Sita Chattopadhyay

“ The maid went out and with her went our maid too. They went and sat in the kitchen, and began to gossip. Again Surama spoke. So bitter and wild was her voice that I started up in fear. "Take off your veil," she cried to the bride, "and let me see how beautiful you are. What gave you the right of entry into this house? Are you more beautiful than I? He abandoned me in scorn, and let me burn in hell-fire all my life, but you he carried home to love and worship. Why? In what respect are you my superior? Have you much money, have you got diamonds and pearls? ”

“ But I could not avoid Molly to the end. She captured me one day, suddenly in the midst of the road. She flung herself upon me like a mad creature and sobbed out: "You are bad, you are wicked. Why did you take her old letter, if you did not intend to give her a new one? I told her she would get her letter and she did not get it."
"Don't be in such a hurry, your sister is going to have her letter very soon now." Some how I got rid of her, and hurried off. I sat down in a field and thought and thought. Nirjharinee's eyes looked as if they were wells of laughter in her better days. ”

“ If the girl was not married now, the family would become outcast for ever.
For a moment I did indeed think of offering myself. Perhaps so I might have expiated my sins. But my feet refused to advance. On the pretext of saving the girl, was I to make her life a curse and a burden to her? What had I to offer? And yet it was terrible to listen to the heart-rending wails of grief.
Suddenly a slim and dark youth stepped forward and stood before the bride's father. "Do not trouble yourself, sir," he said, "if you agree, I am ready to marry your daughter." ”

“ Mother came near and said, "Vidyut, this is my aunt, bow down to her." I did as I was bid; the old lady blessed me fervently, then turning to my mother, asked her, "The bride is truly called Vidyut, my dear, but how is the bridegroom? I hope they will be a well-matched pair?" I laughed in my heart. How should that old lady know how supremely handsome the bridegroom was?
My mother answered, "What does outward beauty matter, dear aunt? My son-in-law Prasanna is not much to look at, but I tell you my daughter is lucky to get such a husband." ”

“ To you it would be surprising that an ordinary Bengalee youth can possess such beauty. But remember that it was the first time that I looked at a man with the eyes of a woman. The rosy colour of the maiden's own heart lends the man a beauty which no man ever really possessed. So far I had been the petted and spoilt child of a wealthy house, and the men I had looked upon were but my brothers, uncles and other relations, But now had come the first Young Unknown, and as I gazed at him my childhood seemed to drop from me and was lost for ever. ”

“ The beautiful creature, who stood by the window and looked as regal as the veritable queen of heaven, was none other than Surama. Though I had last seen her in her father's cottage and now she stood in a great mansion, though her body seemed to glitter with diamonds and rubies and the former soft expression had given place to the hardness of a statue of marble, yet I could not mistake her. Though her flashing eyes were no longer like pools of tenderness and innocence, yet I knew her still. ”

“ My sister-in-law sat down upon a rustic bench which stood close by and said, "Kamalini was right, after all. We should have gone back with her. My feet are aching all over and I am very tired. But look there, sister, what glorious lotuses! Of all flowers I think they are the most beautiful."
I had run into the habit of expressing an opinion upon every earthly subject, so I at once put in, "Whatever you may say, sister, I think jasmine the most beautiful. The lotus is, of course, superior in outward beauty; but as to sweetness of smell it must give way to jasmine." ”

“ Sometimes I held up my beautiful arms, white as alabaster and rounded as the stalk of a lotus, to the golden morning light and gazed at them with eyes of wonder.
From my very childhood I refused to put on any colours except red or dark blue—I was quite aware of the fact that these two colours enhanced the beauty of my fine complexion. My grandfather was alive then. He used to be greatly amused at my pride and say, "My dear, it will be a hard job to find out a suitable bridegroom for you, great beauty that you are. ”

