Dusky Salma Tahira may not be glamorous as often seen in fashion world, but her beauty is more subtle, her dusky looks and large rounded eyes with large irises give her a charming and youthful appearance. She has physical traits of a true feminine beauty; narrow shoulder, small rib cage, narrow waist and big buttocks which give her a feminine softly curved, rounded hourglass figure. She truly epitomizes mystical Indian beauty and a sensual mysterious East. An oriental enigma and an artist dream. She had a calm disposition and simple yet high sense of aesthetics. She was well read and unlike her husband, possessed a college degree.
She worked in corporate communication in a multi-national organization. Her knowledge was impeccable in current affairs ,politics,and surprisingly sports, which put her at odds with other women folk and often embarrassing for men who couldn't match up to her in-depth knowledge on cricket which every average Indian men claim to be an expert . She had a deep philosophical mind and preferred intellectual solitude rather than sociable stupidity. Her qualities and talents over a period of time had a detrimental effect on relationships; especially with her husband, who was no match for her intellectually. Also he wasn't successful financially. His life was a failure as he couldn't convert inherited wealth from his father into something substantial. He led a laid back life which ruined his business and relationships.
In spite of all the failures in business ventures, he still demanded obedience and respect from his wife and wanted her to be a second fiddle in the relationship which she always chided. He always boasted about his family name and the legacy left by his forefathers who were once aristocrats. He constantly identified with his traditional past which made his views parochial. She was facing a lot of mental turmoil in this difficult relationship. Also she was facing the brunt from her in-laws who had a penchant to defend their son's shortcomings. They would subtly insinuate their son to leave her. And to appease his parents, he turned towards religion. This also helped his standing among his peers and society in general. As the relationship deteriorated, rumors about her were fabricated by her in-laws and their family members. It pertained to her long hours at work and ignoring her family. The rumors were often exaggerated. They always took her success and financial independence with a pinch of salt. She was marginalized for being an independent, individualistic and a successful career woman. She was aggressively targeted for it. The only reason her husband would remain silent about her job is because she was the one supporting her child's education. They had a child who was 10 years old. He was studying in a boarding school. Circumstances forced them to make this decision as the mounting tensions at home and business would otherwise ruin his childhood.
Although she tolerated this relationship, her husband would always complain about her successful career. He, at times, coerced her to wear a veil as per the religious tradition, which she strongly resisted as she disliked the Purdah system. However, she still obliged to his demand partially by covering her hair, but gave a stiff resistance to wearing Hijab and Niqab (face cover). Things became worst and her husband's callous attitude persisted. He very often belittled her in front of his friends, who were a group of religious zealots. Religion was the only outlet for his frustration. To justify his often erratic, irrational behavior, religious dogmas proved quite handy.
The mental trauma was becoming unbearable and one fine day she called her distant aunt Nafeesa who was a lawyer, an ardent feminist and a women rights activist. She explained her plight and immediately her aunt took control of the situation. Nafeesa was her mother's first cousin, and after Salma's mother passed away she supported her emotionally. Nafeesa was a charming old lady in her mid fifties; she's been in pretty good shape looked almost 10 years younger than her actual biological age. She was fair slim, had a bob cut, confident and was vocal when it came to woman's issues. She was an extrovert and her social circle consisted of rich bureaucrats, politicians and famous personalities. Most of them belonged to affluent upper strata of the society. Her political inclination was liberal leftist. It was quite ironic of her to sometimes openly ridicule capitalism in front of her rich elite group. Her husband was a broad minded educated person but very different from her in ideology.
Nafeesa's intervention was intimidating to Salma's in-laws and husband as she belonged to legal profession. They couldn't stand up to her towering personality. And very soon it was evident that their obtuse approach might get them in legal trouble. The only solution was a divorce. Salma was desperate for a divorce however the only thing that worried her was her son Kashif. The divorce didn't take much time and with it, custody of her son was handed to Salma. Her husband was unemployed and in no position to take care of him.
It took few weeks for Salma to come out of the traumatic marriage. Meanwhile she moved to an apartment which virtually belonged to her. The real owners were Nafeesa and her husband and since they were childless, regarded her as a daughter. So she almost inherited the apartment. It was a two bedroom apartment on the ground floor. The place was very lively and most of the people around were educated and belonged to rich families. It was located in a prime zone and outside the colony there were malls, pubs and a vibrant night life. However,the colony remained quite peaceful . There were hardly any women in veil and covered head, which was a common sight where she lived in the past. She found the people quite amiable when compared to what she experienced in the past. There were plenty of retired lawyers and teachers who lived in the same building where she resided.
In the center of the colony, there was a huge banyan tree which almost covered the ground. It provided lots of shade and cover in scorching summer heat. Under the tree there was some seating arrangement. Every day in the evenings, the retired teachers and lawyers would gather and tirelessly discuss various issues related to society, politics and religion. There were a couple of stodgy old gentlemen who often joined the discussion and constantly cribbed about the younger generation. How they have transgressed from tradition, morality and religion and how western culture has corrupted their minds. They would never tolerate a woman in any skimpy western outfit. It was quite surprising that they found Saris traditional. However, one of her neighbors, a gentleman with a quaint sense of humor, would always put them down. He was a retired teacher who lived with his wife and eccentric son. His name was Kumar and he lived opposite to her apartment.
It was a kind of a solitary life for her which is something she always craved. She was a virgin when her marriage took place at the age of 20. It was an arranged marriage where she had no say in it. She was quite deferential to her parents authority. It was her father's choice to marry her off to an aristocratic family. Salma has turned 30 and since her marriage, she's never been in any kind of affair. Her sexual life was dull with an unimaginative, boring husband. However, the new found freedom and the congenial atmosphere around has instilled confidence and fearlessness to bear what was ugly about herself. To look bravely into her true drives and desires was slowly emerging. She learned so much about herself and about things long buried and denied. It freed her to make bold choices that previously were not even acknowledged as choices. Divorce made it possible to integrate with her femininity and sensuality. She is now happier. And the best part is she didn't have to fuck around to get there.
The liberating atmosphere around allowed her to come out of her demureness. She could now move out freely without any restriction and more importantly, dress up the way she wants. It was time for her to abandon the idea of covering hair with the Dupata, a restriction imposed by religion. She could now wear jeans, t-shirts and occasionally skirts. The tight jeans and t-shirt enhanced her feminine beauty and her big butt and boobs became a part of young men gossip. She loved wearing the Shawar Kameez which were also revealing. Mostly cut sleeves, short Kurta, and at times she was bold enough to wear deep neck Salwar Kameez, which often exposed her cleavage. This bold move at times attracted unwanted attention and occasional negative remarks from stodgy old gentleman. However, she had the gumption to deal with such situation so that never bothered her. Besides there were plenty of women around, some of them married, who wore much skimpier clothes than her.
She never socialized much at work or with people in the colony. However, there was couple of people who were quite friendly to her. One was Sonia Sharma who lived in the opposite building. She was a Punjabi big beautiful woman, an interior designer by profession and her husband, an I. T. professional. She was an extrovert and very charismatic, a bomb in her mid thirties who often wore the most revealing and skimpiest outfit. The couple was into open marriage. Sonia's husband was a cuckold. She had a few paramours but never got involved with anyone around the colony. It was wise to keep such things discreet, especially something related to sex. Most of her liaisons were behind the closed doors of her apartment. It was an understanding between the couple as involving neighbors can bring infamy no matter how liberated the atmosphere was around the colony, open marriage was still a taboo. On the other hand they were quite choosy and most of the time Sonia's lover would be in their early twenties.