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Poestory [Poetry + Story]
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Poestory [Poetry + Story] Let me tell you a story,
The one in an exceptional way,
In the form of ‘Poestory [Poetry + Story]’,
A new literary form created by Md. Ziaul Haque one day!
The very story is about a man named Alif,
Echoing the first Arabic letter,
On an enduring mission he is,
Mission to know his own S E L F better!
In Sylhet, Bangladesh Alif lives,
A Bangladeshi by birth, by spirit and by mind!
By the square-shaped walls of an orphanage,
His aura seems to be utterly defined!
Alif is not abnormal,
Nor he is divine,
A seeker of truth and logic he is rather,
With a brain like that of Albert Einstein!
While a common brain looks for worldly things,
Alif’s one brainstorms about the absolute answers,
To the so-called unanswerable questions,
Poking the human minds as the spears for countless years!
Sylhet, Bangladesh, January, 2017
Alif, the 30-year-old young man, is on a journey by rickshaw. He just loves to journey by such an awesome vehicle! Another phenomenon that attracts him like magnet is Mother Nature. Whenever Alif is next to her, he feels like breathing properly! The concrete urban walls are like huge giants from the Greek mythology! He just cannot stand them whatsoever. Viewing them is like seeing Hitler’s face everywhere! The splendour and the celestial joy that a tree, its leaves and its flowers bring is simply unmatchable! Moreover, the beautiful birds and their sweet songs are like festival bonuses!
While journeying by a rickshaw across the village named Rahmatganj, [the name suggests the ‘Market of Bliss’ in English]. The ‘rickshawala’ [rickshaw puller], as is popularly called in Bangladesh, is pulling the rickshaw like Helios’ Sun Chariot! Alif feels like he is entering a never-ending tunnel that is full of greenery all over the place! As a street beggar appears all of a sudden, his brain pops a face up before him at this certain moment! Alif clearly visualises the atheist that he encountered a few years back in Dhaka. He even remembers his name- Asif Islam. They met in a seminar on religion and science. The conversation is still clear like the cloudless sky! Alif smiles like Mona Lisa as his mind recreates the moment like a movie!
- May I know your name please?
- My name is Asif Islam. What is your name by the way?
- Alif Ahmed. You can call me Alif.
- There’s a strange similarity between your name and mine! He says smiling a little.
- O yes! Right you are! Alif and Asif. They sound quite similar.
- Are you a believer? Asif asks like a robot looking directly into Alif’s eyes.
- Sorry! Asif’s question gives him a kind of uncanny sensation of being interrogated by a Nazi officer!
- Do you believe in religion? Coming closer he asks like a hypnotiser.
- Yes, I do. I’m a Muslim and I believe in my religion called Islam. However, I’ve a feeling that you don’t believe in religion! Am I right?
- Yes, you’re! Even if ‘Islam’ is added to my name [Asif Islam], I lost my faith in religion when I was 22 years old. He says rather confidently.
- May I know what turned you into an atheist?
- There’re countless reasons behind this brother! Tell me why you believe in religion.
- I believe in religion. I believe in the Creator called Allah. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad [P.B.U.H.] acted as God’s Messenger and brought the Holy Quran to light. His eyes echo his genuine love and devotion for Islam.
- So you’re trying to say that you are a ‘theist’.
- Yes, I’m.’ He utters in a self-assured manner.
- What if you were born in a family where the parents are atheists! He throws the words at Alif like thousands of arrows!
- Well, the answer depends on the circumstances. Even if my parents were atheists, it wouldn’t guarantee of my being an atheist as well. As an atheist can be born in a theist family, similarly a theist can also be born in an atheist family! Am I right? He sounds more confident than before while he asks back.
- Yes, you are logically correct I must say. Ok, let me ask you a straightforward question- apart from the religious notion, the Prophet, the Holy Book etc. what are the other phenomena that have solidified your belief in a Creator? He asks with ease by resting his right hand on Alif’s left shoulder.
- First of all, the shape of the planets. They’re so perfectly round! They look so beautiful and pleasant to the eyes! If there were no Creator, then there would be planets of every possible size- triangular, rectangular, square and what not! Moreover, without a Creator, the sun might perhaps be square, the earth round and the moon might be of a triangular shape!
- But the scientists are of the view that nature has created the planets in such a way!
- Let me ask you a question then- how can nature itself be so perfect in whatever it does? Nature doesn’t have a brain of its own! Nor does it know exactly where to put the sun and the moon! Besides, there must be a designer my friend, and that designer is none but Creator!
- Could you add something up? He asks the question while lighting a cigarette.
- My friend, the second most important phenomenon that has enlightened me is the clean rain!
- Clean rain?
- Yes, clean rain. As the poet, writer and philosopher Md. Ziaul Haque utters- “Another proof of God’s existence is the ‘clean rain’! He takes care of His creations and does not want them to get wet in the dirty or unhygienic rain! If God did not exist, then there would be both clean and dirty rain”!
- That’s rather interesting! Alif, do you believe in soul?
- Yes, I do.
- Do you believe in ‘reincarnation’?
- Let me borrow a quotation now- “As the soul does not have a brain, it cannot work according to its own wish. Obviously, it will not be proper to say that the soul will enter another body after the death of a person. Hence, the concept of ‘rebirth’ or ‘reincarnation’ seems doubtful”!
