Son of Jyeshtha

Chapter 2

It was as if he could still see it, the hut which was surrounded by forest. More than hut  forest was his home. After walking for a minute or two from the hut, in the jungle one can spot a small waterfall there. It was small but beautiful. Six years old boy was playing near that waterfall alone.Throwing small rocks in water, sometimes jumping in water to make a splash. While playing he heard some sounds on the opposite side and started moving in that direction.
“Ahim! Ahim!! Come here pie, don't go alone in there, it’s not safe. And you still don’t know how to defend. So come back right now”.
He turned and saw her. Jyestha, his mother, she always got to know what he was upto. Even before him doing it and always rebuked him for doing something which he wasn't supposed to do.
“Ahi, you know it’s forbidden to go deep in the jungle, unless you know how to defend yourself, then why do you move in that direction.”
They never hunt, but they learnt to defend and he hasn't learnt it yet that's why Ma was rebuking him. And as usual he forgot whatever he was upto and started admiring her. She was so beautiful, elder among five siblings and that’s how she got her name,Jyeshtha . She was tall and had dusky skin. Beautiful green eyes, eyes like her were rare in tribes, even foreign tribals swore that they hadn’t seen eyes like her.She was beauty with a brain. Ma knew different languages. She learnt them from tourists who used to visit nearby their tribe. Even with all the kindness she had, with all her knowledge, still everyone feared her. That is why they build their hut away from tribe homes but still near to stay in eye range. The folk of the tribe mostly used to stay away from her. That was until and unless they needed her help. They always needed her help. After all she was the best at everything in the tribe.

While he was still lost in his thoughts, the doctor and Mr. Rajvansh walked in his hospital room.
“Sorry to leave you like that young man but we needed to see what all tests can be done now and which can be done later. Before starting anything can you give me some details about yourself. Like your name, age, where you are from. Need to fill your basics."

“Ahim, my name is ahim, I’m 34 and I belong to jarawas tribe from Andaman”

Maybe he imagined it, or was it real, doctor and Mr. Rajvansh were surprised after hearing details but ahim left it aside for a while and asked the question which was in his mind
“Can you  tell me where I am at the moment?”
“We are in bangalore, I didn’t know where to bring you so I bought  you here”.
Ahim felt as if he was being lied to as if the doctor and Mr. Rajvansh was trying to keep something from him.
“Ok ahim we are leaving you to rest now. Soon a nurse will be here, meanwhile if you need something just press this switch. Someone will be here immediately.”, the doctor said as he pointed at the switch. As the doctor was going to leave, Ahim realised something and asked,
“Umm, that doctor…. Can you tell me how much my treatment was for?”
“That I will let you know once we have done all the tests and you know everything about your situation.”
“And Ahim don’t worry about bills, I will be taking care of it.” Mr. Rajvansh added.
“But why you?”
“As mentioned we will let you know everything for now just take care, Ahim” said Mr. Rajvansh, and exited the room with the doctor..
Little suspicious by their behavior, he tried to remember how he ended up being in hospital, that too in bangalore. Which was not on his island. But the harder he tried the more he was getting a headache instead of answers to his questions. He gave up on thinking about how he ended there and thought of taking a nap instead.

He imagined his mother giving him a head massage, she used to give the best massages in the tribe. Tribe was his world but the people there never accepted them fully as if they were afraid of doing so. Sometimes he even felt that they were different from the people over there. Life in the tribe was no royalty but it was known, safe and something Ma always liked. Ma taught him how to defend and warned about hunting.

“Ahim, you might be tempted to go hunting but don’t do that. Everyone has the right to live, my son and I want you to keep that in mind.” Ahim remembered Ma telling him.

Then suddenly Ma disappeared. Ahim never got to know what had happened that night. He tried to search for her, even baba(Ma’s father) tried searching for her but eventually everyone gave up. But ahim didn’t quit trying. While searching for Ma, he got to know  lots of things about her, for instance Jyeshtha never was from jarawas, she came there not before she was fourteen. Someone said that she seemed as if she was trying to hide from someone and when she entered the tribe she was already pregnant with him .

Whatever Ahim knew of the tribe from that he was sure jarawas never accepted people from outside then  why they accepted Ma and her family. There might be something huge reason  for them to accept Ma.

He was trying to find all these answers and now he is stuck here in this foreign land and on top of that he doesn't even know how he ended up being in here.