Web Dream, Dream’s Web

                          Translation of Akhteruzzaman Elias’s  short story  ‘জালস্বপ্ন, স্বপ্নেরজাল’
                                                              Web Dream, Dream’s Web

            “Having turned my neck right then left for salaam, I saw a man of seventy saying his prayer next to me. He was seventy or seventy five years old.  Not seventy-five, it seems, he was eighty or eighty-five. Could be ninety.”

‘‘Do you know him? Have you seen him before?”
            “How, can I say? Never seen him before. The old man had long beard and was very fair. It seems that milk was coming out from his cheeks.”
            “Color of the cheeks? Black?”

            “May be. -  While finishing my prayer___”

            “Was there any mark on his face?”

            “Not at all. Why would he black? His face was as smooth as wax, if someone flicks blood will come out. Hey listen, what was I saying? What I said? You always make trouble. What was I saying?”

            “While turning your left neck for salaam, you saw him praying next to you-”

            “Yes, when I turned left for salaam, I saw an old Muslim saying his prayer next to me. He was too old, could be ninety or ninety five. But, could not guess since he looked very young. When I noticed his feet ___”

            “Did not you see his chest? How did you see feet without seeing chest? Any mark of bullet in his chest?”

            “ Sshhh, listen boy,old Muslim, our senior.” - I looked at his feet with respect and noticed both his feet. Alas, alas! Both of his feet were turned backward.

            “On his rear ?How?”

            “Don’t you understand? - Look, where are our feet?-before of the legs. We walk and move with these feet.  Isn’t it so? And, the feet of that old Muslim had come out from the backward of his ankles. Don’t you understand? Wait, I am showing you-.”

            “How did you notice the feet of that Muslim while praying? How did you see the feet without seeing chest, belly, and waist?”

            “You never know, what is shown by Khuda in dreams? How can I say everything?”

            Lal Mia carries on the story of his dream despite of the listener’s suspicion of his narration along with his own uncertainty of his opinion. He could not remember where he said his prayers, it could be the Bintabibi’s Mosque of Narinda, but clear water was seen from the window in his dream. Where is such kind of marsh in Narinda? Again, the ceiling of the mosque was too high; a lot of stars were carved in the ceiling. Those could be the real stars, otherwise how could they glimmer?

            “It seemed that the roof of the mosque was covered like sky. Did you see it well?”

            But, Lal Mia does nothave the habit of noticing the location or structure or architecture of the mosque in his prayer. After the foroz and sunnat prayers of Esha, while he turned his salaam during the witr namaz towards the invisible angel, he got scared to see the reverse pattern of the feet. What did Allah make him to see? What did it mean? Lal Mia offered prayer for a long time by seeking forgiveness and to get rid of fear or may be on the influence of the soul of that reversed feet Muslim. “I raised my hands towards Allah and offered prayer for a long time. I cried a lot for about half an hour or may be an hour or could be even two hours in my prayer.”

            “Half an hour or one hour or two hours? How could you not notice time? You offered prayer for about two hours but the mosque should be closed by then? How did you come out from the mosque?”

            Day by day, it was becoming difficult for Lal Mia to disclose his dream to this boy. When he is awake,   he  remains alert about rice, chickens, spices, oil, dalda, meoya, the amount of gas, and the activities of the carriers and waiters, but is it possible to estimate everything we see  in dreams? He wants to sleep to escape from the worldly affairs, but dream comes by the warmth of sleep. Is it possible to notice everything in dream? This boy Bullet is the master of shirking work, but always remains alert to find out the trivial mistakes of Lal Mia’s dream. A perfect scoundrel. Is this  Bullet’s fault though? How was his father? Lal Mia becomes angry at Bullet’s father. Since his father was dead, he thought it is safe to become angry at his father and thus in anger he turns up more gas from the burner. He turns up the gas and this flares up his anger. Traitor’s traitor, he was the number one traitor. He is the son of that traitor;can anyone wipe out the stain of bad blood? Imam Uddin never trusted him and he had passed this mistrust to his son. What was Imam Uddin’s benefit by mistrusting Lal Mia? Having blown away the electric transformer of Rothkhola intersection, he was trying to flee but fell in the end of  Bangshal by the bullets of the military .What was the reason of escaping through that street? How dare he took the decision to flee through the wide streets of Nababpur? The grenade must have been thrown by someone standing behind that transformer, which is at the end of the Gholokpal lane and in front of the water tap. He was supposed to enter instantly into Gholokpal lane, was not he? After a few steps, if he could reach into Kandupotti, there were a number of lanes and by lanes of Khankipara, having crossed the houses and the overpopulated slum, he could reach into  English Road and then crossing that road, he could find the recently occupied laundry of Najir Ali; Lal Mia, the only employee of the laundry used to stay there. Having blown away the transformer with a grenade and injuring a military man, if Imam Uddin somehow managed to reach Lalmia’s home, could not he hide him under the heap of filthy clothes? He could. But, Imam Uddin did not have a clean heart, how could he mistrust his childhood friend, if he had an immaculate mind? Najir Ali is the master and employer of Lal Mia. Having taken possession of the laundry, Najir Ali employed Lal Mia there. Najir Ali, the military informer, follows them everywhere. Is that Lal Mia’s fault? Why would Imam Uddin suspect him for this? Were they new friends? They had known each other since their births. Both of them went to learn Ampara in the Madrasha of HafijullahMollah, but terminated it in the middle of their studies, flying kites from one’s roof to another’s, while they were growing up. On the day of Chaitra Sankranti, both of them used to dangle while flying kites. Having served as the Gatemen of the Nagor Mohol cinema hall, both of them used to enjoy cinema for free, and used to flirt in front of the Banglabazar girls’ school at 10 and 5. They had performed all duties together. But, only Lal Mia got the opportunity to enjoy movies at NagorMohol, when he became a little older. But,  was that  Lal Mia’s fault? He was good looking and had a fair complexion. If he did not get his hair cut for a long time, having tugged the crest of the hair and flipped on the cheek, the ticket-master of the Nagor Mohol used to say “Scoundrel, why don’t get your hair cut? Have you become a hoodlum?” But , the man liked Lal Mia’s curly hair. After the night show, if he massaged the man downstairs, next day, he let Lal Mia enter into the front stall. Once, he pushed Lal Mia to the balcony of the first floor. But,  was this Lal Mia’s fault too? Imam Uddin was becoming taller and taller, when he was only 12 or 13; he overtopped that ticket-master within a year. Where there were pockmarks all over his face and above the lips, there grew a line of moustache like tar. There was no reason for the ticket-master to be enticed by him? Moreover, he possessed a very bad mouth! A very bad one. He used  filthy words whenever he spoke. He could not even speak without abusing the parents of any person. – Could a gentle man adore such a lad? There were more. What?  He always tried to find out the mistakes and argue with people. After watching an action movie, the next day, Lal Mia began to tell the history of the movie but Imam Uddin began to interrupt him at every step. He asked questions in everything, asked questions only to harass him. Lal Mia had taken his first job in the small tea-stall of Najir Ali in the lane. Najir Ali got out around 10 or 11 for another motive. Then, there were fewer people in the stall. He used to tell the story of the movie of yesterday night, while pouring tea into the filter. He had recently become accustomed to hold the listeners’ attention by mixing much sugar and milk into the tea. Everybody listened to him, even though the listeners used to express their views. But, if Imam Uddin were there, he had to interrupt in the middle of the story. Lal Mia had been appearing as a hero since yesterday night but when he was describing the action of that hero , Imam Uddin made faces at him, “ Bahadur hit hundred of  his enemies and they fell down. Even, the lass hid into his chest?  Cannot you find any other place to say these bull shits?”

