13-05-2019, 10:48 PM
A few days later, I found myself milling about on the sprawling lawns of a farmhouse owned by Shakoor Haji. The gathering had an odd mix of invitees. On the one hand there were the local bigshots and government officials and on the other hand, you had the core group of Shakoor Haji's men who were essentially local goons and enforcers. Both sides largely kept to each other as I made boring conversation with a group of government officer wives. As was fitting for the occassion I had worn a dignified peacock blue saree. Vinay had drifted away as I chatted with the ladies and was animatedly talking to a group of state cadre officers.
Asif spotted me from a distance and flashed a sign to suggest that I looked impressive. The whole event was awkward for me as I kept spotting men who had their way with me in the past. There was Jamal, my tormentor from the past and some of his stooges who had assaulted me in the SUV. Jamal flashed a dirty grin when he saw me. There was also Shakoor's secretary who made a brief appearance along with the big man. But luckily none of them dared approaching me when I was with the other women. There was a clear class divide at play here and I deliberately chose to stay within the safety that being in my group offered.
But this was easier said than done because the conversations were mind numbingly boring. It was either about being at home, or children, or in laws or clothes or jewellery. I also noticed that there was no interaction between the men and women at this party apart from an occasional "Hi" or "Hello". It was that conservative! All in all it was terrible.
Only half an hour into the party, Vinay came to me and told me that he had leave. Something urgent had come up. It was 7 PM. Why would he get work at this time? I wondered. Was he going to see Barkha?
"I think you should also meet Shakoorji before you leave" he said. And was off in a jiffy, promising that he would send the car back and I could leave whenever I wanted.
I really didn't want to stay either but the place Vinay was going to was in the opposite direction to our house from the farm house and I had to wait and endure some more boring conversation.
"That's a nice saree Sheetal. Where did you buy it from?"
"Oh this. This is a Lucknow Chikan saree that Vinay got for me when he had gone there"
"Very nice!" the others chimed.
The food wasn't bad but owing to the cold weather and the ample supply of drinks (which none of the women were drinking), I had to use the wash room. One of the ladies directed me to the attached bathroom of a room inside the farm house. Unlike the lawn, the house itself wasn't well lit. At least someone had switched off the lights everywhere except for a few rooms. One of the rooms had Shakoor Haji.
He was meeting with the guests who had come. I ran into Asif on the way who insisted that I should meet Shakoor and that he would personally introduce me to the big man.
So I stood in the queue with the other people to meet him. People took turns to enter the room and from what I figured either greeted Shakoor or sought favours from him. Shakoor was a huge man, at least 6 feet tall with broad shoulders and a gaunt face.
I stepped into the room which was bathed in a yellow light from chandeliers. Shakoor's secretary, Ali, immediately recognised me and gave me a dirty grin. He also whispered something in Shakoor's ears after which Shakoor gave me a knowing glance.
"Many congratulations, Shakoor ji, nice to meet you finally" I said, smiling.
He shook my hand firmly and said smilingly "Thank you, Sheetal". "The victory tastes sweeter when a beautiful lady like you wishes". " I hope you're enjoying the party"
"I am indeed. Your farm house is beautiful"
"It is, isn't it? If I somehow manage to get through all the people waiting to meet
me, I can give you a tour of the place"
"Sure" I smiled and nodded.
"Well I hope you don't have any favours to ask me!" he smiled.
"Hahaha absolutely not"
"Please do convey my regards to your husband. My people tell me that he's doing a good job"
"I will, thank you"
I stepped out into the fresh air thinking "Well that wasn't so bad". The men surrounding him may be thugs but Shakoor himself seemed to be a dignified man.
I went and joined the wives gang again and waited for Vinay to send the car back. The farm house was on the outskirts of the town and it looked like it would be a while before the car would be back. The crowd slowly dwindled as the night went along. Soon by around 10 PM there were only a bunch of people left. I was sitting in the lawn with a shawl wrapped around myself talking to the wife of the local district judge when the security guard came up to us and said that the car was here. I said my good byes and walked towards the driveway which was at the other end of the lawn. To my surprise, my car wasn't there. " Sorry ma'am galti ho gayi. This is Mishra sir's car" the guard apologised.
