‘Open the door, Maani,’ he said softly.
Hearing his voice, Maani hid herself in a corner and asked, ‘What is it?’
In a voice choked with emotion, Indranath said, ‘Please open the door, I beg you.’
Such an appeal, soaked in affection, was an unprecedented experience for Maani. She had never imagined even in her dreams that in this cruel world anybody would implore her in this manner. Maani opened the door with trembling hands. Indranath charged into the room and saw a rope hanging from the ceiling fan. His heart shuddered. He immediately took out a knife from his pocket, cut the rope and said, ‘What were you going to do, Maani? Do you know the punishment for this crime?’
Bowing her head, Maani said, ‘Could there be a punishment worse than this? If a person whose face is despicable to people is punished harshly even when she dies, then there is no justice in the court of God. You do not know what my condition is like.’
Indranath’s eyes became moist with tears. Maani had spoken nothing but the hard truth. He said, ‘These days will not last forever, Maani. If you think there is nobody with you in this world, that is your illusion. There is at least one person who loves your life more than his own.’
Suddenly, Gokul was seen approaching. Maani rushed out of the room. Indranath’s words had triggered something like a storm in her heart. What did he mean? She could not comprehend it at all. Yet, life seemed more meaningful to her today. A light had dawned in the darkness of her life.3
Gokul was annoyed to see Indranath with Maani. His entire demeanour changed. After Maani left, he asked his friend harshly, ‘When did you come here?’
Indranath responded in a steady manner, ‘It was you I came here looking for. When I did not find you here, I was going to return downstairs. If I had gone, you would have found this door shut and a corpse hanging from the ceiling fan.’
Gokul surmised that Indranath was trying to make excuses to cover up his guilt. He said sharply, ‘I never expected you to betray my confidence this way.’
Indranath’s face turned red. He shot up and said, ‘I did not expect you to slander me so badly either. I did not know that you considered me so depraved and crooked. Maani might be an object of contempt for you but she is and will always be an object of veneration for me. I do not have to give you any clarification for my conduct but Maani is much purer for me than you can ever understand. I do not want to raise these issues with you at this moment. I was looking for an appropriate time to say all this to you but I have to say it now because the occasion demands it. I knew that Maani was not respected in your house but that you consider her so depraved and disposable has only come to my notice now, after listening to your mother’s comments. Your mother scolded her as one would spurn a dog just because she had gone to have a look at the bride’s ornaments! You will say, “What could I do?” It is improper to drink water in a house where an orphan is tortured to such an extent. If you had made this clear to your mother in the beginning itself, things would not have come to such a pass. You cannot absolve yourself of this allegation. I cannot talk to your parents now because a wedding is being celebrated in your house but I have no hesitation in telling you that I would like to make Maani my life partner, and I would consider myself blessed if I did that. I had thought that I would first find a place to live and then make the proposal but I am afraid that a further delay in this matter might mean losing Maani. Therefore, to free you and your family from worries, I am making this proposal now.’
Gokul had never felt this kind of reverence for Indranath earlier. He was ashamed of himself for having suspected his friend. He also realized that in being indifferent to Maani for fear of his mother, he had ended up being a coward. It was an act of cowardice and nothing else. Sheepishly he said that if his mother had scolded Maani for no reason, it was a sign of her stupidity and that he would clarify this whenever he got a chance.
Indranath said, ‘There is no time for inquiries and clarifications any more. I would like to talk to Maani and tell you what we decide. I do not want her to live here even for a moment longer. I have realized today that she is a self-respecting woman, and to tell you the truth, I am enamoured by her nature. Such a woman should not tolerate oppression.’
Gokul added hesitantly, ‘But . . . do you know she is a widow?’
When we see someone being unusually generous to us, we unravel all our flaws to him. We want to show him that we are not