            “What are you saying! Who could save Nargis, if the oppressors were not killed?”

            “Your father.”

            Without considering Imam Uddin’s interruption, Lal Mia continued describing the heavy body of the hero, face which was as hard as stone, perfect moustache, and neck like an iron pillar, but he could not pacify Imam Uddin even comparing his strength with the hero. At last, Lal Mia had to surrender before Imam Uddin like this, “What can I do? I said what I watched. Even today, this movie is playing at NagorMohol. Let’s go for the second show. Will you ?”

            “I don’t watch movies after being screwed up by the ticket-master”

            If you can not afford to watch the movie, then don’t. But, where is the problem in listening about it? Neither he listened to it nor let them others to listen out of jealousy. ‘Insaniyat’- hey listen, oh my God, what an acting he did in that movie! He made Dilip Kumar wear a red shirt to give honor to his selfless love, “Dilip Kumar was looking ….. understand? The moron was wearing a red shirt with creased collar ___.”

            “Did you lend your this shirt to Dilip Kumar? You, the son of a bitch, do you watch after being drunk? Red-blue-yellow-green- can you see everything?”

            Being scolded by Imam Uddin , Lal Mia became silent. How did he make Dilip Kumar to wear this shirt? Even he could not understand the trick behind fixing himself in the place of Dilip Kumar or Dilip Kumar to himself. Lal Mia could not speak for a long time.

            Then, where would Lal Mia speak? Imam Uddin troubled him like Cholera, it broke out like small pox in the tea-stall and among the customers. When Lal Mia was about to tell his story, the customers made faces at him and they would make fun of his words whenever they got the chance. Those who were very clever suddenly jumped onto another topic. And, they did not have any problem listening to those rubbish stories. He had only read half of the Ampara, and a man like him was used to get letters everyday from the girls of class seven and eight of Banglabazar School, who belonged to the upper class. Moron, do you know, how to read a letter? - He became angrier since he could not utter these words, and because of his anger he mixed more sugar and milk into the tea that increased its taste and the customers paid more attention to Imam Uddin’s fabrication while sipping. The face which was black and full of pockmarks,  seemed that someone had been pouring tar on his body as he was growing up. The thin body lacked energy. And, all the girls of the area were crazy for him! What had he said? “When I was going to press, the daughter of brother Khasru; the granddaughter of Moti Sardar was standing for a rickshaw near the Shinghtola intersection yesterday. She smiled at me on seeing me and said, brother Imam, why have you not given me a letter? I said, why letter when I can speak? She smiled. Today, she sent her brother to me with a letter, she asked for the notebooks of class eight.” He added something more to make his words more believable, “I work in a press which deals with books but she thinks that I am the owner of all books. But, I am illiterate; tell me what can I do with this girl?”

            After fibbing for a long time, he humored himself and the listeners became jealous of him and easily believed him. Even, Lal Mia accepted his love story by offering a cup of tea and intended to attract the listeners by telling them the preface of the movie, ‘Banjaran’ . “ Buddy, have you seen the thighs of  Nilo in ‘Banjaran’? Entirely uncovered-.”

            “Was that reason for which you had laid down under the seat.” Imam Uddin laughed loudly, “How did you see the uncovered thighs in the movie?”

