SISTERS'ACT...A SHORT STORY.. FORWARD Buzz up! Share This
Oct 9 2008 Tags: srajahiyer laitha saroja mythili krishnaiyar Scene : Kumbakonam Mutt Street Present : Kirukku Krishnaiyar &his wife.. Absent : All his 4 sisters and hisonly brother Day : Mother's Thithi.. After the usual elaborate ceremonyfor his beloved Father, Kirukku Krishnaiyar was feeling a bit battered and wasrelaxing on his Old Sofa set when his Dharma Pathini brought coffee and as usual startedthe conversation with coffee which invariably raised the temp of all the peoplearound.. Padmini : Atleast for this Firstthithi of your beloved mother, these 3 sisters who are staying only in Chennaicd have come.. after all it is 'they' who are going to benefit by theirpresence.. Krishnaiyar : I told you not torestart the topic about my 3 sisters..you know how much I hate them.. Padmini : after all you have doneso much to Lalitha..she owes her life to you..she atleast shd have come? Krishnaiyar recollected the days ofLalitha.. She was the pet of the family beingthe last born. When his father passed away he had only one 'Regret' in hislife..that he had not been able to live and see that his last Two daughterswere married and well settled, despite all his poverty, despite all hisPrincipled Public Life, despite all the Fame and name.. After his death, Latha and theimmediate elder, Saroja, were feeling a bit Orphaned. .Thanks to KirukkuKrishnaiyar and his affectionate wife, Padmini, they came along with them toMadras and started a fresh life in college.. Kirukku Krishnaiyar,tho' was justmarried, showed more affection to his sisters and if there was any probleminside the house with Padmini and his sisters, he always chided his newlymarried wife..to the satisfaction of these two sisters. The elder of these Two,Mythili,was married to a Typical Kumbakonathan and settled in Madras also. As days rolled by, KirukkuKrishnaiyar, sent Lalitha as per her wish to Madurai for M.Sc., and Saroja hadfinished her B.Sc., and started exploring Veena for a while..Every dayKrishnaiyar used to drop her in the Veena classes and bring her back..Life wneton..till one day.. Krishnaiyar was fed up that with somany Horoscopes on his hands, none was matching nor fructifying forSaroja..when he received a letter from a great Gentleman near Coimbatore.. "Krishna, you might recallthat your father had approached me for my son's marriage to your sister Saroja3 years back and I had written that he is not ready as yet. Now he hasexpressed his OK and we wish to see the bride if you can bring her to our houseon..." "Oh! God! You are indeedthere!!No doubt about it!!" sighed Padmini and Krishnaiyar..and startedrushing to Coimbatore.. Krishnaiyar had booked 3 tkts forCoimbatore, one for his sister, one for his wife and one for himself..At thelast minute Saroja expressed her desire to take her elder sister Mythiliinstead of Padmini.. Krishnaiyar also asked his wife to remain in her Mom'splace and the two sisters along with Krishnaiyar arrived in Coimbatore.. Krishnaiyar was totally surprisedwhen that Great Gentleman, his wife, and the son, not only approved of thealliance but stipulated that "Marriagemust be very simple and all our side expenses..we wd take care of.." They got married and started livinga great life..Incidentally Padmini was carrying her First child at the time andwhat sort of pressure she underwent Only Krishnaiyar and God know! Krishnaiyar's mother was a silentspectator to all this Drama and she openly used to chide her daughterSaroja.."Nee Rompa Pollathava.."(you are a devil) In the meantime, the M.Sc. kid atMadurai was silently in love with a classmate..She wanted to marry a NonBrahmin.. to the total dismay of her mother and everyone else.. Keishnaiyar and Padmini after, analysingall aspects felt that it had reached a stage that it was difficult to reverseher decision.. They were the Only Two Representative in a simple closed doorMarriage amidst friends in Madurai.. Time flew by and Krishnaiyar got his first daughter and also a transfer toMadurai.. Suddenly , Lalitha was pregnant andshe cdn't be allowed anywhere else excepting in Krishnaiyar's house..so Padminiaccepted that she would