by BS Murthy
'Why do you want to rub your quirk Ideas on her,' said JanakI frowning upon her rebellious daughter.
'It's her life so let her decide about It herself' said Raju.
'You're too young to air your views,'JanakI was dismissive.
'Why, he represents the future while you're all but the past,' said Chandrika In support of her sister's cause, 'and his views are only going to count In the days to come.'
'Know we're dealing with the present,' said an exasperated JanakI.
'But her life Is about her future,' said Raju, ready to take up the cudgels for Roopa, 'and none could cater to It better than Sandhya-akka.'
'What Is to be done when children don't heed our word anymore,' said JanakI, as though relenting. 'What to do than to come down and stay with her.'
'Is that to jail her?' Chandrika sounded sarcastic. 'What's her crime, than being born a woman whom fate widowed when young? It's time you give up your jailer mind-set when It comes to your daughters' lives.'
'Oh, now the children don't want to stay with their own parents!' said JanakI, playing her trump card. 'In that case, let Raju stay with her. It may help him In his studies as well.'
'Why didn't you think of It when my brother-ln- law was alive?' countered Raju spiritedly.
'Enough of It now, for she heard us all,' said Ramalah, wanting to bring all that to an end, fearing the discussion might turn acrimonious In the end. 'Isn't she old enough to understand what's best for her? Let's leave It to her, for she's the worst affected of all.'
Til stay with them,' said Roopa with a sense of conviction that surprised all, and at that, as Durgamma wanted to protest, Pathrudu signaled her Into silence.
'So be It,' said Ramalah In a way that drew no further comment from those present. In spite of their reservations about her scandalizing proposition.
'What Is happiness and unhappiness all about?' Roopa began reminiscing, struggling to sleep that night. 'Haven't 1 experienced them both In equal measure? After all, everything In life has to do with one's state of mind. But then, don't social constraints couple with Individual proclivities to shape our attitudes? Oh, poor Sathyam, what a victim he was, of his psyche, shaped by the circumstances of his life. Why, his parents stunted his growth to begin with, and with my denying him the wifely hype, he went wayward In the end and then, how the vicissitudes of life victimized him.'
'That's the guilt with which I've to learn to live,' she thought, as she recalled her role In Sathyam's fall. 'Was he not a victim of human dishonesty as well. Including mine and the Inequity of life In general? Are not the Prasads of the world having the cake and eating It too? Do they really. In a way? Why, for all that. I'm no less a beneficiary of deceit, although by default. Is It not so? Is It possible that Tara's life Is the radical answer to make It equal to all? But Is It really? Well, It appears that life tends to manifest Itself only In Ironies, doesn't It? Oh, while I married Sathyam In the hope of becoming a doctor, didn't he bequeath me a fortune to build a clinic! How fate has taken off at a tangent In my life.'
As If to ease herself from the burden of guilt, she turned her thoughts to the gift of her life - love, 'Oh, won't 1 be shifting to their place tomorrow, to start life afresh as their woman In a llve-ln. Well, It's only a matter of time before the world gets used to our arrangement. Isn't It? But would I be content with the menage a trols forever, won't I want to be Mrs. Roopa Rao at some point of time? Would Sandhya then object to his bigamy? Oh no, never, life In the offing would be thrilling and vibrant, with Saroja too propping It up. God willing, won't 1 beget her sibling? How we both crave to have a child of our own. And my degree too would be on hand soon as If to underscore my changed status. Oh, so much pain and as much pleasure, even before I turn twenty-three! But then, that's life, as Tara said on Sathyam's death.'
'Am 1 not being mean to envision bliss In my condition?' she felt as her line of thinking perturbed her. 'Won't all this amount to coveting life when my man Is just dead? What If I renounce the world and turn Into a sanyasin? But of what avail Is life In a vegetable existence? Besides, won't my move keep alive the age-old prejudices against young widows that much longer? And what about them, without me, can life ever be the same for them? Moreover, haven't 1 led them Into believing that 1 would never desert them, whatever It takes for that?'
