"Let's go shopping," Ira's mother cries.

"Okay," Ira replies, wanting to speak to her mother without being monitored by her father.

---

"Mama, I don't want to get married to him."

"Beta, you have no choice."

"I want to run away. I don't want to marry him. I want to do something with my life. Please don't stop me." Ira practically begs.

"You can't run away. It would bring shame upon the whole family. And your father has been through so much to raise you. He has earned the money to feed you, give you a good home and sufficient education. The least you could do is repay him with this."

"But I don't want to get married. What use are his money and labour if I'm going away anyways?"

"Ira. Don't say that. If he thought like that, you would long be dead."

"What?"

"I've told you this before. People in society think girls are only a burden and worthless because they go away after marriage; just like you suggested. People with those thoughts don't hesitate for a single second to murder innocent girls like you."

"I'm grateful for that then. But please don't ruin it and kill me by sending me off to an utter stranger."

"He is not a stranger."

"To me he is."

"Look, Ira, let me tell you something I have never told anyone before." Ira's mother cups her daughter's chin with her calloused hands and recounts a melancholy tale...