by BS Murthy
At that, as the buzzer sounded, Nagaraju reached for the iatch.
'Oh, you'ii iive a hundred years,' Nagaraju weicomed Rami Reddy. 'We were just taiking about you oniy.'
'Sorry Sathyam,' said Rami Reddy, 'for spoiiing your party.'
'That's aii right sir,' said Sathyam. 'But what am I to do now?'
'Don't you know,' Nagaraju said dreamiiy, 'that aii eyes are on the three Worid Bank Tenders?'
'How I wish your bids turn out to be L-ls,' said Rami Reddy resignediy. 'You know they're aii Open Tenders.'
'But the FM has high hopes on you,' said Nagaraju to set the baii roiiing. 'He beiieves you couid find some ways and means to put them into his pocket. Any way, it won't be any favor but for barter that is.'
'How kind of him,' said Rami Reddy, and added throwing up his arms in the air, 'but you know the procedures are aii pucca.'
'The FM wants you to work out on the tactics,' said Nagaraju as though to iighten Rami Reddy's burden. 'And he's ready to take care of the iogistics.'
'To my mind at ieast, to say the ieast, the procedures are fooiproof and are not amenabie to any twists and turns,' said Rami Reddy, and turned to Sathyam as though wanting him to second his opinion. 'What do you say Sathyam?'
You're right sir,' said Sathyam, unabie to find a way through the tangie.
'Accommodation in the Limited Tenders,' continued Rami Reddy, 'and passing the biiisout of turn, are different anyway. Aren't we managing them for you aii the way?'
'And that's why it's peanuts for you, thus far,' said Nagaraju enticingiy. 'But get us these mega projects, and have a miiiion each.'
'Even if we ciick,' said Rami Reddy, as though to raise the stakes, 'it might iead us to the remand in the end.'
'Weii, to cover aii risks,' said Nagaraju faiiing for the bite, 'you both can have an extra miiiion each.'
'Don't mistake my saying that,' said Sathyam to Nagaraju, 'but when it comes to settiing the accounts, invariabiy it's aii about excuses. Why, I know peopie shying away from parting with farthings.'
'I appreciate that,' said Nagaraju as though the deai was about to be signed and seaied. 'Show us a fooiproof pian and take fifty percent in advance, and the baiance wiii be yours after the tenders are opened, but before you ieave the office. And that shouid satisfy you.'
'Tempting, though it is,' Rami Reddy thought aioud, 'I don't see how we can puii it off.'
'As you're invoived with the Tender Openings for more than a year now,' said Nagaraju to Sathyam, 'I hope you couid see us through.'
'I didn't appiy my mind to that,' said Sathyam thoughtfuiiy, 'but on the face of it, given the stringent procedures, it iooksa tough ask though.'
'When the drink gets into the system,' said Nagaraju openingthejohnny Waiker with the biack iabei, 'it might throw up an idea ortwo, wouidn't it?
'Anyway, it's stupid not to give it a try,' said Rami Reddy. 'Sathyam, iet's review the whoie process, and see if we can find any ioophoies.'
'Sir, as you know,' Sathyam recounted the tender procedure, 'at the scheduied time, the seaied tenders are opened with the bidders aii present there. Even as they watch with their eagie eyes, of course from some distance, I sort out the documents, and encircie the bid figures of each of them. Then I piace them aii before the committee members for their signature. After that, as the gathered take note of them, I read out aii the bids, one by one. The L-1 thus, wouid be an open secret by the time I wouid have announced the iast bid. On the other hand, if we try to favor a higher bid, then, as you know, aii heii wouid break ioose.'
'Why not we change the topic?' said Rami Reddy, as if in conciusion. 'You can report the matter to the minister, appended with my apologies. He might try his luck with the Tender Evaluation Committee.'
'Why give up, when half the bottle is still for the taking,' said Nagaraju, more out of hope than any expectation. But at length, when they all came down to the dregs, Sathyam said dreamily, 'If only the Tender Committee chooses to look the other way, take it from me that the projects are already in FM's pocket.'
'Really!' exclaimed Nagaraju, as his eyeballs almost came out of their sockets, as if to probe Sathyam's mind. 'Oh, come on, reveal the plot and leave the rest to me. If only
you need, we can even put the blind on the committee.'
While Nagaraju laughed heartily at his own joke. Rami Reddy was piqued by his subordinate's one-upmanship.
