The Journey’ is an excellent piece of work written by Yes he Dorjee Thongchi, a prominent Assamese writer and it is translated into English by D.P. Nath. The author was a government officer. He came to his village to get married. His parents had arranged his marriage, according to the customs of their tribal society. After spending six months at home, he was preparing to return to his place of work. But he didn’t want to leave behind his newly-wed wife. He thought of extending his leave too. But his responsibilities made him decide to go.

As theirs is a hilly terrain, without any motorable roads, the author always prefers to carry less luggage. Now, his problem was that he needed someone to carry his luggage as his education had made him avoid physical labour. Since most of the villagers were busy in the fields, he couldn’t find even one who could help him carry the trunk to the bus stop. Finally, the writer’s father told him that he would see him off at Dirang. He didn’t want to allow his old father to carry his trunk and so he protested. But his father decided to carry the chest to the bus stop. On the day of his departure, a large crowd gathered to wish him luck and the author left for Dirang at 10 : 20. His father had already left and he had to walk fast to catch up his father. He was very tired when he caught up with his father. He sat on a rock to rest for a while. His father drank all the wine given by him and resumed carrying the luggage on his back. The author followed his father. Neither of them spoke a word as if they were strangers. The author thought that it was improper for him to let his father carry the luggage. Although he wanted to tell his father that he would like to carry the trunk himself, he couldn’t do so because of his guilt, shame and pride. He felt that the whole world would laugh at him if he did so.

The author knew that his father had provided for his education. He thought that it was through him that his parents had earned admiration and respect from the villagers. He knew that he was physically useless in spite of his youth and strength. He concluded that it would be better to let his father carry the luggage and followed him silently After resting at two places for tiffin, they reached Dirang finally. They entered a tea shop and started sipping tea. His father asked him if he had a pair of old shoes. Then the author looked at his father’s bare feet and noticed that they were full of cracks. He noticed this for the first time. He offered his father money but he refused to take. Instead, he wanted the author’s old pair. So, the author gave him the hunting boots he was wearing. His father filled with satisfaction when he saw the author taking out his pair of leather shoes from the trunk. His father wanted to say something to him but the bus started moving. Finally the author realized that both their ways were different – his way was a luxurious one while his father’s was a difficult one.