Soon it was realized that there was no point in trying to reach Bagaha in that way by the night and that we needed to park the boat somewhere on the banks and then further wait for sunlight to render the waters navigable.

Thus, turning the boat towards the bank, we reached a place which looked quite clear and sandy with the grasses growing upon not very high amidst open patches. As we anchored the boat and disembarked upon the banks, we started chatting about the circumstances since the evening which had finally forced us to camp there in the open for the night. Our spirits had still not dimmed down and some seemed to be fully enjoying the adventurous night when suddenly it started raining and we realized that there was nowhere to hide in the open diara which had no trees or shed for kilometres apart.

But destiny had it surely planned for us in that way as it rained and rained continuously for not less than 2 hours, when it finally stopped leaving everyone fully drenched and swollen with water marking the insect bites more prominently. As I took off my shirt in order to fold and remove excess water, I noticed that Satishji was staring at his newly purchased mobile phone, a Nokia N70 model, then quite expensive and costing about 27,000 rupees. He had placed the set in the space below the windscreen of the boat to protect it from the rains seldom realizing that the cavity had an inward tilt designed to prevent objects placed from falling away. As the rains continued, rainwater got collected in the space and submerged the new phone set from all sides to damage it possibly beyond repair. I had protected my phone all along the two hours trying to shield it in some way by acting as an umbrella for it and happily it was still on when I decided to see the time which was now about 3.30 am. 

To be continued....