There was a family of 8 brothers and sisters in a village.They grew up in the lap of luxury in the acres of lush green fields and farms owned by there father. They grew up had families and wanted to have share of there own in the property.
This led to disputes as to who gets which part and how much. What resulted was a case in the trial court.
All communication broke down, the family functions became dreaded affairs. What was a huge family of laughter and fun resulted in fragmented small units. No one was happy.
The children grew up and flew to more peaceful cities away from home. The court cases dragged as they do for years.
This case was referred to the local mediation centre. It was for the first time in decades that the siblings actually sat together in one room even if they stayed in the same village. The children who grew up together were aging grand parents. Years of bitterness took away any traces of smiles from there faces. The mediation room was pregnant with the hardness inside the hearts of the people sitting across. Eye contact between the siblings was the most difficult.
The Mediation started. The mediator (a very experienced and sensitive person with years of experience as a lawyer) eased the air with an opening statement which assured them that nothing they speak here will be held against them. That they could speak out all they wanted unlike in a trial court where there lawyer and Judges alone speak. They all shared a joint view of the case with a lot of hesitation. The talks between the parties led to abuses, fights, accusations, rage, bitter words all that were pent up in each of them for years started coming out.
The mediator very intelligently guided the parties to have another session on another appointed day decided by the parties themselves but not very late.
In the private sessions where the parties are encouraged to speak one-on-one with the mediator, one of the kids shared that if our parents were not at war with each other we would have had more property and estates. We cousins would not have moved away from the village. He pleaded with the mediator "please do something so that our parents in there last few years live in peace with each other. They need each other at this stage of there lives. They are all ailing and old". This touched the mediator and encouraged him to communicate this to the parties and there lawyers at the next.
At the next session he communicated this plea of there children to the whole family. What resulted was nothing short of a happy movie ending. The mediation sessions started to become more easy. A few smiles started appearing on the faces, they started talking, apologizing, warmth started engulfing the cold room. The elders found that it was actually easy to get back...the others too were waiting. The matters sorted well. The divisions were made wisely with the lawyers advice.
The post mediation was a scene I will not forget in a hurry. All the siblings with the lawyers and the grand children were sitting calmly listening tot he agreement being typed out.
The women folk gathered outside typically were busy planning out the thread ceremonies of one of the grand son and it was unanimously decided to be held in the village.
The mediator later shared with me "I have spent many years at the courts, earned a lot of money, have a great reputation, but never have I felt this content as I do each day at the mediation centre. Today I am so satisfied looking at this huge family come together. No amount of fees could give me this. Like others I too believed that such scenes happened in movies. Here we see them happen every day."
The lawyers too echoed the sentiments. We have never thought that these families whose cases we were handling for so many years could come together like this in such a short time. Its like a miracle.
In our country a huge percentage of pending cases are that of Partition suits. Not only will the cases come down in the courts many family's will come together.
