Mahashweta Read Online Free Page A

Anupama exercised enormous self-control and banished ‘Pundarika’ from her mind, concentrating on her studies instead.

    Anupama was never far from Anand’s thoughts. He did not know anything about her save that she was a gifted actress and a lovely girl. Anand had occasionally daydreamed about the woman he would marry one day, and he was certain of one thing—she would be beautiful. The shadowy figure that had been hovering on the edges of his dreams now stood unveiled. Anupama.
    His mother was a domineering woman. She was always nagging Anand to get married. But he had not given it a serious thought so far. Anand wanted a beautiful bride; his mother wanted one who could match their status in the community. Finding a girl who satisfied these conditions was proving to be rather difficult.
    But now, Anand could see his bride clearly. It was Anupama, with her fair complexion, beautiful long hair and dimpled cheeks. But he did not know what she felt about him, or to which community she belonged, or even whether she was already engaged to somebody.
    Deep in thought, he came to the terrace outside his room. The lovely parijata blooms reminded him of Anupama. He tried to recall the first time he had heard about her. It had been in Dr Desai’s house. Surely Vasumathi’s brother, Shrinath, would know about her. Feeling elated, he went to call Shrinath.
    ‘Shrinath, I want to talk to you about something.’
    ‘Oh! No problem. . .you can come to akka’s house.’
    ‘Not there. Let us meet somewhere else.’
    Shrinath agreed to wait for Anand at the Kamat Hotel. Anand had never been in such a situation before, and he began to grow more and more nervous—waiting for the university results had been less nerve-racking.
    Shrinath looked at him shrewdly and said, ‘What, doctor, you look like a patient today!
    ‘Oh, it is nothing. Why didn’t you come to see the play?’
    ‘I watched some of the rehearsals when Anupama and her friends came to akka’s house.’
    ‘Is that so?’
    ‘Yes. After all, her father is my brother-in-law’s friend.’
    ‘Where is she from?’
    ‘Oh, so that’s the reason you have invited me here for tea,’ Shrinath said shrewdly. ‘If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have settled for anything less than a dinner!’
    ‘Yes, I do want to learn more about Anupama,’ confessed Anand.
    ‘Why? Do you want to marry her?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Do you have the courage to disobey your mother and marry her?’
    Once again despair clouded his mind. Did she belong to some other community, or was she already engaged? A beautiful girl like Anupama might have been ‘spoken for’ a long time back.
    Shrinath read his mind. ‘Anand, she belongs to our community, but she is from an extremely poor background.’
    Anand was relieved. He knew that his mother was very keen on money, but as long as the girl belonged to the right community, she would come round. Shrinath, however, was more worldly-wise. He tried to point out that Radhakka might not be happy with a match that was not of the same status, but Anand said joyfully, ‘Avva will agree. My happiness is more important to her than money.’ His filial love had made him blind to his mother’ weaknesses.
    Shrinath kept quiet.

    When Anand told Radhakka that he had chosen the girl he wished to marry, she listened in silence. Radhakka was a woman of few words. She never let her emotions get the better of her. No one could ever make out what was going through her mind. Though Radhakka was in her early fifties now, traces of her beauty still remained. After all, she had not known much suffering in her life. Radhakka had sharp, piercing eyes that never held any sign of gentleness or friendliness. On the contrary, her striking looks made people nervous. They sometimes said that if she had been born in the last century, she would definitely have been a queen.
    Her late husband, Gopala Rao, had been a very successful contractor, but he had always been scared of