People progress and leave this place – Govardhan (a locality on the outpost of the sprawling city in modern terms for the low middle class or high low class ). So if you r still live here – you are yet to progress ...or you may be the one – unwilling to progress.
My dear in-laws have stayed in Govardhan for last 20 years ...and now I have a house here too – a fiddle house.
It all began 3 fateful years back. I with my family had come home to Rampur (a dusty village) on my leave from the far off ...Minicoy Islands. The flight had cost us 21 thousand rupees... my job paid me a salary of 10 thousand a month. The flight got late so I missed the connecting train. I had to pay another 5 thousand to secure a next day reservation. Savitri later grumbled to her mother... he never spared money for me.
Vinayak, my father never misses an opportunity to comment. Almost none in whole of our extended family does like to miss an opportunity - to comment – like any true Indian! Commenting to Indians is like “freedom of speech – a birth right.
Vinayak would comment – aamdani atthani karcha rupaiah ...even in his reciting of mythological stories. It got to Savitris' nerves. Savitri was not in best of terms with me either.
She went to Govardhan to live with her mother. Here begins the story of love, lies, greed & deceit.
On reaching Govardhan Savitri forged a rumour of one of her jewellery being lost. No surprise under the wings of her mother Yashodhra.
The next time I was in Delhi for a company sponsored computer specialization course, it happened so that a policeman dropped in the house, “The adjoining house is for sale for 11 lakh, I can offer 10 but can’t find the landlord”. Yashodhra promised to facilitate the deal as the old neighbours were like a family to her.
To the best of my information ...the adjacent 100 square yards plot was bought at the same time when my in –laws bought their 100 square yards. The neighbour progressed and through property dealer sold the two floors to two south Indian families.
The family on the top floor in turn sold it to a Germany returned family who got employed as guides at German embassy in Delhi. In due time, this family too progressed to left Govardhan, hence the house, once again was on sale. The lady in the first floor did offered to buy it dirt cheap ( ...the house is below road level ...so no one is interested). He then went to the property dealer....but was almost never available to prospective buyers, having to travel with Germans on visit to India or Indians on visit to Germany.
Next I heard from Savitri that her mother offered her to buy the house... but to their disappointment - I was not interested. However my father found it in their interest for my wife to have her own house in the flourishing city of Lucknow also a capital of United Province.
Soon Yashodhara found the landlord & without any mention of the policeman offer, bagged the house for 8 lakhs.
It included two upper floors. The 1st floor with 3 rooms & the top floor with 1 room. I expressed my inability to buy the whole as my savings didn’t equal to the settled amount and I had no intention to burden myself with a loan.
I offered to buy the top floor one room house for 2 lakhs reasoning that having to build 2 more rooms would cost me additional 4 lakhs while the in-laws can have the 1st floor with three rooms for 6 lakhs. Both floors with 3 rooms would thus cost equal...
I proposed them to buy it all for themselves as I was not very keen on the place. However my wife & her mother persisted. I had to seek loan 2 lakhs loan from friends and relatives. My sister was not keen on lending as her family might not approve. However an old relative offered the loan although being repudiated by his son, my cousin brother. I on my part had never sought loan earlier and realized the implicated indignity.
Yashodhara counselled, “You are paying from your hard earned money, don’t register the house in your mother name, you must register it in your name or better still – yours wife, to save the tax.” It was agreed to get the house in my wife’s name.
Later I was told my wife had the power of attorney as a registry would had cost me additional 10 thousand rupees thus my Yashodhara keeping my best interest in mind saved me some money.
...three years later I & Savitri went to the same lawyer who had dealt with the paper work, for the house registration. To out disbelief he affirmed that my mother-in-law had evidently fiddled.
Yashodhara got it all registered in her name & on a later date got her daughter Savitri to sign on stamp papers giving her the sole rights to buy my house at the price paid at time of purchase. A power of attorney though had been made in my wife’s name ...with a clever remark (...to be executed by her father).
When I had paid the 2 lakhs to get the house for my wife why did her adoring mother have the house I paid for registered for herself... “I expected you to cough up more cash to buy it for my daughter; you paid less so I registered it for myself.
A old comrade who also happened to be a criminal lawyer preordained ...now that she have taken your money and the house ...if you ask it back she would reveal her intent and would say, “take back the money you paid 3 yrs ago & vacate the house” My marvellous mother-in –law put the words in exactly the same order, nevertheless being a fabulous lady she added “However in my ever kindness my daughter can “live in” till she may wish”.
If she wanted the cash she could have asked for it & not cheated. But as is said ....Greed leads to deceit.
The lawyer sermonized, “Read before you sign even if it’s yours mother who gets the papers to you”. It didn't sound appeasing ... If you can’t trust a mother...who can u...?
Only after her daughters pointed to the guile ...the fiddle house was delivered back ...but not without a price... I paid the registration fees of 40 thousand and “I will spare my daughter the house but I want its roof”. She said in her munificent best.
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