Selected Stories of Rabindranath Tagore by Purnima Mazumdar

At a time when people used to be named after the gods and goddesses, when the little girl was born after five sons, her parents lovingly named her Nirupama. Slowly, Nirupama (Niru) grew up into a beautiful girl. Her parents started searching for a suitable boy for her to marry. Her father, Ram Sunder Mitra, looked everywhere, but was not satisfied with the kind of proposals he was getting. Ultimately, he found a prospective groom for his daughter—the only son of a Rai Bahadur. Although his property and wealth had depleted quite a lot, yet, it was a renowned family. The groom’s side asked for Rs 10,000 and all the things required in a household. Without thinking, Ram Sunder agreed to all their conditions—after all, he did not want to lose this prospect.