Mountain Dew

Mom I don’t want to work. This is my summer vacations and I want to relax and enjoy home food, family and friends. You know how difficult it is for me at the college hostel in Delhi.

Arrey Chimmi, this is the peak tourist season and we don’t have enough hands to manage the people. We need to do good business now because once winter arrives, we hardly get any guests. I agree that you need to relax and enjoy your holidays but a couple of hours during the day are all that I am asking for. If your dad had been around, I would not have asked for any help.

Now the mother had touched an emotional chord, Chimmi would find it impossible to say no to the mother’s request. Five winters ago, her father, Norgay Namgyal had braved a blizzard to rescue two tourists stuck in higher regions of Chakrata but he himself succumbed to hypothermia. He had started the café at their hometown in the upper regions of Uttarakhand after quitting his routine job at Delhi. He loved the hills and always wanted to be close to nature. With all his savings NN had built the café as an extension to their ancestral home. Locals had made fun of him to even think of setting up a café where not many visitors came but NN was clear in his mind. He would serve the local food to tourists and it would not be for profits but to keep the fire in the kitchen burning and stay engaged. Chimmi was his only daughter and he gave her the best of education while at Delhi and she managed to get admission into Miranda House at Delhi University and stayed in the college hostel. To the amazement of all, including NN, the café soon gained prominence and with the advent of the social media and Chimmi’s skills on FB, Instagram and more, good name spread far and wide and a visit to the NN Café was a must for every tourist in the region.

That’s not fair Mom. You always bring up dad’s name whenever you want anything from me. Okay, I will give you a hand but won’t promise the greatest service to the visitors. Plus, I don’t like those young men who come in from the plains. They think us Tibetans to be easy meat for them. Their looks are so piercing that I can feel them even with my back towards them.

Don’t worry Chimmi, if anyone acts funny, you know what to do… kick him out! Your dad has taught you everything on self-defence that even the great Shifu hadn’t taught the Kung Fu Panda.

Ok mom. At your service.

It was a quiet day and a few tourists trickled in. Chimmi and Sonam, the Man Friday of the café, made sure the service was good while the mother took care of the cooking. Chimmi made sure she played the latest music instead of the usual folk songs and the youngsters quite liked it.  In her spare time she would go through the response book where most of the people had written well about the food and the service. Chimmi felt a sense of pride in what her parents had built brick by brick. The tips given by the guests were always handed over to Sonam, as a matter of tradition, and never kept back by the family. He too had been part of the NN journey over the years and more of a family and partner than a help.

By evening, more people came in and it included a bunch of good-looking youngsters. Their hair cut gave the impression that they were from the armed forces for the school for guerrilla warfare was in this remote hilly town. One of them shouted… Hello… can someone take the order. Chimmi looked at Sonam to go to them but our Man Friday had his hands full with plates he was clearing from another table. Chimmi reluctantly went with her small pad and pen in hand…. Yes…

What’s good here?

Everything we serve is good. What do you wish to order?

Please serve the goodie goods then….and he started laughing with others joining in.

Chimmi looked at them angrily and was about to shout when the young man quickly got up from his seat and with folded hands…Sorry Ma’am. Didn’t mean to mock you. We’ve had a terrible day at the course today and just wanted to laugh it out to forget the pain. If we have offended you in any way, please accept my apology.

Chimmi was taken aback at this sudden change of stance and the look in the young tall man’s eyes seemed genuine and she just couldn’t charge him. Instead she smiled back and made a loud announcement that all guests could hear … one round of dim sum on the house for the brave soldiers here!

All seemed good and the folks ate a lot of food and hot beverages and were mighty pleased from the way they left behind a hefty tip. Sonam was delighted. On his way out the young soldier pushed forward his hand towards Chimmi…. Captain Vikram D’Souza. Hope you are not angry with me anymore?

She at first gave him a smug look and then smiled and then, finally, shook hands…. Chomulungma Namgyal…Chimmi.

The army officers were regulars at the cafe when they were at Chakrata.  They were usually here for a short special program. From their talks at the cafe that Chimmi and her mom could overhear, it seemed that the course was very difficult where they were taught the most difficult of survival tactics as well as the art of warfare. This was a vital arm of the defence forces and prepared a contingent of the best fighters… almost Indian equivalent to Rambo.

