My school mate's son : Part 3

100% fiction!

The sudden death of Pundit Meganatham brought about many changes in his family. Mani had to give up taking his final exams and had to stay at home with his aged mother, who was much shaken by her husband’s death. She said that with her husband gone, there would be no need for much milk in the house. So, the cows were sold. With the cows gone, there was no necessity for me to stay in that house. I had a hunch that Mani’s mother sold the cows in order to get rid of me, rather than to reduce the intake of milk. She would have thought that to feed me as well as her son would be a financial strain on her budget.

I was paid my salary (and something more) and sent to my village with the open invitation that I should come and visit them often. I went back to my village and sought employment with the man who owned the big, black and white bull that impregnated our cow when my father and Mani’s father were alive. The owner was glad to appoint me for a handsome salary, not only because I was young and healthy, but mainly because I had a lot of experience in taking care of cattle-- and that too, in Pundit Meganatham’s house.

Because of the open invitation I had, I went to see Mani and his mother after a few days. They were still mourning the loss of the master of the house. However, they were happy to know that I was able to get employment within my village, so quickly. We talked about old times a lot, which made Mani’s mother cry in remembrance of her dear husband. She did not want her son to leave her alone in the house and go away to college to complete his studies. So, Mani said that he intended to join a correspondence course and complete his B.A. degree in History. Mani’s mother also wanted him to get married soon. Her argument was that she needs to have a daughter-in-law who would take care of, not only Mani, but also herself and indeed the whole house-hold. She had already contacted a marriage-broker and with his help had located a girl who was their distant relative, now living in the neighboring state of Thanjavur. But Mani was firm that only after he had completed his studies and had found a job, would he consent to get married. I stayed with them for a few hours and returned to my village, promising to visit them again soon.

As my employer went on adding more and more cattle to his farm, my workload increased. As a result, my owner wanted me to stay in the farm and attend to the needs of the cattle at night also, as the young man who was doing that job had got married and so could not stay at night, away from his new wife! Owing to such an additional responsibility, I hardly found time to go anywhere, apart from visiting my home nearby, once in a way, to give some money to my mother and my sister, who was growing up fast. Several months later, the young man whose job I was doing, agreed to stay at night on some days, because his wife had gone to her father’s house for child delivery. I snatched the opportunity and went over again, to see Mani and his mother in town.

Mani’s mother was bedridden. She had had a fall and had a fractured thigh bone. At her age, complete recovery was only a dream. Mani had grown very thin and was attending to all the needs of his mother. On seeing me, he almost cried saying, how much he missed me and was cross with me for not visiting them. A lady servant came to sweep and wash the vessels, he said. She also did some cooking as she to was of the upper cast. But the entire burden of running the house was on Mani’s shoulders. His mother had started to pester him to get married and he was just waiting to complete his final exams in his correspondence course. The broker had approached him several times and told him that if he does not fulfill his mother’s wishes, she would die soon and her ‘athma’ would not attain ‘mukthi’ (in other words, his mother’s soul would not reach god’s heavenly abode, if her wishes on this earth were not fulfilled). The girl, whom his mother had chosen, was from a wealthy family and though not educated beyond the eighth grade, was intelligent and very beautiful. She had the additional qualification of being an excellent cook. The broker insisted that, under the existing circumstances, it was best for Mani to get married to this girl and bring her home, not only to satisfy his mother’s wishes but also to extend the genealogy of his family tree, which his father would have wanted him to do, had he been alive!

Mani told me that I should come and stay with his mother when he went for his wedding, as the marriage would take place in the bride’s house in Thanjavur, as per the custom in their cast. In fact, it was the practice in most of the families in Tamil Nadu. The wedding was invariably performed by the bride’s house and the bridegroom and his people were treated as honored guests. I promised him that I would take leave from my employer and come over and stay with his mother as many days as he would be away. He came very near to me with his arms stretched wide. I almost thought he was about to embrace me! But as his mother was watching from her bed, he stopped short and thanked me profusely with tears in his eyes. On seeing him cry, I too wanted to hug him and console him. But I restricted myself and wiped away my tears.

