Days continued to pass like this. Deepali used to torture Shivani daily. She would give Shivani only a white saree to wear. Shivani and her brother Aditya were made to sleep on the kitchen floor. Deepali didn't even give them a blanket to cover themselves.
In the bungalow, Deepali kept three trusted servants. Along with regular duties like driving, bringing vegetables from the market, and guarding the bungalow, they were also tasked with keeping a close eye on Shivani and Aditya.
Whenever Deepali went out, she would take her servants with her and lock Shivani and Aditya inside the bungalow—so that they couldn't go out and tell anyone how Deepali was torturing them and had transferred all the property to her name.
On the other side, Jai had lost his memory. He couldn't remember anything from his past. Dhaniram had completely convinced his daughter Bela that Jai was her future husband.
Bela took great care of Jai, and because of her efforts, his health started improving quickly. At Dhaniram's request, Bela began taking Jai around the village.
When the villagers saw Jai, they started asking Bela questions.
"Hey Bela, who is this man?"
Blushing, Bela replied, "He's my future husband."
The villagers were surprised.
"Your future husband? But he doesn't seem to be from our village. Where is he from?"
This question made Bela a little nervous.
Then she remembered what Dhaniram had told her—to always say that Jai was the son of Dhaniram's friend who had recently passed away and was now an orphan. Bela told the villagers exactly what her father had instructed.
Then they asked, "What's his name?"
She replied, "Kirtiram."
Then Bela quickly added, "It's getting late, we should head back or father will get worried." Saying that, she left from there.
Now Jai started going around the village on his own and even made a few friends there. The day of the wedding finally arrived, and Dhaniram and his wife were busy with the preparations.
That day, Jai went out into the village. While walking around, he saw a large crowd gathered. Curious, he asked a man,
"Brother, what happened? Why is there such a crowd?"
The man replied,
"You don't know? Our village head, Mahaveer ji, has passed away. He was a very kind man. May his soul rest in peace."
Then the man sat down and began narrating Mahaveer's story.
"Friends, the story of Mahaveer and Gauri is based on true events.
Mahaveer was the village head. His wife's name was Gauri. She came from a very poor family. Her father was a poor farmer. Gauri used to work in the fields alongside her father.
One day, Mahaveer visited a friend in their village. While there, he saw Gauri working in the fields. Seeing her hard work and dedication, Mahaveer was impressed and fell for her.
He asked Gauri's father for her hand in marriage, and within a few days, Mahaveer and Gauri were married. A few years later, they became parents to two children.
Mahaveer was the only child of his father. After his father's death, Mahaveer's mother remarried and had two sons—Suraj and Chandrama—and a daughter named Sandhya.
At the time of Mahaveer and Gauri's wedding, the step-siblings were young. When they grew up, they got married too.
Suraj's marriage was arranged by Gauri herself with a girl from a nearby village named Kamalavati, who came from a wealthy family. Chandrama married a middle-class girl named Ashlesha.
Sandhya was set to marry Arvind, the son of the village head from the neighboring village. All the step-siblings considered Mahaveer and Gauri as their parents. Preparations for Sandhya's wedding were in full swing.
At that time, thefts and robberies were rampant in the village. So, all the daughters-in-law handed over their jewelry to their mother-in-law, Damyanti, who kept them safely locked in her strongbox.
On the wedding day, when Damyanti opened the strongbox, she was shocked to find the jewelry missing.
When the household questioned everyone, Kamalavati accused Gauri. She claimed to have seen Gauri going into Damyanti's room. Gauri kept denying the accusations, but except for Chandrama's family, Sandhya, and Gauri's own children, no one believed her—because she came from a poor background.
They brought Gauri before the village council. Mahaveer was the head of the council. He announced a punishment for Gauri:
She would live in the cowshed. She would do all the housework before anyone woke up. She was not allowed to appear before any family member. If she was seen by anyone by mistake, she would be whipped. She would be fed only the leftover food from the servants. She would be given no clothes to wear.
(When her clothes tore, she would go to her maternal home where her poor brothers would give her something to wear. Her brothers were so poor they barely had two meals a day.)
Even more cruel was the rule that if any family member helped Gauri, they would have to spend one day in the cowshed with her. Mahaveer disowned Gauri publicly in front of the entire community.
(At that time, divorce as a concept didn't really exist.) He stripped her of all rights as a wife.
Years went by. Days turned into months, months into years. Twenty years after the incident, Gauri's son got married. A daughter-in-law entered the house. Joy returned to the home. After the theft incident, Kamalavati had become the lady of the house. Gauri continued doing all the household chores before anyone else woke up.
One day, her daughter-in-law Kavita touched her feet. Seeing this, tears welled up in Gauri's eyes. She stepped back and said, "Child, stay away from me. If anyone sees you with me, you'll be punished unnecessarily."
Just then, Kamalavati raised an alarm and woke everyone up. When Mahaveer learned what had happened, Gauri was whipped again, and Kavita was sentenced to spend one day with Gauri in the cowshed.
Dear Readers,
Today, I'm closing this chapter of the story here. But if you truly wish to continue this journey and discover what happens next, I invite you to read the upcoming episodes exclusively on Wattpad — where I've shared the rest of the story.
Unfortunately, Webnovel has rejected this story four times, and with that, a part of my hope has also faded. But if this story has touched your heart even a little, I have a humble request:
Please support me by reading it on Wattpad, leaving your honest reviews, giving it a like, and sharing your beautiful comments.
Your love and encouragement mean the world to me.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Suman Sahani