by BS Murthy
It was in the midst of such a time, which Raja Rao called honeytime that he had to go to Madras for a week. At that, missing Raja Rao's passion, Roopa felt as if she were left in the cold, in spite of her physical intimacy with Sathyam, not to speak of her amorous time with Sandhya. Thus, it didn't take long for her to realize how her own fulfillment came to be pinned upon Raja Rao. Thus, by the time he returned, she was mad and eager.
However, as luck would have it, the day he returned, Sandhya, who brought them lunch, brought Saroja to the lovers' surprise. When Sandhya revealed that the housemaid had gone to the matinee with a friend of hers who came from Khammam, they felt let down. In time, with Sandhya around, the dismay of the vexed lovers began to vent itself in varied ways. At length, Sandhya noticed that Raja Rao turned irritable while Roopa remained morose.
'What's wrong?' she asked Roopa.
'Why, nothing,' replied Roopa.
Seeing Raja Rao berate Asiam on a trivial issue, Sandhya tried to calm him down.
'What's troubling you,' Sandhya said in surprise, 'that too after having bagged such a prestigious contract!'
'Oh, I'm sorry,' he said.
'Is it a mere coincidence that both of them are off color at the same time?' contemplated Sandhya. 'Isn't it clear that something is troubling them both? What it could be? Are they in love and in heat as well? Isn't it possible that they're having sex here in my absence? Now my untimely presence on top of a week's abstinence is what
might be irritating them, isn't it? So it seems, they've made it to the post sooner than I expected. Why not I have a dig at them then?'
'Did you cash in the cheque, Roopa?' Sandhya whispered in her mate's ears.
'Which one you're taiking about?' said a surprised Roopa.
'Why, that biank one I gave you,' said Sandhya, teasingly.
'But when was that?'
'You may recaii the next time he withdraws it,' said Sandhya smiiingiy, and went up to Raja Rao, ieavinga perpiexed Roopa behind.
'I know why you're out of sorts.'
'Don't be siiiy,' he said in irritation.
'M ore so now,' said Sandhya.
'What do you mean?' he said getting subdued.
'When not in the right siot one goes out of sorts, doesn't one?' said Sandhya mysteriousiy.
'Oh, my ioveiy littie genius, why don't you write a thesis on that?' he said managing a smiie,
'Why not, with so much materiai around,' she said smiiingiy. 'Let me see if that interests Roopa as weli.'
While Roopa's wanting remained unfulfilled for the day, Sandhya's romanticism ensured Raja Rao's fulfillment in that night. However, the next day, as the eager couple came out of the ante-room, they felt as if they had sex for the first time in their life. But a few days later, at the sound of the buzzer, fearing exposure, they were benumbed in their lovemaking.
'What to do?' Roopa whispered, instinctively covering herself.
'Let's not respond,' he said in undertone.
'What if it's Sandhya?' she said, worried.
'Let me go and see,' he said getting dressed at length.
However, while he came back relieved, she was only partially dressed.
'Thank God. I escaped the quarantine,' she said in relief, but added in apprehension, 'I'm afraid we may not be lucky next time.'
'There's the Murphy's Law to back your fears.' he smiled.
'It's no laughing matter,' she said in all nervousness, 'If it is Sathyam, it is death, and if it's Sandhya, then it's shame though it seems she has guessed it.'
'I too think so,' he said thoughtfully. 'It's time that we seduce her into threesome.'
'How I would love that day,' she said, as she hugged him in hope, 'nay, that night.'
However, as the buzzer never sounded again during their escapades, their fear of exposure was evaporated in the heat of their passion and so the urgency to rope in Sandhya into their orgies receded.
As the business improved. Raja Rao was getting bogged down at the office until seven, however, freeing his women by five. Back at Sandhya's place, the mates were wont to melt in each other's arms. The feeling that her husband was also enjoying her lover gave the cutting edge to Sandhya's amour and as if to augment her lover's
pleasure with her mate later, with all her ardor, Roopa was ever eager to make love to her mate. As their fondness for their man grew, they were ever closer with each other in their lesbian domain and since Sathyam too was keeping late hours at the Secretariat, the mates began to keep themselves in their arms for longer hours.
'M y loveyi' resting in Roopa's lap, said Sandhya that evening, 'what a life!'
'A love filled one,' said Roopa, fondling Sandhya's breasts.
'Yet with yearning,' said Sandhya winking at Roopa, 'isn't it?'
