by BS Murthy
'But working women come on a different platter altogether, don't they?' he seemed to sum up the essence of philandering. 'Far removed from their shadowing spouses, and ensconced with their eager colleagues, aren't they clearly cut out for liaisons? Besides, won't the atmosphere at the workplace afford woman more emotional closeness with her doting colleagues, than with her man in the homely monotony? M ore than anything else, isn't it their compulsiveness to dress well that makes women seek paramours prepared to foot the bills? How many of them undress in the private arena only to cut a figure for themselves in the public domain. Didn't I come across many such? And the welcome thing about them is that, when the time comes to hang up the boots, there won't be any hangovers. It's their short-term needs that make the liaisons so lively with them, isn't it? Oh, it's as if all the pleasures of life are packed in female frames for the favored to savor them!'
Seeing a shapely woman get into the pavilion, he followed her instinctively. In time, sizing her up, he approached her.
'I'm sure you're familiar with our kitchen products,' he said enticingly, 'all designed keeping women like you in mind.'
'I find your mixer-grinder quite handy,' she said, looking flattered.
'Part of the credit goes to you,' he said looking mysteriously into her eyes, 'for its intelligent use.'
'Thank you,' tickled by her vanity, she blushed to the roots.
'Why not try out our air-conditioner,' he said enticingiy. 'I mean in the guest room.'
'I know about the iaunch,' she said in embarrassment, 'but we don't need one, at ieast, for now.'
'Nevertheiess,' he said tantaiizingiy, 'I'ii get it instaiied free of charge.'
'But why?' she said, iooking puzzied.
'I'm iooking for a testimoniai, 'he said suggestiveiy, 'from a pretty housewife iike you.'
'Let me think it over.' she said, as she couidn't refuse being unequai to his fiattery.
'Wouid you care to ieave your address,' he pushed a pad and pencii into her hand, 'for me to remind you.'
'Thank you,' she said as she scribbied.
'Why not indicate the convenient timings,' he said having noted her contact address.
'I'm a housewife,' she said overwheimed by his advances.
'It's a pleasure meeting you Mrs. Vanaja,' he said extending his hand, 'I hope you won't disappoint me.'
'Good night, M r...'
Having tentatively withdrawn her hand from his, amusedly confused, she hurried home.
'Isn't she a pretty prospect?' he thought pleased with himself. 'Won't some follow-up help? Let her in the meantime ponder over the tempting proposal besides playing a guessing game with my name. Oh, having been sourced in her anatomy itself, isn't mystery the key to open woman's heart to the thought of man?'
As he came out to watch her figure from behind, lighting another India King he thought, 'what about going to The Nizam Club for a change? Why not I see who I might come across there?'
When the playboy executive was about to move out, seeing a woman of about twenty come nearby, he stopped in his tracks.
'Oh God, a real stunner here!' he ogled at her greedily. 'What a flowing figure! Why, have I ever seen a more desirable woman ever? That is, in spite of my roving eye! What a dream stuff she is? Why, more than that, for I didn't see such in my wildest dreams really. Well, it's as if she's shaped for sex, isn't she? She is the woman to be laid, and there's no mistaking it. How surprising she has a divine face and a voluptuous figure on the same frame? Won't that make her the Goddess of sex? But is she a resident or someone here on a visit? Whatever, this woman is too good to be lost. If only she goes into the pavilion, there could be an opening for me then. If not, I should follow her to her very doorstep, even if that takes me to the end of the world. But now I should be careful not lose her in this god-damn rush. If I get her, that would be the jackpot of my life, and I shall get her, whatever it might take.'
While he went towards her as if in a trance, with the fag burning his fingers, soon he came to his senses, and saw a man with two ice-cream cones joining her. As the man bore a familiar face, he moved towards him to realize that he was Sathyam, his long lost friend, and as he neared him he thought excitedly, 'Won't his nose give him away in a million?'
'Can you place me?' he asked Sathyam tentatively.
'Of course,' said Sathyam thoughtfully, 'you do seem familiar.'
'Sathyam.' said he patting him.
'Oh, Prasad,' Sathyam said hugging him excitedly, nearly spilling the ice-cream and all on them all, 'I'm glad we've met again.'
