The most enjoyable part of the Barisal launch is towards the end of the night. Around 2-3 AM when everyone goes to sleep, this pleasure can only be enjoyed. Rows of chairs are arranged for sitting in front of the launch cabin rooms. People sit on these chairs in pairs to see the beauty of the autumn afternoon. Sits and stares in fascination at the green meeting point of the sky and the river. Even if you see the day laborer, who has never been seen in literature in life, you will think that maybe it is the poet Jeebananda Das, who has mistakenly returned in the form of a day laborer. Towards the end of the night all the lights in front of the cabin are switched off and some light colored lights are lit. Then if you sit on these chairs in the middle of the light colored lights, it will seem to you that you have left world and gone to heaven by water. I don't think there is anywhere else in the world the happiness of smoking a cigarette while sitting alone in a huge sleeping launch amidst the smoke of red and blue lights. After a while, the cold wind made me feel a little cold, but when I could see nothing but the little light of the great Meghna river, I felt like the unannounced king of this great Meghna river. On one side is this vast Meghna river, my kingdom. And on the other hand, my royal throne is moving forward through the turbulent waters of the Meghna.
A few hours later, the launch docked at various port, standing on the bank to take a few passengers on the launch. These passengers come a few hours before the arrival of the launch and stand at the launch port with a pillow. Why are you thinking about the pillow? The reason for taking these is also quite aesthetic. Launches usually have a large flat area. It is called a Dake. All the day laborers and some middle class people get on the launch and lie down on their pillows. Cover the night in one sleep. When they wakes up in the morning, they comes to the desired destination. It is called traveling in royal style. As soon as the launch pad is reached, there is a rush to see who will get up first, from the top of the three floors, it looks like a swarm of ants. During the rainy season, it can be seen how the ants make their own palaces by making small pieces of soil when they find bare dry soil. Through the small door of the palace, one over the other entered the palace hurriedly, they too. One over the other rushed to the launch. Who is a girl and who is a boy, they forget the Muslim rules of this girl and boy for a while. This signal is just running from one side of the brain to the other side of the brain.
It's almost 2:30 p.m. The launch has docked at Daulatkhan Port, a few people are hurrying to the launch. Sitting on a three-story chair smoking a cigarette, I see a few people hurrying. Suddenly I thought that the poet Robindonath Tagor may have said rightly, "You have given birth to a Bengali, you have not made a human being, Lord!". None of them will rise above three floors. The third floor is for those who take cabin rooms. They will call and sleep with a pillow. I didn't realize when I was near the end of the cigarette. Taking another cigarette, I noticed a couple sitting a little far away. It can be understood by seeing. Maybe newly married. Otherwise, this last night would not have been so miserable as to sit in the cold air and enjoy the beauty of the night. I see the moon has risen in the sky today, although there are some clouds around the moon. It looks like tears in the eyes of the moon. It is as if he is sitting in the dark sky far away looking at us with water eyes. Who are you looking at? towards me? Or towards this beautiful couple? I don't know why moon was sad to see again. Beloved is resting her head on her boyfriends shoulder and looking at the tears in the eyes of the moon, lover's hand is caressing her head repeatedly The atmosphere has become more beautiful in the romanticism of this unknown couple, I am looking at them shamelessly while sitting and puffing on cigarettes. Once it occurred to me that it is not right to keep an eye on someone's private time like this, but listen to what the mind and head say. Literary minds are stronger than brains.
Patches of red appear in the western sky, heralding the arrival of the sun god. If you look from the top of the launch, you will feel like you have reached heaven. The sun god has perfectly arranged the light to greet us. The few people who are awake are looking infatuated at this grand arrangement of the sun god. "Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar." The sound of Fajr Azan rang in the small microphone of the launch made everyone think. The body is feeling stopped after sitting all night. After shaking my body a little, I sat down in the same place. Even the distant couple has changed their mind so far. The boy went to pray with his hat on. And the girl entered the room and turned off the light. How strange! They could start such a beautiful morning by praying together. Such a beautiful moment rarely comes in human life. That's why I think an opportunity to enjoy in life should not be missed. However, every person's philosophy of life is completely different. That's why I started smoking cigarettes in my own way without bothering about other people's personal matters.
After a while, the boy finished praying and came back. He sat next to me after looking around a bit. I was still quietly smoking a cigarette. Sitting next to him, the boy asked for a cigarette with a little more modesty. The unwritten rule of cigarette smokers is that you don't need to be known to ask for a share of cigarettes, you can ask for a share from anyone under any circumstances. And the great thing about cigarettes is that if you smoke them in a group than if you smoke them alone, the pleasure of smoking cigarettes increases many times. I looked at the boy's eyes, I couldn't make out his face well in the dark, but he seemed educated enough to listen to the conversation. For the last time, I gave the rest with a happy smile. Naturally, the boy was smoking a cigarette. In the red light of the cigarette, the face can be seen a little, I feel older than my age. I asked with excitement.
"What's your name brother?" replied at once,
"Sharif. Your name?" He started pulling again.
I replied, "Shaon". After a long silence, I said,
"Sharif brother, it's getting late, don't you call your girlfriend? It's time for Namaz." The morning light is coming out more clearly, the boy looked at me with a little surprise. Maybe they realized that half of the night I was looking at them like shameless. After being quiet for a while, he returned to normal and puffed on a cigarette, "Are you talking about Meghna? She is a Hindu. Her full name is Meghna Roy" I was a little surprised. Hindu Muslim marriage of this fanatic in Bangladesh. Wow, that's interesting. Looking into my surprised eyes, he naturally asked again,
"Surprised?" I asked with some hesitation,
"No, I mean Hindu-Muslim marriage. It's a bit difficult in today's age. How did you do it? How's the family managed?"
