Life as it is: The man on the van and his show

The man sits on a rickshaw-van with small plastic containers full of some kind of seeds in front of him.

In his jalabiya (long panjabi-like dress) and keffiyeh (headgear) he appears a figure in deep thought as he runs his fingers through his neatly-trimmed beard.

A small crowd gathers around the van in front of the mosque in Karwan Bazar. Some reach out to touch the containers, but the man's assistant, a teen boy, screams: “No. Don't touch them.”

Now the man, whose unusually long, unpronounceable Arabic name you forget the moment you hear it, clears his throat. He sips from a glass his assistant hands him.

He begins from the very beginning -- how the world came to be, how mankind is destined to be doomed and how everything that's been happening is all man's fault.

Some in the crowd -- a few of whom have just finished their prayers -- let out deep sighs.

The man looks around the startled faces, points his fingers towards the sky and says: “But there's hope. I've seen the light. And you can see it too alright.”

All that the crowd around him needs to do is buy one of the containers, mix a spoonful of the seeds with water and drink it regularly. Everything will fall into places. 

Before anyone could react, the assistant screams in support and starts nodding vigorously. After some moments of bafflement, some in the crowd follow suit.

The man gives a triumphant smile. He puts a spoonful of the seeds in a glass of water and stirs it well. He then sips from it and lets out a sound of absolute satisfaction. His eyes glitter.

The crowd leans forward to take a close look at the colourful seeds of who knows what. They look at each other, not sure what to make of those.

Yet, they start pulling out their wallets and pay Tk 100 for a container of their liking. The show is over for them, but by the time they leave, another crowd gathers around the man on the van.

And the show goes on.