A Mosque In The Jungle

I have never believed in ghosts. I have never seen one, however fleetingly, in all my 29 years of life. I considered all those who believe in ghosts or love telling ghost stories, fools. In this age of the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb, how could ghosts exist? There were friends of mine who really believed all those ghost tale, and could tell you some weird things too. They say, if a person happens to be somewhere he has never been before, he must pay obeisance and say 'Hail' to the guardian spirits before doing anything. Likewise if a person going to, say, bathe in some deserted, remote pool or river. If these rites are not adhered to, he will incur the wrath of the guardian spirits and they would possess and do horrible things to him. What nonsense! No one was a greater believer in the supernatural, and no one loved talking about it more than Dol. He said if a person should lose his way in a jungle, the jungle spirit would help and lead this person to its home, which is a mosque. But it would only help the good, those who said, 'Hail', O Spirit. Your child seeks permission to pass.'

Well, we had been in the jungle since morning, the twelve of us from the 9th Jungle Company. We had spent the whole day there and we were lost. Where's that spirit who's supposed to help us? Where's that mosque... where's that place of refuge? All we met at nightfall was a band of communist terrorists. When it was all over, I had no idea where Dol and the others, including Sergeant Junid, were. Night had come. I was all alone now, walking aimlessly about, stumbling here and there in such darkness that one cannot see the back of one's hand. I dared not shout for help for fear of attracting wild animals and those terrorists. As I groped my way in the blackness, I kept running against thorns and bumping into branches and tree trunks and falling over exposed roots. Around me, it was so quiet, even the little creatures one normally hears at night were silent. I looked up occasionally and saw a star or two twinkling in the sky through gaps in the thick canopy above. I sat down and rested my aching back against the base of a big tree. Soon fear began creeping in.

Every so often, I could hear twigs breaking, as if some animal had stepped on them. Other times, there were dragging sounds like something was creeping, crawling along. Having once seen a fifteen or sixteen feet long python, I shuddered thinking how it would feel to have a snake like that coiled around me and crushing me in that darkness. I resumed my aimless, stumbling, staggering progress through the black jungle. And then suddenly there came a smell that had no business being there, so far removed from civilization. It was the smell of burning incense... and it was getting stronger and stronger as if someone was burning it right beside me. That reminded me of something else Dol used to say. The smell of incense mean anything but... 

Suddenly I saw the flickering light of a torch in the pitch darkness. Who could it be? Someone lost? Terrorist? Cautiously, I gripped the sten gun and held it ready. The torch came towards me swinging left and right. When it was about twenty five yards away, I saw for the first time that the bearer was an old man, hunched, grey haired, in robes and white cap, the typical pious Muslim. He waved the torch about, apparently giving me the signal to approach him. I went forward, but had hardly taken ten steps when I plunged waist deep in water. Only with the light from the torch was I able to see that I had fallen into a swamp. The commotion I made brought many pairs of green, blinking eyes rushing towards me. Oh no! Crocodiles! I've got to get out of here!

The old man kept swinging his torch. Behind him I could make out a mosque dimly lit by a single lamp. The man came even closer and under the light from his torch I could see a bund like those commonly seen in paddy fields. That's my escape route! I made a dash for it. The green eyes in the water followed me, but as it was high ground there was nothing they could do. 'Are you lost, son?' asked the old man, smiling, but ignoring the hand I proffered to shake his. 'It was fortunate I saw you, otherwise you would have foundered in this crocodile infested swamp,' he said. I listened to him, silently wondering who this old fellow could be, living in the middle of the jungle. Perhaps there is a village here, I thought.

'Wash up at the pool,' he said as his hand gestured towards a pool, apparently meant for ablutions, beside the mosque. 'Then go up,' he instructed. The man went into the mosque, where I could see someone reciting the Quran; others in the midst of worship and others still saying prayers for the departed. Their voices came drumming into my ears. The pool water was terribly cold, but so refreshing.

Having cleansed myself, I entered the mosque. The old man came up to me. 'We are poor people here. The mosque doesn't have a proper place for you to spend the night. But if you please I could take you where I usually sleep. I will sleep with the others down here,' he said. The old man, still a stranger to me, took me out to a corner of the building, and there stood a huge tree, its trunk four times a man's outreached arms in circumference. One of its enormous branches had been levelled on top and turned into a bunk of sorts. 'Sleep here and do not worry about me,' said the man softly. I climbed up my bunk. Uncomfortable that I should be sleeping while other were still praying and reciting the holy book, I sat cross legged and observed them, deeply engrossed in their devotions. I studied their faces. They looked just like everybody else, nothing odd. I decided I should ask the old man the next day where the mosque was and what they called the village.

Half an hour later, having finished reciting the Quran and praying, the men left the mosque one by one, presumably heading for home. The old man come back to see me. 'Please try not to move about too much when you sleep, because one or two crocodiles from the swamp usually come up the banks when the mosque is deserted,' he advised. Then, seeing that I was now lying down and ready to go to sleep, he snuffed out the lamp, plunging the mosque into darkness. Exhausted from the trudging that day, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I was awakened by the burning stabs of sunlight on my face. At first, I could not remember where I was, but gradually everything that happened the night before came back to me. I got up with such a start I almost fell. I realized then that I had been sleeping on nothing more than the bough of a tree in the middle of a vast swamp. Thankfully, I did not thrash about when I slept, or I would surely have turned dinner for the five or six crocodiles that had lain in wait all night below. Then I looked around me. Where was the mosque? Where was that old man who helped me last night? I simply had no answer. I found myself this morning perched on a tree in the middle of nowhere. No village, no mosque, just one big, wild swamp around me. Nor could I figure out how I made it across, for the bund that brought me to safety last night was nowhere to be seen. I was still trying to unravel the puzzle when I heard excited voices in the distance. Soon, who else appeared but Dol and the other guys. They had just reached the far edge of the swamp.

'Hey, there you are. What are you doing up that tree? How did you get up there?' Dol shouted. 'Would you please let me get down first?' I shouted back. 'I'll tell you all about it.' Dol and the others did all they could to find a way to get to my perch, but failed. There was no bund or dike, no bridge of any sort they could cross to reach me. Finally, sergeant Junid decided they build a raft with some large bamboo found on the banks. It took them two hours to complete it, and that was how i managed to set foot once again on solid ground. As I told them my story, I studied their faces one by one. It was clear to me, not one of them believed it. Even Dol, that faithful believer in the supernatural, gave me an incredulous smile. It was not long before I burst out in exasperation, 'well, if you guys really must know, I got up that tree in the middle of the swamp, to sleep up there by stepping over the backs of all those crocodiles in there!'