At that having looked into Sandhya's eyes intently, Roopa buried her head into her mate's bosom endearingly.
'Take it easy,' said Sandhya in all smiles, moving her finger meaningfully in Roopa's erotic essence.
'M ake it hard now,' said Roopa in ecstasy.
The affection Roopa felt for Saroja catered to her innate sense of womanly want. Fondling the baby, she experienced a motherly fulfillment as well. Whenever Saroja smiled in her lap, wanting to mother her sibling subconsciously, Roopa felt spasms in her womb. The mood at the office too was upbeat for them all. Even as Ranga Reddy's ambitious ventures were rising to the skies one by one, Subba Reddy's new contracts were wearing the drafting table a little bit more. New clients too were trooping in, making Raja Rao think in terms of expansion. Thanks to the word of mouth, Sandhya too was busy with the decor of the posh bungalows of Banjara Hills. And all that made it a dance and dinner in Roopa's life.
That evening, as they were calling it day at Integral Architects, Narasaiah brought the disturbing news of a communal commotion in the old city.
The walled city of Hyderabad on the banks of the M usi, built in the 16th Century by Quii Qutub Shah around the Charminar, is a predominantly Muslim populated part of the modern metropolis. As the legend has it, Shah built the place to commemorate his love for Bhagmathi, his Hindu beloved, and named it Bhagyanagar. Manned for most part by the M usiims. His Court felt that a Hindu name for a M usiim capital would be a misnomer, and thus proclaimed it as Hyderabad for the posterity. Ironically, as history witnessed, the Hindu mind and the M usiim psyche failed to fuse with the spirit of love that brought the place into being. Instead, they preferred to imbibe the theory of the Court that the Hindu character and the M usiim identity are things apart.
'It seems some pork was thrown into the Mecca Masjid,' reported Narasaiah, 'and the M usiims suspect a Hindu hand behind the defilement.'
'That might spell trouble after all,' said a worried Aslam. 'But why do they provoke the M usiim sentiment at all?'
'The fact, that the mere presence of pork in a mosque or beef in a temple could trigger a communal riot in our country speaks for itself,' articulated Raja Rao. 'There's no denying that either way it hurts the hyper-religious, and it's precisely for that reason that the mischief mongers from both the communities resort to such acts. If we allow such symbolic hurt to trigger a communal riot, it's like walking into the trap laid by the cunning con men or the religious zealots. Everyone knows that the silent majority is peace loving and law abiding; not that they are spiritually enlightened or religiously tolerant. It's just that all realize that orderliness serves their self-interest the best. But, thanks to the machinations of the mischievous few, all get engulfed in the communal
frenzy. Regrettably, the politicians too developed a proclivity to fan religious passions to create vote banks for themselves.'
'What's the way out then?' asked Sandhya.
'Oh, there seems to be none really,' articulated Raja Rao. 'But common sense might help one to reach out to others across the boundaries of religious biases. Let's take the present incident. Even assuming that it's the handiwork of a couple of Hindus, can one say that all the Hindus of the city are behind it? But for all t
hat, it could as well be the handiwork of a demented Muslim. The Muslims might rightly be outraged by the sacrilege, but won't the Hindus themselves be wary about the tasteless deed? Instead of getting at each other's throats, won't it make sense for all to collectively voice their common consternation? If only we could do that, the miscreants from both the communities would realize that there's no ground left for them to foment trouble.'
'But who's to take the lead?' asked Aslam.
'Who else but the middle- class as the pigheaded religious heads have failed the masses,' said Raja Rao, 'Partly, the problem lies in the tendency of those that tend to give a public face to their private faith. And that makes the others suspicious about their religious intentions and personal inclinations.'
'Is it to suggest that the M usiims should desert their mosques?' asked Aslam.
'Who says that, but all should downplay the manifestations of their faith in the public arena at least,' said Raja Rao. 'M aybe, more than the others, the M usiims need to do a lot more social re-engineering for their own good.'
'We, M usiims who believe there is but one God, can't religiously relate to the Hindus who worship at the altars of so many gods,' said Aslam. 'That's the source of the discord to begin with, something like an ideological dispute.'
'If that's the case, the Christians too believe that the God is one,' said Raja Rao. 'But still there were those crusades against the Muslims. But then, how can God be one, when all religions have their own One! As for the Gods in our religion, I would say without meaning any offence to other faiths, there's no contradiction in that. As the modern organization has evolved round department heads, it seems to me that our ancient religion conceptualized various Gods for specific functions governing the Hindu destiny.'
