The world we live in. It is devoid of violence, hunger, danger and even change. We spend our time with the same people, face the same situations daily. No fascinating things to talk about, no real life experiences to share its all really dull. But after I heard some stories about the things I have not imagined in my entire life, I realized, so what if there is no change, at least there is no violence and danger. These stories I am going to narrate here are the ones that I heard from a person who is my uncle and who has served in the Indian military all his life. In addition to that, he even was chosen for UN missions, which no doubt took him to new experiences and dangers of course.
The most fascinating for me: About the UN mission, he was posted to Congo, Africa for a peace mission as a senior person. The strange part about that was he had 86 people from different nationalities working under him. He stated that there were people from all over the world. He learnt Swahili, the native language used there. As he amusingly said, how were we people supposed to bring about peace if we couldn’t speak to anyone! The other shocking thing was that Congo does not have a government. The country is not managed by any official body. There are military groups and as they have weapons they rule their areas. He said as soon as you cross one group’s limits, the other groups gets hold of you. The groups are fighting among themselves and there being no government, there is no one to interfere. Innocent people are killed daily in such wars and there is very less to eat so the people are even moving towards cannibalism. The only way to travel there is by your vehicle and there are no roads. They have to travel through mud and undefined areas. I could not really believe that such a place existed even in the 21st century.
Once they had to fight one such group to save a small village, the group had been terrorizing for food and other things. It really was tough for them but they made it. The chief of the village is the most highly respected person. And the authority he has is unquestionable. So when these people saved the village, he gave the thing that represented his being chief to my uncle. That thing was the “Tail of a Makau”. I think a Makau is a species of a monkey found in Africa. So much unrealistic!! A wood had been inserted inside the tail, so that it could be held easily. My uncle told me that if you walk the streets of any town or village in Congo carrying Makau’s tail, everyone around treated you with respect and even took themselves away from the path you were walking. Very much unbelievable right? I saw that thing and have even held it in my arms. It feels eerie to hold a Makau’s tail in your own hand.
For the next installment of real yet unbelievable stories, keep tab on my coming blogs.
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