by BS Murthy
'It's not very clear as yet,' he said gravely, however, not leaving the hand. 'As I told you, the lines are liable to change.'
'But,' said Sandhya pointing at a sideline below Roopa's little finger, 'I've heard that this line indicates children.'
'The lines there indicate the affections for the opposite sex,' he predicted with hope. 'As Roopa has a single line, she is likely to have a deep affection in her life.'
'What about her?' Roopa asked, reluctantly withdrawing her hand.
'You mean,' he said naughtily, 'affections or children.'
'I know from her nature as well as her hand that she would have only one such affection in her life,' said Roopa indulgently. 'I want to know about her children.'
'She could have two children,' he said.
'You mean,' Roopa suggested correction, 'you would have two children.'
'Factually speaking,' he said smilingly, 'you see, her hand indicates the prospects of her maternity and not the source of its paternity.'
'Now I know,' said Roopa coyly, 'how devilishly mischievousyou could be.'
'Well,' Sandhya joined in the mirth, 'you can figure out my lot with him.'
After lunch, when Sandhya proposed caroms, Roopa wondered how to go about it with only three of them around. At that, as Raja Rao said that he would watch the friends at play, Tara came around.
'Oh here's the godsend,' said Roopa enthusiastically. 'Tara, join us for the caroms.'
'It's my pleasure,' said Tara, greeting all, 'though I don't know who is going to suffer at my hands.'
'Who shall partner whom?' Sandhya thought aloud.
'Let it be the couple,' suggested Tara, 'versus the neighbors.'
'M adam, you seem to be a sound strategist. Knowing that a man and his wife won't see eye to eye, you want to pair us for your easy pickings,' said Raja Rao, sending the femaies into peaisof iaughter.
'Roopa, you had better partner him,' said Sandhya amusediy. 'If I say that we might pair, his tongue wouid wag yet another way.'
As Roopa turned out to be a novice and Tara being quite adept at the game, not to speak of Sandhya, Raja Rao sensed that there was a drubbing in the offing. As feared. Raja Rao and Roopa got the stick in the first board.
'Oh, we've iost,' said Roopa, apoiogeticaliy, 'because of me.'
'Don't worry,' he seemed to assure her in more ways than one. 'We shail make it in the end.'
'I suppose,' Sandhya teased him, 'playing caroms is not as easy as wagging the tongue.'
'In no way are we going to give up,' he said to Sandhya, and added, 'Are we Roopa?' Roopa for once got scared.
'How I wish I had a better hand to lend you,' said Roopa, having recovered her wits in the meantime. 'But I know that you'll make them run for their money all on your own.'
While the game progressed, as he began to regain his touch, he was seized by a desire to let Roopa savor the thrill of winning. In the euphoria of Roopa's praises then, he played like a man possessed, and that proved to be detrimental to their opponents in the end.
'I haven't seen you play,' said Sandhya, watching him in wonderment as he went on a pocketing spree, 'half as well at Kothalanka.'
'After all, I can't let down my partner, can I?' he said, thrilling Roopa no end.
Wrapping up the game in time, he involuntarily extended his hand to Roopa that she shook in excitation. Though sorry for Tara, Sandhya shook his hand in admiration. While Tara shook hands with him in congratulation, Roopa watched his demeanor in contemplation. 'Is he enjoying her touch?' she looked for signs of his crush on Tara, and seeing none she felt relieved, but thought nevertheless, 'Why this possessiveness for a man who's not mine even! But how could it ever be love unless one is besieged by jealousy?'
When Sandhya proposed a challenge round, Roopa was not a game for it as she preferred to preserve the memory of their triumph lest they should lose the challenger. But at Roopa's behest as they took to rummy instead, Tara talked about the stakes.
'You spell it,' said Raja Rao.
'Ten a count,' Tara proposed.
'I feel it's high,' said Sandhya.
'Not for an architect's wife,' Tara brushed aside the objection.
As dame luck teamed up with the members of her gender, as if to show where her sympathies lie, Tara said to Raja Rao, 'It looks like you have no way with dame luck today.' Picking up his cards deliberately, he looked stealthily at Roopa and said, 'But I'm hopeful that she might favor me in time.' However, as he found Roopa gazing at him as though expecting some such comment, he knew she was playing the ball with him.
