling. A bunch of rowdy men laughed somewhere too close. 

The six of us, five women huddled in the room, anxious if dad would ever return that night. This room in the KEB guest house was our temporary dwelling for a few hours (thanks to the watchman), until dad got permission from the boss-guy. The boss-guy was at an open air theatre a couple of miles away and the watchman had walked away with dad into the dark night. Every second seemed like eternity. The night got hotter, eerie music got closer, the men’s laughter sounded drunkener, and our hearts beat faster. We were whispering, as if only talking aloud would give us away. 

What if the watchman stole dad’s wallet and killed him? What if the ‘guys’ got wind of 5 women huddled in that room and stormed in? There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run in the dark and dreary night. And the youngest two couldn’t even keep pace. What if, what if ……..My brother felt man enough to brave his 11 year old self to save us all. For THAT is what he was born to do. 

Back then we seldom traveled and felt important when extended families visited us. Holidays and weekends were spent in the buzz, in and around home with neighbors and visitors. 

So on this rare occasion, when dad thought aloud about a possible long weekend getaway to the Shivanasamudra waterfalls, we would have to be stupid not to grab the opportunity. We shot down all second and third thoughts. Of course our neighbors can tie loose ends while we are gone. Of course there is enough time to get ready. The next bus to the terminus is not for another hour. No, we had no problem standing for four hours if we didn’t get seats on the bus. And yes, we would be just fine if we had to starve for the night. Why would we ever not find a place to stay? There’s no knowing without trying. So what if the clothes for tomorrow are not yet dry, we can pack them wet and put them out to dry once we get there. And the 8 year old cousin visiting us? Her parents would definitely let her share the fun.

Turns out both mom and dad were great sports. Or they must have wanted this break so much more than we did. We got busy with the preparations, wet clothes and all. We arrived at the bus terminus – the parents and 5 children ages 20, 15, 11, 9, and 8. The last bus to Shivanasamudra had just shut the doors and started moving. No giver-uppers, not this family. My brother was catapulted to run as fast as he could to stop the bus. 

Four hours later, at dusk the bus ejected us into the small town of Shivanasamudram. I am sure each of us had a picture in our mind of what we would see. Going by the expressions on our faces, none of us seemed to have got it right. There it was, in the middle of what seemed like wilderness, the lone KEB guesthouse. We slowly trickled into the makeshift restaurant that reminded us of food. That was the most sumptuous roadside meal we had ever had. 

It was dark by the time we were done with dinner and the real problem presented itself. With the gate to the one building in sight as the stage, the watchman our audience, and 7 actors, we put on an earnest show of pleading for a place to stay. Maybe he said, if the boss-guy decides to take pity on us. And that’s how it all began.

It was 2AM when we nervously answered the door to let in dad, the bearer of good news. We had permission to stay the night until the ‘Dovitor’s family’ arrived next afternoon! Abruptly things turned around. The music from outside had stopped. We couldn’t hear the men’s voices anymore. The wet clothes didn’t bother anymore. We noticed a ray of white light that crept through the window. The youngest four slept like babies that night, letting the others stay up to plan the rest.

The Shivanasamudra falls, the hike, the power house and everything we did around the next day made for a fantabulous experience. We didn’t have a camera to capture the images. But the entire trip, has been etched in our memories for eternity – the journey and the destination. The world had conspired to make this a trip to remember, our first together.

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