The Bad Seeds

Vasan Sri

Ramaswamy Iyengar was a deeply religious person.

Brought up in Sri Vaishnava tradition, he considered
Sriman Narayana as the supreme God ; Vishnu is His
avatar; Vishnu , as a 'Protector God' for Hindus, took
ten avatars with different ethical themes, as most
mythical legends are made of. Iyengar would not enter a
Shiva temple or even pass by a Ganesha temple which are
numerous in any temple town.
Iyengar was a Sanskrit teacher , in traditional
style, and had a bunch of students and earned meagre
amount. He was widely repsected in the local community
for his scholarship.
Iyengar had two children--one boy named Raghu and a
girl named "Andal", after the medieval saint of
Vaishnavas. Raghu decided early that he would not
follow his father's sanskrit studies. He , after high

school diploma, decided to try his hand in

business---he opened a small cloth store with kid's
ready made garments--frocks,gowns and so on. He had a
small shop, 10 feet by 8 feet, in a busy area of
Kancheepuram, the pilgrim center for Vaishnavas. The
business was brisk and soon Raghu opened a second shop
for men's shirts, pants and banians.
Iyengar arranged the marriage of Raghu with a young
girl from a religious family from a neighboring
village, a girl named Sri Priya. Priya
Iyengar with two

presented

grand children----one girl and one

boy, in about three years.

Raghu was not so orthodox and spent many hours
hours with people of other castes and even other
religions. His business life cut across many layers of
of stratified society he lived in.

With much

sedantary work at the shop, Raghu had become quite fat

with a large paunch.
Ameena

was an expert tailor and employed

about ten

ladies to stitch children's cloths. She supplied kid's

ready made clothes regularly to Raghu's shop. Ameena

was fair skinned with sharp features and somewhat
plumpy. She often engaged Raghu in light hearted
banter, making fun of his religious habits; Ameena was
an Ahmedia Muslim
ago

for

and her husband had left her long

prosperous career in the Gulf States.

Ameena was a mother of two bright boys. Her business

skills

helped to maintain the family.

Raghu had a small ante-room behind his shop to

store materials. Raghu took his vegetarian lunches
there.. He had a small sofa for afternoon siesta before
he would reopen his shop for evening business at 4

PM.

One day Raghu invited Ameena into his anteroom and

caressed her. Soon Ameena fell over him. It became
regular for Ameena to spend afternoons with him.
The affair between Raghu and Ameena kept rumor mills
working in brahmin's agraharam [colony]. Ameena became
pregnant and a baby boy of fair complexion was born a
year later. The baby was named Hassan. Raghu became
fond of the little baby and Ameena received fair

amounts from Raghu for a comfortable living in the

Muslim quarters of the city.
The affair of Raghu soon reached the ears of Sri
Priya through her female neighbors. She kept quiet and
wept for two days. She did not confront her husband
;but she admonished her mother in law for the way Raghu
had been brought up. Strangely enough, her mother in
law took the matter lightly and brushed aside ,saying
that her husband , Iyengar also had a brief affair with
a Chettiar woman years ago and it lasted only for a few
years. But Raghu's case was different ; taking a
mistrress was not uncommon; but a mistress from
Muslim community was unpardonable for a devout brahmin.
But she ,on her part, would not chide her son..When
Iyengar learnt about the affair of his son, he was
shocked and worried, but dismissed

it as a result of

bad seed in the family tree-- a common metaphor used by

elders in those days.
So

Priya was left to suffer in silence.

Raghu's business prospered; he opened two more shops

in posh suburbs of Kanchi. He had bought a Maruti

Esteem car to move from one shop to another.
Raghu became very fond of Hassan. He followed his
school education closely and later his college studies
in business adminstration in a local prestigeous Hindu
college.
Raghu was then a prominent businessman of the
community. He was an active member of the Rotary Club
and did much charitable works in the weekends. In a
sense, he was widely respected by the locals.
Hassan was resourceful and started a transport
company while at college. With Raghu as collateral, he
took loans from State Bank of India and bought four
trucks. He moved goods from Kanchi to Bangalore as an
operator. With this growing business, Hassan bought a
house in the posh 'dollar

colony' in Bangalore,

populated by expats from the US. Ameena

would mostly

stay at this house.

