Meenakshi

PART 61

Meenakshi's POV

Seeing me distracted, my husband caught my hand and guided me inside thatha's house. There we saw an elderly woman . Seeing us inside the house, the elderly lady looked curious but I recognised her as Gauri nanamma(grandmother).

Seeing her curious gaze, thatha said, "She is our Chandra's daughter." To which she looked shocked and asked me to sit near her. She touched my face and said, "She looks just like her mother."

She looked happy seeing me and my husband together and said, "You have grown up. I never thought you would come again. Your uncle didn't even tell us about your whereabouts. Even he never came to our village after everything happened."

I thought she was talking about my father's death and my wedding but she started sobbing and said, "It's all because of that greedy family. They always had the habit of snatching others properties. Your uncle gave them the correct punishment. But in all these he went to jail and spoiled his life."

I was shocked learning that my uncle went to jail and said, "Nanamma! What are you saying? Why did uncle go to jail? Please tell me!" To which she hugged me and said, "Ohh my child! Don't you know?! Umesh Reddy tricked your father into signing everything to him. Your father got to know about his betrayal when Umesh Reddy and his brothers didn't let your father enter his own farm and claimed to be the owners of the farm. Your father was enraged and hit the three brothers infront of everyone with slippers. Few months later, when your father was on his way to home, they attacked your father and killed him and later painted it like an accident. Everyone believed that it was an accident but your uncle knew that it was murder but he didn't reveal it to anyone and suddenly got you married shocking everyone. After your wedding he threw your aunt and brothers out of the house but your aunt didn't leave and forcefully stayed in the house. But one day after huge fight between your aunt and uncle, your aunt left the house along with her children. I don't know what your uncle did but she never returned. Few days later, your uncle went to Umesh Reddy's house with an axe and tried to kill the three brothers but they ran out of their house and your uncle ran after them and killed them infront of everyone. Everyone were shocked seeing your uncle murdering and seeing everyone's shocked faces he informed everyone that they were the one who killed his brother. Later he went to the police station and surrendered himself."

I was shocked with all the information and cried while Nanamma consoled me while my husband looked shocked and patted my shoulder trying to console me. After a while, Thatha who went out and came back with his son and daughter in-law. They were also close to my family and they felt happy seeing me again and asked me about my life. They came back after thatha informed them that I came.

Seeing my husband, uncle asked him about his family, his qualifications and his income. He looked satisfied with him and talked about our village's condition. They also informed me that their son was in Chennai working as an engineer and their daughter got married and stays in Hyderabad.

Later, we had our lunch together while Nanamma was serving us. Thatha couldn't hear anything but didn't stop praising his wife and her cooking.

They also informed me that Umesh Reddy's mother stays alone in their house after losing all three of her children. I felt bad for her condition.

After talking for a while we bid our goodbyes and we were on our way to his bike but I stopped me and said, "I want to see my home once." To which he nodded his head and we walked towards the direction of my home and seeing that the new owner reconstructed my home without leaving any trace of my childhood made me disappointed. I searched around my house along with my husband to atleast see a trace of something from my childhood but found none. They even cut the guava tree which my father planted in his childhood.

Upset not finding anything, I turned to my husband and said, "Let's go. There is nothing here." To which he nodded and we were again on our way to our destination.

By the time we reached home, it was already evening. My children were waiting for us at home and seeing me they rushed towards me and asked me about my visit to my home. But I didn't know how to answer them and said, "I'll freshen up and tell you." To which my children happily agreed. I hurriedly went to our room to avoid anymore interactions and opened my bag and took out my father's photo. I didn't know how could anyone hurt my father. My father was an innocent man. He never harmed anyone and only helped others. He was a very friendly man and never said no to anyone who came for help. Maybe hitting them with slippers and insulting them was extreme but how could they cheat my father and snatch our land. It was our source of income.

I didn't know what to think about my uncle. How could he kill three men. Was it worth it. I didn't know how he was treated in the jail. I thought they were happily living somewhere. I hated him to an extent thinking that he abandoned me. But he too didn't lead a happy life. I wish all this was not true and I would prefer having an uncle who abandoned me rather than having an uncle who lost his life behind the bars. I didn't know how long he was behind the bars. I didn't know how aunt faced all these. I didn't know how my little brothers faced all these. I wanted everything to be fake.

I had a lot of questions, I called my aunt to know about everything.

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