The call came in the morning. The distraught younger sister informed him that her mother-in-law passed away an hour ago.
To be exact, she was not his sister. She was a cousin, a daughter of the brother of his mother.
"A cousin, she
is still a younger sister," he was firm in his belief. "And, a death
is a death. The age, the gender, or the relationships of the deceased don't
matter. All mothers deserve to be treated with respect in life and death,"
he surmised.
Reeling under the agony
of her loss, he consoled the cousin, "Don't worry, I shall be there in a
moment!"
He rushed towards
her bungalow with alacrity.
An imposing
portrait of the departed lady was placed in the lawn. Next to it sat a silver
bowl of dew-fresh white rose petals. He stopped for a while, folded his hands
in obeisance, closed his eyes, and dropped some petals before the picture. Silently
removing his slippers in the porch, he joined a queue for the last view of the body
in the hall.
The professionalism
of the arrangement impressed him. There was no vulgar display of sorrow, no
animated discussion about the last rites, no awkward handling of the grief. A
mild scent of purifying smoke and some faint strains of devotional music added
dignity to the solemn occasion.
"Money, power
and competence turn everything so magnificent!" the thought struck him.
An old servant
tapped his elbow, "Madam wishes to see you!"
'Madam,' that is,
his cousin.
The servant
stopped at a door and gestured him to go in.
The cousin was
alone in the room. Her face lit up on seeing him. "Will you please sign as
a witness on this?" she thrust a bunch of stamp papers in his hand.
"Who am I to
interfere with her happiness?" He mechanically signed on the dotted line.
"I knew, I
could always rely on you!" the sister exclaimed.
"But why did
she put her thumb impression on the will? She was well educated," words slipped out of his mouth.
"Neither his
father nor his mother were ready to make a will. They were so adamant!" referring
to her husband's parents, she replied. "You would have some idea about their
wealth. It wouldn't have taken even a minute after her death for the army of
claimants to demand a share in the property. What a mess it would have been
then! We had kept a will ready, and obtained her thumb impression after the
death, In any case, she would have bequeathed all this to us only." She concluded
in a matter-of-fact manner.
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