House of Cards: A Novel Read online

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