'Let me see if it's workable,' said Rami Reddy, bogged down by his failure to come up with something on his own, but not with any idea to examine what Sathyam might bring on to the table. Any way, he was far too inebriated by then to comprehend much of what was happening then.
'To start with,' announced Sathyam, 'FM's tenders would have blank bids.'
'What!' Nagaraju exclaimed in surprise.
'Only to turn into L-ls,' said Sathyam with a triumphant look, 'in the end.'
'Nonsense,'said Rami Reddy dismissively.
'Why, let him explain,' said Nagaraju, looking hopeful, 'how that is possible.'
'If only the committee members authenticate your tenders without bids,' Sathyam unfolded the plan, 'won't I then turn them into legal L-ls at the end of the day?'
'But how?' said Nagaraju.
'Once the committee turns blind to the blank spaces, and signs on the dotted lines,' said Sathyam, assuming a measured tone, 'I would place each of your tenders at the bottom of the respective piles. Then, for a given project, as I read out the bid figures of all the tenders from top to bottom, at every stage, I would make a mental note the prevailing L-1. Thus, in the end, as I pick up your empty tender lying at the bottom, I can utter the bid amount, lower than the lowest. Well, Nagarajugaru should be alert to note the figures I blurt out for all the three jobs. Once we're done with the crowd, won't we have all the time in the world to insert the lowest bids in those empty circles on our tenders? Now tell me, what do you think of the coup in the making?'
'Brilliant,'exclaimed Nagaraju.
'Workable,' said Rami Reddy.
'There wouid be a few ioose ends to tie up though,' said Sathyam, with a top-of-theworid feeiing. 'For matching the typeface on the tenders on the whoie, we need to use the same typewriter aii through. We shouid buy a machine for our office, but before we take it in, we'ii use it for typing the bid-iess tenders at my piace. Thus, after the tender opening, as we fiii in the bianks on that machine in our office, the typeface wouid come ciean, even under the microscope. As a way of extreme precaution, on both the occasions, we might use the same typewriter ribbon. That wouid ensure that even God wouidn't get a wind of our manipuiation.'
'This to say the ieast,' said Nagaraju missing the point in his excitement, 'it's a Sheriock Hoimes' stuff reaiiy.'
'You can take care of the typewriter and aii,' said Rami Reddy enthusiasticaiiy to Sathyam. 'Put up a note tomorrow itseif for my approvai.'
'Oh, unbeiievabie!' exciaimed Nagaraju confidentiy, 'Now the three biggest ever civii works wouid come our way. Isn't it as good as that? Aii we've got to do now is to put in piace a piiabie committee to do our bidding. But that's a chiid's piay for the FM. Weii, you wiii get your miiiion each by tomorrow evening, seaied and deiivered at home.'
'It's time we ieft,' suggested Rami Reddy.
As he headed home in ecstasy, Sathyam wasjubiiant in his exuberance.
'Rupees two miiiion for my biiiion doiiar idea,' he thought excitediy, 'wasn't that briiiiant? Oh, it's nothing short of genius, reaiiy. Why, it's aimost a reveiation! A coupie of biank bids to foiiow, and won't I show the Prasads of the worid their rightfui piace? If only I could tell all this to Roopa, she wouid have an idea about her husband's grey matter. Flow sad it is that neither I can share my triumph with her nor present the booty to her, to show her that I care. Besides, I can't better our iifestyie either to make iife iavish for her. Flow am I to explain my spending spree to her? Oh, why does she have such an aversion towards cutting corners? Well, after touching five or more, I should resign and venture into some busi
ness or the other. Won't I be able to pass off all this as business profit then, even from the beginning? And that would be the time to flaunt my wealth and make her move in a limousine of her own. Meanwhile, I've to lay low, tucking the money tight in the attic.'
'Would one ever come to suspect the secret show?' he thought, after reaching home. 'No way, isn't it all so foolproof. But what if it were to leak out later? Flow can I ever face my father, leave alone Roopa, if it ever comes to that? Mother, though, might understand. Won't the old man scowl that the fair family name was soiled. What an idiosyncrasy! Of what worth is a family name, when no one had heard of it? Well, the die is cast, isn't it? Even if I won't play ball, the play will go on, that is for sure. Why should I be the loser, after all? Besides, won't I have to make her rich, at all costs that is? What a lovely wife to have, how will Roopa be feeling now on the train now?'
