Read Tandoori Texan Tales Page 4

TANDOORI TEXAN TALES

  asking. Even as I was mulling over the whole thing, that

  night there was also a call from my mom. She insisted that I

  play host to them and make a good impression.

  35

 

  CHAPTER 4

  Wing Commander Rajesh Dhillon had another couple of

  years for retirement. He had joined the Air Force at the age

  of 21 fresh from college. His career was going up very

  rapidly. His being a nephew of Air Marshall Manik Dhillon

  did not hurt either. He was carefully nurtured and kept away

  from any combat duty in most of the conflicts.

  He was on the committee of experts to evaluate military

  hardware purchases. He represented the Air Force on the

  committee to give expert opinion on air-defense systems. In

  that course he had to make several trips to European

  capitals including Moscow, visiting vendors in those

  countries. The purchases involved a few billion dollars

  worth of contracts spanning a decade.

  37

  RAJ DORÉ

  In the beginning Wing Commander Dhillon did have plenty

  of moral compunction. There was an instance when he was

  shaken from it and made to reshape his life’s philosophy.

  He was at a wayside cafe in Champs Elysee and his

  colleague on the committee General Uthappa of the Army

  broached the subject. A Swedish arms dealer who had

  submitted a bid had contacted him.

  Purchases were always made by inviting bids. The bids are

  all sealed and opened in closed chamber in the presence of

  the bidders. No changes or negotiations are allowed after

  that. However, some seasoned dealers can always find ways

  around it, if only some committee members could be made

  to give a helping hand.

  Some clauses of the bid and technical specifications could

  be left vague or unmentioned. The committee was well

  within its rights to ask for clarification. That is just when

  one bidder can manipulate his bid and outmaneuver his

  competitor very legally. On the part of the Committee, their

  conscience was quite clear that they were not hurting their

  organization in any way since neither the quality of goods

  nor the price was in any way compromised.

  General Uttappa was due to retire in less than a year. He

  had 3 daughters to marry off and his eldest son still not

  graduated from the Engineering College. His nest egg was

  very modest and not much by way of patrimony either.

  He sought Wing Commander Dhillon’s friendly

  understanding and cooperation. He needed that extra vital

  38

  TANDOORI TEXAN TALES

  vote on the committee. They could make a cool $ 50,000.00

  each safely to be deposited in a confidential account in

  Liechtenstein. No questions asked and no fingerprints left.

  Wing Commander Dhillon was first taken aback. Then he

  cooled off and asked his colleague for time to think it over.

  After returning to Delhi, he also mentioned it to his wife

  Ranjana. Neither could get sleep that night. They were

  tossing and turning wrestling with the whole plan. It seemed

  so harmless. It was all a part of the game. Only ones that do

  not use such opportunities in life were total fools. After all

  anywhere you look, every one was doing it, are they not?

  Just do it once, catch a big fish and then give up to retire

  peacefully.

  At the committee meeting that afternoon, General Uttappa

  made the proposal that further clarifications be sought from

  the Swedish bidder. Out of the remaining four members,

  one raised his pencil and went along.

  Two other members voted against. They wanted the

  Swedish bid rejected and the contract awarded to the most

  complete bid with the best price.

  All were looking at Wing Commander Dhillon. There were

  moments of silence. Slowly but surely, he also raised his

  sharpened pencil up and voted in favor of the motion by

  General Uttappa.

  There is always a first time for everything. This was the

  first time for Rajesh Dhillon as well. Next time he went

  through this with much less afterthought. And soon this

  39

  RAJ DORÉ

  became a normal routine. He had become a part of the team.

  To make it look good, every so often they would award a

  contract or two to somebody else.

  He got a posting as Air Attaché at the Embassy in

  Washington DC. That was the time when Sangeetha’s

  marriage was arranged. Seema was still in school. Rajesh

  Dhillon sill had a few more years in the Air Force. He

  wanted to complete his full term to get all the benefits of

  retirement. There was also a good chance of his becoming

  Air Vice-Marshal before finally bidding good bye to the Air

  Force.

  He was glad he was able to find a good son-in-law in Arun

  Varma, especially with his being well established in the

  U.S.A. He could now entrust his account in Liechtenstein to

  safe hands without in any way implicating himself.

  The wedding itself was a grand affair. Families and friends

  from all sides attended. Seema was 15 and had just started

  developing breasts. After the wedding reception was over,

  late in the evening, guests were being taken back home. The

  car was quite full. Seema squeezed herself into the rear seat,

  somebody clicked the door lock and slammed it shut.

