by Sudha Murty
There was a special dhobi ghat on the side of the lake. The day after the guests left, Sarla insisted that she wanted to wash her clothes there. Mridula agreed. She knew that Sarla wanted to play in the water. There was great joy in washing clothes at the big lake. With one foot firmly resting on a big boulder, the clothes were thrashed on the rock with force, which sprayed the water about everywhere. It was very different from washing clothes under a tap in a city home.
Mridula and Sarla walked to the lake. When they reached the shore, Mridula started soaking all the clothes. Sarla forgot everything and played in the water a short distance away. Suddenly, Mridula found something in the pocket of one of the trousers. She put her hand in the pocket and took out a wallet—it was Satish’s. Abruptly, she heard a shout and looked around. She saw Satish running towards her. He was some distance away and she could not hear what he was saying. Her attention wandered back to the wallet. She was worried that the money inside would get wet, so she opened it. She found money and a small photograph stashed in a corner. She was happy to have found something to tease Satish about. When she pulled out the picture, however, she was shocked to see a photo of herself from her old college ID. She didn’t know what to do. She was not expecting this. She had always thought of Satish as a good cousin. Things may have been different if she had known about his feelings earlier, but now she could only think of Sanjay. Her devotion was to him alone. She turned her back to the approaching Satish and hid the photo.
Soon, Satish reached her. ‘Hey, is my wallet here? I left it in my pants when I gave them for a wash. There’s an important paper in it.’
Mridula snapped, ‘If the paper is that important, then you shouldn’t have forgotten your wallet! Here, take your pants.’
Satish took his wallet out quietly and walked away. He turned back to look at Mridula but she pretended to continue washing the clothes. He mulled over the things left unsaid and left the ghat, deep in thought.
9
Partners
By the time Sanjay and Mridula got married, Sanjay had quit his job in Bombay.
Before the wedding, Mridula told Sanjay, ‘Why don’t you find a job in Bangalore? It’ll be easier for us to settle there. At the end of the day, language matters. We both belong to the same region. I have seen a newspaper advertisement for a temporary government job at Bangalore Victoria Hospital. I hope you’ll think about my suggestion.’
Sanjay agreed. He was not too fond of Bombay either. He had obtained enough experience there and knew that it was expensive to get a decent apartment to live in. Moreover, Mridula would have to leave her job, which she absolutely loved. She wouldn’t be allowed to take a transfer out of state and go to Bombay. However, if he found a job in Bangalore, she could take a transfer there. Besides, he was confident that he would get a postgraduate seat in Bangalore. So Mridula and Sanjay decided to make Bangalore their home.
Sanjay got the job at Victoria Hospital and asked Mridula to join him there after marriage. When Mridula came to Bangalore for the first time, she saw a new world. She had spent most of her life in Aladahalli and found life in Bangalore tough. It was hard for her to understand the local version of Kannada, which was mostly mixed with English. Sanjay and Mridula wanted to stay near the hospital but could not afford the high rent. They looked around and decided to rent a house in Yelahanka. It was far from the city but the rent was affordable.
Mridula took a transfer to a government school in Yelahanka but she found a lot of difference between Aladahalli High School and Yelahanka High School.
Aladahalli High School was very famous and students came from surrounding villages to study there. The school was not just a building. It had a huge playground and an open-air theatre. It had its own kitchen garden which was under Mridula’s supervision when she was working there. It was compulsory for all the children to work in the garden for at least two hours every week. The vegetables grown there were used for cooking and the children were given a midday meal with the help of the villagers and without government aid. Obedience was important in the school. So students were polite and listened sincerely to the teachers. It was like a big joint family and it was a joy for Mridula to be a teacher in the school.
But Yelahanka High School was very different. It was not the only school in the area. When the students had a choice of schools, the best often chose not to study in a government one. The English-medium private schools were popular even though they were more expensive. The teachers’ attitudes were also different. In a big city like Bangalore, some teachers gave private tuitions at home while others had a small business on the side and were more interested in running the business than in teaching. Most of them did not consider the earnings from teaching to be their main source of livelihood. They thought of it just as an appetizer to the main course. So there was no personal connection between the teachers and the students.
