sangeeta arora

“JUSTICE ” denied, 22 years of battle ends in settlement.

I fell back with the impact of the slap. I stood up my head reeling with shock and pain, looked at my mother for support, but she too looked shocked and scared at what had happened. I took my bag and left from there. My brother had abused me and my son soo much and he had also cursed me a lot, could not get all those words out of my mind.

Anyways God was with us so my son started doing well for himself, got him married after a few years. In the meanwhile I was trying desperately you sell our property in Surat, spoke to about 100 brokers over a period of time ,as it was disputed property and my brother in law had built a building on his side and used up our FSI also, it was getting difficult to get a good price. Everytime we got a good deal I sent the broker to my mother-in-law to talk as they did not trust me , so I wanted them to coordinate directly with the broker about the finances, but each time we got a good offer she refused. It was getting very difficult for me to manage everything, I started keeping bad health could not take any stress at all. After many years of trying finally I got a decent offer from a broker, it was very difficult to trust him coz many brokers had made promises and then disappeared.

My close friend was a tarot card reader and she was the one who told me this deal will go through and she literally called me daily to book my tickets for surat, finally just for her sake I agreed for a meeting with the broker and the buyer in Surat. I reached surat, the broker was at the station, he took me straight to his house. I was scared but his wife was there, she took me to her room to freshen up. When I came out in the hall there were 5 men sitting there including my broker, oh my god I was really scared but I sat bravely with them, and we started negotiating , my friend had given me a figure to ask them, so I did and they agreed , I was shocked and happy, they had got some cash to give me the booking amount which I refused coz people do tend to block the sale of your property by giving a token and then taking years for full payment.

I refused the money, but then I heard my friends voice in my ears telling me repeatedly ” go to surat and get an X amount of money” I was surprised as they had got exactly the same amount that my friend had mentioned. I took the money and told them I will not give anything in writing and If they don’t give the rest of the money in exactly a month from that day, then I will keep the money and the deal will be off.The buyer agreed . I returned to bombay, we were all very happy, my son and daughter in law were in India also ,and, as we were all legal heirs everybody’s signature was needed. Luckily for us we did not need my mother -in- laws signature as her name was not added on the property papers by the city survey staff. Such is God’s grace

We waited as the day for the documentation was nearing, the buyer called me and asked for an extension as surat was having a state holiday on the very day of the finalisation of our deal. All the government offices would be shut.I flatly refused, saying the deal would be cancelled and I would not return the cash, I told him that he was such a big and influential man with all sort of connections,so he should get the paper work ready and get the offices opened for an hour for the transfer to be done. He agreed and on the set day we did the transfer, all this was done without anybody’s knowledge, just between the buyer,broker and my family. We DID IT, Got our pay orders deposited them in the bank, And we partied that night with all our surat friends and well wishers. It wa a victory this was exactly 14 years after my husband’s death. Oh my god! We could not believe it at least now our financial problems would come to an end.

On reaching Bombay I sent a letter through the court informing my in- laws about the sale of the property.I sent them the government valuation papers of the property and also the sale deed ,telling them their 20% was kept aside in the bank for them.They replied saying they wanted the full amount all of 100% quoting the property price was 5 times more . I was disgusted and angry, here we are being honest and transparent, and they are being unreasonable . I replied telling them when they had filed the suit they had claimed that the property to be 10 times less so how suddenly a disputed property price can jump sooo high. Anyway this was the last straw, I decided to let them fight and let the court ask me to give them the money, then only I would give, not before that.The case went on for many more years, I changed my lawyer. Finally after 22 years on 01/02/2022 we had a court settlement I payed them their 20% nothing more and the case was dispersed. The buyer who had such a tough reputation,people were in awe of him,was actually very nice, he also did a settlement with my husband’s relative who had filed a suit against me claiming my husband owed him money. He (the buyer) paid him an X amount and made him take back his case. He was a messiah for me and my family. 22 years later we finally had not court cases against me, the sword over our heads was finally out , thrown away, we were free to breathe once again. This was our happy ending.

So this is our legal system ,one law the Hindu succession act ravaged our lives for 22 long years, I lived with my husband for 16 years till his demise and I battled for 22 years to get my inheritance for me and my children. This is justice for us ..In India rape victims are written about so much , but what about the legal system when misused rapes people daily .It takes a life time to fight a legal battle ,I really don’t understand why can’t these cases be time bound, many a times people die fighting and the cases get transferred to their legal heirs. Very very unfair, there should be a body like the MAHARERA, THIS IS FOR CONSTRUCTION, WE NEED SOMETHING FOR OUR LEGAL BATTLES TOO. By writing my blogs I am trying to spread the message, going it reaches the governing bodies too. So that changes can be made in our legal system , nobody should suffer so much because of faulty legal system. Mine is one such case there must be sooo many more. Please help and forward these blogs can help someone somewhere.

