House of Cards: A Novel

by Sudha Murty

  Sanjay looked at her. Her face had given her away. He knew that this innocent girl couldn’t hide her feelings and so he wanted to tease her.

  ‘Yours.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I want to meet your parents, explain everything and apologize to them.’

  ‘I have already forgiven you. You needn’t come for that purpose.’

  ‘It is my duty to apologize to your parents.’

  Mridula got even more worried. When the conductor came, Sanjay bought two tickets to Aladahalli. Mridula felt uncomfortable through the entire journey. She cursed herself, ‘Why did I go upstairs with the candles?’

  When the bus reached Aladahalli, she got down quickly.

  A young boy, Budansabi, was waiting for her. There was a wound on his leg. He said, ‘Sister, yesterday the bicycle chain hurt me badly and I thought of you so much. Will you look at it and tell me what to do?’

  Sanjay wanted to tell the boy to get a tetvac injection immediately. But Mridula recommended, ‘Clean your wound with Dettol and come to my house. I will give you medicine.’

  Budansabi said, ‘Okay,’ and went away.

  Sanjay was upset. Mridula was beautiful and her family may be rich but she was not a doctor. She should not advise people without knowing the consequences. He could not control himself. ‘Mridula,’ he said, ‘you must not misguide the villagers. Dettol is not the solution. You have to give him a tetvac. It is a necessity. Otherwise, the consequences can be heavy for the boy.’

  Mridula smiled and did not mind his words. She said, ‘Oh, is that right?’

  ‘I don’t know what you have studied, but you don’t have the right to play with somebody’s life. You should have told him to go to a doctor.’

  ‘Well, I am a teacher but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try to help them. Let’s do this. From this moment on, whenever we get patients, we will send them to Bombay. However, you should pay for their fare.’

  Not waiting for an answer, she walked away. Sanjay was offended because Mridula had made fun of his profession. He thought, ‘She is a careless young girl who is exercising her power because she is from a well-to-do family. I don’t want to get into it. I have come here for a specific purpose—to deliver a package, inquire about Champa Bai and report back to my professor. That’s what I’ll do and then leave quickly.’

  A few minutes later, they were passing the Hanuman temple. Mridula was walking ahead of Sanjay. She was worried about what Sanjay would say to her father while Sanjay was wondering why this girl was going in the same direction as him.

  At last, they reached Bheemanna’s house. Bheemanna was sitting in the veranda. Sanjay asked, ‘Who is Mr Bheemanna?’

  Bheemanna got up and said, ‘I am.’

  ‘I want to meet Champa Bai Kamitkar.’

  ‘Oh, she has gone to Naragund.’

  ‘I am Sanjay Rao, a doctor from Bombay. My professor Dr Jog sent me here to deliver a package.’

  Bheemanna was interested in the new visitor. He said enthusiastically, ‘Why are you standing outside? Come here and sit down. Don’t feel shy. Champa Bai will be back in an hour. You can wait here.’

  Then Bheemanna looked at his daughter. ‘Why are you standing there like a stranger? See, a doctor has come home. How was the wedding?’

  Before Mridula could answer, Bheemanna continued, ‘Sanjay Rao, Mridula is my daughter. She had gone to her friend’s wedding in Hubli. Surekha and she were classmates and I have known Surekha’s father for a long time. Mridula, please make two cups of strong tea for us.’

  Mridula went inside and, within a few minutes, brought out two cups of tea. She was smiling. Sanjay took the tea and gave the package to Bheemanna. He said, ‘I think I will go back now. My train is tonight. Kindly give this to Champa Bai.’

  ‘No, you can’t go like this. You must eat dinner with us. I’ll make sure that you reach the railway station on time. You are Chandrakant’s student and he’s my good friend. How can I send his assistant back without a meal? What will he think? What will our Champa Bai think?’

  Sanjay felt uncomfortable. He said, ‘No, I will go back. I can’t spend so much time here.’

  ‘You won’t get bored in our village. You must see the Hanuman temple, the big lake and our medicinal garden. Time will fly. Mridula, please get dinner ready. Sanjay and I are going for a stroll in the village and we’ll come back soon.’

