Nirmala by Premchand

​"A haunting portrait of a life sacrificed at the altar of tradition."

​Nirmala is a young, vibrant girl whose life is shattered when her father's sudden death breaks her engagement. Forced by her mother’s desperation and the rigid norms of 1920s India, she is married off to Totaram—a widower old enough to be her father, with three sons of his own.

​What follows is a heartbreaking descent into a domestic nightmare. Nirmala finds herself caught in a web of suspicion, jealousy, and the suffocating expectations of a society that offers no escape for a woman in her position. As she struggles to find her place in a household that views her with resentment, she becomes a tragic symbol of the devastating consequences of the dowry system and mismatched marriages.

​Read this powerful social masterpiece to witness a story that remains a chilling reflection of systemic injustice.