Benign Flame: Saga of Love by BS Murthy (sci fi books to read TXT) đ
- Author: BS Murthy
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âSathyam became a fish out of water all the while,â she said avoiding his gaze.
âI felt miserable throughout, need I tell you why?â he said, unmasking his desire for her.
âSo, he wants me. Does he not look lustful to the bones? But then, how Rajaâs romantic eyes caress my frame conveying his craving for my soul. Wonât their eyes portray the contrast between lust and love? Surely they do. But am I not imagining things, strung by my craving for Raja? How does it matter anyway, when Iâm clear whom I want to have? To be clear is to be real, isnât it? Well, how could one grasp the reality of life without clarity of thought?â she thought looking away from him.
âWhere are your thoughts taking you to?â he said smilingly.
âOh nothing of that sort,â she said embarrassedly.
âHavenât you heard it said that the attributes of womanâs utterances have reverse inferences?â he said mischievously, and dwelled upon the proverb to probe the proclivities of the fair sex.
The male perception that women are ambiguous by nature is not unfounded for they tend to dissemble. But then, why shouldnât they, anyway? Wonât men role model women to self-serve their vested interests, and judge them on the scale of conformity? Since the male tenets are at variance with the feminine instincts, wonât women come to pretend? So, unable to comprehend women, wonât the confounded men end up according the benefit of doubt to them, at every turn that is. Itâs thus, men come to hoist themselves on their own petard, and deservedly at that, so it seems.
However, before Prasad could get Roopaâs reply, he felt Sathyamâs smack on his back.
âYou know, a businessmanâs time is not his time,â said Prasad.
âHad you sounded us, we wouldâve given you Sandhyaâs address,â said Sathyam.
âThatâs next time but right now itâs to my place,â said Prasad.
âWhatâs the hurry, canât we make it leisurely?â said Sathyam.
âRani wonât let me be in unless you both come along with me,â said Prasad smilingly.
âYou know how I value womenâs sentiments,â said Sathyam goading Roopa to get ready.
âI say sentiment is the embodiment of love, what do you say sister?â said Prasad affecting a sneeze
As Roopa gave him a searching look, Prasad smiled in all conceit.
Though they readily headed towards Prasadâs bungalow in the Banjara Hills, however, it was well past eleven when the host dropped his guests back at their home.
âWhat a time it was!â said Sathyam in ecstasy as Prasad left.
âItâs plain boring, to say the least,â said Roopa unlocking the door.
âRani is so courteous and the kids too courted us, what else. Youâre impossible at times,â he protested.
âShe just condescended to descend to us, no more about it,â said Roopa.
âI think its other way round, I felt that sheâs so affectionate,â said Sathyam.
âI bet, stop courting her and you count for nothing to her,â she said indignantly.
âAt least concede that sheâs a fine conversationalist,â said Sathyam in all eagerness, as if to make Roopa see some merit in Rani.
âIf enlightening others about her dadâs greatness, her manâs smartness, and her kidsâ brightness, surely sheâs a great conversationalist. And the advantage of her company is that you might rest your vocal cords while she goes on with her monologues,â said Roopa, and added, âbut on the flip side, your tired ears lead to a headache.â
âThatâs womenâs natural trait but you hardly have a good word for me,â he said half in jest.
âItâs as if you let go an opportunity to have a dig at my people,â said Roopa showing Sathyam his place.
âNeither would you miss a chance at nitpicking,â he said in disappointment.
Bothered by her bickering, Sathyam couldnât sleep for a while, and disturbed by Prasadâs forthrightness, Roopa stayed awake for long.
----
âIsnât it a fortnight since I laid the trap for Roopa?â Prasad tried to envisage his station in his adopted route of seduction. âThough the prey is nowhere in the coming, yet my ardour is despairing for her possession, isnât it? What progress is that anyway? While jolly well enjoying my attentions, she shows no particular interest in me. But then, hasnât she come to love my company? Maybe, thatâs the only thing to write home about. Could that be a cause for hope by the way? Though found wanting itâs as if she doesnât abhor her married life altogether and that makes her a bed-hedger in the arena of adultery. Courtesy the darling, havenât I coined a new phrase for her flirting ilk. Well, even as a few of them are beddable; all married women are bed-hedgers anyway, are they not?â
âNever mind his dull demeanor, Sathyam must be good in bed,â he contemplated in wonderment. âCome to think of it, given a good time in bed, women turn blind to the faults of their men, how strange! But then, itâs all so different with Rani. Though she loves me, doesnât she think itâs her good turn in bed for me? Why, she couldnât get rid of her Electra complex even after six years of sex life with me that made her mother twice over! Before her giant of a father, isnât every man a contemptible midget for her? Short of being explicit, doesnât she tend to imply that I owe my status and all that goes with it to her redoubtable father?â
âNo denying it, though,â he went about drawing up the balance sheet of his marital life. âOf course, itâs our marriage that shifted my gear to the fast track of life from the middle-class morass that it was in. If not, I wouldnât have been better placed than Sathyam; maybe, I wouldâve been worse off for all I know. How wouldâve I got a wife like his! Instead of eyeing Roopa, I would have been envying Sathyam now. Supposing I got a winner for a wife, wonât it have been a tough ask to keep her wooers at bay, that too with limited resources?â
Then he recalled an incident that his wife had made him privy to. When someone made a pass at her, she told the bewildered dasher that he might hope for her affection after acquiring her fatherâs stature and her husbandâs looks!
