Ikkhon arrived at the classroom. Ehsaan and the others got stunned despite his 'minor' injuries. The principal looked at him with pity, with his eyes turned hypnotic that made the mind look like a fizzy drink. Speaking of it, the pile of invisible carbon imploded over his eyes, that he spoke with a Lebanese accent "Porag, my friend, how are you?"

The students weren't surprised of his forgetfulness but now that he exceeded the limit, the students laughed, while Arhaan and other gang members angrily tapped the palm on their head. Principal shook his head, as if he got right back into mind. After that, he cleared his throat, whereas the students stopped their giggling and stood up "Sorry Ikkhon, I wasn't in the right mind. Please, sit down...and take care of your health".

Ikkhon, struggling with his arm, slowly took a seat with the other members of the gang. Hablu, as usual was absent during the whole class. The principal announced

'Dear students,

This weekend, we are arranging an annual picnic (The students got excited, but silenced by the deep voice of the principal) but, no violence and no more other charades, only fun and food. Just register your name, please'

The principal distributed the registration papers, and Arhaan got the extra two. The principal whispered 'For Hablu'. The others, except Ehsaan, ignored it. Ehsaan was trembled with a little bit of mystery that has surrounded from the whole 'Altab Nagari'. Not only Hablu, but also raised doubts from the opposition. What was the reason behind the rivalry? Who is Hablu? What is a secret behind the Principal's forgetful nature? All of these were jumbling into Ehsaan's mind. The area had full of wonders, but full of mysteries, especially the strange ones to cover.

Ehsaan got out of the school after the class was over. The bell rang fast and saw that, Arhaan, Hablu, Ikkhon and George were sitting on the swing of the school field. George uttered the name of the club 'Paanchmurti' which means Five Musketeers. It was a reference from which Hablu was referencing-his favorite book 'The Three Musketeers'.

"What's new?" asked Ehsaan.

"You know about the picnic, aren't you?" said Arhaan.

"Yes, I do but what's the plan all about?"

"As our opposition 'The Bad Boys' are buying their cricket stuff, we 'The Musketeers' have no budget. Hence, we will seek some charity from the neighborhood" said Hablu. "But how? That's the question"

"We could distribute them some food but the picnic can be kept secret" said Ikkhon.

"Mister Ikkhon, as far as I know, you may eat half of the stocks and the budget of the food is quite high. Better eat your 'saradine curry'. So, SHUT UP!" said Hablu.

Ikkhon was disgusted, as Hablu's the one who may eat half of the food but he kept himself mum.

"So how about posing as the needy and beg for money?" said George.

Hablu put his palm on the face with antipathy.

"Are we beggars? No- Disagreed!" he said.

"What about giving leaflets, for charity?" asked Arhaan.

"Too costly but we did it last year, Arhaan" dismissed Hablu. "Any new ideas?"

Out of nowhere, Ehsaan said "Ummm...How about a qawali song, I heard that you and Arhaan are great at singing?"

At first, Hablu expressed his disagreement that built the tensions that made them anxious, but later on he said "Are you kidding me? That's A GREAT IDEA! I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT! This is the real amour!"

Every one of the gang was quite stunned. Ehsaan was never an unorthodox planner, coming from a conservative area like Alta Dighi. It was quite a sparkling moment from a quiet and meek guy, transformed into a member of the 'Musketeer' gang. Hablu was so overjoyed but stopped at the moment. "Who will play the harmonium?"

"I think, one of our juniors, Shehzad- Uncle Sajed's son, may help us" said Ikkhon.

They rushed quickly to an isolated, small clubhouse, where four primary school children, younger than the Musketeers themselves. A scrawny haired boy looked at Hablu and came near them. He was so delighted that young smiles would never be forever rested.

"Hablu bro! How have you been? It's good to see you" the boy was overjoyed and hugged Hablu.

He got a little awkward, considering him as little brother, Hablu didn't stop him. After the little boy got off, Hablu said "Shehzad! I would like you to meet our new member of the Musketeer, Ehsaan".

"Now it's five, then!" said the little boy, Shehzad.

"We retitled ourselves as 'Musketeers'" said Hablu.