I left that day after advising Mani to concentrate on his studies and write his final exams well, so as to qualify for the B.A. degree. I could not visit him again till he had sat for his exams at a local centre, which happened to be the same school where we had studied earlier. In May that year, Mani was lucky in getting a job as a clerk in a rice mill in the same town. The wedding was to take place in June that year. Mani took me with him to buy clothes for himself and for his mother, out of his first month’s salary. Even though his mother would not be attending the wedding due to her condition, it was customary for a son to buy his mother a sari at the time of his wedding. Mani bought me a new dhoti and a shirt, even though I said that he need not. “I too will not be attending your wedding, Mani,” I said. “So why should I wear new clothes?” But Mani said that when he was getting married, he should buy their long time servant, new clothes! I regretted that he did not say “long time school-mate”!

I was sent for by Mani on a particular day to say that I need to come over to their house the next morning, to be with his mother. His mother was then able to move to the toilet, using a stick. That was a great blessing as otherwise one had to cater to her needs with a bed-pan on the cot, which was what Mani was doing earlier! Mani had thoughtfully converted the cow-shed into a bathroom and an adjoining toilet. This was done so that no one else need use the bathroom and toilet in the back side of the house that was being used by his mother. A cement tub was constructed near the pump to store water. Mani said that had there been stored water readily available, his father would not have strained himself to pump water before his heart attack.

One day before the wedding, the marriage-broker and Mani left for Thanjavur by bus. The whole of that day and the next, Mani’s mother was prattling about her inability to witness her only son’s wedding. Though Mani had suggested that he could take her also to Thanjavur in a private taxi, she strongly objected saying that it would cost him heavily. She had said that she did not want to be a burden to the bride’s people, when they should be busy catering to the needs of other relatives.

Mani’s mother gave precise instructions about what was to be done when Mani arrived with his bride after two days. I did all the shopping and kept the items ready. The lady who came to clean and cook was to stand at the entrance and receive the couple with the traditional performances of pooja. I was to be confined to the back yard and keep the newly constructed cement tub filled with water from the bore well. When I asked whether I need to decorate the bedroom with flowers etc. for the nuptials, Mani’s mother said that as the time of the year was not right, they are not to have the marriage nuptials until some more weeks had passed!

She wanted me to shift her cot from the single bedroom in the house to the central part of the house; where there were four pillars around a square area (such a place is usually referred to as ‘mutram’). Though in many houses such an area is open to the sky, letting in the sunlight, in Mani’s house it was closed. It was explained to us that Mani would sleep on one side of the ‘mutram’ while his mother would sleep on the opposite side near the door of the bedroom where Mani’ bride would sleep. Mani’s mother wanted to prevent anything ‘untoward’ happening between Mani and his wife, before the inauspicious days were over!

Mani and his bride arrived in a horse driven cart on the day following the wedding. Some of the bride’s people also came in another cart. A lot of home made sweets and fruits were brought in vessels and large brass plates as gifts from the bride’s house. The bride, whose name was Ponmalar, was as fair in color as Mani and good looking. She was about the height of Mani and looked a bit mature. Mani was told that her age was 19. But I had my doubts. I thought she must be at least as old as Mani. Her breasts were well formed and stood out prominently. Her bottoms were plump and sumptuous. Mani was a lucky guy, I thought. After, Mani’s mother welcomed everyone, I was sent to the small vegetarian hotel nearby, to get some coffee for the guests. I brought it in a flask and left it on the ‘thinnai’ near the front entrance. Mani came out and took the flask containing the hot coffee. I heard Mani’s mother apologizing to the guests that as she was an invalid, she was not able to serve them a good meal. She said that when they come the next time, her daughter-in-law would have got used to the house and would feed them all sumptuously!

