RECAP

Roshni stops going to office. One night when KR musters courage enough to phone her from his bedroom, she vents her ire on him. Alone in her house and with nothing else to do, Roshni decides to open Mother’s trunk.  She takes out some old fashioned gold ornaments and a wedding sari which Mother has secretly kept for her wedding.  Adorning herself as a bride, she admires herself in the mirror.  At that moment, she takes a fancy to invite KR to her home.  KR is too ready to do her bidding. She willingly accepts a gold locket he has brought for her. But once he draws too close to her, she is filled with an aversion for the aging man.

CHAPTER 7

KR was a man on the wrong side of 50s.  Living a fulsome life with his wife and children, what had he seen in me?  Me, a struggling, unfulfilled young woman, who had only the sour taste of life to share with him! 

But perhaps men are like that.  They seem so complete in themselves.  But when you peel off their tightly knit fibrous coat and break open their hard shell, what you find inside is rotten flesh! Bad coconuts, that’s what most of them turn out to be. 

Some men were not worth even that much bother. There was that doctor well into his sixties who fondled my breasts when my father had left me momentarily in his cabin.  And to think I was then a teenage girl burning hot with high grade fever.   My school-time hero – a math teacher who sported flashy ties on his spotless white shirts and was dreaded for his strictness in the class – was another of his kind.  The man had to seek transfer in disgrace after a girl in our class went complaining to the principal how he had been trying to seduce her with promises of helping her in the monthly tests. And now this KR!  A mischievous idea was fast taking shape in my mind. 

KR sat brooding in his chair.  I approached him, a smile pasted on my lips.

‘Sir,’ I asked politely, ‘will you like to have another cup of tea?’

‘What’s this ‘sir’ business, my dear.  You are being too formal.  Am I a guest at your house?'

'Are you not?'

'I thought I was much more to you than that. But you seem to have changed your mind.'

'First you said I have changed my dress.  Now you say I have changed my mind.  Tell me honestly what you think you are to me.  A boy friend?  A lover?  A rich pasha who can keep me?'
 
“Why are you bent on embarrassing me, Roshni? It was you who called me and I came here risking my prestige and my honor.  If only I had known….”

“Don’t try to be evasive, KR sir! I have put you a straight question and I want a straight answer.”

“I hate to admit it, but I have fallen in love with you.”

“O, really?  I must be lucky to have won the love of an experienced and wise man, even if he hates to admit it.  But tell me, sir, how far you can go in your love for me?”

“What a question to ask!  Haven’t I come to your place after all that I had to hear from your mother and then from you?  But if you must, go ahead, try me…”

“Are you ready for any test?”

“You have heard me.”

“Then pick up this phone and dial your home.  Tell your wife you are spending the night with me.”

“You must be joking….”

“No I am not.  If you have any doubts on that score, let me get Mrs. Khanna on the phone for you…”

I made a move towards the instrument on the side table.  KR got up in a huff and snatched it away from me.  He seemed a changed person now.

“This has gone too far, Roshni.  Heart is such a burglar; it robs one of peace and good sense.  Let’s be wary of our hearts.  I have an image before the society.  You too have the prestige of your family to keep.  Then there are our jobs in the firm.  Such things are not to be trifled with.  I think it’s time I must be leaving….”

KR was getting up from his chair.  I caught hold of his wrist and said to him coyly, “Not so fast, sir!  Where’s the dinner you had promised me?”

“Oh!  I had nearly forgotten!” exclaimed KR.  “I hope it’s not too late.”  He took out his mobile phone and started pressing buttons.

“Not here! Let’s go out somewhere.” I said, “I don’t like home-delivery food.  Give me just a minute to get ready!” I said cheerfully.

KR replaced the mobile phone in his pocket.  He switched on the TV and started watching the NDTV news bulletin.  I hurried to my bedroom to change.

I chose a cotton kurta with brown stripes and a green salwar, with a matching dupatta. KR gave me an admiring look.  We drove to a restaurant near the Qutab Minar.  Throughout the drive he did not utter a word.  I too kept my counsel.  The soft wind blowing through the windows of the fast moving car had wafted away any traces of rancor between us.  I ordered naan and rogan josh with coke to go with it for both of us.  The Kashmiri meal was light and delectable.

KR dropped me home after the dinner.  Unzipping my purse, I took out the rainbow locket he had given me that evening, and returned it to him.  “Thank you, sir, I told him, “but I value your friendship more than the gold.”  KR spread his eyes wide in surprise.

“But I had bought this locket for you.  What will I do with it?” he asked.

“Why? Gift it to your wife.  She will be mighty pleased with you!”

“Oh! It never crossed my mind!”

“Old Man!” I teased him.

“Old Man, indeed!” said KR as he started his Maruti and put it in gear.

I watched the taillights of the car disappearing gradually in the darkness.  Later, lying in my bed, I wondered what kind of a man Mother was going to look for me in her native town of Khanna.

                               **** THE END ****