Still, the situation was not that bad. Some teachers like Principal Muniyappa were like Mridula. They considered teaching to be a pious profession and taught the children passionately. Principal Muniyappa was from Kolar and was a warm-hearted person. He also stayed in Yelahanka with his family. On Mridula’s first day at the school, he affectionately told her, ‘Mridula madam, please don’t be nervous. You have two years of good teaching experience. We have four Kannada-medium sections and one English-medium section in this school. Feel free to choose any class and language that you feel comfortable with.’
These small words of encouragement were enough for Mridula to work efficiently.
Soon, Mridula and Sanjay settled into a comfortable routine. Mridula got up early in the morning, cooked and gave Sanjay breakfast. He carried a lunch dabba to the hospital and returned home at night. After Sanjay left, Mridula went to school; she cleaned the house in the evenings. She was left with no time for herself. If there was an emergency or night duty at the hospital, Sanjay stayed back there. Since they did not have a telephone or a vehicle, Sanjay would call up Muniyappa’s house and leave a message for Mridula. Their twenty-year-old son Arun would cycle over to Mridula and Sanjay’s house to pass on the message to her, irrespective of the time of day. He was a nice and intelligent boy, studying engineering and majoring in computer science.
Mridula had never cooked a complete meal at her parents’ home in Aladahalli. She had helped her mother but never made the main course by herself. When there were many guests at home, a cook used to be called from Hubli. So Mridula never had much responsibility in the house. But now, she had to cook and, more importantly, she had to lock the house, which her parents hardly ever did in Aladahalli. Mridula was nervous because she was not accustomed to cooking many different dishes. She did not have anyone to guide her in her cooking. Principal Muniyappa’s wife, Kantamma, was a nice lady; she became Mridula’s adviser.
One day, Mridula asked her, ‘Kantamma, will you help me cook different kinds of food?’
‘Mridula, what can an uneducated person like me teach an intelligent person like you? I was sixteen years old when I got married. My mother-in-law was just like my mother and I am grateful to her for that. She taught me everything I know. I will teach you whatever I can.’
Mridula was not as lucky as Kantamma. Ratnamma neither came to Bangalore nor taught her anything. Whenever Sanjay and Mridula invited her for a visit, Ratnamma always said, ‘There’s a lot of work in the fields. If I’m not there to supervise, then the men don’t work at all. They take away the seeds, and the entire year’s crop could get wasted. Anyway, you don’t really need me. Mridula is not a teenager. Her mother can help her if needed.’
Ratnamma did not invite the newly-weds to visit her in T. Narasipura for any festival or holiday. Lakshmi avoided Mridula too and took the pretext of her child’s schooling and said that she was busy and could not visit Bangalore. So Mridula started her new life with Kantamma’s help. She tried her cooking on Sanjay. Most times, the results were disastrous. But Sanjay never said anything negative. This made Mridula more conscious about her
cooking.
Except for the tight economic situation, they did not have any problems. Mridula earned more than Sanjay. He gave his salary to Mridula and told her to manage the money. His only request was that she send some money to his mother. So Mridula kept the accounts and insisted that Sanjay keep some money in his wallet. Together, they paid the rent, sent some money to Ratnamma and the remaining money was spent on household expenses. Ratnamma neither felt elated when she received their money, nor would she have blamed them if she did not get any. But she never wasted it—she invested it all in moneylending. For her, there was nothing worse than money not fetching any interest. Though Sanjay did not like this attitude, he could not tell her so.
Once, Bheemanna came to visit Mridula and brought her lots of groceries from the village. He insisted that he would send her groceries from Aladahalli every year. But Sanjay did not like this. He said to Mridula, ‘We must spend our own money and buy things slowly instead of taking them from your father.’
So Mridula saved money and over time they bought a TV, a fridge and a new scooter for Sanjay. They led a happy and contented life.
