by Premchand
After Shyamkishore left, Devi took her bundle and went downstairs with light steps. She stood near the door for a while to confirm that Shyamkishore had left. When she was sure he had left, she quietly opened the door and walked out. She wasn’t angry or sad. She was only eager to run away from this place. She had no one she could trust or who could be of any help to her at this time of adversity. There was only the sweeper Munnu. All her hopes were now pinned on finding him. She would only be able to decide when she met him. Now she wasn’t keen on going home. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to get rid of Shyamkishore if she were to go there. On not finding her here, he would definitely go to her house and bring her back forcefully. She was willing to bear every torture and insult, but did not want to see Shyamkishore again. Love, when spurned, turns into hatred.
There was a crossroads in the vicinity where many tongas were waiting. Devi hired one of them and asked the driver to go to the station.
Devi spent the night at the station. Early in the morning, she hired a tonga and reached the crossroads incognito. The shops had not opened yet, but she inquired about Raza Miyan’s address. A boy was sweeping the floor of his shop. Devi called him and said, ‘Go and tell Raza Miyan that Sharda’s mother has come to see him. Ask him to come right away.’
Raza and Munnu arrived within ten minutes.
Devi spoke with tearful eyes, ‘After you both went away, I had to leave my house. Your visit to my place last night has wreaked havoc in my life. I’ll tell you later what has happened. Please arrange for a house for me. It should be such that Babu Sahib cannot find it. Else he won’t leave me alive.’
Raza looked at Munnu as if to let him know how good their plan was. He said to Devi, ‘Don’t you worry at all, I’ll find you a house which even Babu Sahib’s father will not be able to find! You need not bother. We will shed our blood for your sweat. To tell you the truth, Madam, Babu Sahib never really deserved you.’
Munnu echoed the words of his partner-in-crime, ‘You said it, brother. You are fit to be a queen. I used to tell you, Madam, that Babuji has a habit of going to Dalmandi, but you never believed me. I saw him stepping out of Gulabjaan’s terrace last night. He was heavily drunk.’
Devi hissed, ‘That’s a lie! He has no such habit. He has a bad temper and loses his senses in a fury but he is not a bad person.’
Munnu tried coaxing her, ‘Madam, why don’t you believe me? All right, if I show you someday, then will you believe me?’
Raza interrupted him quickly, ‘Show her later, right now you take her to my place. Take her upstairs. I’ll go and arrange for a house in the meantime. It’s going to be perfect for you.’
Devi asked, ‘There must be a lot of women in your house?’
Raza replied courteously, ‘There is nobody, Madam, except an old aunt. She will arrange for a water-bearer for you. I’ll go and look for a house.’
Devi pleaded, ‘Take a look at my place too, see if Babu Sahib is back home.’
Raza said, ‘I am annoyed with Babu Sahib now. I might just pick up a fight with him if I see him. A man who cannot respect a beauty like you is not a man.’
Munnu agreed, ‘You’re absolutely right, brother. I don’t understand how he can rebuke an innocent woman like her! I’ve been serving Madam for years, but she has never raised her voice at me.’
Raza left in search of a house and the tonga proceeded towards Raza’s house.
Suddenly, Devi started harbouring doubts. Are these two truly rogues? But how to find out? It was true that Devi had abandoned her husband for a better life, but in that short span of time she had begun to regret this decision! How would she live alone in a house? What would she do alone? She wasn’t able to really make up her mind. She felt in her heart, Why not go back home? God willing, he may not have come back yet. She said to Munnu, ‘You run along and see if Babuji has returned.’
‘You go and rest, I’ll go and find out,’ encouraged Munnu.
Devi stood stiff, ‘I will not go inside.’
‘I swear to God, the whole house is empty. You doubt us! We are one of those who, at your command, can jump into fire,’ Munnu cajoled her.
