The Game Of Wits by PVV Satyanarayana (good book club books .txt) 📖

THE GAME OF WITS

VENKATESH came out of jail three days ago.

And he had been searching for ‘her’ ever since. He had searched all the probable places that she might be frequenting. With the flames of revenge burning his heart, he had been frantically searching for her.

Venkatesh had undergone a six-month simple imprisonment, and the first thing he did on emerging out of the jail was to buy a six-inch long knife. The blade of the knife was as sharp as his kindling yen for revenge. He should use the knife if he were to avenge his humiliation, he told himself bitterly.

He had scanned the whole city of Chennai for the woman. The crowded areas such as Paris,China bazaar,Burma bazaar,Luz,Santhome,Marina,Elliots beach,Panagal park,Snake park and what not! With no luck. He was yet to seek her out. He was becoming restless. He became so restless that he wanted to put the knife through someone, should he fail to trace her, in a couple of days.

The fire of revenge had been burning him inside for the past six months. It refused to die down with the time. It only grew stronger. He was thirsting for her blood.

Venkatesh was just a petty thief … till then. Now, he was going to become a murderer too.

Who was responsible for this transformation…?

She…!

The woman, who had robbed him of his hard labour with impunity and landed him in jail!

His ego had taken a severe beating as the hard fact that he was out-smarted by a woman, stared at him.

He was hailed as a hero in his own circle. But there was this woman who had taken out all that pride, like deflating a balloon. She had not only stood in his way, but also sent him to jail – which he was unable to digest, even today.

He had committed many a petty theft including chain-snatchings in his thirty year-old life. But his ten years’ experience in the profession proved to be of no consequence before the crafty lady. He had gone to jail for the first time in his professional career, due to her wily tricks! … The very thought had sent him into a rage.

‘Find her, he should…at any cost’ – he had asserted to himself. ‘And put the sharp blade into her soft breasts. That should send a message to the other women like her…not to play dirty tricks on him’.

Venkatesh took out the knife and kissed its sharp, shining blade – his eyes glowing with the fire of revenge. He returned the knife to his pocket.

At that moment, the city bus had pulled up in front of him. He got into it aimlessly. The bus took him to the Elliots beach, where he alighted at the terminus.

The aged sun had just started limping back home even as the waves in the sea teased him with a roaring laughter. The people thronged the beach. There were long queues of devotees at the Mahalakshmi temple situated on the beach and the temple bells were heard off and on.

Watching people carefully trying to find the face that he was on the look out for, Venkatesh walked slowly on the beach. After a while he squatted on the golden sands near the temple, training his watchful eyes at the crowds of devotees. The number swelled with darkness. The women in their colourful attires and the choicest jewellery outnumbered men.

With the lights coming up on the beach and at the temple, the sun had disappeared quietly into the horizon.

As the scenario was quite tempting, Venkatesh sprang up to his feet and walked towards the temple. Mingling with the devotees, he moved swiftly among them.

His hands working with precision, soon a five-tola gold necklace had shifted places – from the neck of a woman into his secret pocket.

Thereafter, he walked quietly out of the crowds and moved away from the temple.
After walking steadily for a few yards, he had increased his pace taking long strides towards the bus stop.

It was his first attempt after his release from jail. Preoccupied with his mission of tracing out the woman, he had completely ignored his profession.

After a distance, he stopped and looked back at the temple complex to see if there was any commotion. There appeared to be none. Apparently, the woman who lost her necklace was yet to realize it, he thought. With a faint smile on his lips, he had proceeded further.

There were people already waiting for the city bus. He stood aloof from the others.
It was then that the woman came there and stood near him.

A casual look at her, and Venkatesh was startled.

S…h…e…!

The woman he had been seeking out all these days!

She too was waiting for the city bus.

His revenge surfaced instantly and hissed like a cobra. ‘You cunning bitch!’ he swore bitterly under his breath.

Casting side looks, he eyed her carefully … She was around twenty five, slim and tall. Endowed with a fair complexion and an attractive anatomy, she looked quite beautiful. She was wearing a violet-coloured voil sari, and her long, thick plait dangled on her round hips. She wore a pearl necklace and ear-studs. The jasmines that adorned her plait were spreading an alluring aroma.

