Trail to the horizon

    O ne Sunday evening in June, a WhatsApp notification popped up on my phone screen. It was from a group with a weirdly long name: "Whoever will cancel the trip have to pay 500." The full name was too long to display in the notification. Curiously I opened the group chat and started reading the messages. Everyone was talking about Dzukou Valley. Then it hit me—a month ago, we were all discussing a trip to Dzukou, and now they’d created a group with this funny name. The date was set for June 29th. I was unsure about joining at first, but eventually, I said yes. After all, what could be better than a reunion with friends, getting drenched together in the rain?             A month planning finally come to execution. On 29 th of June, the three of us—Rajat, Dikshita, and I—arrived at Dimapur on the Ledo-Guwahati Express at 5:30 AM. The others were already waiting for us: Lipi, Sibani, Amar, Mayna Da, Giti, and Priyanka, who had arrived earlier on...