Chandan Ka Palna

No joy in the world can equal the happiness a man derives from watching his own child at play. Not all the riches in the world can compensate for the vacuum, the emptiness, created by the want of a child in a home. With a woman this yearning is a hundred times stronger and the outcome of her torment impossible beyond measure. Radha belonged to a rich family. Her sole aim in life after becoming a widow, was to see her son Ajit happy and fulfil the promise she had given to her husband that the family name and tradition would be perpetuated. Finding Ajit deeply in love with Shobha, the Raisaheb's daughter who too loved him no less, Radha got them married, hoping that Shobha would prove an ideal wife and daughter-in-law and their home would soon resound with merry laughter of a child, if not children. Three years went by and Radha was still waiting for the new arrival in the family. Her patience was running out. Desperate, she took Shobha to a doctor who, after prolonged examination and treatment, told her that God alone could help her fulfill her yearning for a grandchild. Radha's sorrow knows no bounds. She could not think of the family chain breaking off. She had to have a grandchild and fulfil her promise to her late husband. As a last resort, she takes Shobha to Gurudev, the spiritual soul revered by the family. Gurudev has pity on Radha's plight and after taking her into confidence, tells her the fact that Shobha can never have a child. Shobha after hearing this is left in a state of shock. Being very well aware of her mother-in-law's craving for a grandchild, life seems without a ray of hope for Shobha to live. She decides to put an end to it. It was better that way, she thinks, than to suffer the humiliation of being branded barren forever.