Saadat Hasan Manto - The Horrors of Partition

The instant Eshar Singh stepped into the room Kalwant Kaur sprang up from the bed, walked over to the door and bolted it, glaring at him. It was midnight. The suburbs were sunk in an eerie quiet.

Kalwant Kaur sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. Eshar Singh stood quietly in a corner holding his kirpan, perhaps trying to straighten out his muddled thoughts. A tense silence prevailed for some moments. Kalwant Kaur didnt like the way she was sitting, so she lowered her legs and started swinging them. Still Eshar Singh didnt say a word.

Kalwant Kaur was a plump woman with a heavy, broad rear end and oversized, fleshy breasts projecting upward a bit too much. A bluish shadow covered her upper lip and the shape of her chin betrayed that she was no less than an Amazon.

Eshar Singh still stood in the corner with his head drooping downward. His tightly wrapped turban was beginning to come loose and the hand holding his kirpan was trembling a bit. Despite that, his tall frame and his appearance left no doubt that he was every bit the man for a formidable woman like Kalwant Kaur.

The relentless silence raised her hackles and her patience soon ran out. She glowered at Eshar Singh but could only exclaim, Eshar saiyaan!

He raised his head and looked at her, only to quickly turn his face away from the penetrating intensity of her sharp gaze.

Eshar saiyaan, she started to scream, but quickly stifled it. Hopping off the bed, she walked over to him and asked, Where have you been hanging out all these days?

I have no idea, he replied, running his tongue over his parched lips.

What kind of fucking answer is that? she asked in a rage.

He tossed the kirpan aside and slumped down on the bed, looking as though hed been feeling ill for some time.

She glanced at the bed, now dwarfed by his big, burly body. A surge of compassion for the man swelled in her heart. She touched his forehead and lovingly asked, Jaani, whats wrong?

Eshar Singh was staring up at the ceiling but turned his gaze and probed the face he knew so well. Kalwant.

She could sense a distinct pain in his voice. The whole of her seemed to have gathered in her upper lip. Yes, jaani? she said tenderly, biting her lip.

Eshar Singh took off his turban and looked at her, his eyes begging for understanding and comfort. He slapped her big, fleshy bottom, jerked his head and said to himself, Im going nuts.

His kes came undone with the jerk. Kalwant Kaur started combing her fingers through it and asked lovingly, Eshar saiyaan, where have you been all this time?

At my enemys mothers! he said, looking at her intently. All of a sudden he started kneading her fleshy buttocks vigorously. I swear by Wahe Guru, youre one awesome woman!

She pushed his hands away indifferently and asked, Tell me, on my life, where have you been? In the city?

With a single movement Eshar Singh wound his hair into a bun and answered, No.

She was ticked off. Damn it, you did go there. And you stole a lot of money that you dont want to tell me anything about.

May I not be my fathers son if Im lying to you!

That seemed to quiet her down, but only for a while. Within seconds she flared up again. But I cant understand what got into you that night. You lay beside me after you gave me all that jewellery you looted in the city... you were madly kissing me all over... And then, abruptly, you just got out of bed, put on your clothes and dashed out.

Eshar Singh blanched. She was quick to notice how his colour had paled and immediately said, Look how your face has changed. Eshar saiyaan, by Wahe Guru, something is fishy here.

Nothing is fishy, I swear by your life.

But his voice lacked conviction, which reinforced her suspicions. Pursing her lips and enunciating every word emphatically, she asked, Eshar saiyaan, come clean. Youre not the man you were eight days ago.

He sat up with a start, as if hed been attacked. Gathering her in his robust arms, he started gnawing at her vigorously. Jaani, Im the same Eshar. Squeeze me harder, so it cools off the heat in your bones.

She didnt resist him, but kept up her earlier litany. What happened to you that night?

The enemys mother got fucked, thats all.

Come on, wont you tell me?

Theres nothing to tell.

May you cremate my body with your own hands if you dont tell me the truth!

He flung his arms around her neck and pressed his lips to hers. A few bristles of his bushy moustache tickled her nose and she sneezed. They both laughed.

He took off his quilted vest and ogled her lustily. Come on, lets play a round of cards, he said.

Tiny beads of perspiration sprouted on Kalwant Kaurs upper lip. She rolled her eyes coquettishly and blurted out, Get lost!

He pinched her ample bottom hard, making her flinch. She withdrew to one side. Dont do that, Eshar saiyaan, it hurts.

He went over to her and pulled her upper lip between his and started to nibble at it. She melted away. He took off his shirt and tossed it away, saying, Well then, lets get on with a round of trumps.

Her upper lip began to quiver with anticipation. With one quick movement Eshar Singh peeled off her shirt like an experienced butcher pulling the hide right off the body of a slaughtered animal in a single perfect motion. Staring lasciviously at her naked form, Eshar pinched her arm and said, Kalwant, I swear by Wahe Guru, youre one hell of a delicious woman!

Kalwant looked at the red welt slowly appearing on her arm. Youre really a brute, Eshar saiyaan.

He laughed through his bushy moustache. So let brutality reign tonight, and with that he launched into more of the same. He scraped his teeth against her upper lip, nibbled at her earlobes, ravaged her voluptuous breasts, whacked her bottom resoundingly, kissed her cheeks raw, sucked her nipples so much that the drool was smeared over her entire chest, until she began to boil. But none of this foreplay helped rouse him, to create even the slightest tremor of passion. Like a beaten wrestler flat on his back, he tried all the holds and manoeuvres he knew. None worked. Taut as a string ready to be strummed, and frustrated with all these unnecessary preliminaries, Kalwant Kaur said, Thats enough shuffling, Eshar saiyaan, throw the card now!