chapter 10

"The Sisters"Seema and Meera, two sisters from a small village near Mangalore, are now living in Bangalore with their respective families. Seema's husband is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, while Meera's husband is a renowned Cardiologist at Jayadeva Hospital.Their parents, Jayaram Hegde and Shalini Hegde, still reside in the village where they own more than 20 acres of agricultural land. Being from an "aliya santhana family," most of the land is registered under their mother, Shalini Hegde's name.The sisters also have three brothers—Shankar, Jayakar, and Shekhar—all living in the village, running small businesses and actively participating in local politics. Despite being married, all siblings are keeping a close watch on the family's properties. According to the family customs, Seema and Meera are entitled to a major share of the ancestral property.The brothers began pressuring their parents to transfer the property titles to their names. Initially, their father resisted, suggesting an equal division among all five children, a proposal that the sons rejected.Eventually, using their political connections, threats, and coercion, the brothers managed to transfer all properties to their names, depriving their sisters of their rightful inheritance. Following the transfer, the brothers started neglecting their parents, leaving them in the old ancestral home while they moved into their new houses on the acquired properties. It was then that mother Shalini Hegde realized her mistake in not heeding her husband's advice against relinquishing control of the properties to their children.Now, they are helpless and leading their life from some financial assistance from their daughters  Meera and Seema .Five to six years had passed when, one day, Jayaram Hegde passed away from a massive heart attack at his home. On hearing the news, both of his daughters rushed to the village with their families to attend the last rites.As the family gathered for the final rituals and cremation, a financier arrived with his associates and claimed that their father had taken a loan from him amounting to forty lakh rupees. He demanded immediate payment or requested the brothers to sign some documents and provide post-dated security cheques for the amount before he would permit the cremation to proceed.Shalini was taken aback by this revelation and pleaded with her three sons to come up with a solution to settle the financier's claim. However, none of them were willing to step forward to take responsibility for the loan, despite benefiting from their father and mother's properties.Ultimately, with no other choice, Shalini implored her daughters with folded hands to assist in preserving the family's honor. Reluctantly, both daughters agreed and signed the documents as per the financier's demands. The cremation was then carried out.Two weeks later, Jayaraj summoned Shalini Hegde and her daughters to his residence. To their astonishment, he handed them forty lakh rupees in cash and revealed that their father had not borrowed any money from him. In fact, their father had placed the forty lakh rupees with Jayaraj as a deposit for interest. Since the sons had taken possession of all the family properties, their father relied solely on the interest earned from this deposit for his day-to-day expenses. He had left clear instructions for Jayaraj to return the money to his daughters upon his demise. Jayaraj told he  wanted to question  their brothers about the debt their father supposedly owed, considering they were enjoying the family's properties without acknowledging this arrangement.The sisters, Seema and Meera, were shocked to learn the truth about the supposed loan their father had taken. They felt a mix of relief and anger – relief that their father had not resorted to borrowing money, and anger at their brothers for not taking responsibility and putting their mother through such a traumatic experience.As they left Jayaraj's house with the cash in hand, Shalini couldn't help but feel a sense of betrayal from her sons. She had always believed in family unity and support, but their actions had shown her otherwise.Back at their family home, the sisters decided to confront their brothers about the situation. They gathered everyone in the living room and presented the cash to them, along with the truth about their father’s deposit with Jayaraj.The brothers were stunned into silence, realizing the depth of their selfishness and lack of loyalty towards their family. As the sisters stood united, demanding an explanation for their behavior, the brothers could only hang their heads in shame. The brothers  with guilty mind told the sisters keep the money with them and take care of the mother in future.From that day on, the sisters took charge of the  family’s old house and ensuring that their mother was well taken care of and that justice was served, as a gift to their demised father. The brothers, on the other hand, learned a valuable lesson in the importance of family bonds and the consequences of greed and negligence.And so, the tale of "The Sisters" became a legendary story in the village, inspiring others to honor and cherish their family ties above all else.A story written on the title "The Sisters" dated 10.06.2024,CA V. K. S. Shetty.Bangalore....