The club kids were four, including Shehzad, known as the 'Chillar Party' which hypothetically means 'The Little Rascals'. Shehzad always idolized Hablu as the lead, due to his helping nature. How? Well, right before Ehsaan arrived, it was morning, Shehzad was missing at the spot after he left school. Sajed and his wife, along with Fardeen, Liaqat, as well as the others from 'Altab Nagari'-except for the 'Bad Boys' Gang shared their unity to find Shehzad.

Whereas, Hablu, Arhaan, George and Ikkhon heard of the mess that was having. The gang called Hablu like a pet cat and dog, meowing and barking around the empty streets. Until, he heard a scream in the alleyway. They ran off to the alleyway and felt a nasty smell. Hablu heard a squeaky familiar scream 'HELP!', they got close to a huge gutter.

Shehzad was trying to jump out from the side-gutter like an action hero. Hablu said 'hey kid! Hold your horses, let us get you out of here!'

After The Musketeers pulled him out, Hablu took him to the garage and treated like a car wash because his body was smelt like a horse-shit. Poor Shehzad! Though Arhaan was habituated with Hablu's strange antics, whereas George and Ikkhon were disgusted but eventually adjusted later on. After that, Sajed hailed him as a hero of 'Altab Nagari' and bestowed the title due to his courage and helpful nature- despite him didn't pay Sajed's dues for the shop.

Back to the present, Shehzad asked "What makes you coming to the club, all of a sudden?"

"We need a harmonium and mandolin player" replied Ikkhon.

"I think, our member, Jamshed can do it. He was a gold medalist in the school's music competition. But who will write the song? And what's the purpose of doing it?" said Shehzad.

"Umm...We'll play qawali and ask for charity as we don't have enough cricket instruments. We will be doing it at midnight" said George.

Shehzad was blinded with joy, while the rest of the gang members were putting his face on the palm with anxiety. As Arhaan was the only one who wasn't a person of cacophony, and Ehsaan was the new member who doesn't have any predictability in character.

As Shehzad agreed, Ehsaan, Arhaan, Ikkhon and George were sitting in the tea stall, despite the shutter being closed. Sajed went for a prayer and a lunch break. Hence, Arhaan took out the pen and the paper.

"Who's a good lyricist!" started Arhaan.

"I am" said George.

"Sorry George, you're an expert. We need something fresh that everyone will understand" said Arhaan.

Everyone was concerned about it. Considering the person who started it all, Arhaan targeted Ehsaan, but again changed his mind to point Ikkhon.

"Me? What? How?" said Ikkhon, who was left bewildered.

"You're good at attracting people, perhaps, you can write anything you can. Then, we'll make a tune that may sound good-hopefully" said Arhaan.

Ikkhon was brainstormed the string of thoughts. It may be a religious chant song-too sensitive, an emotional tune-too depressing or a love song-clichéd...Until, his knowledge of old poetries came into mind that may change for a greater good or for worse...lack of melody. He first wrote few lines but crumbled a lot. Until, he realized his 'unique' poetries would come in handy. Then Jamshed entered the scene.

"Idea..." said Ikkhon and Arhaan. "Arhaan bro, write it down!"

Arhaan begun to pen down. Jamshed and Ikkhon started to dictate his song with a bit of a rough patch, as some of the errors may occur there. But I will bring you the polished version of the song to ease your eyes:

We are common people,

We are simpletons,

You are a peepal tree,

We are younger-tons.

But some are heartbreakers,

Please don't make us drunken losers,

And why are you holding a cow dung for us,

While mushrooms are planting like a fungus.

You win an Oscar,

We win an Oscar,

We all win an Oscar.

We are very good bad boys,

We are very good bad boys

We are a very good...bad...boys.

Spread love,

Spread humanity,

And spread empathy.

We are Bengali,

We are Bravery.

Until, Hablu arrived while Ehsaan was looking at them. Hablu asked 'how was the progress?'

The others were so confused by the nonsense poem after reading it, that they close their eyes and gave it to Hablu. With the sound of worry, the suspense ticks a clock. Usually, Hablu never liked limericks, even he scrapped certain songs made by either Arhaan or George, or maybe even Aquib-the garage owner or Fardeen-the pharmacist. Hence, Hablu held the paper and read the song. His eyes widened.