Roopa though admired his audacity, nevertheless, was troubled lest Sandhya should take note of their flirtations. 'Sandhya seems to be in love with him to a fault, though
she can't be faulted for that,' thought Roopa as she scooted that deal. 'It's as though some magnetic force would draw women to him! Isn't Tara, the veteran of many a fill, coy to him as If she were a virgin? It looks like he appreciates Tara's undeniable charms but he doesn't seem to be enamored of her. Without a roving eye, won't he make a steady lover? Oh, had I not stopped him in his tracks then, daredevil that he is, he could have declared his love for me then and there. What a lover to have, if ever I have him. Well, I shouldn't miss the next chance as and when it presents itself.'
'Sorry,' said Tara, taking leave at length, 'for robbing the hosts.'
'We'll make it even next time,' said Roopa smiling.
'I always wish that you're better even,' said Tara in undertone to Roopa. 'It's still open.'
Fearing a possible misunderstanding by Raja Rao and Sandhya, Roopa clarified as Tara had left, 'She wants me to take up a job and promises to find me one.'
'Why,' said Sandhya, 'it's not a bad idea.'
'What's the hesitation?' he asked, finding Roopa unresponsive.
'You may not know,' said Roopa to Raja Rao, 'that I'm not even a graduate. I wonder who would employ me, and for what.'
'As I told you,' said Sandhya to Raja Rao, 'Roopa was the topper of our class before she gave up studies.'
'How does that help now,' said Roopa. 'Now it's all bygones.'
'Roopa, nothing is really over till the very end,' he said persuasively. 'Even after death, there would still be one last journey to make to the crematorium. You could have wanted to be a doctor to serve the sick. Well, there are other ways for you to do that. Apart from the doctors and the ayahs, health-care needs administrators as well. If you work for it, who knows, you might run your own clinic one day.'
'Honestly, I haven't thought on those lines,' said Roopa visibly impressed. 'Thanks for opening up my mind.'
'Who knows,' said Sandhya joyously, 'one day you might as well design her clinic.'
'Won't I put all my heart into it,' said Raja Rao heartily, 'making it all soulful for her.'
'Oh,' said Roopa extending her hand to him, 'it's like you're rekindling my ambition.'
'Meanwhile,' he said holding on to her hand, 'improve your academics through correspondence course, and enlarge your vision by observation. When the opportunity comes, thus you would have been equipped to acquit yourself well.'
'Well,' Roopa said as though in a trance.
'I know you could,' he said animatedly, and she pressed his hand warmly.
'You can count on us,' said Sandhya, embracing a moved Roopa.
Infected more by their euphoric love than his carnal desire. Raja Rao couldn't help taking them both in his arms for a fleeting moment that seemed eternity to Roopa.
Chapter 18
Fetishes of Fantasy
After siesta that evening, Sandhya proposed a walk on the Tank Bund that they agreed to. 'Let's walk down,' said Roopa as they came out. In time, as they reached there. Raja Rao noticed many life- size statues lined at intervals and wished to see them
all at close quarters. While they walked past a long row of Imposing bronzes of renowned Andhras, Installed on granite pedestals, as he read the Inspiring Inscriptions In gold on them, he marveled, 'A great Id
ea.'
'Controversial though,' said Roopa.
'How?' he looked surprised.
'There was a minor row,' explained Roopa, 'raked up In the local press about the advisability of spending millions on them, bringing the schemes for the poor to a grinding halt.'
'It must be the handiwork of the politicians out of power who Itch for mischief,' articulated Raja Rao, 'Even If one kid who sees them were to be Inspired by the deeds of any of these greats, then the value of that life for the country would countervail the cost of all the statues put together. But why don't I find Srinatha.'
'I too find It odd,' said Roopa, 'that our kavisarvabhowma Is left out.'
'When Thyagalah Is rightly accorded the pride of place,' said Sandhya In agreement, 'Ignoring the most romantic of Telugu poets Is Indeed heartless.' In time, as they reached the statue of Sir Arthur Cotton, Raja Rao said, 'It's a thoughtful gesture to treat this Englishman as our own.'
After a go around as they relaxed on the lawns near the Nannaya's, the topic turned to culture and literature. 'The hallmark of greatness Is the ability to appreciate the virtues of other peoples and their cultures',' said Raja Rao. 'Are you aware of what Appalah DIkshItar, the Tamil poet saint said of us Andhras? He felt that to be born an Andhra and to be able to speak Telugu Is a boon, which cannot be achieved without much penance. But normally bigotry makes people Imagine they are superior to the rest of the peoples put together.'
