Nilu had just got off the elliptical trainer and was still panting heavily and sweating profusely when he overheard a conversation. "I was blown over by it", Claude was telling Steffi. "At what time did you reach?" Nilu heard Steffi inquire. "Around three in the afternoon", Claude replied."Hey Steffi, hi Claude", Nilu chimed in, "when did you return from Vegas and how was your trip?" Claude smiled and shaking Nilu's hand replied, "I returned on Thursday. It was a wonderful trip. I have been to so many places but never before did I see the sun setting in such beauty and grandeur as in Arizona, at the Grand Canyon. And how magnificent that Canyon is! It is so huge and so picturesque that all my senses were overwhelmed. We saw the sun set from Hopi Point. No visit to the Grand Canyon is complete unless you stayed for the sunset. The whole canyon was refulgent in a reddish tinge and as the colors of the sun, the shadows of the canyon and the light of the day danced about the canyon, myriad hues were created; it was just amazing", said Claude with a long-drawn sigh.
For the last six years that Nilanjan Karmakar has been in Toronto, he had never visited any place other than Gerard street for a taste of Indian food and groceries, the nearby islands for summer recreation, the local library to quench his thirst for knowledge and occasionally to the Harbourfront center and the Rogers Stadium. He however never felt lonely, as he had a very close group of friends- two to be precise and both bachelors. Everyday after office the three would assemble at Nilu's house for a game of cards or for a movie. And most of the time dinner would come from a local Gujarati restaurant very close to Nilu's apartment. His bachelorhood was very precious to Nilu and he intended to preserve it with utmost diligence.
It was almost ten past eleven and Nilu should have reached his friend's apartment by now, as was customary for him on Sunday mornings. But today Nilu would not leave home. He would do something unprecedented; something that had probably never crossed anyone's mind. As Nilu sat down on the rich burgundy futon rubbing the last trickles of sweat off his sideburns and forehead, he pulled the table close to him. He would journey to search for the truth. He began browsing for the most famous sunset points in the world. Nilu remembered an incident from long ago. On his eighth birthday, his parents had taken him to Darjeeling, a small hill station in the province of West Bengal in India. He remembered how on a bitterly damp and cold morning, his parents pulled him out of bed and asked him to get dressed up. They would visit the Tiger Hill, the summit of Ghoom. It was the highest railway station on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which was famous for spectacular sunrise view over the Himalayas. The rest of the story seemed muffled now. He only remembered being stubborn and reluctant, how he had wanted to stay home and sleep and how the entire time of the sunrise he had kept sulking and pouting. There was nothing extraordinary about the sunrise at Tiger Hill; Nilu, now a man of forty seven thought to himself. Neither was the sunset at Puri as enthralling as people had promised it would be. Had his lack of maturity inhibited his inner eye of appreciation? Google was repeatedly suggesting a few destinations over and over again. Nilu copied them onto an excel sheet, worked out some figures and after almost three hours of weighing and meditating he finally came to a decision. He would travel to five different destinations: The Grand Canyon, Ipanema beach, Serengeti forest, the Egyptian pyramids and finally to the Taj Mahal, from where he would return to Canada. Nilu punched in ten digits and a travel agent answered the call.
Nilu: Hello Mr. Chang, this is Nilanjan Karmakar. We had spoken once regarding a Canada- India return trip.
Chang: Yes yes, I remember you Mr. Karmakar. Tell me, is it the same one again?
Nilu: This time it is a bigger trip. When is the best time to drop in at your office?
Chang: I am free this evening.
Nilu: See you around five then.
Nilu was besides himself with joy. For the first time in forty seven years of his life, he was going on a vacation by himself. Till his parents were alive, they had always accompanied him on his journeys and with them gone, he had lost all interest in traveling. The last time he had visited India was when his parents died in a tragic car accident and he was left alone forever. His uncle's insistence too had failed to move Nilu from his resolve of not returning to his homeland. "We are finally going to meet after a long time" Nilu thought aloud, as he stared at the name Taj Mahal written in bold on the excel sheet.
The next few months went by as fast as water snakes in stagnant ponds. Visas, documents, tickets, calculating the expenses, arranging for the money, applying for leaves; he had never been so busy. And as Nilu kept ticking off items on the checklist, he became more and more impatient to set out on his expedition.
The days of waiting ended. Everything was in place. All necessary documents and his passport were in the travel pouch, the bags were ready and by the door, his anxious and excited friends were embracing him and wishing him luck and everything was playing at a tremendously slow motion inside Nilu's head.
Finally at the airport, alone and brooding, Nilu felt slight tremors down his knees. His throat kept drying up as he kept thinking about the entire journey and slight clouds of sweat gathered around his eyebrows. He checked his watch. It was almost time for the announcements; and no sooner had he thought about it, than the microphone crackled and came to life: "Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for WestJet flight 1116 to Las Vegas. We are now inviting passengers with small children..." Nilu's heart skipped a beat. Now there was no going back. Flinging his satchel across his shoulder, Nilu began his Herculean jaunt.
