Translator’s note:

The story “manchudebba” [Telugu original] was  written so long back, and in a different set of cultures and environments prevailing then, where there were limited and nil options. Women in those times had no say or were not able to choose a different road and lead their life according to their choice.  This so called situation depicted in the story is laced with innocence and sensitivity of Vakula who enters in to the matrimony with a child-like innocence, and suddenly becomes a woman of silence not just because she was married to an impotent man but she has been deceived in the name of the system of marriage. She becomes a lost child in the jungle of human egos and the dire consequences that have just forced upon her without her will or choice. Iin my view she is dead the moment her sensitive feelings were crushed beyond repair, not when she committed suicide after disclosing the reason of her silence to her friend.. The purpose served, and her burden was lifted after pouring her heart out to her friend.

Surprisingly, I still find relevance of this story in the present day society also ( many feminists may not agree with me!!) but every woman is packed with a lot of sensitive feelings inside, more so, in the case of matrimony; they are being abused continuously since ages... This leaves them frostbitten with  no visible change in them, but with their liveliness gone... and gone forever... Every woman’s life may not necessarily be as tragic as that of Vakula, but they become different persons, they are matured in to suspicious human beings, do not trust anyone anymore, which is not a welcome situation in any culture...

Yes, I agree that there are more options now than before, like careers, divorce—a lot of options to choose from …She can just plain walk out of any painful relationship or a situation.. but the question that still haunts one’s mind is to where does the walk lead her?.. She carries the same heart inside but will she ever be the same person again in regard to her feelings?...

Even in these rapid changing situations and circumstances many women are frostbitten, living in silence and leading a numb existence. I wonder what happened to our much acclaimed respect for womanhood?

In this sort of deceitful relationships what can be expected of a woman to pass on to the next generation—a distrust towards every basic relationship which we commonly take it for granted??

--Sai Padma Murthy

   January 2003