As my wife settled down, it was time for the new year eve, when Satishji visited me and we quietly celebrated the arrival of the new year at the residence.

The next morning I decided to visit the outpost recently set up at ‘Bauk Baitha ka Gotha’. I crossed the river carrying my gypsy and another jeep on boats as we stood gazing at the flow of the river waters. As I thought about the risks involved in such travelling for someone who did not know swimming or did not have life jackets in case the boat capsized due to overload, I was informed that such boats safely carried bullock carts laden with sugarcane from the diara to the mainland and also tractors and their trollies separately which were used to transport goods to and from the diara.

I also learnt that some of the boats operating in the remote diaras were operated by the henchmen of the dasyus who levied a fee over usage of such mode of transport. As the boats reached the other side, the vehicles were downloaded and we started on to reach the Ghotha, where the cup of tea made in pure unadulterated milk of the desi cow reared in the neighbourhood along with the peda (sweetmeat) that was offered by the camping constables still remains in memory.

I had thoroughly started enjoying my work in Bagaha. As I moved around remote places in the district at sudden surprise timings and even camped with the forces at night, it was creating a definite fear in the gangs who were not used to such policing. My wife left for Patna again after a fortnight since she had to undergo routine medical check-ups in the first trimester of pregnancy, and since such facilities were then not available in Bagaha in the absence of even a trained gynaecologist. By mid-January, 2007, I was again staying alone in the Bagaha residence and had full time for adventure and roaming around in the wild. Every day was like a living adventure with a great sense of service as the sugarcane seizure campaign continued till early March.

To be continued..