Evening was falling. The chill in the air was sharp, the winds howling fiercely. Drawn by a craving for a cigarette, Ashok left his room at Ashok Lodge and wandered down to the pan stall at the crossroads. He lit one, letting the smoke warm him, feeling a little lighter with every puff. The shop beside the stall was shuttered. On the steps nearby sat a woman and her child—a girl of about five. Both trembled from the cold. The woman carried herself like someone from a respectable household; worry etched her face. Ashok's attention drifted toward them.When the cigarette ended, he turned to her and said softly, almost to himself, "It's terribly cold today."She replied without hesitation, "Yes, and even colder here."Ashok gathered his courage. "Is something wrong? Are you in trouble?"She seemed to have been waiting for someone to offer help. "We're just… stuck here," she said.Ashok sensed the truth in her words. "What happened?"She began to explain. "I came to take an exam. During my shift, I left my daughter with a friend who had the next exam. But then… there was a train accident nearby. The tracks are blocked. Today, the buses are on strike. How are we supposed to go back?"Ashok was a decent man. He trusted people easily and was always ready to help. In this world, such people often get cheated. He'd been cheated himself, many times. Yet he couldn't change his nature. He had come on Saturday for a company meeting. Then came orders: an officer would arrive Monday; he must wait. So he stayed. Today, he had nothing to do, so he'd slept the day away in his lodge.Ashok knew about the accident and the strike. He said, "Then take a taxi."She shook her head. "Not everyone can afford that."Ashok hesitated, then asked, "Can I help in some way?"He half-expected her to ask for money. Instead, she said, "What help can you give? The cold is unbearable. Tomorrow morning, I'm sure we'll find some way to leave. But how will we survive this night here?"He understood immediately—she needed a place to stay."I have a room at the lodge," Ashok said. "You both can stay there tonight. I'll figure something else out. Trust me—I'm right here."He handed her the key. "Here."She looked at him with profound gratitude, then said softly, "You seem like a good man. We could stay with you."Ashok hadn't expected that. His mind began to work. Could she be trapping him? Was this some kind of scam disguised as HELP? Still, when he looked at her face, he saw only sincerity and desperate need.He made his decision. He asked her name. "Uma," she said. He picked up the child and said, "Let's go."After the hotel formalities, they were in the room. He wrapped the child in a blanket. Uma asked, "Can I use the bathroom?" Before he could answer, she slipped inside—she clearly needed it badly. Ashok sat quietly on the nearby sofa.When she returned, she was muttering to herself. "I thought I'd die… Now I feel better. Women can't go anywhere safely these days…" She kept talking, a stream of words. Ashok just listened.She sat on a chair near him, gazing gratefully. "People like you who help without expecting anything are rare now. If I hadn't found you, who knows what would've happened to us."Ashok said nothing, just listened.Dinnertime approached. "Shall we order food?" he asked."Yes," she said. "I'm starving."The food arrived quickly. All three ate. Soon the child fell asleep."You sleep on the bed," Ashok said. "I'll take the sofa.""No," Uma replied. "Come to the bed too—it's large enough."With deep hesitation, Ashok lay down on the other side of the child.He must have dozed off, because suddenly he felt someone beside him. Uma had moved close, pressing against him. He sat up sharply. "How did you get here?"She said nothing. She simply pulled his hand and laid it on her body.Ashok was a man, after all. Still, he whispered, "Is this right?"Uma drew him closer. Her hand slid across his chest. He struggled to maintain control. Soon his own hands began moving on their own. It didn't take long before they shed their clothes completely. Now there was only the desire to merge into each other.Uma whispered, "The child might wake… let's go down to the floor."Ashok lifted her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Naked, they moved to the floor. He pressed his lips to hers. Uma felt he was about to enter her fully. A suppressed cry escaped her, and the room filled with moans and sighs like a sudden flood. Her gasps told him she had been waiting for this moment.Time seemed to stop. There were only the two of them, rising and falling like waves, supporting each other. This was bliss—they wanted to live it completely.When the storm passed, being naked before each other no longer felt shameful. They sat together, talking."You're truly wonderful," Uma said. "I've never felt such pleasure."Ashok, now free from shame and propriety, replied, "Tonight, you can have this pleasure as long as you want. And if you wish, even after this."Uma said, "We'll enjoy tonight's bliss, but…"They spent the entire night immersed in the ocean of pleasure. They slept only an hour before dawn broke.Uma began dressing, in a hurry to leave. Ashok said, "Give me your number. We can talk sometime.""No," she replied. "Our meeting ends here. We won't meet again. I didn't even ask your name. Look… you helped us without asking anything. What I could give, I gave. Now you owe me nothing, and I owe you nothing. You're someone worth befriending, truly. But our fate isn't written that way."Ashok pleaded, "Promise to meet once more.""No promises," Uma said. "Maybe fate will bring us together again at some crossroads. But no vows. You cared for us; we cared for you. That's where it ends."Ashok watched her walk away with the child, growing smaller in the distance. He couldn't forget her. But what hurt him most was her surrender in exchange for help—it felt like she'd handed him counterfeit coin to settle a debt he never claimed to be owed. He hadn't asked for this.
Alok Mishra " Manmaoji"