FATE and Faith two sides of the same coin

Jai Mata Di”
The whole crowd chanted in unison. I was at a Mata ki Chowki and felt oddly at peace. I
sang along with everyone. The Jagran singer was most enthusiastic and his passion was
resonated by the pious crowd around me. I owed a lot to divinity and every cell in my body
felt grateful to God that evening.
A few months had passed since the acid attack scare. I had filed a complaint with the Bandra police. Miraculously, the call never came back. I lived under a dark cloud of fear and anxiety for the weeks that followed. I was scared while leaving for work, I was scared to send my children to school, I was scared while walking on the street, I was scared all the time.
Who would want to do such a horrible thing to me and my children and why? We never found out. That time
passed too. Another major landmark event occurred in our lives. I had to push my elder son to travel overseas into the real world. He had finished his BCom and turned twenty years of age. He
was not interested in studying any further. My brother was in the process of starting a new
business in China and he needed someone reliable and preferably from the family to look
after it. I had a few discussions with my father, brother and son. And so it was decided that
my son would work with my brother – it was a very good opportunity. As a parent, I had
mixed feelings but I knew it was for the best, as I did not have anything much to offer him here. My freshly graduated son departed for China.We all cried for days and consoled ourselves that this was the best for his future. Once he landed in China with my brother, he was very unsettled and he moped a lot and wanted to return. But with a rock on my heart, I put my foot down and pushed him strictly to make his life there, to
at least give it a few years. He agreed. Life was very tough on him but he is a survivor and
he managed. Things felt like they were falling in place. Finally, in our new home and on our own, my family and I felt at peace. Life had resumed regular flow and I had re-built a social circle in Bombay.
My youngest son was in the care of a very reliable young maid. She was sweet and soft- spoken. As a single parent, I had learned to rely on house help.
I suddenly snapped out of my reverie at the Mata ki Chowki . My phone was ringing and I saw my home number flashing on it. What might it be, I wondered as I answered the phone. I heard my 12-year-old son bawling in shock and trauma. My heart stopped beating when I realised what he had just said.
“I am coming right away!”
I got up and raced out of the hall. My younger son had just informed me that our maidservant had committed suicide in our home. My little one was alone with her then. I ran back home, making several calls on my way. My brother who lived two lanes away, dashed to my house upon hearing the news. The police had to be informed as well. Luckily the maid had left a note (which the police found near her body) apologising
for taking this step in our house.
My son was traumatized by this; I had to take him for counselling for some time. It took us a few months to get over the trauma. We kept a havan at home to help us erase those memories. That year was full of incidents. Two months later, a short circuit in our house caused a fire at midnight. We had to call the fire brigade.

We stayed at my brother’s house for a week as the wiring in my house had to be changed. I
left my job and my then boss did a stop payment on my salary cheque. Those few months
were very tough, but somehow with God’s blessings, we pulled through.
Amid all this chaos, the litigation over the family property continued. We yet had 20 looms
(machines) in my husband’s factory in Surat that had to be sold. I used to go to Surat periodically for court cases and also to talk to buyers about these machines as they were losing their value over the years. On one of those trips, I got lucky. Diamond Jubilee Bank
where I had a joint account with my mother-in-law, which had been frozen by my father-in- law, had declared bankruptcy and had shut down a couple of years ago. I was in Surat when my husband’s
friend – who had been helping me all this while – called me to his office and told me the bank
had opened for some time to pay people their dues. He told me to run to the bank and check
as it was a 10-minute walk from there.
I took a sharp breath and entered the bank, walking straight towards the manager’s office. He got up and called my name. I was surprised that he recognised me. It had been over three years since I had a showdown with him after my father-in-law had frozen my account.
The manager called me by name and asked me to take my money. He even apologized to me for his wrongdoing. He told me that in the last three years he had really suffered a lot, having been transferred to a small village and facing a lot of problems. He made a cheque of 80% of the amount in my name again apologised and joint his hands and handed over the cheque. I was so happy I took the cheque and returned to the friend’s office. It was summer
season, the month of May, and the sun was bearing down on my head. I had a throbbing
headache.
I entered his air-conditioned office and sat down grinning from ear to ear and waving the cheque at him. He told me not to sit down, instead, he asked me to take an autorickshaw and run to the bank to deposit the cheque. I implored him that my head was bursting and I desperately needed a cup of tea, but he was unyielding. He asked his staff to get a rickshaw
for me and sent me running to the bank. I reached the bank which was far away, on the other side of town in the residential area,
deposited the cheque, and went straight to another friend’s house where I was staying.
Lucky for me that he was strict and pushed me to deposit the cheque there and then as the
next morning the papers announced that the bank had shut down again. My cheque, I
guess, had been the last to be cleared. I realised God was helping my family and me. When
He shuts one door He opens another.
Sometime later the looms found a buyer who quoted Rs. 16000/- per machine at that time. I spoke to my brother-in-law and he too agreed to this price. I took a day’s leave from work and travelled to Surat for the sale. Once again, when the buyer was dismantling the
machines my father-in-law and mother-in-law came and stopped them. History repeated itself. They took me to the police station saying they did not agree to this price and wanted Rs. 17000/- per machine.
We had a long argument at the police station and my husband’s friends were all there to
help me. Some were standing at the door of the police station and some were leaning against the window. The inspector too got a little fed up with this and he requested me to

return to Bombay and try for the price they were asking. I told him that I could not run up and down so often. I had a job that I could not afford to lose, and nor could I lose another day’s salary.
Finally after two hours of arguments, I took a decision and asked the inspector if it was ok I would sell the machines for Rs. 16000 each. However, their 20%, amounted to a total of 4 machines for which I was willing to give them Rs. 17,000 per machine. They agreed. I heaved a sigh of relief, got the machines dismantled and delivered, gave my mother-in-law Rs 17000/- per machine for her 4 machines, took the night train and
left for Mumbai. I reached home by 5.00 am freshened up and left for my work.
The case with the relative too was going on. He then went to High Court in Ahmedabad and filed for a stay order on my property in Surat. He wanted this stay on my property against the 3,50,000/- that he claimed my husband owed him. I travelled to Ahmedabad to
hire a lawyer which was a big drain on my finances. Finally, on the date of the hearing, I went to the High Court and was amazed to see it was very beautiful like a hotel, centrally airconditioned and what not. The judge walked in just like in Bollywood films – he was
wearing a red robe and was accompanied by an orderly who announced his name before he
could enter. I was awestruck. My husband’s relative quickly approached me in my seat and
whispered offering me to settle with him for Rs 5 lakhs, as I would surely lose the case here.
Somehow I stuck to my ground and refused. Our case came on the bench and just as the opposite side’s lawyer started to speak the judge sternly told him, “You don’t need to tell me anything, I have read the case and come. What do you think you are doing, just for Rs. 3,50,000/- you are asking for a stay on a property worth a few crores?
No way! Your appeal is rejected.”
I could not believe it! I was stunned. In 2 minutes the judge had given his judgement. I was
overjoyed. Once again my faith in God stood steady.
So far I had not transferred my husband’s property in our names. My lawyer suggested I do the needful. I visited the city survey office in Surat and went to the concerned department.
By this time I had become a little street smart and learned the ways of the world. I spoke very nicely to the staff there, got a little friendly to them and asked them to change the names on the property papers. I requested them to put five names, my mother-in-law, three children and my name, as per the Hindu Succession Act.