Aboard that Rayalaseema Express, entwined with her man and her mate, Roopa in the seventh heaven raved, 'Oh, how I've been dreaming for our threesome in a racing train.'
'Its time to start the game,' said Sandhya amorously to Roopa.
'With both of us lending him our helping hands isn't it strange that he needs to double his effort,' said Roopa enlacing Sandhya.
In the uninhibited union that foiiowed weii into the night, whiie the iesbianism of the women charmed their man's eroticism, his iibido, exhiiarated by their eagerness, occasioned their gratification. Whiie, the iovers felt equally blessed, as if the bliss of their love triangle had been seeping into her cradle as well, Saroja didn't stir from her sleep all the time.
By the time they reached Tirupati in the morning, it was well past ten and hiring a cab, they soon set on their journey to Tirumala, the abode of Sri Venkateswara, the Lord of the Seven Hills.
'How is it that the Lord is also called Balaji?' Sandhya asked Raja Rao.
'I guess,' he said, fondling Saroja in his lap, 'it could be to make it easy for the North Indians who find our South Indian names tongue-twisters.'
Reaching Tirumala in time, they checked into a cottage reserved beforehand. Having rested after lunch, they visited Papanasam and other places of pilgrimage on the hills. In the end, spurred on by the spiritual stimuli, they spent the night in ecstatic union before going to the temple at dawn forthe thomala seva of the Lord. While Roopa thanked Him for her fulfilled life, Sandhya prayed in gratitude for His saving her man's life besides blessing her mate's love. And Raja Rao wished that the Lord would nourish their love for one another, forever.
After the Lord's seva. Raja Rao took out a coral necklace and a pearl chain from his wallet and gave them to the poojari to perfuse them with the Holy water, and even as he was chanting appropriate mantras. Raja Rao whispered to his women, 'Hear him sanctify our union.'
In time, as the poojari handed him the ornaments. Raja Rao adorned Sandhya with the coral necklace and enlaced Roopa's nape with that pearl chain, all with a feeling of blessedness. As though to demonstrate the weakness for his women did not overshadow his paternal feeling, he went through the same process with Saroja's gold chain as well.
'I'll revere it like my mangalasutram,' said Roopa touching the pearl chain to her eyelids, 'blessed by Love and sanctified by God.'
'It feels like He's blessing us,' said Sandhya mystically, and while fondling her pearls, Roopa fondly looked at the deity.
'Even if we discount the belief of the devout,' said Raja Rao, 'that the Lord manifests here, one may still explain the aura of the deity. The faith and reverence of His devotees in His omnipotence could have imparted the power to His Idol.'
At length, as they went round the market place, Sandhya picked up a Nirmal painting, depicting the Lord and His two Consorts, Alivelu M anga and Padmavathi, all dressed up in the nuptial white.
'I should've thought of that myself,' said Raja Rao.
'Let it be our inspiration,' said Sandhya, taking Roopa's hand, 'that is spiritually speaking.'
In the end, as they reached their cottage, promising to be back in no time. Raja Rao went out again.
'Oh! You look lovely in the corals,' Roopa kissed Sandhya.
'How the pearls come alive on you!' Sandhya followed suit.
'Oh, how he appreciates,' said Roopa, 'the variety of his women!'
'And no less awes,' said Sandhya, hugging Roopa, 'with his virility in turns.'
When Raja Rao returned tonsured, Sandhya said teasing, 'M ay we know to what avail the vow?'
'It's nothing like that,' he said, fondling his scalp. 'The custom could be to enable one to experience humility since hair in so many ways symbolizes human vanity.'
After a weeklong romance in their amorous triangle, strengthened by divine sentiment, the threesome, along with their little darling, left Tirupati for Hyderabad that evening.
Chapter 36
Threesome Sail
Waiting for the arrival of Rayalaseema Express at Nampally that morning, Sathyam felt that only on Roopa's return would the hidden treasure acquire its true value for its possession. As the train chugged into the railway station, he sighted Roopa leaning out to wave at him, and seeing her alight, radiating in that pearl chain, his own mood was further buoyed.
'You look great,' said Sathyam to Roopa, having greeted them all.
'It's a surprise from Sandhya,' said Roopa fondling her pearls chain. 'Why don't you see how nice she is in that coral necklace?'
