A new way(sumit) Meena rushed to the liquor shop after getting wages. She is a heavy drinker and could not live without liquor. She spent a large portion of her wages on liquor. On the way to the liquor shop, she found Ravi who too was a heavy drinker like her. Seeing Meena, Ravi got happy because he knew that she would share her liquor with him. He used to enjoy the liquor at others' coasts.
Meena bought the liquor and rushed her home. Her home was situated at the end of one of the streets of a small town. It was just a small mud house heaving two rooms. It was her only property.

She was a poor lady of age about forty. Her husband had left her five years after the marriage when she was pregnant. Since then her husband never came to see even her son. Now, her son Anil was about sixteen years old and worked in a small factory. She did odd jobs to meet both ends. Sometimes her son offered her some money but she refused to take the money.

After buying liquor Meena along with Ravi reached home where they enjoyed the cheap liquor. Having liquor she felt herself a rich woman. She began to behave like a rich and big-hearted woman. Ravi took advantage of the situation and borrowed some money from her. Meena was so inebriated that she without thinking twice, lent him the money. He served her some more wine as a thank-you giving and she soon fell asleep on the floor. Ravi secured the money in his pocket and got out of the hut leaving her fallen on the floor.

The next day Meena awoke late. Took a bath and rushed to work. She arrived late for work. Seeing her, the contractor's man shouted, "You are always late. Mend your ways or leave the work." it was her fault. She could not do anything except say sorry. Saying sorry, she lowered her head. "You sorry won't work. Get used to coming on time," The man advised her. He had a little sympathy for her and did not want to remove her from the job.
She was used to this way of life. Her life was passing in this way. She and her son were alone having no other relatives or friends. Her husband had left her after the birth of her son. Now she did not know whether his husband was alive or dead.

Once when a woman who was her far relative advised her to give up the bad habit of drinking, she got silent for a little while and then said, "Drinking is a way for me to forget the sorrows of my life."
With a wetness in her eyes, she said, "I can't give up this bad habit even if I want to. "


"She can not mend her ways," people used to say about her. Her son Anil was also fed up with her. He tried to convince her to give up the bad habit of drinking. But all his attempts went in vain.

One day, Meena came to know that a man came to live in a rented house in the street. He was a teacher by profession. His house was just about a hundred meters away from her home.

"his name is Ajeet. He seems crazy," Anil said to Meena about that man when they were having breakfast the next morning.
Meena asked, "How do you know about that teacher? Have you met him?'"

Anil said, "I have not met him, but one of my friends told me about him."

Meena saw Ajeet when she was going to work after breakfast. He was coming out of his home. He glanced at her casually and began to close the gate of his house. He was a handsome man of about thirty-five. He was tall and fair-colored. He did not seem crazy to her. They happened to see each other at the same spot the next day. This time Meena smiled seeing him and Ajeet, too, smiled in response.

Meena got wages for her work in the evening and she was in the mood to have wine and some fun. Ravi had no money to buy liquor. Ravi knew her very well. He looked at her as if he were a beggar and requested her to share her liquor with him. Although Meena was a poor woman, she had a big heart. She bought liquor from a liquor shop. They drank to their hearts' content. In the end, Meena was inebriated. Taking advantage of her state, Ravi took some money out of her pocket. Ravi left her at the beginning of the street and made away for he had the fear of being seen by Anil.

Meena was so inebriated that she was staggering. Soon she stumbled and fell.

In the morning, when she came around from a drunken stupor, she found herself lying on the verandah of a house. She was surrounded by the women and men of the street including Ajeet. One of the women said, "Here she has come around."
One of the men said, "How much liquor did you consume?"


Ajeet was watching her with sympathy. He said to Meena, "Don't you feel ashamed of your plight? Despite being a woman you are addicted to liquor!"
Her neighbor said to Ajeet, "Leave her. She won't mend her ways. We already tried hard, but she is incorrigible." Saying so he, looked at Meena with anger and said, "Stand up and go your home."

Some people were laughing at Meena. Meena was ashamed. When she stood up, Ajeet said to her, "You should try to give up this bad habit." She looked at him and found sympathy and consolation in his eyes. These two things were all she wanted in her life. She went home and did nothing all day except think about Ajeet. She felt an affinity for him.

When Anil returned home in the evening, he found her in a good mood. She was preparing dinner for him.

The next day, she did not go to work. Thoughts of Ajeet were coming to her mind again and again. She tried to avoid his thoughts and began to think of herself. All of a sudden a thought came to her that brought a smile to her face. But the next moment the smile disappeared from her face. She murmured, "It can never be possible. I am a poor and heavy drinker."
Tears came into her eyes.

The next day when she was going to work, she found Ajeet at the door of his house. She bode him good morning.
"How do you do?" Ajeet asked her.
She replied, "I am fine." She paused for a moment and then asked, "And you?"
He replied, "I, too, fine."

Ajeet looked at her and said, "So you would drink liquor today evening like before?" Meena was ashamed to hear this.
She said in a low tone, "No, I won't."
Ajeet said, "That's good. I will see."

