Benign Flame: Saga of Love, BS Murthy [rainbow fish read aloud txt] 📗

its landscape,” said Sandhya, seemingly excited.

“If it suits you both, it’s Ok with us,” concurred in Kamalakar.

“Looks like our purohit is missing me, I better get going,” said Raja Rao as someone came to fetch him

While Sandhya saw him off with an endearing look, Roopa seemed lost with a forlorn feeling, and after he went out of sight, Sandhya led Roopa to her room for exchanging notes.

“Won’t you find him handsome?” said  Sandhya excitedly.

“He’s better than my dream man,” said Roopa inciting Sandhya to kiss her in response.

“Now I’ve to leave as Chandrika wants me for some purchases,” so bluffed Roopa gripped by an urge for solitude.

However, Sandhya, who wanted to share more about her beau with her mate, tried to hold her longer, and Roopa, after spending some time with her mate in her absent-minded state, could eventually persuade her to let her go.

“Go now but tomorrow I won’t stir from my bed till you come,” said Sandhya, reluctantly setting her free.

‘Don’t worry, if you don’t show up in time, he would come to drag you all the way to the altar,” said Roopa as though attuning her mind to Raja Rao’s proclivities.

 ‘Isn’t he the one?’ thought Roopa, closing her eyes as if to hold him in her mind’s eye. She felt as though the man she vaguely craved all along came in his form and as though infatuation itself was enamored to feel the pulse of their love in tandem, it induced Raja Rao into reverie to review his feelings.

‘Oh, what a face and the figure to match it, as well!’ he thought excitedly, ‘a woman with a woman’s body, as Dostoyevsky put it, is she not? And what about that bewitching smile, well, what a fascinating woman she is!’

‘It’s as though he came straight out of my heart to delight my eyes,’ Roopa thought in amazement. ‘New, yet so familiar, unknown, but doesn’t it feel as if he is my own! Oh, how it tickles, as though his gaze gauges me nude! Yet, I felt protected in his presence! Well, he’s the Raja of my heart and soul, there’s no mistaking that.’

‘It feels as though we’re born for each other,’ he felt hopeful. ‘It’s clear that she’s attracted to me. Won’t her eyes carry the poetry of her passion for me? To get infatuated, or to love even, is one thing, and an affair is altogether different. But mercifully, I wouldn’t be losing track of Roopa, unlike that Ganga-Kaveri girl. What an incredible fortune to meet this one so soon after losing that one! There could be a chance to make her my own someday, who knows?’

‘Wasn’t my hand languid in his clasp as if to feel the pulse of his love,’ Roopa sighed as she recalled the sensation of that incredible moment. ‘Didn’t his touch, touch the woman in me? And when he pressed my hand with passion, wasn’t I possessed for his possession. If only I weren’t married and he hadn’t been betrothed, oh, what should’ve come in the way of our wedding? But well, I have to suppress my love, if not for fidelity, at least for friendship.’

‘Even if I can’t live with her, I would be able to love her still,’ he felt peaceful in the end. ‘If I weren’t destined to have her, well, my passion in time could transform into a sublime affection for her. Being privy to our mutual affection, won’t we nurse a fond feeling for each other? But then, would my distraction for Roopa affect my attraction for Sandhya? No; don’t I know that my love for Sandhya springs from the depths of my soul. Surely, Roopa seems to rein in my heart, but won’t Sandhya remain its queen?

‘Thank God,’ she consoled herself. ‘We would have enough opportunities to meet. Won’t I see him and be seen by him? So, I would be able to adore him while he admires me. All said and done, isn’t he mine, being Sandhya’s man? Won’t I get a feel of him while I make love to her?’

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As day broke that 7th June, the chain of ceremonies leading to the momentous wedding commenced in right earnest that is even as Sandhya clung to Roopa all the while.

“I’m too excited to be on my own,” Sandhya repeated all along.

“Your marriage gives me an idea of Rathi – Manmath’s mythical wedding,” said Roopa heartily.

“You being the attendant angel,” said Sandhya.

“Of an enamored kind,” said Roopa alluringly as Sandhya laced her endearingly.

By dusk, it was din at the kalyana mandapam. Clad in a white silk dhothi, Raja Rao obeyed the unceasing commands of the purohit, uttered in sonorous Vedic chants, but even as his hands were handling the marital rituals to the rhythmic renditions, robot-like, his angavastram had a tough time balancing itself on his bare shoulders. At length, as Sandhya, seated in a bamboo basket, was brought near him on the decorated dais, by four of her uncles, all the way from the anteroom, and well before they could unload the pretty load opposite him, a makeshift curtain was raised in between them to preclude their ogling before the auspicious moment.

When Kamalakar’s watch, set to the AIR time, indicated 08.26, the chosen   sumuhurtham from the Pedda Purnaiah’s almanac, Raja Rao was given the green signal by the purohit. Governed by his destiny and guided by the purohit, Raja Rao’s hand, carrying the sacred paste, prepared for the occasion as per the custom, reached out to Sandhya, from underneath the curtain. Goaded by Roopa, the bride bowed her head to enable the groom to affix that mass on her scalp to initiate their union and in turn, Sandhya was directed to follow suit, as though to cement their marital bondage. Then doing away with the curtain, the purohit ordained the just married to stay put in that posture as though to allow them time to grasp the import of the moment to their eventual life.

Amateur photographers, from among the relatives, vied for vantage positions with the professional ones engaged for the occasion, and in their eagerness to capture the moment for the family albums, they tended to block the view of the vintage event to the curious audience. When the couple was allowed to free their hands, they raised their heads to espy each other as man and wife. After having been satiated with Sandhya’s demeanor, when Raja Rao’s eyes met Roopa’s stare, they seemed to acquire a longing look, and sensing his ardor for her in her enamored state, Roopa felt as though the moment belonged to her as well.

