Things That Bang

"You will never scratch that groin again. YOU HEAR ME!! Never!! I will make salami from it. I will feed it to the pigs. You mutherfuckah!! I am a crazy bitch and I will make you my fucking slave. Say it loud- say I am your fuck puppy ...say it you carpet muncher!""

Her father blushed and gently laid the book on the table "Beta, you can't write stuff like this. Its shocking. Beta, think of your mother."

"Bapu" She smiled at her father and patted his some 70 year old knee. "She read it before you did."

His mouth fell open and he stared at his not so young daughter.

"She was okay with it? What about Sushil? How come he let you publish this...this..." he gestured feebly at the book lying on the coffee table. The image of a bonded half naked man with a ball in his mouth on the cover of the book offended his gentle sensibilities.

"Mom and Sushil were both okay with it." She shrugged.

"But Beta its all about corrupt sex and people tying each other up. What will people think?" He tried to keep the anger out of his voice.

She leaned back against the faded cushions. They needed changing. She wished she could do the place up but her parents wouldn't let her. What was the use of being a best seller writer if she couldn't take care of her parents?

"Bapu! Why do you fret? People alway talk. My entire persona is built as being a desi Jackie Collins. Its a marketing strategy and sells the books. People read them, what more can I ask for?"

"Can't you write something more sedate?" He pleaded.

"Like what Bapu? Gardening? Value driven stories? Nobody reads such stuff except on Readers Digest."

He sighed and looked out of the window. His son in law was playing in the driveway with the little ones.

"What will your children think? What if their classmates show it to them?"

She burst out laughing.

"Bapu, remember we saw that movie - Hourtan Hears A Who? Where the Kangroo gets every one agitated with - For the children! Isn't this the same argument?"

His lips thinned "You know what I mean!"

"By the time my kids can read such stuff I would have explained it to them. If their friends say something to them I will explain it to them."

"What will you explain? How can you explain such filth?"

"I will tell them that it exists. It cannot be put under the carpet and we cannot act as if it doesn't happen. Its the ugly side of human nature and we should know it for what it is. Censorship represses Papa. I will tell them that these are dark stories about people who are strange in their make. They are different from regular people and they lead destructive lives."

She laid a hand on her father's balled fist.

"I understand you are too old to change your view of thinking and I am too stubborn to curb my writing. I wish there was some way we could see this through but I have a feeling we won't be able to."

Standing up, she collected her purse and before she left she kissed her father's head and said "I am too old to wait for your approval Bapu nor do I care what society has to say. Society doesn't pay my bills nor does it fill my belly. I feel sad you don't like what I write but thats how it is. I am sorry if it caused you hurt but there is nothing I can do."

He didn't reply but stared at the kinky cover of her bestseller in revulsion; once she left he sighed and began read the book again.