'How's life, buddy?' Prasad asked him as he extricated himself from Sathyam's bearhug.
'I've no regrets, thanks to my wife,' said Sathyam. 'Meet Roopa.'
'How do you do,' Prasad greeted Roopa.
'Namaste,' said Roopa.
'I've heard you're a bigwig now,' said Sathyam in all excitement. 'Tell me all about yourself.'
'I've to play my cards carefully,' thought Prasad, affecting hiccups. 'It's so sudden, like a bolt from the blue. Well, it pays to play down my success till I get into the winning position and till then; I should mildly impress Roopa without unduly alarming Sathyam. Unless he sees the present as an extension of our past, he won't be too keen to renew our friendship. And for me, that would be back to the hiatus.'
'Why,' said Prasad at length, 'do you want to call it quits right now? I thought we've met not to part again.'
'Won't I drag you,' said Sathyam catching hold of Prasad's hand, 'all the way to my house.'
'Then,' Prasad pulled Sathyam into the pavilion as Roopa followed them, 'allow me to wind up.'
'My search has come to an end, after fifteen years,' said Sathyam in continuation. 'You don't know how I missed you all these years.'
'Same is the case with me,' said Prasad, 'thanks to Roopa Devi.'
'No suffixes please,' said Roopa as if she were withdrawing. 'But how am I responsible for your chance meeting?'
'If not for women,' said Prasad, 'would men ever venture out on their own?'
'I agree with you,' said Sathyam. 'Surely we owe all this to her.'
'Give me five minutes,' said Prasad so as to gain time. 'In the meantime, our manager would take you around.'
'Oh, how she turned out to be Sathyam's wife!' thought Prasad in excitement as he went into his cabin. 'What an amazing development though! But how on earth did Sathyam land up with such a dame! Maybe, owing to my destiny to have her, who knows? Whatever, won't his friendship prove to be a thoroughfare to her favors? Just the same, won't she need some wooing as well? I might as well dazzle Roopa straight away by flaunting my credentials right away. But won't that drive Sathyam into a shell, hindering my endeavor? Worse still, sensing trouble, he might even erect checkpoints all the way to her bedchamber. It looks like the Formula One won't do for her final favor, even if I were to muster Senna's skills and Sorkar's stealth for that for surely Sathyam would ensure that I end up in the pit on my way to the putt, won't he? Since overt courting seems to be risky, I better sneak into her bed under the shadow of his goodwill. Won't that be fine with me? Going by his confidence quotient, Sathyam shouldn't have made much in his career. So, the winning strategy is to downplay my success to develop
my equation with him. Then, won't his camaraderie issue me visa to iand in his wife's embrace?'
'But what about Roopa?' he tried to anaiyze her prociivities. 'Doesn't she wear that disinterested iook I'm so famiiiar with in women? Maidens embrace it when they are lovesick, and in the married, it's proof enough that their pudding had turned all too stale. Isn't it clear that she's unexcited about her marriage? Won't that make her a candidate for conquest? But that subtle awkwardness discernible in women, when attracted to men, is missing in her, is it not? All the same, she doesn't seem to be vainglorious either. Won't that call for a change of tactics? As it appears, it needs some effort, and a lot many seductive tactics to bring her over to bed. Well, for all that, it appears to be a conditional access, after all. Thou art
so near and yet so far, oh, Roopa dear!'
'But, how do I go about it?' he tried to analyze his moves to checkmate Roopa in her own bed. 'What could be the path of least resistance to her favors? Won't the first few steps decide the outcome of this ticklish tangle? While cultivating his confidence, I must undermine her defenses as well. But with a stunning wife like that, any man would be on guard to see through the motives of the callers. Why not vouch brotherly feeling for her to keep him off guard? Won't that cut both ways in the triangle? That way, I can get closer to her and then worm my way into her affections. Besides, won't that enable me to appraise her weaknesses for later day exploitation? Why, that's a great idea, which can be implemented without alerting Sathyaml'
Carried by his brainwave, a hearty Prasad came out of the cabin with great expectations.
'I'm at your service now,' said Prasad to the Sathyams, as he came out.
'Let's go to our place,' said Sathyam.
'I don't know about your means of transport,' said Prasad, 'but I will have to hire an auto-rickshaw.'