  Bheemanna made his way out, knowing that Sanjay had no choice but to follow him. Sanjay had never met such an open, straightforward and friendly man and didn’t know how to react. Luckily for Sanjay, Bheemanna started chatting about Mridula. ‘Our Mridula is intelligent. We stay in this remote village and are finding it difficult to find an educated groom for her. My immediate circle consists only of farmers.’

  ‘You can take Dr Jog’s help.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right, but it has been more than ten years since Chandrakant came here and Mridula prefers a boy from Karnataka. We have searched for boys, but some of them felt that Mridula is neither a doctor nor an engineer. Some she herself did not like. Our Mridula says, “I don’t mind marrying a man with less money. I can also work. But the boy should be good-natured.” She thinks differently from us.’

  Suddenly, Sanjay remembered Budansabi and asked, ‘Does Mridula know anything about medicine?’

  ‘Yes, she has had medical training. We don’t have a hospital here. So she gives tetvac injections, helps in vaccination camps and takes care of people. She gives excellent first aid too and is of great help to the village women.’

  By this time, they were back in front of Bheemanna’s house and found that Champa Bai had returned. Sanjay talked to her and gave her the package. He looked for Mridula but did not see her anywhere. He couldn’t believe that less than twenty-four hours ago, he had met a beautiful girl who had enchanted him thus.

  After Sanjay returned from Hubli, he daydreamed about Mridula almost every day. While unpacking his bag, he found her hairband. He had forgotten to give it to her! He said to himself, ‘I can mail it to her. But I don’t feel like doing that. I may not even meet her again. It is better to throw the hairband in the dustbin.’

  But he didn’t do that.

  Over the next few days, his work kept him busy and, gradually, he forgot about the hairband.

  4

  Destiny

  The Hubli Teachers’ Association went for a three-week annual trip during the Dussehra holidays. They welcomed teachers from neighbouring villages as well and this year, two teachers from Aladahalli were joining them—Principal Siddarod Hiremath and Mridula.

  In the last four years, the Teachers’ Association had visited Delhi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This year, they planned to go to Maharashtra. All the teachers were enthusiastic and had saved money to spend on the trip. They had reserved an entire railway coach and planned to take a cook with them: that would save them money and the food would be hygienic too. The teachers decided to stay in the local Karnataka Sanghas in the big metros. The tour itinerary included Bombay, Pune, Ajanta, Ellora, Aurangabad, Nasik, Nagpur and a few other towns.

  Though Rukuma was not happy, Bheemanna encouraged Mridula’s trip. Mridula had never gone outside north Karnataka and was excited at the prospect of seeing more of India. She was packing her bags when Champa Bai came in the evening to wish her a happy journey. Champa Bai was a seasoned traveller and liked to give travel tips to others. She advised, ‘Mridula, don’t take too many saris. If your first stop is Pune, you can buy a lot of good saris there. Here is Chandrakant’s address and telephone number. It is better to have a doctor’s address in an unknown city. You can stay with him in Bombay if you want to.’

  ‘Aunty, I saw him twelve years ago and I don’t even remember his face. I can’t speak Marathi either.’

  ‘Mridula, don’t give me excuses. Call him and tell him that you are Bheemanna’s daughter. Then he will talk to you in Kannada. It is his native language.’

  Bheemanna changed the topic: ‘C
hampa Bai, your nieces are married and are in Karnataka, aren’t they?’

  Now, Mridula knew that the conversation would never end and that Champa Bai would eat dinner in their house. So she went to the kitchen to help her mother.

  The next morning, Mridula left for her trip.

  The first stop was Pune. Mridula was the youngest in the group. They visited Parvati Hill, Chaturshringi Temple, Sambhaji Park, Ganapati Temple and Dagdu Halwai. As per Champa Bai’s instructions, all the lady teachers visited Lakshmi Road for sari shopping. Mridula had thought that Hubli was a big shopping centre, but now she saw how small the Hubli market was compared to Pune.