"WHO WROTE THIS SONG?" Hablu shouted angrily.

"I...I...wrote it" replied Jamshed, scared by biting his nails.

"I love this Fried Chicken! This song is final!" Hablu screamed with joy.

Whereas others including Ehsaan, Shehzad, Arhaan, Ikkhon and Jamshed felt a lot awkward. It reminded Arhaan, reading one of the stories from a Bengali series named 'Tenida', quite similar to Hablu's characteristics but less slightly eccentric. Anyway, Hablu started to dance in joyous fashion that some of the 'Bad Boys' gang looked upon it. Little did they knew, they'll have a bigger plan in the picnic with a lot of bullying.

'THE MUSKETEERS IS ON ACTION! ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL. WE'LL CHANT THE SONG THIS MIDNIGHT'

At midnight, they gathered, including Shehzad and Jamshed- except for Ehsaan who was asking for permission from his mom. Both may've been too young but have the balance to carry out. Then the gang were asking themselves a question-where is Ehsaan?

George used his drums, Arhaan with the flute, Hablu and Jamshed were singing, Ikkhon and Shehzad were throwing flowers. They marched like a group of carols in the street. Until Ehsaan ran near and joined them with the marching. Hablu's sound were so cacophonous and tune sounded more like car horns and traffic bonks that some even tried to put pillows, such as of an earwax. One of the 'Bad Boys' gang, Saad was shocked, looking at the 'Musketeers' gang with the juniors, marching like soldiers and freedom fighters from 1951 Language movement in the neighborhood.

The first one they reached out of Liaqat-the grocery man's house. It was made of bricks and tin, but with a rich and colorful touch, despite its darkness. At that time, electricity was fluctuated all the time, I mean-load shedding- sometimes in certain areas and sometimes out of it. In the area, the midnight lights were quite off. After the continuous carol-like cacophony songs, Liaqat slowly and angrily hoped out of the house. He looked older than the last time, the 'Musketeer' saw on his son's wedding.

"Hey! What's going on here!" screamed Liaqat.

"Uncle Liaqat, we're here to ask some charity. I want to by some cricket instruments for the school picnic" said Hablu.

"By singing nonsense songs? What the heck, patriotic or qawali? Ok, I am bringing some charity for you" snapped Liaqat.

The 'Musketeers' were sighed with relief. Until a minute, Liaqat opened the door and chased Hablu and the gang by holding a poop-smelling torn sandal. Hablu and the gang got scared, ran from the clutches of Liaqat like Scooby and Shaggy were running away from the monsters. Ultimately, even after he threw the sandal at them, they were quite a distant away from Liaqat.

'GET OUT, YOU MEDDLING KIDS' screamed Liaqat.

After that, the gang continued to focus on marching and singing. Even Jamshed was using harmonium properly, but Hablu's singing was horrendous. Ikkhon was the only one, spreading flowers, whereas Ehsaan and Arhaan were playing harmonica. The only one observing was, Shehzad.

However, they were continuously marching towards a duplex house, with the old-ish vibes. When they were singing, the houses were silent. It was like no one was there and such that, there was no love and soul. Then something was dropped in Arhaan's head- an eggshell!

Then, like raindrops and earthquakes, a lot of cow dungs and rotten tomatoes were thrown towards their head to toe. The gang got a lot scared! A middle-aged, angry but beautiful woman came out of the balcony. It was Fardeen-the pharmacist's wife. She said "why you crows are singing like that? At least cows are better singers than you all!"

"Sis-in-law! We're here for your contributions regarding the school picnic. We have to buy our cricket instruments, as it's quite expensive" said Arhaan.

"I'm sorry, can't give you the charity. But next time, you sing like that in the house, you will be finished!" snapped Fardeen's wife.

The gang ran away. Until, they saw Saad's father who was standing on the lamppost. Hence, he looked like our Nobel Poet Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore-despite being a hugely rich man, holding a briefcase. Hablu and the musketeers marched near him but they stopped serenading as they were worn out of energy.

"Hey kids, I heard that, you're asking for charity regarding cricket instruments, aren't you?" said Saad's father.

"Umm...yes, we did. But how do you know, uncle?" asked Ehsaan.