  She soon figured out that she was sitting on the lap of her

  maternal cousin Sanjay, then 17. He had come from

  Mussourie especially for the wedding. They had been

  playing, teasing each other and dancing together all

  evening.

  40

  TANDOORI TEXAN TALES

  She settled down gazing at the lights and shops that were

  passing by. The car swerved sharp, she tried to hold her

  balance by holding Sanjay’s arm. Then there came this big

  jolt on a pothole when she would have hit the roof, had he

  not put his hand around her waist and held her firm close to

  his thighs. They both felt cozy and nice like that.

  Then there was a long stretch of drive when there was very

  little light. Others were busy giggling, laughing and

  exchanging jokes about the happening of the evening.

  Slowly Sanjay’s hands brushed against Seema’s upper

  blouse. She ignored it thinking that it was just an accident.

  After a while, it was a more deliberate and slow movement.

  The palm gently rested over her breast. She felt a very

  strange tingling sensation all over her body, as she had

  never felt before. Blood was gushing through her temples

  and she sat just shrinking momentarily. She was confused

  and did not know how to react. First she wanted to yell out

  or push his hand away. But then she kept quiet and

  motionless, as she was embarrassed. Then it felt good. She

  slowly rested her head on his chest and cuddled. His other

  hand was gently cupping her other breast by now. He was

  so
ftly brushing his face on the nape of her neck. She liked

  that as well.

  Soon the car pulled over at Seema’s house. She got out and

  stood waving at the car as it moved away to drop other

  people at their respective destinations. That night Seema

  went to bed thinking about him. Next morning Sanjay

  returned to his school in Mussourie.

  41

  RAJ DORÉ

  What started as an innocent dalliance that night after

  Sangeetha’s wedding, slowly and steadily blossomed into a

  more serious involvement. Sanjay and Seema kept closely

  in touch, metaphorically and somewhat physically as well.

  Sanjay’s dad was the older brother of Ranjana Dhillon. This

  relationship could no way lead to anywhere like altar and

  wedding bells. That might have been possible if they had

  been Muslims or belonging to some other sects. It had to

  end sooner or later. Both Sanjay and Seema were well

  aware of that. But theirs was not a concern that took a very

  long-term view of things. It just felt good for now.

  Within a few months of their encounter at the Wedding,

  Sanjay moved to Delhi to pursue further studies. There was

  no question of either of them going on dates. They would

  go to movies and parties, sometimes in groups and

  sometimes by themselves. In public they had to behave in a

  very decent but friendly manner, nothing more.

  She persuaded her mom to let her learn driving from him.

  Buddha Jayanti Park is a large garden without too much

  traffic. It seemed like a natural choice for them to go there

  on driving lessons. While he would let her drive and show

  her how to steer, quite naturally his elbow would brush

  against her inflated blouse. She did not seem to mind that at

  all.

  He became bolder and bolder then on, on their succeeding

  lessons, as weeks and months rolled by.

  42

  TANDOORI TEXAN TALES

  He once stopped the car under a tree. It had become dark.

  Seeing no one in sight, he embraced her and ran his lips all

  over her face, neck and finally resting on her blouse. She

  asked him to kiss her on the nipples over the blouse. He did.

  Then he put his hands over her neck, slowly slipped it into

  her bra from above and gently slid it over her bare breast.

  He gently pulled the breast out of the blouse and softly ran

  his lips over the very tender nipple. She was in ecstasy. He

  pushed his other hand under her skirt and started stroking

  his palm over her soft silky thighs. As she remained

  enthralled in his kiss with eyes closed, he kept moving that

  hand further above until he encountered her netted panty

  firmly enclosing her crotch. He tried to push his fingers

  through the elastic over one upper thigh. At this point she

  shook herself away from him and asked him to stop it. He

  did not force himself.

  They then adjusted their clothes and started driving back.

  They were both silent and emotionally at the brink of

  boiling over.

  When she came back home her parents were sitting in the

  living room watching TV. They greeted her and told her

  that they had found a very good match for her to marry. He

  was one Rohit Sharma, with a Master’s in Engineering in

  the U.S.A.