'But it's the Hindu idolatry that is at odds with Islam,' commented Aslam.
'Well, religion is an emotion peculiar to the humans, the sensitivity of which increases in the face of criticism from those of the other faiths,' said Raja Rao. 'We, Hindus, feel incensed when others tend to reduce us to idol worshippers. The essence of Hindu dharma is aham brahmasmi brahma - God is but the self of man. Where is the question of idol worship then? Our bowing before our deities is only a symbolism of our submission to the paramatma, that is, God. Being ignorant of this Hindu nuance of our devotional ethos, those professing the Semitic faiths naively take it as idol worship.'
'M oreover, our deities impart form to the god we seek solace from, and thus help us stay focused in our prayer to Him,' continued Raja Rao. 'By way of an example, we can all recall the features of our beloved ones in their absence. But when we look at their pictures, won't our emotions for them get focused in our minds. It's time others realize that what they misconstrue as idol worship is but a Hindu way of concentrating on God. Besides, we the Hindus need distinctive images to envision our concept of God's avataars. All the same, hasn't the so called idolatry insensibly seeped into the religious ethos of Christianity and Islam as well? Won't that prove, if proof were ever needed.
that when it comes to spirituality, imagery comes naturally to man, and anything contrary, be it religious or be it ideological, is the pretence of the protagonists.'
'Given the reality of human emotions,' opined Roopa, 'religious tolerance seems a mirage after all.'
'M isplaced zeal for one's faith and uncalled for bias against the other religions has been the bane of the humans,' said Raja Rao. 'It should be understood that no one can emotionally feel about a religion other than his own. If all realize this truth, then only it would bring about religious tolerance. Having said that, my intellectual perception of Hinduism and Islam is this: Hinduism is the most abstract of all religions, to comprehend which one needs a certain level of intellect, not common to the masses. This at once proved to be its strength as well as its weakness. The very character of their philosophy enables the Hindus to try to understand the atma, that is, the self. And this Hindu endeavor to understand the self brought about the evolution of a thought process of the highest order ever achieved by the humanity at large. On the other hand, the Aryan intellectual apartheid pushed the Hindu masses into abject ignorance, not to speak of poverty.'
'Islam, on the other hand,' continued Raja Rao, 'is supposed to be a concise creed without any scope for ambiguity. It's as though the faith was fashioned keeping in mind the intellectual limitations of the common man. Maybe, this clarity coupled with the egalitarian concept of its teachings could have led to the conversion of those Indian masses who were either unable to comprehend the precepts of the Hindu dharma or those oppressed by the prejudices of the caste order. But at the same time, this very virtue of definitiveness of Islam precludes any philosophical discourse about life, making it fundamentalist in its precept and practice.'
'What do you think of Christianity?' Narasaiah, a Christian convert, asked Raja Rao.
'To my mind,' said Raja Rao, 'going by the progress made by its followers in shedding the dogmatic shackles, it's the most dynamic of all religions. But its emphasis on sin is intriguing indeed.'
'All religionists claim their religions preach peace,' said Sandhya, 'yet what governs the world is strife.'
'That's the paradox of the faiths,' said Raja Rao in exasperation. 'While one wails over the death of a co-religionist in a riot, the same person is indifferent to the slaughter of scores from the other community! But will it be a consolation for a woman who lost her man, that a dozen from the other faith were widowed in the same riot? Why, would ever wounds differentiate human bodies on religious lines to heal themselves? What else is religious strife but human stupidity?'
'Inshah Allah,' said Aslam, 'let it subside without further trouble.'
What an irony that modern man, engaged as he is in the pursuit of knowledge, allows himself to be stymied by the dogmas of the Dark Ages, perpetrated as religious tenets.
Chapter 34
Surge of a M erge
When the curfew was lifted in the walled city across the M usi, it did seem that sanity was restored in the excited souls. Though the Hyderabadis began to venture tentatively to get back to their routine, the city was still tense in the emotional sense.
By two that afternoon. Raja Rao left for the Wahab Builders, in the bazaar near the Charminar, synonymous with the country's pearl trade. As Aslam availed a casual leave
that day, and since one of the clients was pressing for the blue print, Roopa substituted as the drafter. As usual, Narasaiah was yet to return from an errand.
