Nomads

Chapter 4, Pt 2- Freedom

NH 16 is a national highway in India that joins Chennai with Kolkata. It is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral highway network of India. Nasr and Subash had been on that highway many times as it connected Cuttack to the capital city of Odisha, Bhubaneshwar, and also while they were going to the Kapilash Hill Forest Range near Cuttack. But Bhubaneshwar was down south. And they were travelling up north. Nasr had recently travelled north through that highway while going to Similipal with his parents. He knew that the six-lane highway was absolutely beautiful, and fast.

It was early in the morning, there weren’t many vehicles on the highway except random speeding trucks. The vast highway was almost completely empty, and they were cruising at speeds of over a hundred and ten kilometers on Subash’s bike.

It was as if a new day had dawned for both of them. Subash had one thing going on in his mind over and over again, if his family was going out to find his letter soon, or later in the afternoon. Although he never portrayed it and always pretended to be emotionally indifferent, the truth was that he was anxious. He had put his whole life on the line. It hadn’t been an easy decision for him either. He was constantly thinking of the situation in his house and how his parents would react to it. Although the bike was at high speed, he was hardly focusing on driving; the thoughts of him getting caught somehow were constantly nagging him. They saw a train track passing along a highway and a cargo train was speeding on the tracks. They loved the scenery, they felt s if they were racing with the train.

Meanwhile Nasr had been calmer, he was not a very religious person but he had given himself up to God. He believed that whatever would happen then was in their hands and the hands of God. It was new life. But it wasn’t all so free for Nasr. Sporadically the thoughts of the crying face of his mother and father kept coming into his mind. He felt guilty and sad, but kept convincing himself that it would be alright and his parents would hold themselves up. He convinced his heart that he would contact them soon, and there was no going back.

As they travelled along the highway and drew farther, their feelings of guilt and regrets slowly faded away. Although there were so many things that were going in the back of their minds, the anxiety had faded somewhere. They were sad about leaving their families, but they were not depressed anymore. Life had given them something.

As they cruised along the highway, with the wind in their head, they saw the bewitching sceneries of farmlands, rivers, and the Chandikhole hill. Their spirits lifted suddenly as they saw a huge billboard that marked the distance of places along the highway. They saw Kolkata drawing closer to them. Kolkata was about four hundred kilometers from Cuttack and seeing the distance get lesser and lesser, their spirit grew higher and higher.

Nasr was finding it way too hard to wear the huge hiking bag, stuffed with clothes, and the guitar he had brought along with him. His whole body was aching, he was finding it hard to hold, Subash was also tired of driving, they needed to take a break. After crossing Chandikhole, and having travelled about sixty kilometers, they decided to take a break. They leaned against a railing beside the highway and planned for their next stop, they decided that they would keep driving and have their breakfast at a far enough distance.

Nasr pulled out a small mp3 player where he had saved some music tracks. Both of them put an earpiece in one ear and listened to the travel playlist that Nasr had created. It had some of their favorite songs from Linkin Park, The Local Train (an Indian band that Nasr absolutely loved), and some other rock songs. Subash’s anxieties also started to fade away and they finally started to feel good and energetic about leaving their houses. Subash’s was now concentrated on driving, and going with the flow. He was as excited to see the Himalayas, their journey was not going to be easy, they weren’t going to stop.