Mohanaswamy

by Vasudhendra

  There was no resistance.

  Finally, mustering all his courage, Kalleshi slid his hand inside Somanna’s langoti and clasped his genitals firmly.

  And that was it!

  Somanna slapped him across his face so hard, that Kalleshi collapsed to the ground. ‘Bosudike!’ Somanna screamed, kicking him madly, treating him like a stray dog.

  Kalleshi tumbled down, screeching ‘Please stop!’

  ‘Thooo!’ Somanna spat in his face. He then removed his langoti, flung it on the heap of clothes and dived into the well.

  It took a while for Kalleshi to recover from the blow. He touched his cheeks wincing in pain. He rose with difficulty, holding on to his smarting waist. Dragging his feet towards the well, he peeped inside. There was no sight of Somanna, he could only see ripples and hear the sound of water splashing.

  He walked towards the heap of Somanna’s clothes, picked up the langoti and sniffed it rigorously, getting intoxicated by the scent. Driven by unbridled desire, he pressed it on all parts of his body and finally slid it inside his shorts, wrapping it around himself. Next, he found a beedi pack and a matchbox in Somanna’s shirt pocket. He lit up a beedi, drew a deep puff and blew the smoke out. Then he threw the still-burning matchstick on Somanna’s clothes and walked home.

  The flames rose, roaring towards the sky as Somanna continued swimming.

  There was an old, dilapidated well in the backyard of Kalleshi’s house. A few years ago, people in the neighbourhood used to get water from it. But after Kalleshi’s mother fell into the well and died, everyone, including Kalleshi’s family stopped using it. The water in the ninety-feet-deep well had turned green and filthy. A few fish and a couple of tortoises, which had existed in the well earlier, were long dead. Now there were only long worms feeding on the algae and snakes feeding on rodents. Bats hovered above the area in the evenings.

  But that day, even the animals were frightened as the well reverberated with Kalleshi’s piteous screams. ‘I am sorry, Appa! I will not do it again, Appa!’ Kalleshi was begging pathetically, hanging upside down by a rope, six feet above the green water in the well. ‘Appa, I am scared, please pull me up, I beg you!’ he screamed as he heard the rustling of animals inside. ‘Ajji, save me! Please!’ But there were no replies to his desperate pleas. ‘Amma…!’ he called out to his dead mother as he felt breathless from the pressure of the rope tied around his legs and chest.

  But there was no one around to pay heed to his pleas. After fastening the rope to a tree trunk outside the well, his father Veerabhadrappa had gone and sat under a neem tree at a distance, casually smoking a beedi. His grandmother was sitting in the kitchen and sobbing helplessly, pleading for Kalleshi’s rescue, but it fell on deaf ears. She even tried to pull the rope herself with her feeble hands but couldn’t move it even an inch.

  Tears lurked beneath Veerabhadrappa’s fiery red eyes as he sat unmoved, not uttering a word. He had slept at Sunanda’s house in Koodligi the night before. Since it was a Monday, he had left early in the morning, and had gone to Balaswamy Betta to offer puja to the god on top of the hill before returning to the town.

  ‘What Veeranna … I heard your son Kalleshi laid hands on Somanna’s balls?’ an acquaintance, whom he met on the way, had jeered. Those searing words were still ringing in his ears.

  Kalleshi grew despondent after pleading continuously. His heart sank and his mouth dried up. Suddenly a bat flapped its wings over his face with a squeaking sound. Kalleshi’s heart missed a beat and he urinated in his terror. The fluid ran down over his shirt and then on his face before the drops spattered on a pair of snakes copulating down below. They hissed in anger for being disturbed and that was the last thing Kalleshi remembered before he passed out.

  It was late evening and the oil lamp placed in a niche on the front wall of Sangamma’s house was burning dimly. As a custom, the man who came before others would blow it out and step inside the house. As Sangamma closed the door behind her, the extinguished lamp outside indicated that she was engaged with a client. This was to avoid other men coming and knocking on the door when she was sleeping with one man.

  Sangamma was very choosy and particular about her clients. She took time before converting acquaintances into bed partners. For the first few days, she would engage the man in informal conversation and only when she was convinced of his trustworthiness, she allowed him into her bedroom.

  But that night it was almost time to sleep and nobody had come yet. A disappointed Sangamma was cursing her luck just when she saw a figure walking towards her house. Finally there was someone.

