A suitable Man

Chapter7

It was a new day for Mahendra, a profound realisation of love. It gave him strength, it made him weak, it made him want more. He was in a fix, he didn't know whether Smriti reciprocated his feelings. He wanted to confront her, wanted to hear from her what he saw in her eyes. But he had lots of other priorities at stake, moreover he didn't know how to put it across. What was it that she said when he kissed her, " you watch too many English films", " silly girl", thought Mahendra and smiled. How to convince this child woman the intensity of his love. She had melted in his hands when he held her, although for a brief moment. Mahendra wanted to hold her in his arms once again, wanted to savour her till eternity.

He had been brought up by two of the strongest women he had known, rather the only women he had known closely. But his Smriti was different, she had a childlike innocence which made her vulnerable. He decided, he would first finish his work at hand, and then he would woo her with all his love, in good time. " Patience Mahendra, Patience", he told himself. She was like a delicate flower, who had to be tended and nurtured to have her in full bloom.

Meanwhile, our dear Smriti Madam was arriving at her own stupid conclusions about Mahendra. And Ganga too was of not much help in clearing her suspicions.

" Ganga, what to do of this hero of yours!!!!. first he makes fun of me in front of everyone, then he helps me and then he kisses me, what does he think He is doing!!!!! I am smart enough to understand what he wants! He is after Appa for his CID work, and Appa is not budging, so he is using me to fish out information from Appa. " yes correct, now I got him Ganga. Now see how I will make fun of him. I will ask Appa everything what Mr.CID wants to know and keep it to myself" Let me see how he finds it out" Ganga mooed in disagreement... Smriti exclaimed,"Now you don't take sides here ok!!!! Ganga just nodded her head.
Smriti went on with her day as always, but she decided she would ask her father about Mahendra's family and in full detail. As usual she was late today also so she had to go through the Urkeri road, how she wanted to avoid it, but it was the only short cut to the school. She was walking as fast as she could when she passed though the gate of his house; and she saw him working at something near the gate.
There was a huge cement pipe which needed to be slid down the trench and the workers were finding it difficult to haul. When Mahendra saw their predicament, he quickly offered to help. He just didn't care about soiling his clothes or getting his hands dirty. He helped them and got the work done. While doing so, he had removed his shirt and was working with his vest on.
Smriti could see the sinewy hands and couldn't stop admiring it although she saw him for a fleeting moment. She just walked past as fast as she could. She felt her cheeks warming, brushing off the feeling she walked away to school.
It was late noon when she returned back from school, her father was not back yet. She fed Ganga, cooked dinner and was waiting for her father. Her father came home around dusk, and as usual didn't even give her a look. Sometimes Smriti wondered why he detested her so much. He freshened up and sat in the verandah outside smoking bidi when Smriti broached the subject, " Appa, what is it that you know about that Mahendra Shetty and his family? Why did he come to our house, he seems to be a nice man and the family also seems to be very good."

Padmakar shot an angry glance at her and said, " It's none of your business, and I don't want you to nose around, I know who is good and who is bad. You better stay away from him, I had warned you before too.why is so sudden interest in him, you better be in your limits Smriti. I am not going to tell you anything, it's long forgotten. His father and grandfather were stupid people, got themselves in to bad books of Sheena" you know how much Sheena had offered them, 10 lakhs, their future generations would have just prospered with that kind of money. But no, that stupid Karunakar and his father, lost their lives. But I gained a lot" he stopped abruptly and looked at Smriti if she was attentive to the last sentence he said, he again dismissed her saying, " Now don't ask me stupid questions... go serve dinner" women should not put their stupid heads elsewhere". Padmakar mentally restrained himself, he should not have spoken about Sheena. He hoped Smriti didn't listen correctly else it would not have gone down well with Sheena if he came to know.

Smriti felt bad by his behaviour but it had become habitual. She quietly served him dinner, herself ate and then she went to Ganga. Ganga was always ears to her . She mooed at her. Smriti smiled and recounted all the days events to her.
Smriti spoke, "Hmmmmm... I saw your hero today...you don't be so happy, that also without his shirt, big Salman Khan he is huhhh!!! But do you know he hauled that big cement pipe like a piece of cake" what strong arms he has!!!! Wait, why am I praising him?? Ganga, you Na, you make me forget which side I am, you are always singing tributes to him!!! Enough now, go rest... I am also very tired". Smriti came home and went to sleep dreaming about strong hands engulfing her, of eyes looking at her through aviators, she could lose herself in those black pools.

Padmakar on the other hand was restless. His luck was not in favour nowadays, he had lost 3 games in a row recently and his debts were increasing. Vishwanath Hegde was kind enough to lend him some money, but he was also asking it back. Also there was no good catch for Smriti so as to relieve him of his debts. He didn't find it wrong to ask money in lieu of his daughter's hand in marriage. And he knew if he had to make her marriage an arrangement suitable for his finances, he had to find her an husband and that also willing to pay him handsomely. He had to beware of that Mahendra, he seemed to be at ease with Smriti. He had seen how Mahendra looked at her. Padmakar didn't want any unnecessary liaisons between him and Smriti. This was not good, "act fast Padmakar" he told himself.

His thoughts went to his recently acquired friendship with Vishwanath Hegde... a childless widower, he was wealthy, was doing roaring business in timber and rubber plantations. So what if he was on the late side of forty, so what if he walked with a small limp, so what if he too gambled away, He was still an able man. If this alliance worked out, His financial woes would end. Padmakar felt excitement surge through him thinking about all the money he would make out of this. The only hurdle was coaxing Smriti, that he would do, would make her do it forcefully. It was good Sumitra was no more, else she too would have objected. Padmakar knew what he had to do tomorrow. He slept fitfully.

Jagganatha Shetty had been wise enough to make a will. This was brought to light when Mahendra investigated with the lawyers, his Dodda also confirmed that the entire property was willed to Karunakar and Mahendra jointly. He had shown the succession certificates he had obtained, although Karunakar was alive, Mahendra had equal right to the property.He started collecting the information about how much the spread of his property was. He had few hectares of land in cashews and betel nut plantations, he had almost five acres of forest land which was supposed to have Sandalwood trees. The legal documentation and the process of gaining access to the land was taking a lot of time.

The restoration of his house and the estate garden was almost completed. He needed to add few modern things in the bathrooms and bedrooms, which he consulted with his mother and had it finalised. He wished his mother and Dodda were there with him to see their home return to its former glory. But the businesses in Bangalore needed to be handled too. They were in constant touch with him but for them to come down to Kumta was a bit difficult. Mahendra wanted to restart the business which his dear grandpa had once established and for that he needed manpower. Life had taken a big turn for him, he was now setting things straight one by one.

He thought, " Should I discuss this silly girl with Dodda and Amma, but I don't know how they will react, they have never denied my wish but let me prove myself first"; and foremost how to tell my lovely stupid girl about my love" She is going to be a handful". He smiled at himself.

He knew he would go to any limit to have her in his life.

" I once had a thousand desires, but in my one desire to love you, all else melted away"
-Rumi