The city survey staff refused, saying they could only put the wife and children’s names. I explained to them about the law and that they have to add my mother-in-law’s name, but they wouldn’t budge. I called my lawyer as I was scared that if I didn’t add my mother-in-law’s name they would again fight with me and send me a legal notice. My lawyer advised me to go ahead and make the changes in the children
and my name. He said they would face the consequences later.
Oh My God !! I was unaware of how this would work in my favour. My faith in God grew more
and more. I returned to Mumbai a little apprehensive and kept waiting for some reaction from
my in-laws, but lucky for me they never got to know of this change as they did not believe in paying any of my late husband’s liabilities. So they never saw the property tax papers that I had been paying for all these years.
My elder son settled well in China in the next few years. He now started liking the place, but

was unhappy with my brother who was paying him a pittance. My brother’s son had joined
him in China as well, so he was facing a lot of favouritism.
He visited India to be with us for 15 days. Here we went to my brother’s house and spoke to
him alone in the room asking him for a raise which my brother refused. So then my son told
him he would like to stop working for my brother and start something small on his own. My
brother was ok with this, he joked and we left on a good note.
The next morning all hell broke loose. My brother called me, he was very angry and was
shouting on the phone. I pacified him and we met in my sister’s house. Me, my son and
brother-in-law sat on this issue. My brother was very angry, suddenly I don’t know what happened to change his mind. Anyway, after a lot of discussions, we parted amicably. My father could not join in this discussion as he was unwell.
My son returned to China and my father gave him Rs 2,00,000/- to start afresh there. My son before returning to china met a few people here in the market ,who were kind-hearted and sympathetic towards him
as he had maintained good relations with them. They gave him the confidence to start in
China again assuring him that they would stand by him and take goods from him. My son
struggled a lot at first, living frugally, but managed to sustain himself eventually. His business
finally started picking up. Can you believe it then fate intervened and his partner in Mumbai
got shot in the terrorist attack on 26/11! It was a very sad moment. Our hearts went out to his
family as we knew how difficult life gets when you lose a spouse or a parent. Also, we were worried for my son, but with God’s grace, his business kept growing slowly and steadily.
My brother got to know of this and he called me to my parents’ house in Malabar hill for a meeting.
My father was ill and could not get out of bed. We had the meeting in the other room, my brother, my mother and myself. He raved and ranted, abusing me and my son, calling us low cheap names and coming close to me threateningly. Suddenly there was a resounding thud. With the impact of the slap, I fell back, losing my balance.

What does not kill you makes you stronger

I was in my husband’s office when my brother-in-law sent for me. I would yet visit my husband’s office on some days. Upon hearing that my brother-in-law had called me, my legs started shivering with fear. He was a rude man and I was afraid of facing him. There was a
small temple in the cabin. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed to God for strength. Just don’t let me cry in front of him, God. Make me strong.
My husband had passed away on the 5th of June 1998. The civil and the criminal suits were filed against me in 1999. Meeting with the lawyers and going to the court had become routine now. In the daytime, I would be with my children and late evenings at the lawyer. The situation hadn’t improved much in the last few months.
I walked into my brother-in-law’s office. He had a big cabin with his table in the centre and
a sofa opposite it. A helper kept a chair for me in one corner. His cousin entered with his mother, carrying some books with them. They told my brother-in-law that my husband owed them money. My brother-in-law saw the papers and pointed to me saying that I was my late husband’s legal
heir they should take the money from me. After them, a few more people came in asking for
their money and he did the same. By then it was lunchtime. He ordered some food for himself and ate it without offering me . I sat there quietly. Finally I was released at 3pm. I went to my office and reeled from the day’s events. My children and I shifted to Bombay in May 1999 lock, stock and barrel. We had waited for
my elder son’s 10th std exams to get over. By now my parents were a little worried about our
safety. They were taking care of us financially in any case so they felt it would be better for my children and me to live with them. Back in Surat, there were days when my mother-in-law would come to my door and abuse me loudly.
Once in Bombay, by the grace of God, my children managed to get admission to good schools and colleges. I would still have to take day trips to Surat often for my court dates.
One night, my father woke up and saw me bending over him. He asked me what happened. Was everything okay? So I told him that I had just come to check if he was breathing and fine. That’s when my father realised how dependent I was and if anything happened to him I would not be able to survive.
After that, he decided that I should look for a job and start working and learn to earn money.
I was taken aback as I had never worked for anyone before, but my father insisted. I managed to get a sales job in a boutique. I was very ashamed to do it but I had no choice. I would drive my father’s car to work but after a month my father told me to start using public
transport. Oh my God! I had never travelled by bus before. What if anyone saw me? I would
die of shame… Such were the thoughts of shame passing through my head. My eyes would well up standing at the bus stop. I would wear sunglasses in the morning so that nobody would notice my tears.
My elder son got admitted to HR college in Bombay. He would study, take tuition classes, go to college and then to my brother’s office for work. He was all of sixteen years of age. My daughter was thirteen and my younger son was only six years old. They were grieving the
loss of their father in their own way. Time went by and in a couple of months, I received a notice from Surat court informing me

