Dochowani along with Deki Shak steamed

Source: Inam Ahmed

Once they were tall and alive. Today they are dead and charred.

This turned out to be our camp for the next three nights. The Chakma couple has four kids – three boys aged between 11 and three and a lovely six-year-old girl.
Our tired bodies badly needed a bath in the cool stream water. The sun had already gone beyond the hills and forest; a pale light made the dusk mysterious.
In that light, the head of the family came with an orange-bellied squirrel hunted from the forest. The fluffy body of the squirrel touched soft and warm.
We climbed to the balcony. Dochowani along with Deki Shak steamed with Nappi was served. The moon was bigger today and the whole valley was awash with moonlight. We could make out every single tree on the edge of the forest. We could see the stream from up here. Beyond that another hut of another family. A mountain scops owl was calling. It was joined by a brown hawk owl. The night was settling in on this remoteness.