Ameena tried to arrange Hassan's marriage--the girl
was her cousin's daughter,Meher Unnissa, a pretty girl

and her father was very very rich-a exporter of goods

to Abu Dhabi. The girl had studied upto high school and
was hardly seventeen years old. Ameena told Raghu about
this marriage proposal. Raghu was furious and totally
rejected this idea of Hassan marrying a Muslim girl. It
did not occur to him that the alternative of Hassan
marrying a Hindu girl was nearly impossible. A Hindu
girl marrying

a Muslim boy in an arranged setting did

not occur. The vehement protest by Raghu ruptured his

relationship with Ameena; Ameena had stopped talking
to Raghu.
Meanwhile Ameena arranged for Hassan's Nikha ceremony
[betrothel]in Bangalore in the house of a wealthy
Ahmedia Amir. Raghu was informed through Hassan, but
not invited.

The ceremony was scheduled to be held

six weeks later.

The day on which Nikha ceremony was held, Raghu
complained of a chest pain while in the men's Shop; a
local doctor was called in; the doctor gave Warfarin
injection and transported him to Chennai in an

ambulance. Raghu underwent a cardiac bypass surgery two

days

later at Apollo Hospital. Sri Priya was on hand

to help him recover. At the same time, Ameena rushed

from Bangalore and touched Raghu's feet.
Raghu became busy with his business as before. He was
more prosperous than ever. He called his son,
Sarangan, and made him the General Manager for all his
shops. Raghu was planning for his retirement already,
though he was only sixty years at the time.
He became friendly with Renuka Choudary, a buxom
Andhra woman who was active in setting up orphanages in
Andhra and Tamil Nadu. Raghu supported her with time
and money.
Meanwhile Hassan's wife Meher Unnissa delivered a
baby boy. The news thrilled Raghu. He was eager to see
the baby--his grandson. He sent an invitation to Hassan
to bring the baby to him. Hassan refused first but
later relented after some

hard words from Ameena.

Hassan would meet Raghu in a hotel in Chennai. After

three days, Raghu stayed at Taj Coromandel

and waited

for Hassan. Hassan and Meher Unnissa entered the room,

with Meher holding the baby wrapped in a velvety towel.
The baby was named Amanat Khan. Hassan and Meher fell
at the feet of Raghu who was having the baby now and
shedding copious tears. Raghu told in a low tone

"

Afterall, he is my grandson!". This struck Hassan like

a thunderbolt; He sat on the floor like a piece of
stone. Everything seemed to fall in place. Hassan got
up and again touched the feet of Raghu and slowly left
the room, followed by Meher and the baby.
Raghu returned to Kanchi. There was a call from
Renuka to visit Hyderabad and stay in her guest house
for a week or two. Raghu needed the rest and relaxation
after the emotional turmoil he had gone through.
Raghu boarded an aircraft for the first time and
reached Hyderabad. He was looked after by Renuka and
her team very well. Soon the charm of Renuka worked
its magic and Raghu was an easy prey to her passionate
advances.

Raghu stayed there for two weeks,visiting

common tourist spots like Zalar Jung Museum and

Golkonda Fort. Raghu returned to Kanchi .

