Chapter 10 A Solo Ride

• That was when she had her first nightmare. She found it impossible to move her limbs when she woke up. And things had only worsened further since then. The symptoms came up on her sister about a year later. Her father had consulted a number of doctors but to no avail. Referring to quacks, priests, even occultists had continued unabatedly and it wasn't long before the neighbours and relatives had labelled them as bananas - often sharing a laugh behind their back.
• Psychological diseases are still considered a taboo in the society in which they had been brought up. It took a great deal of concealing and cajoling on the part of Shivangi's parents to convince her in-laws that their daughter-in-law was perfectly all right. Still the air couldn't be cleared. On their wedding night when she had left him unsatiated at the peak of his desire, Upendra had charged at her directly.
• 'Your father has deliberately married off a sickly daughter'.