Then guided by her Innate Instincts, she tried to reason her situation all over again, 'Oh Is It fair to expect the living to lead a life of gloom In the shadows of the dead? Doesn't life Impose Its own compulsions on the living, regardless of the sentiment to the departed? But then, how can 1 ever reconcile my own craving for life with the memory of Sathyam? Why, In keeping his memory alive In the Sathyam Memorial Clinic.'
As she began feeling easy with her line of thinking, on second thoughts she felt that she was being hypocritical but resolved her position In the end, 'Whatever It may be I'm human, and a woman at that, with all that goes with It. Well, let me live normally and lead life like a woman. That's all, no more, and no less.'
While she sank Into a reconciled sleep at that, all that night, her parents and the Inlaws had a troubled time on her account.
The next day, after everyone had left, some upset by her conduct, and others apprehensive about her future, Sandhya and Raja Rao led Roopa to the assigned place of her destiny.
Leaving this narrative behind, in time, Roopa's mourning would have ended, enabling her to begin a life of subdued bliss.
As her father was constrained to help her in becoming a doctor, Roopa opts to marry, envisioning her man serving her cause. But as Sathyam, her husband, fails to go with her idea, she becomes apathetic towards him, and insensibly sinks into her friend Sandhya’s embrace, for lesbian solace. In time, at Sandhya's wedding, she loses her heart to Raja Rao, the groom, and that throws her into a dilemma. Unfolding the saga of Roopa’s life and times in the complex Indian society, this literary novel, nuances man-woman chemistry on one hand, and on the other, portrays woman-woman empathy. Who said the novel is dead; ‘Benign Flame’ raises the bar.
The author has convinced the readers that love is something far beyond marriage tie and fulfillment of love can be attained without marriage bondage. The author has achieved a minor revolution without any paraphernalia of revolution in the fourth part of the novel.
- The Quest.
The plot is quite effective, and it’s a refreshing surprise to discover that the story will not trace a fall into disaster for Roopa, given that many writers might have habitually followed that course with a wife who strays into extramarital affairs,
- Spencer Critchley, Literary Critic, USA.
The author makes free use of - not interior monologue as such, but - interior dialogue of the character with the self, almost resembling the dramatic monologue of Browning, Roopa, Sandhya, Raja Rao and Prasad to a considerable extent and Tara and Sathyam to a limited degree indulge in rationalization, trying to analyse their impulses and drives.
- The Journal of Indian Writing in English.
As her father was constrained to help her in becoming a doctor, Roopa opts to marry, envisioning her man serving her cause. But as Sathyam, her husband, fails to go with her idea, she becomes apathetic towards him, and insensibly sinks into her friend Sandhya’s embrace, for lesbian solace. In time, at Sandhya's wedding, she loses her heart to Raja Rao, the groom, and that throws her into a dilemma. Unfolding the saga of Roopa’s life and times in the complex Indian society, this literary novel, nuances man-woman chemistry on one hand, and on the other, portrays woman-woman empathy. Who said the novel is dead; ‘Benign Flame’ raises the bar.
The author has convinced the readers that love is something far beyond marriage tie and fulfillment of love can be attained without marriage bondage. The author has achieved a minor revolution without any paraphernalia of revolution in the fourth part of the novel.
- The Quest.
The plot is quite effective, and it’s a refreshing surprise to discover that the story will not trace a fall into
disaster for Roopa, given that many writers might have habitually followed that course with a wife who strays into extramarital affairs,
- Spencer Critchley, Literary Critic, USA.
The author makes free use of - not interior monologue as such, but - interior dialogue of the character with the self, almost resembling the dramatic monologue of Browning, Roopa, Sandhya, Raja Rao and Prasad to a considerable extent and Tara and Sathyam to a limited degree indulge in rationalization, trying to analyse their impulses and drives.
- The Journal of Indian Writing in English.
