Adventure Plus

Some people believe Plan A never works. They’re usually right. Because, when Raju, Dilip, Parminder, Saif and David — best friends for life — decided to go on the best camping trip of their lives before tenth grade started, their trip didn’t go according to plan. Well, it all started at Raju’s home. Raju, the middle-class poster child, scored the most marks of the five. Now, if you think that’s high praise, it’s not. David and Dilip’s most frequent grade is their initial - D. And while Parminder is not as bad as them, a C is still a low grade. That leaves you with Raju and Saif — the two polar opposites. While Raju is an ambitious kid with, as he’d like to remind, “unreasonably conservative parents”, Saif is a timid, rich kid with parents who let him do whatever he likes. This is why these two often get fighting and the whole group of five then gets dragged down into a drawn-out staring competition. If you think that’s just an incredibly specific one-off occurrence, you’re wrong. Every single time you can have two opinions on something — Raju and Saif will have them. Raju is vegetarian, Saif is not. Saif’s bicycle, which, as Raju likes to point out, “his rich parents imported for him”, has tubeless tires, but Raju refuses to have tubeless tires on his bicycle. Raju is the school’s football captain, Saif can barely kick a half-inflated ball. Basically, they are like the poles and the tropics — never thinking the same way.

Well, they did think the same way, and of course annoying the other.

“It was my idea,” Raju growled as he dialed Saif.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Saif, pick up the phone,” Saif’s mother pointed.

Saif accepted the call and put it on speakerphone.

“Hey, Saif.”

“Hey, Raju.”

“Well, explain this. You stole my idea!”

“What sort of idea are we talking about?”

“Don’t act innocent, you liar!”

“Ugh, be clear.”

“Well, it was my idea for me, Parminder, Dilip and David to go for a camping trip to Konkan.”

“But it was my idea that me, Dilip, David and Parminder go to Konkan. Not you, Raju!”

“Well, it has to be my idea. If you got good ideas, we’d win the School Innovation Fest in fifth grade when you were group leader, unlike all the other times, when I was leader.”

“That was five years ago! And besides, improving the motor car by making the headlights a millimeter taller is a brilliant idea, and it is just that the judges liked a very efficient way of turning nuclear energy into electricity for no good reason.”

“Well, there’s a good reason — unlike you, the guy who made the nuclear energy thing had some purpose other than just making the headlights just a little taller!”

“Uh, whatever. Anyways, I’m calling the Ds and Parminder and telling them that I’m taking them to Konkan.”

“No you won’t!”

“Yes, I will. I have two phones, remember!”

Raju muted the call.

“Mom, can I have your phone?” Raju called out.

“No. You have your own phone and WiFi. Why should I give you my phone?’

“I want it now!”

“Well, you can’t have it. Besides, I have got work to do!”

Raju unmuted the call.

“Ugh.”

“You want to come?’

“Well, at least it’s better than having dummies for parents.”

—

The kids arrived at the campsite. Located close to the Western coast of India, a vast evergreen forest nestled in the Deccan plateau. Boundless skies peered through the dense vegetation. The children were surrounded by Gautam, a tourist guide of twenty-four, wearing khaki shorts and shirts, binoculars suspended from his neck. The boys were all pacing towards the camp site. In the middle of the forest lay the camp site. With a bonfire pit in the middle, and surrounded by markings to put their tents on, it was the place they were supposed to stay at.

“Wow, having rich parents really gives you an advantage while booking trips! Who would’ve thought!” Raju snarked.

“Quit snarking, and get building!” Parminder yelled.

“Bro, cool down!” David said.

—

Raju needed to go to the bathroom, so, he just walked out of the site and on towards the forest field. The forest was dense and the sun set just a little bit deeper with every step. He then went on with his business and decided to set back for the camp. But, in the dark of night, every single vision was blurry and he couldn’t find his way back home. Suddenly, his feet began to stick, he pushed his feet inside. His feet were stuck in mud!

“Help! Help!” he yelled.

Meanwhile, a group of young tribal men were going back to their village, when they spotted Raju sinking into mud. They quickly hurried to grab him and pulled him firmly out of the mud. After a couple minutes spent staring at each other, they began talking in Marathi.

“Where were you going?” the young men asked.

“Back to my campsite.”

“It’s a bit too dark to return there now, so we invite you to our village. You can spend the night there, and we can leave for your camp in the morning.

Meanwhile, the four friends were concerned. They searched for him for a bit, but as the sun settled a little bit, they headed back to camp. They couldn’t dare sleep that night, not even Saif. They dialed his number, but he had put his phone on silent mode!

—

The tribal village was small. In the distance, a half-paved road gave way to a dirt field, surrounded by thatched-roof huts. There was electricity in most of the houses, but the lights were dim and few. The two men put a towel on Raju’s body and took him to a hut. There, they served him water and a traditional lamb stew.

Raju dialed his friends and told them the whole story in detail. There, a little girl of eight, one of the young men’s niece, pestered her.

“What is this?” She said pointing to his smartphone.

“That is my phone. Haven’t you seen one?’ Raju said.

“Yes, I have seen a phone, but I have never seen one this tall — or without buttons!”

Raju, in his thoughts, was now a changed boy. From being the discontent and ungrateful boy he was, he had learnt of the life of those who don’t have as many privileges. Or loving parents. It was truly a humbling experience.

Start writing here…