Mean said, "It is very hard for me to give up this old and bad habit."
Ajeet looked at her and said, "Of course, it is hard for you. But you will have to give up drinking for your better future and your son." he paused for a little while and then said, "People told me all about you. You suffer a lot in your life. But liquor is not a proper way to escape from the realities of life. It will give you relief for just a few hours and one day it will bring you disease and death." saying so Ajeet looked at his wristwatch and said, "Oh, it is time to go to school. See you again."

Meena watched his going till he went beyond her eyesight. She was impressed with him and what he said to her. After work in the evening, she was in a dilemma about whether she should consume liquor or not.
"What are you doing here?" hearing this she raised her head and found Ravi standing in front of her. Looking at her, Ravi asked, "Let's go, today we will have a wine of fine quality at my own expense. "

Meena said to Ravi, "Sorry, I don't feel like having wine."
Hearing this Ravi asked, "What happened?"
She replied, "Nothing. I am thinking about giving up consuming liquor."

Ravi needed money and it was Meena who could give him, provided that she would be in a drunken state. Meena lends him money without interest. He said to her, "That is ok. Give up drinking but not from today. My wife is preparing chicken curry and she invited you for dinner. You will have to come."

Meena could not refuge him. Ravi bought some wine and took her to his home where the dinner was ready. Ravi and his wife served wine to Meena. When she was in a drunken state, Ravi asked for money.

After dinner with Ravi, Meena was returning home. Despite being drunk, she was feeling guilty for not following the advice from Ajeet.

When Meena was crossing the road, a car hit her. She got injured seriously in this accident.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself wrapped in bandages in a hospital. When she tried to rise from the bed, a wave of sharp pain from neck to waist made her cry and she fell again on the bed. Her son Anil was sitting on a chair near to her. Anil took a sign of relief and said to her, "Thank God for your getting over from unconsciousness. Your backbone is badly hurt in the accident. It will take you a long time and treatment to rise and walk. "

Meena was crying with pain and fear. Neither she nor her son had money to spend on treatment. Both of them were looking at each other with tears in their eyes.
All of a sudden, someone knocked at the door. It was Ajeet. Seeing him Meena felt a ray of light in the dark of life. She began to weep. Ajeet went to her and took her hand in his hands. Meena said to him, "This is the result of not following your advice." Ajeet began to console her. Just then, a nurse came to Administer some medicine to Meena. Ajeet asked Anil, "Let's go out. I have something to tell you."

Coming out of the hospital, Ajeet and Anil talked for a long time. In the course of the conversation, Anil told Ajeet that they had no money to spend on the treatment. Hearing this Ajeet thought for a while and then said, "Don't worry about money. Leave the matter of money on me."


The next day, when Ajeet went to the hospital to meet the doctor who was treating Meena, he found the doctor to be one of his old friends. The doctor met him with a warm heart. When Ajeet told him about Meena and convinced him to charge only half of the actual hospital bill.
Treatment was going on and Meena was recovering. Ajeet visited her whenever he found the time. Lying on the bed Meena used to think about Ajeet. She and her son were alone and when they needed help, Ajeet came forward to help them, console them. She wants to know more about Ajeet.

One day, when Ajeet reached the hospital, he found Meena sauntering in the garden of the hospital. She was happy. She said to Ajeet, "Doctor says I will get well soon. He advised me to take a walk and exercise."
Ajeet said with happiness, "good news." And proceeded to a nearby bench to sit on. She followed him and sat next to him on the bench and said, "You helped me a lot in the treatment. You did me a great favor." Saying so she looked at him, in his eyes for some moments and then she said, "I don't know much about you. You also don't know much about me. Despite all of this, you help me a lot. "
Ajeet remained silent for a while looking at the setting sun and then said to her, "I don't like to tell anybody about me. "
Meena could see aloneness in his eyes. She held his hand and said, "Sharing the sorrows with others reduces the stress. You can share it with me."
And Ajeet told her all about himself. He was the only child of his parents but unfortunately, when he was only two years old, his parents died in an accident. He had no other relative to look after him, so he was sent to an orphanage. There was nothing in the orphanage except hunger, exploitation, and bullying. Being adapted to those hellish conditions, he began to grow in that orphanage. There was no ray of hope in that darkness of the orphanage. One day a poor but kind man visited the orphanage and with the grace of the omnipresent god, the poor man's eyes fell on him and he took him into his custody and brought him into his house. From here Ajeet's good days began. That poor man bore all the expenses of his education and made him a teacher. After telling her the story of his life, Ajeet said to her that being kind and helping others were two things he learned from that poor man.

Meena felt bonded with Ajeet through the bond of sympathy, trust, and love. Ajeet was still single, living his solitaire life without any trouble or attempt to get married. He was used to solitaire life. He was feeling relief after telling Meena about him.
And the day came when Meena got well and was discharged from the hospital. She was happy. When Meena and Ajeet came out of the hospital, Meena took Ajeet's hand in her hands and looked at him. Ajeet pressed her hands and said, "Let's go." they set off together to the new way of life where there was no aloneness and no sorrows.

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