TWO GREAT ANGLERS

TWO GREAT ANGLERS

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

04/XII/2022

This morning we came across a ‘rare community’ called the “Anglers.” They were deep in discussion about anything and everything related to the sport. The dialogues being exchanged were on a serious note. The tone and tenor spilled excitement and enthusiasm for this game.

It all started by the length of the rod. Was the one in their hand good enough or should they get a longer one? Then the discussion turned to the murkiness of water. One wanted to fish in clear waters. The other angler wanted to go down to the muddy pond. Yahan pani ganda hai, chalo udhar chalen.

I overheard them discussing various baits. Atta dena hai ya roti? Should they stay next to the river line, where the current would be slow? My goodness, one had not thought of all these parameters.

I remember catching ‘Brown Trout’ in Lukung Nala which falls into Pangong Tso (Ladakh). My wife and I would sit in a 3 Tonner on its way to fetch ice from upstream for ‘drinking water’. There used to be an old broken bridge about five kilometres up river. That was the only place where a deep puddle around the fallen rocks of a bridge used to be a hiding place of trout. This we discovered out of the blue when we had gone to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

That day we did not have a rod but the ‘Shikari’ within me always carried a line and hook. Later, a Bamboo stick on which targets were affixed for firing practice, were split in two and we would have two rods. One for me and one for my wife.

We cut our anniversary cake under the clear blue sky. Our buddy clapped and we hugged each other. Then while we waited for the Shaktiman to return, we had our lunch. It was ‘Anda Curry’ and ‘Tuna Chunks’ with rice.

Our cook had been generous and had filled two tiffin containers with six boiled eggs each. What do we do with the left-over eggs? Just to test the waters, one boiled egg yolk was thrown into the stream. It caused a lot of commotion in the water. So, I threw the boiled ‘egg white’ after breaking it into small bits. We were on.

As soon as a piece would hit the water, from down below would emerge a trout, snap at it and take it deep down. We now could have fresh fish every day was the passing thought. ‘Pinja’ (Brother in Tibetan) did not encourage fishing but then they tolerated me being their Company Commander.

On the hook went the first white of the egg. Before I realised there was fish on. It must have weighed about 200gm. Five of them would make a good dinner for both of us. I missed some and hooked some. When the fishing was getting interesting our Shaktiman returned with baskets full of rock-solid ice. It was already getting late. Once the sun went behind the mountain ranges the deadly cold used to creep in like a ghost and grip you.

We thereafter enjoyed this daily ritual till we stayed on the post. Nostalgia set in when I heard these enthusiasts’ exchanging notes on fishing.

The anglers were no novices. They sat high and cast their line chattering non-stop. One angler would suggest that they should go higher on the rock and be away from the water so that the fish do not get spooked. Their talk was getting interesting.

They discussed the wind speed, distance of their cast, when to jerk, when to retrieve, when to let the fish pull the line and the works. Then with one jerk they would pull a fish out. They were professionals of a different kind.

One really felt touched when they said ‘ye machhi hum ‘Uncle’ ko denge.’ Uncle ke paas aur bhi macchi hai.’ How sweet and how thoughtful of them!

Let me introduce the two great anglers. They are two pre-nursery girls living down the road, who are the greatest of friends and go to the same play school. They found a broken plastic pipe in the neighbourhood where renovation work is on. Today, they decided to use the pipe as a fishing rod in an imaginary river, sitting on the stairs of the common lawn of our lane.

Because they had seen our fish pond teeming with fish, they decided to share their catch with us. It was 'innocence' at its best. What do you call these two anglers? I wonder!!!!!!!!!

JAI HIND