that my husband’s relative had filed a suit against me claiming that my husband owed him
Rs. 3,50,000/-
He was lying through his nose. My husband had taken a loan from him for sure, but this cousin was
getting some job work done in our factory and instead of paying for it he would adjust the loan
against it. Coincidentally, a few days before my husband’s demise he had spoken about this to my mother-in-law and me. He also had all of this written in a diary with the cousin’s signature.
This was the same relative who had come to me asking for my husband’s office keys on the
day he had passed away. He had told me that it was going to rain and he wanted to put some yarn inside. A staff member had caught him with my husband’s diary in his hand and taken it away and kept it carefully to show to us later. After a few months, he had started claiming his money. With the help of the office staff and my husband’s friend we checked the diary and saw that many of the entries had been scratched out.
Anyway, he sent me a legal notice. I did not reply as I was busy with my job in Bombay. One morning at 9.30 am, two policemen and a well-dressed lady barged into my workplace. Luckily I was alone at the shop as I was doing the opening that day. The lady was the relative’s mother. I recognised her after a while. The police and she had come with the court’s
summons for me.
Somehow, I convinced them to go away, saying I would be in the court for the next hearing.
So now I was travelling to Surat for three cases. It was difficult to get leave that often and my salary would always get cut. I started to take the 6 am train to Surat, attend the court hearing, take the 6pm train back the same day and reach home by 10 pm so as not to miss office the next day. My father would cry seeing me do this.
Life was getting very difficult. My heart would be in my children as they would be without me the whole day and in the evenings if I sat with them for long my parents would feel neglected. So I had to divide my time – ten minutes with the children then again ten minutes with my parents. Keeping everything in control was getting more and more difficult. My
parents decided to put my daughter and younger son in boarding schools in Panchagani. It was heart-wrenching to part with them especially the youngest one who was very small then.
But I had no choice.
Meanwhile, my criminal case was going on with a hearing every month. However, nothing
concrete happened on it. Finally, like most legal cases in India, this too ended with an out-of-court settlement. My in-laws asked for an amount of two lakh fifty thousand. I did not have that kind of money so my father offered to pay. A week before the final settlement my elder sister-in-law called me and said, “I have a sword over your head, till you don’t give me two lakhs.”(According to her, my husband – her younger brother, had borrowed one lakh from her and not paid interest for the last one year before his demise. )“I will not let my mother sign on the
settlement papers”. She wanted her one lakh principal amount and one lakh interest. My father urged me to give her the money and finish off the matter. So I gave her two lakhs and two and a half to my mother-in-law to settle and withdraw the criminal case.

I felt as if God had not done justice to me. That’s the first time I realised that just because you are right, things don’t have to go in your favour.
I took it as my karma and went ahead to battle the other two cases. I had to now balance that with my job in Bombay and travelling to Panchgani on exit weekends to meet my children. My elder son was living with me, busy with college and his work.

One fine day I bumped into an old friend who had now become the owner of a shipping company in Dubai.
He saw my plight and was sympathetic towards me. He offered my son a job in his company with a slight raise in salary.
We were happy and very hopeful. My son worked very hard. He used to travel for hours to get to Nhava Sheva- the port, by changing many buses. At times he would stay overnight on the ships. Still, I thought that maybe he would have a good future there so he took all this in his stride. Until one day this friend invited me out to dinner and tried to make an advance. I
got really scared but held my ground with a straight face. I came home and called the friend
and fired him and told him my son would not work for him anymore.
By writing my life experiences I am not looking for any sympathy from anyone and believe me I am no tragedy queen. I don’t feel like a victim of circumstances. I just want to share my experiences so that women get to know about the Hindu Succession Act and what havoc it can create.
One day, all of a sudden, my father stopped talking to me. This went on for a month. One night he invited my siblings with their spouses for dinner. While chatting he kept saying I don’t like people who play games and make unsuspecting people sign papers in their favour.
I felt as if he was trying to pass on a message to me. After dinner, everyone left. I asked my
father what had happened. Why was he behaving like this? My father showed me a paper on
which my mother’s will was written. She had willed her assets to me in it. My father thought I
had sweet-talked my mother into writing this. I was horrified at what he thought of me. I then
showed him the paper and asked him to check the signatures on it. It was his signature at the bottom along with that of witnesses. He had forgotten that he had made this will after my husband’s death. Maybe he had gotten very emotional and done this.

I made him tear the will saying if I was so sly and cunning I would not have left my husband’s wealth and
property in Surat and come to him.
This incident broke my confidence. My parents decided to buy a house for my children and me. It would be better if we stayed separate. We moved to a nice two-bedroom house in the suburbs of Mumbai. Four years had passed since my husband’s death.
I took up a job in Talwalkar’s gym at the front desk handling sales. I took the morning shift
from 6 am to 2 pm. My younger son had returned to Bombay from boarding school. He was
nearing 10 years of age and his school timings were from 8 am to 1 pm. So I would finish my
shift by 2 and be home by 2:15- one hour after he returned. I wanted to be with him in his growing years. My daughter helped a lot by being a mother to her younger brother in my absence.
Time flew and everything was going smoothly now. One day at work I was closing a sales
deal with a lady and the landline next to me rang. I answered the phone. A man’s voice said, “When you get down from your office we will throw acid on your face and send your children

to your husband”. I was shocked. Fear gripped me but somehow I mustered a last shred of
courage. I put the receiver down and closed the sales deal with the last customer. After he
left I ran to my boss’s cabin which was empty and burst out crying. The manager came and asked me what happened, I told him about the phone call. He immediately took me to Bandra Police Station and we lodged a police complaint there.

