Baatparir Elak
When Dan Brown meets Dhallywood

Recently one of the directors of Dhallywood has decided to make a movie out of one of Dan Brown's novels. But before finalising the deal, the director has proposed some modifications in the story to make it more acceptable. According to him, the story contained too much 'Ajaira pechal'.

So he wrote down a primary script to Deception Point, (which he renamed as 'Baatparir Elaka'), spicing it up with a local flavour. Although this whole affair is highly classified, we have managed to obtain the storyline for the RS readers…

The story starts with the death of a rickshawallah, who had fallen into a manhole while returning home. At this point in time, this death apparently does not have much importance in the story.

Next we come to know of Ruksana, daughter of a future election candidate. Ruksana and her dad are in fighting terms, owing to the fact that her dad has opposed to her having an affair with Mojnu. Since then she has been working as a journalist in 'Doinik Iftar', a newspaper owned by the Prime Minister.

One fine afternoon, while stuck in a jam near Cantonment, Ruksana gets an unexpected call telling her the Prime Minister wants a private meeting. Immediately, the jam clears, and a stunning BMW parks beside her CNG. She quickly rushes in to the cool air-conditioned car, hoping to save whatever that remained of her 2 inch melting make-up.

On arrival, the PM treats her to a finest quality Tetley tea, and starts off with the meeting. Ruksana learns in the next 2 hours that there has been a discovery, of mind-blowing proportions, in one of the sewers in Bhooter goli. Refusing to give her anymore details, the PM asks her to go there and see it for herself.

So she sets off, this time in a motorcycle as BMW's don't fit through the narrow alleys of Bhooter Goli. Once there she meets Titu, the famous host of a popular show in BTV, along with some experts from the BUET, DMCH, and DCC.

After much deliberation they finally spit out the truth. The discovery was a big mound of black, smelly substance which glowed in the dark. The experts concluded it as a radioactive isotope of uranium, mixed with a lot of different other 'stuff'. Fortunately, the substance was terribly foul-smelling, and this helped with the security as everyone in the 2 mile radius had left their homes. This 'thing' needed to be taken out so the DCC people started their favourite piece of work…breaking up the road. After that the big smelly ball was heaved out with cranes.

Ruksana could not believe what she was seeing in front of her. She pressed harder on the hanky and started to think how dramatically this stink ball is going to change the future of the country. But it was indeed a time for celebration. The DCC guy brought out several cases of frozen, export quality bottles of 'Dyl' they had just confiscated few days back. The night passed with fervent celebrations, completed with our famous Bangla cinema dancing…

Meanwhile there have been developments in the political front. The opposition leader was gaining momentum with his anti-DCC talks. He focused on the blunders of the DCC in managing dustbins, dengue threats, along with the massive internal corruption. There was a fiery debate between him and the general secretary of the party in power in 'Tritiyo Matra', which inevitably ended in the two of them climbing up on the table and 'galafying' each other.

The situation at Bhooter Goli was about to take an unexpected twist. Three RAB men, were keeping a close watch over everything that was going on. Somehow, the experts 'smelt' something was wrong. The substance they were suspecting as uranium revealed no trace of ore substances usually found along with native uranium. This highly refined sample was not directly from the ores. There was clearly a foul smell of foul-play.

Fearing this find may avert the whole master-plan, the RAB men decided to clean them up. The chase begins and first to go is the BUET expert, who trips in the dark alley and gets caught. Instead of wasting precious bullets, they get some 'daalpuris' from a nearby restaurant and stuff it down his throat. The lethal combination of diesel oil and textile dye takes the man down in 30 secs. One down, three to go…

By this time, the government is ready to announce its success. The Prime Minister reads out the speech prepared by someone from the science department after the 8 o' clock news. The people, unable to decipher the actual implications, feel that it must be really great news so they come down in the streets in great numbers. The celebrations continue amidst cheering of: “Bangladesh! Bangladesh! Uranium Zindabad…!

So in the alleys of Bhooter Goli, a deadly chase continues. Fortunately for them, the guy from the DCC knew the location of the open manholes pretty well and so they did not have a problem dodging them. But the RABs in pursuit were not equally enlightened so one of them disappears through one such manhole and flows away into oblivion. With two chasing three, the hot pursuit was only getting hotter. The host is running faster now, with Ruksana's hand held tight in his. In order to create a distraction, the DCC man jumps into a roadside dustbin.

