To all their close relations they could boast, ‘My son-in-law has a car, and he has a hotel in Bombay. Someone looks after it and sends him cash every month. He owns hundreds of acres of areca-nut garden. What's best, my daughter has neither a mother-in-law nor a father-in-law. She can manage things exactly as she pleases'
The house-entering ceremony was over, the bride's party went back. Shastri remembers clearly even now that his beautiful wife never lifted her face and looked at him. He came to understand this was not shyness but contempt. If he took her hand playfully, she would stand like a statue of stone. In his memory, her eyes never met his eyes but passed over him as if he did not exist.
Shastri chided her, beat her, but nothing he did could change Saroja's indifference. She slept by his side dutifully, allowed him to enter her, but no fruit came of their contact.
Five years passed in this way, without Saroja becoming pregnant. Radha had supplied many medicines. She even counselled Shastri how to win over his wife in bed. But whatever erotic play he attempted did not loosen Saroja. He repelled her, and when the sexual act was over she would go to the bathroom; pour water over her head, then come and lie down on the bed with wet hair. In order to let his rage escape, Shastri would drive his car to Radha's house in the middle of the night.
The surprising thing was that Saroja was friendly with Radha, although without any touch of intimacy. Radha was fond of books, and she would send to Saroja stories and novels which she had read. In return, Saroja would send to Radha books she had got from her mother's house. Radha sent Saroja jasmine flowers which she had grown, delicately woven in banana fibre. After first offering them to Sharada, whom she worshipped, Saroja would fix them in her braided hair.
Radha would make excuses to visit the house, saying that she needed banana leaves, or rope, or rangoli powder. She would bring beaten rice that she herself had made, and tonde grown in her garden. Saroja always welcomed her politely, saying, ‘Come in,’ and would make her coffee. But she spoke no more than was sufficient for the occasion. The two did not address one another by name. If Shastri was there when Radha came, he would straightaway call the servant, go to his car, and supervise the cleaning of it. If Radha stayed for a long while, the car which had been driven in the dusty village tracks would become so clean and spotless that it shone like the statue of a God.
6
Meanwhile, something happened that would change Shastri's whole life. A Kannada-speaking Malayali whose name was Karunakara Pundit opened an ayurvedic shop in Udupi. He was almost as old as Shastri, but he had a moustache and beard, and these enhanced the glow on his face. He had not cut his hair, but wore it in a big tuft. On his forehead he had a large sandal-paste mark, and his face had a quality of equanimity. His car was a better one than Shastri's. His clothes and demeanour made him appear a man of fortune. His Hindi was better than Shastri's, and he even spoke English. He had knowledge of allopathic medicine, and also of Sanskrit. For him, Sanskrit was as easy as drinking water.
Shastri and Pundit became acquainted, proceeding from asking one another, ‘Of what model is your car?’ Finally, Shastri confidentially obtained some aphrodisiac preparations from Pundit. Their acquaintance grew, they became friends, and one day Shastri took Pundit home for a meal.
As soon as Pundit entered the house, he looked around, and then stood meditating. His gaze became more serious and contemplative and Shastri, worried, lit a cigarette and stood before him in humility. Then Shastri gestured for Karunakara Pundit to sit down on a modern sofa that Shastri had bought after his brother's death, when he became the master of the house. Again Pundit closed his eyes and began to do japa, touching with his thumb the joints of his fingers. Then he opened his eyes and said to Shastri, ‘Don't feel bad if I tell you something. I have some knowledge of tantra and astrology, which I have received from the traditional learning of my family.’
Shastri's regard for him doubled. He said, respectfully, ‘Yes, please speak …’
‘There is an evil in this house. Don't misunderstand me. It is that in some bygone time a woman was murdered here. That is why there is no progeny, no peace, for those who live here now. Some lowly spirits hover over people living here. As soon as I came in, I felt two burning eyes open in my brain. And when two other eyes opened to stare back at them, I began to do japa.’ Hearing this from Karunakara Pundit, Shastri was stunned.
‘A tantric rite must take place in this house. It should be performed jointly by husband and wife. Towards the end of the rite, the lady of your house will have to sit naked and offer worship.’ Karunakara Pundit spoke as if he were prescribing the manner in which to take a medicine.
Shastri sighed and asked, ‘Will you arrange to get it done?’ Karunakara Pundit agreed and, consulting the almanac, found an auspicious day for performing the ritual. ‘It will have to be done secretly,’ he said.
7
Everything was made ready for the ritual. Saroja's eyes, usually blank with indifference, became totally intent as soon as Karunakara Pundit, wearing his silk dhoti, began laying the mandala on the floor using rangoli powder, kumkum and turmeric. Piously, she made cotton wicks for him. She shelled a coconut. She brought oil in a polished bronze long-spouted jug. Shastri felt happy, thinking that these were all good omens.
A sprightliness appeared in Saroja which Shastri had never observed before. The uneven parting in her hair was made straight. She put on all her bridal ornaments. After the ritual, the coffee she prepared was just the right temperature, and had not lost its aroma. Now she did not make coffee by heating an old decoction. It seemed to Shastri as if she were gradually developing a respectful attachment for Karunakara Pundit.
Of the prescribed month's puja, fifteen days were over. As it happened, the ritual had begun after the purification bath marking the end of menstruation and the beginning of fertility. When Saroja menstruated again, Shastri would have to do the ritual alone. And after another purification bath she would, for the last three days, have to sit naked and do the rites.
According to Karunakara Pundit, this was how it had to be done, even if others might perform it in a different way. Shastri felt confident that Saroja, because of her reverence for Pundit, would agree to the last stage of the ritual.
During this whole time, Shastri was not to sleep with a woman. He obeyed Karunakara Pundit and didn't even visit Radha. Saroja went through her menstruation and the sacred bath, sat naked and did the rites.
Karunakara Pundit would not accept any money from Shastri. But he did consent to accept a rudraksha mala in gold, and silk clothes, and he blessed the couple. Touching Saroja's head, he said ‘May you become a mother of ten children.’
Shastri, who was very pleased, told him, ‘You should come and go more often.’ So Karunakara Pundit began coming and going more often. One evening when Shastri had gone to Radha's house, Pundit came and then waited for him.
Shastri said to Saroja, ‘Tell Pundit that he should come in the morning, because I won't be here in the evenings.’ After a couple of days, Shastri grew suspicious and asked, ‘Has Pundit come?’
‘Yes,’ Saroja said with indifference, Pundit had come.
Shastri controlled his rising anger and with mocking politeness asked, ‘You gave him coffee, of course?’
‘Yes.’
‘Didn't you tell him that I wouldn't be here in the evenings, that he should come in the morning?'
Shastri remembers again and again how Saroja didn't reply to him, but turned and went into the house. The manner in which she stepped across the broad high threshold, raising her leg in utter disregard, straight-backed, pulling the end of her sari tight around her proud long neck, all that created a fire in his heart. Shastri got in his car and drove to Udupi. With a smile, Karunakara Pundit welcomed Shastri's burning face.