The plan to go hunting got cancelled as mentioned in the other post, but I really had to shoot the bullets I bought. I needed to drive out and find a place where there's no houses in a few kilometer radius. My dad had to go meet a few people in a place about 25km from the Imphal city area by the name Kanglatongbi and I thought, "Hey, this could be it". With due permission from my mum, we headed out. Sadly enough though, there was no place to actually shoot a gun. The entire road and the area was inhabited and I came back disappointed. Although not before taking a few pictures in the River side and a dangerously hand-made bridge, not something to walk by everyday. It is however, the lifeline to many villages in the inner region and they walk by everyday! Kanglatongbi is a beautiful place no doubt. The River beside it is being used to supply sand and stones for house constructions in the city area. The NH 39 passes right through the area and so the road is pretty good. Liangmai, Kuki and the Nepali people live here.
As luck would have it, I couldn't find a place to shoot. Time was running out and I needed to get back to Delhi. Waiting for a miracle was exhausted with all plans getting cancelled. However, "knock and the door shall be opened unto you" is what the Bible says and I went knocking everywhere. I made several plans with the Liangmai boys and girls but all fell apart. I found a true old friend who is also looking for a little adventure and do something different this winter vacation as well!
Yaruiso, my neighbor whom I grew up together with was pretty eager to shoot that particular gun. The place wasn't decided but we agreed to go on Saturday. Anywhere! He wanted to drive his new Bolero and so we headed out towards the Ukhrul District where he believes we can shoot and nobody would even notice. As we reach Ukhrul District, the roads went up the hill. There were army patrolling the area with MP5s and M16s. AK47s are used in Manipur by any and every army men! The scene is beyond believe, a beauty. It overlooks the plain city area. We parked the car beside the sloppy road and walked up towards the top of the hill where we plan to make a target and shoot at the trees. No, we couldn't find animals to actually hunt. After reaching the top of the hill, we realize there were some few young boys and girls who had come for a picnic at the foot hill on the other side. We could see and hear them talk but they couldn't see us.
We went ahead with the shooting plan. It was too late to back out after coming that far. The first bullet was a blank meant for celebrations. I took the lead as Yaruiso shot a video of it in my DSLR camera. Honestly, I was a bit nervous. Both of us had not used that 15+ years old gun before and it has not been used for shooting in about 10 years!! The gun as you can see is a customized gun without the butt.
The first bullet went easy. It was loud but it was awesome at the same time. The excitement in the air. Oh boy. There was not much of recoil too as I had anticipated. I asked Yaruiso if he would like to try the next bullet. A special bullet for hunting and much more expensive at Rs 120/bullet, it has the iron pallets and could easily kill anyone at a close range. He asked me to go ahead again and that he would try the next one. I agreed.
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The second bullet was much more powerful but my grip wasn't as tight courtesy the previous shot being easy. We setup up the parameters and convinced ourselves that the picnickers won't bother us as they didn't even budge when the first bullet went off. When I finally pulled the trigger, the gun push back with all its might and hurt my right thumb a little. The reaction was inevitable. The smell of the gun powder in the air felt great for some weird reason. I felt like I had accomplished something in life! Haha!
I now took the camera to shoot the video and Yaruiso tried his hands on the gun. He pulled the trigger a few times to get comfortable with the gun without the bullet and as he finally got ready for the finale, I could see he was nervous but excited. I gave him a few tips and he finally pulled the trigger.
We both hit the target.
After taking a few pictures at the hill top, I finally took the wheels and we drove home. Bought pork sausages by the roadside at a place called New Checkon to celebrate our safe return.
PS: To hunt in Manipur, you need to go to the interior forests of the jungle alteast 50km away from the city area. I won't recommend it unless you are a native of that area since it's infested by insurgents with automatic rifles who won't have a second thought to see a stranger with a gun.
