The Company of Women

Just finished reading a book by the same name written by Khushwant Singh. Those of you who know me must be wondering why I was reading this of all things. Well, the answer was simple it was at hand and I picked it up and then once I went through the first fifteen pages was mildly interested enough to feel like finishing it.

Apart from all the colloquial terms for the penis in English and hindi that Mr. Singh educates one about, the book also speaks about a upper class, Princeton educated, young millionaire man’s unabashed need for women’s company and variety in the kind of woman he beds.

From a house-help, (mind you the kind that we have in India, clad in saris or salwar kameezes, mother of 3-5 kids, reeking of sweat, not the dainty, frock wearing ones we see in English movies) his son’s wet-nurse, a diplomat to a masseuse and beyond finally also a prostitute.

But what was the reason for seeking a woman’s company?
His seemed very unidimensional - to have sex. To keep sex exciting by having new partners. And the validation the author gives for his behavior is that his wife is not into it at all. She deprives him of sex as well as companionship and he turns to consecutive women for both.

All his partners are enthralled by his organ, they say he is an excellent lover though the description Mr. Singh gives doesn’t give any clue to his prowess apart from his being bigger than most and able to hold out longer as claimed by the women in the novel.
Who no doubt keep repeating what is understood to be amongst the top two things men would love to hear from their partners.

I wondered what was Mr. Singh’s reason for writing this novel?

Was he teaching about the scourge of HIV/AIDS? The protagonist (can’t call him a hero by any chance) commits suicide after getting infected with AIDS.
Was he trying to say that a man’s need for new sexual partners is greater than any other and also a basic phenomena which its best to accept?
Was he trying to show society’s hypocrisy in being envious of such people on one hand and condemning them on the other?
Was he telling us about how debauched we have become?W

Was he trying to while away his lonely hours by imagining all the women he bedded or would have liked to and being a writer who has a certain clout with publishers doesn't just keep it to himself but shares it with the unsuspecting audience as well?

Well in a nutshell was highly disappointed to read this sadly written soft porn from the same person who so passionately presented Delhi.