Ghatsila: Exploring A Known Land or Facing A Changed Reality

Trying to put my words together so that I can write about a place which is known yet unknown to me. I am talking about my trip to Ghatsila. I am quite familiar with this place as it is the home town of my aunt and my brother. This is the 6^th time I have been to Ghatsila. Every time I visit the place, the  green hills, the meandering river, the lake and the small fountains sooth my eyes and rejuvenate my tired soul.  The beauty of the river or the charm of the hills are equally captivating each time, but the story is a little different this time.

Subarnarekha River, Ghatsila Photo by Deblina

I was excited when I boarded the train to Ghatsila, a small town in Jharkhand, India. At the same time I was scared too. Since the route of Steel Express is through the “danger zone”, I was worried whether my brother and I and the other passengers of the train would be able to reach the destination safely? The Maoists have disturbed the nation so terribly. The way they have troubled ordinary life was right in front my eyes as the destroyed compartments of Gyaneshwari Express were lying beside the train line, bearing the proof of the tremendous pain and the horror the victims of the accidents must have gone through. So the journey was devoid of the usual excitement of going back to nature that I have felt each time I have visited this picturesque place.

I was pleased to see my aunt after years but I knew from the beginning that this trip was going to be different. The next day three of us (my aunt, my elder brother and I) went to see Burudi, a beautiful lake surrounded by green hills.

Way to Burudi Dam, Ghatsila Photo by Deblina

As soon as we reached there, for a few minutes I forgot everything, forgot all the pains, all the troubles and the unresolved problems of my life. I was drinking the beauty and the serenity of the place.

Burudi Dam, Ghatsila Photo by Deblina

Suddenly something caught my attention and it was nothing but the unusual silence of the place.

Sunset at Burudi Dam, Ghatsila Photo by Deblina

When I visited Burudi for the first time there was no one else other than me, my brother and my elder sister. But it was because, Burudi was not a very popular tourist spot then and we visited the place in the month of April. It was extremely hot there and not the time for a tourist to come over there and appreciate the grandeur of Mother Nature. But I have visited this place several times afterwards and each time I have found it crowded with people from different parts of India. There were small food stalls. The local people have also made some boating arrangements for the tourists.

But this time there was nothing, neither the stalls nor the boating arrangements. I have visited the place just a week ago. It is monsoon and the weather is not unfavorable. Neither is the place infamous any more. The reason that people have stopped visiting this once popular picnic spot are the Maoists who are fighting “for the right of the under privileged people!”.

There is a lovely fall named Dharagiri just a few kilometers from Burudi. Nobody is permitted to go there these days. The armed polices don’t even dare to go to this place because a month back the Maoists have blown away a police jeep that was going towards Dharagiri.

Initially I enjoyed the peacefulness of the place.  I enjoyed being there ‘alone with nature’. As soon as I realized the reason behind such “quietness” I was shocked. People will no more be able to roam around this place freely, without fear. The worst thing that I could think of was the condition of the local people whose economic life was dependent on the tourists to a great extent and it reminded me of all other places like North Bengal, Kashmir, Assam and the endless names that can be tagged as “danger zone”.

And the questions ringing in my mind remained unanswered…. How long are we going to live with these threats? How many lives are to be sacrificed to BUY PEACE?