13.10.04
Rajkapal
After taking the ticket I sat on my seat, which was beside the window and kept my window full open. Then I was waiting for the bus driver to come and start the bus. I will have to go to Chittagong very quick. So I was in desperation for the bus to start.
Oh these bus-drivers… It seems they would never understand the importance of time. I was fuming inside. Then to get some relief I looked at the sky and tried not to think about the driver. Suddenly I heard someone saying “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal” (“Hey, you are Rajkapal. I, this mad man am telling you that you are Rajkapal”). As I looked down I saw an elderly man wearing ragged loincloth coming close to our bus. And to my great amazement when he came next to our bus he pointed at me with his index finger and repeatedly said, “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal”. Oh my Allah he is meaning me.
What does Rajkapal mean anyway? I read on storybooks that if someone is said to have Rajkapal he will become a very powerful man in future, a mighty king or things of that sort. And such a person can be distinguished even at the very young age, however only the ascetics can understand that. But literally Rajkapal means one who is very lucky.
There are many stories of mad men prophesising and although everyone neglected their prophecies as to be barren of any utility, later found them to be true. And those who misbehaved with them later had many misfortunes.
I heard many stories about a mad man of our village from my mother whose many predictions became true. She told me never to provoke any mad man. I heard it from many that a curse of some mad men can cause havoc in life. Even dervishes sometimes take the guise of a mad man. So I better watch out.
To be honest, even after listening to all those stories, I never really cared about it. I never even wanted to verify its authenticity. I simply wanted to ignore every mad man I encounter, so that I may not get myself into any kind of mess. But there are some things in this guy that I simply couldn’t ignore.
At first I thought he might be a beggar. But I never give alms to any beggar while I’m in a bus to avoid embarrassment. If you give alms to one, there will always be another beggar coming to you for more alms. It happens specially when you are in a bus terminal. So I changed my seat and moved to the next one which was vacant then. But this man is still saying the same thing but even in a louder voice. Well, there are some beggars who would praise before begging alms and if you don’t give them anything they will become aggressive. But this man is not of that kind. He didn’t demand anything from me. Moreover he didn’t even go to other passengers to beg either. After saying all those things addressing me, he just disappeared. I could see him nowhere.
It was really amazing… I haven’t seen anyone like him before. I began to think… Was he a true dervish then? Am I really a very lucky person? Raaaajkapal… Hmmm….What does it mean anyway?
Few minutes later I stopped thinking about him. Whether he is a dervish or not I tried to think of it optimistically. I wanted to bring some positive effect in me from this event. So I thought ‘Yes, maybe I really am going to shine in life. And why won’t I? I’m not weaker than any other boy of my age in any aspect. It’s just that I haven’t done anything special yet and neither have I been able to convince anyone with my talents, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to do something special in future. You can never say what you may become. So I tried to believe that mad man. Now, I felt more confidence in me as I am now more convinced of my future successes and hence less vulnerable to hardship because I know luck will be on my side at the end. In my mind I began to thank that mad man.
But my fancies didn’t last long as I saw that same mad man to say the same thing to another person in another bus. I now said to myself, “Oh Allah, why I’m so stupid!” I wish I hadn’t seen him on the second time.
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Oh these bus-drivers… It seems they would never understand the importance of time. I was fuming inside. Then to get some relief I looked at the sky and tried not to think about the driver. Suddenly I heard someone saying “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal” (“Hey, you are Rajkapal. I, this mad man am telling you that you are Rajkapal”). As I looked down I saw an elderly man wearing ragged loincloth coming close to our bus. And to my great amazement when he came next to our bus he pointed at me with his index finger and repeatedly said, “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal”. Oh my Allah he is meaning me.
What does Rajkapal mean anyway? I read on storybooks that if someone is said to have Rajkapal he will become a very powerful man in future, a mighty king or things of that sort. And such a person can be distinguished even at the very young age, however only the ascetics can understand that. But literally Rajkapal means one who is very lucky.
There are many stories of mad men prophesising and although everyone neglected their prophecies as to be barren of any utility, later found them to be true. And those who misbehaved with them later had many misfortunes.
I heard many stories about a mad man of our village from my mother whose many predictions became true. She told me never to provoke any mad man. I heard it from many that a curse of some mad men can cause havoc in life. Even dervishes sometimes take the guise of a mad man. So I better watch out.
To be honest, even after listening to all those stories, I never really cared about it. I never even wanted to verify its authenticity. I simply wanted to ignore every mad man I encounter, so that I may not get myself into any kind of mess. But there are some things in this guy that I simply couldn’t ignore.
At first I thought he might be a beggar. But I never give alms to any beggar while I’m in a bus to avoid embarrassment. If you give alms to one, there will always be another beggar coming to you for more alms. It happens specially when you are in a bus terminal. So I changed my seat and moved to the next one which was vacant then. But this man is still saying the same thing but even in a louder voice. Well, there are some beggars who would praise before begging alms and if you don’t give them anything they will become aggressive. But this man is not of that kind. He didn’t demand anything from me. Moreover he didn’t even go to other passengers to beg either. After saying all those things addressing me, he just disappeared. I could see him nowhere.
It was really amazing… I haven’t seen anyone like him before. I began to think… Was he a true dervish then? Am I really a very lucky person? Raaaajkapal… Hmmm….What does it mean anyway?
Few minutes later I stopped thinking about him. Whether he is a dervish or not I tried to think of it optimistically. I wanted to bring some positive effect in me from this event. So I thought ‘Yes, maybe I really am going to shine in life. And why won’t I? I’m not weaker than any other boy of my age in any aspect. It’s just that I haven’t done anything special yet and neither have I been able to convince anyone with my talents, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to do something special in future. You can never say what you may become. So I tried to believe that mad man. Now, I felt more confidence in me as I am now more convinced of my future successes and hence less vulnerable to hardship because I know luck will be on my side at the end. In my mind I began to thank that mad man.
But my fancies didn’t last long as I saw that same mad man to say the same thing to another person in another bus. I now said to myself, “Oh Allah, why I’m so stupid!” I wish I hadn’t seen him on the second time.
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