Now, he stared into her face – to make double sure that she indeed was the target he had been looking for.

The dark, lotus eyes…the tinges of naughtiness in them…the ever-smiling, enticing lips…the rosy, dimpled cheeks – it was she, all right! He could never forget her face, he told himself reassuringly.

He looked at her wickedly. He took out the knife from the pocket and kissed it.

Before he could do anything, the bus had arrived. The woman got into it from the front side and comforted herself in a ladies’ seat.

Gritting his teeth, Venkatesh too boarded the bus from the rear side. He had occupied a seat in the gents’ row, overlooking her seat. He bought a ticket up to the terminus, as he did not know where she would get down.

The bus had started. It stopped and resumed its journey at several places since. people were in and out of it at every stop. Venkatesh had been carefully watching, fixing his eyes on her, lest she might slip off his sight.

At last, she had alighted at Saidapet. He followed suit.

She had started walking down and he followed her at a safe distance.

As he watched her attractive hips moving enticingly as she walked, his heart missed a few beats. But then he tried hard to control his mind. At another time, he would have fallen flat for her beauty, which was capable of driving the men crazy. But it was different now. He was not in a mood to admire her beauty. He was seething with revenge.

She had stopped at a hotel. And entered the phone booth situated by the side of it.

He waited on the pavement opposite, impatiently. He could clearly see her through the glass door, making a phone call.

After a few minutes, she had emerged out of the booth and walked leisurely towards the local railway station.

He followed her, taking care not to lose track of her in the milling crowds.

On the way, she had stopped at the showcases every now and then, looking at the exhibits.

This had made Venkatesh more impatient. He became so furious that he wanted to put the knife through her – then and there!

But, he checked himself. For, it would not serve his purpose. His vengeance would not be complete, if he killed her at one go and without revealing himself.

His idea was to confront her…tell her who he was… and what he was going to do to her. When the fear of life would grip her and she would start begging for her life…he would be immensely happy. He would wash off with her fearful tears, the humiliation and insult he had suffered at her hands. Thereafter, he would put the knife deep into her beautiful breasts. He would want to see her writhing in pain. He would take his revenge…

The woman had abruptly turned into the lane opposite the railway station. After walking for a few meters, she stopped at a small, old house.

The house was locked outside. She opened her handbag and fished out the key. With that she had unlocked the door and entered the house. She did not care to bolt the doors, but shut them close.

Venkatesh looked around. Though people moved in the lane, no one seemed to notice him. After a few minutes, he slipped quietly into the house and bolted the doors inside.

Even as he surveyed the house with his eyes, the woman had emerged out of the bathroom after having a wash. She was startled to see the stranger…there!

Her eyes fell on the knife that was staring at her from his hand.

She could clearly see the flame of vengeance laced with cruelty in his eyes. His disheveled appearance seemed to surprise her.

Her pale face had recovered its colour quickly even as she had greeted him with a smile, “Hello…!”

Venkatesh clenched his fist and ground his teeth, as he saw the smile on her lips, instead of fright.

“You bloody cheat, do you remember me?” he blurted out.

Her smile did not fade out. Nor did she appear to be shaken by his menacing looks.

“How can I forget you, my friend?” said she quietly. “Sit down,” she showed him the chair, pulling herself a wooden stool.

Her nonchalant attitude annoying even more, he surveyed the room quickly.

She stared at him when her mind started retrieving the past slowly…..

***

HAILING from a poor family, Jalaja had nobody excepting her old mother. She had to stop her studies with tenth class due to financial problems. She had learnt typewriting and started hunting for jobs, without much success. Her own beauty had become her enemy everywhere.

It was then that she had been compelled to opt for other means to keep her mother and herself alive. This was not to mean that she became a prostitute, or a thief. She had adopted a novel method, altogether. Her intelligence, mental alertness, wits and guts became her capital. Her targets were none other than the pickpockets, the small time thieves and the chain-snatchers. Her places of ‘business’ were the shops full of customers and the crowded places. Her preying eyes would look for the pickpockets and the thieves. Most of the times, they would not escape her attention.

It was on one of those occasions a few months ago that Venkatesh came in contact with Jalaja. They were the festival days and people thronged the shops in the city for purchases. Jalaja went to a shop in Luz Corner to buy saris for her mother and herself. It was then that