NOBODY LIGHTS A CANDLE
Anjali Deshpande
34
He told Adhirath that he used to lie down on Cheti’s cot in the back and Udairaj would enjoy the company of the woman in his bedroom. He had no objections to Udairaj sleeping with her, after all she was not his wife or lover. He had a good job. The money was good. He got the fanciest of cars to drive, he was truly fond of driving and the cars mattered to him. Girls he could find plenty but such an easy job would be hard to land. Udairaj did not come every day so he too had his turn with the girl. Sahib knew that he still had his hand on the woman but he never said anything. Who cares who sleeps with a whore? It was a good life.
But it was too good to last. After some time the woman lost her head completely. She began to treat him like a servant. Now even when he went to fetch her alone she sat on the back seat and ordered him about. She wore goggles inside the house and never took them off when she spoke to him. “But Udairaj had not given her his mobile number. He never called her himself. He always used Parduman’s phone to call her over. Once Parduman called her and said sahib wants you to come and took the car to bring her over. But Sahib was not here. that day she fought a lot with him and said she would complain to Udairaj. That he would never be able to trick her again for she would never get inside the car if Udairaj was not in it. the bloody bitch, he said, he had even beaten her up and forced himself on her and taken his revenge. In Chetis’ room he had sent away Cheti on some errand. She screamed at him and said she was too far above him now to lie down on a filthy sheet of a servant. After that he was very angry with her. He wanted hold her legs and tear her apart.
The idiot thought Udairaj would marry her. That is why he took her to his Preet Vihar house two or three times so that she could see for herself what her status was. Nobody even talked to her. On her way back she said, ‘What an ugly black woman has been hung around your sahib’s neck. He will definitely leave her, soon and he will marry me’. Next day Parduman reported this to sahib and even though Udairaj was angry with me he was angrier with her. he called her from Parduman’s phone and gave her a warning. If I see you anywhere near my house again I will serve you to y friends,” Udairaj told her. Parduman said, “Serve you. That is what he said, the exact words. He also said prostitutes don’t enter our houses. Yes, that is what he said. I heard it all.”
After that she came close to Parduman once again and began to complain to him about how she was being treated, like a piece of flesh. She began to want to avenge herself. She also began to make Parduman happy the way she used to earlier. He used to go to her house now for he did not have the keys to the farmhouse anymore. “But soon, one night she stole the keys and passed them on to me. I got a copy made from this very bazaar while they were locked inside the bedroom till noon.” After that he too had access to the bedroom once again.
When she became pregnant Parduman told her that they had a good opportunity to make a lot of money. He told her that once she got money he would marry her, they would go away somewhere and he would find a new job. They wanted to make at least 20-25 lacs. Basanti had begun to dream of even more. If the child turned out to be that of Udairaj she would demand a share in his property. She had heard women discuss something like this in the parlour. They said that whether the man had married the woman or not, if the child was his he would have to give the child a full share in his property.
“Is it true?” he asked.
“You continue with your story,” said Adhirath in his cop voice.
There was no guarantee that the child was that of Udairaj because now once again Parduman had begun getting into her bed. But that did not matter. The threat itself would have worked. Udairaj would do anything to save his reputation. Parduman had no intentions of getting married to this kind of woman who for all he knew was carrying someone else’s child. His plan was to get rid of Basanti. She could meet with an accident. That is when Udairaj himself asked him to get rid of her for him. “She had stolen his diamond button. He told me, ‘Thikane laga do,’ he said. After sahib asked me to do this I changed my plan.”
He told Udairaj that a professional killer he knew would charge five lacs for the job. Udairaj gave him two lacs. Told him he would pay another two lacs after the job was done. Parduman planned to kill her in the farmhouse and plant enough things of Udairaj on her as evidence so that he could avenge himself too. But at the last moment everything went horribly wrong.
That night, the night of Holi, Udairaj sahib had called the girl here. He came here. it was him that people saw.”
Adhirath got up and walked up to the chair on which he sat. Placing both hands on the arms of the chair and bending towards him he said, “Have you seen your height? Udairaj is at least a foot taller than you. He is slim and you are hefty. And people got mistaken?”
