House of Cards: A Novel

by Sudha Murty

Vatsala shook her head and walked away to her bedroom. But she stood by the door to listen to the conversation.

  Mridula turned to her parents and her brother and said, ‘Sanjay wants to start a private nursing home and we have to chip in twenty-five lakh. We’re already taking a loan of fifteen lakh from the bank. But we don’t have enough savings. If you give us a loan of five lakh, we’ll return it within three or four years with interest. I don’t know anyone else whom I can ask. Please know that even if you don’t give us the money, I won’t be upset. I understand that you may have problems too. My relationship with you won’t change.’

  Vatsala was livid when she heard Mridula.

  Meanwhile, Krishna was silent. Rukuma looked at Bheemanna and said, ‘Five lakh is a lot of money. These days, things aren’t going smoothly for us. Sometimes, there’s no rainfall and then there’s no profit. Our tractor is old and has to be replaced. Besides, Vatsala wants us to buy a house in Hubli.’

  Mridula sensed that Bheemanna was wondering what they should do. She wanted to give her family time to talk about the matter. So she said, ‘I’ll visit Champakka for a few hours.’

  As she walked over to Champakka’s house, Mridula thought about the village school. She had seen the change in the village too. Everybody thought like Vatsala now. They wanted their children to study in Hubli or Dharwad so that they could learn English and get admission in better colleges later. Only people who could not afford to send their children to Hubli or Dharwad sent them to the local school in Aladahalli. Good teachers took transfers to city schools. Nobody thought of the school as an asset to the village. The school had become an orphan.

  Champakka was ecstatic to see Mridula. She had become very old but her mind was as sharp as ever. Champakka said, ‘Mridula, I thought you had forgotten Aladahalli and that you don’t go out of Bangalore any more. You used to love this village. How can you live in the city? It’s crowded and people are indifferent there.’

  Mridula knew that Champakka was not serious, so she did not even answer her. She noticed that Champakka had developed a hunch. Champakka continued, ‘Mridula, I don’t have the energy to walk today. Yesterday, I made special laddoos for you after your father told me that you were coming. Take them from that dabba. Don’t sit on the floor. It’s cold today. Take a mat and sit on it.’

  Out of habit, Mridula peeped at Champakka’s garden. Then she brought the laddoos and sat in front of Champakka. She asked, ‘Champakka, what happened to your garden? It’s full of weeds. All the colourful flowers are gone. Only the mehendi tree is still blooming.’

  ‘Don’t talk about the garden, Mridula. It hurts me. After you got married and went away, no one cared for it any more. You used to tend to it like it was your own child. But your sister-in-law Vatsala doesn’t bother. Do you know what she said to me?’ Mridula did not reply but Champakka continued, ‘She said that she wasn’t my servant to look after my garden and that I should keep a servant for a hundred rupees who can clean and water it. Vatsala prefers to buy the kakada flowers from the Hubli market. She keeps them in the fridge so that she can use them for days. She doesn’t want to work in the garden and grow fresh flowers. She’s lazy.’

  Somehow, Champakka and Vatsala had become enemies. Mridula knew that Champakka was soft at heart and forgave easily. But Vatsala was different. Mridula did not want to talk about her and changed the topic. She asked, ‘Aunty, who tends to your garden now?’

  ‘Peerambi. But she has a lot of work at home. She takes care of the garden as often as she can. She’s fond of mehendi. That’s why the mehendi tree is taken care of very well. She takes flowers to the Hanuman temple every day. Mridula, you used to make such beautiful mehendi designs. There was no bride in the village who didn’t have your mehendi on her hands.’

  Mridula remembered Surekha’s wedding and the way she had met Sanjay. The memory made her happy and she forgot about Vatsala. Champakka asked her, ‘Why have you come alone? Is everything all right?’

  Mridula told her everything. Champakka commented, ‘They won’t give you money. Your sister-in-law will ensure it. Peerambi told me that Vatsala has already booked a two-bedroom flat in Hubli for eight lakh.’