            After so many years, Lal Mia identified the same habit in Imam Uddin’s son. Many years have passed, he is becoming old after passing youth, his fair cheeks have become brown, wears a stalk of beard.  Though his beard has turned white , he does not look old under this thin beard. How many days will he remain alive? He has given up watching movies a long time ago; he never misses Jummah prayers, and on the night of Shab-e-Barat, he stays at Mirpur sanctuary the whole night. Allah shows him dreams, people dream about so many things but Bullet always questions  his dreams, he only suspects him and always finds out the flaws, but how can Lal Mia show his dream to everyone? Now-a days, a thorn pricks him under the thin hair of his skull along with dream; how has he inherited the habit of his father? There is doubt- if the boy was eight months when Imam Uddin was killed by the random firing of the military men. Three months ago before this incident, when the military had started the coercion, he went to India and after that, he had no communication with his son. Had he informed Lal Mia about his son? He might not . Where was the hindrance? Before going to India, Imam Uddin did not say a single word about his son, “Your father said to me, I am leaving my weaning child to you, look after him.” He fitted the dialogue to his dead friend without any hesitation. Though he tried several times, he could not utter this dialogue before Bullet. Lal Mia could talk with the traitor, if he would come to his dream. He did not keep any relation when he was alive or after his death. Does Imam Uddin blame him for his death? Why? He did not listen to Lal Mia’s advice regarding going to India. Then? Some students of Jagannath College used to come to Banglabazar Press for printing some junks where Imam Uddin worked. He went to war on their advice. Then, where is Lal Mia’s fault? Before going to war, Imam Uddin came to see him during curfew. Could not he but come? After all, they were childhood friends. Both of them had started to learn Ampara in the Madrasha ,which was situated on Raysabazar and was terminated it in the middle of studies, flying kites from one’s roof to another’s while they were growing up. On the day of Chaitra Sankranti, both of them used to dangle while flying kites. Having served as the Gatemen of the Nagor Mohol cinema hall, both of them used to enjoy cinema for free and used to flirt in front of the Banglabazar Girls’ School at 10 and 5. He seeks forgiveness even he shouldn’t say that they used to visit brothels sometimes- they had performed all duties together. Whatever danger was lurking, could not he but visit Lal Mia for once before going to India. But, once Lal Mia mumbled, how long those college boys of educated families would maintain the relationship? Today, they might take care of him but would he be able to show his influence in the battle ground? Would he take his words seriously? On the night of curfew, the heavy breathing of the noisy sound of the military men as well as Imam Uddin’s courage made Lal Mia feel vacant. Imam Uddin said, “ I am saying , Pakistan will not exist for long. Many people have crossed the border and many others are returning after training, how long the military will prevail? Let’s go with me, will not take long time to return. Let’s go.” Sitting on the table of the laundry and swinging his feet, Lal Mia heard the low voice of Imam Uddin. The lad had changed a lot by this time, had his training started here? Had any one ever heard his whispering like this? But, Lal Mia could not tolerate his whispering. He could hear the noisy sound of firing but nothing was more disturbing than Imam Uddin’s murmuring. Suddenly he stopped Imam Uddin to save his ears, “ But the lender  says, these are the evil deeds of India. They commit these evil deeds accompanied by the Hindus of this country, they have mobilized some traitors, and our boys become excited without knowing anything. The Pakistani military has never been defeated by the Indian military, what these boys will do?” “Fuck your lender!” Being agitated, Imam Uddin used his known words and Lal Mia was relieved to hear his familiar voice. Imam Uddin spoke in his own voice not to relieve him but to show his courage, he again said, “After two months, I will take the son of a bitch to the Bhettoria park and after being tied up him with a tree and fit a rifle in his ass hole, I will fire myself on that son of a bitch, understand?” Where will his disruptiveness remain then? He has occupied this laundry, will this remain in his possession? Will not the owner kick him after coming back?” Then, will Lal Mia be able to keep his job? Thinking of how secure this job was, he may have said, “KartikBabu was killed by the military men on the first day of the war. And, will the boys return from India?” Imam Uddin asked immediately, “Won’t come?” But, he had doubt on the return of the sons of the owner, he thought for sometimes and said, “What will happen, if they don’t return? Everything will be distributed among the poor. Your owner has occupied the stationery of NobenduBoshak Lane, which belonged to the RadhagovindoPoddhar; the shop of the DhoonojoySaha was burnt down by the military, the house has been occupied by your owner. Just wait and see whether that son of a bitch can hold the possession of these for two months.” Imam Uddin again lowered his tone while saying all these. Had he become feeble because of the interval of military lorries? Was he feeling sleepy in this silent night of curfew? Was he dozing and saying all these? His tongue was moving slowly, they were going to take the possession of the Naz–Gulistan and would enjoy a movie today. Had something  been injected in his brain by those college students? He would eat whatever he wanted after entering into the Gulistan hotel. Had Lal Mia ever seen the kabab and porota of that restaurant? The foreign bottles of the Chu-Chin-Cho would be opened for all. Was Imam blabbering because of the advance sips of those foreign drinks? Having wiped out the military men, they would kill all the pimps and the agents of the country. - Lal Mia’s heart began to pound while hearing all these: true, how long could the military be tolerated? The employers and the agents would be abolished. But, this was also true that people like Najir Ali were the agents, were their courage less than anyone? The Pakistani military was the best army in the world, who could win fighting against them?’ Even Najir Ali said, “Wait for some days, we will say the prayer of Eid in the Ghorer Math of Calcutta. Have you heard the Lal Kella of Delhi? The flag of Pakistan will flutter above that fort, just wait and see. Those boys dont have any other work to do that they are fighting against the military men with muskets and knives.” But, all these words which were said by of Najir Ali all time could not be expressed to Imam Uddin. What a temper he had! Having perplexed by his whispering words and roaring, Lal Mia looked here and there in the room. Lal Mia looked all around the corners of the room , the iron on the tool, dirty clothes on the floor, the layers of the sarees, dhuti, pant,shirt ,and punjabi in the almirah, and gave thanks to the dead or fugitive owners of these things because he  exempted himself to look at the eyes of Imam Uddin. But, Imam Uddin would not exempt him, having deprived him from thanking the invisible people, he stands up, makes his eyes small, and having bent his face, he says, “Are not you aged enough . How can I make you understand? Your owner, Najira is fucked by the military men and you, son of a bitch, is fucked by the Nijira pimp. Worms have come out from the worms. I am coming back after two months. Then, I will see!”

            Imam Uddin went to India then, after that, had not he come here for once? After Imam Uddin’s departure, every night, Lal Mia had heard the sound of the grenades on the iron table. The random sound of the grenades, rifles, LMG, SMG and other arms used to ring like the tune of a music, day in, day out the sound became intense and incisive, there emerged a jingle of an unknown weapon which intensified the curfew of the night and Lal Mia listened to the melodious sound of the arms with a pounding heart. Except Imam Uddin, who dared to betray him?

            Najir Ali used to come at daylight. But, used to come infrequently with the rising of turmoil. At the end of the war, he rarely came to check the details of the accounts because he had to take a heavy load of pressure outside. At that time, Lal Mia had an opportunity to steal money and used to spend a lot. But, the people who had occupied the houses of that area showed their influence over other people and did not want to pay money after washing their clothes. And, there were frequent rumors that on a certain day the war against India would start, the Air Force of a country was about to land, and the city people were running breathlessly to the rural areas. The business was dull, the condition of the country could be worse. Lal Mia understood it by looking at Najir Ali’s face during his infrequent visits. Sometimes, Lal Mia discovered the red colored glow and some other times he found the dusk dark behind the beard of Najir Ali’s pale face. The red colored glow behind the black beard used to be the signal light of his happiness. Yesterday noon, military men raided near the slum of Malibagh Bazar, caught four miscreants from there and 1 was killed by the bullet of the military men. The military men set fire to the slum to catch them; Najir Ali felt sorry because 7 or 8 women and 12 to 14 children were burnt to ashes on that fire. But, what could be done by the military men when the miscreants took shelter in the slum? They had given shelter to the spies of the enemies, for this they had to pay the price. The man was amazed by the action of the military men and he felt comfort since they never missed their target, Pakistan had survived for this time. He smacked on the back of Lal Mia to give him courage, “Don’t worry, boy”. He may not know Urdu more than this or to make Lal Mia understand Najir Ali took the help of mother tongue, “Our leader had met Yahya Khan. Yahya Khan allotted 10 minutes for him but could not finish the discussion until forty five minutes." The picture of the president along with the party leader had been published in their own party newspaper. Najir Ali opened the news before him, their leader was sitting hesitantly and the president was looking at him with drowsing eyes. The eyes seemed to be known to him but looking at those eyes for a long time, Lal Mia could not reckon it. The darkness of the downstairs of Nogor Mohol cinema hall had blurred everything before his eyes.

            The pale face of Najir Ali became glowed in black and Lal Mia understood it. From the dark cloud of his cheeks rain fell down through his beard, the black stream was motionless but the restless waterfall was very much visible; yesterday, the miscreants of Chunkuthiya attacked the military camp on the other side of Buriganga and killed 4 military men. They had attacked many other camps in different places. Were the numbers of traitors increasing day by day in this country? See, even at Boro Maghbazar of Dhaka city, a number of Indian spies injured some Rajakars and left the place with the rifles from their hands and people were merely looking at the incident. Would Islam survive if Pakistan did not exist? The Muslims were somehow in good position, would the Hindus tolerate this? Lal Mia was earning his livelihood because of Najir Ali’s business. Would not everything reverse, if the military did not exist? The dark cloud inside Najir Ali’s black beard became darker and this shadow fell in the eyes of Lal Mia. Najir Ali’s jeopardy meant his jeopardy.

