Trapped In Time - Chapter 25 Wrong Route

The children turned on their mobile phones and took pictures of this manicured hill. They had not been able to take pictures of the Yeti while they were descending the cliff. This was because all their mobiles were switched off and placed in their backpacks.

But Sunny had not been switched off his phone. He had kept his phone in his pocket and had taken a few shots of their camp before they dismantled the tents. None of them new that Danny had managed to take a few pictures of all of them tied up around the mid-riff while they were descending the cliff. It would be amusing to post it on what’s app and Facebook when they got back. He was smiling away, laughing internally. Only his shaking shoulders would give him away. Nanu and Ben did look at him strangely.

“Sharing a joke with yourself, Danny. Please share with us too,” said Ben.

“It is not good to laugh alone,” added Nanu.

But Danny just shook his head indicating that he would not divulge any information as to why he was laughing silently.

After walking a little further, they spied a short pass hidden by flowery hedges which seemed to be going upwards. They knew that this path would lead them to the village. Luke had told them to look out for this path on the left side. If they had not been on the lookout, they might not have seen it. All of them one by one turned towards the path pushing the Multicolored Bougainvillea hedge aside and started climbing the carpeted hill following the path.

Luke and Zia followed the students but Luke was a bit confused. He thought this must be the path that would lead to the village. He knew it started off from this hill itself.

However, unknown to them all, they had taken the wrong path; their path was slightly a few meters ahead, that was why Luke was slightly confused as the paths were similar. The only difference between the two paths was the Multicolored Bougainvillea hedge here and a Pink colored Bougainvillea hedge on the right path.

As they followed the meandering path they were all enjoying the view that Mother Nature had provided. This region, untouched by modernization and pollution gave an abundance of beauty for all to behold. The pathway was dotted with a number of flowering shrubs. At some places were medicinal plants like Holy Basal (its botanical name is Ocimum tenuiflorum), This plant is an aromatic plant and a native to the Indian Subcontinent. It is grown throughout the Southeast Asian tropic countries. Its local name is Tulsi and it is cultivated for religious and medicinal purpose. Its essential oil is also extracted. It is used for herbal tea, also used in Ayurvedic medicines.

A variety of the Holy Basil is used in Thai cuisine called Thai holy basil, it is not to be confused with Thai basil which is a variety of Ocimum basilicum.

Holy basil is a many-branched sub shrub, straight growing to 30–60 cm (12–24 in) in height with hairy stems. Leaves are green or purple; the leaves are long bladed having a slightly toothed margin and strongly scented. The shrubs bear purplish flowers. This plant helps in anxiety, stress, dental plaque, diabetes (type 2), common cold, flu, asthma, bronchitis, earache, headache, stomach upset, fever insomnia, malaria, and many other diseases.

Another plant growing in abundance here was the curry leaves plant (the botanical name is Murraya koenigii). The plant grows like a tree and belongs to the tropical to sub-tropical areas, native to India but now grows all over the world. It grows 4-6 meters in height having aromatic leaves. Each leaflet is 2-4 cm long. The plant also produces small white flowers. The fresh leaves are used as a seasoning in Southeast Asian cuisines. In Cambodia, the leaves are roasted and become an ingredient in a soup (majukreung). In Java, the leaves are stewed to flavor gulai (a sauce). The oil extracted is used to make scented soaps.

Curry leaves are herbs that are known to have essential nutrients like copper, calcium, phosphorus, fiber, carbohydrates, energy, magnesium and iron. They also possess many types of vitamins like vitamins A, B, C and E and amino acids which are beneficial for health. These help in conditions like weight loss, blood pressure, indigestion, anemia, diabetes, acne, hair loss.

The have propertied from being antioxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. Curry leaves are made into a paste to be applied on wounds and burns. Due to alkaloids in the leaves, they help in losing weight, keep diabetes in check, help to sharpen memory, it is good for eyesight (Vitamin A), good for hair and skin, it also relieves morning sickness in pregnancy.

Zia and Zoya were both interested in plants and were walking together seeing these plants growing in the wild, in their natural habitat. They were very happy to see these plants and started telling others about the importance of these two plants. They were also looking for rare flowers and rare medicinal herbs here as they walked.

Nanu said, “Whenever anyone gets a cough or cold or even a fever, herbal tea is made of ginger and holy basil. It helps a lot.”

“Yes, most of the traditional remedies come from our kitchen,” replied Zia.

Ben was listening to this entire conversation with great attention. “Zia ma’am can you help me by suggesting some herbal plants so that I can become ok.”

“I can, but I am not qualified to do so. First, we need to find out where the problem has arisen, so you will need to undergo some tests?”

“As per these Ayurvedic doctors, they will feel your pulse and prescribe the required medication. They are experts in their field. If it requires surgery they will tell you that too.”

“To learn this system of healing takes many years. Now, there are medical colleges teaching ancient systems of healing. Thereafter, you need to work as an apprentice with a qualified physician.Even becoming a Tibetan physician you need to study for 9 years. Previously you needed to work with a physician learning from him and various books.”

“They tell your health problem just by your pulse,” she further added.

“When we get back Ben, I want to speak to your parents.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ben replied with a relieved expression on his face.

They had been ascending further and further but no village was seen. It was almost 45 minutes since they had taken the path from the Multicolored Bougainvillea hedge. Neither the village nor the small holdings of the villagers, where they planted rice or wheat for their own consumption, could be seen. They all could see another steep hill coming up ahead. This was like a normal hill without parrot green carpet grass.

Zia had some doubts and she asked the kids to stop for a bit, while she consulted Luke Sir and Sherpa. So they all waiting for Sherpa and Luke to catch up.

“Are you sure this is the correct path to the village, Luke? We seemed to have trekked for almost an hour and there is neither a village or the outskirts of the village in sight.” Zia said looking concerned. I think you need to take out your satellite phone and find out somehow, where we are and where to go.

“Sherpa and I have been discussing this matter and it really seems we have taken a wrong turn,” Luke replied looked concerned.

“Perhaps we can either cut across somewhere to get to the right track or we need to retrace our steps to Multicolored Bougainvillea hedge and find the right turning which may be further ahead from there,” said Sherpa.

“Your idea about using the satellite phone is correct. Let me see if I can use it to get guidelines of this area.” Luke replied.

Saying this he took out his sat phone and tried to connect to any satellite in the vicinity.

“Is that a phone? It looks more like a walkie talkie that the police carry to talk to each other?” asked Sunny.

“I think I need to explain about the Sat phone that I have with me,” replied Luke.

As the technology for cell phones advanced from the thick walkie talkie type sized mobiles that could only make voice calls, we now have smartphones with which you can do anything provided the towers are there and so is the connectivity and signal strength does not fall.

A Satellite phone needs to be used where a cell phone cannot be used. You can use them to make calls from anywhere as their infrastructure is different. Satellite phones do not rely on a land or cell phone network. Instead, they beam their data directly to and from the satellites that are orbiting Earth.

These are communications devices of choice in areas where practically no cell coverage exists, like where there is sparse population or poor countries, locations where there are government restrictions, where there is internet access issue or where natural disaster wreaks havoc. Satellite Phones are referred to as terminals that need to be connected to the satellite. Most use it primarily to call or send text messaged, transfer data via its satellite connection.

These phones depend on different technologies some opting for geosynchronous satellites or Low Earth orbit (LEO) system.