  It was Veerabhadrappa.

  He must have got tired of that Koodligi Sunandamma, that’s why, she thought to herself bitterly. But as Veerabhadra came nearer, she saw another man with him. ‘I won’t sleep with two men, they cannot force me,’ she muttered. But when they were at the door, she realized it was Kalleshi, his son. The rumours she had heard about him in the morning came to her mind and she sensed that something was amiss.

  ‘Blow out the lamp,’ Veerabhadrappa told his son.

  Kalleshi breathed out through his mouth feebly and the fire flickered weakly for a beat and burnt steadily.

  ‘Oye … Blow it out properly, with force!’ Veerabhadrappa commanded impatiently.

  Scared stiff, Kalleshi blew it out, exerting all his strength.

  ‘Veeranna, after sleeping with the father, I can’t sleep with the son,’ Sangamma said without mincing her words.

  Veerabhadrappa did not answer immediately. Instead, he extracted two betel leaves from his pocket. He kept some areca nut pieces and two hundred-rupee notes on the leaves, asking Kalleshi to hand over the tambula offering to Sangamma.

  ‘Sangamma, I can understand your dilemma. But I am not asking you to sleep with him. By now you must have come to know about the deeds of this son of a bitch. This morning’s episode has torn me apart. Just do me a favour. Take him inside and check if he is a man or not. Just think you are treating him clinically, nothing else. Kindly do it for my sake,’ he begged her with his hands clasped.

  His distressing pleas and the currency notes in Kalleshi’s hands swayed Sangamma. She held Kalleshi’s hand to take him inside but Kalleshi tried to escape.

  ‘Oye … bosudike … go inside, go!’ Veerabhadrappa commanded, hitting him on his head.

  Kalleshi helplessly followed Sangamma into the room. Sangamma closed the door behind her. Veerabhadrappa sat in a corner of the front yard, anxiously puffing at a beedi.

  The door opened within a few minutes. Sangamma came out. She had taken her blouse off and wrapped her sari across her chest.

  ‘What happened?’ Veerabhadrappa’s eyes burnt with anticipation.

  ‘Kaamanna – the god of lust – hasn’t favoured your son,’ she sighed.

  Veerabhadrappa drew one last puff and squashed the butt of his beedi on the cow dung plastered floor. Pushing Sangamma aside, he barged into the room. Kalleshi was curled in a foetal position, holding his clothes tightly to his chest. The sight of a nude woman had left him feeling nothing but fear and disgust. Veerabhadrappa didn’t say a word. He just went up to his son and began kicking him with all the energy he could muster. He trampled him like an elephant crushing ants under its feet.

  ‘Don’t beat me, don’t … I beg you … Leave me!’ Kalleshi begged pathetically, doubling up with pain.

  Fearing the boy might die, Sangamma pushed Veerabhadrappa aside and threw herself on Kalleshi, holding him tight and shielding him from his father’s blows. ‘Please don’t beat him, don’t … Please!’ She wailed.

  But Veerabhadrappa was in no mood to heed her words. He continued kicking him and amidst the blows, she also got hurt.

  ‘Stop it, Veeranna, this is god’s creation! Don’t insult god’s creation,’ she shouted furiously.

  Veerabhadrappa stopped. Throwing a contemptuous glance at Sangamma, he said, ‘I have kept five women like you. But I fail to understand why god gave an impotent son to a powerful m
an like me.’ He spat on the floor. ‘From today on, this impotent creature is not my son, nor am I his father!’ He picked up his towel from the floor, dusted it off, put it on his shoulders and walked out in a huff.

  Sangamma followed him to the door. ‘Veeranna…’ she called. Veerabhadrappa stopped and turned around. Looking into his eyes she said, ‘I will tell you one thing, remember it well. Unlike you, your son hasn’t committed the sin of keeping five women and pushing his wife into the well. Every Monday, you go to the temple and offer puja, but even the god you worship loathes women, mind you! He likes only men!’

  ‘Bevarsi, rande!’ Veerabhadrappa’s eyes splashed with malice as he spat expletives at her and walked away.

  Sangamma wore her blouse, went inside the kitchen and brought a glass of water. She helped Kalleshi sit up and made him drink it. He put on his clothes in front of her. When he lost his balance while sliding his trembling legs into his underwear, Sangamma held his hand and supported him.

  ‘Going ahead, life will be very difficult, my child. People don’t respect impotent people and prostitutes,’ she said sadly.

