The bridge to .......

I had promised to myself that I will not blog about this, but now I don't find any reason to escape it. I hope this would serve as my mark of respect for the two friends I miss having around.

We were returning to our campus after a Section A dinner party, when Kunal told me that Nitesh and Neha were missing since evening. Neha Singh, Nitesh Aggarwal , Kunal Gaurav and Vishal Kaushal had went for an outing to Choral. What we got to know was that they were missing and their phones could not be reached. I was unabashedly telling others they must have wandered here and there and would return soon. Their phones were unreachable since evening, that was not a cause of worry, I thought, because Choral was out of cellular network coverage. So I had everything to believe that we would hear from them soon.

The moment I reached the campus and walked towards the mess, scenes became more serious. Roshin met me in front of the mess and told me that they were missing and a meeting has been called. Just the way she said it, the look on her face, the folded hands, the anxiety in her eyes made me shake. It was more serious than what I had thought. The director soon walked in the mess to address the anxious group of more than 300 IIM I students. Then it struck us, they had been washed away by the strong current of the river Choral and had been missing since. But I was still hoping to find them.

Meanwhile, I got to know what I would hate for the rest of my life. The media. I had only heard jokes about there shamelessness. They are all true. One reporter just after getting a 'hot tip' came to our campus and started asking people that "Your friends are dead, we want the photographs of them and the photographs of their bodies". They were not dead, not yet, the only thing that could be in it's grave was the soul of this cameraman. Another one actually had the guts to say "Your friends are dead, how do you feel ?" These are the exact words, no exaggeration; these are the exact same words that came out of the media 'personality'. It's understood they would and actually have to be indifferent, but there things known as ethics, etiquette and simple human sensibility that needs to put to use. Even criminals and prostitutes have some shame. And the same media will show each and every one of us in bad light, if anyone of had let the anger rule over our emotions.

At around 10 other two had come back to campus after searching for Neha and Nitesh for more than 3 hours along with 5 others. The look on their face was glum, but hope never died in me. I got as much information as I could about the incident and about the place. Around 20 of us from the 2^nd year agreed to go to the place at sun break and begin searching ourselves. We were talking about the incident and how to go about our search when suddenly a news came in that a news channel was showing a video clip of the time when Neha and Nitesh were caught by the stream. We all circled around the TV, which was showing a mobile cam clip of two people stuck in a river and holding on to a rock. We couldn't make out who they were. The faces weren't clear. Then we heard a scream . It was Neha, she was screaming for help. It was no doubt about it that it was Neha screaming out for help. My heart sank and I couldn't watch it anymore.

But Hope, it was all we had. I still believed they were stuck on some bank. That night was truly sleepless at IIM I. I don't remember anyone sleeping that night. I couldn't stay in my room, I was awake all night. Before morning came, I prepared four bags filled with medicines, torches, walky-talkies and food for our search operation. I had utmost faith in finding them.

At 5.30 we reached the site. The choral bank where Neha and Nitesh had come to was seductive, it was a narrow and a shallow stream. It was filled with big rocks and one could cross the stream simply standing, not even wetting his or her ankles. Choral did not seem dangerous at all. It was river stream between mountains, with a light mist. It seemed kid stuff. And that is why it was dangerous.

Neha and Nitesh were on one bike and Kunal and Vishal on the other. Kunal and Vishal had halted midway for a quick bite and were 15 minutes behind them. So when Neha and Nitesh reached early, they went near the stream and sat on one of the rocks not very far from the bank. By that time it had started to pour. And when it rains in a place where there is no soft soil and only mountains, the rain water comes trickling down to the river. In this case , this little stream. And it rained so heavily that the stream expanded in width by at least 6 feet on both banks and gained a strong current , with the addition of 5 feet of water level. That is what surprised both Neha and Nitesh. They were stuck on that rock. When Kunal and Vishal arrived, Nitesh was already struggling to hold on to the rock, while Neha held on to Nitesh's leg. Many other people had already reached that place, and were trying to help. But it was dangerous for even a champion swimmer set foot in the stream. The stream had suddenly turned violent and could even sweep off a big buffalo, and the local villagers say it does. So the only hope they had was a rope line. Nitesh was being thrown a rope-line. And then it happened, while he was trying to reach the rope, he lost his grip and the stream took both of them who didn't know how to swim.

(This is based on the information collected from onlookers, local villagers and does not have any backing of evidence. This recreation is merely a perceptual collation of theories and hence mere speculation.)

The place would have been serene and beautiful if there no rescue person looking for 'bodies' (as they said it) in their orange life jackets. We had come to look for Neha and Nitesh, not bodies. So we drove alongside the river to place where there was a checkdam. The stream was much steady here, I was hoping to see our friends soon now. But as I just got down, a policeman announced that they had found him. We ran to the place. I was quite keen to meet Nitesh. So I ran my heart out, so did others. But then I saw Rahul coming back. He had tears in his eyes, for his best friend. I did try to calm him, but it's only useless to do that. Anyway, I tried to proceed to the place, this time I did not run. Infact, I wanted time to stop. But I was there at that site. Nitesh was lying face down. His shirt was taken off by the stream probably, which made it more horrific to look at him. His back had injury marks. His hands and legs were stiff. And his fingers wrinkled. I finally got the courage to sit besides Davind, who was there too, and stare at him for few minutes. I got a glimpse of his face, his eyes were closed. They could show the pain he had experienced, like the winced look we get when we are getting an injection shot. But somehow, it felt that he was playing a joke on us, that he would rise and scare the hell out of us and then laugh at us. But no. He did not. The 3km walk back to the checkdam where we first got the news was long and tiring. The painful part was waiting for Neha to be found, listening to the taunts by the policeman, their celebrations at finding a body and the media persons' relentless search for masala.

I got some people to leave the place as the media would start harassing those who knew them. But I think I wanted to flee, escape the truth. By the time we reached campus, Neha was found and all hope & joy was lost. We were lost for the next few days. I couldn't help imagining what it would be without Nitesh and Neha on the campus. Nitesh was undoubtedly one of the most utility guy on campus, he was also close to me because he was working with me on an event we organise. Neha, was one of the brightest of the lot, and the bubbliest and friendliest of all people in the campus.

Th real pain was inflicted by the stories thrown around by the media. The awkward statements by some officials and the pain of keeping their seats in the class unoccupied. But I know for certain that they have occupied a lot love and respect in my heart. Someone wisely said - you never will know the value of what you have, until you have lost it.

This is Nitesh and Neha

Two hours before reaching Choral

I feel Neha's eyes are still calling out to us.

----- They will be in our hearts forever ------