The Complete Short Stories

is desirous of yearly increments, which this place can’t afford.’ He made several inspections of the school and prepared a bad report. It was a sad state of affairs, be it the administrative aspect or the academic. When some members proposed advancements for Anandi in the annual meeting of the management, Gopinath opposed it tooth and nail. Meanwhile, Anandi too had started making noises about Gopinath. She would refer to him as a stone idol that lacked human touch. It was impossible to please him. ‘I’m glad he never married, the poor woman would have been sacrificed at the altar of his finicky ways. To what extent can one show perfection in neatness and the general management of things? He gets annoyed and frowns at me for the slightest patch on the wall, a hint of cobwebs on a window or even a scrap of paper found lying in the veranda. I’ve put up with him for two years but Lala Sahib’s intolerance is increasing by the day! At this rate, I won’t be able to survive here much longer. I receive summons from different quarters every other day. I can quit whenever I want. Its only that I’ve become attached to such people as you all, and I care for the girls here, so I don’t feel like leaving this place.’ What was surprising was that no one else found any trace of careless management or bad teaching in the place. Rather, things were decidedly better now.

He happened to meet Tribhuvan Nath one day. Tribhuvan Nath asked, ‘How are things at the school these days?’

‘Don’t ask. The situation is deteriorating day by day.’

‘Anandi Bai has become negligent.’

‘Yes, absolutely. She’s not interested in work any longer and spends most of the time reading books on religion and yoga. When I point it out to her, she retorts, “I can’t do any more than this. One should worry about the hereafter and not hanker after daily bread and butter all the time. Five hours are enough to spend on one’s livelihood. Not any more than that. I used to devote up to twelve hours earlier. But I can’t maintain that kind of schedule forever; I even ruined my health. I had fallen seriously ill once. Did the management ever bother about my treatment? No one ever looked me up. Why then, should I slog away?” I believe she also talks ill of me to other women.’

Tribhuvan Nath replied, smiling knowingly, ‘These are the miracles of spirituality. I had foreseen this earlier.’

Two years passed. It was night-time. In a room on the upper storey of the girls’ school, Gopinath sat on the chair facing a table. On an easy chair close by reclined Anandi, her face wan and pale. After a long silence, Gopinath said, ‘I had told you so in the first month itself. You should go to Mathura.’

Anandi responded, ‘Where did I have that kind of money? Neither could you arrange for it. As a result, I thought of staying on for a few more months and putting together some money in the process. We were also expecting some money for your book. I would have left for Mathura but who would have known that I would fall ill just at this time. I had recovered slightly for a week but could not leave then. Right now, it’s almost impossible for me to travel in this condition.’

‘What I’m worried about is that your illness will extend too long. I’m afraid that if you were to stay even a couple of months longer, it will be like spilling the beans.’

Anandi was annoyed. ‘I’m afraid, I’m afraid. How long can one continue to live in fear?’

‘I too wouldn’t have cared had many of the movements in the city not stood to lose because of my bad name. This is why I care for a good reputation. I regard these shackles of society to be utterly nonsensical and irrelevant. You are well aware of my opinion on these matters. But I’m helpless. Unfortunately, I have burdened myself with the task of serving the community. The result of this is that I have to flout my own principles, and there is no way out except removing that which is dearer to me than life in this manner, in order to protect it.’

Instead of improving, Anandi’s health kept deteriorating day by day. She became so weak that she could hardly move about. She couldn’t possibly have seen a doctor or vaid for fear of giving away her closely guarded secret. Gopinath would get medicines, which Anandi would take in the privacy of her room. Having grown weaker and weaker, she had resigned from the school and gone into seclusion. Time and again she would resolve, ‘I’ll go away to Mathura. But how will I live in an unknown city without any friend or accomplice?’ There was virtually no one there to offer her even a cup of water. Another two months passed in this confusion and dilemma. Anandi finally took the decision that she would leave come what may. We tend to find succour in the postponement of painful decisions. She now thought, ‘There’s no harm even if I were to die on the way. His name will remain untarnished. I will escape ignominy. He will be spared taint and disrepute on my account. No one would jeer at him.’ She began her preparations. Had she made them about two months earlier, she might have succeeded in her plans. Now it was only a case of saving a lost battle.

She intended to leave at night. The tonga driver had been instructed to come on time. Suddenly, Anandi went into labour in the evening and, by eleven o’clock at night, a tiny, young and helpless being came into existence. The moment the newborn’s cry reached his ears, Gopinath hurried down and fled home in panic. The poor Anandi hid the secret in her bosom till her last breath and did not let anyone know of the