Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

^0 L A N D I N G 06Ajahn Sucitto in the front, the manager and me in the back, and we setoff again for the forest.Although I now accepted that our bags had probably gone, I stillwanted to have one last go at finding them. Then I could forget themand get on to Bodh Gaya. I had also agreed with Ajahn Sucitto that wewould offer a five thousand rupee reward. How we would get that muchmoney—one hundred pounds sterling—I left as a problem for later. Onthe way I got the manager to tell the constables in Hindi that we wouldgive the reward to them if they found our bags. They looked much moreinterested.As the back seat was a hard metal bench, it was a bumpy ride. Whenwe arrived I climbed gingerly out. As I did so two of the constables clamberedpast me, and they were quickly followed by the others. Before Icould say or do anything (I had wanted to try to organize the search),they had all disappeared again into the forest. At least this time they werelooking. Ajahn Sucitto, the manager, and myself divided up the areabetween us, and we went into the forest to join them, leaving the twoofficers having a conversation—presumably about police boundaries.As I walked up and down quartering my bit of the forest, I passed severalof the constables. Each was very intent on the task; one of them waseven hacking at the branches with a machete. The possibility of a rewardhad had an amazing effect.An hour later all we had found were a few more shards of the shreddedmaps. We had gone over the area thoroughly, and the bags were notthere. Back at the jeep the officers had agreed that the scene of the crimewas indeed in Atri police district. They had a map with them, and theyshowed us how it was some ten yards over the boundary. They calledthe constables, and we all got into the jeep and bounced back along thetrack to Rajgir.We would have to walk to Bodh Gaya with only the clothes we stoodin and the blankets given to us at Nalanda. If we saved the rupees themaechee had given me, we would have just enough to take the train to2 5 5