Time passed quietly for a while. Some mosquitoes have also flown towards me. Unlike Chicken Sadeq, I am not chasing the mosquitoes away by shaking my head. Rather, I am sitting like a stone statue.
Protein called blood is essential for female mosquitoes. Without this protein they cannot grow their eggs.
I'm silent. Mosquitoes are consuming blood with great joy. Festive excitement between them. At one point I stuck out my tongue. A small test - to see if the mosquito takes blood from the tongue.
The human tongue, a world unfamiliar to them. Will mosquitoes set foot in an unfamiliar realm? Only famous people have the courage to set foot in an unfamiliar world.
And curiosity. Humans are truly strange creatures. Even in the face of death, his consciousness is full of wonder and curiosity. He is never completely devoid of curiosity.
"Himu!"
"Yes brother?"
"Why are you sticking out your tongue?"
I explained the reason. The curiosity disappeared from the chicken Sadeq's eyes, but the surprise did not go away. He said in a hushed voice, "You are strange."
I said, "We are all weird in our own way. The mosquitoes that are absorbing blood are also strange"
Chicken Sadeq said, "It is true. Stranger than strange is hunger. So hungry! I will die after a while, yet I feel hungry. Imagine it!"
"What do you want to eat?"
"Hot rice with egg paste. Sprinkle with onion, green chillies and mustard oil."
"Did your mother used to make mashed eggs?"
"Hmmm." Then he added "If I could hold a cigarette after eating rice."
" Betel leaves with cigarettes?"
"No need for betel leaves. Don't eat betels."
"Mashed eggs, hot rice, cigarettes?"
"Hmmm."
"Nothing else?"
"No. Nothing more."
"Would you like something sweet to eat? In abroad, they call it dessert."
"You go off."
" I was already off. You switched my talking on. Now that you have rendered it on, let's gossip about stories."
"What kind of story do you want to hear?"
"Married? What about children?"
"Tomorrow you will get all the news when you open the magazine in the morning. Read the magazine and find out."
"Didn't say bad. Well said. You said you saw Azrael. Talk about that. Does he got any fragrance?"
"You reminded me a good topic. It smells good. Solid scent."
"What kind of smell?"
"It smells like medicine. Sweet, sweet yet bitter. Extremely intense. No more talking. Shut up."
I fell silent.
The sound of the door lock is being played. Chicken Sadeq rolled up. Intense fear is visible in his eyes now. His belly is rapidly going up and down.
Himu wears a yellow panjabi that does not have a pocket and lives a mostly nomadic life. He walks barefoot on the streets of Dhaka without a certain destination. Himu walks around with not much to do, barefoot, in a city that actively despises people like him. Never being able to hold down a job in his life, Himu does not quite fit into this city that celebrates obedience.
He does not have a job and, therefore, no source of income. He prefers the life of a beggar than that of a hard worker, often praising begging. However, Himu walks endlessly–using no form of transportation. The wanderer is decidedly eccentric and unorthodox in outlook.
He has a cult following for his spiritual power of predicting future events of anyone, including those of police officer, beggar, neighbor, relatives and tea stall proprietor. Most of the time he indifferently speaks unpleasant truth about the person with whom he talks.
Author: Humayun Ahmed (c)
Translator: Fenir Roy (Roy Nishan) (c)
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