Devi alighted from the tonga and went inside. The bird, now caught, flapped its wings, but could not gain its flight because its feet were stuck with birdlime, and the huntsman kept it in his bag. Will that helpless creature ever be able to fly again? Will she able to sit and chirp on the branches again?
When Shyamkishore returned home in the morning, his state of mind was peaceful. He was doubtful whether Devi would be at home. When he saw the door ajar, his heart stopped beating for a second. Open doors in the morning were not a good sign. He stood at the door for a moment and looked inside. He couldn’t hear a sound. He went to the courtyard; it had been left abandoned. Upstairs too, all was silent! The sight of an empty house was gnawing at him! Shyamkishore now started looking around a bit cautiously. There was no money in the trunk. The jewellery box was also empty. No doubt was left in his mind. When someone goes to take a dip in the holy Ganga, they don’t take all the money with them. She had left for good. Now there was no doubt whatsoever. He also knew where she had gone. Perhaps she could be brought back this instant, but what would the world say? Shyamkishore sat down on the bed and started pondering over the matter calmly. He was sure that it was Raza and Munnu who had instigated her. After all, what else could Babuji have done? He left the old house, and constantly tried to explain things to Devi. What else could he have done? Was it wrong to have hit her? Even if it were to be deemed wrong for a second, was it right of Devi to have left the house in this manner? Had there been another woman who didn’t have venom injected in her heart already, would she have left the house after being hit by her husband? Certainly, Devi’s heart was blemished now.
Babu Sahib thought again, The maid will come any minute. If she doesn’t find her in the house, what will she think? The news will spread like fire in the colony. Oh God, what do I do?
There was no regret or kindness in Shyamkishore’s heart at the moment. If he could find Devi somehow, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her on the spot. Her decision to leave the house, even if in a state of frenzy, was unforgivable in his eyes. Anger can often lead to insensitivity. He began to hate the world. When one’s own wife can cheat, then what is to be expected from others? The woman for whom he would live and die, for whom he was ready to compromise all at any minute—when she could not be his, then what could one expect from others? What had he not done to keep this woman happy? He had fought with his own family, severed ties with his brothers, so much so that they didn’t even want to see his face any more. There was not a single wish of hers which he did not fulfil. Whenever she had even a minor headache, he would get worried. He used to look after her throughout the night. The same woman had betrayed him today, that too after believing that rogue. She had sullied his face. But accusing that rogue was like consoling his own heart. How can someone be easily influenced if the heart is pure and clear? He thought, If this woman has betrayed me, then there is no such thing as love and trust in this world. These emotions are merely a figment of the imagination of a few emotional creatures. Apart from sadness and hopelessness, there is nothing to imbibe from this world. All right, you wicked woman. You’re a free spirit from now on; you can do what you want. Now there is no one to hold your hand. You have done this cruel injustice to the person whom you always called your ‘beloved’, you have been so insincere to him! I can drag you to court to get you punished, but then what’s the use! God himself will punish you for your deeds.
Shyamkishore went down the stairs quietly. He didn’t say anything to anyone nor did he hear from anybody. Leaving the door unlatched, he walked towards the banks of the Ganga.
Translated from the Hindi by Shirin Bismillah
Godavari’s Suicide
1
Pandit Devdutt had been married a long time but had no children. As long as his parents were alive, they continued to pester him to remarry but he
didn’t agree. He loved his wife, Godavari, deeply. He did not want to put an end to his marital bliss in the quest for progeny. Moreover, he was an enlightened man with a clear sense of responsibility towards children. He believed that a man should only marry as long as he was competent enough to bring up his children and educate them well. Earlier, when he saw children laughing and playing, he felt a stab in his heart. But now, like many of his compatriots, he suffered from various physical ailments. The thought of children now frightened him.