As It started drizzling by then, they thought of leaving.
'I like getting drenched,' said Roopa
'Metoo,' said Sandhya.
'It should be exciting,' said Raja Rao, looking at Roopa.
While they were caught In the pouring rain, they got wet to their roots, and falling behind on purpose. Raja Rao went on devouring Roopa's figure at Its back. In her wet sari that tightly hugged her body, as though to squeeze Itself dry, her provocative figure evoked passion In his groins. Her splendid back of tan exposed by the seeming dissolution of her brownish blouse Induced In him a craving for kissing her there. Her narrow waist, left uncovered by her dress, enabled him to envision the carnal character of her frame. The silt of her seat, discernible at every step, stepped up his urge for a novel possession of her. As she hitched her sari artfully to part-bare her wondrous legs, their enticing shape enveloped his eyes. And whenever she turned at the street corners, the sight of her heavy breasts wetted by the Act of God whetted his appetite.
At length, as he Instinctively turned his gaze towards Sandhya for an unintended comparison, he found her talking to Roopa animatedly. He felt the smooth contours of Sandhya's delectable frame gave wavIness to the sari she wore. It seemed to him that his wife's rosy face glowed even more by the radiance of the lightning. The delicacy of her demeanor made him envision the evocative charm of a bunch of seedless grapes In the midst of the season.
'Individually they picture contrasting charms but together they symbolize beauty Itself,' he analyzed his own state of mind. 'M y cup of life would be half empty till 1 have Roopa as well. Oh, what a marvel of a woman! And Imagine she's Infatuated with me!
Nevertheless, how painfully sweet love is in anxiety. That's the charm of it, isn't it? But as the urge surges, so would the pain for possession in the pangs of passion. Only her soothing embrace can bring solace to my troubled soul. Well, even if she were attracted, would she be inclined to bestow her final favor on me? In spite of her proclivities, won't it be a big hurdle for her to cross, to enter into a liaison with her friend's husband?'
'Why am I allowing myself to be distracted by her charms when my bride herself is so fresh?' he thought in wonderment. 'Isn't it said that love increases in proportion to the possibility of possession. That way, Tara is no mean a charmer either; any man would gladly put his soul on the line to win her favors. Oh, how these sexy women move me! Anyway, is there a way I can possess Tara? But for that who knows I might have been daydreaming about her. Thankfully, it's all different with Roopa for her friendship with Sandhya might as well usher in our love affair.'
Even as he felt hopeful of possessing Roopa one day, her enamored eyes and suggestive gestures he reminisced, had only fuelled his passion for her possession. 'Possession, to be meaningful, should be timely,' he reasoned, as he increased his pace to come closer to the women. 'When we would meet next time around, who knows, she could be carrying. Won't it then turn out into a regimen of seeing a bloated Roopa belatedly? Then, with nothing left to inspire possession, and having gained to make it difficult, won't she leave me pondering over her past contours in her rotund presence? Well, holding her child in my lap, won't I be left wondering as to what it would have been like had I possessed her before? Wouldn't the hoped-for possession on a grand scale passion end up a damp squib in a platonic fashion? It would for sure and sadly at that.'
'Won't it be sexy possessing her now when her figure is at its curvy best,' it crossed him as they turned the corner to reach home. 'M oreover, going by her hungry looks, she seems to be inclined towards me. What if I go to her on the sly after Sandhya falls asleep? Surely, she wouldn't be pushing me out were she to fail to invite me into her arms. But won't that be the cue for me to find ways and means to press ahead for her heart and soul encased in her sexy frame? Surely, that would begin a life long affair with her, won't it?
'But all that would have made sense if I were put up here,' he thought dejectedly. 'In a one-night stand, I might barely taste her flavor to savor which I would need the possession of a lifetime. M aybe the romance of a night might meet the demands of our urge but only the life long union could fulfill our craving souls. On the other hand, if I were to seduce her now into submission that might lead her astray in the end. Having had a fling with me, won't she, in my absence, succumb to the advances of an ogler? Should that happen, instead of giving her the solace of love, I would be the cause of her depravity.'
As he shuddered to imagine her fall, he resolved, 'It is better that we moved in here before I begin wooing her.'
