More Than What Meets The Eye

At the home of art patron Radhika Chopra, Bazaar reimagines iconic paintings against pieces by leading contemporary artists. The resultant images inspire short stories by authors Raghu Karnad and Kanishk Tharoor.

- Raghu Karnad and Kanishk Tharoor

WHERE YOU END, I BEGIN

BY KANISHK THAROOR

THE WOMAN I AM SUPPOSED to destroy sits naked on the edge of the bed, light fanning through the shutters on her soft weave of muscles. She rolls her head slowly from side to side and then, with the grace of a plant, stretches her arms above her head. I admire the simple proportion of her body, how each part moves in concert with the other. “Stay,” I say, “no need to rush off.” She smiles and returns to me, kissing my lips, then my neck, and my breasts, which feel so pronounced and excessive compared to hers. Her fingers wander down my torso. We make love again, and my sighs of pleasure are genuine. Afterwards, she falls asleep wrapped around my legs. I look at her small-featured face and find it almost unimaginable that such a slight, delicate being could be so wanted by the government.

My gun is in the nightstand. It would take barely one motion for me to end this long hunt for one of the country’s most dangerous subversives.