Two letters inside the house. One can see from the envelope that it came from Rupa. White envelope on Curtis paper. The name of the silver embossed in silver ink on one end of the envelope. Silver does not shine on white, yet it is silver style. The other letter is on brown paper. Address typed in English. Neither of the two letters has a stamp — delivered by hand. I put the silver letter in my pocket and opened the other one.
That's what I thought, that's what I wrote. Typed letter. Written in English in the form of that telegraph.
Himu, can't find. Where are you
Bought a video camera. All videos will be.
Remember.
If you are at home, you have to read it. Must be stuck for the whole day. My job will be to walk around with his fat black bag — now that the video camera has been bought the beggars will be interviewed in the video. It has been on the cassette recorder for so long. Their work is clear. There are ready-made questionnaires: No questions can be asked outside of the questionnaire prepared during the interview.
Sample questions are:
Name?
Female or male?
Age?
Education?
Father's name?
Address a) Permanent?
B) Temporary?
How long have you been begging?
What is the average daily income?
Number of family members?
How many members are beggars?
Eat cooked food, or eat begging food?
A total of fifty such questions. It takes an hour for one person to answer. He was given five rupees for one hour. Most of the beggars took a shiny note of five rupees in their hands and raised their eyes to their foreheads and said, what did Aida give after working so hard for so long? Afan has no justice?
I have tried to tell Iyad that such questions are meaningless. Iyad does not agree. Or he has worked day and night for three months to create questions. The statistical model stood before the question was made. Computer software has changed — and so on and so forth. I was annoyed to hear her gossip and said, shut up ass. He was very surprised and said - why are you talking ass? What is your reason behind calling me an ass? You write it down on point wise paper and give it to me. I will do the cold head analysis. If I see that your argument is not correct, then you have to apologize in writing for calling me an ass.
It is better to stay away from such people. I always try to stay away. I run away. The donkey finds me. A kind of thief-cop game. I am a thief - he is a policeman. Since the thief's intelligence is always higher than the police's intelligence, he has not seen me in the last one week. Not yet. I went out again. I have no plans. First you can go to Rupar. I haven't seen him for a long time. Favorite face is to be seen for a while. The human brain decorates pictures of loved ones beautifully. Pictures of loved ones are never arranged for any one strange reason. That is why the face of loved ones can never be remembered with closed eyes.
Silver was not found. Rupert met his father. He said frowning
- He is not in Dhaka.
This gentleman lied in a simple voice. I can understand from his words that Rupa is in Dhaka.
I said, where did you go?
‘Is it really necessary to know that?’
"No, you don't need to know — you still want to know."
"He has gone to Jessore."
‘Tell me the address?’
The gentleman said in a dry voice, I do not want to give the address. He is sick. We don't want anyone to bother him when he is sick.
‘People need friends when they are sick. I am his very good friend.
"His address cannot be given."
"Where did he go?"
‘Jessore.’
"It's not going to come back very soon, is it?"
"It will be late."
I said with a very worried face, that became a problem! Today I met Rupar on the street in front of the press club. He told me to come home. I don't understand the matter, you are saying Rupa in Jessore. An old, responsible man like you must not lie to me. So how did you meet Rupa?
The gentleman is looking. Didn't say anything. He was severely injured. It will take time to recover. It's nice to see the change in his expression.
‘Isn’t your name Himu?’
"Yes."
‘What you said is a lie. You have not met Rupar, he is in Jessore. If you try to joke with me, you won't do it again.
Remember? '
"Yes sir, there will be."
"Get out."
"Thank you sir."
I left. I am walking thinking about how such a difficult person is the father of a girl like Rupa— Rupa's letter has not been read yet. When it fell, it was over. This is the magic of letters. As long as there is no reading, there is magic. The magic is gone as soon as you read it.
Where to go? There is no question of going back to the mess. Iyad must be sitting there. I went to Mr. Morshed's house. Khilgaon is far away. I have to walk for a long time. It is good to walk with a purpose in mind. Although I know who Mr. Morshed cannot be found. Some days it happens that no one is available. Today is probably a day like that.
Mr. Morshed could not be found. The door is locked. But I noticed an interesting thing. At the same time as saying the address of the house, he said: Khilgaon No. 132, one storey house, huge mango tree in front. All right, just no mango. Not only this house, there is no mango tree in front of any house nearby. A doorman was found in Mr. Morshed's house. I asked him - was there ever a mango tree here? He was annoyed and said, why will there be mango trees?
As if having a mango tree is a crime. I said very politely, how long have you been in this house?
"I've been living here since I was a child."
‘Is this the house Mr. Morshed bought?’
‘No, rent a house. I will not stay long. The landlord has given notice. '
"Well, brother, let's go."
‘Should I tell him something?’
"No."
I started walking again. I have to stay on the road till one o'clock in the night. Yad will not sit for me till one. He has to return home by midnight. Nitu's strict instructions. It is not possible for Yadav to ignore the instructions of his daughter like Neetu.
How is it when you meet Neetu? The best way to get rid of them is to stay home. He will sit in my mess, I will sit in his house. Erche's good strategy for playing Cho-Police is no more. Flower proof.
Their house is a big deal. From the outside, it looks like a prison. The gate is such that nothing can be seen from outside. The big gate is never opened. There is a baby gate with the big gate. It was opened after a lot of pushing. You have to enter the house with your head down. Once inside, he wants to run out - because two Alsatians run at high speed. One of them is pitch black, the other is pale white. Although different in color, they have the same temperament, two are terribly violent, one named Turti, the other Forti.
The doorman says, "Shut up." They are silent, but look in such a way that it seems that they will bite their necks at any opportunity.