By quarter past eleven Nilu had landed in the Sin City. He could see the Vegas skyline across the runway and hear his heart beating in his throat. Over the years he had heard so much about this temptress and had so many times fancied himself on the CSI team, cracking cases with the lash of his sharp intellect. He was really in that Vegas, thought Nilu as he joined the flow to the baggage claim.
In Vegas, Nilu spent two entire days and nights. Hopping from Mandalaya Bay to Fremont Street and stopping here and there in between, Nilu won a lot gambling and lost it all and more. Gorgeous girls, pretty lads, sound and light, smell and sight, Nilu breathed all in and captured everything on his Fuji HS10. The next day he would be heading towards the first destination in search of truth. He would be going to the calm and colossal canyon.
On the afternoon of 5th April, Nilu reached Grand Canyon. Standing at Hopi point, Nilu breathed in a new kind of fragrance; the fragrance of freedom, the fragrance of limitless expanse. A tear or two of exhilaration trickled down or may be it was a doing of the wind, but Nilu decided that he had had enough for the time being and would return before sunset. A little after five in the evening Nilu started walking towards the Rim trail from Maswick lodge, where he had rented a room. Walking westwards for about a mile, he returned to Hopi point. The sun started going down around half past six and Nilu watched in breathless silence as the shadows and colors leapt up and jumped down in unpremeditated art. In the following half hour, the camera had captured more than a dozen photographs and Nilu returned to his lodge, smiling the most contented smile that he had ever smiled.
Reaching Rio from Vegas was quite an ordeal. After flying for almost twenty one hours, and taking two stops, Nilu finally landed at the Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont Airport at around three in the afternoon, on the 9th of April. He had lost an entire day as a result of traveling east. But that did not worry Nilu; he was drinking life to the lees. The airport was in the heart of the Rio de Janeiro city, so reaching his downtown hotel was not difficult. The following five days passed between jet lag and sightseeing and Nilu did all that his frail body, long unaccustomed to rigorous traveling, could endure. He tried the Feijoada, washed it down with Caipirinha and then floated about on the streets, teeming with hundreds of pedestrians. Centro cultural do Banco do Brasil, Casa Brasil França, Centro cultural dos correiros, Museu nacional de belas artes, everything around him was alive with fun, melody and laughter. Nilu took a city tour which included a visit to the statue of Christ the Redeemer and a cable car ride to Morro da Urca. Later, he spent some quiet time by himself, pondering over the last few days, at the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon. "What was I doing all these years!" Nilu cried out in delightful amazement.
Extending for about two kilometers, the Ipanema was a beach of silvery white sand. "Tall and tanned and young and lovely...When she moves it's like a samba that swings so cool and sways so gently..." Nilu smiled to himself as he looked around in amusement. And after navigating his way through bars, restaurants, cafes and gorging himself on Globo cookies, corn on the cob and grilled shrimps, Nilu plopped down on the sand, filled to the top like a pitcher. The blazing orange orb gradually dipped itself into the depths of the cool blue sea and his camera filled with memories, Nilu returned to his hotel to start packing for the African escapade.
From Brazil to Tanzania, Nilu slept as much as he could. He ate very little, left his seat only the two times that he was required to change flights and reached Serengeti on a hot wet afternoon. Serengeti could well have been named serenity, thought Nilu, as his plane from Arusha alighted on the Seronera Airstrip in the heart of the national park. The high expenditures involved in staying in this wild garden of Eden had forced Nilu to sojourn at Serengeti for merely three exclusive nights, which he would spend in a safari camp. Once off his airplane, Nilu was escorted by Odongo, his tour operator, to the first camping site. Here a thatched tent furnished with a classic interior awaited him in hermetic cordiality. Camping at Klein's, Nilu encountered two august members of the cat family: a strong and beautiful lioness glistening under the fiery sun and an elusive leopard crouched upon a thick bough of a huge tree. Distant calls of hyenas, chirping of birds, rhythmic beats of hooves and occasional trumpets of elephants rang through the vast barren plains of Serengeti. The land here seemed to move forever. Proceeding from the Grumeti River Camp to Serengeti Under Canvas, Nilu saw beasts both great and small; massed herds stirring the dust, hippos grunting, gazelles sprinting, elephants immersed in their mud bath, zebras rubbing their heads against each other and unperturbed crocodiles in waterholes . Trees too, there were many. The lean tall Acacia standing lonely, deep green Doum palms shiny and succulent under the blazing sun and proud baobab trees whose branches looked like gnarled roots ,were among the few that Odongo pointed out along their journey. A couple from New York, another from Texas and a photographer from Australia had been accompanying Nilu on his wild African safari and every evening they would sit huddled together near the bonfires, sipping steaming hot coffee and watching the sun go down in majestic splendor. The vast open skies of Serengeti was a kaleidoscope of ever changing colors and the sun would very tardily melt down this sublime canvas streaking shades of pastel hues till a sudden curtain of darkness would engulf the entire plain. And as he sat photographing this expansive beauty of fire, Nilu would often get goosebumps watching animal silhouettes against the setting sun, reminiscing scenes from The Lion King.
