Thumbs up for the lady

A 70-year-old widow, who was left to fend for herself by her two sons, wrote over all her property to her household help, who took care of her in her last days.

Revenge is always sweet, even in death. In fact, it is sweeter. Before you accuse us of polluting young minds with such bloodthirsty filmi one-liners and throw those dog-eared moral science textbooks at us, here’s what moved us to make this comment: A 70-year-old widow, who was left to fend for herself by her two sons, wrote over all her property to her household help, who took care of her in her last days, and donated her body for medical research. And, this is what she left for her sons: a teeny-weenie piece of herself, her thumb. As they say, the medium is the message. This one was short and crisp.

HT Image

The lady in question, the late Kantadevi of Ahmedabad, also followed the rulebooks to a T even while scripting this revengeful act. According to the law, relatives can claim the thumb of a dead person for the last rites once a body is donated. But there has to be a gap of three days. Not content with delaying the message and taking a swipe at her sons while the iron was still hot, she willed that the ‘thumb’ be handed over to her son the very next day after her death.

Though the whole incident does show the depth of her anger and sadness about the state her sons had put her in, we can’t but hail the lady’s ability to have the final word, which we are sure will have a lasting effect. Kantadevi, RIP.