Nonchalantly puffing on a cigarette, he replied,
"No, where did I get married? We both are running away today. Will I get married later."
In the cold air in the middle of the Meghna, even though I was nothing, Sharif Bhai's words made my whole body shiver. What does the man say? Running away? Even with someone of a different religion? I never thought that I would witness such a rare event in my lifetime. I have heard many such incidents in the mouth of friends, in the news, but this is the first time in my life that I witnessed such an incident. Why do I feel like I am very interested in listening to Sharif Bhai's story at this moment? I asked Sharif Bhai to listen to their story without hesitation, he agreed to tell it once. In the middle of the Meghna started telling the story of Meghna's love.
"Meghna was actually my student. I am studying in the fourth year of Finance in Dhaka University. And you know that in the city of Dhaka middle class students are tutored. One day Meghna's tuition came to me through a friend. I didn't have that much in my mind then but..... ."
"But what?" I am looking at Sharif Bhai with the wonder of the state in my eyes. At some point, Sharif Bhai feels like an old friend. It seems that we met not today, but a long time ago. He started saying,
"Suddenly, I noticed a change in Meghna's behavior. But brother, I am middle class and I am the only support of my mother and younger brother and sister at home. They are waiting for me to get a job. What will happen to them if something happens to me? I always ignore this thinking. I used to go. No matter how crazy the girl used to be, but I used to pretend not to understand. It happened that she came to study with a bandage on her hand and I pretended not to see it. She is the only daughter of a big man. Her crazy crime is never seen in their eyes. No matter what the girls do, it's all right for them."
So he took a long breath. He began again,
"You know, one day when I got home after tuition, I got a note. I took a picture. I'll show it to you." He took out his mobile phone from his pocket and took a picture of a letter in front of me.
""
Dear Sharif,
I didn't call you sir because I love you. I always tried to tell you that I like you, but you never understood. I have serious doubts about you, you pretend not to understand. Please do not stop coming to our house after receiving this letter. Know that you did not come for a day, I did not find you even i called you. That day I thought you might not come again. That day I cut off my hand. Do you know how Father was sitting next to me in the hospital crying like a child? Please don't stop coming Sharif then I don't know what will happen next. I don't know if you will ever be mine. Please let me know if you have any. I will wait till the next birth. But please don't turn me away if you don't have one. Sharif, I have fallen in love with you.
Your,
Meghna,
""
Sharif Bhai looks like a magician sitting in the dim light of red and blue light. Who has hypnotized me with the magic of his words. An even bigger magician is Meghna Roy sleeping. Can you love someone so much? Can be asked to stay someone with so much emotion? I am surprised to think. Sharif bhai may be really lucky. Such love is on the forehead or pair? The brother said again,
"Brother Shaon! How can you say no to this letter? I was sitting silently for a long time after reading this letter. Can someone really love someone so much? In this little letter, I felt a love equal to the sky for me, so I couldn't say no. What was I thinking? As if I agreed. From then on, I came to this day."
Another story of perfection. Why do I feel so good about the achievement of Sharif Bhai, it seems as if the achievement is not mine. I told Sharif Bhai,
"Brother, you are really lucky. Who else has such love?" For a moment a shy smile appeared on Sharif Bhai's lips. It seems that the sun is rising again in this dim light of dawn. But I could not forget what was buried behind all this. At least one question remained about Meghna Roy's father, who was crying like a child by the girl's hand. I asked Sharif Bhai,
"Sharif brother. Have you thought about Meghna's parents? Parents had only daughter!" Sharif bhai replied very calmly,
"Shaon brother! Family is family because they know how to forgive. Family may not accept today or tomorrow but they will accept after one or two years. But loved ones? Once lost, it will not be found again in 80 years!" I looked at the man with respect. Sharif Bhai's words are absolutely worth keeping.
Looks like it's morning. There are still four to five hours left for the launch to reach the port. After chatting with Sharif Bhai for some time, I came to the room to sleep. Since he was awake all night, his eyes are closing in the morning. I came to the room and fell asleep, I did not realize that five hours had passed. In the morning, I woke up to the noise of people. I came out with my bag to go home. When I got down to the lower floor of the launch, I saw a crowd of people. I went forward and stood shocked at what I saw. Several policemen surround Sharif Bhai. Teaching sharif bhai handcuffs. Not far away, a man in shirt and pants is holding Meghna's hand tightly. Maybe it will be Meghna's father. Meghna screams and wails to go to Sharif Bhai but is unable to run as her father holds her tightly. That too is running like a madman to go anywhere. I looked at Sharif Bhai. Handcuffed in front of everyone, he is standing with his head down like a criminal. Boys are not supposed to cry, maybe they are standing and obeying that rule. As soon as he made eye contact with me, two drops of water fell from Sharif Bhai's reddened eyes. Helpless crying called me, "Shaon bhai" for a moment my eyes flashed about Sharif bhai's mother and brothers and sisters sitting waiting for a job. What a shy smile was on the boy's face last night. The calmness of the achievement, how everything went wrong in a moment. How did tears come to my eyes? The ending could not have been like that.
The next day, a news was broadcast on all news channels across the country. The headline was like, "Student of Dhaka University arrested while smuggling drugs through launch."
An hour later there was another news, "Meghna Roy, the only daughter of famous industrialist Subhendu Roy, committed suicide. The reason is unknown."
Story: Meghna.
Written by Shaon Sikder