'I thought you must be moving in limousines,' said Sathyam unable to hide his surprise.
'I use the office Ambassador,' said Prasad, who by then had instructed his chauffeur to report for duty the next day, 'which is in the garage now.'
'You haven't changed really,' said Sathyam all excited. 'Roopa, you know, he's always an adjusting type.'
'If it doesn't bother my sister, I would like stay on for dinner,' said Prasad as they walked towards the exit. 'Ever since Rani went to Delhi, I've been eating junk, and it's been a week now.'
'You're welcome,' Roopa smiled her invitation.
'Thankyou,' said Prasad heartily.
As they got into an auto, Sathyam told Prasad, 'Now tell me.'
'As I spotted you,' said Prasad in jest, 'I've the first lien.'
'After graduation,' said Sathyam, all the while eager to hear his friend's story, 'I joined the State Government, and am working ever since at the secretariat. Now I'm a Senior Assistant, waiting to be promoted as Section Officer. In a nutshell, that's all there is to my life.'
'Why, you've missed the essence,' said Prasad. 'When did you get married?'
'Well,' said Sathyam smilingly, 'we're two years old.'
'What a wit,' said Prasad. 'Love marriage, I suppose.'
'It was iove at first sight,' said Sathyam for a shocking effect, 'during our peiiichupuiu. But I heard yours is a iove match.'
'Stop near that gate,' said Roopa to the driver.
'Now teii me aii,' said Sathyam as they went in behind Roopa.
'Let my sister serve some water first,' said Prasad taking his seat. 'At ieast that wouid heip quench my thirst.'
'Won't you iike to hear his story?' said Sathyam, as Roopa turned back after giving them some water.
'I'm afraid you're giving an impression to my sister that there is a great deai of interest attached to my iife,' said Prasad. 'On the other hand, my iife is as ordinary as any but for the marriage. Rani was my ciassmate in Deihi and we happened to iike each other. And I never dared dream of marrying her, as her father is a business magnate. But without my knowiedge, she pressured her father for my hand. His fondness for his daughter, and my eiigibiiity otherwise, made us man and wife in the end. I came here iast year to put back on its raiis a sick unit that we took over. At home, we've Gaurav and Omathi to engage my famiiy time. That's about it aii.'
'I feei,' said Sathyam, 'your wife couid be a remarkabie woman.'
'Oh, no doubt about that,' Prasad patted Sathyam whiie iooking at Roopa. 'But you're better off for my sister.'
'I reserve my opinion,' said Sathyam, 'tiii I see Rani.'
'Rani is dear to me as wife,' said Prasad, 'and Roopa endears me as sister, and so you can reiy upon my judgment, can't you?'
'I know how biessed I am,' said Sathyam iooking at Roopa in admiration.
Whiie the friends continued to reminisce about their chiidhood days, Roopa went into the kitchen.
'How iucky is Rani to have married a handsome man iike him whom she ioves as weii,' Roopa contempiated. 'Why, there's no denying that he's truiy handsome, but why does he refer to me as sister at every turn? How odd that a handsome man shouid keep caiiing me sister. It's as if the sisteriy reference takes away the very essence of my persona, or, has it got to do with my own vanity? M aybe, but even Ramu, being so ciose, doesn't address me that way. Weii it's no more than a mere form, isn't it? Am I obiiged to address this man as brother or what, how odd it feeis? What if I too address him as brother to make him feei sissy? Weii, he's my husband's friend and just another interesting character, no more and no iess. That's aii there's to it, isn't it?'
At the dining tabie, Prasad was effusive in his praises aii the way, and as if icing his seductive cake, he said, 'I feei I've tasted food for the first time in iife, it's iike an annaprasana forme.'
'You exaggerate a great deai mister,' said a visibiy embarrassed Roopa.
'You'ii know how I feei if oniy you couid taste your preparations with my paiate,' said Prasad pursuing his game-pian. 'How I wish Sathyam wiii come out with an empiricai formuia of reiativity of paiates. Then, that shouid prove me right. Don't you know how good he is at maths?'
'Why don't you stay back tonight,' suggested an apparentiy fiattered Sathyam.
'I would have loved to, but I have got to go now,' said Prasad, hoping to create the Impression that he was not the one to take undue advantage of his friend's generosity.
