Kukoon (Devkanya) - the youngest, and legend has it the most beautiful, talented and charming one of all the sisters, exuberant and enthusiastic.
Married at the age of 16 to a young man in Bhuleshwar, Kukoon moved to Bombay around 1946. She soon charmed the in-laws and their neighbors with her unique looks, her stature, her beauty and her talents. She became friends with mom's cousins and through them with Mom.
At Navratri, she would ofen reduce the gathered crowd to tears with her rendition of the Gujarati garbo "Dikri to Parki Thapan Keh Vay" - A daughter belongs to a different family. Gujarati lyrics can be found at http://gujaratigazalslyrics.blogspot.com/2009/05/dikri-to-parki-thapan-parki.html, and some day I just might get around to translating them.
You might have read in When Mummy Met Daddy about how Kukoon bua was instrumental in arranging my parents marriage. She was a favorite in our home as well as in my grandparents, and that of mom's Somi masi, who lived next door to Kukoon bua's in-laws.
Which made her senseless death all the more tragic, and all the more difficult to bear.
Kukoon bua's mother-in-law was rumored to have been a demanding and domineering sort who placed all kinds of demands on her young daughter in law. Raised in the Gujarati tradition of believing that a daughter's place is at her in-laws, and she must always work on preserving their reputation, she kept most of this from papa and the Haldwani family and the Chokseys.
By the time Mom and Dad had been married 2-3 years, Kukoon was approaching 5 years of marriage. She still had not conceived and provided her demanding mother-in-law with an heir. Little is known or discussed of what all transpired in that household leading up to her death.
Mom and Dad were busy with the next big family wedding. Mom's older brother Bhagwan mama was getting married to one of Mom's classmates from High School. It was an arranged marriage. The bride, Urmila mami, was the oldest daughter of a wealthy business owner in Bhuleshwar. Though regulation of the gold market had slowed down the Chokseys business, Urmila mami's father had planned a grand wedding.
The bridal party travelled in an open convertible bedecked with flowers through the streets of Bhuleshwar. And a good time was had by all. .....except Kukoon bua.
She spent the day planning exactly how she would commit suicide. She knew that the wedding was important to my parents. She did not want to do anything to spoil the event.
And so she waited until it was all over. She wrote a note explaining that she had chosen to end her life, because she saw no way ahead. That she did not want to cause any more pain or inconvenience to anyone.
When her in-laws finally found her, she had consumed a whole bottle of a lethal acid compound. By the time they got her medical attention, it was too late to do anything for her.
Emotions in the family raged high. A beloved daughter had been cornered into taking her life. The Das family wnated the in-laws to receive the toughest punishment imaginable. That was when Gordhan kaka, the uncle that had arranged the match, and a powerful magistrate in his own right, stepped in.
He persuaded the family to think things through - "We have already lost our daughter. Pursuing a court case will not bring her back, and will drag all the families through the muck." He persuaded my grandfather and my dad to help bring a speedy conclusion to the case, protecting Kamala ben and family.
Kukoon bua - we never had the opportunity to know you, but your spirit lives on, in the countless nieces and nephews who may never have heard of you, but who have learnt from my parents and their siblings that ill-treatment of a daughter-in-law is unacceptable.
