The love of a widow (मैथिली कथा)

The Love of a Widow (मैथिली कथा ) – Acharya Ramanand Mandal
Translated by Prabhash Ranjan

She often saw me from a distance, but I always walk away without giving her attention. One day, a small boy came to me with a letter and said, “Sir, this is from Big Mother.” I had heard the name of Big Mother before.

I came to know that she was the widow of the eldest brother who was widoman among three siblings, who had three daughters and one son. He had retired from government service and had married with a girl who was of the same age as his daughter. A few days later, he passed away. That young widow was affectionately called Big Mother by each nephew and niece, and by her step son and daughter.
Hnn! Now, I opened the letter and began to read. In that letter, it was written:
Dear Sir,
Greetings.
I have fallen in love with you.
Yours, Shanti

Reading this letter shattered my peace of mind. It stirred my emotions with just one line. In reality, it was a love letter. From that moment on, I could think only of Shanti. I found myself looking out of my window repeatedly, waiting for her to come back after bathing. She would take her time in the bath and occasionally display some skin, checking to see if I was watching her from the window. When she realized I was looking, she would show even more.

Now Shanti began to seem like a beautiful woman to me. We both started noticing each other more closely, and our love began to blossom.

Now that boy delivers letters daily—love letters filled with his sorrowful story, his pain, his desires, feelings, and dreams. One day he wrote that she was ready to marry me. She mentioned that her parents had wanted him to marry for a long time but that she wouldn’t marry me because widow remarriage was not accepted in our community. He regretted that my marriage had been arranged with an older man but couldn’t bear to see my suffering any longer. He urged me to find someone else to marry, even a man from other caste.

After reading this, I felt utterly confused. I had never even thought about marriage before. One evening, I suddenly heard a knock on my room’s door. When I asked who it was, the voice replied, “It’s Shanti.” I opened the door for her. She entered and locked the door behind her. She sat on my bed while I sat beside her.

For the first time, I looked closely at this widow. She held my hand and began talking softly while occasionally touching my body. As we talked, our bodies drew closer together until we were almost one entity. Her touch sent shivers through me; I felt embarrassed but she smiled calmly.

Then she quickly opened the door and left.

I realized she wanted something more from me than just conversation—she wanted my body completely. This realization filled me with disgust for her. I moved away from that place.

Later, I learned that she had entered into a live-in relationship with a distant relative(Brother in Law) who was also a widower. This story was shared by a friend who visited me after many days. I began to reflect on how this love of the widow was not just a matter of desire but also an issue related to societal restrictions against widow remarriage.
– Acharya Ramanand Mandal
Social Thinker and Writer
Sitamarhi