22-12-2018, 01:25 PM
I did visit her home a few times after that, playing badminton with Kirti & Kirit, but Swati had become remote & withdrawn and just barely acknowledged my presence. In any case, she was in the final year of her Bachelor of Arts course while I was in the eleventh standard, a crucial year from the point of view of securing admission to a good college. The final exams were drawing near and so we both became busy with our studies.
***
Swati Goes To Mumbai
Swati had an artistic streak in her and was particularly good at drawing. I had seen some of her sketches & even to my untrained eye, they had looked beautiful. After graduation Swati joined a post-graduate course in fine arts at a well-known art school in Bombay (now Mumbai).
I surprised everyone including myself by scoring excellent marks in the high school final examination. I also sat for a competitive test & gained admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
***
In Mumbai, Swati suddenly found herself unshackled from many of the restrictions that a small town places on young, nubile girls. Moreover, in Swati's case, in spite of her attractiveness, her father's influence & power had made potential suitors wary of approaching her. Swati, having inherited her father's earthy, hot-blooded sensuality had found these restrictions all the more galling. It was no wonder then that in Mumbai she went a bit overboard with befriending boys and having a good time. She soon acquired a quite undeserved reputation of being a "fast" girl. She had an assertive, strong personality, quick wit and a sharp tongue. So, although she enjoyed being in the company of her many male admirers and reveled in the attention they bestowed on her, she never allowed anybody to take liberties with her, staying true to her mother's strict admonition: no canoodling and most certainly no sex before marriage. Nor did she ever violate the strict curfew rules of the girls' hostel she lived in. Until she met Satish, that is.
***
Satish
Satish was a tall, fair, well-built, handsome young boy, studying in St. Xavier's college. He had the looks and build of a Bollywood hero. He was the son of a powerful bureaucrat then posted in Mumbai. His family belonged to a wealthy, land-owning, well-connected North Indian clan that traced its roots back to the days of the Mughal emperors. Over the centuries the clan had produced a galaxy of distinguished civil servants, academics, soldiers, diplomats and businessmen. Never had there been a time in the last four hundred years when there had not been clansmen in positions of power & influence in the durbars of rajahs & nawabs scattered all over north India, including the Mughal durbars at Agra / Delhi. The British era had been particularly propitious for the clan. Not only had they produced more than their fair share of Rai Bahadurs & Dewan Bahadurs, they had also accumulated immense wealth; lately by cornering lucrative war-time supply contracts.
Satish was an only son, born on the back of two daughters; the apple of his mother's eye. He had attended the best public schools; was urbane, polished and well versed in the airs and graces of high society. He was always well dressed, even foppish and never seemed to be short of money. He had access to all the good things money & influence could buy even in the socialistic era of the nineteen-sixties. His most prized possession was a shaft drive BMW motorcycle his father had bought for him from a departing West German diplomat. No wonder then that he was always surrounded by a bevy of girls.
Unfortunately, although Satish was reasonably bright, he was vain, weak willed, ambitionless and lacked a clear goal in life. The deficiencies in his personality and character had not been helped by the shortcomings in his upbringing. Being the only one to carry forward the family name, he had been coddled and spoilt from an early age. An overweening sense of superiority about his illustrious family and their rightful position in India's power elite had been instilled in him since childhood. It was not surprising therefore that he was rather self-centered and used to getting his way; his petulance and arrogance lurked just under the surface.
***
***
Swati Goes To Mumbai
Swati had an artistic streak in her and was particularly good at drawing. I had seen some of her sketches & even to my untrained eye, they had looked beautiful. After graduation Swati joined a post-graduate course in fine arts at a well-known art school in Bombay (now Mumbai).
I surprised everyone including myself by scoring excellent marks in the high school final examination. I also sat for a competitive test & gained admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
***
In Mumbai, Swati suddenly found herself unshackled from many of the restrictions that a small town places on young, nubile girls. Moreover, in Swati's case, in spite of her attractiveness, her father's influence & power had made potential suitors wary of approaching her. Swati, having inherited her father's earthy, hot-blooded sensuality had found these restrictions all the more galling. It was no wonder then that in Mumbai she went a bit overboard with befriending boys and having a good time. She soon acquired a quite undeserved reputation of being a "fast" girl. She had an assertive, strong personality, quick wit and a sharp tongue. So, although she enjoyed being in the company of her many male admirers and reveled in the attention they bestowed on her, she never allowed anybody to take liberties with her, staying true to her mother's strict admonition: no canoodling and most certainly no sex before marriage. Nor did she ever violate the strict curfew rules of the girls' hostel she lived in. Until she met Satish, that is.
***
Satish
Satish was a tall, fair, well-built, handsome young boy, studying in St. Xavier's college. He had the looks and build of a Bollywood hero. He was the son of a powerful bureaucrat then posted in Mumbai. His family belonged to a wealthy, land-owning, well-connected North Indian clan that traced its roots back to the days of the Mughal emperors. Over the centuries the clan had produced a galaxy of distinguished civil servants, academics, soldiers, diplomats and businessmen. Never had there been a time in the last four hundred years when there had not been clansmen in positions of power & influence in the durbars of rajahs & nawabs scattered all over north India, including the Mughal durbars at Agra / Delhi. The British era had been particularly propitious for the clan. Not only had they produced more than their fair share of Rai Bahadurs & Dewan Bahadurs, they had also accumulated immense wealth; lately by cornering lucrative war-time supply contracts.
Satish was an only son, born on the back of two daughters; the apple of his mother's eye. He had attended the best public schools; was urbane, polished and well versed in the airs and graces of high society. He was always well dressed, even foppish and never seemed to be short of money. He had access to all the good things money & influence could buy even in the socialistic era of the nineteen-sixties. His most prized possession was a shaft drive BMW motorcycle his father had bought for him from a departing West German diplomat. No wonder then that he was always surrounded by a bevy of girls.
Unfortunately, although Satish was reasonably bright, he was vain, weak willed, ambitionless and lacked a clear goal in life. The deficiencies in his personality and character had not been helped by the shortcomings in his upbringing. Being the only one to carry forward the family name, he had been coddled and spoilt from an early age. An overweening sense of superiority about his illustrious family and their rightful position in India's power elite had been instilled in him since childhood. It was not surprising therefore that he was rather self-centered and used to getting his way; his petulance and arrogance lurked just under the surface.
***
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