Revenge In Love

When Navin came to the capital city of Bhubaneswar, he was a mere twenty-one-year-old village boy. He found the city repulsive and disagreeable and wondered why it was so. He had come to the city to complete his post-graduation in political science. Many things in the city later attracted him. He went to Utkal University regularly and worked hard. A professor often made fun of him as he hailed from an interior region of Odisha.

One blue-eyed girl named Monali cast a magic spell on him. Girls and boys those days didn't mix as freely as they do today. However, there was some contact amongst them. Most of them talked to each other. Navin couldn't help thinking of Monali. She was the perfect incarnation of utmost feminine charms and ethereal beauty. Just think of the wonderfully sculpted marble statues of the Greek goddesses! Navin never saw so glamorous a girl in his lifetime till now. Of course, he had never visited any other city so far. He brooded hard and long! "Can I have her forever? Will she be my sweetheart and love me genuinely?"He bothered how to broach the topic to her. In an attempt to be intimate with her, he talked to her on three or four occasions. She often gave him a passing nod or a brief smile. The first-semester exam got over. He had done well in it. Now he was impatient and anxious, particularly because an affluent businessman's son who always came to the Department in a splendid car, most of the time appeared to be talking to Monali. He was at a loss to overcome the hurdle.

A whole day passed and Navin didn't open the door of his hostel room. What was the boy doing? His friends were curious about it. The next morning, he went to the ladies' hostel and sent for Monali. She refused to come on the pretext that she was ill. The next day, Navin went to the Department. Everybody was puzzled to see Navin's flair for portrait painting. He had painted a bewitching picture of the girl he loved. All the boys and girls except Monali observed the portrait with admiration and gave their marvelous comments. Navin was heartbroken. Yet he went to her and said in a tear-choked voice, "Monali, you won't look at the portrait..?"

"Oh..!Yes.... ..sure... But I want to talk to you in private," she said with an imperceptible smile."

As agreed upon, Monali and Navin met under the huge banyan in front of the ladies' hostel. First of all, Navin presented the portrait to Monali. She took it without showing any emotions. She looked at him softly and asked: "Navin, why this portrait of mine?"

Navin was unable to express himself. Only warm tears were rushing out from his eyes.

Monali looked him hard in the face and flared up.

"So you are spreading a net to entangle me....! To destroy me completely..!Boy...Think of your father's position in society..and that of mine...!Get out from here..!Stop your tomfoolery...Are you even fit to polish my shoes...?"

Monali tore apart her portrait which Navin had painted. He stood there alone under the banyan. He cried bitterly and sobbed inconsolably. Nobody was there except the tree, some birds in it and of course, God in heaven.

Navin's friends had been waiting for long to know about the consequences. He collected himself and went back to the hostel.

The boys from his area surrounded him and demanded to know what had happened. Navin smiled faintly and said, "She said she would decide and tell me later on.." They pestered him to disclose all the details, but he ignored them and kept quiet. A boy named Hari joked, "Navin I can't paint like you. Otherwise, I would propose to her sister Sonali..and we would become brothers-in-law." Monali and Sonali were twins. Sonali was doing her master's in economics. She was equally charming and lovely. A number of boys were after her but she was strict with them and used to keep silent most of the time.

Monali and Sonali and all their batch mates left university. Monali's father was a cardiologist and incredibly rich. After her post-graduation, Monali did a diploma in journalism and Sonali decided to do her MPhil.Monali fell in love with an electrical engineer. They married. Monali by and by realised that she had committed a monumental blunder. A time came when her smart and handsome husband Dev came home every night heavily drunk and beat her. When the situation got out of control, she came back to her father's house, determined to get a divorce from him. She knew what her university friends were doing for a living. She never felt even the slightest regret at the sad fate of Navin whose performance in the MA final exam was shamefully miserable.

Someone told her he was in his native village and helping his father in farming. In fact, Navin's father was a landless farmer who cultivated other people's land to earn his living.

Monali's father Sitakanta Mishra was pretty worried about his daughters. Monali's husband Dev was bent on torturing her. He accused her of having an illicit affair with a friend of hers. Sonali was determined not to marry as she thought all men were evil, particularly after observing her sister's fate. Mishra's wife always encouraged his daughters to land jobs they liked and become financially independent. Monali decided to be an air hostess. Sonali was trying to get a teaching job.

All of a sudden, a childhood friend of Mishra's dropped in with a marriage proposal. He said that his cousin's sister's son was an IAS officer and had seen the sisters. He wanted to marry Sonali.

Mishra prevailed upon his friend to arrange for Monali's marriage to the boy, arguing that his estranged daughter was suffering intensely and needed emotional support to recover from the blow destiny had dealt her. His friend said that the boy and his parents were making a visit to them soon. He took the horoscopes of the two girls and went away.

Mishra lived in a double-storeyed house. Monali had succeeded in getting the divorce from Dev. Now she spent most of her time sitting in a chair on the balcony of her father's house. She mostly read books.

On a summer morning, she saw a brand new white Honda City draw up outside. Two men and two women and a young man came out of the car. One of them was Mishra's friend, but who were the others? They entered the gate and came upstairs. Mishra was overjoyed to see them. But Monali was struck dumb. The handsome young IAS officer was her classmate Navin Kumar Nanda! Sonali recognized him instantly and gave a shy smile.

The marriage took place in a few days. Mishra couldn't know why Monali preferred to isolate herself when his worthy son-in-law and daughter Sonali happened to be in his house.