Sanjay had very few friends. Soon, he got busy preparing for his post-graduation. Once he entered the hospital, he forgot about everything else. After his shift ended, he did not waste any time: he went to the library to study. He remembered Dr Jog’s words: ‘If you concentrate and learn, acquire knowledge and skill, then that is real talent. If you run after money more than work, then money will run away from you. If you acquire skill, money will run after you.’
10
The In-Laws
Since Mridula had been brought up in a traditional atmosphere, she felt guilty about not visiting her in-laws’ home. She asked Sanjay to take her to meet his mother and sister many times but he did not show any interest in meeting them. A long weekend was coming up now and Mridula insisted that they spend it at T. Narasipura. She asked Sanjay, ‘What should I take for your mother? I’m meeting her for the first time after marriage.’
Sanjay was indifferent. He said, ‘My mother doesn’t expect any gifts. She will accept whatever you give her.’
So Mridula asked her guide Kantamma who advised her not to go empty-handed. Kantamma said, ‘After marriage, your mother-in-law becomes as important as your mother. If you keep her happy, then your mother will also be happy. You should get used to your mother-in-law. If she gets upset with you for any reason, you shouldn’t be upset. After all, she is older and you are still young. I know that you have patience. Take a sari for your mother-in-law and some fresh fruits and flowers.’
Meanwhile, Lakshmi wrote a letter to the couple saying, ‘Belur has many beautiful temples and we may get transferred any day. So come and visit us.’ Though Shankar was working as a bank clerk there, he was keen to run his own business. He had a friend who owned a hotel in Belur. Shankar borrowed some money from the bank and invested it in that hotel in Lakshmi’s name.
Finally, Mridula and Sanjay left for T. Narasipura on a Friday evening. When they reached the bus stand, there was nobody to greet them. Ratnamma’s house was nearby—they walked to her house.
Ratnamma was sitting in her shop and was happy to see them. She stood up when she saw her son and his new bride. Then she asked Mridula to step into her shop with her right foot first. ‘I’m sorry that there’s no other lady here to escort you inside the house. Even Lakshmi couldn’t come. Please don’t feel bad.’
Ratnamma lay the mat for them and went to the kitchen. Mridula sat down and Sanjay went to the backyard. Mridula observed her surroundings and was surprised. Though she had been brought up in a village, this looked different from any house in her village. This village was much better developed than Aladahalli. It was also considered a pilgrimage place and was located close to the big city of Mysore. But Ratnamma’s house was inferior to any poor farmer’s house in Aladahalli. The only signs of modern civilization were the water taps and the electricity in the house. There was a black-and-white TV, no radio and no gas stove. There was a mud stove in the corner and the dry leaves of the coconut tree provided the cooking fuel. More than poverty, negligence was rampant in the house.
Mridula wondered, ‘What will my mother, Rukuma, think about this house? Would my parents have allowed me to marry Sanjay had they seen his family home?’
Almost immediately, Sanjay came in. When he looked at Mridula’s face, he understood what was going on in her head. Sadly, he said, ‘You know, Amma is alone and very busy. She can’t look after the house.’
Ratnamma came back from the kitchen. She brought water in a steel jug and two bananas for her new daughter-in-law. The usually talkative Mridula was dumb before her. She did not know what to say. The silence was unbearable. Even mother and son did not converse much. Sanjay asked Ratnamma, ‘How are you, Amma?’
‘I’m fine. How are you?’
‘I’m fine, too. How’s Lakshmi?’
‘She’s okay.’
That ended the conversation.
Nobody spoke to Mridula; but she asked, ‘May I cook tonight?’
‘Yes, you may.’ There was neither affection nor enmity in Ratnamma’s voice. It was an emotionless, businesslike reply.
Many of Sanjay’s friends were not in T. Narasipura now. They had moved to other places—but a few remained. Sanjay did not really want to meet them, but he wanted to go around the village and revisit the places where he had spent his early years. So he said, ‘I’ll go for a walk and come back soon.’
