Chapter One
Chapter One
It was never real, Raghav reminded himself as his wife's Sulochana Kākū approached his bedside. This Baḍā Bindī was never after me, because I was never in disguise with a mask and an eye-patch. What a loser dream! I've never run away from a woman; I just tell them to get lost; I am Raghav Rao!
"Raghav, do you believe in redemption?" Sulochana asked brightly, as Raghav's ex-girlfriend quietly exited.
Raghav sat up and stared at Sulochana, narrowing his eyes. Realizing that his hospital gown was open from behind, he backed into the pillows. Had he really worn a high neckline for four months?
"Do you believe that the influence of the right person can absolve you of your past misdeeds?" Sulochana elaborated. "Jaya jī used to blame you for the deaths of your father and your little brother. She even wished that you had died in her womb. Did you feel yourself changing into a good son as soon as Pallavi convinced Jaya jī that you were tricked by Krishna Rao?"
"How ... how do you know about that?" Raghav demanded. Sulochana was casually referencing his most painful personal memories!
"I overheard Jaya jī talking about it to you while you were sleeping. We've all spent so much time listening to each other talking to you that there are no secrets left." Sulochana laughed. "Before, when you were the only one making speeches, the misunderstandings just kept piling up. During your time out, I think everything got cleared up."
"Well, you missed one thing at least," Raghav scoffed. "I took hush money from Krishna Rao, and I went on collecting the villagers' contributions to the chit fund for him to embezzle. That makes me his accomplice, not his victim."
"Oh, I know that!" Sulochana playfully brushed Raghav's cheek with the peacock feather. "Pallavi, as usual, told a white lie to make someone happy. First Vijay Dādā, then Jaya jī. Good girls get away with white lies. You and I take advantage of that when we can."
Raghav gaped at Sulochana, Pallavi's merciless tormentor who had ruined Kirti's life. Was she comparing him to herself?
"You achieved what I couldn't, Raghav. I knew that Pallavi was showing fake profits to Vijay Dādā, but I had to wait for someone else to expose her to him and give him that heart attack. You did that. If Dādā had ascended, I could have convinced Vahinī to sell the house to me and leave. But you got in my way again when Pallavi paid for Dādā's life-saving treatment with the check that you gave her to leave Hyderabad. She cheated you, and even Jaya jī approved because Pallavi is a good girl."
"E Baḍā Bindī! Your Buḍḍhā Dādā gives threats like Rambo. How was I supposed to guess that he has a weak heart? I wasn't trying to hurt Pallavi's parents; I just wanted her to feel responsible for their shame, because you made me think that Pallavi violated Kirti and got her and Amma arrested. It was your fault that I did it."
"I understand, Raghav, because I feel the same way about you. I had no feud with your sister or your mother; I just wanted you to feel responsible for their shame, the way everyone was pointing a finger at me for Amruta's abortion and Manasi's broken engagement. It was your fault that I did it."
"My fault? I only cleared my name after your morcā got in my face about a hypothetical baby while harassing Pallavi about that abortion."
"You were just being territorial. You sent a bulldozer and protesters from the weavers' association to harass your girlfriend, but I shouldn't send a morcā? What difference would an abortion make to your reputation after that sex scandal anyway?"
"Pallavi was never my girlfriend! And for your kind information, I was innocent in that scandal too." Raghav had never said this to anyone in Pallavi's family before, or even to Pallavi. He had so much to say to Pallavi, including, "I love you!" Where was she? Was she really unhurt?
"Innocent? You showed the photos yourself! Did you do agni-parīkṣā to prove your chastity, Raghav?" Sulochana sneered and simpered.
"You could offend someone's religious sensibilities by using that word," Raghav chided her, vaguely remembering a voiceover from his dream. "Pyāra-parīkṣā is better."
"I hate hybrid words!" Sulochana grimaced. "Don't mix Hindi and Sanskrit."
Why am I criticizing Baḍā Bindī's diction? Raghav wondered. When did I become politically correct? Who talked to me in my sleep?
"I don't need to prove anything to you," Raghav snapped. "When I tell Pallavi that I was innocent, she'll believe me."
"You're right," Sulochana sighed. "Pallavi believed in your innocence even when you confessed to hitting Mandar with your car and leaving him to die in the road. I wish someone believed in me like that."
"No one believes in you because you're rotten to the core," Raghav observed. "And Pallavi is observant. She knew that I drive drunk, but I would help someone who was lying in the road. Sanakī Bābā fell into your trap and believed that I had him arrested for stealing a necklace from my showroom, but Pallavi noticed a nervous saleswoman and got her to confess. It didn't matter to Pallavi that she had been framed for trying to kill me with an explosive car, and I had confessed to that. Pallavi knew me better."
"Her belief in you redeemed you," Sulochana said softly. "And you love her. But -"
"But what?"
"What about me? We're not so different, you and I, except that you smuggle diamonds, get drunk in public, and shoot your gun for emphasis. You and I have done the same things to Pallavi. Why do you get to be redeemed, and not I?"
"Because I'm a man!" Raghav caught himself. "I mean, Pallavi and I are a couple. She brings out the best in me. I just woke up after four months and found out that I'm not a smuggler anymore."
"You could bring out the best in me, Raghav. Ever since Vaṭa-Paurṇimā, when you thought I was a suicide bomber and ran that Super Scanner wand all over me, I've felt frisky whenever I see you."
"I'm married, Baḍā Bindī. You're married. Bindī kā Ghulāma should be the man who redeems you."
"Milind has tried for twenty-three years to redeem me. He's too soft. I need firmer flesh - I mean, a firmer touch. I need you, Raghav. So, let's make a deal. If I make any false accusation against Pallavi in the next week, I have to leave you alone forever. And if you do anything illegal in the next seven days, you have to be mine."
"Why would I agree to a deal like that? I belong to Pallavi."
"You have no choice. If you don't agree, I will tell Pallavi that you've been off antiretroviral drugs for four months and your HIV infection is active and contagious."
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