Curse on Ahalya

I was a lecturer teaching History in a college for a little more than two years. She was a student of plus three Arts. I caught sight of her in the annual function of the college. In the cultural programme that followed the meeting she gave an Odishi dance performance. Her performance was well acclaimed. Then I remembered she belonged to the tutorial group I was allotted. She further attracted me when I came across her poem published in the college magazine. Considering her age and experience the poem was a good one.

I learnt that she was a trained dancer. She had also won a few prizes in dance competitions when she was in the school. But she was not allowed to pursue dancing after she left the school for college. She told she wrote poems, but did not send to magazines for publication as she was not sure of the standard of her poems. The editors might rate the poems substandard and reject. I encouraged her to continue writing poems and start sending to literary magazines. One day she would definitely be noticed by the editors.

I left the college and teaching also. But we were in touch and corresponding regularly. But she stopped writing to me after a few months of her marriage. I also did not come across her poems in any magazine. In course of time I had forgotten her.

After almost ten years I was sitting in the room of an editor of a reputed literary magazine gossiping with him. I found a letter addressed to the editor. The handwriting seemed familiar and I discovered it was she. I got her address from the letter, collected her phone number and talked to her over phone. I enquired about her family and children. She evaded my questions concerning her family; and told that, in fact, she was looking for me and was almost desperate to meet me. She would tell me many things and everything when we would meet. We arranged to meet within a fortnight.

She told me that after her marriage when she went to stay with her husband who was working in a faraway city, she discovered her husband was not only a drunkard and a debauch, he was already married also. He tortured her and forced her to do immoral act. She told me her story. I was shocked, and could not believe that a person could be so cruel and inhuman, which I had only seen in Hindi films.

She asked me whether I would write a novel based on her story. She told she could not tell everything, but would write and hand over me her story. I agreed. She kept her promise and within four months, gave me a diary in which she had written forty pages her story.

She is Madhavi of the novel, prema teeniranga. Madhavi, a tender and beautiful girl still carries Ahalya’s curse in the 21st century India. Madhavi says this is true with all women of brain and beauty.

My first novel kasatandira swapna was published in 2004. The novel begins on the day the police are forcibly cropping short the long hair, called hippy style, a fashion with the college boys then, and tearing the bell bottomed trousers of the college girls. The police act as self-claimed moral force with a view to cleansing of anti-socials and bringing in discipline in the society. That was the period of Emergency in India and almost all the leaders of opposition parties were behind bars, fundamental rights of the citizens were suspended. Ajay, a student of the college protested, and was taken to police custody. The novel covers the period from 1975 to 1984-85. Kasatandira swapna is the story of Ajay.

Sanat was present at the scene when Ajay was taken to police custody. That was his first day in the college. Prema teeniranga is also the story of Sanat. The story begins from the day Mrs Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her own body guards. Mrs Gandhi had declared emergency in the year 1975 when she was the Prime Minister. Prema teeniranga covers the period from 1984-85 to 1995-96.

I am now writing this novel, prema teeniranga, in English.

Excerpts from the English version of the novel:

“I had a dream during the last hours of the night.


I was wandering in the college garden. The garden had only roses. I saw a rabbit. The rabbit looked innocent and beautiful. I went to catch it. It moved from that place. I ran after it. It was not going out of the rose garden, but hopping hither and thither within the garden. I was running after it, but was unable to catch it. I got bruises from the thorns of the rose plants. But I did not care. My body started bleeding, but I was feeling a thrill of joy in spite of my bleeding body. I saw Raaj standing at the gate of the garden and laughing. The rabbit disappeared.


I woke up from the dream and remembered an incident happened during my childhood.


My father was at that time at Baripada, I was in Class IV. We were staying in government quarters. Our neighbour was a doctor. He was employed in Government hospital. He loved roses. In the compound of his quarters he had developed a beautiful rose garden. One day after I returned from the school I had gone to their home to play with his daughter. They had a dog. That day they had not tethered their dog. On seeing me the dog started barking. I ran away, but the dog ran after me. I was running in their rose garden to escape from the dog, but the dog was also after me. Having listened to my cry, the doctor-uncle came out of his room and controlled the dog. But by that time my body had started bleeding with the bruises caused by the thorns of the rose plants. The doctor-uncle took me to his room and applied medicine to my wound. I came back home. That night I had fever.


Lying on the bed I was contemplating my dream with the real incident happened long time ago. The dog ran after me in the rose garden, but in my dream, I was running after a rabbit in the college garden. I wrote,


The body of the girl bleeds


Bruised by the thorns of the roses


The girl chasing after the rabbit


Does not care for her injury


Failure of catching the rabbit


And bleeding bruises


Brings tears of joy to her eyes”

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