PS: these memories take a toll on me and my family but still I want to pen then down, hoping somehow to reach the law enforcement authorities to bring to their notice how a law can disrupt people’s lives.. hoping they can tweek it a little😊

A criminal overnight

A Criminal Over-Night!
6th June 1998:
I woke up and got ready awaiting my brother-in-law. He had said he would come at 9 am to
take me to a lawyer to make my husband’s will. I waited for him but he didn’t come.
I opened the main door of my house and saw my mother-in-law sitting on the steps between
our flats. I went to sit with her hoping we both would find solace in each other as we both
had suffered a major loss. I sat next to her on the steps and reached out for her hand.
Suddenly, she told me “Tere ghar ke ek ek bartan pe mera haq hai.” I have a right on each
and every vessel in your house. I was shocked. Why was she saying this? I let it go and
ignored it. I asked her to come in and she refused, so I returned to my house as I had chores
to do. Her statement kept bothering me.
At around 10 am everyone flocked down to my house for breakfast. Since both the houses
were not supposed to cook till the 4th day of mourning, my parents were arranging for all the
meals. I saw my brother-in-law and asked him what happened? We were supposed to go to
the lawyer. He made an excuse and deferred it.
The following day was the prayer meeting in the evening. After it was over I sat in my room
surrounded by relatives who had come to offer condolence. My mother-in-law called me up
and told me to be ready by seven the next morning to go to the temple with my brother-in-
law, and after that to my husband’s office to open it.
My sister-in-law’s best friend came to my house to pay her respects. She hugged me and
whispered in my ears, “I am coming from upstairs. Please don’t trust anyone and don’t sign
any papers.” I was stunned. After a while, my mother-in-law came down to remind me to be
ready by 7 am the next day. This time I told her that I would take my brother along with me to
the temple and the office. My mother-in-law flatly refused, saying, “Mera beta ke office mein
aur koi aadmi jayega toh mein uski taange thod doongi.” If another man steps into my son’s
office, I will break his legs.
Her vehement response shocked me. Now I was convinced something was not right. So, I
insisted, saying I will not go without my brother. She got angry, threw a fit and fainted there. I
panicked and called my sister-in-law and told her that mom had fainted. She came down
from my mother-in-law’s apartment above. She came to the room where my mother-in-law
was lying and in a stern voice asked her to get up. To my surprise, she scrambled to her feet
as if nothing had happened and they both left. After about an hour, she called me and told
me that the pujari at the temple told us not to come the next day.
My in-laws then called me upstairs to their house and told me about the HINDU
SUCCESSION ACT… IF A MAN DIES INTESTATE, MEANING WITHOUT A WILL, THEN
HIS LEGAL HEIRS ARE HIS MOTHER, WIFE AND CHILDREN.
Why were they telling me all this? What was going on? I yet did not understand the
repercussions of this. That night I got a call from the guard at my husband’s factory.
My father-in-law resided in the temple he had built on the same property as our factories. He
had sent some men to break all the factory locks and get them replaced with his own locks. I
was not aware of what hit me then. It had not even been a week since my husband had passed away

The next day he had a new key sent to me. However, he said that now I could not
touch anything in the factory without my mother-in-law’s consent. He then spoke to my father
and suggested that he take my children and me to Bombay to live with him. Life is not easy
for a single woman with children, he said matter-of-factly. I had presumed that I would be
taking care of my old mother-in-law after my husband’s passing. So, his suggestion came as a surprise to me. But he told me not to worry as she will be taken care of.
In a few days, my maternal family left except my eldest sister who stayed back to help me.
My brother-in-law was leaving for Pune as he stayed there. I went up to meet him and saw that my mother-in-law was giving him a list of groceries that she needed for her house. Now that my husband was not there, my brother-in-law would look into it. I sat there and waited for him to ask me if I too needed anything but they ignored me. I felt very hurt by this
incident.
Three months went by. I would go to my late husband’s office every day to sort out his affairs. My husband’s paperwork was not very good, so none of us could make out anything.I was lucky to receive help from my husband’s friends as this was a completely unfamiliar
environment for me. I didn’t even know how to fill out a bank slip. And now I was left to sort
out factory papers and liabilities. My husband owed money to a few people. Creditors had started coming to my office and calling me for their money. I was hassled but I had to be strong for my children. One day a man walked into my office and threatened that if I did not return their money he would have me picked up from my office. I was paralysed with fear. As soon as he left the office, I broke down. I had lived such a sheltered existence all my life. I suddenly
felt like someone had thrown me to the vultures. My husband’s staff member ran up to his friend’s office in the same building and his friend came rushing down. That man was Godsent. He stood by me from that day till many years after, ensuring that I learnt how to
stand on my feet.We started with selling my car – an old Maruti 800, for Rs 25,000/- and gave the money to my husband’s niece. She had had serious financial problems and had given my husband
money on interest. We went on to sell my computer, some fabric kept in the office and two exhaust fans to pay off the debt of other creditors. My younger sister-in-law’s father-in-law
offered to help me. He was very well respected in our community and he really helped make
my life easy. As soon as my my-in-laws realised, they called him up and told him not to
interfere in their house affairs.
I used the money which my father gave me for three months to run the house. When I ran
out of money, I asked my brother-in-law for help. He asked me to sell the phones in my
husband’s office and use it for our expenses. I could get by for a month by doing that. The following month I ran out of finances again. This time he asked me to sell the two air conditioners in the office with the help of my husband’s friend – the angel. So, I sold them
and managed once again. After that, the following month again I went to him and this time
he told me that he could not help me in any way. But as my father was a rich man, I should take his help. There was nothing wrong in doing that.
I just could not bring myself to ask my father for help, but there came a time when my brother-in-law stopped taking my calls and I was not allowed to sell anything from the factory without his consent. I was like a shuttle cock tossing between my father-in-law and brother -in-law for help as they would not help me with money and would not let me sell any assets either.
One day I got to know that my husband had not paid the factory electricity bill since a few months before his death. The company people had come to cut the power and to take back the meter. We owed them Rs 45,000. Try to put into perspective what this amount meant 22 years ago.
Finally, I had to take a decision and sell some yarn that was kept in my husband’s factory. I was cornered and I had no option but to do it without taking consent from my in-laws. The yarn was worth Rs 80,000 – a solution to all my problems. But when the tempo came to pick up the goods my father-in-law got to know about it. He called the watchman of our property and told him not to open the gate for the tempo to leave.
The watchman came to me – the poor man did not know what to do. He had a lot of respect for my husband and was sympathetic towards me. We were the ones who gave him his salary. He told me that he cannot open the gate so I asked him if I opened it would he stop me? He said not all. So I
went ahead and opened the gate myself and let the tempo out.
In a span of one hour, all hell broke loose. My father-in-law and brother-in-law called the
police and filed a complaint against me. The cops rushed to the factory to arrest me and insisted I sit in the police van. My husband’s friends had anticipated trouble and landed up at the factory earlier on. They spoke to the police in Gujarati as I didn’t know it and convinced them they would get me to the police station in a car. My husbands friends – my pillars of strength – escorted me to the police station and sitting there were my father-in-law and my brother-in-
law. They saw me and laughed casually. I was mortified at the whole scenario. Somehow, I
had the confidence that I had done no wrong so nothing wrong would happen to me.
The police inspector sitting there pointed to me and told his subordinate, “Isko andar le jao.”
Put her into the lock-up. Then I started trembling with fear and told him to at least listen to
me but he sternly repeated, “Isko andhar le jao.”
At that very moment one of my husband’s friends came inside talking to someone on his
mobile. He told the inspector “Sahib, inse baat karo”. Sir, please talk to him. He made him
speak with some bigshot who had a lot of connections. Bless that friend for intervening at
that moment. The gentleman on the phone told the inspector, “Ye hamari ghar ki beti hai”. Don’t touch her, let her go immediately.
After keeping the phone, the inspector did a 180-degree turn. He asked my in-laws if I had
hit them. They said no. He asked me if they had hit me and I too denied. Then he said why
did you people come here? This is a civil matter, please go to the court. Saying that, he released me. My in-laws were very upset and disappointed. For me, I could not thank God enough for rescuing me.
I immediately returned to the office, took the money from the sale of the yarn and gave Rs.
45,000 to my husband’s staff member who had earlier called the angel friend to rescue me.
That blessed man had stayed on for two months after my husband’s death without a penny
of salary (I still tie him rakhi as he made me his sister). I asked him to pay the electricity bill the next day. The trauma of the day’s events only hit me after I reached home.
I had to tell my mother-in-law what her son and husband had done with me. She was a woman; surely, she would understand my plight. When I entered her house, I saw my exbrother-in-law lying down with his head in her lap and they both were sharing a laugh. I left as quietly as I had come.

