Sunil was walking through the jungle track. He had checked in the small hotel almost adjacent to the jungle of Sariska, Rajasthan. Once upon a time this used to be a thick sprawling jungle full of flora n fauna but now humans have taken upon the jungle land for agriculture and residential and commercial use pushing the animals back into the deeper part of the jungle.

He was looking for the ancient temple of Bhairav, the manager at the hotel had given him the direction which he followed to reach at the temple but found it in ruins and abandoned. He was told that the place is serene and has a calming effect on those who visit. He looked around the place which was much greener than the rest of the jungle that he had come through, he could hear the sound of flowing water at a distance, other than that there was pin-drop silence. He liked it. He thought, I will come again in the morning and explore further, maybe go and check the water source as well. Sunil is city bred, grown up and living in the busy Karol Bagh of Delhi where it is always noisy and full of people, he liked the jungle for the lack of those very thing. He really enjoyed the serenity of the place. “What a beautiful place, wonder who built this temple in the middle of the jungle?” he spoke to himself.

“Yes, indeed this is a beautiful place”. Someone spoke from his behind startling Sunil. He turned back to find his long-lost friend Vikas… “Is that you, Vikas?” he shouted in excitement.

The guy named Vikas is of the same age as Sunil but exceptionally slim and had a serious demeanour, he spoke slowly, “Yes, I am the forest officer here.”

“Where did you vanish after the college? I kept looking for you and got know that your family has moved away from Karol Bagh without any forwarding address.” Sunil asked.

“Well, my father, the only earning member, passed away suddenly, my maternal uncle took us to his home in Burdwan. He sent me to Guwahati, Assam to work at the company of his friend. The pay was very low, so I sat for the exams to get into a govt job and was selected to be the forest officer here.” Vikas told him again in a slow monotonous voice.

“So, how long are you here?” enquired Sunil.

“A little over a year now…” before Vikas could continue there were sounds of people approaching, probably a group of students in excursion or trek. Vikas became little agitated with the approaching noise, “I will go now, but come tomorrow, I will meet you here again. I have something to share with you” saying this Vikas walked into the thick foliage and vanished. Sunil waited for some time to see the group of teenagers walk by talking animatedly. Sunil thought, Vikas was his best friend in the college, quite upright, always standing up against any kind of atrocity, helping the weak in their fight for justice. He used to be quite sturdy, muscled and strong. What happened to him, he looks like skeleton now, maybe the life in the jungle has taken a toll on his health. Sunil followed the path taken by the teenagers to reach back to his hotel.

Just as he was entering his hotel, he saw there was a forest office on the opposite side. He hesitated a bit before approaching it. There were two forest officials sitting in the office, he asked one of them, “Do you know where I can find Vikas, about 30 years old, I believe he is a forest office here. I met him in the jungle few minutes back but he was in a hurry and left before I could take down his address.” The officers looked at each other and then at Sunil, anxiety mixed with fear was writ on their faces, the other officer in a cracked voice asked, “What name you said?”

“Vikas Dutta.” Sunil told him.

“Look, it’s a vast jungle with many forest offices and numerous officers and staff, it is not possible to know every individual. You may check at other camp offices.” The officer replied as a matter fact.

Sunil could sense, something was amiss, the officers were hiding information from him, but why? He couldn’t figure out but decided not to peruse further. He decided to go back to the temple and check if Vikas is still around there.

Sunil had a nap after lunch and woke up around 4 pm, got ready and left for the Bhairav temple. As he entered the jungle path leading to the temple, the weather changed, the air became still and heavy, there was absolute silence all around. Sunil was in a trance as he rapidly walked towards the temple. He reached the temple and shouted, “Vikas, Vikas, where are you”? there was no response, he walked up the broken steps of the temple, the door was closed. It has been closed for many years now with mud accumulating at the base making it difficult to open. He tried to push but failed.

Sunil wondered if Vikas would still be around in this part of the jungle? He was questioning himself, why did he come here in this darkening evening. Surely, Vikas have to be present at other locations of the jungle as well and he wouldn’t be waiting for him here. He decided to return to the hotel.

As he turned from the temple, he was surprised to see Vikas standing at a distance from him wearing the same uniform of the forest officer that he was wearing in the morning, though his hair was in disarray. “Where did you vanish in the morning and why? I went to enquire about you at the forest office but they couldn’t tell me anything about you”. Sunil spoke with mild irritation in his voice.

“I knew you will come; I was waiting for you since morning” Vikas spoke, again slowly in the same monotonous voice.

“But did you run away? Why are you scared of the people?” Sunil asked angrily.

He could sense visible fear on his friend’s face, he looked terrified of some unknown fear. Vikas looked around and then spoke, almost whispering, “They are looking for me, if they catch me…” before he could finish, a voice came through, “Hey, hey, hey…” a shepherd boy trying to control his flock of sheep and making the sound. Sunil watched them go past and turned towards Vikas only to find that he has vanished again.