However, Godavari was not one to give up so easily. To begin with, she relied on gods and deities, charms and amulets, chants and incantations. But when she saw that none of these were proving fruitful, she planned to get her husband, Panditji, married again. She spent weeks and months thinking over this. She tried to drive the thought away from her mind but it had taken a firm hold on her and refused to go away. She knew that it required a great sacrifice on her part. She might even lose her husband’s love. She wondered if it were ever possible. Couldn’t the tree of love she had tended for fifteen long years withstand the buffet of a storm? Eventually Godavari submitted to her fervent longing for a child and got ready to welcome a saut, a co-wife, in her life.
2
Pandit Devdutt broke into laughter when he heard Godavari’s proposal. He surmised that she was either testing his love or wanting to gauge his true feelings. He dismissed the suggestion out of hand. But Godavari was dead serious about her plan. ‘Don’t treat this lightly. I’m telling you the truth. To have a child in the house, I’m ready to put up with the ignominy of living with your second wife.’ Her eyes filled with tears as she said this. Devdutt realized that Godavari was indeed serious about her plan. He hugged Godavari warmly for this demonstration of her selflessness but said, ‘I can’t do this. I have no desire for any offspring.’
‘You may not, but I do. You must do it for me, if not for yourself,’ Godavari persisted.
Panditji was a simple man. He did not quite agree to the proposal, but was persuaded to acquiesce to it. That was enough for Godavari. Panditji had to take no initiative, Godavari’s efforts made things easy for him. She not only used her own money for the wedding expenses, but gave away her clothes and jewellery to the saut as well. What Panditji feared the most was public ridicule. He wondered with trepidation what people would say when they saw him bereft of his moustache and wearing the bridegroom’s crown. ‘The colleagues in my office will make fun of me, smiling meaningfully at each other. Their piercing gaze will be sharper than knives. Where will I hide my face then?’
Godavari went to her village, set herself the task of implementing her plan and brought it to a satisfactory end. The new bride came home. Godavari was happy as though she had brought home a bride for her son. She joined in the dancing and singing. Little did she know that very soon her singing would turn to lamentations.
3
Several months passed. Godavari ordered her saut about like a mother-in-law, even though she didn’t forget for a moment that she wasn’t. On the other hand, Gomti was fully conscious of her status in the household. Even though Godavari was not as domineering as a real mother-in-law might have been, Gomti resented the way Godavari threw her weight around. She felt embarrassed when she had to beg Godavari for every little necessity of daily life.
After some days, a distinct change was seen in Godavari’s demeanour. She began to keep a close watch on Panditji’s movements when he went out or returned. Her normal calmness disappeared and she began to find fault with every little thing. As soon as Panditji returned home from office, Godavari perched herself beside him and began a long litany of complaints against Gomti. By the time she finished her litany, Panditji felt as if a great weight had been laid on his chest. It was difficult to understand why Godavari had become so communicative. Probably, she felt insecure about Gomti, about her beauty and her bashful eyes. Having broken the dam, she was attempting to stop the deluge of water with a few clods of earth.
One day, Godavari asked Gomti to prepare sweet rice that needed milk, rice and sugar. Perhaps it was the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Gomti replied, ‘There’s no sugar in the house.’
Godavari was stunned to hear this. ‘How could so much sugar disappear so soon? Only the person who breaks his back to earn money knows how it is. How could those who only sit at home and consume know?’
When Panditji returned home from work, this little incident reached his ears in an exaggerated version of domestic indiscretion. For a while, Panditji wondered if Gomti suffered from some kind of chronic hunger.
A similar incident occurred a few days later. Panditji suffered from piles. He did not eat red chillies. Earlier, when Godavari cooked, she took special care of this fact. One day, Gomti added a pinch of red chilli to the spices in the lentils. Panditji ate very little of it. But Godavari made Gomti’s life miserable for this. ‘Such a tongue should be burnt!’ she said viciously.
4
Panditji was a simple man. He returned home from office, ate his meal and then went to sleep. He subscribed to a weekly paper. It would often remain unread for months. He went to great lengths to avoid doing anything that required the slightest exertion or discomfort. Sometimes he received passes for the theatre from his office but he never used them. Others borrowed his passes and went instead. Probably Panditji had never gone to a Ramlila performance in his entire office life. Godavari had understood his nature very well. Panditji also found it convenient to abide by Godavari’s advice in every matter.
