INDIA: Thumbs Up for the Lady

. Comment: Think It Over Revenge is a much more punctual paymaster than gratitude: Charles Caleb MUMBAI, Maharashtra (The Hindustan Times), September 3, 2008: The Pundit Revenge is sweet, even in death. In fact it is sweeter. Before you can 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 teenie-weenie piece of herself, her thumb. The medium is the message. This one was short and crisp. 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 the body is donated. But there has to be a gap of three days. SHOWING THEM A THUMB: Not content with delaying the message and taking a swipe at her sons while the iron was still hot, Kantabai 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 ability of the lady to have the final word, which we are sure will have a lasting effect. Kantadevi, RIP. Copyright: HT Media Ltd.