  In Aladahalli, Peerambi and Bheemanna were like All India Radio. Nothing remained a secret. Champakka lowered her voice and said, ‘I hear that there’s a new law that gives married daughters entitlement to their parents’ property. Use the information and scare your sister-in-law to get your money.’

  ‘Champakka, I don’t want a single rupee using legal rights. I want my brother’s family to live happily and prosper. My mother used to pray to God for her brother and she has taught me to do the same. When we start talking about legal rights, I may get the money but I’ll lose the relationship. I care more about the relationship with my brother and my parents.’

  Champakka smiled and nodded in approval.

  After Mridula came out of Champakka’s house, she did not go home. She went instead to the Hanuman temple and sat on the swing there. The cool breeze from the lake made her joyful. She started singing. She had her parents, a brother, a son and a husband, but more than anything else, just being in Aladahalli gave her enormous happiness.

  It was Ugadi time, in the month of February or March. Summer had just arrived. The mango trees sported soft reddish-green leaves and the cuckoos were making lovely coo-coo sounds. Everyone in the village was busy preparing for the festival. Yet, there was a pin-drop silence near the temple.

  But for Mridula, nothing mattered. She was swinging without any bondage and with a free mind. From the swing, she could see her house. She was happy.

  Mridula was not like everybody, she was different. She had enormous enthusiasm for life and unlimited energy for reading, cooking and sketching. She wanted to spend every minute of the day fruitfully. It seemed that the sun rose for her and the rainbow colours were meant only for her. Every day was to be lived to its fullest and every beautiful minute to be enjoyed.

  After dinner, Bheemanna called Mridula to his side and said, ‘Mridula, you’re our daughter. We can’t give you a loan. Your mother and I thought about it. We want to give you three lakh with our blessings. You’ll prosper with this money.’

  Krishna and Vatsala peeped out from their room and listened to every word.

  Mridula had tears in her eyes. Her parents had kept this money for their old age. They did not want to upset their daughter-in-law, so they must have taken the money out from their emergency fund. Mridula said, ‘Appa, you’re very generous. But I feel odd taking money from you. You don’t have to gift me such a huge amount. I want to return this money later.’

  ‘Mridula, let’s not talk about it. Rukuma, bring kumkum and give it to Mridula along with this cheque. Well, I have things to do. Mulla Sabi is unwell. He had gone to Hubli today for a detailed health check-up and I want to know the results.’

  Bheemanna walked out of the house, smiling at Mridula.

  17

  The Beginning of the End

  Four years passed.

  There were quite a few changes in Mridula’s life. She had become the principal of Vijayanagar High School. Sanjay and Alex had started the Sushruta Nursing Home. Mridula also worked hard and helped to get the nursing home up and running. She had mortgaged her wedding jewellery to invest in the nursing home. When they started the nursing home, Anita was new to Bangalore and did not know much. So Mridula got things done from the carpenter, the dhobi, the tailor and other people. Though Alex was supposed to look after the administration, he was busy searching for another site for the nursing home. So Mridula even did all the bank work and took care of the income tax formalities too. The nursing home became popular quite quickly.

  During a visit to T. Narasipura, Ratnamma’s sharp eyes immediately noticed that her daughter-in-law was not wearing any ornaments. She asked Mridula, ‘What happened to your jewellery?’

  Mridula told her that she had mortgaged her jewellery. Ratnamma advised her to get it back as soon as they could b
ut did not offer to help. She simply said, ‘Your father has given you pure-gold ornaments. Experience has shown me that once people mortgage gold, they usually don’t get it back. Instead, they sell it off. Don’t do that.’

  After Sanjay and Mridula made some money from the nursing home, they paid off the mortgage and got the jewellery back.

  The nursing home did well and money started to come in. Sanjay felt happy and confident about his work. Now, he drove a car and Mridula owned a Kinetic Honda scooter. She had repaid the loan for their home but they had not moved out of the apartment. Mridula wanted to build a house in Jayanagar or JP Nagar but they did not have that much money yet. She was aware that Sishir would go to college in a few years and then they would need money for his education. So she did not want to spend all their money on a new home. Mridula took care of their finances and Sanjay insisted that she operate all the bank accounts and keep control. She continued to give Sanjay pocket money.

