Seeing her in this new avatar sent shockwaves through the drawing room. What was happening? No one could believe their eyes except perhaps Mr Johri. Miss Joshi is up to her tricks again, he thought, this must be the latest ploy to further ensnare that man.
‘Friends! Do you remember the terrible things Apte said about me the other day? Today I want to punish him for his misdemeanours. Yesterday I visited him at his house and I have unearthed all his secrets. Apte, who roars like a tiger while addressing a rally, collapsed under a single move of mine. I’m not going to waste any more time in disclosing those secrets—you must be getting impatient. All that I have seen is so frightening that all of you here will feel faint just hearing about it. Now I’m convinced beyond doubt that this man is a rebel . . .’
Mr Johri clapped his hands and the room echoed with the sound of everyone clapping in agreement.
‘But not a rebel against the state, he is a rebel against injustice, against oppression, against arrogance.’
There was complete silence. Bewildered, people looked at each other.
Miss Joshi continued, ‘Mr Apte has collected arms secretly and murdered . . .’
Mr Johri clapped again and there was another round of applause.
‘But murdered whom or what? Grief, poverty, the people’s pain, blind faith and his own personal aspirations; this is what he has murdered,’ Miss Joshi said.
There was silence once again while all the guests exchanged uncomprehending looks as if wondering whether to believe their ears or not.
Miss Joshi went on, ‘Mr Apte has secretly looted and plundered, and continues to do so . . .’
This time no one clapped; everyone waited with bated breath to hear what Miss Joshi had to say next.
‘In fact he has robbed me too, he has taken away all that was mine, to the extent that I am now without home and shelter and have no option but to seek solace at his feet. My lord and master! Let this wretched woman be with you, save me from sinking in this sea of depravity. I know you won’t disappoint me.’
With these words, walking up to Apte, she fell at his feet. The entire gathering watched incredulously.7
A week had now passed and Apte was in police custody. A case was being made against him and the entire province was in a state of turmoil. Huge rallies were held in the city every day and the police regularly rounded up a few demonstrators. The newspapers were engaged in hot debates over the issue.
It was nine o’clock at night. Sitting at his table at the Raj Bhavan Mr Johri was contemplating ways to get Miss Joshi back. Since that day he had been consumed by jealousy and despite his best efforts he couldn’t stop thinking of Miss Joshi.
He couldn’t believe that she had let him down like this. ‘What haven’t I done for her? Is there anything that she wished for that I didn’t get for her . . . and she has been unfaithful to me? No, no I can’t live without her. I don’t care what the world says, I may have to give up this post or I may have blood on my hands but I’m not going to spare Apte. I’m going to get rid of this man . . . I’m going to throw him out of my life.’
Suddenly, the door opened, and Miss Joshi entered. Taken aback, Mr Johri got up from his chair and, assuming that Miss Joshi had returned to him disillusioned with her new life already, he said in a dry, condescending tone, ‘Come, darling, I’ve been missing you. No matter what you may do, I can never forget you.’
‘You just say these things,’ Miss Joshi said.
‘You want me to tear my heart apart and show you?’
‘Love never lies, nor does love ever instigate. Right now you are baying for my blood but instead are telling me that you miss me. You have put my saviour behind bars, and you call this love? What do you want from me? If you think that these hardships will tire me out and I shall return to you, you are mistaken. You have every right to throw Apte in a prison, or hang him but none of these things will affect me. He is everything to me. It is his magnanimity that has saved me. And you, you defiled my very soul. Did it ever cross your mind what I may be going through? You simply assumed I had no soul. But this man, this superior human being has made me his simply on the strength of his purity and honesty. In our first meeting I became his and shall remain his till my dying day. You cannot change that. I needed to have true faith and I have found it. And now all the riches of this world have no meaning for me. I may die craving for him but I shall never return to you.’
‘Miss Joshi, love is not magnanimous, nor is it forgiving. For me you are everything, and I thought you were mine. But if you can’t be mine then what do I care where or how you are?’
‘Is that your final decision?’
‘What if I say yes?’
Miss Joshi drew out a pistol and said, ‘In that case first it shall be your body lying on the floor and then mine. Tell me, is that your final decision?’
Miss Joshi was now pointing the pistol at Mr Johri. He got up from the chair and smiled. ‘Would you ever have done this to me? Perhaps not. Now I’m convinced that you can’t ever be mine. Go, you are welcome to be with your Apte. All charges against him shall be dropped. Only pure love can
