'I am sick of this!' she grunted loudly. Sitting on the bank of River Godavari in the city of Paithan, Ilaa felt strangled by her father as he pressured her into getting married. She threw a small rock in the flow of the river and watched the ripple. This was her escape from reality. Watching the river glisten and flow like a free spirit, overcoming all obstacles. However, not even the pleasant breeze or submerging her feet in the water could keep her mind of her father’s words. That morning, while cooking chapatis, Ilaa overheard her farther Vaivasvata Manu, talking to her elder brother Govind. “After this harvest, it would be the best time to get Ilaa married.” Her brother agreed and said, “Merchants are always looking for good brides for their sons.”
Those words filled her heart with outrage. Last year, she sacrificed her education and started working on the fields so that she could avoid marriage. However, Ilaa knew she was bound for wedlock in the coming months, during the harvest festivities. She felt like a liability, than a daughter. Feelings of lonesomeness dispirited her ever joyous nature. Even her need for motherly compassion was left unanswered as during child birth her mother passed away. Her only solace was the River Godavari which ran near her fields.
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