Left with no option, I turned back to go towards the lawn when I bumped into Shakoor.
"Hi Sheetal, you are leaving already?"
"Actually I'm waiting for Vinay to send the car back. Looks like it hasn't come yet"
"That's great, because I promised to give you a tour. Come let's go"
I hesitated. "Please don't bother. Its really late anyway."
"Oh its no big deal..come"
I followed him as he walked back to the house while talking on his phone. The lawn was to the side of the house, so we entered through the main door. The house was quiet as we entered through the hall. It was bathed in a dim lighting and the only sound was that of our footsteps and Shakoor's voice as he spoke on his mobile"
He got done with his call and said "So many people. They all call and come only if you win" and laughed. I smiled. "Looks like all these bloody fellows have drank themselves to sleep" he said referring to his party workers. There were some people left on the lawn who I could spot through the windows.
"Come Sheetal, this way" he said, motioning towards the marbled staircase which went upstairs. I was quite apprehensive of this "tour". After all, his men had been anything but pleasant to me in the past and I was also taking a tour of a seemingly empty house from a man I had just met an hour back. He was also not any man but a man with considerable power and influence. I recognised the precarious position I was in.
"The entire house was designed by my wife and daughters. I had nothing to do with it!" he guffawed.
I smiled "Where are your wife and daughters?"
"They're in the US. My second daughter just had a baby"
So basically I was alone in this house with him and his goons. Luckily they were all passed out.
As he guided me from room to room, Shakoor kept resting his arm on my back. I didn't make much of it although it did add to my anxiety. I had taken off the shawl as it was not cold inside and his palm touched the bare skin on my back just below my neck which was not covered by the blouse.
It was a two storied house and we were moving slowly from room to room because he kept getting calls in between. During this time, I ambled around the room awkwardly not knowing what to do and examined the paintings or art pieces that dotted the rooms. It was a tastefully done house. Everything that I had imagine about this man had been turned on its head so far, I mused to myself. I had expected an uncouth, country fellow and a garish and ugly house. But instead I met a seemingly educated man with a decent house. Then why were his supporters such utter scoundrels? I wondered.
"Come Sheetal" he said interrupting my thoughts.
"This is my study"
This time as he guided me into the room, his hand touched my back right below where the blouse ended and a hint of bare skin was exposed in a saree. I shivered from his touch. It seemed deliberate enough.
"These are all the books I have" he said, pointing to the shelves.
It was a large room with windows facing the door and book shelves on either sides. There were nice wooden chairs all around to lounge and read. I loved it.
He had a lot of Hindi books.
As I stood in front of the shelves and examined the titles, he came and stood next to me on my left.
"Do you read, Sheetal?"
I nodded. "But books written in English"
"In that case you will like this one" he said as he pulled out a old looking copy of an English classic.
"I don't read it but my daughter raves about it" he said. He handed it to me but as he did so, he again placed his hand on my back. There was no mistaking the touch this time. It was firmly placed on my exposed waist.
I pretended as if nothing had happened and flipped through the book.
As I did so, his palm caressed my waist, gently. His intimate touch was ringing alarm bells inside me! Do I recognise it and make things awkward or do I simply ignore and quickly get through the tour. I chose to remain quiet and moved towards the next shelf. I hoped he would take the hint and drop the seduction.
But he didn't! He picked another book from the shelf, a book of RK Laxman cartoons "I find RK Laxman very amusing although a bulk of his satire is directed towards politicians like me". He guffawed loudly and I smiled courteously. His hand was back again and this time was stroking my waist more deliberately.
I flipped through the pages with urgency and moved away.
"Your library is well stocked, Shakoorji. But I'm afraid I don't have the time to go
through all the wonderful books you have"
"Oh please take your time"
I smiled graciously and said "My car should be here by now. You have a great house"
"That car can wait, Sheetal. Let me just show you the last couple of rooms and accompany you to your car. The rooms are this way"
This time he placed his hand right of my exposed hip.
Oh fuck! His rough palm lightly squeezed my hip as I walked out of the study room. Things were reaching a point of no return. I wondered if his Ali, Jamal or even Asif had told him about me. If they had, I was in a very precarious position.