- The way you organise your information is extremely logical! There’s scarcely any loophole in your answers! I’m so impresses man!
- Thank you so much!
- Most welcome. Cnould I ask you a few more questions?
- Yes Please!
- Why do you think a baby cries right after it’s born? Why doesn’t it smile at that very moment? Does it indicate that human life is going to be a tough one where suffering abounds?
- I think all your questions will be rationally answered by only a single quotation by Md. Ziaul Haque. Here it goes- “Human life begins by crying! Once a baby is born, it cries out. Maybe it cries in joy! So, the simple equation goes- we smile when we feel happy and we cry when we feel sad. As happiness and sadness are connected together like the body and the soul, we cannot remove sorrow or suffering from the human life forever. As long as life is present, gladness and unhappiness will ever be there. They will keep coming in one form or another. It is just ironical that we want to be happy forever and never want to cry. Even trying to remove sadness entirely from life is like being utterly selfish and going against the natural laws! So, the beauty of life is to accept both pleasure and misery gracefully. Hence, we should never forget that we did not smile first but cried when we were born”!
- That’s just awesome my friend! You’re a wise fellow!
- It’s your generosity to say so!
- No, really, I mean it. I hope you’re not bored in answering my questions.
- No, not at all!
- Just before part ways, let me ask you one last question. I hope you don’t mind!
- Go ahead please!
- 'Darkness’ is considered something ‘evil’ or bad in many cultures. On the other hand, light is regarded as something ‘divine’ or good. What exactly is your idea about darkness?’ While Asif asks the question, the white smoke of the cigarette rushes out of Asif’s mouth like the mushroom cloud created right after the explosion of a nuclear bomb!
- Well, may I have the privilege of finishing up the answer to the last question by borrowing another apt quote by Md. Ziaul Haque- "All types of darkness are not necessarily bad. A seed needs darkness around to grow; human beings and animals sleep at night that represents the absence of light; a baby grows inside the mother's womb amid darkness; the shadow of the tree that makes the tired and thirsty passers by feel at ease is also dark! However, the darkness of the human heart is certainly evil”!
- That’s a wonderful answer man! You must be thinking that I have asked you so many questions about your faith in the Creator not letting you ask me questions about my being a non-believer!
- No, my friend! This is not the case. Maybe some other day I would ask you certain questions.
The rickshawala’s words have brought Alif back from the world of imagination!
- Bhaijan! Afner gontoibyo koi? [Brother, what’s your destination?]
- Ektu samne giye oi pukurer kachhe thamun. [Just go a little bit ahead and stop near the pond.]
- Aichchha bhaijan! [Ok brother]
Alif gives the rickshawala more than the usual fare. He asks,
- Apnar naam ki? [What’s your name?]
- Asif Islam!
- Ki? [What?]’ He asks being extremely bewildered!
- Asif Islam!
The rickshawala has the same name like that of the atheist whom Alif met a few years back! Asif is exceedingly happy after receiving a handsome amount from me as a fare! He smiles and prepares to leave. Asif has a tooth missing from his mouth. When he talks, he looks like a baby! While Asif is about to leave, Alif asks him a question,
- Apni ki sristikortay bishshash koren? [Do you believe in God?]
- Ji, obosshoi! [Yes, of course!]
Alif looks at the exhausted yet content Asif. With the rickshaw, the rickshawala disappears beyond the horizon like a ghost! Alif sits on the bank of the pond; he lays his hand on the green blades of the grass as lovingly as the way a father touches the hair of his daughter in a blissful manner.
This pond is Alif’s favourite; its name is ‘Rahasyamoy Pukur’ [Mysterious River]. He comes closer to it every so often. As a sadhu goes inside a cave to meditate, Asif comes to the contact of the pond to contemplate. He feels a sort of ease and his brain seems to work faster than usual once he is near the pond. He is extremely charmed by the beautiful milieu that the pond creates! The sudden splash of the fish, the aesthetic ripples that follow, the leaves’ falling into the pond and floating like the paper boats made by the children, the reflection of the sun on the surface of the water, the innocent little children catching fish nearby- all these are priceless moments that money can never buy!
Alif feels suffocated in the urban setting. He feels like an alien there! He believes that the real essence of ‘civilisation’ is in the natural world, not in the concrete and comatose world made by the humans! The sun has set. As a bridegroom waits to behold the beauty of the bride, Alif is waiting for observing the beauty of the moon! In other words, he waits to witness the appearance of the moon and its playing with the ripples of the pond in a rapturous and heavenly manner. Nevertheless, the moon does not make Alif wait for a long time.
Alif thinks about the mystery of the universe. He has studied much about the philosophies and the scientific theories of the world- both contemporary and the classic ones. Yet, the mystery remains a mystery and it perhaps will ever be! As, in “A Passage to India”, the attack on Adela is still an enigma, similarly there will be erudite persons like Socrates, Einstein, Buddha, Newton and so on in the days to come, countless theories, philosophies, suggestions etc. but the puzzle will never be solved!
In fact, God does not want this particular sum to be solved by the human race! Since He knows it well that as long as there is mystery, there is beauty of life, beauty of existence and beauty of living!