            Najir Ali returned home very early before darkness. Now, he had many houses and did not let others know where he would spend the night. During curfew Lal Mia napped, having closed the door. In those days, the whole Tati Bazar entered inside the closed room, even ShakhariBazar tried to do so. Lal Mia suddenly startled by the sound of the rifle’s butt, was not it the voice of Imam Uddin? “Wake up, how long will you sleep? I have left the dead body of your usurer in the middle of Johnson Road, go and throw away the body. He sniffs a lot. Get up and go.” Lal Mia tried to seek the glint of smile in Imam Uddin’s eyes to escape fear. But, having failed to see the slightest sign of that smile, he himself contrived to gain courage. How was the contrivance? No, - in one sense, it was a good news for him since after Najir Ali’s death, he would be able to possess this laundry. The owner was already killed by the military, would the sons’ of the owner come back from India? Some dhutis were arrayed in the almirah, and these would be arrayed like this. Lal Mia would keep Imam Uddin with him, if he possessed the ownership. Imam Uddin would have to do nothing; he would just mark the dirty clothes with black pen and give receipts to the customers for those dirty clothes. Lal Mia himself would manage washing, ironing, and delivering clothes. But, he himself will collect money and maintain cash, it was better to keep it under his possession. And, sitting here, Lal Mia would tell the histories of the action of Santosh- Sabiha or Jeba-Mohmmad Ali or Nilo-Wahid Murad or Suchonda-Razzak. Would Imam Uddin get the opportunity to interrupt the story? Then, would not Imam Uddin be the employee of Lal Mia? He became thoughtful regarding which history he would tell first, just at that moment, he jumpedon hearing the explosion of a grenade near the door. After exploding the grenade, the scoundrel was knocking at the door? The door was about to break open. Having got up from the bed where clothes were ironed, he opened the door’s cleat, chain, haft and found that Tati Bazar was filled with military men. What was the name of this movie? He tried to find out the faces of Nilo-Wahid or Suchonda or Kobori amidst them but instead of their faces, he found Najir Ali’s cloudy face behind the rainfall of his beard. Najir Ali with a solemn voice said, “Let’s go hurriedly, we have to go Imam Uddin’s home. Lock the door!” He got the key from inside the room to lock it, but the key fell down by a solid kick from a military boot, “Isn’t the motherfucker a friend of the traitor? Let’s go, motherfucker!”

             The lock began to dither. He, along with Najir Ali, got into the jeep and started for Imam Uddin’s residence. In the jeep, a military man was aiming his gun at him. By this time, he had known that yesterday night, around two hours ago; Imam Uddin was killed by the bullets of the military men while trying to escape after blowing out the transformer and injuring a military man. But, Imam Uddin said to kill his owner, what was about that? Were not they bluffing? The oppression of the military men and on the other hand, the mischief of Imam Uddin –had left    Lal Mia extremely distraught.

            After surrounding the slum, the military men found a rifle, S.M.G, and some grenades. The members of that house had already escaped; having failed to catch them, the military men beat all the girls, aged people, and children black and blue. The 12 or 13 year old brother and the father of Imam Uddin had been severely injured and taken to the military lorry. Having performed their responsibilities of beating and apprehending people sincerely, they set fire to the slum and started to fire randomly. But, they seemed to enjoy the indiscriminate firing of the houses, which were on fire the most. After all, they were the best armed force in the world, was there any other happiness for them than using the arms? With the melody of the brush firing, the rattling sound of Imam Uddin’s old grandmother rang, “Allah will not tolerate it, will not tolerate it. You will have to face the wrath of Allah, will have to face it!” Everyone was anxious and annoyed at the same time: why was her grandson was killed by this random firing, would the dead body be found or not, and the old dame was inviting further perils. The Military men along with Najir Ali were the target of her curse, “Hey Najira , son of a bitch, son of a harlot, today, being a pimp of the military men, you have entered in the area with  Ajrail . You have come to   help the military men to catch more of our people. Listen pimp, you should let your sisters and mother to be fucked by the military men.”  Najir Ali was always ready to obey the order of Imam Uddin’s grandmother, but the absence of his mother had made his three sisters quarrelsome since his sisters’ sons, one or more than one, had joined with the miscreants, making it very dangerous, difficult, and impossible to obey her recent order. Imam Uddin’s old grandmother pleaded to Allah for immediate wrath upon Najir Ali, but before fulfilling her prayers, the old lady was laid on the ground forever by the bullets of a valiant military man. On seeing the fallen skinny body on the ground, the women in the slum began to run here and there and because of their unorganized and unplanned rampaging, some of them came before the military jeeps. One of them was Imam Uddin’s wife, the woman was shivering with the son in her lap. A military man asked her. “What’s your name?” After looking at the fresh dead body of the grandmother-in-law on the ground, she gasped. Again the military man asked, “What’s your name?” She was gasping in spite of the repetition of the question. Having finished all her gasping, she answered with a speedy breath, “Bullet!”

            Imam Uddin’s wife uttered the name of her son instead of her own name to hide herself and her name or having panicked, she might have forgotten her name, or after giving birth to her son, she had become popular in the area as Bullet’s mother. After Akika the son had been named Mohammad Kashem. His father had given the name, Bullet. How? After a few days later of his birth, the urine of his son soaked Imam Uddin’s chest. This woke up Imam Uddin and approving the satisfactory force and speed of urine, he remarked, “It seems that he is firing bullets”. This incident created amusement and pride between the husband and wife. Imam Uddin used to call his son Bullet only before his wife. But, Imam Uddin went to war before hearing the response of his son. It was natural that Imam Uddin’s wife had forgotten the name within these six months. But, amidst random firing, she had lost the courage to remember the real name of her son and without much effort, she had only uttered the name.

            But, hearing this name, a man like sahib laughed, “Is this baby a Bullet? Very good.” Suddenly, he became sober and asked, “Your baby? It has come out from your belly, so you are a rifle!” A bullet must be comes out of a rifle”. Having used this sharpened logic and satisfied with his astuteness, the military man demanded reward for his talent, “Seize this rifle.”

             Preempted by the military man, Imam Uddin’s wife was taken to the car and at last, Bullet was transferred to the lap of his grandmother. At the same time, the senseless body of the Imam Uddin’s father was thrown   from the lorry, and Lal Mia was taken into the lorry.

            Within two weeks Najir Ali freed Lal Mia from the clutches of the military men. But, it was beyond his ability to make free Imam Uddin’s brother and wife. Imam Uddin was killed after injuring a military man, “Someone has to suffer for his crime!” Najir Ali explained to Lal Mia “Why are you behaving like this? If they detain you again, I can not set you free. On that day, our leader said, Allah has given at least ten eyes to each military man. They hold some one after proper justification. Why should I plead for the enemies?”