But even soft cotton, constantly pressed, turns hard. Panditji found this constant nagging intolerable and felt annoyed. His will power, which had remained dormant all these years, began to surface slowly.
He acknowledged that Godavari had made a great sacrifice by bringing home Gomti. It could even be called beyond human proclivities. But he thought, if she had done any favour, it was to him. ‘It’s no favour to Gomti. Why should she be treated with such insensitivity? What great happiness did Gomti find here that she should put up with such rudeness? She had a husband who was an old man and chronically ill. She had a home, but there was no guarantee for meals if the master lost his job.’ In these circumstances, Godavari’s oppressive behaviour seemed highly disagreeable to Panditji.
Godavari had enough prescience to understand Devdutt’s feelings. She could clearly gauge what was going through his mind by looking at his face. If this made her jealous of Gomti, it also made her resentful of Pandit Devdutt’s selfishness, disloyalty and betrayal. As a result, the bitterness kept rising.
5
Gradually, Godavari stopped talking about Gomti with Panditji. It was almost as if Gomti did not exist in the house. She did not care whether Gomti had eaten or not, whether she needed new clothes or any other things. Once, for several days, Gomti was not given any snacks at teatime. Panditji noticed this meanness but, because he was laid-back by nature and did not want to create disturbance in his peaceful existence, he chose to remain silent. However, this last act of cruelty was too much even for him to bear. One day, he asked Godavari with some trepidation, ‘Don’t you buy sweetmeats for tea any more?’
Godavari was incensed. ‘If you don’t bring them, from where will they come? Do I have a servant here to run errands for me?’
Godavari’s words pierced Devdutt’s heart like an arrow. She had never spoken to him like this before.
‘Speak softly. I haven’t said anything to get so flustered.’
Godavari lowered her gaze and replied, ‘I speak in the way that I’m accustomed to. I can’t speak glibly like some other people.’
Devdutt’s anger flared. ‘I just don’t understand your moods these days. You start squabbling over every little thing.’
Godavari’s face turned red with anger. She had been sitting all this while, now she stood up. Her lips quivered. ‘Now you won’t like anything about me. I’m full of blemishes from head to toe. There are others now who can carry out your wishes. I can’t do it any more. Here, take the keys to your tin t
runk. You must take care of your money and wealth yourself. Enough of these daily squabbles. I’ve put up with it this far but can’t do it any more.’
Pandit Devdutt got a rude shock. The pettiness of domestic squabbles, which he always feared, now entered his house in a dreadful form. He did not say anything as it would only have made matters worse. He went out wondering whether he had wronged Godavari in any way that she was behaving so strangely. He had no idea how the house would be managed if Godavari refused to run it. She had always managed to run it on such a meagre income. ‘Now only God can help us. She must be placated, there’s simply no other option. After all, what can Gomti do? The responsibility will fall on me. Godavari might come around, but it’s not going to be easy.’
Panditji’s hopes proved futile. For three days, the keys lay right there in the courtyard like a poisonous cobra. Nobody dared go anywhere near them. On the fourth day, Panditji mustered up the courage to pick it up. At that moment he felt as though someone had placed a mountain on his head. Indolent people find it very difficult to shift even an inch from their appointed path.
Although Panditji knew well that he would not be able to run the house due to work in his office, he did not have the audacity to hand the keys over to Gomti. But this was a mere pretence. Gomti had to do all the chores even though the keys stayed with him. Thus, the responsibility of running the household was finally out of Godavari’s hands. Along with the keys, the status of the mistress of the house also slipped away from her. Within no time, the change in the attitudes of the maid and the neighbourhood women towards her became apparent. Godavari was now the dethroned queen. Now she only evoked people’s sympathy, nothing more.