One of the RAB men actually thought he had his man. But as he goes near the dustbin, the strong stench of Mughal-era waste hits him like a wall of bricks. He drops dead and the Aedes gang dives into him. The DCC man, although immune to the stench of the garbage, now runs the risk of getting detected by the Aedes gang. So he dives deep into the pile of garbage, and stays there.

The political front is getting even more intense with a grenade attack on one of the key government figures. The student activists bring out processions and start breaking a lot of cars and buses. At this point in the story we come to know along with the PM that the discovery has actually been made by a rickshawallah rather than the DCC. But unfortunately, that poor guy fell into a manhole right after making that phone call.

Back to the goli. As Ruksana and Titu keep running through the darkness, they could actually feel their hearts beat faster. All thoughts of Mojnu disappear as Ruksana feels again that this is the guy she has been looking for all her life. But their romantic run is cut short as they face a dead end.

The RAB in pursuit has now been joined by his boss (no idea where he landed from). As they come face to face, Ruksana is shocked to the editor of her newspaper, standing in front of him. Her world seems to come crashing down as he hears him say: “We had to save DCC somehow… After all, this was the only way Dhaka can maintain its unique looks…” But Titu is not ready to give up as yet. Unarmed and ruthless, he jumps on the two of them. In a matter of seconds, Titu beats the hell out of the two villains and just then, in typically Bangladeshi style, the police arrives saying: “Ayeen nijer haat e tule niben na” (Don't take the law into your own hands).

Finally, the uranium ball turns out to be a mass of biological waste. The radioactivity is the result of the Dhakaits eating too much of adulterated junk food. The editor and the RAB gets punished and ends up in Dhaka Central Jail. The DCC guy is rescued from his garbage den, and the PM delivers another speech apologizing for the blunder. The opposition guy gets tangled in an affair with his secretary, and the story spreads in all directions. Titu and Ruksana are seen coming out of the Kazi Office, and the story ends with another hit title song.

By Tausif Salim

Flight from fear

Being a news reporter, I knew that I would have to face this kind of situation. Recently I had taken the responsibility of supplying my newspaper with news about one of the most dangerous criminal in the city. He was in the 'MOST WANTED" list. He had kidnapped a rich businessman and was demanding money .I had collected a lot of information about him and his whereabouts which was helping the police . He had killed many innocent people and now I was his next target. He would not rest before he killed me.

I was running with all my strength. My legs were aching but I couldn't afford to stop. I could hear my footsteps and also those of my attacker behind me. It echoed and broke the silence on the road. It was about two o' clock at night and I was far away from home, running desperately for my life. I didn't know what to do. It seemed that death was inevitable. I knew I was so close to death but I still didn't give up. I would keep on trying till my last breath.

Drops of sweat trickled down my forehead. But I kept running. I slipped furtively behind a brick wall. His eyes darted around wildly trying to trace me. I was panting and I knew that my deep breathing would give away my hiding place. So I held my breath for a moment. Fortunately he didn't see me and kept running in the wrong direction. To my relief the noise of his footsteps was fading. But the next moment they again grew louder. A wave of fear rushed through me.

I increased my speed and took a turn to the right. I looked back and saw that he had his gun out. But he didn't dare to shoot because he wanted the information that I had collected and only I knew about them. Suddenly I stumbled and fell down. A throbbing pain shot through my toe. I was not in a condition to get up. So I sat there helplessly. Just then a hand clasped my neck. I struggled to get free but he was too strong for me. After a lot of struggling I gave a hard punch and got free. Ignoring the unbearable pain in my legs I kept on running. Then I came to a stop.

I saw a passenger train passing. I ran towards it with the small amount of strength that was left within me. It was my only hope. Then, fortunately I managed to get hold of the steel handle in the last bogey. I got up and looked back. I saw him running towards the train but he was too late. The last bogey was far away from him. I couldn't believe it. I had managed to escape, but just for the time being. My life was still at risk and this kind of incident would happen again. This was not the end!

By Faiza Subaiha Bar