To compound my trouble, the next room was a bedroom. I quickly looked around and was about to exit when he followed me in and insisted that I sit on the bed.Tensely I sat on the bed thinking of ways to leave the place.
Asif spotted me from a distance and flashed a sign to suggest that I looked impressive. The whole event was awkward for me as I kept spotting men who had their way with me in the past. There was Jamal, my tormentor from the past and some of his stooges who had assaulted me in the SUV. Jamal flashed a dirty grin when he saw me. There was also Shakoor's secretary who made a brief appearance along with the big man. But luckily none of them dared approaching me when I was with the other women. There was a clear class divide at play here and I deliberately chose to stay within the safety that being in my group offered.
But this was easier said than done because the conversations were mind numbingly boring. It was either about being at home, or children, or in laws or clothes or jewellery. I also noticed that there was no interaction between the men and women at this party apart from an occasional "Hi" or "Hello". It was that conservative! All in all it was terrible.
Only half an hour into the party, Vinay came to me and told me that he had leave. Something urgent had come up. It was 7 PM. Why would he get work at this time? I wondered. Was he going to see Barkha?
"I think you should also meet Shakoorji before you leave" he said. And was off in a jiffy, promising that he would send the car back and I could leave whenever I wanted.
I really didn't want to stay either but the place Vinay was going to was in the opposite direction to our house from the farm house and I had to wait and endure some more boring conversation.
"That's a nice saree Sheetal. Where did you buy it from?"
"Oh this. This is a Lucknow Chikan saree that Vinay got for me when he had gone there"
"Very nice!" the others chimed.
The food wasn't bad but owing to the cold weather and the ample supply of drinks (which none of the women were drinking), I had to use the wash room. One of the ladies directed me to the attached bathroom of a room inside the farm house. Unlike the lawn, the house itself wasn't well lit. At least someone had switched off the lights everywhere except for a few rooms. One of the rooms had Shakoor Haji.
He was meeting with the guests who had come. I ran into Asif on the way who insisted that I should meet Shakoor and that he would personally introduce me to the big man.
So I stood in the queue with the other people to meet him. People took turns to enter the room and from what I figured either greeted Shakoor or sought favours from him. Shakoor was a huge man, at least 6 feet tall with broad shoulders and a gaunt face.
I stepped into the room which was bathed in a yellow light from chandeliers. Shakoor's secretary, Ali, immediately recognised me and gave me a dirty grin. He also whispered something in Shakoor's ears after which Shakoor gave me a knowing glance.
"Many congratulations, Shakoor ji, nice to meet you finally" I said, smiling.
He shook my hand firmly and said smilingly "Thank you, Sheetal". "The victory tastes sweeter when a beautiful lady like you wishes". " I hope you're enjoying the party"
"I am indeed. Your farm house is beautiful"
"It is, isn't it? If I somehow manage to get through all the people waiting to meet
me, I can give you a tour of the place"
"Sure" I smiled and nodded.
"Well I hope you don't have any favours to ask me!" he smiled.
"Hahaha absolutely not"
"Please do convey my regards to your husband. My people tell me that he's doing a good job"
"I will, thank you"
I stepped out into the fresh air thinking "Well that wasn't so bad". The men surrounding him may be thugs but Shakoor himself seemed to be a dignified man.
I went and joined the wives gang again and waited for Vinay to send the car back. The farm house was on the outskirts of the town and it looked like it would be a while before the car would be back. The crowd slowly dwindled as the night went along. Soon by around 10 PM there were only a bunch of people left. I was sitting in the lawn with a shawl wrapped around myself talking to the wife of the local district judge when the security guard came up to us and said that the car was here. I said my good byes and walked towards the driveway which was at the other end of the lawn. To my surprise, my car wasn't there. " Sorry ma'am galti ho gayi. This is Mishra sir's car" the guard apologised.
Left with no option, I turned back to go towards the lawn when I bumped into Shakoor.
"Hi Sheetal, you are leaving already?"