             But, it was not like that Najir Ali had not pleaded for making them free. Imam Uddin’s injured father died within a month and his mother prepared to repair the burnt house after forgetting the sorrow of being a widow, and Lal Mia gave her money for mending the house. Before that, they used to live with Lal Mia’s mother for some days. Having landed on the house, she pledged, “Son, please free Imam Uddin’s wife from her captors. What should I do with this suckling baby?” In spite of Najir Ali’s scolding, he whimpered before Najir Ali, “How can the innocent baby remain alive without a mother?” That was true. Although, Imam Uddin’s wife was black, she was good looking. – No, no, Tauba, Astaghfirullah, Najir Ali did not have any amorous desire. He had a virtuous wife and six sons, he would be thankful to Allah, if the sons would run his shops well. The military men should have some physical demands since they are sacrificing their lives coming from thousands of mile for our religion. It would be unfair, if can not fulfill this only desire. Najir Ali wandered from pillar to the post and pleaded to many. But, he was unsuccessful to find out the whereabouts of the girl. There were also selfish people among the military men; Najir Ali became sad to see the selfish greed in some of their eyes for consuming wealth, money, and women alone. But, he never disclosed this grief to anyone. But, Lal Mia realized the grief of his owner to see the mixed glow behind the beard of his cheek.

            About the end of that year amidst winter, the boys of the area returned with the mist of fire. Nobody knew where Najir Ali had disappeared. The college boys whose instigation influenced Imam Uddin to take part in the war, had secured Najir Ali’s occupied shop of Nobendu Bashak for dwelling Imam Uddin’s mother’s dwelling. Having got the new house, Imam Uddin’s mother could not realize whether she should be happy or feel sad day and night for her son and husband. Lal Mia was heavily beaten by them for Najir Ali’s location. But, the mother of the martyr Imam Uddin held the legs of those boys carrying rifles, “Sons’, this Lal Mia did a lot for us. If Lal Mia was not with us, Najir Ali would have handed all of us over to the military men.” Imam Uddin’s mother kept Lal Mia with her and Lal Mia started to believe that he had saved the lives of his friend’s mother and son. Was there any alternative not to believe it? On the other hand, the sons’ of the owner had taken possession of the laundry shop after returning from India. The clothing store of the Dhanonjoy Saha was also lost because one M.P had made a hardware shop there. Everything was supposed to be distributed among the poor and Lal was also supposed to be a poor man but he did not get anything. He did not even find the opportunity to enjoy a movie for free in the Naj Cinema Hall of Gulistan. He was in doubt whether he got the bottles of foreign drinks if Imam Uddin wouldn’t die. Lal Mia had to believe many things if he wanted to maintain the shop and lived with Imam Uddin’s mother and son.

            Imam Uddin’s mother made him work hard, though Lal Mia maintained the shop, he had to give the estimation of everything to her. But, as a human being she was quite good, she cared about Lal Mia’s meal, and handled any situation if someone tried to say anything regarding the relationship between him and Najir Ali during war. A human being like Imam Uddin’s mother was rare. She possessed every good quality except only one flaw that was she used to talk a lot. The heroism of Imam Uddin was the main part of her gibbering. Day and night, she related the tale of Imam Uddin’s heroism. She proclaimed that her son was a great hero, who had killed hundreds of military men at every nook and corner in the country. Military vans had been overturned and annihilated by his grenades. After finishing two lorries of military men, he targeted the electric transformer. He also held Najir Ali. Najir Ali, the pimp of the military man always at their beck and call. Military men used to travel by vans- lorries-jeeps and he had to on foot. On that day, having killed the military men, Imam Uddin was going to attack the Bongshal police outpost, he came into contact with Najir Ali on his way and was about to kill him with the stroke of the bayonet but the dog held his legs. After all, he was the man of the same area and to some extent, a senior that’s why Imam Uddin kicked on his ass and started to proceed forward. The time wasted in forgiving Najhir Ali gave the military men the opportunity. Otherwise, which military had the ability to kill him?

            Imam Uddin’s mother is not a woman used to talking in a low voice, she always talked in a high pitch. Lal Mia can hear all the stories, which were told to her grandson. He was used to paying attention to the stories of others throughout his life though he was intervened by Imam Uddin while telling the stories of cinemas and deprived him from telling the stories. He did dislike listening to her stories. But, sometimes they made him impatient. To some extent, it is not safe to discuss. Najir Ali is still alive and it is assumed that he is in a good condition. If he hears everything, nobody knows, what will he do? Lal Mia hears rumors about him; Najir Ali may be doing business in Chittagong or Khulna or Comilla remaining into the hide whose partner is the brother of a minister who also went to war. Some have said, he has flown to Saudi Arabia with his party leader, now he has bags of gold and will return to the country if he gets the opportunity.

            Who knew that this time would come so early? Lal Mia is completely grasped by fear before everything inversed. Having started fresh dominance by the new type of military men, one day, Lal Mia saw a spy of Najir Ali’s party in front of the Baitul Mukarram Mosque and this man is selling beads, surama, and attar after arranging these on a table. Lal Mia’s heart begins to pound: during the end of the war this Iblish along with some others and the military men slaughtered the jewels of the University and Medical College with their own hands after taking them to Rayer Bazar. – Is this dog still alive? – Lal Mia runs breathlessly to inform Imam Uddin’s mother about this terrible news but he finds that the old woman is crying alone in her room.But, it does notbother him. Now a days, the goody’s spirit to talk a lot is lessening and she cries at least two days in a week, having stopped telling the heroic stories of Imam Uddin. The heroism of Imam Uddin does notcome during her lamentation but she remembers the daily activities of her husband and son.

            Bullet does nothave any interest in his grandmother’s lamentation. Bullet goes outside when the goody starts to cry; he knows it well when his grandmother will stop crying and coming home, he finds his grandmother wiping her tears from her nose and neck so she can resume telling the stories of Imam Uddin. He cannot sleep without grandmother though he does not respond to her bawling. The boy bedwets 5 or 6 times in a month. Then, there is no end of troubles that Imam Uddin’s mother has to face because she has to wash the bed sheet, pillow cover, and curtain. She babbles while washing these clothes, “Do you pass water through a pipe? You have wetted the whole bed, there are the marks of your urine in the pillow, bed sheet, cushion, curtain, and the cover of the quilt!” Apart from this, he possesses many other faults, sometimes, he blabbers in his sleep and shouts at his grandmother. One day, having got the opportunity, Imam Uddin’s mother asks, “What makes you scared at night? Do you dream of any one? Do you see your father in your dream?”

            “No, I don’t see father.”

