When We First Met – A Heart-Touching Love Story That Will Melt Your Soul
Author: Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Published: 1917
Genre: Tragic Romance / Bengali Classic Fiction
Setting: Rural Bengal and Calcutta (now Kolkata), India
Devdas Mukherjee: A sensitive, wealthy young man from a zamindar (landlord) family.
Parvati "Paro": Devdas’s childhood friend and love interest, from a middle-class Brahmin family.
Chandramukhi: A kind-hearted courtesan who falls in love with Devdas.
Kaushalya: Devdas’s mother, proud and class-conscious.
Paro’s Parents: Especially her mother, who was hurt by Devdas’s family’s rejection.
Devdas and Paro grew up together in the same village and were inseparable during their childhood. Their relationship was innocent but deep, filled with affection and playfulness.
As teenagers, Devdas is sent to Calcutta for education. During this separation, Paro starts to realize she truly loves Devdas, and wants to marry him. After he returns years later, their bond rekindles.
Paro’s parents approach Devdas’s family with a marriage proposal. But Devdas’s family, especially his father and mother, reject it due to caste and social status differences—they consider Paro's family inferior.
Devdas is torn. He loves Paro but lacks the courage to go against his family. In confusion, he leaves home and goes back to Calcutta without even informing Paro.
Feeling humiliated and heartbroken, Paro agrees to marry a much older, wealthy widower with children, as a matter of pride and revenge against Devdas’s rejection.
When Devdas realizes the depth of Paro's love and his own mistake, he returns and pleads with her to elope. But it’s too late—Paro has accepted her fate and chooses her marital duty over love.
Crushed by guilt, grief, and the loss of Paro, Devdas spirals into alcoholism. He starts wandering aimlessly, visiting different cities.
During his journey, he meets Chandramukhi, a beautiful courtesan who is touched by his suffering. She falls in love with him, but Devdas remains emotionally devoted only to Paro.
Devdas’s health begins to fail because of excessive drinking. On the verge of death, he decides to keep a promise to Paro—he travels to her house to see her one last time.
He collapses and dies at the gates of Paro’s mansion, alone and without anyone by his side. Paro, locked inside her home due to family honor and social rules, sees his dead body but can’t come out.
Unfulfilled Love: Devdas and Paro love each other deeply but are victims of social pressure and ego.
Tragedy of Inaction: Devdas’s inability to take strong decisions leads to his downfall.
Social Class & Ego: Family pride and class divisions ruin lives.
Self-Destruction: Devdas chooses a path of pain instead of healing.
Women in Society: Paro and Chandramukhi represent two sides of womanhood—respectable wife and social outcast, yet both are powerful in their emotions and loyalty.
"Devdas" has been adapted into films many times in various Indian languages. The most popular versions include:
1955 (Hindi) – Directed by Bimal Roy, starring Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, and Vyjayanthimala.
2002 (Hindi) – Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit. A lavish and emotional adaptation.
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