When they reached home, in that wet setting, Roopa goaded Sandhya to go in for a shower.
'Have you seen Pakeezah?' Roopa asked him, once Sandhya was gone.
'I liked it,' he said sensing some inference from that love story, 'What about you?'
'I found the movie moving and the songs memorable,' she said, giving an impression that she left something unsaid.
'Especially that one, 'yuhi koyi,' he said, as though he understood what was unsaid, 'about a chancy meeting and thereafter.'
'Do you think,' she began, as though to convey more than she enquired, 'marriages are made in heaven?'
'Maybe,' he said, as if he was ciarifying their position, 'but why on earth shouidn't onefaii in iove?'
'I agree,' she said after a pause, during which she conveyed her approvai with her gaze.
When Sandhya came out from bath, Roopa tried to goad him into the bathroom, but as he insisted that he wouid be the iast to go, she went in there disappointed. However, after her bath-of-dreams, about to ciear the ciothesiine, she changed her mind and ieft her dirty iinen behind. 'Sureiy, he wouid scan my iingerie,' she pondered romanticaiiy over the possibiiity. 'That couid be the reason why he insisted that I go in before him. Oh, what a ciever chap. As he wouid pick up my brassiere to note the size, won't he smeii it as weii for my body odor?'
At that, the thought of his fetishism invoiving her bra created a sensation in her body, which made her shiver expectantiy. 'Why not confirm by noting the arrangement,' she thought mischievousiy and arranged her iingerie meticuiousiy.
Thereafter, as he went for bath, she kept time. Whiie she visuaiized him handiing her brassiere, she feit as though he were squeezing her breasts, and when she anticipated him to smeii the thing, she feit as though his breath had warmed her breasts but above aii the idea that he wouid be toying with her panty puisated her frame.
Lying in wait, she rushed into the bathroom as he came out of it, oniy to return with a satisfied smiie much iater.
When it w
as time to stop for the day, Roopa addressed Raja Rao, 'I hope you don't mind using the bedroom.'
'Why bother?' he said embarrassediy. 'The haii shouid do for me.'
'I wouid rather insist that you use the bedroom,' said Roopa. 'Though we're fine otherwise, it takes us a iittie to accommodate our guests.'
'The need of any famiiy couid be a coupie of chairs besides a cot or two,' he said as if to make them grasp the underiying irony of status. 'The odd guest couid be accommodated on some spare bed. However, the paraphernaiia we acquire is meant more to announce our arrivai on the sociai stage than to serve our needs. Having put them in piace at great cost, and with much compromise even, we won't rest tiii we show off to our acquaintances. Weii, a house is where we take sheiter as we iive and vacate as we die.'
'You make me feei at home,' said Roopa to Raja Rao, 'in my own house.'
'It's the best compiiment,' he said, 'I've ever received from any host.'
'Don't hesitate to feei at home,' she said in undertone as Sandhya went in to have some water.
'I'd love to,' he whispered to her.
Calling it a day, Sandhya followed her husband, however after winking at her friend.
'It's a little embarrassing, isn't it?' said Raja Rao as Sandhya bolted the door.
'Never mind. I'll join her later,' said Sandhya fondly caressing his chest.
As she lay beside Raja Rao, Sandhya felt that he seemed fonder than ever for Roopa too was fond of him. For his part, as Raja Rao took Sandhya into his arms, he found himself fantasizing Roopa's presence as well and while he made love to his wife, he
found himself craving his beloved's body too. Even though he got ecstatic in the climax, he nevertheless felt wanting in his fulfillment.
'Won't I need them both for my fulfillment?' he contemplated as Sandhya left him to join Roopa. 'Though my emotions for each are discernible, my love for them seems indivisible. But, how do they fit in our love triangle? Well, won't they adore each other? And that might ensure they are not averse to the idea. Just the same, I need to prod them a little to help them overcome their inhibitions. But once drawn into the love triangle, won't they find it fascinating to envision each other making love to me? Sandhya might feel fulfilled seeing the woman she adores gratifying the man they love. In turn, finding the man she admires at coitus with the woman she loves, Roopa could indeed feel fascinated. Having been fulfilled thus, won't Roopa enlace Sandhya in all empathy as if to share her joy? And if only Freud got it right, won't their latent leanings gather momentum to open the lesbian front to feast my eyes?'