Vikram was of course the most regular of the guests that came and would find excuses to chat with Chimmi almost every day. She too did not mind his company. They seemed to be on the same wave length and spoke freely on many subjects from politics to art to music and more. Soon she too got so used to the soldiers coming that she, in fact, waited for them anxiously. Chimmi’s mom noticed and so did Sonam and the other locals.

Chimmi…you can take a few days off.

No Mum, I want to help you.

Hmmmm… help me or you are having ideas about the army-wala? Let me give you a piece of advice that only a mother can give. These people come here for a little while and often the local girls get carried away in the hope that they will have a good life as wives of army officers. It never happens. They are here just for temporary fun. So don’t fall in love, darling.

Love… no never Mum. You think I am a fool. Your daughter is smart and will always be a step ahead of these city smarties.

Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. Now carry on with your work.

Things were going good for the Café as the place was full round the clock. Chimmi ‘s summer break was soon going to end and, for once, she wanted to stay back longer. She stayed up one night with the lights out, gazing at the sparkling diamonds in the clear sky above,  and thinking about what to say to Vikram before she went back to the college. She wondered how he would react…will he get angry…will he get surprised and, most importantly, will he reciprocate or was she just being a fool on the hills as her mother said…. She hardly slept that night and then the next day she dressed up better than usual and put an extra pack of make up for she was determined to speak her heart out to Vikram, no matter what happened.

That evening Chimmi kept waiting but none of the soldiers came. The café was full and the guests kept her busy and, despite being distracted, she continued serving all with an eye to the door, wanting to see Vikram walk in. It never happened. Late into the night the mother and daughter finished their dinner and retired for the day. Chimmi slipped inside the blanket and sobbed like a little girl. She took courage to text Vikram for the first time…. She saw his smart DP…. So far she did not have to either call him or text him but today she was disappointed and sad and wanted some answers from him.

Hi V… hope all good. You and your friends did not come today. Missed you all.

She did not know whether to sign off with the usual emoji or write the four letters… she just wrote Chimmi and touched the send button.

She saw the two grey ticks… the message had been delivered and she waited for the ticks to turn blue and then of course the response from Vikram. Every two minutes she would check her phone but the ticks remained grey. Maybe he had kept the settings such that he did not want people to know about the read status. That is fine but why doesn’t he reply to me… she wondered. Maybe in the army cantonment, the soldiers are not allowed to communicate as freely as we do… she thought and consoled herself.

Next day, too, the people from the army unit did not come to the café. There was no message from Vikram either. Chimmi was now worried and upset. She had to find out.

Mom, I am going off to Delhi day after tomorrow. I will take a day off from the café and meet my friends and spend some time with them.

Ok, go ahead Chimmu… you’ve been such a darling. You deserve a break.

Chimmi reached the gate of the army cantonment next afternoon and was hoping to meet some of Vikram’s friends coming out. She kept waiting but none of the known people came out except a few large trucks and jeeps. She even went to the gate to speak to the guards stationed there and asked them about Captain Vikram but they did not say anything. Disappointed, she returned home. The café was still bustling. She went to her room to pack her bags, quietly crying alone. Next morning, she took the bus to Dehradun from where she got the bus to Delhi.

Once college started, Chimmi got along with the new life but when alone in the evenings, she would keep looking at her phone…. No call… no message. Then one day, the hostel in-charge called her to her office.

Come down here. There is someone here to meet you.

She did not ask who and just rushed down to the warden’s office where she found herself facing a smart and elegant couple in their early fifties. The warden left the room to the trio.

Hello Chomulungma or should we call you Chimmi. You have a lovely name…. Mount Everest is what it means, right?

She nodded her head and looked surprised.

We are parents of Captain Vikram D’Souza. He told us about you. He would talk about you every night that we spoke to him while he was at Chakrata. Maybe you do not know, while doing one of the survival training sessions, Vikky missed a step and the mountains are not the forgiving kind. We lost him forever. He was our only child. He was like the morning dew which shone at the break of day and brought life into our home. We just wanted to meet you once and so we are here.

Chimmi rushed into the open arms of Vikky’s mother and broke down. It took quite some time before they could calm her. Then the father spoke...

Will you come and stay with us. We stay very close to your college and will love to have you at home with us while you are studying.  We will find our way out of the grief together.

SS

Picture courtesy: TT, my friend from the hills.