To get from the gate to the house, one has to walk through the garden for a while. That garden is also a great garden. Their house has a two-storied staircase of marble stone. It seems that the chairs are painted every day, because every time I see them, they are shining. The color of the chair mattresses is light green. I would never have known that there is such a beautiful combination of white and green if I had not come to Yad's house.
Neetu was sitting in the middle cane chair. Neetu is a heroine-nature girl. She is always dressed up and has sunglasses in her eyes like the heroines. Sunglasses all day and night. Whenever I see her, I think she is going to the party, or has returned from the party. I want to see this girl once in a normal way. That is probably not possible. He looked at me and stood up, said with a smile - let's go, then you were found! He is looking for you desperately.
"I came to find out."
‘The thing is I don’t know, there will be something about beggars. I didn't even want to know. Why do you feel that way?
‘How do you feel?’
‘Looks like he was working on a manhole he came to stop working. Go back and start working again. '
‘So bad?’
‘Yeah, so bad. Do you take a bath or not? '
"Let's reduce winter time."
‘Would you take a bath with hot water in the bathtub?’
‘I don’t need to. It feels good to be dirty. '
‘It feels good to be dirty! What kind of talk is that? '
"I'm trying to joke."
Neetu pursed his lips and said, I don't think it's a joke. You really love being dirty. Anyway, for me, please come clean. Talk to you soon and keep up the good content. I am giving you a new set of clothes. Leave your clothes in the bathtub. It will be ironed and sent to you. '
I smiled. Neetu said, don't laugh. I didn't say anything with laughter. Go, go into the bathroom and read. Quick.
There is a group of people ুম bathroom lovers. They are not fascinated by anything else, they are fascinated by the bathroom. I don't belong to that group, but I entered the bathroom of Yad's house and said in my mind for a while in silence, 'What is this!' I said again today. Bathtub filled with water. That bathtub is so big that you can swim if you want. Can be dipped. There is a system of 'listening to music' while taking a bath. The control of the music is definitely out of control. The record that will be played will go to the bathroom through the speaker. Now the song is being played. Rabindranath would have been injured if he had survived, because I was lying in the bathtub listening to his Maya play. Girlfriend says,
why, why are you lying.
You have that
What is lacking in the whole world—
There are evil breezes, flower ornaments, cuckoos, crooked groves.
I spent about an hour in the bathroom and came out. White pajamas-Punjabi, a light blue woolen sheet. I put shoes on my feet. They are also new. I feel ashamed to see myself in the mirror. Neetu said, wow, you look good! Come on, let's have tea.
They have different houses for different food. There is a tea room for tea. The two of us sat in the tea room. A pot of tea. With ashtrays and tin-filled cigarettes. Neetu said, take tea. Take a cigarette. Take the tin with you when you leave. This is for you.
"Well, I'll take it."
‘Now I will talk to you openly for a while. Please answer whatever I want. '
"I will."
‘What kind of friend do you remember?’
"Good friend."
"If you're a good friend, why did you call him an ass?"
‘Donkeys are a kind of caress. Strangers or half-acquaintances cannot be called assholes. If you say so, you will make a board. Dear friends can be called donkeys. Dear friends are not angry at this. I am rather happy. '
‘Did you know Iyad is not like the other ten? He takes everything seriously. He didn't sleep all night because you called him an ass. He was sitting awake. He was making a note in a notebook why he can't be called an ass. '
‘I laughed and said, isn’t that enough to say asshole what he was doing?’
‘No, not enough. Never call him an ass in the future and don't put any weird idea in his head. '
"I did not put any strange idea in his head."
‘Inserted — you told him you have to be a beggar if you want to know the beggars. You have to be with them. You have to beg like them. Didn't you say that? '
‘Did I say?’
‘Do you believe that?’
'I do.'
‘You mean, like, if someone wants to do research on ants, they have to be ants, and they have to be with ants, they have to eat ants?’
"It simply came to our notice then. There is a way about beggars. Apart from that, ants are not human beings, beggars are human beings. '
‘Do you know how much I dislike you?’
"No, I don't know."
‘Spiders dislike you more than I dislike them. Today I was sitting on the porch. When you were coming, I wanted to tell you to tear up the man, tear him to pieces. I would say. I took care of myself. I controlled myself. What I have done today, I will not be able to do it another day. Maybe one day I'll really let the dog loose. Take another cup of tea. '
I took another cup of tea. Neetu said, there are many stories about you. Are you a great man? People can tell the future. I don't believe a single point of it.
"I don't do it myself."
‘But some do. For your weird way of life. People do not become great men just by walking around the streets wearing dirty clothes. If it were, then there would be three lakh great men in Dhaka city. The number of people roaming the streets of this city is three lakhs. Do you understand? '
'I can.'
‘I’m not saying you have no power. There is a power. It's good. That is to speak beautifully. What you say seems to be true. Willing to believe. This power is inferior power. Those who sell drugs on the streets also have this ability. If you sell toothpaste or painkillers, you will sell well. '
There is quite a good discrepancy between Neetu and others in one place. Talking about anger makes others angry. His anger continues to grow. Gradually the face becomes red. Once upon a time, the whole face became gorgeous red. Neetu said, I talked a lot, you can say something if you want to say something in his answer.
"I don't want to say anything."
‘So did you admit that everything I said was true?’
"Yes."
‘In that case will you listen to my advice?’
‘Yes, listen.
‘You talk to a psychiatrist. A good psychiatrist will be able to remove the abnormalities that you have. You have been playing the role of a great man for a long time. You have the idea that you are a great man while acting. '
"I have no idea."
I heard from you that you eat rice at a hotel called Majnu Mia's Fish-Rice Hotel.
It’s coincidence.