take care ofher..Lalitha's first born child was a male..all went well except that Padminiunderwent another round of trauma in a house where "Every one wd talk and NOne wd Act or do any help in such asituation"... Years went by..Saroja hated herMother to the core, and never allowed her to enter her Mansion in Matunga.... Lalitha used to accept Padmini'sadvice and took a clerical job in a Bank and she was the lone earning member inher family which had had another girl already.. One fine morning Lalitha gave a ring to Padmini and was uncontrollably weeping.... "He is beating me like hell..I cannot stay with him for a singlemoment.." When Krishnaiyar just returned fromthe office,Padmini told him, "Right now we are going toLaitha's house and bring her and the kids to our House..No more this type ofcruelty to Lalitha.." On that day evening Laitha and kidscame over to Krishnaiyar's house.. Kumbakonathan in Madras always used to advise Krishnaiyar "You do this..You dothat" but he could never ever tolerate Lalitha as a human being "asshe had married a Non Brahmin".. So Mythili also never used to evenlook at her own sister,Lalitha.. Padmini to Krishnaiyar:"Intha Parungo..We shoud try to Buy a nice flatfor Lalitha so that her life is secured..after all we can put in the initialamount reqd." Exactly on the 20th day,a flat in aBankers colony was bought and Lalitha moved in with her two kids..Her Bank jobbecame a security and she also was able to pay her instalments ..Padmini andKrishnaiyar often used to visit Lalitha and the watchman was more happy to seethem as he was the main support to a single woman.. Time flew by.. Krishnaiyar's mom passed awayshowing lots of affection to Padmini ..She wanted to die only in Krishnaiyar'shouse and she said just before her death to Krishnaiyar:"I am coming to your house notbecause I love you..But I want to die in the hands of my sweet Daughter inLaw.." Krishnaiyar wept on that dayuncontrollably as he knew to his heart of hearts, that an Old Mom ,carried afeeling that 'neither her eldest daughter nor her Saroja ever even attempted tovisit her in her Death bed..' She was diagnosed Cancer and livedfor 7 months when none of these two characters ever attempted to come and seeher! On that day when Krishnaiyar's mompassed away, he had sent wire and informed over phone to all concerned.. His brother had arrived fromBombay on time..since the time for Electric Burial ground was fixed at10 next day..the body was taken the next day on time..after which Saroja arrived with her hubby from Hyd and made acomment: "Annahas removed the body of my Mom, purposely, as..." A girl who cdn't come and see herMom alive in the last 7 months..made such a comment.. Krishnaiyar didn't mind it..as thatis "Vidhi" according to him.. With the death of the Mom all therelationships started getting snapped with Padmini as the 3 sisters inMadras(Saroja had also come down to Madras and Mythili had Now accepted hersister Lalitha as a Human being..) TheSisters act contnue.. Lalitha..a well settled son who hasdone his MBA take care of her and his sister..They live in a Mansion..so theydont need the help of either Krishnaiyar or Padmini.. Saroja the main schemer try to getall the sisters together (except the eldest)and try to project that they allLive for a worthy cause for which their Great Father had lived and died.. Mythili, having got both her sonswell married and settled abroad is able to travel once a while to USA andEurope and advise the younger sisters in all matters including "Not to call on Padmini".. Back to Thithi day:- Krishnaiyar.."If they have anyaffection for Father, they should have accepted your invitation and come forthis ceremony.. First I didn’t like your calling them ..If Lalitha cannot evenremember what all you have done for her, if Saroja cannot even thank once awhile that it is only you who have given her a nice Marriage..and if Mythilicannot even recall those nice days when Mom was around when you used to go totheir house and she used to come to ours.. We have to blame this status "to our Vidhi".." -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1379651356.1745604.1623067875135%40mail.yahoo.com.