  There were lots of Rasvanti Grahas and these juice shops sold sugar cane juice in style. Sugar cane was not grown in Aladahalli because the land was unsuitable and sugar cane needs a lot of water to grow. The sugar cane juice they got in Hubli tasted different. Here, they added lemon, cardamom and ginger to the sugar cane juice and kept it on ice. Mridula enjoyed the juice in Pune and drank a lot of it till the day they left.

  When they reached Bombay, Mridula got nervous on seeing the huge crowds. The big city, the people and the speed of the trains scared her and she wanted to go back to Aladahalli and its calm. The group stayed at the Karnataka Sangha at Matunga, a locality in central Bombay.

  The next day, the group planned to see Elephanta Caves, the Gateway of India and Nariman Point. They hired a bus to take them around the city. But after breakfast, Mridula felt giddy and nauseated. She told the others, ‘I am feeling unwell. But please go ahead. There is a housekeeper and a cook here. They will help me if I need anything. I’ll take some medicine and I should be all right by the time you come back in the evening.’

  The group was concerned but Mridula convinced them that she would be fine after a few hours of rest. So they left for the trip after Mridula promised to call them if she felt worse.

  Actually, Mridula was scared. She thought that she must have had too much sugar cane juice. Soon, she got fever and it did not subside even after taking the medicine. A little later, she started vomiting and dehydrating. Her stomach was hurting too. She knew that it was better to be on drip and to drink lots of coconut water in such a situation. She felt helpless. ‘If this continues, I will spoil the trip for the rest of the group. People have looked forward to this trip for months. I can stay back in Bombay till I get better—but where will I stay? Had this happened in Aladahalli, things would have been easy. My father would have sent word to a doctor in Shiggaon or Hubli.’

  Suddenly, Mridula remembered that Champa Bai had given her Dr Jog’s contact details. Though she was hesitant to contact him, she didn’t know what else to do. With great reluctance, she dialled the number. When the person on the other end spoke in Marathi, she was puzzled. She said in English, ‘I am Mridula, Bheemanna’s daughter from Aladahalli.’

  In Kannada, the person said, ‘I am Chandrakant here. Where are you calling from? Are you in Bombay?’

  Mridula told him what had happened to her. Dr Jog gently said, ‘Please don’t worry. You may need saline. I am already in the hospital on my rounds. I’ll send my car and you can come here directly.’

  After hanging up, Dr Jog looked at all his assistants and spotted Sanjay. He said to him, ‘Sanjay, you are my only assistant who can speak Kannada. You may have met Mridula when you went to Aladahalli. Please go in my car and bring her to the hospital. She may be more comfortable coming here with somebody she knows. Admit her in the women’s ward. Meanwhile, I’ll arrange a special and comfortable room for her. Poor girl, it must be a big culture shock for her to see Bombay and then, to make matters worse, she’s sick too.’

  Chandrakant loved his aunt Champa Bai and knew that Bheemanna took care of her. Now, Bheemanna’s daughter was unwell and it was his duty to help her. His wife was out of the country so he decided to keep Mridula in the hospital till she was better and then move her to the women’s hostel till her group came back to Bombay. He thought, ‘Sanjay is a sincere boy—he is from Karnataka and may know her too. I’ll tell him to help her for the next ten days.’

  Though Sanjay did not show it, he was happy with this new assignment and unexpected opportunity. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would never meet Mridula again. When he reached Karnataka Sangha, he found that Mridula was very sick—she looked like a faded white lotus of the Aladahalli lake. Sanjay asked her, ‘What’s this, Mridula? Have you come to Bombay to fall sick?’

  Mridula replied in pain, ‘Sickness is independent of where you are. Food is the actual cause.’

  All her colleagues had come back from their day trip and were concerned. They wanted Mridula to go with Sanjay, so that she could get good care and treatment. Principal Hiremath consoled her, ‘Mridula, don’t worry. We’ll be back in Bombay after ten days. By then, you’ll be all right and you can join us. If you are in a doctor’s care, then we won’t worry. I can talk to your father if you like.’

  So Mridula had no other choice. Sanjay brought her to the hospital. The ground floor was the maternity ward and the first floor was the women’s ward. Mridula was given one of the special rooms reserved only for doctors and their recommended patients.