“ What a little pest! I said, "Molly, I don't know how to write your sister's name. And aren't you going home today? It is already getting dark and your mother will scold you if you stay out any longer."
The night had been unbearably cold and towards the morning I was clutching the blankets tightly about me and trying to make up for lost sleep, when all of a sudden I felt a small cold hand brush against my neck, and Molly's voice whispered, "Look here Uncle, here is a letter with my sister's name on it. Now please write her name on another letter and give it to me." ”

“ The smile vanished from my uncle's face. "So you think to play your trickery off on us?" he shouted. "You are not content with securing such a bridegroom without paying a single pice in cash, but you must present him with a bride who has not an ounce of gold about her. Where is the watch and chain for the bridegroom? If you wish her well, produce the gifts and ornaments at once, or we shall take the bridegroom away."
The girl's father clasped my father's hands in his own and cried out piteously, "Save me sir, be kind, do not ruin a poor Brahmin, for I was told that this would be enough." ”

“ Ranu cried out aloud in her delight, "Oh, what a a beauty! Rangadi, I have never seen the like of you! What do you mean by neglecting such a fine thing? It is a mercy that the worms have spared it. I see only two or three small holes. But it is still quite wearable. But how is it that the box smells so beautifully of camphor?"
"Your aunt Kalyani used keep chains of camphor beads in it." ”

“ But I was at a loss to understand what connection there could possibly be between my gay young friend Animesh and this village girl Nirjharinee, dying slowly of an incurable disease. "Where did you get this, Molly?" I asked.
"How silly you are, uncle; don't I know that sister keeps her letters under her pillow? She takes them out every day, reads them and weeps. She has no new letter. Father gets new letters every day, my brother gets them, mother, too, gets them. Even I had one yesterday. But nobody writes to sister. ”

“ My knowledge amounted to this alone, that his name was Manindra, and this much too I had to wrest from Kamalini at the expense of a whole day's teasing.
One evening I was seated before the window of my room and a single star was shining above the large neem tree which stood in front. Suddenly my sister-in-law rushed laughing into the room and cried out, "I have brought a piece of great good news. What are you going to give me as a reward? You need not remain staring at the skies any longer, a time is coming when the earth will have sufficient attraction for you." ”

“ We feel, as in the case of Toru Dutt, what force is in these Bengali ladies. Feel, too, as we do not feel with Toru Dutt, that they are exceedingly stirred against things close to their daily lives. Effective criticism of a society comes best from those who are members of it. Indian society has been portrayed in the writings of Bankim Chatterjee, of Rabindranath Tagore, of Sarat Chatterjee, and many others. But it is an immense gain to any nation that its society should be seen through the eyes of its own intellectual countrywomen ”

“ The laughter and light all around had been only increasing the burning pain in my heart; the sad face of the girl somewhat comforted me. The tears now came; I wept and wept, and could not restrain myself at all.
Kalyani put her arms about me and began to comfort me. "Don't cry, dear," she said; "the pangs of separation from one's parents are keen indeed, but you will get accustomed to it. Women have to suffer far harder things. I too thought once that I shall not be able to rise up from the earth any more, but, see, I am going about now like everybody else." ”

“ Just because my eyes are red, my hair ruffled and I run like one mad after her bedstead, you take me for her husband? You have not learnt yet that love has no right, can claim nothing at all, in this world. What is love compared to wealth and birth? Nothing, less than nothing. She is a queen and I am a poor schoolmaster. ”

“ An aunt of mine was talking to my mother. Suddenly she asked, "But, sister have they seen the bride?" My mother laughed and said, "No sister, we won't have to show the bride formally. The bridegroom himself has seen her and chosen her while he was here as a guest in the wedding party of Bimal." Need I tell you any more why my mind was free from any doubts?
A silk merchant came to our house to take orders for my wedding dress. My mother called all my sisters-in-law to talk over things with, "We are old-fashioned folks, our tastes might not suit young people." ”