  Meanwhile, Anita and Alex remained regular visitors to Sanjay and Mridula’s home. Alex had initiated a new venture in the Middle East and so he travelled a lot, while Anita loved living in Bangalore. She joined the church choir. Her daughter, Julie, went to Baldwin Girls’ High School on Richmond Road.

  Anita hired a girl named Maggie from Mangalore to work for her. Maggie had studied till high school and was usually well dressed and presentable. Sometimes, she looked even better than Anita. Maggie was the eldest of five daughters in her family and she had taken up the job due to financial reasons; she stayed in Anita’s house. Anita treated her well and opened a bank account for her so that she could deposit her salary and start saving money. Maggie and Anita got along well with each other and they were happy.

  Sanjay now understood how a private nursing home worked. It was not just about giving the best treatment. It was about cleanliness, talking politely and inspiring confidence in patients. When Alex had told him about it before, Sanjay had not taken him seriously. But now, he realized the importance of Alex’s words. In government hospitals, the treatment of the patient was the only essential thing. Assistant doctors did everything else. In private practice, however, the doctors had to closely watch and take care of everything. If a patient died due to any reason, the hospital’s reputation immediately got affected. Sanjay learnt that once a nursing home became famous, patients would automatically come to their door. But he had to be careful to protect the nursing home’s name.

  Shankar had been transferred to Mysore and had built a big house there. Mridula had gone to Lakshmi and Shankar’s house-warming. Ever since Sanjay had started his private practice, he hardly went anywhere because he was so busy. He did not have anything to say about what gift should be given to Lakshmi at her house-warming. Everything at home was decided by Mridula. Lakshmi’s house was beautiful. It had four bedrooms, an Italian kitchen and marble floors. Lakshmi had spent twenty-five thousand rupees on flower decorations alone for the house-warming. Mridula gifted her a silk sari and gave Shankar a silver bowl. But Lakshmi’s return gift was better than her gifts. Ratnamma came to the house-warming at lunchtime and did not give any gifts; she did not understand why two gifts should be given from the same family. A few months later, Shankar took voluntary retirement and fully involved himself in the business in Lakshmi’s name.

  After a year of no contact, Lakshmi came to visit Sanjay and Mridula from Mysore. It was Sunday and Mridula was at home. Sanjay was in the nursing home. Mridula was surprised to see Lakshmi. Usually, she was dressed well even at home but today, she was wearing a cheap sari and looked rather unhappy. Mridula said, ‘Akka, come inside. When did you come from Mysore?’

  ‘I took the 6 a.m. bus.’

  Mridula was surprised to hear that Lakshmi had come by bus. She said, ‘Freshen up and have breakfast first. Then we’ll talk.’

  Lakshmi went to take a bath. She entertained guests very well and Mridula wanted to reciprocate. But today, things were different. Mridula understood that Lakshmi had a problem and she wanted to help. Even though they were not rich, their financial position was better than before. Lakshmi had never asked for help from her brother before this.

  Lakshmi finished her bath and gave a basket to Mridula. It had brinjals, Mysore jasmine flowers and bananas. Mridula asked affectionately, ‘Akka, why did you bring me all this? Tell me, how are you?’

  Lakshmi started crying. Sobbing, she said, ‘Mridula, my husband got some money after his voluntary retirement and we used that money to take a loan and invested it in the business. At the time, our hotel business was doing very well. But our business partner cheated us. We are innocent people and we believed him. We even mortgaged our new house to expand the business. Now, we are incurring heavy losses and are in a financial mess. We have lost our house and our business.’

  ‘Akka, Shankar’s brothers are in Mysore with you. Aren’t they helping you?’

  ‘They are of no use. We are facing tough times and instead of helping, they’re refusing to talk to us. Not only that, but they also make fun of us. We’ve lost everything. Anil is a young boy and he can’t help his father yet.’

  Mridula was taken aback. Sanjay and she had just finished repaying their loan and it was beyond their capacity to help Lakshmi much. She felt sorry for her. She asked Lakshmi, ‘How much money do you need to come out of this?’