âLooks like manâs status provides his woman the fidelity amour against her possible seduction,â he began to think. âIsnât it better than the chastity belts of yore that would have still left room enough for the deviancies of the enterprising dames? Fidelity apart, wonât women of means, being sure about themselves, lose their innate womanliness? Isnât it sad for the fair sex as such, but none seem to care, even men at that! Is it not their vulnerability that makes women charming to men and sans a semblance of timidity, wonât femininity suffer? But for all her perfect features, doesnât Rani lack that feminine grace which abounds in Roopa.â
âAm I in love with Roopa then?â he wondered. âWhat nonsense, leave alone the patience, do I have the inclination to love? Iâm just impatient to take her to bed, at the earliest that is. No more and no less that is.â
He tried to believe that he has assumed.
Shortly thereafter, in the wake of the Prasadsâ return visit, Sathyam was disappointed.
âHow I wish they stayed back for dinner, but then, she has a prior commitment,â said Sathyam to Roopa.
âBy now you shouldâve known that itâs just an excuse. But I wonât blame her for she got used to the posh living, itâs not fair to expect her to feel at home in our middle-class mess. And to make matters worse for the visitors, you harp on your childhood as if youâve stopped living thereafter. I feel these days even Prasad is getting tired of your flogging the dead horse of your childhood,â said Roopa indignantly.
âMaybe youâve read her right, but Iâm sure youâre off the mark with him. For that matter, you and Sandhya are no different,â he said turning defensive.
âBy now you shouldâve known that we donât harp on our past, memorable though it was. Well, we feel the present and dream about our future,â she said turning nostalgic.
âHow I wish Sandhya visits us on her way to Kakinada. Itâs a shame that we couldnât make it to Delhi in all these days,â he said, sounding apologetic.
Recalling how their plans to go to Delhi went awry at every turn, Roopa thought dejectedly,
âLeave alone letting me gatecrash into Rajaâs life, fate even keeps me out of Sandhyaâs embrace.â
As if to place Raniâs unease in their place in its contrast, that Sunday afternoon, Tara visited the Sathyams as they were having their tea after siesta. Meanwhile, Sathyam had developed a taste for tea, fed up with giving an explanation to all and sundry about his abstinence.
Strange, indeed, is the way one tends to react to the differing peculiarities in others. None reminds the rotund about the obesity, for the fear of offending them, but when it comes to the lean, unmindful of embarrassing them, all tend to voice their anxiety about his health.
âGot scarce these days, why so?â Roopa welcomed Tara.
âItâs all about kidsâ studies as their exam time is a testing time for the parents. But whatâs happening to you?â said Tara as Roopa led her into the bedroom.
âIf itâs typing and shorthand in the mornings, then, itâs the course material in the afternoons. The days are passing by,â said Roopa
âWhat about the nights?â said Tara tentatively.
âNights follow days, donât they?â said Roopa dryly.
âWhy not let days lead into nights,â said Tara holding Roopaâs hand.
âThat way, my dreams roll my days and nights all into one,â said Roopa dreamily.
âRoopa, some tea for Prasad please,â said Sathyam in high pitch.
âPrasad is his childhood friend, see if he interests you,â said Roopa to Tara.
âDo you think heâs a prospect then?â whispered Tara.
âWhy donât you find it out?â said Roopa.
âBut you spoil my chances with the prized one,â crooned Tara.
âI donât get you,â said Roopa a little puzzled.
âAm I not constrained to hook up your fancied man?â said Tara winking at Roopa.
âStay off from him or else,â Roopa said mockingly threatening Tara.
âAll right, till you get him,â said Tara smilingly.
âStill itâs a threat as your timepiece could be turning anticlockwise to make you ever younger,â said Roopa, in all admiration for Taraâs charms.
âAfter Iâm done with it, I would present that to you,â said Tara winking at Roopa,
âBut for now, what if he...â winked Roopa back at Tara.
âIâll see,â said Tara.
âGood luck,â said Roopa and led Tara into the hall with tea for all.
âSheâs Tara, my friend,â said Roopa to Prasad serving him some steaming tea.
âHe is my bosom pal and a leading industrialist,â said Sathyam to Tara with a sense of pride attached to that.
It is a peculiar characteristic of people that for some inexplicable reason they feel nice about themselves when they cite their acquaintance with the successful.
âHow do you do,â said Prasad.
âFine, thank you,â said Tara.
âIâve just dropped in on my way to attend some business, Iâll be back soon,â said Prasad as he got up to leave.
âWeâll wait for you,â said Sathyam a little puzzled, and thought aloud after Prasad had left, âdoesnât he look a little confused?â
After a short while thereafter, Tara too left, leaving Sathyam pondering over Prasadâs predicament. But, Roopa felt that Prasad had left fearing Tara might smell the rat from his manner, and resort to innuendoes that could alert Sathyam over time. And she knew he would come again to follow his seductive course.
The longing she felt for her lover and the resistance she had to offer to her seducer seemed to push Roopa to the brink of her chastity.
Chapter 25
Device of Deceit
Getting into his Chevrolet, Prasad drove straight to the 7th Street in Domalaguda. Having parked his car near a pan shop, he began chain smoking India Kings in all excitement. Soon, as Tara entered the lane, he waited impatiently for her to reach her house, and as she took note of him, once in, she left the door ajar, in
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