He didnt help with his fathers funeral.
She broke my family into pieces.
Words from Madhuri Mafatlal, the aging matriarch of Mumbais well-known mill family.
Sheetal MafatlalIt all sounds soap-operatic, but for Sheetal Mafatlal this is an episode shed rather not tune in to. Second wife to Madhuris only natural-born son Atulya, Sheetal has been a silent spectator as her husbands family turned private discord into a full-blown media circus by dragging the matter to court.
For the first time since the feud became public, the woman Madhuri Mafatlal holds responsible for her familys infighting, decides to get in the ring. In a freewheeling interview, society page darling Sheetal Mafatlal tells her tale.
Things werent always this bad
I have known my mother-in-law since I was 15. When Atulya and I married, I followed all the norms of the house. I used to touch her feet twice a day. I never questioned the way things ran here. I have never raised my voice with her. In fact, on a personal level, I cant remember having fought with her over anything. My only issue has been the interference in our house by Atulyas married sisters. Theyre always here and all they do is instigate my mother-in-law.
They sit here and run people down because they have nothing else to do. They point fingers at the way we are, but they have very dysfunctional families of their own and we never sit in judgement on that on who is homosexual or a prostitute or whos having an affair and who is on drugs.
For all these years, from the pooja flowers to their groceries and their holidays, they have freeloaded on the Mafatlal family for everything, even though they are married. I have never said anything, but I draw the line when people start coming to my house and demanding things.
They have destroyed the peace of our home
Perhaps my mother-in-law doesnt understand it. But this is what has destroyed the peace of our home. The basic problem has erupted in the last few months.
Aparna/Ajay Mafatlal has 158 cases pending against him on matters that include fraud and an inability to honour cheques. The police come and go in our home. Dont you think that would put a strain on this household?
But no, I suppose I am the villain. Here Aparna is having an affair with a married woman from Hong Kong who has two children and wants to move all three of them into our home. Whos the home breaker now?
Tell me, how are we to tolerate all this? A man who was a woman, bringing a married lover and her children to live in the house we share with them. How are the children to deal with this? It is bad enough that weve already had to deal with the repercussions of Aparnas fraudulent activities.
During my father-in-laws lifetime, he has tried to bail Aparna/Ajay out of his troubles on several occasions. Atulya has too. When Ajay (as Aparna) was married, he was given a flat at Chitrakoot to live in by his father. He lost that too because of his shady dealings.
But by the end, my father-in-law realised that Aparna/Ajay was nothing but trouble. That he had used the family name to borrow money left, right and centre. Thats why my father-in-law ensured that Atulya was the only benefactor of the family trust. He must have known Aparna would have squandered away more.
The bottom line is money
Aparna/Ajay needs it to stay out of jail. He needs it to bring his girlfriend and her children into our home. But he doesnt have as much as he needs. This is the primary reason for pressurising my mother-in-law into trying to get more money out of Atulya and this house. To this end they are waging a media war against us.
Had Aparna/Ajay come clean with us and asked for help, we would have helped him. But to slander us this way! And I am the easiest target because I have a public face.
Our being in the media spotlight is being used against us
First they floated rumours that Atulya and I are divorcing. When that didnt help squeeze anything out of us, now this tamasha.
They thought theyd go to the press and wed pay up just to keep this muck at home. We know what extortion is. Just because we look calm, we will not tolerate their pot shots forever. Just because Atulya and I have been silent so far, they are treating us like we are weak.
Atulya has been silent out of respect for his mother. That is the only reason.
But now they have dragged the grandchildren in to it. What kind of woman says her grandchild caused emotional trauma to his grandfather before his death? I cannot hear these lies any longer.
There are many misconceptions out there
Atulya and Sheetal MafatlalFor one, we never stopped talking to them. Atulya tried to ask his mother about our jewellery and she was the one who instructed him to speak to her through her lawyers. She even put this instruction on paper and we have her letter to prove it.
Atulya only asked that the trust jewellery be kept in joint custody. It is to come to us in a few months anyway. But because we have reason to believe it isnt safe in my mother-in-laws custody, we wanted joint-custody.
How do we know that the stones wont be changed? Besides, isnt it strange that Im not even allowed to touch things that are to be our belongings in a matter of months?
Obviously there are issues
But it is only after my father-in-law died and these people realised they didnt stand to gain more from that financially that things have become this strained.
People have spoken, been quoted. But does this story ring true to you? Tell me why would Atulya and I be fighting with anyone over things that are ours anyway?
It has been said I vandalised our apartment in London. How can I vandalise my own home?
Then theres this business of how Diwali could not be celebrated in our home because we have left our things on the dining table. Excuse me, but my father-in-law died in January; how can anyone even want to celebrate Diwali? As per our religion, we dont celebrate anything for a whole year. Does she (Madhuri Mafatlal) not have any sentiment or respect for her husbands memory?
Now I have spoken
Things are being said about us to make it all sound very sensational, simply because there is no real case against us. The truths I can tell you about them are shocking. We have proof. But wed rather say less and let the law take its course.
The only reason I have said anything is because I think it is ridiculous to have stooped to malign a 16-year-old child. Say what you want about Atulya and I, were adults, we can deal with it even if it is a public fracas. But the children go to school. They get asked awkward questions and this is all too much for them.
Especially comments that involve them directly. Atulya has done much to protect the name and image of the Mafatlals; the legacy of his grandfather and father. Now, in a matter of days, Madhuri and Aparna/Ajay Mafatlal have destroyed that reputation so publicly, in the hope of some financial gain.
