Threesome Sail
Waiting for the arrival of Rayalaseema Express at Nampally that morning, Sathyam felt that only on Roopa’s return would the hidden treasure acquire its true value for its possession. As the train chugged into the railway station, he sighted Roopa leaning out to wave at him, and seeing her alight, radiating in that pearl chain, his own mood was further buoyed.
‘You look great,’ said Sathyam to Roopa, having greeted them all.
‘It’s a surprise from Sandhya,’ said Roopa fondling her pearls chain. ‘Why don’t you see how nice she is in that coral necklace?’
‘Anything goes well,’ said Sathyam, helping them in moving the luggage, ‘with my sister.’
That night, as he took Roopa into his arms, Sathyam could not take his eyes off the pearl chain.
‘I wonder why it didn’t strike me,’ he said a little disappointed, ‘that pearls suit you so well.’
‘Being a face-man, you thought about the nose-stud,’ she said alluringly, and thought adoringly, ‘But Raja, oh! Won’t he turn my face and figure into one? What a time we’ve had!’
‘One day,’ said Sathyam, fondling her affectionately, ‘I’ll make you a queen with the crown and all.’
‘I’ll await the coronation,’ she said in smile, but felt at the same time, ‘Oh, am I not the empress of love with a double throne.’
On the other hand, in that middle-class home with millions in the loft, Sathyam felt that he was in a trisankhu swargam. Though his net worth was enough to make people line up at his doorstep, he felt that he had to run the errands for the IAS cadre. He was disgusted that though he had the means to let Roopa go around in a chauffeur driven Chevrolet, he was unable to offer her any more than a pillion ride on his Lambretta. In his frustration, he often thought of quitting the service, but the temptation to keep it going for some more time, ensured that it was status quo at his office, and home as well.
Then came Saroja’s first birthday, and Sathyam couldn’t resist the temptation to present her a gold necklace befitting his intrinsic worth and his innate love for Sandhya.
‘Sandhya would surely like my present for her daughter,’ he was lost in his thoughts, on the way to the birthday party. ‘What a sweet nature she has. Oh, how she understands people and empathizes with them. And what warmth she has for people. What a rare woman, indeed. Wouldn’t I’ve been better off had she been my wife, instead of a raakhi sister?’