There's a myth of Cerce in Greek mythology. Cerce the sorceress had the power to allure her enemies and other people she liked into her castle and through incantations and magic wand she turned them into animals like swine, sheep, lions and tigers. However, the 'lions' and 'tigers', bereft of their natural ferocity, behaved quite docilely and meekly.

One day, Ulysses, flabbergasted by his mysteriously lost soldiers whom he had sent to find some food, came out of the camp in search of them. As he walked to the direction his men had gone to, at a distance he heard an enchanting music coming out from a castle nearby. And he was irresistibly drawn towards the castle from where the music flowed. As he reached near the porch there stood a lion and a tiger on either side as guards, but guards looked quiet and cool, their eyes and ears drooped, tails hanging low to their hind legs. Before he stepped into the wide porch, a sweet voice from inside welcomed him, 'Welcome, Your Majesty, to my humble abode.' Ulysses was seated on an attractive seat and offered wine in a beautiful cup. As he was lifting cup with a hand, Cerce approached to him with her magic wand, uttering 'To your sty!' And instantly, with a lightning speed, Ulysses drew his sword and stood still. He then roared to Cerce - 'Where are my men? Bring me back all my men at once, or else my sword will fall on you like a lightening.' Trembling, Cerce led him to the pig sty and sprinkled her magic water over all the animals in the sty. In a moment, the animals got back their human forms.

Since long I've been waiting for 'Ulysses' here in the Darjeeling-Kalimpong region where our men who had set out to find "Something" for us all, have lost themselves to sorcerer or sorceress. We don't know which animals or birds or reptiles or amphibians or insects they might have been transformed to.

Is there any Ulysses out there to redeem our men??? Is there?

And I hear my own question echoing and echoing all over the hills and valleys: Is there any Ulysses out there to redeem our men?...