That is when Adhirath’s phone began to ring. He fished it out still bending towards the driver and the driver could see clearly Nitesh’s name on the screen. Adhirath took the call. Nitesh wanted to know if he had met Grover and what was the outcome.
Adhirath said deliberately, “Yes, man. I am at it.”
Nitesh asked him if the lawyer had found any evidence in his defence.
“Evidence is what we are gathering,” said Adhir again deliberately trying to mislead Parduman whose ears were cocked. “The rest of the case is clear, isn’t it? listen man, will talk to you a while later.” He disconnected the call.
Pocketing the phone he looked at Parduman. “Come let us go to the police station. Will talk there.”
Parduman’s eyes widened. He looked very scared. “Sahib, I am telling you the truth…”
“And what the Pradhan saw? Is he also lying? You may have an identical twin who was here that night. That ex sarpanch. He has a habit of lying, doesn’t he?”
Parduman slid off the chair. Adhirath had seen such a miracle many times, the spine of a hefty man slipping out of his body but every time it gave him a thrill. The validation of his power and authority made him forget the many disadvantages of his job.
“I had come here sahib, I had. But I left the girl here in the house and went to sleep in Cheti’s room.”
“Why did you not drive up in the car?”
“Sahib… Udairaj sahib had asked me not to.”
“Tell me the truth now. You went to Hauz Khas. After that?”
Parduman told him that he had called Basanti in the day. He had asked her to come to the farmhouse. She began to put on airs. Said it is Holi, getting there will be difficult. Won’t take the train, he should pick her up. Most of the times Udairaj used to go with him so they used to pick her up from somewhere near the parlour. That day the parlour was closed.
“I had taken Udairaj’s car to drop mamaji. Then I drove here. I picked her up from the bazaar near her house. Just before the railway crossing I made an excuse that the car is not moving, there may be something wrong with it. I let it slide down the incline on the footpath and let it come to a stop near that cluster of trees. Then I asked her to wait in it. Told her I would go ahead to check if the bazaar is open. If it is I will get back, if it is not, I will stop at the station and wait for her to join me. I told her it is the day of Holi, the villagers may be drunk and they may assault you. she agreed. They used to harass her a lot. I went ahead and stood at the station. After about fifteen minutes she got out and followed me. I kept walking ahead and she followed. We walked wordlessly. It is a little over a kilometer, did not take us long to get here. We had been here a very short while when those two came in. they had seen the light in the window. There was no car. Or else they would never have dared come in.”
“Then?”
Parduman went silent on him. Then he got up and said, “Will get some water.”
Taking hold of his arm and twisting it Adhirath pushed him towards the wall. “You will go when I ask you to. What happened after that?”
“What could I do Sahib. It was not my fault at all. They both, in front of me…I got out of the room. She did scream little. Then she stopped. Maybe they stuffed something in her mouth. They worked don her for half an hour or so. Could be more too. Then they left.”
“And you are a saint! We have evidence of three men having done her.”
“I agree, sahib, I do. The first thing I did when we got here was that. She had begun to show me a lot of arrogance ever since she got between Udairaj’s legs. One day she had said the manager, ‘I am going to become your malkin. There is something you should know, sahib, that woman was so good in bed that once a man had her he got addicted to her. Would never want to leave her. That is why I used to feel bad. When she slept with me afterward I could tell the difference that she did it only to keep me on her side. You can tell when a woman is doing it with her whole heart and when she is doing it half heartedly. She would not give me the full satisfaction. That day the moment we got here she said to me, ‘I don’t like living in that dirty room of the parlour. Let me have the child, then I will move in here. Otherwise he will buy me a plot of land nearby, you just wait and see. And you, sometimes you can take me out for a spin.’ I went crazy with anger. Pushed her on to the bed. Showed her how much strength I have in me. When I got up that pradhan and that sarpanch were standing at the door. We had forgotten to bolt the door from inside. Those two had a free ride.”
Adhirath’s hand hit Parduman’s cheek in a resounding slap. Parduman was hefty and could have broken his hand in no time but Adhirath was dominating him now because of his own misunderstanding that he was a plainclothesman, was questioning him officially and would bung him in the lock up soon. Actually it was not even a complete misunderstanding.
email: anjalides@gmail.com
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