The frightening darkness of the moonless night was being shattered by the intermittent rain and roar of thunder. The flashes of lightning were adding to the scary ambiance. The burning body got some relief when moist draughts of wind entered through the window of the room, but the mind was constantly restless. The dry cough was adding to discomfort and he was unable to sleep. He had called Padma loudly many times but she did not respond. He resolved with a great effort and got up to drink a glass of water. In spite of incessant coughing, the coagulated mucus was not coming out. He was still not able to breathe easily through his nose, it was almost blocked. There was hammering in his head body was lethargic, making it very difficult to walk even a few steps. He kept the glass on a stool and began to walk to and fro in the room. Suddenly, the steel glass fell off the stool and made a loud ring on the cemented floor. The sound of the glass disturbed Padma and she woke up.

“What happened? What fell down? It is past midnight and you have not slept!” said Padma in a loud voice. Padma turned on her side and covered her face with the sheet.

He tried to sleep but the sound made by the rain on the roof distracted him. He got up again and sat on the edge of his bed. He has been sick for more than fifteen days. Though he is with Padma, he feels that he is alone.

He adjusted himself in the bed again in hope of succeeding and he did succeed, for about ten minutes he was asleep, not soundly. In his sleep, a face of a woman appeared. At first he could not recognize her but when her green sari fluttered in the wind, he could clearly see her face. He wanted to shriek but it seemed that the woman was overpowering him. After a long struggle, he was sound sleep.

Two years before that night he had gone back to his village. Having spent eight years in a big city, it was really impossible to feel easy in a village. He did not like the villagers in their soiled clothes. Dirt and stagnant water in the drains added to his misery. Mosquitoes were ever ready to sting you. It was not easy to talk with those uneducated villagers. It was true that he was also born in that village but that was all and he did not regret it.

He prized his life in big city higher than his parents, his sisters and brothers and his relatives. Then there was that savage woman who had been tied to him in his childhood. He had found his escape from there. He had decided not to return to his village again.

With tears in his eyes, his father had pleaded with folded hands, “My son, please don’t do this. Our house will be shattered; we will have to suffer in our old age. Your brothers and sisters are so small! Who will provide for them and who will guide them? Your action will bring disrespect to us in our village. All right, don’t give us a single penny but at least show mercy to your wife. What will she do?”

The villagers had cursed him but he knew that they were happy to see all that, for jealousy happens to be an innate virtue of the uneducated and uncivilized people and he firmly believed it that they were really happy. Though his mother had not said a word, her tears were enough to suggest the amount of affliction she was facing. His was inside the house; she was weeping too. His younger brothers and sisters were mute spectators.

His last visit to his village was with a specific purpose of breaking all relations with them.

Once back in the city, he had given firmness to his relationship with Padma. He liked that woman from the city. She was fast and modern. He liked her very much. Their love did not last long, for only after a few months, he felt drastic change in her behaviour. She got irritated too soon and she stopped answering him politely. She had found a new dialogue, “The person who can not live with his wife can never live with a girlfriend. Why should I trust you? I am not like your wife and I won’t leave you so easily. I know my rights!”

During his sickness, he reevaluated his relation with Padma. The gap was widening and she began to stay away from him. He remembered his wife in his village. His wife would never go to sleep until she was convinced that her husband was sound asleep. On the other hand, this cursed modern woman never even came near him to ask how he was feeling.

He knew that this modern woman would not leave him, for he had no parents to go to and her brother did not like her. If she had not been an orphan, she would have left him long before and gone her way. For all this, she was arrogant and sang songs whole day. 

He remembered his college days. She was so soft spoken that any young man would be ready to die for her. Her eyes had magical charm in them. Now that very voice appeared to be biting him and her eyes seemed to be the eyes of a vampire. He remembered those days when she did not like his unshaven face; she did not like beard. She would be worried to see him silent and she said, “We are made for each other and will live and die together. We will have a very different life together. I will make your life like a paradise on this earth. You will find me smiling in any circumstances.”

He was a boy from a village and he was very easily trapped by Padma. So much so that he got ready to leave his wife in his village and break all relations with his parents and family.

The images of those days flashed into his memory and he knew that it was not easy to undo all that. He had not written to his parents for three years. He had never given any money to his wife but this bitch grabs his salary every month and spends it the way she likes. He has never opened a bank account but Padma has two bank accounts.

Suddenly, he felt pain in his chest; he coughed twice and spat in front of him. Then he remembered that he was in his room. He got up and cleaned the floor immediately. He feared that Padma would wake up and scold him. Since he was not able to sleep after that, he decided to read the letters which he had received from his village. At one particular letter he paused for a while. Through that letter his father had informed him that his wife was sick and he needed some money. He remembered that he had not sent any amount. He had not even sent a reply to his father.

He began to weep and then fell asleep. His dream started again. He was running in a jungle and a shadow was chasing him. He wanted to escape but his legs were not supporting him. At one place, he fell down. He was wounded. He saw a woman’s face bending on his body. She was attending to her wounds and pressing his head with her soft hands.

In his dream, when he came to, he found that the woman was his wife, Sharda, from his village. She is talking to him, trying to encourage him.

When he woke up in the morning, the sky was almost clear. A few remaining clouds were there but there was no sign of rain. The new day gave him some strength.

He had to decide something quickly. Padma did not know where his village was and it would not be easy for her to find him. If he left Padma, he would have to leave his job and his goods in his flat. He knew that she would not give him anything.

He had some money in his pocket and he could reach his village. On the other hand, there was a feeling of guilt. What would the villagers say? He was going back to his village empty-handed, like a beggar. He was an educated person and his education could not be taken by Padma.