When she asks her rapidly growing daughter about it, she simply laughs and changes the topic. In these circumstances, her doubt is gradually changing into belief because her daughter also thinks like others. Her daughter’s behaviour is not different from others.

Her daughter takes care of her; she bathes her; she dresses her, combs her hair, brings food for her but she never says that her mother is mad. She thinks that her daughter is being sympathetic towards her so she does not call her mad but her daughter knows that she is mad.
The fact that she is her mother keeps her silent.

Her young son rarely speaks to her and if she speaks much he shouts and silences her. She feels that her son behaves in this way because he believes that she is mad. But she likes it when her son chides others who call her mad. Her mother-in-law is not alive and her father-in-law passed away recently. She does not believe her second sister-in-law. She does not believe her nieces and nephews.

Her husband’s younger brother has got married recently. She believes that his wife will not treat her badly. Her brother-in-law, her husband’s younger brother, is a college student. Whenever he comes home during his holidays, she takes a very good care of him. She treats him like her own son in the absence of his own parents.

But no, after his marriage, his behaviour has changed too and he avoids her. She is convinced that everyone in the house is trying to avoid her because she is really mad. One consolation is her husband who controls her and scolds her on many occasions but he fulfills her demands. She feels that her memory is failing but when she tries hard, the past memories come in fragments to her.

Her marriage was a big issue at that time. The middleman who had arranged the marriage was related to both families. There was a long argument over the issue of dowry. The middleman was in favour of her parents. Her in-laws were angry because of that. The argument continued between two sides up to the very last moment, when the bride was about to leave her parents’ house and go to her in-laws’ house with her husband.

Peope talked about her beauty in her in-laws’ house because she was not as beautiful as had been described by the middleman. Her father had lied to her in-laws that she had passed her High School but it was not so, she had passed on VIIIth standard. At that time, she was unable to understand why her father had lied. She had to face many situations in which she had to be ashamed for the mistakes which were others’.

Her mother-in-law had shown her resentment because she was not satisfied with the dowry she had brought with her.  When her mother-in-law complained, she did not mind it, but when neighbours and outsiders said something against her parents, she got furious.

After the death of her mother-in-law and father-in-law, the other elder members of the house had their turn. They tortured her in every possible way and they started calling her insane.

Now, when she talks sensibly, they say that even a mad woman can talk sensibly and ridicule her.

With the passage of time, she came to know that people liked her husband for his virtues. He talked very politely with everyone and he was a very friendly person.

She feels that she is really mad because she keeps laughing for a long time even when others have stopped laughing. She is ever ready to quarrel with anyone over trivial issues. She can’t control herself.

She does not know what she should do because if she tries to be neat and clean, people draw their other conclusions. Every action of hers falls under their scrutinizing eye that reinforces their belief that she is mad.

She feels that some external force is driving her and she wants to find that controller. She wants to know about it. She wants to ask why people call her mad.

Before marriage, people admired her beauty, her grace, her gait, her manner, and almost every other virtue, but this curse of marriage had changed everything. She would sit alone and curse the society and people. She keeps on talking to herself for hours and people had their beliefs strengthened that she is mad.

She wants to be away from that place for a year or two. And after her return, they should look at her differently. But who would take her away? No one was ready to talk to her.

Now she has understood that she has to live with this burden and she should train herself for that.