The ending of Tagore's short story brings out the theme of how universal pain and suffering is in the modern setting.  The ending, in particular the last two paragraphs, takes an almost global perspective to the conditions of both Ratan and the postmaster.  Tagore suggests that in their separation, pain is evident in both of their worlds.  It is an interesting theme to develop.  The postmaster has obviously broken Ratan's heart.  There is little ambiguity that Tagore gives us in this element.  Yet, Tagore's narration at the end of the story brings the idea that the postmaster, if only for a moment, feels an indescribable pain of what it means to live in the modern setting.  For a moment, he envisions the pain he caused, and this, in turn, causes pain to him.  Tagore's narration brings out a universal condition in which pain is intrinsic to being in the world.  The postmaster rationalizes this away, arguing in his own mind that this is the way of being, the natural order of things.  His rationalization only concludes that there is pain at the heart of even those who cause pain, suggesting that one of the only universal currencies in the modern setting is the pain that individuals experience.

Ratan's pain of being abandoned is naturally evident at the end of the story.  Tagore's narration makes it clear that she is not the benefactor of such awareness and rationalization that explain her pain or explain it away.  Rather, her condition in the world is one borne of pain, something that Tagore himself brings out in his description of her.  It is one in which she lives her life with a sense of pain intrinsic to it.  It is in this common denominator, one of pain felt and experienced, that both the postmaster and Ratan live.  In doing so, Tagore's ending to the story helps to make clear that the element of experiencing pain is a theme that is embedded in the modern setting.