She was clad in white cotton sari just like the other women prisoners. Except for the nights when she had to be alone in her cell, and which she always longed for, she was always with her fellow prisoners. Every morning, the instant the prison clock struck six, she had to start work along with others and wait in queues for her daily meals. She wasn’t any particular of her food; for all that she wanted was something that would help her last the next day.
She had to toil hard and was not relieved till the close of the day. Tired as she was, she looked up at the setting sun, which cast wonderful colors in the cloudy sky, signaling her, the start of the joy of solitude and peace of her own cell. She had spent another day of her ten-year imprisonment in the women’s prison house. Prostitutes, drug traffickers, pick pockets, thieves; the prison house had all of them; but she was the worst ─ a murderess. She had murdered none other than her own husband.
She sat reclined to the wall with her head resting against it and her arms clasped around her knees. She sat still, lost in her thoughts. She thought of her life, her husband ─ her past. The shadows of the mighty bars fell beside her, towering well above her; the pattern of which remained undisturbed except for the shadow of an occasional warden cutting across it.
She looked disturbed like someone whose deep slumber was disturbed by a whisper. The footsteps of the warden had broken the silence ─ the medium for her thoughts. She then slipped back to her own thoughts, silence being restored.
Only four years back she was married to her cross cousin Chinniah at her insistence. Her parents weren’t happy with this marriage for Chinniah was a habitual drunkard, with no proper job and was one who never wanted to know what responsibility meant. She on the other hand, was so beautiful and understanding that many proposals from well-to-do families came for her.
She turned down all these for the sake of Chinniah whom she was confident of reforming into a respectable person, besides; “Who would marry Chinniah if I didn’t”, she argued. She was adamant and she had her way.
Hunger, hardship, poverty. Things went wrong, right from the beginning. Chinniah was drunk on the wedding day and with much difficulty performed the wedding rites. The marriage was over and the married life that followed proved all her calculations wrong.
Chinniah was hardly sober and when he was, he shouted at her for some reason or other and when she objected, he beat her. He would sell her clothes and household vessels for his alcohol. All her resistance was easily overcome. There was hardly a day without any unpleasantness in the house, but she didn’t seem to lose heart. The will and morale had never declined in her.
But with time, a transition was soon becoming evident. Chinniah gradually began to realize the sacrifices and sufferings, his wife bore on account of him. She on her part showed no sign of frustration or repentance. She continued to care for him, and to make both ends meet, she opted to go for some regular work.
Chinniah thought for a while and realized how important a job was for him. He promised her, to be more responsible and make an attempt to reduce his drinking. He even started paying more attention to their household affairs, and soon quit drinking. She thanked all her Gods for the new life bestowed on her.
The prison clock struck twelve. She looked dazed as she stood up, and slowly started towards the prison bars. Leaning on her back against the bars, she stared at the high ceiling. She heard footsteps approach her and stop behind her ─ “Its midnight, better go to sleep”. She remained motionless and silent and didn’t bother to turn around to see the warden. It was still for a while when she heard footsteps leave her and everything was silent once again.
Exactly a year back or three years after her marriage, she was facing the district magistrate. The court was well set to try her on charges of murder. “My lord, this woman had committed the murder of her husband ─ a man who had reformed himself to get back into the society”; said the public prosecutor, “And that too for a very small reason ─ adultery, which our law considers a minor offense”.
It was her turn to speak now. She stared at the judge and said nothing. “She forgot the reason”, the prosecutor joked; and sent the courtroom into raptures. The judge read his three-line verdict. She was sentenced to ten years in prison.
How long she slept, she did not know, as she woke up hearing a chirp. She turned around and saw a small bird pecking at the corners of her cell. The bird had flown in through the small prison window. She watched the bird for quite sometime with untiring eyes, when suddenly the bird flapped its wings and flew out. The prison clock had struck six.
