I’m late because I was stuck in a landslide!

 I’m late because I was stuck in a landslide!'

When I first heard this, I was not quite sure I’d heard it right. When I heard it a couple more time over the next few days, I thought it must be some local lingo when you don’t want to disclose the reason for not being punctual perhaps...

(On the way to Khonoma - photo courtesy CC)

Kohima was a beautiful place;, the hotel situated near the war cemetery was centrally located and the staff were all very friendly. They organised a guide to accompany Ripples* who was then quite small all over Kohima as she had her term break and had come along with Meeta* and me. In the evening the whole town looked like fairy-land covered in tiny , twinkling lights spread over the hills.It was light very early and dark very early and we couldn’t see the market as it closed by the time we finished work. The whole group assembled early one day so that we could leave a little earlier and see the local markets. The officials invited us home for dinners to taste what home cooked food was like in this exotic place.

And on the Sunday, we planned to go to Khonoma. Khonoma is an all green village about 20 kms away from Kohima, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1HwEO7k4YI  Having never been to one before we were really excited by the idea. 

We started out early, photographing the trees and plants and spider webs along the way and about 8-9 kms into the drive we heard strange churning noises. Suddenly we came across  two stationary cars on the narrow mountain road.. There was a landslide! We stepped out of the carb and joined others as we stared in wonder. Lots of wet slush came down the mountain side, gurgling, some spread on the road and the rest kept flowing down. Suddenly our legs were covered in slush and people were asking us to move back further. Meeta* who was with us lost her shoes as we moved away due to the force exerted by the wet, flowing mud. Obviously it was not possible to go any further and there was another car behind our car now. Our cabbie said we had to help move all the cars further back to keep them safe. That was the rule of the land. So we joined others and pushed all the four vehicles on our side back. 

By then, the local villagers had arrived with spades and shovels and we joined them in clearing the road. One of the cars on our side had a small marriage party with the bride dressed in white and a few other people. The bride was kept away but the others joined in the cleaning. More villagers poured in and in an hour or so we had cleared the road enough to cross on foot. People on both sides yelled and there was some negotiation about carrying the bride to the wedding in one of the cards on that side. So this transfer happened and courteous as the locals were, they offered to take us with them. Since, we were all gloriously muddy we declined and said we would just turn back from there, By now, some more villagers got tea and biscuits and we all sat on the side of the street and ate and drank, laughing and talking and expressing sorrow at the loss of Meeta’s shoes. We found some flowing water and cleaned ourselves a bit and then got back into the cab and came back to Kohima early afternoon,

So you didn’t go to Khonoma?, the hotel staff asked.’ No,’ I said, we were stuck in a landslide!’ And suddenly we were elevated to being local! 

P.S. Still haven’t 😊