The elder one, Ramkrishna Reddy grew up in Bijjinapalli was
well educated by these widows. As time flew he also went to
Tadoor to look after his brother’s property as his younger
brother was quite young and mother was too old. Thus the two
families united again.
Ramkrishna Reddy’s adopted mother, Mamgamma, , was a very
efficient and bold administrator and was looking after the
affairs in Bijjinapalli, after her husband’s death, which by
then had an estate of 25 villages. The younger widow, whose
name is Kishtamma, was a very mild lady and always followed
her older counterpart.
Ramakrishna Reddy was married to Ramalakshamma, who came
from a very wealthy family. She bought tons of gold with
her. She was a good-looking girl who looked after her mother
in laws and her husband well. She was very popular with the
household staff. She was a very lively girl. During her
pregnancy, she developed a liking for coconut and jaggery,
which was rejected by her dominating mother-in law,
Mamgamma. So she used to smuggle in, these through a trusted
male servant, in exchange of gold coins. This went one for
weeks, before it came to the notice of Mother-in –law, who
was informed by the Gardner a new man who just joined. The
new Gardner caught the trusted servant of the Ramalakshmamma
along with the gold coin.
Mother-in-law Mamgamma was very angry at her daughter in law
and got her beaten up badly and put her in a small room with
chilli smoking pot tied to her. Next day morning when
servants went to clean, they found the young, pregnant lady
dead.
It was too late for Ramakrishna Reddy to set the things
right and was also not in a position to question his adopted
mother, who was all-powerful.
Ramakrishna Reddy married another girl Janakamma, our
Nainamma’s/grandmother (Rama lakshmamma) mother .She lost
the first five boys no sooner after their birth and was said
that a ghost of Ramalakshamma, the first wife of Ramakrishna
Reddy, who was killed by her mother-in law, haunted this
household. The Ghost created lots of trouble in the
Bijjinapalli household.
Ram Krishna Reddy married again another beautiful girl, who
was twelve year old, named Jaggamma, as his first wife
Janakamma was loosing her children, most probably due to the
curse of the ghost.
Then Janakamma confronted with the ghost and requested her
to spare her from childlessness. The ghost then said
Janakamma should name the first-born child to her as
Ramalakshamma, in her (ghost) memory.
Thus Janakamma gave birth to a baby girl, who named her
Ramalakshamma in memory of the killed daughter in law
(Ghost). This baby girl Ramalakshamma is our Nainamma/grandmother.
Janakamma then gave birth to two more girls and a boy and
Jagamma gave birth to five sons and two daughters. Thus the
Bijjinapalli household was full of children due to the
blessing of that Ghost.
The family then got a stone statue curved and named the
statue Ramalakshamma. They placed this statue in the same
puja room and conducted daily pujas to her and named the
first two girls as Padda Ramalakshamma (wife of Jagirdar
Venkata Narshima Reddy of Pallepad, our grand father)
and China Ramalakshamma (Wife of
Anantha Reddy
of Pallepad/ Mother of Dharma Reddy (Chicha),
who was latter renamed in Pallepad as Ram Chandramma.
Rama Chandramma had a son named Dharma Reddy, whose children
are Mahavir Reddy ,Vijay Kumar Reddy
and
Girija Reddy and a Daughter, whose only child is Sukamma.
These two girls i.e both Ramalakshamma’s were married to
step brothers of Pallepad, who were Jagirdars. The Jagirdars
were supposed to be of higher rank than Deshmuks. The
Bijjinapalli family also named the first son of Jaggamma as
Ramalakshma Reddy, so that they never ever antagonise the
ghost of Ramalakshamma again.
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