  ‘But I am not impotent,’ Kalleshi said dolefuly.

  He dragged his feet towards the door, limping. Sangamma watched him walking in the opposite direction of his house. Then, remembering something, she went inside and brought the hundred-rupee notes given by Veerabhadrappa. ‘Kallesheee!’ she hollered, hurriedly walking towards him. She slipped the currency notes into his palm and said, ‘Be happy, wherever you go.’

  Kalleshi melted into the darkness.

  Sangamma brought out a matchbox and lit the lamp placed in the niche in the front wall of the house.

  AT THE PEAK, FOR THE FIRST TIME

  Mohanaswamy’s flight was to take off from Bengaluru at 9.30 a.m. The airport was a two-hour drive from his house. But he hadn’t booked a taxi. He had decided to take a bus as the frequency of BTS buses to the airport was quite good. He was going to Delhi only for a day, and had no luggage except a laptop bag. The taxi fare would have been an unnecessary expense to his company. They had arranged to send him to Delhi to train his co-workers.

  It was already half past seven and he was still at home. Domestic check-in wouldn’t take much time, but he wanted to leave early so he would reach the airport with at least half an hour to spare.

  Karthik had gone in for a bath and hadn’t come out yet. He had a habit of spending long hours in the bathroom. Mohanaswamy often objected to it. ‘What is the use of pouring water continuously over the body like this?’ But Karthik never paid any heed to his grumblings.

  ‘Come out fast, Karthi, I have to leave. I’m already very late!’ Mohanaswamy knocked on the bathroom door. How could he leave home before Karthik came out? Who would latch the door from the inside?

  Mohanaswamy had woken up early in the morning and got completely ready for his trip. He went over the PowerPoint presentation he had made for the training session. He ironed his clothes. Brought milk from the shop and had his morning coffee. He also cooked sambar for Karthik’s dinner. He had a bath at six and Karthik was still sleeping.

  Every morning, Karthik invariably woke up late. Mohanaswamy had to shake him and call him three-four times. He sometimes became anxious that in his absence, Karthik may not wake up at all and end up being terribly late for everything. He slept like Kumbhakarna, the demon. ‘You have no sense of responsibility. I alone have to worry about everything!’ Mohanaswamy yelled at him all the time. Karthik usually responded to this with a laugh. And if Mohanaswamy continued to berate him, he would stride up to him, take him in a tight embrace and seal his mouth with a hot, voluptuous kiss.

  The same thing happened today. When Karthik came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a red turkey towel, the scent of Pears soap blended with hot steam wafting from his body, it was already 7.40 a.m. Mohanaswamy, all set to leave, dressed crisply in his business suit, was waiting for him anxiously. ‘What is this, Karthi, don’t you know I am already late? Even today you took so long. What if I miss my flight?’ Mohanaswamy went on heatedly.

  Without replying, Karthik grasped him from behind and began kissing his neck and cheeks passionately. ‘No, Karthi, no … my ironed clothes will become wet…’ Mohanaswamy pleaded. Karthik only got more worked up. He pinioned Mohanaswamy against the wall, kissing his neck vigorously. Mohanaswamy could no longer resist and he gave in, moaning with pleasure.

  Releasing Mohanaswamy from his tight embrace a while later, a smiling Karthik wrapped his towel around his waist again and sat on the bed with his legs stretched. He buried his head in a newspaper, expecting a stream of expletives from Mohanaswamy.

  Mohanaswamy looked at his watch. It was already 8 a.m. His neatly-ironed clothes were now all damp and crumpled. He did not have another pair of ironed clothes to wear. ‘Karthi, what is this? What will I do now?’ he cried in frustration. Karthik did not respond, his head still buried in the newspaper. ‘Speak up now, say something!’ A livid Mohanaswamy screamed, snatching the newspaper away from him.

  ‘Well, why did you wait for me till I finished my bath? If you had left while I was inside, all this wouldn’t have happened, right?’ Karthik asked, still smiling.

  ‘Then who would bolt the door from inside? What if thieves broke in?’

  ‘Now, don’t cook up excuses! What is there in this house that will interest thieves? No gold, no silver, no cash, nothing. Some clothes and a few utensils is all that we have. I know you were searching for a pretext to stay back. You couldn’t have left without having a cuddle huddle with me, right?’