            Imam Uddin’s mother becomes thoughtful - if he dreams of his father, would he recognize him? But, the son should not fear, if he dreams of his father? On his grandmother’s insistence, Bullet says after much thinking, “I dreamt of an old man in my dream who has asked me, whether I will bring some dalpuri for him?”

             “Are there any marks on his face?”

            “No. I have already said that an old man. His face is full of beard.”

            “Your father used to favor dalpuri a lot.” While saying this, Imam Uddin’s mother wanders if Bullet’s grandfather comes in his dream to see his grandson. Bullet is the only heir of the family. But, dalpuri was not his favorite food because he used to eat sweets. He used to spoil half of the income to eat sweets in Sitaram’s shop. He might not have the same taste for sweets after his death or he might have become inclined to dalpuri to give respect to the taste of his martyred son. While thinking of feeding some fakirs, she says, “Boy, you have to give respect, if you dream of an old man, you have to listen to his words by dreaming the dream again and again.”

            “How? How can I dream?”

            “How can you dream?- After being woken up, you have to reverse the nearest pillow and go to sleep on the right side after laying your head on that pillow. Then, he would appear in your dream again.” His grandmother recited a verse to make this thing clear:

                         I dreamt of a dervish who was a virtuous servant of Allah.

                        He prayed to Allah innumerable times.

                        If you want to dream the same dream again.

                         Sleep after reversing the nearest pillow.

            But, Bullet has not dreamt of any dervish. The old man of his dream is afeeble, black, and tall enough; he has filthy beard and wears torn lungi. Having heard this, Imam Uddin’s mother can not but cry because the man could not be anyone but her husband. Her husband was not that tall, did not have long beard and never wore torn lungi. But, after death, human beings might face multifarious troubles. Bullet goes outside when she begins to cry for her husband.

            Bullet learned to talk from hearing his grandmother’s stories about her son. Within a few years, he began to speak. But, he used to waste a large portion of his speech outside with his classmates of 1913’s Rahimuddin Sarkari Prathomik Biddaloy, who used to come to their grocery shop known as Lal Mia’s shop to buy marbles, mango bar, prickles, and candies. He used to tell the stories of his father but instead of his father, he was the hero of those stories. He had blown away the military lorries thousands of times. He did not know who was Najir Ali, even did not know the meaning of pimp. Despite this, he had killed the pimp Najir Ali at least 500 times.  

            Lal Mia fears multiplied ten times more on hearing the narration of Bullet’s stories. Will this boy have to endure the same fate like his father? The father was killed after being injured by the military men and this chap will be killed for his fibbing. What will Lal Mia do with this boy?

             By this time, one Friday, Najir Ali is greeted by a salaam while standing at the door of the mosque after the Jummah Prayer, “‘Assalamualikumbrothers , are you in sound health and mind?” His known and known and unknown people are looking at his white beard, the glow of light in his reddish cheek, the napkin hanging around the neck with astonishment, and the cloak is too large that he does notneed to wear pajama. After his greeting to everyone, he embraces everyone. After that, for a few days, he visits the houses of the area and fills those houses with the fragrance of attar. He had been in Mecca for a few years and has the blessings of inhaling the air which was once Rasul Karim’s abode. Now, he is bestowed with immense peace and does nothave any desire for anything except the blessing of people. If he wants to get the blessing of the people,he has to do something for his livelihood that is why he has opened a small jewellery shop in front of the Baitul Mukarram Mosque. He does notneed anything, if he can stay at Baitul Mukarram. With this desire he has made the arrangement of his earning near the mosque.

             Lal Mia has a long discussion with Najir Ali. No, he does notdemand a single pie from Lal Mia, Allah will bestow him because he has protected at least a house of Najir Ali in his absence. Najir Ali smiles sweetly to hear that the occupied house of Najir Ali has been allotted to the family of the martyred Imam Uddin – it’s alright, they can stay there, nobody will take houses their graves. Imam Uddin’s mother is a childless Muslim widow and her grandchild is an orphan. They can stay as long as they want, he will be blessed, if he can do anything for them. But, Imam Uddin’s mother suddenly dies without giving him that opportunity. Now Bullet will stay and it also makes him happy.

            But, Bullet does nothave any impulse for staying at home. He wanders outside. A secret place to watch movies in V.C.R has opened at somewhere in Siddique Bazar and Bullet stays there day and night. Along with enjoying movies, he has started to sell tickets standing at the door of the thatched and hiding himself from the police. Within two years the government has withdrawn the ban of keeping V.C R at home. Then, those secret places vanished and Bullet returns to Lal Mia again. By this time, the Chicken -Pilao hotel of Najir Ali has been replaced by that grocery shop. What will Lal Mia do with Bullet? In fear of Najir Ali’s notion regarding Bullet, Lal Mia manages a job for him in a big hotel at Stadium Market. The hotel is quite big, whatever the salary is but the boy will be able to manage from meal to everything with the tips. After about three months, Lal Mia goes there to inquire about him and finds that he has already disappeared from there. The owner of the hotel informs him that the boy is a very bad lad. He used to steal food, but the owner did not take this into his consideration because almost every employee was used to doing so. The problem is that if he finds noise outside, he goes there. He finds excitement in breaking transportation through pelting stones and burning tires amidst agitation. On a hartal day, he threw a yellow casket aiming at the police car which was filled with gunpowder but another police car came behind Bullet and arrested him. After about a month, he was released and returned to the hotel but the owner refused to give him the job. What a trouble! What Lal Mia will do with him? His father was the traitor. Had he told him while leaving, “Lal Mia I am leaving the son behind, take care of him.”, then he would have taken over the responsibility of taking care of Bullet. Now, what is the reason to enquire about the activities of Bullet? Or, is he doing all these troubling deeds to compete with his dead friend? By that time, he had heard that Bullet was working as a helper of the helper of number 6 bus traveling on the Motijheel-Banani route, the cook of the chicken-pulao has seen him to call passengers while smacking on the bus. This time, Lal Mia has not gone to bring him even after hearing all these. After about 7 or 8 months, the boy himself appears before Lal Mia. There are some empty tiffin carriers in his hands. What’s the matter? – He wants to sell all these. Lal Mia understands everything though Bullet does notdisclose anything.

            After leaving the job as a helper of the 6 number bus, he took another job in an office of Motijheel. But, it was not a official work, he had to bring lunch in the tiffin carriers from the houses of the officials. Having taken some rice and curry from the tiffin carrier of each official, he had been having a great lunch for a few days. He had gained some weight by doing so, but to meet the demand of this developed body, he used to take out a little bit more rice and curry but the officials began to suspect him for this. That’s why; he disappeared with rice, curry, fish, meat, and pulse of different tastes of different houses, even with the chilies and salt of the same taste of the tiffin carriers. After finishing rice and curry three time in day, he comes with the empty tiffin carriers to the hotel of Lal Mia, which is also known as their house. Lal Mia takes the tiffin carriers to sell them and says, “Son, stay here. You will work here. At night, you can sleep at my house.”