"Actually I'm waiting for Vinay to send the car back. Looks like it hasn't come yet"
"That's great, because I promised to give you a tour. Come let's go"
I hesitated. "Please don't bother. Its really late anyway."
"Oh its no big deal..come"
I followed him as he walked back to the house while talking on his phone. The lawn was to the side of the house, so we entered through the main door. The house was quiet as we entered through the hall. It was bathed in a dim lighting and the only sound was that of our footsteps and Shakoor's voice as he spoke on his mobile"
He got done with his call and said "So many people. They all call and come only if you win" and laughed. I smiled. "Looks like all these bloody fellows have drank themselves to sleep" he said referring to his party workers. There were some people left on the lawn who I could spot through the windows.
"Come Sheetal, this way" he said, motioning towards the marbled staircase which went upstairs. I was quite apprehensive of this "tour". After all, his men had been anything but pleasant to me in the past and I was also taking a tour of a seemingly empty house from a man I had just met an hour back. He was also not any man but a man with considerable power and influence. I recognised the precarious position I was in.
"The entire house was designed by my wife and daughters. I had nothing to do with it!" he guffawed.
I smiled "Where are your wife and daughters?"
"They're in the US. My second daughter just had a baby"
So basically I was alone in this house with him and his goons. Luckily they were all passed out.
As he guided me from room to room, Shakoor kept resting his arm on my back. I didn't make much of it although it did add to my anxiety. I had taken off the shawl as it was not cold inside and his palm touched the bare skin on my back just below my neck which was not covered by the blouse.
It was a two storied house and we were moving slowly from room to room because he kept getting calls in between. During this time, I ambled around the room awkwardly not knowing what to do and examined the paintings or art pieces that dotted the rooms. It was a tastefully done house. Everything that I had imagine about this man had been turned on its head so far, I mused to myself. I had expected an uncouth, country fellow and a garish and ugly house. But instead I met a seemingly educated man with a decent house. Then why were his supporters such utter scoundrels? I wondered.
"Come Sheetal" he said interrupting my thoughts.
"This is my study"
This time as he guided me into the room, his hand touched my back right below where the blouse ended and a hint of bare skin was exposed in a saree. I shivered from his touch. It seemed deliberate enough.
"These are all the books I have" he said, pointing to the shelves.
It was a large room with windows facing the door and book shelves on either sides. There were nice wooden chairs all around to lounge and read. I loved it.
He had a lot of Hindi books.
As I stood in front of the shelves and examined the titles, he came and stood next to me on my left.
"Do you read, Sheetal?"
I nodded. "But books written in English"
"In that case you will like this one" he said as he pulled out a old looking copy of an English classic.
"I don't read it but my daughter raves about it" he said. He handed it to me but as he did so, he again placed his hand on my back. There was no mistaking the touch this time. It was firmly placed on my exposed waist.
I pretended as if nothing had happened and flipped through the book.
As I did so, his palm caressed my waist, gently. His intimate touch was ringing alarm bells inside me! Do I recognise it and make things awkward or do I simply ignore and quickly get through the tour. I chose to remain quiet and moved towards the next shelf. I hoped he would take the hint and drop the seduction.
But he didn't! He picked another book from the shelf, a book of RK Laxman cartoons "I find RK Laxman very amusing although a bulk of his satire is directed towards politicians like me". He guffawed loudly and I smiled courteously. His hand was back again and this time was stroking my waist more deliberately.
I flipped through the pages with urgency and moved away.
"Your library is well stocked, Shakoorji. But I'm afraid I don't have the time to go
through all the wonderful books you have"
"Oh please take your time"
I smiled graciously and said "My car should be here by now. You have a great house"
"That car can wait, Sheetal. Let me just show you the last couple of rooms and accompany you to your car. The rooms are this way"
This time he placed his hand right of my exposed hip.
Oh fuck! His rough palm lightly squeezed my hip as I walked out of the study room. Things were reaching a point of no return. I wondered if his Ali, Jamal or even Asif had told him about me. If they had, I was in a very precarious position.
To compound my trouble, the next room was a bedroom. I quickly looked around and was about to exit when he followed me in and insisted that I sit on the bed.Tensely I sat on the bed thinking of ways to leave the place.
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