  ‘Idiot!’ shrieked Mohanaswamy, and picked a pillow from his bed and began swatting Karthik with it. Karthik faced the blows and broke into a fit of giggles.

  After a few minutes, Karthik stopped laughing and became serious. ‘It’s time for you to start now, Mohana, hurry up. Or else you will really miss the flight,’ he said. ‘Now it’s not me who is stopping you.’

  His serious tone brought Mohanaswamy back to his senses. ‘What clothes will I wear, Karthi?’ he cried.

  ‘You can put on my clothes.’ Karthik suggested.

  ‘Your clothes will be big for me. How will I wear them?’

  ‘Nothing will happen if you put them on for a day. Please don’t make an issue out of every damn thing!’

  Left with no other choice, Mohanaswamy walked across to Karthik’s room and was shocked to see the main door of the house wide open. ‘Oh my god, oh my god!’ Mohanaswamy let out a yelp as he ran back into the room and climbed onto the bed, his body shivering.

  ‘What happened, my dear, why are you screaming?’ asked Karthik pulling Mohanaswamy towards him.

  ‘Karthi, the door is wide open. We didn’t realize it…’ Mohanaswamy said in a trembling voice.

  For Karthik it was no big deal. ‘So what if the door is open? Why are you so worried?’ he tried to console him.

  ‘What if someone had come inside and seen us together?’

  ‘Let them see. Nothing is going to happen.’

  ‘You are being so naive, Karthi, you don’t realize the gravity of the situation. If someone sees us together and tips our landlord off, we will be kicked out.’

  ‘Nonsense! Besides, we can always look for another house. Why should we be so scared? Have we murdered anybody? We just love each other. It’s as simple as that!’

  ‘I am not in a mood to joke, Karthi. My heart is pounding with anxiety. This is illegal. We will be dragged to the police station and put in jail…’

  Mohanaswamy was petrified. Karthik pulled him even closer. ‘So far nobody has seen us together, right? Don’t worry. One day or the other we will have to reveal all this to the world, Mohana … You must pluck up your courage…’ Karthik whispered in his ears, trying to comfort him.

  ‘No, Karthi, no. Even if I die, I won’t disclose this to anyone. This matter should not go beyond the four walls of the house, it should be strictly between you and me. Otherwise people will not keep quiet. They will chase us to our d
eaths,’ Mohanaswamy said anxiously.

  Karthik did not want to drag the matter further. ‘All right, forget about it now. Why talk of unpleasant things? You are late for your flight. Wear my shirt and trousers. I will drop you to the airport on my bike,’ he said.

  Mohanaswamy got up reluctantly. ‘I don’t think I can catch the flight. It’s very late now…’

  ‘If you miss the flight, you can catch the next one. Come on, we’ll figure something out.’

  Karthik called up the airport and gathered that Mohanaswamy’s plane was delayed by an hour. If the technical error was not rectified within an hour, the passengers would be taken in another plane. He got into a t-shirt and three-quarter pants and waited for Mohanaswamy.

  Mohanaswamy came out in Karthik’s clothes which were a little loose on him. ‘Is it okay?’ he asked coyly.

  ‘Super…’ Karthik gestured with his fingers. ‘You look smart!’ he said, walking up to Mohanaswamy.

  Sensing an impending danger, Mohanaswamy immediately jumped back and wailed, ‘Oye, oye, oye! Now don’t start all over again…’

  Karthik smiled and said, ‘You think I don’t have any other work? Come here, I will do your tie neatly.’ He went near him, removed the tie clip, held it between his teeth, took off the tie, perfected the knot and fastened back the clip in the right place. ‘Now you look smarter, Mohana,’ he said, pecking him on the forehead. ‘Also, your flight is late by an hour. So you can reach the airport without any tension,’ he said.

  ‘Really?’ Mohanaswamy said in disbelief. Karthik nodded. Mohanaswamy’s heart brimmed over with love and affection for him. ‘You don’t have to come all the way to drop me, then. I will take the bus. Or else you will be late for office,’ he said, stepping out of the house with his laptop bag. Going down the stairs, he suddenly remembered something and called out, ‘There is sambar in the fridge. And some curd. You only have to cook some rice for yourself for dinner. Don’t go to the mess to eat. They add soda to rice – it causes acidity. I may be late at night. Don’t wait for me. I will eat something in my flight.’ He sprinted down the steps and ran towards the bus stop.