The second episode of Nuhash Humayun’s horror series, Dui Shaw, Bhaggo Bhalo (which literally translates to “Good luck”), carefully threads an allegorical story of capitalism and knots it with the seemingly modest story of an astrologer, more particularly, a palmist. Dui Shaw episode 2 has at its center a palmist, who sits by one of the dusty lanes of Dhaka. One day, he reads the lines on the hand of a woman, and predicts that she will end up getting married twice. On the other hand, the woman’s husband is told that, despite having a planetary position that leans toward enough wealth, he has a really short lifeline. The married man recounts the famous incident where Napoleon slit his lifeline and extended it. Upon learning that the palmist is desperately trying to collect money for his mother’s kidney operation, the man presses the idea that the palmist should try to alter his own fate for good. The doctor at the hospital reminds the palmist of the unclear dues, and the landlord at their slum dwelling constantly bugs them with eviction threats.
Spoilers Ahead
The story of the palmist who read his lines
On one occasion, a little boy and his mother visits the palmist for a reading. The palmist tells the boy that he will soon be under the influence of the Shaitaan. The palmist advises that the boy should pay no heed to what the Shaitaan feeds his brain. The mother of the boy turns angry at his words. She makes a scene that is soon joined by the other passersby. The palmist goes viral on the internet for all the wrong reasons.
After this harrowing incident, the palmist reads the lines on his own hand and turns his fate around. The next morning, he predicts that the doctor will call him, and so he does. The doctor is bewildered by the fact that five people have died at once on the same night. All five of them are perfect donors for the palmist’s mother. The doctor, with no logical explanation at hand, attributes it to the good fortune of the palmist and the misfortune of the five deceased. The palmist also has a parrot as a partner in his prediction business. The parrot once predicts his owner’s future—he will do himself good if he keeps to himself and does not help others in trouble. That night, he witnesses an incident of looting. While he does not step forward and help the victim, he tricks the thief after the victim leaves and hands him over to the police. That way, he saves himself from getting involved with someone else’s trouble but gets to pocket the thief’s loot. He later finds out that the victim shares the same fate as him. The guy’s loved one is in the same hospital as his mother, and it was his hard-earned money that will now be used to save the palmist’s mother. The palmist does not even look back and sympathize with the guy he left howling and crying. His rapid success deeply disturbs his mother, who figures out that he is gambling with his own fate. He goes viral, forms business relationships with millionaires, and earns so much money that he could roll in it. His mother, on the other hand, warns him of his newfound success. Once, while returning home, he is chased by some ghostlike people who ‘beg’ for ‘some fate’. His pet parrot reminds him not to remove the curtain, but he kills the bird. The mother, on her deathbed, repeats the same words as the bird. With nowhere to turn to, the palmist calls his guru, his higher-up, to put an end to this. The guru rebukes him for violating the primary oath of their profession and reading his own lines. We realize that what the parrot and the elderly woman were repeating ad nauseam—it was a warning; the palmist should never at any cost lift the curtains drawn to hide his own fate.
What does the Iblis tell the palmist?
The palmist finds Iblis at a sweet shop and turns to him for help. This is the second time we see Iblis after we see him in the episode Mishti Kichu of Pett Kata Shaw. Iblis explains the palmist’s ordeal. The devil says that fate, like energy, is a force that predates time and life. Like energy, fate cannot be created or destroyed. Instead, it just changes its host. This means that the palmist is not altering his own fate. Instead, he is sucking in the fate of all those who surround him. Iblis explains this as the main tenet of capitalism. It is the excessive power of capital that ensures laborers die in poverty. The Iblis asks the palmist to note the general pattern of power relations—who wields power and who dies in poverty? The Iblis seems to be aware of the fire incident at Jatrabari (Waqt, episode 1). He asks the palmist to take note of the class of people who set the fire, or at least were bribed to set the fire, and the ones who were charred in it.
What Happens At The End Of The Episode?
At night, after being plagued by the conversation with the Iblis, the palmist is shocked to see a man already waiting for him in his apartment. It is the same man from the beginning of the story, who narrated the fate-altering story of Napoleon. The man has shown up in the dead of the night to confront the palmist about his prediction of his wife’s future. The man says that his wife has run away with another man following his visit to the palmist. The man claims that the controversial predictions that are part and parcel of the ‘science’ of astrology and palmistry are not meant to hold the door ajar to the truth of the future. Instead, it deals in fear-mongering and plays with the vulnerabilities of humans. If anything, it destroys the future by generating fears around it without showing the reality. The man then shoots the palmist and kills himself. The palmist, though survives by a whisker, suffers terrible blood loss. He manages to crawl to the dead body of the other guy and pulls out the pocket knife from the dead man’s pocket. Realizing that he has not got much time left, he, like Napoleon, slashes his own palm and reverses his fate. All the blood that left his body trickles back inside him. The palmist sucks out the fate of the dying man. We remember what he predicted for the man at the beginning of the story—that he will have enough wealth, but not enough time on his hands.
The palmist, finding a new fate, makes a landing on an even more luxurious lifestyle. What was supposed to come to the dead man now belongs to him. He has a young wife and a palatial house to call home. The news on the TV reports the hostility that has Bangladesh in its grasp. The people below the poverty line are now attacking the millionaires. With the dollar rate plummeting and nationwide debt skyrocketing, the economy of Bangladesh is in shambles. The prices of daily commodities have risen, and there is an atmosphere of lawlessness. It is the crisis that is inherent to capitalism. The news perturbs the man at first. He goes to his window and parts the curtains slightly to see outside—a literal recalling of the warning, “Don’t lift the curtain!” However, a red light washes over his face, and he breaks into a grin. The camera then pulls back from his towering apartment, and we see the entire cityscape below burning.
In the end, the humble beginnings of the palmist from the dusty streets of Dhaka stand in stark contrast to his newfound, lavish millionaire lifestyle. When he peeks outside his window, the palmist grins as he realizes that he is insulated from the uncertainty of life. He is now a full-grown capitalist after amassing enough wealth and fate. Nothing—not even the economic setbacks, the lawlessness, or even the misfortunes—would ever touch him.
How Does The Episode Correlate The Horrors Of Future Reading And Capitalism?
The conversation between the palmist and Iblis sets the tone for the allegorical narrative of Bhaggo Bhalo. While palmistry tries to present itself as a credible ‘science’ (we see the palmist repeating this over and over again), capitalism presents itself as the one most in tune with human nature. The common thread that drives the success of both these projects is their rootedness in human fear. Neither ever solves the problem at hand, both literally and figuratively. Therefore, failure is built into the very systems that look so appealing.
In Grundrisse, Marx argues that capitalism cannot abide by its own and nature’s limits. It constantly tries to project the limit as a barrier and attempts to go beyond it. This simple understanding might make a good point for us to understand the palmist’s act. There are limits to a man’s desires. The palmist, instead of acknowledging the limits to his wants, tries to see it as a barrier and circumvents it similarly. To this end, he indulges in acts akin to a capitalist. He has everything he wants because he has plundered the fates of others around him. In this manner, the limitless hunger of both the palmist and capitalism needs a steady diet of the misfortunes of the impoverished.
