In the late hours of the night, the residents of Dinabad jolted out of deep slumber. It was unbearably hot. Everyone was drenched in sweat. They were dead thirsty and about to faint. It was pitch dark outside. As if the sky was covered by dark clouds or an impenetrable layer of dust. The wind had come to a sudden halt.
They couldn’t ascertain what had come upon them. A few hours earlier the sky was quite clear. Stars were twinkling, and the wind was blowing gently.
In summer days, wind was the only luxury available to the poor residents of Dinabad. It would cool their hearts and allure them to the serene valley of sleep. When the wind would stop blowing, they would fan themselves with hand fans made of palm leaves. But today it was terribly hot. They had never witnessed such heat in their whole life. Their little paradise had transformed into a hell.
First, they drank more and more water, then peeled off their clothes, soaked themselves with water and fanned their bodies with hand fans. They felt relieved for a while. But as they put their hand fans down, they almost fainted.
Houses ran out of water. As they drank more and more water, their bellies swelled up. Their hands went numbed by excessive fanning. Women and children were wailing and crying, and men were worried about the unfolding situation. It was getting hotter by every moment. They were sure that by the morning this heat would claim many a life.
At last the whole residents of Dinabad took refuge in streams and underground water channels. As they regained their senses, they began to ponder over the curse befallen them. Everybody had his own opinion.
The hakim of the hamlet suspected that the wind had fallen ill.
A young man with an interest in science and politics claimed that the current chaos had been caused by the impacts of Atomic Tests conducted in Chaghi.
A farmer somewhat conversant with happening of seasons, revealed this heat indicates an impending flood which would wash off everything on the earth.
The cleric believed that heat was caused by the sins of people and it is one of the signs of apocalypse. Soon Israfil would blow the trumpet. A silence ensued for a while.
Then it was followed by a series of rumours. A man claimed that the new ruler of the country had placed a ban on the wind. He decreed that like his subjects, he had enslaved the wind as well. Last night he saw the Prophet Solomon in a dream and the new situation is the interpretation of this dream.
Another rumour said the wind smelled of human blood, thus it had come to a halt. Now the clouds would rain blood and people would drink blood instead of water.
Another rumour claimed God was annoyed of transgressions of humans and decided to lift the wind from this place. He would build a new world where He would make new creatures including man. And after wind, He would take the water away.
The whole night was flooded with rumours. One scarier than the other. They didn’t know who brings these rumours, but they believed in whatever they heard. They were wailing, praying and vowing to make atone for their sins.
They spent the night amid chaos, gossips and tittle-tattles. However, when they woke up in the morning, they saw a strange scene. The leaves of the trees were swaying slowly, and the wind was blowing gently. Even they could hear the wind blowing but they didn’t feel it on their bodies. They also discovered that the wind was not coming from heaven, but it was an earthly wind coming from the west.
It has been a long time since then but the season of Dinabad has not changed yet. It is still hot and humid. The heavenly wind had stopped blowing and the earthly wind coming from the west does not cool their bodies. Since that night, the residents of Dinabad have taken refuge in water like frogs, hoping that one day the wind from the heaven will start to blow again.
This was originally a Balochi short story written by Naguman. The translator can be reached at [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, February 7th 2019.