Meanwhile, the mangalasutrams, symbolizing the nuptial knot, were taken around by the chota purohit to enable the married women to bless them. In time, as the junior brought the blessed things back to his senior, Raja Rao was ready to usher Sandhya into the dream of her life. While Roopa maneuvered the flower-decked plait of the bride, Raja Rao stood up to tie the blessed things round Sandhya’s shapely nape, and before he proceeded, Roopa heard him whisper to his bride, ‘With your permission.’ As Roopa looked at him in admiration for his ingenuity, he raised his head and gazed at her in fascination. Puzzled by his manner, as Roopa wondered whether he had her too in mind when he sought that ‘permission’, Sandhya bent her head even more, as though to salute him for his thoughtful gesture.

While the rituals lasted a little longer, fuelling the longing of the newly-weds for each other, as they were given the green signal to shower the talambraalu over each other’s heads, the respective camp followers egged them on for one-upmanship. Finding Roopa helping his bride to gain the upper hand, as Raja Rao cried foul, Sandhya retorted, ‘didn’t I tell you that she’s my other half’ and increased the tempo, unmindful of his further protests. What with the euphoria that followed amused the gathering no end, and as a fistful of the sacred rice, let loose from Raja Rao’s hand, landed on Roopa’s head as well, she wondered whether it was merely accidental! Reflexively looking for Sathyam, she found him engrossed in a conversation with someone in the gathering.

When it was time for the gathered to greet the newly married, Roopa joined her husband.

“This is Sathyam, Roopa’s husband and my raakhi brother,” Sandhya joyously introduced him to Raja Rao.

“Thanks for coming,” said Raja Rao, while he shook hands with Sathyam, and as Roopa scrutinized his demeanor to discern the nuances, he added,

“It’s a pleasure meeting you two.”

‘Didn’t it sound like ‘you too’?’ thought Roopa staring at Raja Rao, ‘It’s as if he won’t miss an opportunity for a double entendre! Isn’t he at it ever since we met? Maybe, that could be part of his charm.’ What’s more, she thought Raja Rao’s eyes were smiling as though to confirm that she got it right.

“We wish you spend some time with us on your way to Delhi,” invited Sathyam, as Roopa’s face lighted up.

“Thanks, we’ll try, but,” said Raja Rao

“Why don’t you recommend,” said Roopa to Sandhya imploringly as Raja Rao read the disappointment written all over her face.

“I’d love nothing more than spending some with them,” said Sandhya entreatingly to her husband.

“As you please, so it’s done,’ Raja Rao seemed to address Roopa’s ears.

“That is sisterly affection,” said Sathyam warmly.

“We’ll be waiting,” Roopa said camouflaging her longing.

“Can I detain Roopa for tonight?” said Sandhya to Sathyam.

‘Do you need my permission for that,” said Sathyam and added,

“I don’t come in her way either.”

“Is there any alternative path of salvation for a married man,” said Raja Rao heartily, and turned to Roopa,

“You take care of her till I take her over.”

Past midnight that night, the physically fatigued bride fell into the arms of her mentally exhausted mate.

“Lovey, it’s all like a dream come true,” said Sandhya resting her head on Roopa’s ample breasts.

“Anyway, it’s all real now,” said Roopa pressing Sandhya’s head deep into her valley.

“Tell me, how it would be like with a man,” Sandhya asked thoughtfully.

“As mating itself is so exciting, lovemaking must be a lot more fulfilling,” said Roopa in all contemplation,

‘I’ll be in your arms anyway, narrating what it was like in Raja’s coition,” said Sandhya mystically.

“Promise me then,” said Roopa.

‘Promise what, to land up in your arms in Hyderabad, or to kiss and tell about our honeymoon,” said Sandhya with a smile.

‘Of course both, you know how I miss male sexual romance but from now on I’ll have proxy experience,” said Roopa taking Sandhya into her embrace.

“How sweet, but it all depends on how you make me want to come to you,” said Sandhya, in all eagerness.

‘Come, I’ll make you feel doubly wanting by the time your man comes mounting,”  said Roopa pressing closer to Sandhya,

Soon, Sandhya realized to her gratification that Roopa’s love meant business.

The next day, after seeing off the newlyweds on their honeymoon trail, Roopa set out on the homeward stretch with Sathyam towards the evening.

‘While Sandhya’s love would find fulfillment in Raja’s passion, am I not left to pine for his possession,’ she felt as she struggled to find solace in sleep in that sleeper coach of the Godavari Express.

 

Chapter 15

Naughty Nuptials

 

As the chauffeur-driven Ambassador crossed Kakinada, greenery greeted the honeymooners. ‘I never knew that we’re so close to nature,’ exclaimed Sandhya leaning on her man.

“Once we’re in Konaseema, you won’t have eyes even for me,” said Raja Rao feeling refreshed.

“How I wish that Roopa were with us,” said Sandhya, lost in her excitement.

“I’m beginning to get envious of your Roopa,” he said in jest, taking her hand.

“Why so, she only complements my love for you,” she said lovingly.

“What’s so special about her by the way?” he tried to appear casual.

“Simply put, she’s unique, though it feels nice being your wife, her separation hurts me no end. We’ve grown up dreaming living as neighbours,” she said emotively.

“It’s still possible,” he said tentatively,

“Can we move over to Hyderabad!” she said excitedly.

“I love that place like no other, let’s see how soon we