It wasn’t one of those everyday calls, on raids, traps, corruption in governance or his views on sticky issues like capital punishment. It was a different call, on a person who welcomed the thought of speaking about the other side of his life.

The family
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde and his wife Sharda were open to speaking about themselves. It was a usual morning at their house in RMV Extension with a vehicle in-waiting to drive him to some function. In between he jostled for time with Sharda, quietly stepping into the living room and a warm conversation. With WorldSpace playing some romantic Hindi numbers of yesteryear, the Hegdes settled down to an unwrapping of life together with their 8-year-old Snowy — a Lhasa Apso cozily tucked in their laps. “She calls me fat-so,” he accused her. “Aren’t you one, fat-so?” replied Sharada, soft-spoken and gentle with her words.

“I was 56 kgs but after I quit smoking my weight went up to 96 kgs. I used to be a chain smoker and one day, I just dropped it. Today even in my dreams, I regret smoking,” Justice Hegde set the pace on a candid note. The Hegdes had a love marriage. She is a Punjabi (Kapoor) and he, a hardcore Mangalorean. “He can’t be without his fish and meat,” said Sharda.

“He was my brother Inder’s best friend and used to come to our house. We were in the same college,” said Sharda.

“I saw Hindi films to spend time with her. We used to go for long drives. To me she was beautiful. When we first met, she was 13 and I was 17. We had a courtship of 10 years before we decided to get married. We had a typical North Indian wedding, on June 2, 1969. I remember I was crying because of the homa smoke getting into my eyes and the fact that outside my friends and relatives were drinking and I wasn’t allowed to,” said Justice Hegde. He loves his drinks and is particularly fond of vodka.

The chemistry
The chemistry between them is perfect. “He’s a foodie but can stay with one thing for years together, like his one idli for breakfast and sooji for lunch. For dinner he needs his fish. I don’t give him red meat for health reasons,” said Sharda.

“I don’t have a choice; I have idli and upma regularly because she doesn’t give me anything else to eat.
She monitors my diet,” he complained, “She’s a vegetarian and I’m a veteran non-vegetarian. When we go abroad, I look for an Indian restaurant. I love to eat with my hands. She’s happy with the salads and pasta,” he added.

Legal profession
Both are from the legal profession. He took it up and she left it after realising that it was a wrong decision to study law. “I should’ve studied psychology,” said Sharda. “I never stopped her from working. She joined our legal firm Hegde & Associates in Bangalore but dropped out. She can’t argue with anyone except me,” he explained in jest.

He’s a workaholic but makes time for her. “As a lawyer, he used to leave early by 8.30 am. If he didn’t have his cases, he would come back home instead of hanging at the Bar. As a judge, he would be back home by 4.30 pm. It’s only now that he doesn’t have any time. When he comes back home, we go for a walk and later, he sits infront of the TV watching the news channels. Earlier, he used to watch action films,” said Sharda.

Love all the way
“I’ve lived life on my terms...love good lifestyle, which I can afford. It’s never been at the cost of anyone else. In the early 80s, I bought an ambassador car; did it up well and flew it to Delhi on an airbus 300,” he said.
The good thing about their relationship is their respect for each other’s space. “She never questioned me on anything. We share a lot of things but don’t interfere with each other’s decisions,” he said.

They have a large family, of cousins, nieces and  nephews. “Some of them have grown up with us and there are always people at home. We never felt the need for children,” they replied to a question on children.
Good and bad times

They do have their arguments and differences. “Mostly it is about timing. I’m a stickler for time and she’s not. She’s changing now,” said Justice Hegde. “He likes his job because he thinks he can help people, and loves to interact with students. He’s very caring, dependable and trustworthy. He’s great fun when go out...we travel quite a bit,” she said fondly.

 “On occasions when I was accused of doing something wrong when I was not a party to it, I was depressed. Quite often I would keep it to myself but she knew,” he added on an affectionate note.