The movie is a powerful story that deals with feminism and patriarchy in the middle class of India . It is shot in the present and past tense showing lives of the characters Mahender and Sudha as they lived together as well as separately . The movie starts with Mahender getting down at the railway station and making his way to the waiting room just as it starts to rain heavily . A woman , Sudha , is already sitting in the waiting room . On seeing him , she tries to hide her face from him but later they confront each other . Mahender has an accomplished business dealing with photography . He respects his grandfather immensely . Incidentally , he had been engaged to Sudha for 5 years but always made some excuse to delay their wedding . However , this time his grandfather has fixed the wedding on the first week of the following month . He reveals to Sudha that he is having an affair with one of the most radical representations of feminism in a girl called Maya . He returns to tell Maya , but Maya has disappeared , leaving him some poetry . Mahender then marries Sudha and is quite happy , but the sudden return of Maya causes tensions in their married life . Mahender frequently tells Sudha about all the beautifully poignant , loving and authentic things Maya did over the years that they lived together . Later , Maya tries to commit suicide , and this leads to Mahender spending time with her over a few weeks . Sudha , not knowing about Maya 's suicide attempt and therefore believing that Mahender is being unfaithful to her , feels that her marriage was a mistake , and questions Mahender about his intentions . 
How long was Mahender engaged to his wife?
2 years