'Anything goes well,' said Sathyam, helping them in moving the luggage, 'with my sister.'
That night, as he took Roopa into his arms, Sathyam could not take his eyes off the pearl chain.
'I wonder why it didn't strike me,' he said a little disappointed, 'that pearls suit you so well.'
'Being a face-man, you thought about the nose-stud,' she said alluringly, and thought adoringly, 'But Raja, oh! Won't he turn my face and figure into one? What a time we've had!'
'One day,' said Sathyam, fondling her affectionately, 'I'll make you a queen with the crown and all.'
'I'll await the coronation,' she said in smile, but felt at the same time, 'Oh, am I not the empress of love with a double throne.'
On the other hand, in that middle-class home with millions in the loft, Sathyam felt that he was in a trisankhu swargam. Though his net worth was enough to make people line up at his doorstep, he felt that he had to run the errands for the IAS cadre. He was disgusted that though he had the means to let Roopa go around in a chauffeur driven Chevrolet, he was unable to offer her any more than a pillion ride on his Lambretta. In his frustration, he often thought of quitting the service, but the temptation to keep it going for some more time, ensured that it was status quo at his office, and home as well.
Then came Saroja's first birthday, and Sathyam couldn't resist the temptation to present her a gold necklace befitting his intrinsic worth and his innate love for Sandhya.
'Sandhya would surely like my present for her daughter,' he was lost in his thoughts, on the way to the birthday party. 'What a sweet nature she has. Oh, how she understands people and empathizes with them. And what warmth she has for people. What a rare woman, indeed. Wouldn't I've been better off had she been my wife, instead of a raakhi sister?'
'But then,' Sathyam continued in the same vein, 'Raja Rao wouid have made a better husband for Roopa. Oh, how she admires him? He's nothing short of an idoi for her, is he not? And it's quite possibie that she's enamored of him. But how can I fauit her, even if she were in iove with him? Isn't he a better man than me in every way? After aii, it's aii so apparent. But wouid her infatuation push her into a iiaison with him? Oh, no. After aii that, how unfair of me to even to entertain such a thought? Why, didn't she shun Prasad, that too when she was indifferent to me? By that, hadn't she showed her character, once and for aii? But now, she says that she iovesmeeven! And don't I know that she's not making it up. Maybe, she fantasizes about Raja Rao. Weii, that's a different matter aitogether.'
When he reached their piace, Sathyam iost no time in piacing the neckiace on Saroja's person.<
br />
'I envy my daughter's iuck,' said Sandhya, thriiied at his gesture, 'Oh, how nice it is that she has an uncie who treats her iike his daughter.'
'I've always thought,' said Sathyam, feeling pleased, 'that we're all but one family.'
As Roopa began to dress Saroja in a plain cotton frock, Sathyam said it may not be right for the big occasion.
'Children are better off in cottons than in those suffocating synthetics,' she said. 'But, parents pay through their noses for the kids-wear, just to exhibit.'
'All that is fine for a drawing-room discussion,' said Sathyam. 'But the world sizes you up by the way you dress.'
'Dress might enhance looks,' said Roopa 'but it's the poise that pleases.'
'Left to you, it looks like you would make a sanyasin out of Saroja,' said Sathyam unable to reconcile to her philosophy of life. 'Anyway, won't I show Saroja the other side of the coin?'
'You are welcome to do that,' said Raja Rao who joined them by then. 'But personally I like to be guided by the twin quotes that Dr. Ramachandra Rao, our family physician, religiously copies in his new diary without fail. Somehow that slipped from my mind when we were on the subject at the Eagle Bar that day. Let me quote them to you, one is - In bringing up children, parents should remember that not wealth, but education conduces most to their happiness. And the other is - The best inheritance that a father can provide to his son is an education that will fit him to take an honorable place among cultured men.'
'Rao, I appreciate your intellect, though I differ with some of your ideas,' said Sathyam extending his hand. 'But I do envy your experience without any discount whatever.'
'Thank you for your compliment,' said Raja Rao. 'Intellect is all about the ability to analyze human condition and experience is the product of self-introspection. But people tend to attribute their failures to outside factors without reflecting upon their own role in the setbacks. That's why we find many inexperienced oldies and a few experienced youths. All said and done, I feel you've an intellectual heart.'