I did not mention any of this to my children. I wanted to protect them from all this so I kept a
brave front before them. They were already fighting their own battles. How could I load my
little ones with the harsh truth about their own relatives?
My husband’s life insurance was about to come through. My in-laws had their eyes on it.They sweet-talked the insurance agent by purchasing a big policy through him and convinced him to send all the cheques their way. With a fat commission in sight, how could
the agent refuse them? Once again, my angel intervened. Somehow, he got to know about this nexus through an acquaintance working in the insurance firm. He quickly arranged for me to pick up all my cheques before my agent could acquire them and pass them to my in-laws. How will I do this? What if they got to know? But my angel pushed me and I mustered
the courage. The cheques came home with me and I instantly deposited them.
Nothing surprised me after this incident. I received a court notice in the next few days. My in-
laws had filed a criminal case against me. They wanted 20% of every penny that came into
my house. From the sale of the yarn, the insurance money, sale of the exhaust fans, the computer and the air-conditioners from the office.
After this incident, my father-in-law came down very hard on me and insisted I open a joint account with my mother-in-law. He would help me to sell all the machines, the yarn and the textile in the factory. The money would then go into the joint account after which we would
pay the bank loans and overdraft. What was left would be divided between my family and my
mother-in-law at an 80-20 ratio. I was very wary of doing this because by now I knew I could
not trust them one bit. He also told me that besides the 20% which I owed my mother-in-law,
I also needed to give him Rs. 32,00,000 for the upbringing and education of his son!
I called my brother and started crying. Now I couldn’t even afford the STD bills for the calls
that I used to make to my brother-in-law in Pune. My father realised my plight and started
sending me Rs. 20,000 every month for my children’s school fees and home expenses.
Finally, after being forced by my father-in-law I agreed to open a joint account with my
mother-in-law, that too in a private bank whose manager my father-in-law knew very well.
With great apprehension, I opened the account in Diamond Jubilee Bank opposite our factory. On the bank card, I wrote to be operated by Me Only. We managed to sell some machinery and yarn and put the money in the joint account.

My husband’s machines were mortgaged to the bank and he also had an overdraft which he had
used. So, from the sale money, we paid off the overdraft and the mortgage on the other
machines. Immediately after this was done my father-in-law froze the bank account. He even
sent a legal document to me, to my residential building stating they should not transfer the house in
my name as my mother-in-law also had a right in it. He then sent similar letters to the bank
as well.
My husband had constructed a commercial building on our property. He had sold some
offices and the money was still due from some people. My father-in-law sent letters to all of
them not to pay me anything. It was horrifying – the legal notices and all the pressure they
put on me.
My husband may have left a mess of paperwork, but he did leave me a legacy of very good friends. They stood by me like rocks. My parents were in constant touch with them for they feared my safety. They would sit with me for hours teaching me accounts. And now they helped me to get a lawyer. I did not understand much of all this, so one of them would
accompany me to the lawyer’s office late in the evenings.
Talking to the lawyers initially was all jargon to me and I would feel so sleepy. After a hard day’s battle in the factory and coping with the legal notices, I would start dozing off in the lawyer’s office. My friends would patiently nudge me to pay attention and keep my eyes
open. After all, it was my battle and I needed to understand everything the lawyer spoke.
The legal duel started with me replying to their notice. They had forged my signature in my
bank account to freeze it so I sent them a legal notice and asked for signature verification.
The case went to the forensic department for signature verification, but nothing happened. I waited for a couple of months then I appealed to the head of the crime department to look into this. While he did not help me with the case, he started to call me to his office on some
pretext or the other. The random calls continued and I started getting them at midnight – I am
patrolling in your area. Should I come up to see if all is ok?
Scared and bewildered at a powerful man’s unwanted advances, I didn’t know what to do
other than politely refuse every time. Then finally one day I went to the same gentleman who
had got me out of the police station and asked him for help. He was so nice he said, “Puttar, sit in my car. I will solve your problem. His driver took us to the crime department head’s office. There again, he told the officer that I was his daughter and henceforth he would helme. The gentleman thanked him and told him not to call me anymore.
A whole year had passed since my husband’s death. I had two suits against me by now -one
civil and one criminal. I was meeting lawyers all the time. Meanwhile, my husband’s cousin –
the one who had taken the office keys from me right after his death – was consulting a lawyer to file suit # 3 against me.

