But Nandini was a “cleanliness freak”— she couldn’t tolerate a speck of dust and would throw a fit if things got moved from their designated place.

Ramesh describes Nandini as the “daughter with a bouncing ponytail who always dressed pretty.” The first class commerce graduate from MMK College was the first in their Goan-Konkani family to crunch numbers efficiently. And that’s why he got excited when she wanted to pursue an MBA in finance.

From a call centre, Nandini effortlessly moved to her new job as credit manager with a finance company affiliated with the ICICI Bank. The fruit of her new salary — backed up by Rachna of course— stands proudly in their one-room Santacruz home: a double door LG fridge. But the mother is yet to wear any of the gold ornaments worth Rs 30,000 that Nandini gifted her — ‘‘investment is priority, liquid cash is evil,’’ she used to say.

“Her brain always accounted for the cash she earned. And she was thrifty to a fault. Kunjoos ek number ki,” laughs aloud Ramesh, recalling how she would only buy vegetables that were cheap. “Once she got a truckload of ginger from Dadar market because it was cheap.”

Her cousin Namrata (21) doesn’t agree: “She did buy clothes and shoes, but all were for Rachna. She even coaxed Rachna into wearing western outfits as she had a tall figure.” And her only weakness: tandoori chicken and a purple shade lipstick she guarded with her life.

... contd.