There are some people who wish to pass off for something unique assuming such superiority that
sooner or later becomes an incurable disease with them. RAMANATH was one such unfortunate
case. His father, DAYANATH, served in the Allahabad District Court as a Munshi. He was humble and
an honest man. He belonged to that class which could just afford either to wear clothes at the risk of
going hungry or to sacrifice clothes for a square meal. For such a man, to maintain four or five
members of a family plus preserving one's status, in itself, was no mean achievement.
RAMANATH was just the reverse, he started living under the constant shelter of falsehood, first at
the cost of his friends and then at his own cost. JALPA, the only daughter of her parents had an
obsession for ornaments right from her childhood. She got married to Ramanath and on their bridal
night, Ramanath lost no time in impressing upon her that his father was an exceptionally rich man.
She was naturally delighted and started making demands for more and more ornaments That lie
which RAMANATH told his wife became the forerunner of his countless lies which brougth him utter
ruin and damnation.
RAMANATH had not much education; it was through the influence of RAMESHBABU that he could
get a petty job of a Tax-collector in the Municipality. It was quite obvious that he could not maintain
his ornament crazy wife on his meagre earnings. So he started taking bribes and even these bribes
could not cope up with her demands and requests.
GANGU, the jewellar, notorious for his cunning.... made a fool of RAMANTH. He started giving
ornaments to him, on credit. With the result, RAMANATH got into such hot waters that he was
forced by the circumstances to embezzle the money from the Municipality. Scared of getting
arrested on the charge of embezzlement he left his home and finally took refuge in Calcutta in the
house of DEVIDEEN KHATIK. Fate has a way of laying a trap for the weak and the foolish. One day,
poor RAMANATH crept out of his shelter to post a letter to his wife - a Police constable accosted him
and asked him 'Who are you'. RAMANATH blurted out yet another lie with the result he landed up in
the Police Station.
The incorrigible liar became a puppet in the hands of the Police. Under duress and also tempted by
the offer of a glorious future, he turned into an approver.
He betrayed his friend DINESH, the leader of the revolutionaries, to the gallows and DINESH'S
colleagues to heavy sentences of imprisonment.
What happened to the young revolutionaries - what fate did they meet in the end? What happened
to the cowardly RAMANATH? Did he pay a heavy price for his huge lie? If not, why not?
And what happened to JALPA?
This is the story of GABAN.