He will come on my deathbed!²⁰

In Korea, I bought a beautiful swan pin for Tanima. As I was paying, right behind me I saw an Indian man and woman. The man was dressed in Indian dress and the lady was wearing a sari.

They were speaking in Bengali, so I asked if they were Bengali, and we started talking in Bengali.

The man asked me, “Do you live here?”

I said, “No, I come from America.”

He told me that he had been living in Korea for six years. He said he was a famous engineer.

Then he asked me what part of Bangladesh I came from.

I said, “I come from Chittagong.”

He said, “I come from a place you do not know.”

When he told me the name, I said, “It is a very famous place. So many great Bengali writers were born there.”

The man did not know the names of the writers that I mentioned.

Then his wife said, “Please come to our house to give us the dust of your feet.” That is the Bengali way of saying, “Just come and eat.”

I said, “I am here with so many people. I will not be able to come.”

She said, “Just come for a few minutes. You are such a wise man.” But the husband did not want me to come and got very mad. He and his wife started fighting. The man said, “He will come on my deathbed!”

I said, “I don’t want you to die.” Then I disappeared.