Suman and Vindhya were in the car. They had been asked to come to Jaipur main warehouse by evening so that they can select the sarees. When they reached Sudhir and Sreedhar were waiting for them. Once they entered the warehouse , Sudhir closed the door and ensured only 4 of them were there.

" Sreedhar cotton sarees are inside, you go with Suman there. Spend some time with each other. Don't worry about time. It will take ages for your bhabi to go through all the stock here. She will want most of the things and by the time I convice her to take only 4 or 5 it will be midnight" told Sudhir and Vindhya made faces.

" Suman atleast you enjoy. My fate is gone from the time I am tagged with him. 4 or 5 sarees. Everytime profit or loss. As if I need to come this far and see so much just to take 4 or 5"

Suman and Sreedhar laughed. " Bhaiyya all the best. Bhabi doesn't seem to be in right mood " told Sreedhar as he and Suman moved inside.

Once inside Sreedhar dragged 2 chairs across the table and they sat opposite to each other. " You read my letter " asked Suman

" Yes, but before I answer your question, I have a question for you" told Sreedhar

" Question for me, what question " asked Suman

" Why you didn't want to marry Suman and why you changed your decision and accepted my love"

Suman stared at him

They were in the terrace of her hostel " Sumi you had never told me who were the man of your dreams. What kind of a man you wanted as your husband. I have heard girls dream about their marriage. And my bhabi says even before you people get a groom you plan what dress you wear, what jewellery you wear, what will be there for the wedding feast etc..so what were your plans or what are your plans "

" I have never thought about marriage Sreedhar. Actually I had no plans of getting married.I wanted to study, get a job and go to some city in South like Bangalore or Madras with Maa"

" Really don't lie. All girls will have dreams of marriage " Sreedhar persisted

" Sreedhar is it mandatory for a girl to have dreams about marriage. I don't have believe me"

She walked in a huff and stood near the railing of the terrace. He went behind her and turned her towards him " Ok baba fine you didn't had any dream of marriage. I will not ask anything about it. Now you love me, you want to marry me . Now smile. I don't like that frown in your face" she laughed

" Sreedhar I told you that day itself I didn't had dreams of marriage and if a girl doesn't have such a dream should there be a reason" told Suman

" You know there is a reason Suman. And now I have guessed some of it. But I want to know from you. I can withstand any pain in your past Suman. But to ensure your past doesn't cloud our future I want to know that past. Story of Suman Rajput's scarred childhood "

Suman got up walked towards the window and stood there sometime holding the window bars. Then she looked at Sreedhar " I was afraid of marriage Sreedhar, I was afraid of my identity getting ripped off and I was afraid of a man's touch. I was like an unwanted furniture at home . If my father saw me he will find a reason to beat me. He called me the reason for all his failures. My mother's status in the family was that of a slave because she only had me not a son. She did all the housework, was publicly humiliated by my dadi and other badi maa's. Sometimes dadi will beat her, sometimes Papa. And if they are really angry hot tawa will be placed on her hands. Even with burnt hands and bruised body she will be made to work. My mother told me it is a woman's fate that she has to bear all this if she cannot give a son to the family.My mother also told a woman's family wants to throw her out as soon as possible and her husband's family will have value for her only if a boy is born. But to be frank even my badi maa's who had sons were not treated anything superior. They were also abused but in lesser scale

From that time I detested marriage. I always wanted to fight this fate of a woman which is tied in marriage and giving birth to a son. The books I read made me quietly work towards it by studying. I was not sure how far I will be allowed to study. But study was my only option of escaping the prison called marriage. If in childhood I saw the violence outside, in teenage I heard about the violence in the bedroom that happens between husband-wife, when my Devika didi came back home thrown out from her sasural because she had only 2 daughters and her husband remarried. You can say her coming back improved my maa's condition as she became the new slave for my bhabi's. But her condition was pathetic. She was always sick, mostly will have stomach pain and once when I asked why she has it frequently I came to know about the brutal assault a husband does to a wife in the bedroom. Everyday her husband ripped her apart even during those days when a woman has her monthly cycle. If she cried, protested she will be slapped. Most days she will be tied and then raped. But it was bearing that was said to be a wife's duty as the husband had right to use her the way he wanted. She had multiple infections due to all this. Stories of my other 2 sisters were not something different. Only thing is that they have sons so I guess they are surviving in their sasural.