He would inspect the stores once a week, but for the
most part, the operations were in Sarangan's hands.
Raghu wanted to forge a link between Hassan and
Sarangan. Sarangan was a man of orthodox views and
habits like his grandfather, Iyengar. Raghu persuaded
Sarangan to use the transport facilites of Hassan.
Sarangan agreed.
Sarangan

was still unmarried. It was difficult to

find a suitable bride among brahmin families because

Sarangan had no college education. It so happened that
on a summer vacation time, Renuka brought her daughter,
Vibha ,

aged about twenty, to Chennai. Vibha was

attractive and very bright in studies. Raghu at once

made the proposal that Vibha could be a bridal match
for Sarangan. Fortunately Sarangan met Vibha at Taj
Coromandel Hotel and instantly liked her. Vibha
demurred first and later agreed for the proposal after
some persuation by Renuka.
turn

Renuka was overjoyed at the

of events. Sri Priya was not consulted then, but

she accepted the proposal of Raghu as such. The wedding

was scheduled for next year when Vibha would complete
her undergraduate studies.
In the next few months Raghu was feeling detached
and became distracted

from normal activites. He was

enjoying semi retirement and dividing his time between

Kanchi and Hyderabad. He wanted to visit several
Vaishnava temples and
became

shrines of sages and saints. He

aware of growing weakness due to his heart

condition.
On one Friday evening, he visited the Varadaraja
temple after saying his prayers, received the
consecrated water from the priest and sipped a few
drops from his palm. Looking at the deity while the
priest was waving the oil lamps, he was lost in
thought; he had a vague feeling

that this might be his

last visit to the temple.

That night , he locked himself inside the bedroom.
He sat at the small writing table and wrote his will.
He would leave one third of his assets to Priya and her

children, one third to Hassan and his family and one

third to Renuka and her charities. He enclosed the will
in a sealed envelope ,addressed to his lawyer,
Jagannathan in Chingleput. Next morning when the stores
opened, he called his store manager Victor and asked
him to deliver the envelope to Jagannathan by hand.
He moved from Kanchi to Katpadi and boarded the
train to Bangalore

and reached Dollar Colony to meet

Ameena. He spent the night with her in apparent peace.

He gave a box of jewels to Ameena. She refused to
accept that, adding " you are my jewel" and hugged him
. But Raghu insisted and told her to give the jewels to
Meher Unnissa. Raghu had a tearful farewell from her.
From there, he flew to Hyderabad to spend a week with
Renuka. He visited the Narasimha temple in Ahobilam
woods. He made a generous donation to Renuka's charity
trust and planned future projects. Renuka had no
inkling of

his failing health.

He returned to Kanchi and met Sri Priya. At that time,

Sri Priya was ill and needed surgery for her duodenal

ulcer. He admitted her in Shanmuga's Clinic in Chennai

and attended to her for nearly three weeks with utmost
devotion. Priya recovered fast and was touched by her
husband's kindness. She had entirely forgotten his
past transgressions, as most Indian women do. He told
her that he had already written his will which was in
the custody

of

his lawyer,Jagan , at Chingleput.

On the next day, he went to Chennai to meet his

uncle,Parasaran, who was about eighty years old and
always needed financial support. He gave a princely sum
of rupees ten lakhs in a cheque and was returning home
to Kanchi. While seated in the car, he called Hassan
who was in Kanchi at that time. He wanted to see Hassan
and Amanat, his grandson, as soon as possible. He
would be staying for a few hours with his boyhood
friend Sridharan in Madurantakam.
Madurantakam with

Hassan reached

Amanat and met Raghu

at Sridharan's

house. Raghu kissed the baby and gave a thin gold chain
as a gift to the baby.
While retuning to Kanchi in his car, Raghu

complained of chest pain. Krishna ,the driver, rushed

immediately to Chingleput General Hospital; but Raghu
had already breathed his last.
The funeral was performed according to Hindu rites
in Kanchi. Hassan and Ameena in black veil joined the
procession from his home to the cremation ground.
Renuka and Vibha just then reached Kanchi. Hassan
placed a large wreath over Raghu's body and washed
feet while Sarangan went around

his

the body with the pot

of fire. The sky darkened with black clouds and

large Garuda [eagle] circled over the graveyard. A

sharp spell of drizzle cooled the earth.
Disclaimer: The story and the characters are purely
fictional and do not represent any living or dead
person.
Contact: nenmelisrinivasan@gmail.com
----------- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -------------