. Hemant wants that his wife will perform family duty, teaching career and gallery work and beyond these she has no works.
Next, their married life is disturbed by Hemant’s careless view about her good potentials. She has been claimed by her husband for mismanagement, wastefulness, inefficiency and incapability about her family duty. Like an Indian woman she does not want to turn her face from the familial responsibilities of a wife, daughter in law and a mother but she wants to participate in all the decisions of the family. She cannot find the same care, attention and affection from her husband as before. Drawing and painting are the source of relief for her. By writing poems and drawing sketches, she expresses her pain, suffering, anguish.
Next, Astha comes to know about Pipeelika Trivedi, a Hindu girl who marriages this Muslim Theatre activist Aijaz Akhtar Khan out of love by breaking traditions. But Pipeelika becomes a widow after some days of her marriage. Aijaz died by a communal riot. He has left behind a young widow. Now Pippelika Khan is a NGO worker and works for social welfare.
Hemant according to his style accuses Astha on the ground that she spends much time in art and painting than her family duty. Astha says that she wants something of her own. Astha suffers from a serious headache nowadays. Besides her gallery work, she takes care of her kids’ homework, kitchen work with her restless mind. This time Astha sells two paintings and earns thirty thousand rupees. Hemant is happy now. Hemant proposes that they have passed fifteen years married life. So on the occasion of their present anniversary, they should go for a holiday. They decided to go for Goa. This tour is arranged from Astha’s money that she earns from painting.
As the days are passing, the anniversary of The Street Theatre Group comes. Astha is busy with her secular activities. Astha’s mother-in-law is complaining now that she neglects her household duties. She spent two days and three nights for Ayodhaya Andolon. During this time Hemant goes for Delhi for the purpose of business. As she comes from Ayodhaya, she discovers an unexpected thing from her husband’s suitcase that is a condom. Astha suspects that her husband is in now another relationship. Their marital relationship now turns to a small boat sinking on the faithless ocean bit by bit.
During her social activities Astha meets with Pipeelika for the first time. Astha seeks for a real company who will touch her soul not her body. Astha falls in love with Pipeelika and develops a lesbian relationship. Pipeelika from her part, is a young widow and an outsider from society. Her mother wants to marry her again but she refuses for her bitter experiences for marrying a Muslim who had a relation with Reshana Singh, a classical singer in Street Theatre Group. Both Astha and Pipee have hatred for males and thus they are engaged in a same sex relationship.
One day Astha discovers Hemant’s extra-marital relation but he ignores. She discovers that her relationship with Hemant is just a sexual slavery. At last, Astha finds comfort in Pipeelika’s arms. She wants to teach her husband and makes a sweet protest by building a lesbian relationship. In the meantime, Pipee goes to US for a Ph. D. degree. Pipee urges Astha to mail her. Her departure from Astha’s life was too painful. Finally, Astha comes back to her marital relationship with a heavy heart.
In Indian patriarchy, marriages are imposed on girls. The girls are not allowed to make love or marry a man of their choice. Family is more important to women than to men. The institution of marriage offers to both the agent protection and social acceptability and so majority of women respect this institution. Marriage is her ultimate destiny which implies subordination to man. Females are the objects of family reputation and marriage is a more concerned issue than female education. To quote Kapur: “Astha was brought up properly, as befits a woman, with large supplements of fear.” (Kapur: 01) Marriage is the medium of female exploitation in Indian patriarchy. T