The Hindu succession act

I removed the baked dish from the oven and sighed. I flipped through the Tarla Dalal cookbook on the kitchen counter. Since the baked dish was made in a white sauce it would need a side of carrot and spinach with it. My husband was very particular about the
presentation of food. There had to be a colour and texture balance in every meal. For him, food was like an elixir of life. In those days there was no Youtube so Tarla Dalal was my mentor. She made sure my husband was happy with my cooking.
I smiled at how all of this would have sounded unimaginable to me a decade ago. I had become very domesticated. From being a model I had become a super mom and a master chef. But I was content with my life.
My husband had a textile mill but business was not booming as much as we would have liked. We still had enough to give our children and ourselves a decent life.

The city of Surat had grown on me slowly. It helped to have a huge friend circle. Weekend house parties, games, and light-hearted conversations over drinks was the norm. Having children never changed our lifestyle. I had my first child, a boy, in the first year of
marriage. Then 3 years later I had a daughter and along with her my husband indulged me by hiring a maid to help me with the children. My family was complete we were content with it. But seven years later, life surprised me with one more child – a boy. Initially, I panicked as my elder son was ten, and my daughter was seven. Starting all over again seemed difficult. But when I held my second baby boy in my arms, all my fears vanished. I fell in love with my newborn. My mother-in-law had come to the hospital for my delivery. My father-in-law had been absent
from our lives for some time now. He had renounced family life and lived in a temple that he had constructed on our family property where we had our factories. However, I shared a very warm relationship with both my in-laws. In fact, my husband and I had played a big part in my sister-in-law’s wedding. We had stretched our finances to get her married.
Immersed in domestic bliss, I had no idea what lay ahead of me.
ON the 5th of June 1998, my world came crashing down. It was Ekadashi – a very
auspicious day in the Hindu calendar. It’s believed that on this day the doors of heaven are
open.
It was 6 am and I was snuggled in my blanket owing to the cool climate. I felt my husband
nudging me and I opened my eyes. He asked me for a glass of water. I sat up and gave it to him and asked him what happened? He touched his chest on the left side and said he was feeling a little uneasy. Assuming it was just gas, he stood up but immediately buckled down
falling on his stomach. I leapt out of the bed calling his name again and again. I ran to the other room shouted at my elder son who was fast asleep, to run upstairs and call his grandmother. I ran into my room, grabbed the cordless phone on the bedside and for some
reason, pressed redial. My husband’s friend picked up the phone and I shouted in panic,
asking him to rush over there- something had happened to my husband.
My mother in law came running down. My husband was yet lying on the ground breathing
very heavily. My mother-in-law shouted at me to get sugar. I ran in the kitchen got some sugar and tried to push it into my husband’s mouth but it kept falling out and I kept pushing it back in. He had stopped breathing… We thought he was unconscious. Some friends
reached home and instantly took a blanket, put him in it and holding each corner carried him down the steps.
My mother in law took off behind them. I was in my nightie so I quickly wore a dupatta and
ran down. They had left in a car with my husband and elder son for the hospital. I started running on the road frantically. Another friend was coming in my lane on his scooter. I hopped on it. My mother-in-law had gone on someone else’s scooter and I too left. We went to a hospital far into the city. Upon reaching there we got to know that my husband was not admitted there, he had been
taken to another hospital. Again I sat on the scooter and while riding he called from his mobile and got to know the name of the hospital where everyone had gone.
While sitting on the scooter I distinctly remember looking down and noticing that I was
wearing a white dupatta. It made me superstitious. I told my husband’s friend that I hoped all
was okay as I was wearing white. At that time, a drop of water fell on the back of my hand. I remarked, “Oh god I hope it doesn’t rain.” What I didn’t know was that it was a tear that had fallen from his eyes as he had been given the news on the phone.
We reached the hospital and I was confused to see many friends and relatives dressed in white standing outside. By now I was in a daze and very scared. I entered the compound of the hospital and one uncle came to me and said “Beta, your husband is no more”. I was
SHOCKED and about to collapse. Someone held me. I don’t know who. I just caught my
head and said “Uncle, I have 3 children. What will I do?”
I cannot ever forget that scene. It is etched so clearly in my memory.
A friend asked me for my parents’ number in Bombay. I gave it to them but still in that dazed
and foggy state I asked them to first call my sister so she could break the news gently to my
parents.
Some ladies took me home. I had no clue where my elder son was. I reached home and like an automaton, I checked on my daughter and younger son who were still sleeping. I went to
the kitchen and kept milk for boiling and started filling sweet water which came every
alternate day. I needed to fill drinking water, water for cooking and refill the bathroom tank
for the next two days. Like a zombie I kept a big container of water for boiling as we would
need extra with all the people coming for condolence.
Somebody asked me for the bedsheets and mat to lay out on the floor in the living room. My
friends were over, making arrangements. One of them guided me to the living room to sit on
the bedsheet that they had laid there. I sat and sat. People started trickling in. I was completely blank. Where was my elder son? I could not remember.
A few people got my late husband’s body and kept it in the centre of the hall. My mother-in- law was wailing loudly. She started throwing her gold bangles towards her daughter who was sitting opposite her and shouting for God to take her gold and return her son. My mind was numb.
Hearing the commotion my other two children woke up. I left my seat and went to them. My
elder son was 15 years old, my daughter was 12 and my younger son was just 5 years and 9
months.
I cannot remember my daughter’s reaction or anything about her, but yes I remember taking the youngest one to the washroom. He asked me why all these people were there and crying? I told him his father had gone to God’s house and, from now on he would stay there.
He innocently asked me, “So that means you will not be able to buy me toys anymore?” I can
never forget those innocent words.
My husband’s body was lying in front of me and the only thought in my mind was, “I have
Rs. 1200/- in my cupboard and three children. How will I manage?
I needed to look for a job ASAP. But then I thought, with my BA degree I will get a very menial job. So while my husband’s body was in front of me I could not cry. I was thinking of what I could do to earn money to support my children. I decided that after a few days I

