This short story is a powerful reminder of how one mistake can challenge every belief you grew up with in life, originally written in Bengali by Md Rizwanul Islam and translated to English by Amreeta Lethe.
Rahman Shaheb is in a rather cheery mood today. Their bank’s branch manager, Nabil Shaheb, not only treated the staff to lunch at the office’s expense this afternoon but also let them know that all full-time employees would be receiving at least one increment starting next month. This was an order from the head office; on account of the profit their branch had generated. Rahman Shaheb couldn’t muster up the courage to ask the manager how many increments he would be getting, but he was happy to know that he’d at least be receiving one. His landlord hiked up the rent last month. The extra money from an increment will at least cover the rent increase, and so Rahman Shaheb is content.
Rahman Shaheb usually works in cash, but their IT officer, Shafat Shaheb, hasn’t come into work, so the manager asked him to take over Shafat Shaheb’s duties for the day. Although the IT officer’s responsibilities aren’t all too complicated, Rahman Shaheb’s IT skills are somewhat lacking, which is perhaps why it takes him so long to wrap up the work on hand. Their office assistant, Solim Miah, comes by to say, “Sir, the sky is getting worse. Are you going to work very late today? It would be better to finish soon, or we won’t be able to find a ride home.”
Rahman Shaheb feels a twinge of anxiety at Solim’s words, but the memory of two of his colleagues being fired just last month makes him set aside his homegoing concerns. Instead, he tells Solim, “Areh, what’s the worry? It’s monsoon, so the sky’s bound to look a bit ragged. It’s natural that going home will be a hassle, but that doesn’t mean we can leave without finishing the work. I need to make sure that the papers Manager Sir asked me to prepare are ready, or he’ll be angry. How about you get us two cups of lemon tea instead?”