The Death of Vishnu

upon him, blending together to form a new aroma, an aroma fruitful and flowerful and profound, that conveys unmistakable femininity. It is an aroma he has never before smelled, but recognizes instantly.
    Vishnu looks up at the stairs leading into the darkness. Tonight is the night he will see his beloved. Tonight is the night that Lakshmi will descend.

C HAPTER S EVEN
    I T WAS A little past midnight when Kavita made it to the terrace. Salim was waiting by the television antennas, looking over the inky waters of the bay, like a captain at his prow, surveying the sea. Seeing him silhouetted so masculinely against the sky, Kavita was overcome by the affection, the passion, the deep attachment, that she felt for this, her true love. She had made the right decision.
    “Did you leave your luggage downstairs?” Salim asked her, after they had kissed.
    “Luggage? Why would I need anything when I have you?” Kavita extended her hands to frame Salim’s face, but he caught them in his own, and brought them down.
    “You will need clothes, darling. And other things as well. Perhaps you could go and pack something up—we still have time.”
    “Oh don’t be such a bore, darling .” Kavita had meant to mock Salim gently with the last word, but was surprised by the intensity with which it emerged. She softened her tone immediately. “All I need is love. Love, love, love. The old Beatles song, remember?”
    Salim didn’t reply, but looked at her worriedly, so she dangled her purse in front of him. “Besides, guess what I have here. It’s my dowry. It’s our dowry. Thanks to Mummy and Daddy.”
    “How much is it?” Salim wanted to know.
    Kavita’s face darkened. “Only fourteen thousand. What did they expect, that they would marry me off on Chowpatty Beach?” She shook the hair off her face. “But anyway, it’s enough for me to buy a lot of clothes, so let’s go, before we get caught or something.”
    “I really think that—” Salim began, but Kavita cut him off.
    “You really think what? That I’ll spend it all on clothes?” Again, her words came out more severe than she had intended, and she tried to cover them up. “I don’t need much, darling. There’s nothing to worry about.”
    She had to watch herself. She wondered why she was snapping so much at poor Salim. Perhaps she was on edge. Well, of course she was on edge—she was eloping, after all, not going around the corner to eat golgappas. But maybe there was more to it, maybe the trip to Lalwani aunty’s was still playing in her head. No, that was ridiculous, that was all over, a little dream sequence she’d had, a side plot in the story of her life. By now, the audience didn’t even remember the name of that unfortunate boy she’d met. Well, okay, she did—it was Pran, but that was only because of the film connection. This was not the time to think of Pran.
    “Could you go a little slower?” she whispered irritatedly to Salim as they went down the steps. “It’s not as if they’ve started chasing us already.”
    How silly of her to have even made the comparison. Pran, whom she had seen just once today, and that too in a meeting where, one had to admit, he had come off as a bit of a pumpkin. And Salim, whom she had known all this time, her one, her only, her true love.
    Well, he had to be her true love, didn’t he, if she was following him God knows where?
    “Where are you carrying your Juliet off to anyway, my Romeo?”
    “Romeo would have to be a lot stronger to carry a Juliet like you, my little potato chop.”
    Kavita stopped. “Whom are you calling a potato chop? Do I look like a potato to you? Do I?” Her voice rose well above a whisper. “Don’t suppose there aren’t others who would be glad to have me, if you think that I’m too fat.”
    Salim turned around. “You know I was just joking. You know I don’t think you’re fat.” He put his bags down and hugged her. “Is something the matter? Is everything okay?”
    “Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be? But don’t think you’re doing me a favor, taking me away like this—Pran would never do such a thing!”
    Of course, she didn’t really speak the last sentence, though the thought came so vividly into her mind that it almost felt like she had blurted it out. She supposed she was being unfair. After all, it had been she herself who had initiated the scheme to elope. But on the other hand, Salim had been the one to agree. She couldn’t imagine someone as