Biraj Bahu

(1954)

Beauty is a gift of God; yet it burns and destroys. Many a war has been waged for beautiful woman; often beauty is a curse. Biraj possessed such outstanding beauty. She had unflinching devotion for her husband and was extremely proud of her husband's love for her. Nilambar, the tall handsome husband of Biraj had Gods gift in his voice. He was famed for his devotional songs and respected for his selfless service to his community, be it to nurse sick or cremate the dead and was not wordly at all. Pitambar, his younger brother was quite and opposite, both in physical appearance and in worldy matters. A greedy miser and a grabber he wouldn't trust his own wife. When it came to share the heavy dowry and expenses for the marriage of their only sister Punnu, he separeted from his brother and partitioned their ancestral property. Nilambar mortaged his share of the property and his tender loving wife gave her jewels and the marriage happily passed off. Even gradual financial hardhsips that followed, could not tarnish their days- such was the completeness of love and faith that they had for each other. Without her husband's knowledge, Biraj smilingly started making dolls and maintained her household from the sale proceeds, but no conflict came in their life till there appeared in the village a new comer, a lusty young debauch in the person of the new Zamindar. Dazed by Biraj's beauty he soon made it his sole occupation to engineer means to possess her and Sundari, Biraj's maid servant of easy virtues proved very useful to him. Bitterness gradually crept into her life. She started getting conscious of her husband's material failings about which before she wouldn't even spare a thought and the woman who one day asked, as the greatest boon form her husband, that she may die at his feet, opened her eyes one day a stormy night to find herself in the housecoat of the zamindar drifting away fast from their village. Did she run away with the zamindar? Was it accidental? Did fate bring her back to the feet of her husband, the greatest boon she asked for in her life.