Lust, Caution

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Shanghai 1942

She was just a student, dabbling in theatre and freedom-fighting.

She hardly knew what she was doing but it was this very innocence that kept her safe.

He was one of those most vilest of beings. A collaborator. Getting rich and fat off the blood of his country-men. He seemed to do it not so much because he was trying to survive those dark times but more because he seemed to actually enjoy it. Enjoy the interrogation and the torture. Enjoy the fear in other people's eyes

She never really knew what he saw in her. She was unschooled in the ways of the world and had to be "broken-in" by her fellow freedom fighter.

But he saw something. Her innocence perhaps. The truth perhaps. The truth about himself.

It was war for them both. From the very first he tried to conquer her. With force. With mind-games. With gifts. But it was she that conquered him. With songs and stories. With nothing very much at all.

Finally he appeared to admit defeat.

He took her to the jeweller's. Her ring was ready. Her fellow freedom-fighters were hidden and waiting to asassinate him.

The ring was a perfect fit. She moved to remove it and put it back in its case.

-Leave it on. You will be safe with me. You will always be safe with me

She turned to look at him. He smiled at her. Calm, loving, finally fulfilled, finally peaceful. Her voice was a whisper, cracked. He leant forward to hear her, puzzled now.

- Go Now

Louder this time but still barely able to force out the words.

Understanding dawned. He ran for his life.

They brought him the ring later and told him of the cell of freedom fighters they had unearthed. She had been marked earlier and his loyalty questioned by his association with her. But he was in the clear now and the entire "theatre troupe" captured. Under torture their stories were uncovered and matched.

- What were his commands?.

He signed the execution sheet. Protecting himself. Protecting the vile life he was leading. Protecting the wife he cared about and respected but did not seem to love. Choosing the big house, the big car and the respect of his fellow collaborators and Japanese overlords.

She knelt with her friends. They were in the South Quarry. Their bodies would fall into the chasm before them. No need for burials. No need for questions. Her friends bloodied and torn, stared at her accusingly. She had not taken the cyanide capsule she had been provided with. She had chosen to suffer with them. She had chosen to die with them.

What were her last thoughts as the bullet lodged into the back of her neck? Why did she do it? She had always been honest with him - always told him how much she hated him. He had appreciated it. No one else dared to tell him the truth.

He had always loved her more than she could ever love him. He had always said he would keep her safe.

And yet she had sacrificed everything she had and loved, family, country, friends, life itself to keep him safe.

Nitin : I tell you women are idiots. She lost her brains because he gave her a RING!

I started to protest but then stopped and shut my mouth and joined in the laughter as Nitin continued raving about women and jewellery.

It wasn't the ring per se I wanted to say. It was what it signified. Love, acceptance, care, concern. A woman would forsake everything for that and be proud of doing so.

More fools we are