The visitors took the clue and told her that they came to leave the bride in her husband’s home and so would not stay for lunch. As soon as the guests left, Mani’s mother packed some sweets and fruits in a Newspaper and gave it to me and thanked me for my help during her son’s absence. I took the clue and prepared to leave. Mani offered me some money, but I refused to accept it. I expected them to tell me that I could visit them again anytime. But neither Mani nor his mother offered me an open invitation as they used to do before. As a mark of courtesy, I told them that I would come another time to visit them and left in haste. Before leaving, I could not resist my eyes looking at Mani’s bride again and a strange feeling to embrace her, sprouted in my heart for a moment and died down instantly as it came. Why, I wondered as I walked through the back yard and out of the back entrance.

In the days that followed, I often wondered why neither Mani nor his mother asked me to come again to visit them. Did they forget to say so or was there any other deliberate reason for not inviting me? In my dilemma, I brushed aside my desire to go and visit Mani and his mother. However, in my heart of hearts I craved to get a second glance of Mani’s bride! Did Mani and his mother notice my lustful looks towards Ponmalar? I wondered repeatedly! So, I put off going to town altogether and stayed in my village always.

But I had to go there because of the news that Mani’s mother had passed away. That was about two years later. I had seen Mani cry a lot when his father died. But now he did not. However, his face was stern and serious. He asked me to come to the back yard and met me near the hand pump. He then gave me instructions as to what arrangements I need to do for the funeral. As the only son, he had to perform certain rituals before the body of his mother was cremated. I did not get to see his wife as she was inside the house, though my heart and eyes were longing to see her. But just before I joined the funeral procession to the crematorium, I got a sight of her standing near the front entrance. Her face was sad and there were tears in her eyes. Her hair was not combed. She had put on some weight and looked more mature then compared to the boyish look of Mani. My eyes fell on her breasts and I thought that they had become somewhat bigger than before!

I turned my gaze on her tummy to see if she was pregnant. But it did not appear to me to be so. Did Mani’s mother arrange for their nuptials at all, I wondered? As I turned to follow the procession, for a fleeting moment I thought her gaze turned towards me and a glitter of recognition sparkled in them! I did not have the guts to turn around again and see her, as some people had joined the procession and were directly behind me. After the cremation, I returned to my village. I did not meet Mani before leaving as many of his relatives were around him. Moreover, they say that it is not proper to take leave from anyone, after attending a funeral! Mani’s duties were all over for that day and mine too! But the face of Mani’s wife haunted me all along my way!

Again it was only after three months that I met Mani. He sent word to me through one of my villagers to meet him in his house. But I could not go during day time as I had tight work in the farm. So, I walked to his home after dusk and reached there by about 8 p.m. As usual, I went to the back yard and knocked on the door. For quite some time there was no response. If any of the women folk were in the kitchen, they would have heard the knocking and would have come and opened the door. Was no one at home? When I came to the house, I noticed the front door open. So I knew that someone was certainly inside the house. So, I once again passed through the narrow passage next to the house and came to the front door and went and called as I used to call always: “Amma….Amma.”

Hearing my call, Mani came out and on seeing me asked me to come in. I turned to go to the back yard as that was the place of my entry into the house. But Mani said that I could come in by the front door! That was a surprise to me! However, I followed Mani, passed the ‘thinnai’, went in and looked around this side and that, to see if Mani’s wife was anywhere there. But she was not to be seen. Seeing me look around, Mani asked: “Whom are you searching for? Ponmalar? She has gone to Thanjavur to her father’s place. I am all alone here.” He then asked me to sit down. I went and sat down on the floor, against one of the pillars. He sat on the swing that was in one side of the ‘mutram’.

“I am all alone now,” repeated Mani. “I thought of you, for you are my only close friend.”
I did not fail to note that he called me for the very first time his ‘friend’ and that too, ‘close friend’! I told him that I am always his faithful servant and then asked him:
“Are you going to become a father? Have you sent your wife to her father’s house, for confinement?”