“ A guava, pear or anything serves as an excuse, because they understand naturally that the desire is the really important thing and the excuse is nothing but an excuse. It is a more difficult world for the grownups. If we went near one another or talked to one another on the simple plea that we wanted to go or talk we should be set down as fools by the wise ones of the world. They have learnt that the mere wish is nothing, and the lamest of excuses is of greater importance.
But for all that, the two families did come to know each other, though not so soon and not so simply as Raju and Molly. ”

“ The beautiful handwriting of my friend seemed to prick my eyes. And the language and the sentiments were no better. It was a wonder that anyone could weep for want of it. But perhaps Nirjharinee had the same reasons for liking Animesh that I had. Human beings cannot live without loving someone, and the Creator has not created too many lovable people. So the sight of love being wasted on mere lumps of clay is common enough.
The letter had much of love in it. Marriage too was mentioned, but something else I found which probably had escaped the notice of Nirjharinee. ”

“ Some cunning workman had copied nature very faithfully in gold. My husband answered back laughingly, but I did not hear what he said. I looked up once more. He too spoke his farewell in a long look, then disappeared in the rapidly thinning crowd. The traveller who had first stepped into my young life in the rosy blushing dawn now went out of it for ever in the red glare of festive lamps and through a noisy festal crowd. ”

“ Soon afterwards my father died. For a time our family remained in their village house and somehow or other I managed to maintain them: working day and night. But it was too much for my own unaided efforts and I had moreover to provide for the education of my brothers. So the country-house was shut up. Mother and the younger children came to Calcutta to live with me. The poor relations found other places of refuge, as we could no longer keep them with us.
Our village home was old, no doubt, but it was a large one, and had no lack of air and light. ”

“ After enjoying my morning tea I was on the point of starting for a walk, when my mother said: "Do take Raju with you. The maid-servant has gone away early today on the usual excuse of a niece's marriage. The child will either roam about in the sun or break his limbs falling from a tree. I have grown too old to be able to look after such a boy."
I went in search of Raju. And after going over the whole house and garden, I found him perched on the branch of a guava tree. I captured him and started for my walk. ”

“ After two or three hours mother returned with Raju. And it was inevitable that with Raju should come Molly in her little coloured Sari. The gloom of her sorrow-stricken home was too much for her child's heart and she naturally took every opportunity to escape from it.
In the afternoon I sat thinking in my room. I did not know what to do. First I thought of writing a strong letter to Animesh, giving my candid opinion of him. As he wrote books about the re-marriage of Hindu widows in simple language, he should have the courage to marry one. ”

“ I understood that the old gentleman had no objection to give the girl-widow in marriage again, but he did not want to lose thereby either money or his social prestige. So the love of Animesh was visibly on the wane, and tears flowed unchecked from Nirjharinee's eyes.
I put the letter in my pocket, and went to have my morning tea. After I had finished, my mother said: "I want you to take me to Nitya Babu's house? I hear that the sick girl is worse, and I must go and see her once."
I went with mother. I could not find Raju and took it for granted that he had preceded me to Molly's house. ”

“ It is my present to you. I have got nothing else. That one was given to me by my husband. Will you keep your wedding dress in it? It will then remain apart from your other things."
I assented. Kalyani put the dress there and went out. After a few minutes she re-entered with a few chains of camphor beads in her hand. These she arranged about the rich crimson silk. Suddenly I got up and, snatching that garland of jasmines from my neck, flung it into the box.
"Why do you put it there?" asked Kalyani in astonishment. "It should go into the jewel box; you will have to take it out frequently." ”

“ The first part of my youth was spent in the damp rooms of a three-storied house, which stood in a narrow lane. Some of my fellow-boarders had the power of money behind them. They would and did take their pleasures in pleasant places, but those who came like me from poor homes, could afford to have very few recreations except speaking in disparaging terms about their more fortunate companions and expressing their valuable opinion about every earthly thing. It is easy for the rich to forget their village homes when once they taste the pleasures of the capital. ”