  ‘About thirty lakh.’

  ‘Stay here for a few days. I’ll talk to Sanjay about this. He’ll be back for lunch.’

  ‘No, Mridula, I can’t stay that long. I have to go and meet a friend in Rajajinagar now. He has taken a loan from us and is yet to return it. I’ll be back at night.’

  Lakshmi ate her breakfast and left for the day. Mridula was worried. She felt like she herself had a problem.

  When Sanjay came back early from the nursing home, Mridula was surprised. She asked, ‘How did you manage to come back early today?’

  ‘Rosemary is now managing a lot of the work. So I can take some time off from my administrative duties.’

  When they had first started the nursing home, Sanjay had found it awkward to ask for consultation fees since there were no such fees in a government hospital. Alex had sat down with Sanjay and persuaded him to start charging for his work. He had helped him decide the fees for consultations, normal deliveries, C-sections, tube testing and other procedures.

  Some smart patients would say, ‘Doctor, we don’t have money to pay you today. Can we pay on our next visit?’

  Sanjay could never refuse and then he would forget all about it. When the patients came in the next time, he would not remember to charge them for their previous visit and the patients never paid on their own. So the nursing home’s income suffered. After a few months, Alex had told Sanjay, ‘You can’t conduct business in this way. I’m travelling frequently on business trips and can’t be here to track such patients down. Let’s hire a smart secretary. We’ll pay her three thousand rupees a month. She can sit at a table outside your office and ask for money without hesitation.’

  Sanjay had agreed with a sigh of relief. He never liked asking patients for money. That was how Rosemary had been employed. Alex had known her family for a long time. She had a bachelor’s degree in science and came from a poor family. She would not have been able to complete her graduation without the church’s help. After graduation, she had started a two-year nursing course. But her father had died when she was in the first year. Rosemary did not have any other choice but to discontinue her studies and find a job so that she could take care of her family. Alex had hired her and arranged for her to stay on the first floor of the nursing home. Over the years, Rosemary had worked her way up to head nurse.

  Now, she managed all accounts very well. With her intelligence and honesty, she would have made an excellent doctor.

  Mridula explained Lakshmi’s problem to Sanjay but he did not say anything. Then he got called for an emergency at the nursing home and left. Mridula decided to call her mother-in-law. Sanjay and Mridula sent her money every month bu
t Ratnamma still did not have a phone in her house. Sanjay did not tell his mother to get a phone either. Nobody knew where the money went, and they could not ask her. Though Ratnamma had no phone, the shop next to hers had one, and the people there were nice enough to call her whenever she got a phone call.

  Mridula phoned her mother-in-law and said, ‘Amma, Akka has come here. She’s facing tough times and needs thirty lakh.’

  Mridula told Ratnamma about Lakshmi’s visit. There was silence at the other end. Mridula thought that the line may have been disconnected. She said, ‘Hello, hello, Amma, can you hear me?’

  ‘I can hear you, Mridula. But what are you talking about? She came here just yesterday and yes, she told me that she didn’t have any money. But she didn’t mention the thirty lakh. Ever since she got married, I’ve told her to reduce her expenses and not to worry about status. But she doesn’t listen to me. Anyway, you decide if you want to help her or not. I don’t want to interfere.’

  Ratnamma kept the phone down. Mridula found it strange that Lakshmi had visited her mother’s house the day before but had not told her. She felt sorry that Lakshmi and Shankar would have to sell their new home.

  When Sanjay came back from the nursing home, Mridula found that he felt the same way as his mother did. He said, ‘If I help Lakshmi financially, it’s of no use because Shankar and she are addicted to spending more than they earn. But because she’s my sister, I have to do something for her.’

  ‘Sanjay, we should decide what help we can give Lakshmi before she comes back.’

  ‘Mridula, we don’t have that kind of money. I’ve lived in their house for two years and seen how they live. They show off too much. I don’t want to give them a loan because they’ll never return it. If Shankar agrees, I can give him a job at the nursing home with a monthly salary. But they must stay separately and not in our house. I can’t help them more than this. That’s my final say.’