A dim greenish light at the bar. Human eyes turn ghostly. A woman sits alone at the corner table. And on this one in the middle of the bar, four men of uneven age:

Ahsan forty-two.
Ekram fifty-one.
Milan twenty-two.
Shahin thirty-three.
And the woman thirty.

The men drink with their eyes fixed on the woman, and the woman with hers on her glass.

Boy! Ask them to change the cassette, will you? Ghulam Ali - Why is there such a big fuss about my drinking(2)... Don't have it! Damn!

The woman taps the table with her glass. The waiter rushes to her: Yes, ma'am?

Ask those gentlemen to keep it quiet. I feel disturbed.

The waiter doesn't need to approach them since the woman was loud enough.

Milan walks up to her table to join her. May I? he says while pulling out a chair for himself.

What's your father's name? The woman asks.

Milan scratches his head for no reason. But then it really starts to itch. He's got dandruff. He says: My friends would love your company.

You?

As a matter of fact - Milan says - I'm neutral.

What's your father's name? The woman asks again, rising from her chair.

Getting up from his, Milan says, Bilwamangal(3).

2
Mr Ahsan!
At your command, my lady.
I know your name only because a friend of yours wanted to slit your throat
.Ah! what overwhelming joy!
Mr Ahsan, (she points at Milan) are you not the father of this lad?
Madam!!! We never dreamt you'd be so... lascivious! Shame on you!
Fie, madam! Fie! Fie! Fie!, sing the rest of the male folk in chorus.
Do you feel like leaving now?
Everybody: No.
Yet, you have no choice..
Everybody: Correct.

3
Light drizzle outside.
Ekram bhai, we can't do without your car, says Shahin.
Milan turns to the woman and says: On everybody else's behalf, may I request you to get wet in the rain? You'd look as beautiful as Bangladesh if you did.
The woman complies. Then everybody jumps into the car. A Toyota Corona, 1969 Model. Shahin and Ekram squeeze into the front seat beside the driver. On the back seat, the woman settles in the middle with Ahsan on her left and Milan on her right. Then the woman thinks, the driver too! One man more...

Passing a roundabout at Hatirpul the driver speeds away.

A few minutes ago his boss was in the bar. He waited in the car outside and listened on the radio:
Take away my garland rare, O Lalita fair(4).

Crew-cut hair. The driver has a girlfriend named Sakina. The daughter of a police officer, Sakina combs her hair every day on the balcony of their third-storey condo.

Take away my garland rare...

4
Could you lend me about five hundred bucks, Shahin? Ahsan asks.
Why?
I'm a little short of fund today. I'll return it tomorrow.
But I only have (opening his wallet Shahin counts) four hundred and ninety-seven taka and twenty-five paisa. How will I manage if I give it all to you?
Ekram says (to Ahsan or to Shahin or to both): Don't worry.
I will take care of this.
The woman asks Milan: Do you know you are a Duncan (5)?
Dan-kana (6)? Milan asks.
That too.
A dog hesitates -- doesn't know whether to go forward or backward. Sakina's lover depresses the brake with more care for the passengers than the dog. The car starts sprinting again after a mild hiccup. The road ahead seems clear. Or at least one can expect it free of those dogs.
Or, who knows?

Take away my garland rare, O Lalita fair...

Subrata Augustine Gomes is a Bangladeshi poet who lives in Australia. Luna Rushdi is a freelance translator.

1. Used as a name of a bar in Dhaka. The original Sanskrit word means 'to drink incessantly', 'to booze'. Also, if the word is split into 'madhu' (Sans./Bangla) and 'bar' (English), it may as well mean a bar where

honey is served.

2. A popular Ghazal song in Urdu, Hangama hai keyon barpa, sung by Ghulam Ali.

3. A Bangali poet of the middle ages whose narrative on Krishna and Radha is said to have been greatly enjoyed by Shree Chaitanya, the founder of the Bangali Vaishnava sect. Milan doesn't, however, imply anything by alluding to this all but forgotten poet. The name just comes to his lips.

4. A Bangla folk song (Amar golar har khule ne, ogo Lalite) on Krishna and Radha. It's sung by Radha when Krishna deserts her and settles in Mathura. She wants to get rid of her garland because: Who should I be wearing it for when my soulmate is no longer in Braja?

5. King Duncan in Macbeth, destined to be killed by his protégé.

6. Literally 'blind on the right side'. Name of a Bangladeshi fish which has both its eyes on the left side of its head and is able to see in that direction only.