A man started writing the names of the passengers as soon as they disembarked from the ship. He was dressed as an Englishman, but from his speech, he appeared to be an Indian. Gaura, head bowed low, was behind her companion. She was startled to hear the man’s voice. She glanced at him furtively. A tingling sensation swept through her entire body. ‘Am I dreaming?’ She didn’t believe her eyes; she looked at him again. Her heart started pounding fast. Her legs started shaking violently. It seemed as if she was totally surrounded by water and she was being swept away. She had to hold on to her companion’s hand, otherwise she would have fallen. The man standing in front of her was the very basis of her life and she hadn’t had the faintest hope of meeting him in this life. He was Mangru; there was no doubt about that. Yes, his face had changed. The youthful glow of his smiling and compassionate countenance was completely missing. His hair was peppered with grey, cheeks sunken and she could glimpse lust and harshness in his red eyes. But he was Mangru. Gaura felt a strong desire to cling to the feet of her lord. She wanted to scream but hesitation checked her. The old Brahmin had been right. My master had really called for me and he had come away before I arrived.
She whispered to her companion, ‘Behen, you were wrong to blame the Brahmin. The man writing the names of the passengers is my husband.’
‘Really, do you recognize him?’
‘Behen, can there be any deception in this?’
‘Then Lady Luck has smiled on you. Please don’t forget me.’
‘Is it possible that I can abandon you?’
Mangru lost his temper repeatedly and shouted abuses at the passengers time and again. He kicked many of them, and he pushed many to the ground for not being able to name the district their village belonged to. His behaviour filled Gaura with a sense of acute shame. At the same time, she also felt proud of his authority. Finally, Mangru came and stood in front of her, leered at her with lustful eyes and said, ’What is your name?’
‘Gaura.’
Mangru started, and then asked, ‘Where is your home?’
Gaura replied, ‘Madanpur, district Benares.’
As she said this, she started laughing. This time Mangru looked at her carefully, sprang forward, grabbed her hand and said, ‘Gaura, is it really you! Do you recognize me?’
Gaura broke into tears; she couldn’t utter a word.
Mangru said again, ‘How did you come here?’
Gaura wiped her tears and, looking at Mangru said, ‘You are the one who sent for me.’
‘Me! I have been here for the last seven years.’
‘Didn’t you ask that old Brahmin to bring me here?’
‘I’m telling you, I have been here for the last seven years, and I will leave this place only after my death. Why on earth would I send for you?’
Gaura hadn’t expected such harshness from Mangru. She thought, Even if it is true that he didn’t call me, he should not have insulted me like this. Does he think that he will have to feed me? He didn’t have such a mean character. His position has probably gone to his head. Raising her head with pride, she said, ‘If you want, I can go back, I don’t want to be a burden to you.’
Feeling a little ashamed, Mangru said, ‘Now you can’t go back from here, Gaura. Very few people ever return from here.’
Having said this, he stood lost in worry for some time, as if in a dilemma about what to do. The outline of his harsh face was touched with a glimpse of misery. Then he said in a distressed tone, ‘Stay here now that you have come. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.’
Gaura asked, ‘When will the ship return?’
Mangru replied, ‘You can’t go back from here for five years.’
‘Why, is there a compulsion to stay?’
‘Yes, that is the order here.’
‘In that case, I will labour and fend for myself.’
A tearful Mangru said, ‘As long as I live, you will not be parted from me.’
‘I don’t want to be a burden to you.’
‘I don’t consider you a burden, Gaura, but this place is not fit for a respectable woman like you, otherwise wouldn’t I have called you here earlier? In Patna, on my way from home, I met that same old man who lured you, and he tricked me into getting indentured here. I have been stuck here since then. Come, stay in my house, we’ll talk there. Who is this other woman?’
‘She is my friend. The old man trapped her too.’
‘She will go to one of the bungalows. All these people will be separated. They will each be sent to a bungalow, depending on how they are shared out.’
‘She wants to stay with me.’
‘All right, bring her along with you.’
The names of the passengers had already been written down. After handing them over to a peon, Mangru set off towards his home with the two women. There were rows of densely foliaged trees on both sides. Only sugarcane fields were visible, as far as the eye could see. Gusts of a cool, clean breeze were blowing from the ocean. It was an extraordinarily a beautiful scene. But Mangru was not looking at any of this. Staring at the ground, head bent, his gait was unsure, as if he was puzzling over a problem in his mind.
They had barely walked any distance when they saw two men coming from the opposite direction. As they neared, both stopped and one of them said with a laugh, ‘Mangru, one of them is mine.’
The second one said, ‘And the other one is mine.’
Mangru’s face flushed. Shaking with rage, he said, ‘Both these women belong to my family. Do you understand?’
Both the men guffawed and one of them went close to Gaura and, trying to grab
