JOIN USRajaji's remedy
Rajaji – as C Rajagopalachari was informally known – and my father shared a very close friendship for over six decades, which abided till the end. Whenever Rajaji visited Bengaluru, he invariably liked to stay at our house.
A pair of dark-tinted glasses he wore, owing to his eye condition, was a matter of much speculation in the political circles attracting several interpretations, some of them even atrociously humorous. According to one, the shrewd politician did not want anyone to make out who he was looking at!
On one such visit to Bengaluru in 1950, when he was holding the august office of the Governor-General of India, he chose to stay with us, notwithstanding the protocol warranted by his official position. During the course of his stay, many people were eager to meet him and seek his guidance on personal and several other matters. Despite his numerous pressing engagements, Rajaji graciously spared as much time as he could to patiently interact with them.
It was at this juncture that a young lady in deep distress sought to meet him urgently. Seeing her condition, Rajaji readily agreed. She narrated, amidst uncontrollable sobs, how she was being ill-treated, humiliated and tortured by her unscrupulous mother-in-law. “I am shattered. I have no one to turn to as my parents are no more; even my husband supports his mother outright and lets me down! He is a total mamma’s boy!” she lamented.
“Rajaji uncle,” she pleaded with folded hands, “you are known to fight for the cause of the weak and the down-trodden. My position, as you can visualise, is worse than that. But for my only young son, I would have definitely resorted to something drastic! Please do something to put an end to these atrocities being perpetrated on young daughters-in-law like me by their ruthless mothers-in-law! Only you can help me in your exalted position!”
Rajaji slowly took off his dark glasses. He made no effort to hide his tear-filled eyes reflecting his soft and compassionate interior. There was no trace of the tough politician in them. The grief of the young woman had melted him!
“What a strange and tragic coincidence, my dear child”, said Rajaji with a heavy voice. “Nearly two decades ago your mother-in-law had come to me to this very house with an identical problem, and, believe me, she had described her woes against her mother-in-law in exactly the same language and tenor as you have just done!
“Consoling her then, I had told that when she got her daughter-in-law she should treat her as her own daughter, forgiving her for her lapses. Obviously nothing of that kind seems to have happened! Now, dear young lady, you say you have a son. When you get your daughter-in-law, will you break this vindictive chain by making her find a mother in you? Right now, excuse the lapses of your mother-in-law as you would of your own mother, and make her see a daughter in you. Do this for me. I shall do the rest!”