Consigning his son’s body to the flames on the funeral pyre, Pathrudu felt the quirk of destiny, ‘How our roles have got reversed by fate!’, and as he saw Sathyam’s body engulfed in flames, thought Raja Rao, ‘How tragic it is that the triumph of love was snatched away by the hand of death!’
One by one, the kith and kin, with heavy heart, took leave of the bereaved, leaving Roopa, her family and her in-laws to fend for themselves. Then came the twelfth day, the before the closing rituals, when Ramaiah took it upon himself to sort out the matters concerning Roopa’s future.
‘Sad though it is for the departed,’ Ramaiah addressed the assemblage, ‘life must go on for the living, as s we all know, without means, life is but a plight. Though it may seem inappropriate, since our minds are governed by magnanimity, and as our hearts overflow with sympathy to the survivor, it is the right moment to sort out the mundane issues.’
‘You couldn’t have said better,’ said Pathrudu approvingly.
‘As we lost our son, we would treat her as our daughter.’
‘I’ve never doubted about that,’ said Ramaiah to Pathrudu, ‘but don’t you think that she would be better off in her parental house?’
‘Well, it’s up to her,’ said Pathrudu thoughtfully, ‘but wherever she stays, she inherits our property.’
‘I can never thank you enough for your affection,’ Roopa tentatively told Pathrudu. ‘I would have loved to serve you both, but I’ve a mission for his memory and that keeps me here.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Janaki, taken aback. ‘How can we leave you alone?’
‘When I’m around, how can she be alone?’ said Sandhya spiritedly. ‘Moreover, it’s far easier for her to recover from her tragedy staying with me, and she needs our support to accomplish her mission.’
‘Don’t we know, how you love her,’ said Janaki, ‘but still, it won’t be appropriate that she stays with you.’
‘Whatever it is,’ said Roopa as though pleading for their understanding, ‘I need them to fulfill his last wish.’
Fearing that the discussion might take an ugly turn, not wanting to embarrass themselves and the others as well, Raja Rao and Sandhya slipped out, fully aware that, in spite of all the persuasions and dissuasions of others, Roopa would remain steadfast to fulfill the dictates of her life which fate had fused with theirs.
‘No cause is a right cause for a widow to stay away from her family,’ said Durgamma indignantly, ‘moreover, it would scandalize all of us.’
‘What she says is true,’ said Janaki, seconding Durgamma’s stance.