Leaving the land of the wild cats, Nilu began traveling eastwards towards the land of the Pharaohs, on the 16th of April. From JRO to Mombasa, to Addis Ababa to Cairo, it took Nilu eleven and half hours to reach his destination. However tired he was, nothing could dampen his spirits as Nilu collected his bags, some local currency and then hop-skipping his way through the chaos stricken Cairo roads, reached his hotel in Giza early in the evening of 17th April. The constant swerving of time zones had tossed Nilu's hibernation cycle into a perpetual uncertainty. So after a disruptive sopor Nilu rose early and greeted the rising sun from the window of his room. The following few days were spent hotfooting across Cairo. The Babylon Fortress, Hanging Church, museums, tombs, mosques and towers, Egypt abounded in historical monuments standing in quiet dignity in the drifting sand. The lofty relics deluged his mind and Nilu felt cloistered, introspective and tranquil. A similar feeling prevailed as Nilu headed towards the south of the Pyramids at Giza and sat down on the dunes, to wait for the sun to go down. The eye of heaven started closing down on Cairo around six in the evening. And as Nilu kept searching for new angles to shoot from, the Olympian disc turned golden from yellow, then orange and finally sank behind the great pyramids, enshrouded in blood red clouds. As soon as the city was plunged into darkness, and the numerous incandescent lamps brightened up, Nilu headed towards the Khan Al-Khaili bazar. Here he hunted for the cheapest buffet, consumed a hearty dinner of taa'miya and fetyeer, caught up with a Belly dancing show, and then returned to his hotel a little after half past ten. Lying in his soft white bed, Nilu could see his old beloved Delhi increasingly lustrous across the ceiling. It flickered and floated and then vanished as he gradually drifted off to sleep.
The lukewarm city witnessed a long awaited reunion on a cumbrous humid evening. "Mama!"cried an emotional Nilu as he embraced his maternal uncle affectionately. Six years ago his uncle had seemed so much more stout and young; something seemed to have stripped him of his verve. And Nilu resolved to restore his uncle to his old vitality. Time flew fast at uncle's Kalkaji flat. Familiar anecdotes, aunt's toothsome home cooked food and lots of stories of Nilu's recent adventures had begun returning the ruddiness on his uncle's cheeks. Together the three toured entire Delhi and Nilu visited the house where he had been born and brought up, his old school and college, friends, neighbors and a host of other places where bits of him still lay scattered about. He cried a lot, he laughed a lot, ate, slept and breathed in life through all his senses; and by the end of the week he felt free from all fatigue and weariness.
Nilu had visited the Taj Mahal more than a dozen times during the forty years of growing up in Delhi. Yet every time he returned, the magnificent marble mausoleum always took his breath away. The exuberant dome, the delicate calligraphy and the shear beauty and proportions of the edifice stupefied him and filled him with exultation. Here he first caught the sun halfway between the pale purple sky and the effulgent orange Yamuna, then many more times, till it slumped into the river and was gone for the night.
The parting day arrived rather quickly. And after exchanging embraces and promising to return soon, Nilu departed for Canada.
It had been more than three weeks since he had returned, and sitting down on his old futon, Nilu started going through the photographs of his month long incredible trip, that he had just received. The quest for truth that Nilu had undertaken had proved to be staggeringly expensive and had absolutely wrenched him of his energy; yet it had left him wanting for more. Nilu was about to earn himself a reputation for his expertise on sunsets. Now he would be able to show Claude and the like that he too had an eye for beauty; soon they would know what an adventurer he was! His egotism enlarged by this envisioned success, Nilu attempted to pick out the best place from where one should see the setting sun. Was it from the deserts? Maybe the sea...or river probably...then again, over the plains it looked equally enrapturing, thought Nilu. Suddenly, he came upon some pictures that he could not place with any of the five destinations that he had recently been to. This amber sun amidst the sapphire sheet looked surreal; it appeared like an oil painting freshly done on a lazuline canvas with meticulous strokes of color. Nilu soon realized that it was a photograph of the sun setting right across his apartment. He had taken a few shots to practice the art before leaving for his vacation and had forgotten to delete them.
A crooked smile conjured up on Nilu's mouth as he kept staring at the photograph. Gazing up at the window, he saw his reflection mocking at his mortified vanity; outside the distant sun kept glaring down on mankind.