            Then, it is not even the house of Lal Mia? This means, it is the shop of Najir Ali. He has a strong document of his ownership and Lal Mia is just his manager. After hearing this he insists to sleep here at night. This is all right because at least he will be before him. He needs to take care of him, if he wants to take revenge on his traitor father.

            No, Najir Ali does nothave any objection. He is making arrangement to build a garment factory, there are many problems to do so, and he can not depend on the sons entirely. Again, politics has mingled with his blood, how can he disown it? The meetings in front of the mosque become filled with people on Fridays and if he does notsay something on religion and other things, the unbelievers will take control of the country. Whom will he trust except Lal Mia to maintain this shop? It depends on Lal Mia with whom he will maintain the shop. And, a son of martyred freedom fighter means an asset, who knows what may happen in future? He will manage, if the boy behaves obstinately in future.  Najir Ali had accumulated enough money by doing business with the then brother of the minister, but has he earned the money for depositing in the banks? If only he could start a garment factory! Would he not be able to buy this area in no time? Then, he will not face any trouble getting rid of Bullet, even from his senior Lal Mia. These people are like the bubbles in urine that appear momentarily and then disappear. Najir Ali sees the disappearance of Lal Mia and Bullet in the yellow bubbles of the disappearing urine while passing water in front of the commode. He can not turn his eyes from there even after emptying his bladder, rather his closing eyes view a scene that he is at the helm in the mosque with a club in his hand.

            Lal Mia has to face many troubles for Bullet. He had given up watching movies many years ago. Now, he does notget the scope to narrate the plot of the films. But , Allah makes him dream every night, if he can not tell these to other people, the mucus forms crusts in the corner of his eyes , how the new dreams will be congealed there after being crystal grain? Can Chicken-Pulao be like rice-curry, the dream should be revealed through any kind of hole otherwise, his whole body suffers from uneasiness. But, every time, when he tries to tell about his dreams, this naughty boy intervenes and doubts at every step. Though he interrupts a lot, he has a great ardor to know the details of Lal Mia’s dream. If he spends money, will there be any dearth of listeners? Every night, a number of boys-carriers-waiters come and stand before his counter to listen to his dreams. What is the benefit of it? Everybody dozes just after the beginning of the stories. On the other hand, Bullet stimulates him by his incessant questioning.

            Today, Bullet again asks, “Uncle, have you seen any marks on the face of that Muslim?” Without being angry, Lal Mia thinks for a little while closing his eyes and says, “No son, he has a fair face and entirely white beard. A quite fair looking Muslim. I can not but respect him, if I see him.”

             Has his father never appeared in the dreams of Lal Mia? It makes Bullet sad, but what is the fault of Lal Mia in this matter? Has Imam Uddin ever appeared in the dream of his son?

            After two days, Lal Mia calls Bulllet before closing the shop, “HeyBullet, yesterday I was a bit late going to sleep. Having closed my eyes in sleep, I saw that Muslim, he was saying his prayer. I was observing him standing somewhere. I think, Shah Sahib wants to let me know something.”

             “What more can the reversed feet man could tell you? Did he say about the problems of his feet?”

             Lal Mia is annoyed at Bullet’s audacity but on seeing his interest he can not but tell, “Yesterday, I did not notice his feet. Today, I dreamt that the Muslim was praying after raising his hands. The whole mosque was placed within his hands, but still there was enough vacant space, it seems-”

            “Could our area fit there?”

             “I don’t know.”

            On Friday, Bullet approaches him and asks, “Uncle, have you dreamt any dream?”            Lal Mia becomes happy. Looking at Bullet’s eyes with affection, he says, “Yesterday was Thursday night; the night of Jummah. Before going to sleep, I said two rakats of Nafol prayer.”

             “Why?”

            “Stupid!” In his fervor, Lal Mia’s feelings overflow with affection. He says that the personage who usually appears in his dreams is a sage so, it is better to keep himself cleansed. But, the dream of yesterday was fearsome. No, why did he dream of a skeleton? He did not even dream of a graveyard. Then? Yesterday, he dreamt that someone was standing near the betel-leaf shop. He was frightened and because of it he was shivering, but the reason of getting frightened was unknown, the scary part of the dream could have happened earlier or he had forgotten that part. Then, there was a small bench before the betel-leaf shop and three Maulanas were sitting there. They were wearing long coats and had long white beards. Everyone’s head was covered with turbans. Having ordered the shopkeeper to make a betel-leaf with chewing tobacco, Lal Mia looked at the bench and said, “Assalamualaikum.”

            “Waalaikumassalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh wamaghfiratuhu”, after hearing the chorus reply from the three, Lal Mia froze. He was very scared, but having lost the ability to realize his fear, he was standing there. He was not even standing there, it seemed that he was lying above the sky after keeping his feet on the ground. Had he died? Before whom had he appeared after death? Who were they? The shopkeeper of the betel-nut shop handed him a betel-nut with chewing tobacco and he gained little bit of courage after inserting it into his mouth. The people sitting on the bench asked him, “What’s the matter, son? -Speak.”

            Lal Mia with a little more courage said slowly, “Huzor, a respected person prays sitting close to me. He is very fair looking. But, I saw that his legs are reversed, actually the feet …..”          Before finishing his sentence, the three Maulanas raised their long coats unto their knees and said in a chorus like before, “Like these? Are they similar?”

            Lal Mia saw the feet of the three which were reversed too. The shopkeeper stopped to make betel-nut, extended his legs sitting awkwardly with the risk of falling and said, “Like these?” His feet were reversed as well. Meanwhile, people with reversed feet were coming in groups from the mosque and extending their legs before Lal Mia after raising their coats, lungi or payjamas, even pants unto their knees. On seeing this, Lal Mia shouted in his sleep and that woke him up.

            The fear about his dream still makes him numb even in his dream. He is looking at the cover of the big pan Lal Mia feels nervous on the possibility of seeing the filthy face of the white beard person on the linen cover of the big pan.

            May be, La Mia passed the next few nights without any dream or he is being warned in his dream that it’s better to talk less regarding these things. Bullet asks Lal Mia in advance to see him starting for  home for the last few days after closing the cashbox, , ‘Uncle, why did you say that Shah Sahib who appears in your dream is very fair looking?’

            “Yeah.”

            “He is tall, plump, and his entire beard is gray. Am I not right?”

            “May be.”

            “Is he like our owner?”

            “May be.” Having replied, Lal Mia becomes terrified. In this state, he notices that Bullet is looking at his eyes with wonder. Having taken a glass of water in his hand, he gulps the water, Lal Mia snubs, “Customers are waiting. Go.”

            Bullet is about to take pulao from the cooking pail of the counter after opening its cover, the aroma along with the white smoke emits from the inside. Having looked there, Lal Mia suddenly sees the flowing beard of a man which makes him restless. How can he tolerate the oppression of his dream while he is awake?

