The Heaven In My Dream

Seven days and seven nights— bare footed, I walked on sands and gravels and reached the bank of the river; I had to swim to cross it. Security was flawless in the palace. The guards said: this is that dwelling place that was promised to you—this is called heaven. But the place was packed; It was dawn.The leader of the guards looked into my wistful eyes and said- wait for a few more days, rest up a little somewhere else- verification is going on. I came back and lied down under a tree nearby In disillusion, I found myself in bed; as ordinary as it has been and I noticed it was losing its warmth. * Translated from original Bengali into English by Razia Sultana