Read This Is Not That Dawn: Jhootha Sach for Free Online Page B

their group. Gurtu asked Amrita, ‘What did you find out about that boy in an hour?’
    Sneha answered for her, ‘What does it matter what she found out? Boys are all the same. She saw that he was good-looking, and that he’s a lieutenant in the army. What more could she want?’
    Krishna said, ‘Amrita’s fate has been decided. When her lieutenant gets some leave, they’ll get married. She’ll keep house, she’ll have children. They’ll bring them up and then they’ll worry about marrying them off.’
    Amrita asked, ‘And when you become a doctor, you won’t get married?’
    Sneha said, ‘As soon as she has a child, she’ll forget all about doctoring!’
    Tara felt compelled to say, ‘That’s right, a mother never has any free time when she’s taking care of children. She becomes completely wrapped up in that alone.’
    Krishna replied, ‘We’ll get an ayah, what’s wrong with that?’
    Surendra joked, ‘Will you get an ayah for your child when it’s still in your womb?’
    Sneha interrupted, ‘Then why not an ayah in place of you…?’ All the girls burst out in laughter.
    Surendra said thoughtfully, ‘That’s really a girl’s problem and tough luck. When one has children, one’s life becomes completely devoted to them.’
    Amrita interrupted her, ‘So you don’t want children? What about a husband?’
    Surendra agreed, ‘Sure, a husband is necessary.’
    Sneha asked, ‘In college only the girls give engagement parties. Why don’t boys do the same?’
    Gurtu said, ‘The boys don’t talk about it. The more girls those idiots can make friends with, the better they like it. For a girl, just one friendship with a boy and she’s had it.’
    Krishna explained seriously, ‘The thing is that boys wants to play around and girls want to settle down.’
    Gurtu complained, ‘What do boys get out of marriage anyway? They might suffer under the yoke of marriage, but also feel good about being the lord and master. They can do what they want, who stops them? Girls do indeed gain prestige and a licence of respectability from marriage. But a woman’s womb is her greatest curse.’
    Surendra suggested, ‘There should be marriage but no children.’
    ‘And remain an object of ridicule for your entire life?’ said Amrita. ‘People would call you infertile.’
    ‘Oh my, that’s even worse!’ Sneha exclaimed.
    Surendra said, ‘Come on, what’s all this talk? As if love and companionship for life mean nothing!’
    ‘What kind of love is that?’ Gurtu objected, glancing towards Amrita, ‘Your parents said: Love this boy! As soon as you had permission, or got an order, you fell in love!’
    Surendra said, ‘I’ll never act like that. I’ll choose my companion all by myself.’
    Tara agreed with her. Surendra continued, ‘The real thing is falling in love. When you’ve got married, you’re bound for life!’
    Amrita said, ‘Love hardly ever happens in any special way! Love just happens.’
    Tara faced the very problem only one week later.
    When Sheelo and Tara came out of the Shahalami Gate, they walked through the walled garden towards the Lohari Gate.
    ‘Look at that boy up ahead. The one in the silk suit, he’s looking in our direction!’ Sheelo said, pressing Tara’s arm.
    After one glance, Tara couldn’t look at him again; she had to lower her eyes. She didn’t like the way the boy was rudely staring at her.
    Tara studied alongside boys in the college. She had seen good boys andbad boys. Among themselves, Tara and her girlfriends called the kind of boy who stared ‘stupid’, ‘rude’ and ‘girl gazers’. Such boys disgusted them and they made fun of them. They avoided the ‘girl gazer’ kind of boys, such as Avinash, one of the BA students. If he saw some girl standing alone, he would approach her and ask very quietly, ‘It’s the—th of this month today, isn’t it?’ This was a trick to make other guys believe that the guy was very friendly with that girl. Tara liked