Subscribe to get access

It was Shanti’s last year in Secondary School.

It has been 2 years since her initiation into her life’s destiny.

Her final national exams are just round the corner and she studies hard for them, often in her bedroom all day and night.

Ravi tries to leave her alone to focus on her studies. But it has been weeks and he finds it getting too hard to wait for exams to be over.

***

It’s close to midnight. The house and the neighbourhood are dark and asleep. Ravi walks up the stairs slowly, one step at a time. As he reaches the second floor landing, he sees Shanti’s bedroom lights still on from the gap at the bottom of her closed door.

He turns and finds his wife’s bedroom’s light already turned off. His head turns back toward Shanti’s room light and he heads toward her door.

He taps her door lightly and cranks the door knob open.

Shanti looks up and sees Ravi locking her door shut. A feeling of …