The Mother I Never Knew Read online

  Gauri said, ‘What will you tell him—that you are the son of his father’s second wife? Have you forgotten your promise to Bhagavva, Anna? What will you do if he gets angry with your father?’

  ‘I’ll tell him how Father tried to contact his mother. I’ll convince both of them that it was all a tragic misunderstanding. I’ll even try to give them the money that they should have received when Appa died.’

  ‘But what if they ask for more?’ she persisted.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking. Bhagavva won’t ask me for anything, I’m sure. I’ll tell Shankar that I’m doing this for Bhagavva and my father. If I give their family half of what Appa left for me, he can get nothing more even through legal means.’

  ‘Amma will say that this is foolish.’

  Venkatesh sighed, ‘I know that this is not the wise approach. But sometimes, we need to be unwise and still do what’s right, Gauri.’

  ‘All the best, Anna, but be prepared for the storm.’

  That night, the family gathered at the dining table for dinner. Shanta ordered the cooks to lay the table and leave. She wanted to discuss family matters and didn’t want the household help to overhear. She began with a question to her husband, ‘Haven’t you finished your work in Hubli yet? Who’s going to take responsibility for Ravi’s new company and his wedding?’

  ‘Ravi’s opinion is paramount for his marriage. And when it comes to planning and investing, you really know what’s best for the company.’

  Shanta pretended to be annoyed, ‘You just thrust everything on me. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Ravi needs investors for his new company.’

  ‘Yes, we will need at least one crore,’ Ravi said. ‘Of course, my partners will also pay their share. These days everything has to look exclusive and glamorous to attract global clients.’

  Venkatesh turned to Shanta, ‘I don’t know anything about running a software company. The two of you can do as you see fit.’

  ‘Actually, I don’t have ready cash,’ Shanta replied. ‘I paid a lot for the cardamom estate in Coorg recently. Since the stock market is on an all-time low these days, we can’t sell shares now. But I have an idea—we have rented out both the Ganga and Tunga complexes. What do you think about vacating one of them and using it for Ravi’s company?’

  ‘But then our rent will be halved.’

  ‘So what? At least, we won’t have to invest initially.’ Shanta continued, ‘We have other expenses coming up, too. Ravi and Pinki like each other and would like to get married soon. We have to sponsor their engagement, while Pinki’s parents will take care of the wedding. We must spend at least fifteen lakhs considering our status. All these worries haunt me in my sleep.’

  Poor Shanta! She couldn’t sleep despite her wealth.

  ‘But why do we need to spend fifteen lakhs for an engagement?’ Venkatesh wondered out loud.

  ‘We have to consider Veena’s status and ours too. We must buy Pinki expensive gold sets. Moreover, the engagement must be in a five-star hotel where we will gift silver items to all guests and arrange a big dinner spread for them. It’s going to be a lot of expenditure.’

  ‘Not necessarily, Shanta! Grandma’s gold is still there in the bank. Neither Gauri nor you have ever worn any of it. Why not give it to Pinki? We can also set up a shamiana in front of our house instead of paying a hotel. Don’t treat the engagement like a business deal. We don’t have to spend money lavishly.’

  Shanta was livid, ‘If Veena learns about your plans, she’ll refuse to give her daughter to us. You’ll never understand what it means to build relationships and run a business. What do you know? You’ve been sitting in Hubli all along!’

  ‘Actually, I’ve been doing something different there. I have learnt so much about my father in the last month.’

  There was something in Venkatesh’s voice that made Shanta and Ravi sit up and take notice.

  Venkatesh started at the beginning, and as the story unfolded, both mother and son stared at him in absolute disbelief.

  11

  A Father’s Debt

  By the end of the narration, neither Venkatesh nor Gauri could hold back their tears.

  However, there was a smirk on Ravi’s face. ‘Well, I’m impressed,’ he said. ‘Though our grandfather had two wives, they didn’t know about each other. He was a smart old man, wasn’t he?’

  Shanta asked her husband with her customary cold caution, ‘What do you want to do about it?’

  ‘I haven’t yet told Shankar and Bhagavva about my findings, but I know that they live in extreme poverty and I want to help them. That’s the least I can do.’

  ‘How much?’ she asked.

  ‘Fifty lakhs. They can buy a house with ten or fifteen lakhs and they can use the rest for their children’s education and marriage, or Bhagavva’s medical treatment.’

  Shanta and Ravi exclaimed in unison, ‘Fifty lakhs!’

  ‘I inherited two sites from my father after his death—the Ganga–Tunga complexes. Besides that, he left me gold in the bank and several fixed deposits. Today, Bhagavva and her family are in a really miserable condition and I should give them what was due to them at the time of Father’s death.’

  ‘But we’re not responsible for their situation,’ Shanta said angrily.

  ‘You are right; we are not responsible at all, but when I inherited my father’s property, I also inherited his share of mistakes. Appa failed in his duty towards them. We can’t undo the past, but maybe we can make their lives a little easier, especially since we have so much wealth. There’s no legal proof of their wedding, there’s only a newspaper cutting of the accident and Appa’s picture; but there is a divine court of law above us where our souls are the witnesses.’

  ‘Stop talking about God and our souls, Dad. Let’s be practical. We can’t give them anything right now,’ Ravi said.

  Venkatesh said, ‘Why not? Haven’t I toiled for this home too? Thanks to your mother and her investments made from the Ganga–Tunga rent we received initially, we’ve earned so much more in the last twenty years. Don’t forget that the start-up capital came from my father.’

  ‘Relax, Dad. Don’t get emotional. Didn’t you hear what Amma said? At the moment, we have financial problems of our own and yet, you are willing to give away fifty lakhs to someone for the sole reason that he resembles you. We all know that Grandfather was afraid of his mother. Maybe he had an affair and the old woman is simply making up a story. Why should we bother about her or her child when our grandfather himself deserted her? I feel like laughing at you. You may give him twenty thousand and close the issue.’

  Venkatesh knew that his son was clever, but he hadn’t known that he was heartless too. Ravi felt no compassion or empathy. What kind of a man would his son be in the future?

  For the first time during the discussion, Gauri spoke. She said, ‘Anna, I think you are right.’

  Venkatesh turned to both his children and asked, ‘What’ll you do if I give away either the Ganga or Tunga complex to Bhagavva?’

  Ravi replied calmly, ‘I’ll go to the court. That’s our ancestral property and you don’t have the right to just give it away without our consent. You can only donate money or property that you have earned on your own.’

  Venkatesh was disheartened; his son was prepared to go to court against him and put the family honour at stake for fifty lakh rupees. How could two children raised by the same parents and in the same environment be so unlike each other, he wondered.

  Shanta didn’t say anything, but Gauri rushed to her father’s rescue, ‘Ravi, what about our family reputation? Besides, stop for a minute and think about it: Anna is right. Let him give fifty lakhs to Bhagavva who has suffered her whole life only because she was unfortunate enough to get married to our grandfather. Imagine her agony!’

  Ravi turned his anger towards Gauri, ‘It’s very easy to advise others. W