“Me becoming a father?” responded Mani with some frustration in his voice. Then he put another question to me, asking me whether I could stay with him that night. I told him that if he wanted me to, I could sleep in the ‘thinnai’ as there was no room at the backyard due to the construction of the bathroom. He did not pay attention to what I said, but started talking about our school days. That reminded me that I had met Karthik recently at the town Railway Station. Karthik had told me that his father had been transferred back to the town where our school was and he too was an employee of the Southern Railways then.

When I mentioned it to Mani, he merely nodded his head. I did not want to tell him that Karthik had told me about his nick name in college! Instead, I told Mani a lie. I told him that Karthik had mentioned that he had run into two Sri Lankans who had come to Madurai Junction to board a train, who had said that they were Mani’s friends. On hearing about his two friends, Mani showed a lot of interest and started talking about his college days. Though he was in college only for a few months, those were very memorable ones, he acknowledged. I then asked him whether he would like his Sri Lankan friends to come and visit him in his house now, when his wife was also around.
“No way!” shouted Karthik. He agreed that those two Sri Lankan’s were sex maniacs!

It was almost 11 o’clock at night when we decided to go to bed. Mani opened the front door for me to go and sleep on the ‘thinnai’. But it was winter, soon after Diwali. So there was heavy dew outside. “You would end up getting pneumonia,” said Mani and promptly closed the door. He then told me that I could sleep inside the house! Then on seeing me hesitate, he said:

“There are no women folks in the house now. So, you can very well sleep inside the house. The reason why our people did not allow a low cast person like you inside the house was not only because of lack of cleanliness, but also because of the fear that our women folk would be charmed by the strong, manly bodies of guys like you and desire to have intercourse, when their husbands slept!”

Mani said this as a joke as he spread a mat near his cot for me and switched off the light. The light from the street lamp came in through the kitchen window, bathing the inside of the house in a dim light. I watched Mani as he removed his underwear, without dropping his dhoti and go to lie down on the cot. I then removed my dhoti, folded it and kept it under my mat as I had to wear the same the next day, when I returned to my village. I went to sleep with just my white cut-vest and my black briefs.

In olden days, while I slept in the courtyard, I used to sleep like a log. But on the present occasion, I could not sleep very well. It could be because I was sleeping inside the house for the very first time! At about midnight, I woke up. I stood up and looked at the cot where Mani was sleeping. He was lying on his belly with one of his legs drawn up to his sides. His dhoti had moved away from his body and his bottom was completely exposed! I thought of my earlier desire to expose those plump bottoms of Mani, some day. The thought made me smile to myself. Here was he, exposing the same plump bottom of his for my full view! My cock stirred a bit within my black briefs. I removed my vest and went near the cot to take a closer look at the spectacle I had so often longed to see.

Mani was motionless and fast asleep. I went still closer and put my hands on his buttocks. Still there was no movement from him. I then parted his butt-cheeks with my two hands. The rosy ass-hole, which Karthik had once described as “sweet ass”, stared at me, making my cock stiffen further. The Sri Lankan’s had nicely prepared it to receive a thick cock, I thought! The thought led me to place my index finger into the rosy ass-hole and insert it slowly. Surprisingly, there was still no movement from Mani! Was he really sleeping?

My boldness was increasing each minute as did my cock’s erection. The string of my briefs was about to snap and so I removed its knot and my cock sprang out and stood erect. It was at that moment that Mani suddenly sat up in his bed and immediately caught hold of my erect cock! He said that he was just waiting for me to make the first move and was not really sleeping! He then pulled me to him holding my cock firmly and as my crotch came in line with his face, put his mouth to my cock and started sucking it. Removing his mouth on and off, he told me that my cock was far superior to those of the two Sri Lankan’s and kissed it every time before taking it into his mouth again!

