An encounter with a young woman (939 words)

Nagaraj was held up in the city till late at night. ​The deal could not be clinched easily, as negotiations proved tough and lengthy. It was only when Nagaraj mentioned that it was getting very late and his home was far away that the other party relented and agreed to meet two days later.

It was already 11 pm, and it would take an hour or more to reach home. He was very hungry and luckily found a wayside eatery close by. He had Chole Bhature with a large cup of strong tea. It was nearing 12 when he started the motorbike, and he knew his wife would remain awake waiting for him​. He wished to reach home early.

The road soon stretched into a lonely, unlit path. Its poor condition prevented him from riding fast. Tall trees crowded both sides, their branches blocking out the moon and deepening the darkness. Though Nagaraj had travelled this road many times​, even late at night,​ an​ uneasy feeling crept over him. To worsen matters, a ​slight drizzle began to fall. Scattered hamlets appeared here and there, faintly illuminated by hurricane lamps. For the first time, Nagaraj felt a strange, unfamiliar fear. He was a strong, well-built man, but the silence ​w​as unsettling. To distract himself, he began humming his ​f​avourite tune as the bike thudded along at moderate speed.

It was then that he saw, at a distance, a woman standing by the side of a post box outside her lone hut on the roadside. There was a cluster of huts slightly away. She was frantically waving her hand to stop. He saw a man sitting on a cot outside the hut. Both appeared young as he neared them.  He was torn between stopping the vehicle and rushing past. Being a kind-hearted man, he felt there must have been an emergency, as otherwise a young woman would not come out of her house at this hour and wave a vehicle to stop. 

As soon as he stopped the bike by her side, she asked Nagaraj whether he would allow her to travel on the pillion up to his town. When he looked at the man, he signalled him with his hands to refuse. 

Puzzled, Nagaraj turned to her and said, “I do not mind, but your husband is not agreeable. Get his permission. I am in a hurry.” 

She replied, “Who is he to permit me? I told him yesterday that I am leaving him once and for all. He is a drunkard and always suspects me of having an affair with every passerby. Living with him is torture, as not a day passed without his beating me mercilessly each night on his return and falling on me shamelessly when the influence of the alcohol faded. Please take me now so that I can live with my mom peacefully. I hate to be on the same ground with this wretch.”

The man ambled his way towards Nagaraj with the help of a heavy stick and said, “Don’t trust her. She is a common whore and will seduce you. I have been putting up with her in my compassion and have no mind to part with her. I like her immensely. Leave her alone and proceed on your way. If you don’t listen to me, I will break your backbone with this stick.”

Nagaraj could easily surmise that the threat was real if he went against the man’s instructions. He started the bike, and the woman came rushing to get on the pillion. The man swinging the stick came rushing and drew the woman away from the bike, even as he rained blows on her.

Nagaraj felt sorry for the woman, but decided it was not proper to interfere in a quarrel between spouses. 

Nagaraj told the drunkard to stop beating her as he was not giving her a lift. That inebriated man, without understanding what Nagaraj was telling him, came rushing towards him, swaying the heavy stick.

Nagaraj sped away at full speed, not turning his head even once. He saw from the rear view mirror the dim figure of the woman pushing her husband away from his clasp to no avail as he dragged her inside the hut.

When Nagaraj’s wife asked him why he was so late, he told her,” The story is long and sad. I am very sleepy now and will tell you in detail in the morning.

The next morning, he recounted the story of the unfortunate woman and her cruel husband. He said he felt very sorry for ​n​ot being able to help her.

It was then she said, ‘Did you not know that our maid Ponni’s sister was living with her alcoholic husband in the exact spot you mentioned and that she committed suicide two days back by having poisonous weeds. Her husband was always suspicious and assaulting her daily. She was a virtuous young woman and tried in vain to change him from his drinking ways. When she failed to mend him and things became unbearable, she put an end to her miserable life.”

​Nagaraj’s blood ran cold​."My God, whom did I​ then meet today? Could it be her ghost? It is puzzling to see him fighting still with her ghost,” I said

“You haven’t heard me fully. Stricken with remorse, the drunken fellow had also followed suit by eating the same weeds she had left behind. You saw ​yesterday that both of them were continuing their​ quarrelling routine.  People are advised not ​to travel in that stretch after midnight. Thank God, you wisely escaped from any harm,” his wife happily concluded.