Benign Flame Saga Of Love In Chapters Format

The attractions Roopa experienced and the
fantasies she entertained as a teen shaped a male imagery that ensconced her
subconscious. Insensibly, confident carriage came to be associated with the
image of maleness in her mind-set. Her acute consciousness of masculinity only
increased her vulnerability to it, making her womanliness crave for the
maleness for its gratification. However, as her father was constrained to help
her in becoming a doctor, she opts to marry, hoping that Sathyam might serve
her cause though the persona she envisioned as masculine, she found lacking in
him. But as he fails to go with her idea, she becomes apathetic towards him,
and insensibly sinks into her friend Sandhya’s embrace, for lesbian solace. 

Soon,
in a dramatic sequence of events, Tara, a suave call girl, tries to rope in Roopa into her calling; Roopa herself loses
her heart to Sandhya's beau Raja Rao, and Prasad, her husband’s friend falls
for her. And as Prasad begins to induce her husband to be seduced by whores, to worm
his way into her affections, Roopa finds herself in a dilemma. However, as fate
puts Raja Rao into Roopa’s arms in such a way as to lend novelty to fiction, this ‘novel’ nuances man-woman chemistry on one hand, and portrays
woman-woman empathy on the other. 

Who said the novel
is dead; 'Benign Flame' raises the bar as vouched by - 

The
plot is quite effective and it’s a refreshing surprise to
discover that the story will not trace a fall into disaster for Roopa, given
that many writers might have habitually followed that course with a wife who strays
into extramarital affairs - Spencer
Critchley, Literary Critic, U.S.A. 

The
author has convinced the readers that love is something far beyond the marriage
tie and the fulfillment of love can be attained without marriage bondage. The
author has achieved a minor revolution without any paraphernalia of revolution
in the fourth part of the novel – The Quest, India. 

The
author makes free use of – not interior monologue as such, but – interior
dialogue of the character with the self, almost resembling the dramatic
monologue of Browning. Roopa, Sandhya, Raja Rao and Prasad to a considerable
extent and Tara and Sathyam to a limited degree indulge in rationalization,
trying to analyse their drives and impulses – The Journal of Indian Writing in
English.Overall, Benign
Flame is a unique attempt at exploring adult relationships and sexuality in the
contemporary middle-class. All the characters come alive with their cravings
and failings, their love and their lust. Benign Flame blurs the lines and
emphasizes that life is not all black and white - it encompasses the full
spectrum of living - Indian Book Chronicle.Chapter Headings:1.
Ramaiah’s Family2. Realities
of Life3.
Hapless Hope4.
Turn at the Tether5. Moorings of Marriage6. World within the World  7. Roopa’s En Passant  8. Threshold of Temptation9. Sathyam’s Surrender10. Sandhya’s Sojourn11. Match in the Making12. Poignant Moment13. Wedding Season 14.  Veil
of Fate 15. Naughty Nuptials16. Tidings of Love17. Tentative Moves18. Fetishes of Fantasy19. Curtain of Courtesy20. Blueprint in the Offing21. Enduring Longing22. Villainy of Life23. Playboy
at Play24. Scheming the Theme25. Device of Deceit26. Software
of Detour27. Tara’s Theory28. Night of the Mates29. A Brimming Romance  30. Euphoric Forays31. Living
the Dream 32.
Chat at the Bar33.
Amour on Rein34.
Surge of a Merge  35. Date
with Destiny36.
Threesome Sail37. End of an Innings 38. Subdued
BeginningBook excerpt for a feel of its literary style  - Ramaiah’s FamilyThat
winter night in the mid-seventies, the Janata Express was racing rhythmically
on its tracks towards the coast of Andhra Pradesh. As its headlight pierced the
darkness of the fertile plains, the driver honked the horn as though to awake
the sleepy environs to the spectacle of the speeding train. On that, in the
S-3, were the Ramaiahs with their nine year-old daughter Roopa.Earlier,
from Ramavaram, it was in the nick of time that Ramaiah took Janaki to Vellore
for the doctors to extricate her from the jaws of death. Now, having been to
Tirupati for thanksgiving, he was returning home with his wife and Roopa they
took along for the sojourn. While her parents were fast asleep, Roopa sat still
on a side berth, reminiscing her times at the hospital where Janaki took one
month to recuperate under Dr. Yasoda’s care.







Soon
the train stopped at a village station, as though to disrupt Roopa’s daydreams
of modeling herself on the lady doctor at the Christian Medical College
Hospital, and as she peeped out, the ill-lit platform seemed to suggest that
the chances of her being Dr. Roopa could be but dim. Ramaiah too woke up to the
commotion caused by the incoming passengers, and was surprised to see his
daughter still awake, lost in her thoughts.