'Integral Architects,' Roopa answered the telephone call at three.
'It is Wahab calling. Tell Rao saab to stay back. There's rioting over here.'
'Oh, hasn't he reached?' said Roopa trembling. 'He left at two.'
'Inshah Allah,' said Wahab, 'he didn't cross the M usL'
'Ask him to call us,' said Roopa almost inaudibly, 'as soon as he comes.'
'Oh surely,' Wahab hung up hurriedly.
Sandhya who just returned to work then, found Roopa pixilated, and at that she herself was perplexed.
'What's the matter with you?' Sandhya asked Roopa concernedly.
'Wahab rang up,' Roopa muttered incoherently, 'It seems they're rioting at Charminar.'
'Oh, Raja was supposed to go over there.'
'He hasn't reached there yet,' said Roopa, with tears flowing down her cheeks.
'Oh, God,' Sandhya swooned into Roopa's arms. 'If he's harmed, I would die.'
'So would I, that's for sure,' blurted out Roopa, as they wetted each others shoulders.
'Don't I know that, lovey,' said Sandhya wiping Roopa's tears, 'Hope God saves him for both of us.'
Unable to bear her anxiety as Sandhya sank into a chair, Roopa rushed to the phone to ring up Ranga Reddy, and relieved a little after talking to him, she told Sandhya that he promised to find out Raja Rao's whereabouts. Seeing Sandhya in shock, Roopa began cuddling her in silence, but driven by her own anxiety, every now and then, Roopa got up to ring up someone or the other, seeking their help to locate Raja
Rao. However, Roopa's updates such as, 'Subba Reddy had gone to Bangalore', 'Ranga Reddy went to the Police Control Room' seemed to fall on Sandhya's deaf ears.
But, exhausted by anxiety, and worn by despair, when Roopa herself dragged another chair to be near Sandhya, they found themselves locking their arms and staring at each other, drawing comfort from one another though without a word. When the telephone rang at four-thirty, Sandhya sprang up to her feet, but panicked to pick up the call.
'Sandhya here,' she said nervously, having lifted the receiver on the third ring.
'Raogaru is safe,' said Ranga Reddy, 'but he's injured.'
'Where is he now?' said Sandhya with relief, as Roopa rushed to her in delight. And as Roopa shoved her ear to the receiver, symbolizing the harmony of their love for their man, Sandhya shared it with her.
'He's at the OGH,' Ranga Reddy 'I'll pick you up around six after arranging curfew passes for you.'
'Didn't I tell you that he would be fine?' Roopa hugged Sandhya poignantly as Ranga Reddy hung up his phone.
'Why did you worry then?' said a smiling Sandhya in relief.
Roopa rested her relieved head on Sandhya's heaving bosom for an answer.
'So,' Sandhya patted Roopa's head.
'Can't you forgive me,' said Roopa, wetting Sandhya's biouse.
'Don't try to be smart,' said Sandhya teasing Roopa, whiie fondiing her iovingiy. 'Teii me the whoie story, and then I'ii see.'
'I'm sorry,' said Roopa, aimost inaudibiy. 'I just couidn't heip it. I was fascinated the moment I saw him, and tried my best to restrain myseif. But the more I tried to suppress my desire for him, the more I was drawn to him. I feit so miserabie ioving him that I wished I were dead. I became so insane in my ionging for him that I iost aii my sense of beionging to you. Biinded by my love, my conscience too failed me, and I didn't feel guilty, though you've trusted me.'
'Oh, lovey, why didn't you tell me before?' said Sandhya, moved herself.
'I just couldn't bring myself to it,' said Roopa, hugging Sandhya endearingly. 'Tell me; how am I to tell you that I was coveting your man? I always knew he too was attracted by me, but then, love is a different thing, isn't it? Just the same, I was living in the hope of being loved by him. Then came a time, when I felt that I was doomed by my unrequited love for him. But then, destiny seemingly dragged him into my longing arms. As you know, triggered by your letter of concern for me, himself concerned, he came to me this August. Then, as Sathyam too was away, I could hold no more, and overwhelmed him with all my love and longing. Being his very own woman, you would understand what he could have given me in return for my overriding passion for him. Oh, how nice it feels that I too have some place in his heart, occupied for the most part by you. But, if at any time, should my presence in our love triangle irk you, I would withdraw from it without a word. Even then, I can live on, masticating the memories of his love and passion for me. Oh, won't all that last for a life time and more.'
