Tandoori Texan Tales
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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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