  Sanjay was busy looking at Mridula’s medical papers when Alex ran into him. ‘Sanjay, why aren’t you in OPD on this busy day?’

  ‘There’s a special case.’

  ‘Why are you standing outside the women’s ward? Is the patient in the special case a girl?’ Alex smelt a rat.

  Sanjay blushed, ‘Yes, the patient is a girl. I met her at the wedding in Hubli.’

  ‘Not bad. At least, you lost something in Hubli.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘The most precious thing for a young bachelor like you—your heart. I wish you all the best.’

  Alex smiled, put a hand to his heart and walked away.

  Mridula was on saline for the next few days; after that, she was back to her usual self. She did not call her parents because she knew that they would worry about her. Now, she had to wait for her group to come back. So she moved to the women’s hostel and Sanjay became her only visitor.

  ‘You missed seeing the Elephanta Caves in Bombay with your group because of your illness. I have a holiday tomorrow. May I take you there?’ Sanjay surprised himself by making the first move. He hid the fact that he was taking leave just to take her out.

  Mridula felt shy and yet, she wanted to go with him. She asked, ‘Do you think Doctor Uncle will mind if I go with you?’

  ‘No, you don’t have to take his permission.’

  It was the first time that Mridula was going out with a man. They went to the Gateway of India since the motor boat started from there. While they were waiting to get into the boat, Mridula looked around. She found this city very different. Everyone was doing something or the other. Not an inch of land was wasted here. When their turn came to get into the boat, Sanjay stretched out both his hands to help her step on board. At that moment, Mridula realized that one of his arms was shorter than the other. Sanjay saw that Mridula had noticed his deformity and felt awkward. But Mridula did not say or ask anything.

  The boat started moving towards Elephanta Island. It was full of young lovers, families and college students. One of the bench seats on the boat was not fitted properly. The equipment to fix the seat was available but the boat assistant was unable to do so. The passengers who had paid for the seat were upset and were arguing with the helpless assistant. When Sanjay saw what was happening, he asked for the toolkit and repaired the seat in ten minutes. The assistant was grateful and started talking to Sanjay. ‘Sir, our owner doesn’t hire any carpenters because of their high labour cost and I don’t have any training at all. So customers get upset with me. You are a good mechanic, sir. I’m fortunate that you came today. Thank you so much.’

  Sanjay did not reply.

  After an hour, the boat reached Elephanta Island. All the visitors were excited. Very few people went to actually see the caves. While walking from the seashore
to the caves, Sanjay was unusually quiet. Mridula said, ‘Did you notice that the helper thought that you were a mechanic? I wanted to tell him that you are a doctor.’

  ‘Yes. Well, a doctor is also a mechanic—of the human body.’

  ‘That’s true.’

  ‘In our hospital, if any medical equipment doesn’t work, they call me. I like to repair things.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you pursue engineering?’

  ‘There was a reason.’ Sanjay became silent and did not say any more.

  A short walk later, they reached the caves. There were huge statues carved in the temple wall. It was beautiful. But Mridula was thinking about Sanjay. ‘Let Sanjay answer my question in his own time. I don’t want to get details about his personal life by forcing him to answer.’

  Outside, there were some restaurants, and hawkers selling picture postcards, film rolls, instant photos and T-shirts. It seemed to be a popular picnic spot and not just a place of archaeological interest. Sanjay and Mridula decided to have tea in one of the restaurants. While sipping tea, Sanjay started talking: ‘When I was a child, I was normal just like anybody else. At the age of four or five, I climbed a tree. I don’t remember this incident at all. My parents told me that I fell down from the tree and became unconscious. My father was the village medical practitioner and he never took money from his patients. But he didn’t have any formal education. He prepared medicines at home. So he gave me a home-made remedy, but my arm wasn’t set properly. Later, my mother took me to a big hospital and showed it to an orthopaedic surgeon. But it was too late. I had to have surgery. In that process, my arm became a little shorter.’

  Hesitantly, Mridula asked, ‘Do you have any problem with that hand?’