S e c o n d L i f e

Aman in shabby dress stood staring at the flowing Karnaphuli River in the shadow of the hills while the sun was setting and the moon was rising and recollecting the juncture of his life twenty years ago. As usual, the Karnaphuli River was flowing through the hilly bed of Kaptai with a murmuring sound. Both sides of the river were covered with beautiful spring wildflowers and multi-colored leaves of trees.

The fishing village Isakhali was on the lap of the hills. The scenario looked like a portrait on the vast canvas of nature. The fishing community of Isakhali had a peaceful and happy life with the fish resources in the river. Babu was one of the young men who enjoyed his life with his community. One fine morning, while returning from fishing, he found some gold jewelry on the bank of the river. He picked up the jewelry with a good intention to return to its owner. This was the biggest mistake that totally changed his life by running into legal complicacies. 

After being released from prison, Babu looked back at the jail where he had to spend a painful twenty years on false charges of robbery and murder. He was set free after he was found ‘not guilty’ for the charges brought against him. The last twenty years were like a nightmare in his life. He could not decide where to go. Finally he made up his mind to return to his native village in Isakhali.

Now, Babu found Isakhali village quite different after twenty years. He was a stranger in his own locality. He could not trace out his previous house in Isakhali.  The fishing village disappeared over these twenty years. New buildings, modular roads and new inhabitants have occupied the fishing village. The total landscape of the village has changed with new houses and new settlers. He could not find any known face. Nobody knew him. He recollected his boyhood and youth in Isakhali. 

Isakhali was an ideal village on the beautiful natural landscape of the hill tracts area of Kaptai in the Rangamati District of Bangladesh. It was a fishing village. The villagers were illiterate, religious, simple minded and a bit superstitious too. The village was situated on the crescent shaped bank of the Karnaphuli River. A big banyan tree marked the village from a long distance like the ‘Eiffel Tower’ and gave the villagers shelter underneath. “I was born there, so were my parents and grandparents,” Babu recalled. 

There was abundant fish in the river. Paddy fields extended up to the horizon. Isakhali was covered with green thick trees, like bamboo, coconut, date palm, betel nuts, mango and jackfruit. One hundred houses with one thousand people, Isakhali was a perfect example of the ideal rural Bangladesh. The climate of the area was very comfortable with plenty of rain, thick greenery around, fresh air, and fresh water. The village seemed like a heaven on earth to Babu. There was poverty, they were illiterate, but the villagers were happy with what they had. They lived in harmony with people from different religious backgrounds, caste and creeds. Babu’s family with six members was an ideal family in the village. Babu’s father was the leader of the fishing community.

Babu became a replica of his ideal father. His passionate mother brought him up with all her affection as an apple of an eye. They were the best divine gift for him. Babu was groomed up by his ideal parents with the qualities of honesty, sincerity, dedication, politeness and dutifulness. As a result, he was loved by the villagers. But, some boys of his age became jealous of him and antagonistic to him as their parents and guardians used to cite Babu’s example to correct them. 

Babu assisted his father in fishing. He preferred fishing at night. He recollected the dreamy environment of the moonlit night in the river while fishing. The distant high and low hills with trees looked like a sleeping black bear. Moonlight reflected on the new silver tin shed houses. Babu, spontaneously used to sing the famous Bengali Marethuhoyithe song in that divine and dreamy environment, “I couldn't take your baitha anymore.”

Thus the golden days of Babu passed on happily with dignity and honor. Babu entered his youth. His parents thought of his marriage. Girls and their guardians were eager to form relationships with Babu’s family through marriage. He also became the target of the local matchmakers. On the other hand, Pori, the most beautiful, intelligent and honest girl in the community became a cause of disruption of sleep of the local youths. But, the guardians of Babu and Pori decided on their marriage. The villagers appreciated that it was a perfect match. The whole village celebrated their marriage together as per the village traditions by playing loud mike, "yellow on the skin" songs and dance and wedding reception with rich food like polao, chicken and beef, mutton and burhani.

And the fist ended with curd. The guests appreciated the overall arrangement and the standard of food by chewing betel leaves with great satisfaction. Thus, Pori became the better-half of Babu. Their souls merged together. They heard the tale of ‘Laily-Mojnu’ and ‘Shiri-Farhad’ as the legend of love. Pori and Babu tried to follow them and feel for each other in the same manner. Babu recalled; “When I was in my youth, our love seemed to go on forever.”

Pori expressed deep satisfaction about her new life and having Babu as her life partner, sometimes unmindfully sang in low voice; “I do not want anything else in this life” “  

Babu was extremely happy with his profession as a fisherman and his family life with his beloved Pori and his parents. His parents had the umbrella on their heads. Pori and Babu were blessed with a lovely son after two years of their marriage. They named him ……Thus, Babu’s life was gifted with everything as he could imagine.  

But, fortune had a different plan with Pori and Babu. Their happy days did not last long. 

Standing on the river bank, Babu recollected the most unfortunate episode of his life. 

On that fateful day, Babu was arrested twenty years ago by the policemen on a false allegation of gold robbery. He was also charged with murder, as it took place during the robbery. It was a bolt from the blue for him and his family. “Twenty painful years in jail without committing a crime …..!” Babu murmured. “How could it happen so and to whom?” a voice from his back enquired. “Was that deliberate or intentional?” he exclaimed! 

Babu helplessly replied, “Maybe it was my hard luck!”  The voice identified him as Ashik and expressed his frustration.  “Strange! I am thinking about that extremely unfortunate person, and skeptic about the callousness of the judiciary.” “It’s non -sense and pathetic!” Ashik said in a sympathetic tone.

 “But, it might happen one in a million, but why and how did it happen to you?” “I had a golden past, but …..”

“But, what about …?” Ashik became inquisitive.

Babu went back to his past. 

In his youth, Babu lived a happy life in Isakhali as a fisherman. He was known for his innocence, honesty, and good heart. He used to spend his free time with his friends and they used to address him with respect as “Sri Babu” because of his qualities. In his family he had his parents, wife, two children and a younger brother. He bore the expenditure of his family with his hard earned money. He earned a name as an honest fisherman and spent a jolly time with his friends and family. But, the unfortunate incident of picking up gold jewelry from the river side brought disaster to his life. He had an honest intention to return the jewelry to the actual owner. But, he did not know that the jewelry was robbed by a man named “Sri-Babu” and he took cover of a fisherman in the same locality.   

 
On the following day, just after having breakfast when Babu was about to start his work, a number of policemen arrived and looked for “Sri Babu”. They asked his name and profession. He instantly gave his identity as a fisherman and his given name as “Sri Babu”. Then they enquired about the gold jewelry and he confessed that he had the gold jewelry with him. This created another misunderstanding. Having the same name, the same profession and gold jewelry in possession, the policemen confirmed that Babu was the man they were looking for.

So, they searched his house and found the gold jewelry. They immediately arrested him without uttering a single word because they were looking for Sri Babu who is a criminal, robber and killed a lot of innocent people; he stole gold ornaments recently and he was in disguise as a fisherman. Thus, Babu became the victim of the situation.