Do not believe what you think (see or hear too )

Don’t believe everything you think , or see , or hear , for that matter.
I have been amazed at the sheer discrepancy between what our senses feed us , and what turns out to be the truth , beneath all those misleading layers of sensory input.

My neighbour was a dentist . Some days ago , her mother came down to stay with them . The dentist was about to deliver her second baby , and she needed a helping hand with the household and the elder one . The mother wore faded kolhapuri cotton sarees , hitched up high , and bathroom slippers that flapped sadly , as she chased her grandson across the terrace, feeding him cornflakes and milk . Whenever I saw her , she had a huge moist spot on her midriff , either milk sloshed from her grandson’s bowl , or obtained while doing dishes in the sink , or while cooking . Upon being asked as to why she chose to do these tasks that she was so evidently inept at ,she would laugh loudly , and her saree covered ample midriff shook with careless mirth. My thought was that she was an inefficient housewife (like me ) , and would remain so , and I would leave it at that.
It was much later that I came to know that the lady in flapping slippers was a maths wiz and had taught for several years at the regional college of engineering , having also gone abroad ,on several occasions, to attend global conferences.

Bhavesh Aggarwal was the nephew of one of our family friends , who managed the arable lands of his ageing maternal grandparents . All subservience and humility, he was often quoted to us as the ideal "son" material . He would be constantly at the fields , granaries , grain markets ,supervising crops , harvesting , and the sale of grains . Always transparent in his dealings , he would give a complete breakdown of daily expenses , and incomes garnered , flawlessly . One could hazard to add , selflessly . He lived in a one room tenement , like all other employees , except that he was not one . The only exception would be when he was called in at mealtimes , when kids would clamber up his back , and adults slapped him , on his back , for the goodness of his heart , and God bless him.

Four years later , both the grandparents were dead. The grandma died of a short and violent  illness, due to a virulent carcinoma , and the grandfather followed his spouse , shortly , of a broken heart.The younger generation shifted to the city , leaving the lands in "capable" hands of  Bhavesh. Left solely in charge ,Bhavesh waited for an year or so. When it became clear that the family wont be moving back , any time soon , he moved in swiftly. Stripping the house of important papers , deeds (under the guise of burglary), followed by furnitures , utensils, electrical fittings and door frames even. What was a majestic bungalow , reduced to a heap of bricks , in a matter of days.