would join a computer course so maybe I would get a better paying job. Such is the IRONY of
life.
In the meantime, my husband’s friends called me in the other room and asked me if I had
money. I told them that I had all of Rs 1200/-. Those angels had collected money and they
gave me a bag of Rs. 40,000/- and asked me to keep it. I was in no state to refuse so I just took it and kept it in the cupboard.
My husbands relative, a young man, came and asked for my husband’s office keys saying it
was going to rain and some yarn was kept out. It would get spoilt so he would shift it inside the office. I trusted him and I was in shock so I just gave him the keys and went back to sit with everyone.
My father-in-law was brought from the temple against his wishes. He believed that this was
God’s will as he had renounced worldly attachments. However, he had been convinced to come.
My parents and sisters reached in the evening – extremely shocked and grieved with the
news. My father had aged 10 years in those few hours. He hugged me and handed me a bag of money for me and my children. I returned the earlier amount to the kind friends who had collected it.
In the evening, my husband was taken for cremation. My elder son went with them. He later told me how they made him rub ghee on the body before lighting the pyre and how badly that affected his psyche. Our traditions are so heartless – they do not even spare a child.
In the night I lay in the hall in the place where my husband’s body had lain. I was wide awake when the doorbell rang late at night. It was my brother-in-law from Pune. I was waiting for him. I thought of him as our only hope for survival. My saviour was here and he
would take over everything for us. He came and hugged me and we both cried. He asked me if my
husband had left a will and I said no. We never spoke about all that; we were young- I was
38 and my husband was 39 and a half.
My brother-in-law told me to be ready in the morning by 9 am. He would take me to a lawyer to make a will as he knew about the HINDU SUCCESSION ACT. I could face a lot of problems because of that. He then left to go upstairs to be with his mother and sisters who
lived right above my house.
I drifted off to sleep and woke up on the 6th of June 1998, without the knowledge of the destruction a succession law could cause when misused.

This cannot be happening to me..

There was a crowd of 300 people standing before me. That meant a total of 600 eyes all staring at the hopeful young girls standing on the stage hoping to change their destinies in the next few moments. The year was 1976 and I was participating in the Navy Ball. I knew I wasn’t going to win. No, I’m not being modest. I was quite a siren, they say. Forty-six years later the mirror still tells me the same story. Yes, I said I wasn’t modest.

I cannot recollect the time of the year when the Navy Ball was held in the US Club in Navy Nagar, Mumbai. But I do remember the weather to be somewhat pleasant. And trust me when you’re on the stage with some of the most beautiful women in the city, the dampness of Mumbai summers does not help. So, I mentioned that I knew I wasn’t going to win, that’s because the winner was always given special treatment. It was very apparent to the rest of us. I waited on the stage with baited breath nonetheless. The runner up position was still in the offing. And the announcements were made. I made it to fifth place. I flaunted the purple gown I had especially gotten sewn for this occasion.

I wasn’t quite the quitter, so I decided to participate again in the Miss India contest in 1977. The contest took place in a banquet room in The Oberoi Towers. We had our round of selections and once again I made it to only the top 5. Not to allege, but we all know behind the scenes money and political power in these contests, the winners are always pre-decided.

After a while, I started getting modeling offers which did not really interest me owing to my introverted nature. I did a few advertisements and fashion shows because of my mother, she was vicariously fulfilling her dreams of glamor through me. Guilty as charged – I did enjoy the fashion shows! They were really fun, especially the catwalk, running behind the curtains to change and getting back on stage. Wow! Those were lovely times. I was hobnobbing with famous models and elites like Mazhar Khan, Vani Ganpathy and many more. They were all very nice and helpful.

I took a break from all this for a while, took admission in Jaihind College and concentrated on my studies. I finished my college and enrolled for Government Law College (GLC) to study law, everything was going as per my plan. I wanted to study, marry, have children and be a good home maker. My father started an office in New York for semi-precious stones, and me being the Kajol from DDLJ, went for a 3 month vacation all girl trip to the USA. We had a whale of a time, lots of shopping and enjoyment. Like they say good things come to an end, we finally departed to our home country with bags brimming with goodies and stars in our eyes.

Those were beautiful days which went by like a dream. Affluent lifestyle, staying in SOBO, studying in one of the best schools, good college, and not to brag but I was pretty, so doors opened easily for me everywhere. Life couldn’t get better.

In my first year in GLC, the famous Indian matchmaking began. Once the news reached my neighbors, they got me a proposal. They introduced me to my future husband to be. At first, I refused but again after a few months they re-sent the proposal. My parents were happy with it so I accepted. My fiancée lived in Surat, he was raised in Bombay and studied in the best school of South Bombay. He was very smart, intelligent, had style and class – this was important for me. I was to shift to Surat post the wedding and after a lot of cajoling from my parents I agreed to the move. After 2 months of engagement, we had a very lavish wedding at the Taj Hotel, Colaba in 1982, it was a very extravagant affair with a lot of pomp and glamor, my father had done his best for my marriage. He even got a SHIKSHA specially written and got it read out aloud on the Mike during my pheras.. Everything was like a fairy tale. Happy blissful life with husband and 3 children. I thought I found my happily ever after.

And Then 5^th June 1998 happened….