            Bullet stands before Lal Mia before closing the shop. He seemed happy since afternoon of today, the scolding of Lal Mia did not impact in his happiness. Bullet affectionately calls him “Uncle”.

            Bullet is not a man to call him in such a way! Then? Lal Mia’s heart melted on hearing the endearing term. The traitor did not say anything about his son, but when he came here for the last time before going to the war, he could at least say for once that I am leaving my son to you. No, having shown his courage, he left. Yet, they were childhood friends-both of them started to learn Ampara to Hafizullah Munsi in the Madrasha of Raisabazar and terminated it in the middle of learning, started to watch movies in Mukul-Rupmohol-Nagormohol, and used to flirt before the Bangla Bazar School at 5 and 10- had performed all duties together! Yet, the scoundrel had not given him the respected duty to raise Bullet. It does notmatter, see, your son is too much dependent on me, come and see, you the son of a martyr!

            Lal Mia asks very affectionately, “What’s the matter, son?”

             ‘Yesterday, I dreamt of the Muslim, Shah Sahib. He appeared in my dream. In which mosque did you dream him? I dreamt that he was watching the street from the first floor of a beautiful mosque. The feet of the man were reversed. Uncle, I think that Shah Sahib is suffering from the legs malady-’

            “Don’t lie, boy.” Lal Mia becomes restless with annoyance, fear, and distress; what is the future of this orphan? The boy does notpray, fast, take water after urination, always remains sacrilegious; - in spite of these, he dares to dream of Shah Sahib. What an audacity! Does he know the consequences of this kind of audacity? He has possessed the reckless attitude of his father. Is the fibbing attitude of his father finding root in him? He, somehow, closes the account of the cash-box and stands up.

            “Bullet, go to sleep, sleep right now.” Having told Bullet to sleep, he is about to go outside, but he can not evade anxiety; he will dream those dreams again in his sleep.

            Bullet feels restless lying on the mattress of the hotel. Actually, it’s not restlessness, his chest, belly, and brain become fiddle. There is no fault of Lal Mia because the corners of his eyes prickle, if he can not tell his dreams. Next to him, Hashem is sleeping deeply on the mattress. Next to Hashem, the cook is smoking lying on the mattress. Bullet calls him mildly, “Master”.

            “Say.” The cook gives him attention as he is called master. Feeling assured, Bullet says, “Yesterday, I dreamt that one Maulana was observing people from the first floor of a mosque. The man had a long beard and wore a long coat. The feet were reversed under the coat. I thought, how could the man walk with these feet?”

             “Keep your mouth shut. Let me sleep. You have possessed the sickness of our manager, he always dreams in his sleep. He always fibs! Yesterday, he told me, I think there should be more livers and gizzards. Today, he said, there are few customers today, how is it possible to finish this amount of rice?- This fellow doubts me. The owner does notnotice and check, can not you see that he is gaining more and more pounds having embezzled money? - Yet, he suspects me to be a thief. Manager, the son of a motherfucker.”

            Bullet cannot convince the cook. Hashem turns in his sleep while muttering. Bullet can guess the dream of the boy, if he hears the muttering. Though he pays attention, he can not find any meaning. Having heard a horrid sound in the highway crossroad, he sits up on mattress. This is a grenade! Then, has his father returned and blown away the transformer? Will he forgive Najir Ali after being kicked on his ass? – Will he forgive? – this excitement, this anxiety lasts for about a minute when he looks outside, it makes him sad: how can the lights of the streets glimmer, if the transformer is already blown away? From the whistles of the busy policemen and conversation of the people, he surmises that it was the blasting sound of a truck’s tire. After sighing, he tries to sleep. The sound of the grenade is similar to this, then why was not it a grenade? The difficulty of the old man’s legs, who was standing on the first floor of the mosque, could have been cured, if he threw a grenade at his legs. While he walks on reversed feet, he has to face a lot of difficulties and dangers. The long beard and the coat of the man hovers like  the curtain above the bed, and after sometime, Bullet’s sleep entwines the curtain inside the beard and coat. The complexion of his body only glows in his face and the reddish glow of the face looks profound red in the light of the afternoon. There are some benches beside the decorated gate of a square mosque and 2 or 3 persons are sitting on every bench. The person of Lal Mia’s and Bullet’s   dream is sitting on a big chair. His gray beard flows like a stream of milk and the color of his expensive coat is off-white. The feet under the coat of the man are affixed to the ground, fingers facing backwards as always. Bullet approaches near him and says after bowing his head, “Assalamualaikum.”

            “Waalaikumassalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh wamaghfiratuhu”, having got the reply from the known and unknown reversed legs persons sitting on the benches, he asks them, “Huzurs,you are suffering from a problem with your legs for a long time; why don’t you fix it?”           On hearing this, they become very angry and approach him. But, because of their reversed feet the more they want to move towards him, the more they go backwards. Before their absolute disappearance, Bullet starts to dream another dream. Now, he finds himself on the high roof of the House Building Corporation. He does notfind himself detached anymore, rather he sees many people down there. Is there any hartal today? Is there any meeting going on? These thoughts make him restless in his dream, just at that time, he sees the man standing beside a trellised wall wearing an off-white coat and beard which flows like the lake of milk. Under the direction of this man, a group of reversed feet persons rushed towards him, whether the incident took place in his dream or reality, where it took place, and when he could not remember any of this, he does notfeel even a little bit worried or excited. The reversed legs of the man should be detached before fixing; considering this, Bullet begins to think, which thing he will throw there. He searches both of the pockets of his pant and having found nothing, he becomes more perturbed. He feels pressure of urine in his lower abdomen while thinking. There is no public toilet of the corporation or the municipal corporation or the government on the roof of this House Building Corporation. He feels more pressure of urination in his bladder. Finding no other way, Bullet passes the flow of yellow urine below. By this time, he aims the flow at the reversed feet of the man who is wearing beard and long coat. If Imam Uddin and his rifle entitled wife were present here, they could say the accurate evolvement and intensification of the flow of seven days’ Bullet’s urine. The velocity of the flow could be satisfactory, but having sensed the pungent scent, the reversed feet man starts to walk after crossing the terracotta wall and enter into their invisible place. On the other hand, because of gentle blow of the wind much of his urine spread all around.

            By this time, Bullet feels meager heat of water in his lungi and having awaken, he finds that his lungi as well as the half pant of Hashem is completely wet. Shit! What did he do? A long time ago, Bullet had stopped of bedwetting when his grandmother brought an amulet for him, then, has the amulet become invalid because of Shah Sahib? But, the embarrassment of wetting the bedding suppressed under the immense sadness of missing the target. It was not right to miss the target. He takes two glasses of water forcefully and goes to sleep again. He properly turns over the near pillow, but he has to sleep turning to the left because the right side is completely wet.