"I get to know this from Fardeen, the pharmacist" replied Saad's father.

"But his wife"- said Arhaan but interrupted by Saad's father.

"Aah...she's just messing with you guys. This is the amount that I could give you"

He offered the briefcase. But the gang was hesitated to take the offer, because it's a huge amount than what they actually needed. Henceforth, Ehsaan said "we appreciate the amount but, it's too much for us to ask for".

"No no, this briefcase only has half of the amount that you're thinking" said Saad's father.

They slowly got convinced. After that, they went to the clubhouse, as Shehzad had the keys of it. When they unlocked the briefcase, they looked at the expected amount that turned out to be alright, not what the gang initially thought. After a bit of a long sleep, they got to buy the professional cricket instruments, except for the sports ball that was modified by a red tape.

A week later,

The Musketeers got into the bus at the backseat, whereas the rest of the students were at the front. But the new girl was absent. Ehsaan noticed it, despite looking for the first time at the assembly. Not a day-but the gang were getting a little older, except for Hablu. Anyway, Ehsaan whispered one of the students "where's the new girl?"

"She left school for girls" said the student.

In the middle of the bus journey, the gang started to sing Bollywood and Bengali songs. The other kids were intrigued by Arhaan's tuning and joined together. They clapped and sang together in such a way that everyone respectfully singing their favorite song. Hablu was also singing but the kids turned their ears off.

After an hour, they reached to a field, bigger than the hills. The trees were such that, breezes swing with a breath of fresh air. Furthermore, it looked like a huge break and something full of adventure. The Musketeers saw another bus, stood opposite each other. It was the 'Bad Boys'- Anthony, Saad, Bablu and Fazarul who looked at them, that something is coming on its way. Both of them stood at each other like two enemies on the cowboy showdown. At least, these two clubs should've learnt about the Dark Sides of the North American Civil War.

Hours after that, firstly, the Musketeers have played cricket, as a friendly match with the juniors-including Jamshed and Shehzad. Most were smiling and it was full of joyful colors. Even, it turned a bit of a practice match. Wait, until the real match will be formed!

'The Bad Boys' gang have arrived as if they are ready to fight a wrestling match. At that time, WWE has popularized globally into some extent. Little did the 90s kids knew that, crime rates may increase in the future. As it's a cricket match, lot of hurdles would come on its way. On the further note, a Bangladesh wicket keeper-Khaled Masud Pilot was also retired after an injury. But 'ALHARS' picnic cricket match was streetwise than a friendly one.

'The Bad Boys' were forcing juniors to line up and pulled their pants. After that, they robbed their pocket money that, enraged the Musketeers-especially Hablu, Ehsaan and Arhaan during the whole picnic hour. On their arrival on the field, they got disgusted for their antics, whereas the opposition gang were laughing at them.

"Oh, Saad and Anthony! I didn't expect to see you around here. Remember that time, you've defeated us, during last year?" said Hablu.

"We have put the best batsman to injury, I guess" said Anthony, pointing at someone unexpected- Ikkhon.

That enraged Shehzad and Jamshed, and not bearing the insult, they angrily said "If you wanna to play the match, do it! But if you injure others, as you're notoriously known for, we'll call Ashraf sir for good!"

"See? Our juniors have better instinct than you! For now, we'll play the match for the final time!" said Hablu.

"Let's see" said Saad.

'Musketeers' and 'Bad Boys' took off their cricket instruments. After Anthony fixed his batting in front of the stamp, whereas George started to bowl. Whenever he span the bowl, he was captured by Bablu as the wicket keeper. After twice the balling, George was out by Jamshed as the umpire. Now, it was Ikkhon's turn, but he farted among the crowds that some of the players were fainted. He started spinning like a cartoon and bowling like Tom and Jerry. The other kids were stunned by the way Ikkhon bowled. But ultimately, the ball injured in between legs of the wicket keeper. It was foul, hence, after few bowls, he was out.

Next was Arhaan, who decently bowled and Anthony, unfortunately swing the bat with scores of six, five times. Lastly, the new player- Ehsaan, as everyone was skeptical of him as a player. The intensity surrounded the people, what if Ehsaan loses?