Mangal loved a married woman?

Mangal Pandey continues to besurrounded by controversy. Now, filmmaker-turnedwriter Amaresh Misra���sbook - claims that the sepoy was fascinated by a marriedwoman.While the 100-page book describes how Mangal was haunted byhis lover���s ���doelike, helpless eyes���, the author points toAalha Mangal Pandey, a written ballad; Soorkant Misra���s Faizabad Ka Ithas;and Gaddar Ke Phool as the basis of his research.Misra says Aalha mentions how Mangal and his friend Nakki Khan visited Calcutta because Mangalwanted to bid bye to his beloved, who was married to a Bengali clerk.������As Mangal drank bhang and made love to this woman, Nakki stood atthe doorway looking for possible intruders.There���s writtenevidence of how Nakki didn���t approve of Mangal���s affair with amarried woman and how Mangal was adamant.The attraction wasirresistible and, it seems, Mangal...... had a physical relationshipwith her. But Aalha... doesn���t name the woman,������ saysMisra.The book traces Mangal���s lady love to the Nadia districtof Calcutta, where her grandfather owned a brass factory. ������For thiswoman, Mangal was a hero who protected her. It seems that this lady - marriedoff at an early age to a Bengali Brahmin based in Calcutta - was unhappy,taunted as she was by her mother-in-law for not bearing children.Apparently, Mangal was performing rituals in Calcutta���s Gangawhen he saw her floating half dead in the waters and rescued her.Herbeauty haunted Mangal; and he, clearly in love, wanted to elope with her. Arebellious and sturdy man, Mangal liked doing things the machoway,������ says Misra. However, it���s a mystery what happened toMangal���s beloved after his death. ������The love storyhas been left midway with Mangal���s political ambitions takingprecedence.������ Unlike the movie, Misra���s book doesn���tlink Mangal to a prostitute. My interpretation of Mangal is based on sources ofhistory in UP. He was a hero of the Mutiny forced into acting the way he did. Hewas an honest, passionate Brahmin, an extrovert with an open mind,������says Misra. Excerpts ������Mangal returns to thebarracks but the woman haunts him - especially her doe-like, helpless eyes.Mangal relates the story to fellow comrades - they rag him at first but thenberate him for leaving in the lurch a woman who had sought refuge... Hiscomrades declare him.a lovestruck bird that might soon be unfit for combat. Hetakes all the jibes in his stride.���