Kashiram

As Raj and Nandu came home after their day out, they saw all the family members sitting in the living room waiting for them. The thing is Raj already called his mother before proposing and told her about what was happening, she was surprised at first but only said one sentence "About damn time, take good care of her" and smiled

All the family members saw them coming in and had a cunning smile on their face, finally raj's father Ramachandra spoke "Nandu why did you say yes so quickly, you should've played with his for a while longer!" and laughed, everyone also agreed and nodded except Yashu, his mother said "humph, good thing you didn't"

Everyone just laughed at her protectiveness and finally all the girls of the family took away Nandu to ask about all the details and also to educate her on how she should be from now on, meanwhile Raj asked Nandu's father who is also his uncle, Kashiram to accompany him to the office as he had something to talk. Kashiram naturally obliged

As they walked into the room, Raj sized up his uncle, he was fat, with glasses and naturally looked like he was up to no good, but Raj knew he was very happy with the marriage proposal and his daughter will also be very happy. Raj sat down in his usual chair and asked Kashiram to also sit down, then he spoke with his usual smile "Kashiram uncle, I hope you're not mad at me for not asking your permission for the proposal beforehand?", Kashiram replied with happily "Haha, you're joking, I'm really happy you asked her hand in marriage, you know she was waiting for you to come back since the day you left"

Raj just nodded and got a little serious, "you should know that Nandu is going to be my wife now and that you are gong to be my in-laws" Raj really didn't want to confront him like this but he had no choice, this was the right moment to bring this following topic up, "you know Kashiram uncle, I've been placed in charge of all the expenses of family members by my grandfather, I have all your balance statements and can access them", he gave a light pause and looked at his uncle

Kashiram was already sweating bullets, he was stammering but he still said "haha, that's great Raj, it's good to know that your grandfather trusts you so much", raj was a little irritated but he still continued "Uncle, you don't have to act anymore, I already know about your gambling problems and also all about the girls in your contacts. Really? Who is this Priya and why are you sending her so much money?"

Kashiram was stammering at this point not knowing how to defend himself, Raj motioned him to stop and said "you don't need to answer anything, trust me when I say I already know everything about your deeds" after saying that Raj relaxed a little, and said in a soft voice "Uncle, I've known you since forever, and I also know that you love me as much as you love your own daughter, I promise I won't bring any of this up with the family outside. You should know that grandfather also knows this, but it was me who convinced him not to do anything, we might've been distant relatives before but now we are all truly one family. From now on if you really want money, just ask me and I'll give it to you. But you should know that if you get caught or loose everything or even if your wife knows about all this, just think about it and let me know"

Raj just left the office space and went out. He knew that Kashiram uncle needed some time to process everything. As he went out and was socializing with his father and grandfather talking about some trivial stuff in the back garden, after about 15 minutes, Kashiram walked out with his head low and came to where they were talking. He got on his knees and said "I'm sorry for letting you down grandfather, I always thought it was really fun and thrilling to steal money from the family and spend it but despite knowing that, Raj went and proposed to Nandu, imagine if Raj was disappointed in me and my deeds and said he didn't want to marry Nandu because of me! I wouldn't be able to live with myself. But not only Raj didn't care about me but he even offered to help cover up my mistakes because of how much he values me. I was wrong and I am ready to face any sort of punishment you are willing to dish out, t's the least I can do for your trust in me" he was truly remorseful and was waiting to hear their harsh words

But before Raj's father or his grandpa talked, Raj just smiled and said "uncle, you're being too serious, but if you're truly remorseful I have a perfect punishment for you". Ramachandra and his grandfather were a little stunned, Raj was going to punish his uncle? What was happening? But they kept quiet, unlike them Kashiram was actually a little relieved so he was waiting for the punishment

Finally Raj said "From now on you're in charge of all the expenses in the family, you will have complete access to the funds and their flow, be sure to take care of it well uncle" and he smile. Everyone was stunned, especially his grandpa and Kashiram himself, he was just caught for stealing and spending money but instead of punishing him they actually gave him more control on money?!

Kashiram finally said "no way, how could I possibly do that, you know what I've done with the money, you know I can't be trusted!", Raj just casually replied "That's exactly why it has to be you, you know the ins and outs and I'm confident you can do it well. Also I never said you can't be trusted, just because you were a little out of the right path doesn't mean you can't come back. Who else can we trust if we don't even trust family Uncle"

Kashiram was stunned and had tears in his eyes, Grandpa was also stunned because he understood what Raj wanted to do. He was surprised Raj had such insight for dealing with people, he was happy so he said "Don't doubt my grandson's words, if he trusts you then so do we, if you need any help you can come to me anytime!", Ramachandra was a little out of loop but he still said "Yes, yes my son is always right"

Kashiram finally accepted reality and swore he wouldn't let any of them down and finally just left as he couldn't handle his emotions.