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.
He nodded his head in agreement. He was thinking, "Money, power and competence turn everything so magnificent!"
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