Some customers came into the shop and Ratnamma went to assist them. She talked to the customers and tried to persuade them to buy from her. Mridula found it strange that her mother-in-law was silent at home, but so talkative at the cash register.
Mridula went inside the dimly lit kitchen. After searching for some time, she found rice, tur dal and a little ragi flour, but she couldn’t find any oil or vegetables. So she came out of the kitchen. She kept the sari, fruits and flowers that she had brought for her mother-in-law on a plate. By then, the customer had gone and Ratnamma walked back in. Without any pretence, Ratnamma told Mridula directly, ‘Don’t search for vegetables. There’s a small pumpkin in the attic. Red chillies are in the shop and the curry leaves are in the backyard. You have travelled a long distance and you must be tired. I’ll make sambar and rice.’
Ratnamma was direct, especially when it came to money matters. She was aware that misunderstandings could lead to unnecessary expenditure. If Mridula saw that there were no vegetables, she would tell her impractical husband to get some. Sanjay would buy lots of vegetables from the market without bargaining; they would lose money.
When Ratnamma saw the gifts from her daughter-in-law, she was disappointed. In her head, she calculated how much money they must have wasted. She exclaimed, ‘Oh, Mridula, why did you buy such an expensive sari? I don’t have places or occasions to wear it. I don’t teach in a school like you either. Whatever was given to me in your marriage is still lying unused. And I don’t eat so many fruits—or wear flowers.’
Mridula did not know what to say.
Ratnamma could hear another customer’s voice in the shop. Today was Friday and there was more rush than usual. If she did not assist them, they would go to the next shop. She couldn’t afford to sit and chat with her daughter-in-law now. She said, ‘After Sanjay comes, you can go to the temple. Take these fruits along. Go around the riverbed and come back. Take your time.’
After Sanjay came back, the couple left for the temple. Sanjay recognized many people in the village. Some of the women said, ‘Sanjay, at last we see your wife. We hear that your wife is from Bombay. Can she speak Kannada?’
Mridula interrupted and replied, ‘Oh no, I’m not from Bombay. I’m from Dharwad and I can speak Kannada.’
She thought, ‘In small villages such as this, rumours fly quickly—T. Narasipura is no exception.’
There were some older married ladies sitting in the temple. Mridula remembered her mother and the custom followed in Aladahalli on a Fr
iday evening. Irrespective of the community, Rukuma would give betel leaves, turmeric, kumkum, flowers, fruit and some money to such women. So Mridula gave ten rupees and betel leaves to everyone. Then she did namaskara.
By the time Sanjay and Mridula came back from the riverbed, the news had reached Ratnamma: ‘Ratnamma’s new daughter-in-law gave ten rupees and betel leaves to everyone.’
Ratnamma felt uncomfortable. She thought, ‘What does Mridula know what the value of ten rupees is? Blessings are not proportional to money. If blessings had that power, then the world would have been different.’
She had seen enough nonsense in her life. She wanted to warn her daughter-in-law for the sake of her son. When people wanted money, they told Ratnamma, ‘Please give me money. I’ll return it quickly. I’ll be your slave for ever.’
But when Ratnamma asked for the money back, the same people called her a greedy owl. Ratnamma thought, ‘Look at these women. They are from well-to-do families. Why will they say no to free money? If Mridula believes that blessings from such women are important, then I don’t mind if she touches their feet, but she shouldn’t give them money. If the woman of the house is a spendthrift, then what will my son’s future be?’
By the time the couple came back, it was 9 p.m. and Ratnamma had closed the shop. She had made rice, pumpkin sambar, ragi balls and chutney for dinner. Sanjay loved ragi balls. Though Mridula had recently learnt to make them, they did not taste like Ratnamma’s.
‘Sanjay, what are your plans for the future? Do you still want to study further?’
‘Yes, Amma, I am applying for post-graduation this year. My goal is to get a government job and teach. That will give me more happiness than private practice.’
Ratnamma did not understand the intricacies and kept quiet.