If in childhood I detested marriage, in teenage I became afraid of it. Everyone told me I am not supposed to question. This is a woman's fate. A man needs her only to bear a son. If she cant do that then there is no need for her" she looked at him wiping her tears

Sreedhar got up went near her. He held the other bar of the window. " Then why did you change your opinion, why did you accept my love "

She looked at him " Because you made me feel I am an individual. I have a right to question when you listened to it and I can have comforts and discomforts when you went all the way to make me comfortable for the Jodi dance and .. " she stopped

" And.. why did you stop". Suman blushed in between tears. " Tell Sumi " he urged

" You touched me as if I am the most delicate thing on this earth" . Sreedhar covered her hands with his.

" And now in my touch you don't feel you are the most delicate thing, you feel I am not making effort to make you comfortable or my respect to you as an individual gone down"

" I didn't tell anything like that Sreedhar. I used to bloom in your touch and I still bloom in your touch. You are making every effort to keep me comfortable and no Sreedhar please don't ever think that I feel you disrespect me"

" Sumi if you don't feel any difference in the way I touch you, why you ended up having insecurities. I shared a very intimate moment with you Sumi and I talked to you about it. If I don't consider you my Sumi do you think I can walk happily after that incident. I don't even call you bhabi. I call you Sumanji. Because even for public courtesy I cannot call you that. Because I don't see you that way. You know I couldn't even fill up the hospital form with the relation the society has put on us and had asked Tilak Bhaiyya to fill it when you were attacked. My eyes see you with only one relation Sumi. The relation we both committed to each other in front of Maa Durga. And it is not an obligation Sumi. It is a commitment. If a problem had befallen you after our formal marriage wouldn't I have stood by you. Same thing I am doing now also because for me we are one and I know you feel the same way"

" Sumi shall I tell you one thing frankly. I want to hug you, I really want to hug you and hold you close to me. But I wont do it. Not because you are Suman Murali Varma to me, but you are Suman Murali Varma to this society. I do not want even a small blemish on you for satisfying a personal desire of mine. This society will point fingers only at you Sumi, and I will go scott free. I do not want to give anyone any chance for that. This distance is not for me Sumi, but for the society till they are able to see you through my eyes"

Now tears were flowing from his eyes and Suman wiped them " I love you Sreedhar. I didn't ask question to hurt you or bring pain to you. But because I want it out of my system. I do not want our relation to have any doubts hanging between us "

" No Sumi. You have the right to ask me. If it pains we will share the pain but let us not suppress our pain alone. Now you come. Look at the sarees you want "

" Sreedhar you chose. I will wear them " told Suman.

" Sumi I am very bad at choosing sarees. You choose I will support "

Soon Suman selected some 5-6 sarees. " This is enough Sreedhar"

" Just 5-6, Sumi select more. You are going to wear these everyday. Burn all those white sarees of yours. Look let me see. Why cant you take this light yellow with green border and this pale blue with rose embroidery looks good"

" Someone told he doesn't have selection " told Suman and they both laughed.

By the time Vindhya and Sudhir came inside Sreedhar had made Suman choose 20 sarees. Vindhya had some 6-7 sarees in her hand and she gasped seeing the pile

" Sudhir learn something from your brother. Look at the number of sarees Suman has got "

" Sreedhar you have decided that me and your Vindhya Bhabi will start the 3rd world war which will be for sarees.Vindhya her's is cotton sarees and you have take zari border sarees. The net cost will be same"

" Bhaiyya it has taken me lot of time to convince Suman to take these sarees. Now you come and talk about 3rd world war"

" Sreedhar I was joking. Is it done. It is getting dark. We need to go "

" Yes Bhaiyya it is done. Suman you go with Vindhya Bhabi. Me and Bhaiyya will come packing these things"

Sreedhar and Sudhir sat together to check the stock and enter in the register while Suman and Vindhya walked towards the waiting car.

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