“Hey, Vikas, where are you?” he shouted. “I need to talk to you, come out.”

Vikas came out from behind the temple. “What’s wrong with you? Why do you hide as soon as other people appear? What are you afraid of? I am a journalist with ANI, I can surely help, you just have to ask…I know lot of senior officers in the govt and police department, I can talk to them” Sunil said.

The eyes of Vikas lighted up for a moment, then he said, “Forget about me, it’s getting dark in the jungle, you better leave now. The jungle is not a safe place after dark.”

“Okay fine, but you walk with me to my hotel, we can talk there… let’s have dinner together. We are meeting after such a…” Sunil couldn’t finish, sound of a motorcycle approaching could be heard. He looked at Vikas but he was nowhere to be seen. Sunil jumped on the temple parapet and hid behind a pillar. The motorcycle came into view, two forest officers with rifles were riding, they stopped at the temple and one of them went to the temple door to check. He shouted back, “All is okay.” Then they rode on to the forest path. Sunil came out in the open, so did Vikas. “Come here in the morning, I will tell you my story” saying this Vikas walked into the dense forest and vanished.

Sunil couldn’t sleep well throughout the night and kept thinking about Vikas… what he’s afraid of and what story he wants to tell me… he finally slept in the wee hours of the morning.

He had a quick breakfast and left for the Bhairav Temple. He has only this morning to find out the mystery of Vikas, tomorrow, he must join office .  

He reached the temple premises half expecting to find Vikas but there was no one in the vicinity, the air is still and kind of heavy. He decided to wait for some time, since he has come, no point turning back without knowing the story of Vikas. He waited for almost half hour and still no signs of Vikas, he thought, probably, Vikas has nothing to say, I am wasting time…

“I am here” hearing the faint voice of Vikas, he turned around.

Vikas was standing near the temple door, he hand signaled Sunil to come close. Vikas pushed the door and it opened with crackling noise. He went inside and asked Sunil to follow.

Sunil stopped on his track, as a rotten, putrid smell emanated from inside the temple. He took out his handkerchief to mask his nose from the foul smell before entering the temple.

The idol inside temple looked terrifying with vermillion pasted on the upper portion of the face, the temple was dark except the light coming through the open door. Sunil switched on his phone light. The idol was broken at many places looking even more grotesque. Vikas was at the back of the idol and asked Sunil to come there.

Vikas pointed at the corner of the platform of the idol. Sunil could make out that the brick there is loose as if it was taken out and placed again. “Look under it.” Vikas whispered.

Sunil lifted the brick to find a packet in the hollow under the brick. “What’s inside the packet?” he asked but there was no response. He looked where Vikas was standing but an emptiness looked back to him. Suddenly, he started shivering, he called out, “Vikas, where are you?” only his voice echoed back. He was perspiring now; with great effort he came out running and did not stop till he reached the safety of his hotel room.

Once he had calmed down, he opened the packet. A pen-drive fell out of it; also, a notebook and an unsealed envelope addressed to Vikas’s mother. Against his principles, he decided to read the letter…

“Dear Maa,

I am in grave danger here in the forest camp. There are three forest officers in connivance with a poacher is doing great harm to the forest. They are killing the animals for their skin and other body parts and selling them at high prices. I have photographed them in action and recorded them in the pen-drive. These people have come to know that I know about their illegal operation. They came to my home few days back but fortunately I wasn’t at home then. Since then, I am hiding from them…don’t know how long I can evade these people…they are many… a gang. They have been threatening me to hand over the pictures or else they will kill me. I am not scared to die but I am going to expose these evil people. Don’t worry for me.

Your loving son,

Vikas”

Sunil sat with the letter for some time thinking about next course of action. The letter was dated four months ago and the envelope had an address. He wondered with whom he had been interacting in the jungle! He made up his mind. He packed up, paid the hotel bill and drove back to Delhi.

Sunil remained busy with office work all through the week but on the weekend drove down to Noida at the address mentioned on the envelope. Vikas’s mother told him that about three months back, the forest department informed her that Vikas is missing after he went for the evening round of the forest and they fear that he may have become a victim of tiger attack deep inside the jungle.

Sunil could figure out the entire story, his friend has been murdered in cold blood. He set up a meeting with the Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) with all the evidence which Vikas had documented in the pen-drive. He also showed his last letter to his mother and photographs taken by Vikas before his brutal murder.

Next, he published the complete story as a syndicated news which was carried by all the leading news publishing houses. The news channels on television picked up the story and flashed it on their prime time. The social media carried it further to create a pressure on the administration to act on it. The police arrested the culprits who admitted to the killing; the skeleton of Vikas was dug out from behind the temple, his mother identified it through the gold ring still hanging on his finger.

Sunil attended the cremation of Vikas and carried his ashes to Haridwar to immerse in the Ganges.