स्वप्न का मुक्तिदल और कालीपद

Summary

The story follows a boy named Swapno who is visiting his grandparents' village home in Sonaphuli. Their house has a large garden that has become overgrown and wild, but Swapno loves it. He spends his days alone in the garden, creating elaborate imaginary games. He pretends the garden's stone path is a game where he must hop from stone to stone without stepping twice. He imagines the guava tree is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the tallest jamun tree becomes the Empire State Building in New York, where he uses his hand as a telescope to spot landmarks like Washington and Chicago. Another game involves climbing a leafless palash tree branch and pretending it is a space rocket launching from Cape Kennedy, counting down to blastoff. He also plays under a large banyan tree, where a hollow in the trunk becomes a pan shop, and the hanging roots are his customers. The raised area under the tree becomes a stage where he gives speeches as the main speaker at a rally on Independence Day. One afternoon, while playing a war game where the kitchen is an enemy fort, Swapno bursts through the door and finds a sickly, bald boy with a shaved head, wearing only a towel, who falls at his feet. The boy begs Swapno not to hit him, swearing by Goddess Kali that he will never steal again. Swapno realizes the boy is a thief. Feeling pity for his poverty, Swapno locks the kitchen door with a stick and pretends to convince his imaginary friends to release the prisoner. He then runs to tell his mother and grandmother, who rush to the kitchen. The thief, claiming to be a Brahmin's son, removes his stolen pots and shows his sacred thread.