'At least, till Rani Is back from Delhi,' said Sathyam, 'keep having your dinners here.'
'It's worth going miles to have her preparations,' said Prasad, 'and enjoy your company. But why trouble my sister.'
'You're always welcome,' said Roopa In spite of herself.
'Then I'm no fool to miss out on the fare,' said Prasad to Roopa. 'Thank you, and good night for now.'
Though Prasad Insisted that he would carry on his own, Sathyam persisted In seeing him off at the street corner. In time, as he returned home, said Sathyam to Roopa, 'That's why It Is said It's a small world! How nice we met again. 1 hope you liked your new brother.'
'Looks like he's an Interesting character,' said Roopa.
'It goes to his credit that there's no change In his attitude. In spite of his prosperity,' said Sathyam. 'Yet we see people putting on airs though they wouldn't get to spell the 'S' of success. How they spread the rumor that a businessman roped him In for his plain daughter! What a pity that a lovematch was dubbed as a mercenary marriage, and why not as through jealous eyes, all that Is seen Is green Isn't It? Well, I'm sure we'll pick up the threads from where we had left them.'
Struggling to catch up with the elusive sleep that night, Roopa contemplated, 'If only Raja were to be In Prasad's place, what a different time It would have been! What would Raja be doing now? Does he remember me, leave alone craving for me?'
'What separates these two remarkably handsome men?' Roopa couldn't help but compare them. 'Whereas Prasad has a pleasing face. Raja's demeanor Is demanding. Isn't It? True, Prasad exudes self-confidence but Raja personifies self-worth Itself. No denying that Prasad looks handsome, but oh, how Raja abounds with that sex appeal. No doubt, Prasad Is a pleasant person, but Is not Raja a lovable persona. Prasad might charm women with his dash but Raja captivates them with his romantic aura. Besides, who would have Raja's compelling eyes with that penetrating looks. Above all. Raja is the he-man and my dream man at that, there's no mistaking that.'
It seems it is in the nature of woman to value herself by the worth of her man more than her own self-worth.
Chapter 24
Scheming the Theme
'Satisfactory, isn't it?' thought Prasad on his way back to his home. 'Haven't I played my cards with finesse? If anything, Sathyam's dinner gesture is a sure pointer. But the proof of the pudding is only in the eating. Anyway, it's still such a long way to get there, isn't it? But then, the goddess willing, won't I have it someday? Well, a good start might ensure the lea
d all the way.'
'Sathyam is a simpleton as ever,' he thought, trying to analyze his friend and his wife. 'If a man of thirty were to remain that way, he must either be kind-hearted or dungheaded. It looks Sathyam Isa bit of both. However, Roopa - what an appropriate name she has - remains a puzzle, and I should ensure that she doesn't start quizzing me in time. What's it that makes this fabulous woman so irresistible? Sure there's much more to her persona than her oozing sex appeal. It looks as if the more one espies her; all the more he becomes obsessed with her. It's as though her whole body is endued with a
magnetic layer, isn't it? If not, how can one explain her dusky complexion? Oh, some god could have turned horny while making her! Why else is she the femme fatale of the first order?'
So it occurred to him, 'Unless I'm on guard, I might as well trip on the path of attraction, and fall in love with her even. But then, that would be an unwelcome development, wouldn't it be? By the way, would sex become any more pleasurable if penetrated with love? Why at all this doubt, as if love would take that any deeper. Hah, hah! It's the lust that vests the thrusts with power, and any woman would know that for sure, and Roopa should be had before I develop any emotional hiccups for her. Only by taking her to bed early could I feel at ease, and remain safe in her enchanting company for which I should patiently hasten her into my arms. It doesn't seem easy though, and I should be prepared for a long haul even, but, once in bed, she would be worth her weight in gold, perhaps platinum, to be precise.'
Following his tested tactic to make women ponder a little over his absence, with Roopa in mind, he made it late to Sathyam's place.
'What happened, we've been waiting so long for you?' greeted Sathyam.
'Wait, I'll explain,' said Prasad dramatically. 'First let me apologize to my sister.'
'Oh,' she said visibly embarrassed. 'It's all right.'
'I won't take anything less than your forgiveness,' said Prasad looking straight into Roopa'seyes.