This was a new experience for me. No one had sucked my cock before. And as a bachelor at the age of 27, I never had used my cock to fuck anyone. But now my desire was aroused and I got onto the cot and made Mani lie on his belly and parting his butt-cheeks, inserted my cock into his ass-hole. Mani stopped me and asked me to go into the kitchen and find the castor oil bottle on the shelf and apply some of it to my cock and bring some for application to his ass-hole. When I came back, I found Mani lying on his back completely naked. He had put his two legs above, exposing his ass-hole conveniently for me to fuck him nicely. I grabbed my cock and plunged it into his ass-hole, after I had applied the castor oil. The entry was very smooth and the pleasure was indescribable. I fell on his body and kissed him all over his face as I fucked him faster and faster. He held my back firmly and pleasurable moaning sounds escaped from him. I reached my orgasm soon and sent my load of semen deep into his belly. I kissed him and he kissed me back. We lay in each others arms for a long time.

It was a little later that I slowly took my hand to his crotch and held his cock. It was not big and it was not very hard either. I pulled it forward and backward to make it erect. The erection was very slight and his ball sacs were rather small. When I went on whacking his cock, he twisted his body as he reached his climax. Out came a slightly watery and sticky fluid that wetted my hands. His semen was not copious and it struck me immediately that it could be the reason why his wife had not conceived yet. Mani said that after his college days, it was only that day that he got his full sexual satisfaction. He told me that his wife was not satisfied with him. There was sexual incompatibility between them. His penis was small and her vagina was large. She had to keep her thighs close together to give him an orgasm. It was doubtful whether she reached any. I pitied her secretly in my heart.

Till Mani’s mother was alive, Ponmalar did not say a word. After his mother’s death, she started to be frequently hysterical. She yelled at Mani and told him that he was not fit to be a good husband! However, Mani was enchanted with her. Her large breasts captivated him and he used to lie on her and suck her breasts as a baby. He often told her that he was her baby and she need not desire to have one born to her! The talk and his act pleased her at night and she slept with him. But when she got up in the morning, her tantrums returned.
As more than two years had elapsed since Ponmalar’s wedding, her parents and other relatives had started asking her why she had not conceived yet. Her mother took her to a lady doctor in Thanjavur. On examining her, the doctor had said that nothing was wrong with her. The lady doctor had then suggested that Ponmalar should bring her husband also to the clinic for a check up, when she came another time. When Ponmalar suggested this to Mani, he flatly refused to subject himself for a medical check up. Mani knew his infirmity, but did not want it to be known to others. When Ponmani told the lady doctor that her husband refused to come to the clinic for a check up, she told Ponmalar that she suspected that her husband lacked sufficient sperm count in his semen and that was the cause of her barrenness. She further said that the technique that was common in developed countries where in a woman could conceive by ‘artificial insemination’, has now come to India and one clinic in Madras (later known as Chennai) carried it out for a huge fee. The doctor also explained that the process involved taking the sperms from either her husband or another man (an anonymous donor) and fertilizing her egg outside in a test-tube and inserting the developing embryo back into her womb for it to develop into a baby. Mani’s unwillingness to subject himself for a medical treatment, the cost involved and the fact that if her husband’s sperms were not suitable, the use of a donor’s sperms for the insemination, all these prevented Ponmani to take that course of action. She was in a great dilemma.

All that I had recorded above were told to me by Mani, as we lay next to each other after our sexual play. I was at a loss to suggest anything as consolation or advice. My thoughts were more on Ponmalar. I wondered how she was able to seek sexual satisfaction. Would she be unfaithful to Mani when she was in her mother’s house? As I was contemplating all this while listening to Mani, suddenly he stopped abruptly in his narration. He was looking intently at the roof of his house. I looked up at his face and then followed his gaze to the roof. But I saw nothing. Then his gaze tuned to me and he said something in my ears. I was shocked and was speechless on hearing what he said. It was almost day light then. So, I got up and put on my briefs and my half-vest. Mani was still lying on his cot naked when I got up. I took his dhoti and covered him with it before going out to the courtyard to wash and bathe. When I came back, Mani was sitting on the swing, rocking gently. There was a strange mischievous look in his eyes when he turned them to see me coming into the hall. I walked to the mat on which I had slept—no, no, on which I lay awake—last night and picked up my dhoti from under it and wore it around my waist. Then I told Mani that I would see him again after two days and went out by the front door. I felt that I was no more a low cast man!

End of Chapter 3—To be continued