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Chapter Thirty Two

An eventless week passed after Su’s departure from Aung Syke. Still, none of the villagers could sleep well at night due to anxiety. From children to adults, more or less everyone was being driven by nightmares. It became a regular practice for the villagers who were found trying to console each other by discussing those dreams. Among the villagers, there was a man who could interpret dreams. He gained this knowledge by reading different types of religious books. He had a reputation that in most cases, his interpretations were correct. To his fellow villagers Badruddin was known as Badu. The number of visitors to Badu’s shack increased proportionately as the number of people afflicted by these nightmares increased. Eventually, it exceeded the number of people who would come to Rahim Mollah’s hut for solution. Badu no longer had any spare time, though people had already ceased working in the fields and shops.

Everyone would insist to have his or her dream heard and interpreted, before others could tell their dreams to Badu. This gave birth to quarrels. In order to avoid such quarrels, Badu formulated a system where everyone was given a ticket, according to the time of his or her arrival. The villagers had to pay ten Kyat for a ticket. Hence, Badu made his little fortune even at these times of unfathomable human tragedy. So what if the villagers were facing tragedies of unprecedented level, the value of time could never be ignored. Hence, Badu’s conscience had no problem with it. But today, because of a nightmare, he himself was drowning in a sea of anxiety. For a short period, he had kept his shack closed to the villagers before he came to Rahim for consultation. Rahim had been watching the activities of the villagers from the veranda in front of his hut, and thinking about the future when he saw Badu approaching him. He asked Badu to sit in the chair next to him. Then, “What brings you to my hut? Don’t you have people flocking to your hovel today?” he asked Badu with a curious set of eyes.

“Oh, I always have a crowd at my place. It’s just that for a while, I’ve kept my chamber closed today. I’m troubled by a nightmare I saw last night. It has a dire implication, so I thought I should inform you.”

“I don’t whine about nightmares. Therefore, it’s pointless.”

Karim joined them while they were having this conversation. He stood against a wooden pillar of the veranda. When Rahim paused, Badu resumed, “I’m quite aware, you despise what I’ve been doing. I think you should put aside your apprehension and kindly listen to what I have to say. I’m afraid something horrible is about take place.”

With a harsh tone Rahim said to Badu, “Listen Badu, taking advantage of people’s miseries is unethical. It doesn’t matter how you see it. I myself would have prepared even the sign board of your enterprise, had it been under normal circumstances. After losing everything they had, these people have taken refuge under the open sky. Now you cannot disregard the possibility that they might get killed. When people live in extreme fear, nightmare is the natural outcome of such intense mental pressure. People come to you for something that would give them hope in these darkest hours, and instead of doing that, you’re busy digging into their pockets for those few Kyats left with them. How do you do it? Aren’t you one of them? Don’t you have any remorse swindling people like this?”

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Thin line of sweat became visible on Badu’s forehead. Obviously, he was quite embarrassed. For a few moments, he wasn’t sure what to say. Then said, “Brother, I had never thought of it this way.”

“You didn’t, but many people see it this way.”

“Actually, I introduced the tickets to avoid quarrels.”

“If that was the case, why did you have to charge a fee for the tickets? I want you to return the money you took from them. Trust me, it will be good for you and your family.”

“Alright, so be it.”

With a smile Karim intervened, “Now you’re talking sense.”

“Should I begin narrating my dream now?”

In a reassuring manner Rahim said, “Alright, let me hear what you dreamt last night.”

Badu took couple of seconds to organize his thoughts and then began narrating, “In my dream I was heading for the bazaar. The weather was very pleasant. The sun had been shining over my head, but it was not uncomfortable at all. While passing Anis’ home, I saw some soldiers rebuilding his old home. The soldiers were being very polite with everyone. I noticed that they had a constant smile on their faces. A few feet from the soldiers, an army officer was busy supervising the task. The moment I came close to him he said to me that Tatmadaw had been given the task of building new homes for each Rohingya family. Like the other soldiers, he wasn’t smiling. Then, in a blink of an eye, the weather turned very gloomy. There was a shroud of darkness all around me, and I found myself in a graveyard. In my entire life I never saw a graveyard bigger than this one. Suddenly, I noticed myself standing on a grave. I woke up when the grave caved in, and I fell down into the grave.”

When Badu looked around, he found ten other Rohingyas had gathered to hear him narrating his dream. One at a time, he stared at them and then resumed what he had been saying. He said, “In a dream if anyone sees a grave, it’s an indication that someone is about to die. In my dream I saw the soldiers building homes for us. This means, the men of Tatmadaw intends to kill us all. I don’t care what you people make of this dream, but I think the time has come when we must leave this country. If we stay here, we’ll die in the hands of the those Bamars.” Then he dug his hand into his trousers’ pocket and took out a bundle Kyat. He handed over the bundle to Rahim, and said, “You’ll find two thousand kyat in this bundle. Please repay ten kyat to each individual who paid me the money. This very night, along with my entire family, I’ve decided to leave this country for Teknaf. Those among you who have taken similar decision, my advice is, do not travel during the day. If the Bamars notice you, it could mean serous troubles. During daytime, hide yourselves and resume your perilous journey at night. It might take a bit longer, but the journey to the border will probably be safer. And those of you, who intend to stay, remember, you’ve been warned.”

Rahim stood up when Badu had left his residence. For a couple of seconds, he stared at his yard and said to Karim, “Find out who paid Badu. Tell them to collect their money from me.”