MéNAGE à TROIS

Kusuma tried every trick that Vastayana postulated in the Kamasutra to lure her playboy husband back into her bed but to no avail. However, she didn't think of divorce as it would leave her fending for herself, hounded by men as an easy prey. So preferring the married plough in her mental furrow, she hit upon an idea to pin down the philanderer at home and approached her widowed cousin Purnima, who was above average and below thirty.

"See you've no male to fill the gap," said Kusuma to her cousin without any prevarication, "and my man believes that by filling his belly at home, he's satisfying my appetite as well."

"That's the irony of woman's life," lamented the widow, who was privy to Kusuma's predicament.

"It's the malady of our men that they won't marry widows and spurn divorcees, leaving both to rot in their paternal homes," Kusuma sounded sympathetic.

"That's why it's said, better be none than a woman," Purnima's lament continued.

"But to what avail is all that having been born?" Kusuma said driving home her point. "I've thought about a way out for both of us. With a little bit of give and take between us, we can make the best of it for the rest of our lives."

"What has a poor widow like me got to offer you?" said Purnima.

"It's your vulnerability," said Kusuma, however, losing the irony of it all in her own stance. "When my hubby finds a hapless widow for a guest, why won't he imagine the possibilities?"

"That will further complicate matters for me and you as well," said Purnima unenthusiastically.

"Consider this," Kusuma continued with her enticement, "as he would stay at home trying to seduce you, I would be able to allure him back into my arms. Once he behaves himself, I would let him have your favors for a bonus. I hope you will agree that in our situation, it's better to share something than to have nothing at all."

When Purnima came camping at her cousin's place, though in apprehension, said Sangeetha drawing the tale to a close, the man of the house began to feel more at home. True to her word, Kusuma made it a menage a trois with Purnima, and they, as the story ends, lived happily ever after.

This is an episode from the author's Benign Flame: Saga of Love