She hums the word inside her mouth. Adultery. It’s a strange word. The tongue races about in the mouth. Adultery. Adult Tree. Is there a Child Tree then?
She was always vulnerable to obsessions. It gave meaning to her restlessness. When she suddenly found out about this fable of the other woman, it gave her something very real to work on. Her entire day was spent in fantasizing about this other woman. The only way to avenge this episode of adultery was not to go and do it with another man. That was just obscenely ordinary. Instead, she would own this other woman.
Other woman. Which meant that the other woman would have been just another woman without her. Adult Tree. Other Woman.
What this man wouldn’t understand was that his adultery had nothing to do with her new found obsession. Instead, he had helped her find the other woman. She slaved through the day to find out more about her. What she wore, how she walked, how she sometimes rubbed the calf of her standing foot with her other foot. What she read, the colour of her handbag, the ring on her finger. She had the deep desire to stalk the other woman. To own her. To know if her hair was soft to touch.
But how does one know how to stalk? Is it a trait or a learned skill? Is there a book on some shelf which promises to teach you stalking in thirty days? Or maybe a more languid title like “Stalking for Beginners”. Then there was the question of the tools of the trade. For someone as thorough as her, it would be impossible to begin stalking without assembling the equipment. Binoculars, a swiss knife (she has no idea how it would aid stalking, but it sounded like something a stalker should have handy), a notebook. The notebook would have to be spiral bound of course. The ones which have glued pages don’t tend to fold out flat and it’s hard to stand and write in them. Maybe if she saved enough money, she could get night vision goggles too.
Yes, stalking the other woman seemed like a wholesome and intensive venture. Having a man would be very distracting while all this was going on. She was going to have to throw him out. There was just enough space for her and the Adult Tree.
Speechless. This is just so perfect. And sends shivers up and down my spine.
I wish you’d give us more than “fragments” – I so want to know what she did next!
Chilling! This deserves a follow up.
freaky!! and much better than our dear hindi movie plots! i agree that this deserves a follow-up
Strewth! This blew me away.
Liked :). Like the girl too :P
athellam seri, korangukku pinnala en muL chedi occurs?
Interesting
Strangely reminds me of the movie “Match Point”
very Arundhatti Roy. Enjoyed it.
It’s strange how different people respond differently to the loss of love, or how the same person responds to it in different situations.
Fifth In Line: Thanks.. as always.
DoZ: I think this story has more promise than the usual fragments I dish out. I think I actually might follow it up..
dipali: Your wish etc.. :)
rossoneri: I think if I don’t do a follow up – I risk losing readership!
Lalita and Revealed: Thankings.
Nilu: To keep the monkey in its place. Wouldn’t you know about that!
Prasanna: Okay.
Vi: Funny thing – I just saw “Notes on a Scandal” yesterday. A similar haunting line about stalking .. obsessions.. etc. That movie left me almost scared. You’d probably like it. Try and catch it – if you haven’t already. :)
artismarti: Umm.. Lady, are you trying to provoke me. I never quite knew what to make of Arundhati Roy. At first I wasn’t that impressed, but my second read of her novel was like a revelation. I just wish though that she would write more fiction. Her political rants bore me..
gauravonomics: Which would probably mean that love isn’t universal at all..
Good writing.
We live in voyeuristic world, forever swinging between privacy & decency on one side and predatory instincts embedded deep within all of us.
Brilliant !
But somehow I think fragments are so much more interesting than full stories. We can make our own stories from these fragments :-)