Miles of Memories: A Journey Beyond Distance

A short story by Shambhavi Saw

B.A. English, Semester (ii)

Nava Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda

It was early morning when a sudden thought woke me up — the walk. It was 13th December, and our university was taking us on an International Peace Walk. 

    I saw Maa busy with household work, so I helped her for a while. Just then, my phone rang. It was Adi, calling to check whether I was awake and reminding me to wake Aaru up as well. I immediately called Aaru and asked, “Are you awake?” We decided to go together. I was extremely excited because I had never gone on such a long walk before — only short ones here and there.

    Soon, everything became chaotic. Maa was doing her prayers, I was getting ready, food was still being prepared, and it was already 9 a.m. Aaru kept calling me — she had already taken the bus and reached the university. I wasn’t ready yet, so I told her to go ahead and that I would come by the next bus.

    It was the day of our 15 km walk — AN INTERNATIONAL PEACE WALK.

   I stood in the kitchen, urging Maa to cook faster. Suddenly, Papa came from behind and said, “Why are you still here? Aren’t you going? You’re late as always!” Everyone laughed, and I felt helpless. Finally, at 9:25 a.m., Maa handed me my lunch. I grabbed it and ran.

    When I reached the university, I saw eight buses lined up. I boarded Bus No. 5 and joined my friends and seniors. As usual, I was the last one to arrive.

    The bus started moving, and I felt relieved. It was going to be a great trip. We teased each other, laughed loudly, and enjoyed the moment. Soon, breakfast boxes and water were distributed. I wasn’t hungry, so I kept mine aside. I noticed some people throwing waste outside the bus, which I didn’t like at all.

    

    We soon reached Jethian. The bus stopped in an open field crowded with people. The area wasn’t very clean, but there was a stage where a little girl was dancing beautifully. We clicked photos, had coffee, and listened to a speech by Vic Sir. I even played badminton with Anni Ma’am.

    Then, the walk finally began.

  People walked energetically as we crossed villages. Gradually, we were surrounded by forests, trees, mountains, and bright sunlight. By afternoon, the weather grew hot, and we removed our sweaters. When we reached Nature Safari, we thought the journey was over.

   But then Bhaiya told us that we had already walked about 3 km and that more distance still remained. Later, we came to know that instead of 15 km, we would walk around 10 km in total. Even then, it felt much longer than we had imagined.

   After a short rest, we started walking again — now feeling more tired. Some of my friends passed us sitting comfortably on a Toto. I was tempted, but I decided to continue walking. Some others joined them.

   After some distance, we met our friends near the glass bridge. That was when Suhu and Shivi accidentally applied roll-on oil too close to their eyes. Their eyes began burning badly, and they panicked for a moment. We helped them wash their faces, and after some time, they felt better. Even during that uncomfortable situation, we couldn’t stop laughing a little. Then we sat down, ate our lunch, and prepared ourselves to walk again.

   As the evening approached, the sun slowly turned red. The view of the sunset against the silent mountains and tall trees was breathtaking. I wondered how ancient people managed to walk such long distances — how strong they must have been. Despite our aching legs, we admired the valleys, clicked photos, and continued moving forward.

   Eventually, we reached Sone Bhandar, but it was not close at all. It felt very far, and by then we had already walked nearly 10 km. Our legs were trembling, our shoulders hurt, and every step felt heavier than the last. That was when we truly realised how much we had walked.

   An ambulance arrived to help exhausted participants. One person had injured his leg badly, but kept walking because he couldn’t find the ambulance earlier, which made the swelling worse. The dusty road and safari vehicles passing by made the journey even more tiring.

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   Finally, the ambulance returned for us. There wasn’t enough space, but we squeezed in anyway. We were practically piled on top of one another — someone’s leg over another’s shoulders, someone half-sitting, half-standing. I was stuck between packets of wafers. Even though I felt nauseous due to motion sickness, I kept motivating myself: “We’ll reach soon.”

   Just when we thought the day was ending peacefully, chaos suddenly erupted near Sone Bhandar.

   Loud shouting filled the air. At first, we didn’t understand what was happening. Then we heard that some police officers had argued with our professors. The argument quickly became serious, and it was said that the police had used force and even detained one of our professors. Seeing this, students became angry and emotional. They began raising slogans and protesting loudly. For a few tense moments, it felt nothing like a Peace Walk. There was confusion, fear, and anger everywhere. Teachers tried to manage the situation, and after discussions, the professor was finally released. Slowly, the noise faded, and the situation came under control.

   The Peace Walk had briefly felt like a battlefield.

    After everything settled, we finally reached Venu Van. By then, the sky had darkened, and we were completely exhausted.

   At Venu Van, I went to the restroom. When I came back, I saw that no one was there, and it was already dark. I tried to call my friend. Anu picked up and told me where she was, but I couldn’t understand the direction. I turned on my torch and decided to find my way myself. I was a little scared.

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  Soon, I met a foreign woman and tried to ask her if she knew where my university group was. She didn’t understand me. I asked, “Are you lost?” She replied, “Temple? Are you searching for the temple?” I said no and continued walking. She found her people, and once again, I was alone. Later, I met Dhama Bhaiya, who helped me find my friends.

  At night, we sat together in a hall. We played games and laughed, forgetting our exhaustion for a while. Because it was getting darker, Aaru and I left with Nitya Di. We lost our way due to the darkness and the trees, but finally we found the exit. We took a Toto and then a bus and reached home safely.

   I was very tired and went straight to bed. While lying there, thoughts of the entire journey came to my mind. It had been exhausting, emotional, and unexpected — but beautiful in its own way. With thoughts about the trip and the next day’s worries, I finally fell asleep.