  Arun Varma did not turn out to be quite the son-in-law,

  Rajesh Dhillon had hoped for. Arun being the eldest had the

  complete responsibility of his parents and two younger

  siblings. They were all first living together in one large

  house. After the marriage, Arun and Sangeetha moved into

  43

  RAJ DORÉ

  a different house just a couple of blocks away. The parents

  still held strong control over the family and its finances.

  Rajesh Dhillon wished he had a son. He wanted somebody

  who would take good care of himself and his wife Ranjana

  into their old age along with the money he had amassed

  clandestinely. He was now on look out for such a person to

  marry his second daughter.

  Seema just smiled and went into her room. She closed the

  door behind her, fell on the bed and turned off the lights,

  even without changing her clothes. She was too emotionally

  charged and restless. She just wanted to forget everything

  and fall asleep.

  But she couldn’t. She tossed and lay on her belly, raised her

  hands, rested her elbows on the pillow and clasped it tight

  burying her face into it. Her torso was on the bed rubbing

  against it. She spread-eagled her legs. Quite involuntarily

  she started pressing her hips into the mattress churning into

  it slowly. After a few moments there was an electrifying

  sensation flying through her spine. She wriggled for a while

  and cuddled the pillow even more tightly. She had never

  felt like this before.

  She was savoring the sweet feelings of Today and Now.

  Everything else could wait until tomorrow. After a few

  moments, she fell asleep and slowly glided into a

  dreamland.

  Next morning at the breakfast table her parents confronted

  her again about the marriage proposal. All she could muster

  44

  TANDOORI TEXAN TALES

  in response was that she was not yet ready for marriage and

  wanted to put off marriage for a few more years. She

  wanted to study Fashion Designing in the U.S. She had also

  talked to her sister and brother-in-law who agreed to have

  her with them in Seattle.

  Her objections were promptly overruled. Her dad was due

  to retire in a couple of years and such good matches do not

  grow on trees in their backyard. Seema was not getting any

  younger either. If they put off by a few years, she might as

  well retire from the matrimonial scene as an old maid and

  spend rest of her life as a spinster wallflower.

  She was no way going abroad without being properly

  married first. She could study all the Fashion Designing as

  she wants after getting to the U.S. with a husband.

  She was demanded to stop having such a long face and

  finish breakfast before it got too cold. Her dad took the last

  sip from the coffee cup, folded the newspaper and was off

  for his day’s work. Her pleading with her mom would have

  been of little consequence. Between the two parents, she

  always found her mom the harder nut to crack. In any case

  such major projects were always at the initiative of her

  mom. Even her dad did not have any veto power.

  Thus her fate had been more or less sealed for then. She

  decided she might as well learn to like what was going to be

  inevitable. After all Rohit looked quite nice in the picture

  and life in the United States would always be so much more

  fun.

  45

 

  CHAPTER 5

  I got a call from Dr. Kennington’s office followed up by

  formal letter. I had been accepted as a research scholar

  toward a Ph.D., program with a reas
onable scholarship.

  They were also willing to give the formal letters for

  extension of my Visa. All things settled, I could start by the

  following Fall.

  That left me a couple of months of Summer to visit Delhi

  and attend to the marriage proposal. I made the bookings

  and called my mom.

  After making the necessary phone calls it was decided that

  we go to the residence of Wing Commander and Mrs.

  Dhillon, to visit with the family and meet their second

  daughter Seema Dhillon. It was a Saturday afternoon and a

  47

  RAJ DORÉ

  good 45-minute drive to their house at Vasant Vihar. My

  mom, Mukesh, Nirmala-bhabi and myself set out all decked

  up. It was a 2-story house with well-manicured lawn in the

  front with a cement driveway from a well-painted pair of

  steel gates.

  Rajesh Dhillon himself received us at their doorstep with a

  beaming smile and folded hands. We all marched in one by

  one, into their living room. It was spacious with well-

  upholstered sofas and tastefully decorated draperies. There

  were curios from his various foreign trips. I also noticed a

  picture of Rajesh Dhillon in the form of a cartoon with the

  Capitol Dome of Washington DC as a backdrop.

  After exchanging pleasantries with Mukesh, Rajesh turned

  toward me and started darting his questions. He wanted to

  know all about my activities and prospects at whatever I

  was doing. Then came the grand finale.

  Ranjana Dhillon went up and walked down the stairs with

  her daughter Seema well adorned in makeup, jewelry and a

  dark green Kameez with matching Dupatta and Salwar. She

  slowly walked up to the sofa beside me and sat down. On