House of Cards: A Novel Read online

  Alex had explained the politics at work, ‘Sanjay, there are three units in the gynaecology department. They are headed by Dr Jog, Dr Parekh and Dr Bhosale. Dr Parekh is good but he owns his own nursing home. So he is more concerned about that. Dr Bhosale is a local person related to a minister. So he is constantly busy. The best is Dr Jog. He is impartial, knowledgeable and a great teacher. Also, he is from your state. You will feel more comfortable with him. Though we talk about equal opportunity for everyone, practically, in our country, it is community, language and connections that are important. I recommend Dr Jog. But the decision is yours.’

  So Sanjay had joined Dr Jog. But Dr Jog never talked to Sanjay in Kannada and treated him impartially. However, Sanjay spoke in Kannada to patients who knew the language to make them feel at home. That was how Dr Jog found out that Sanjay was also from Karnataka. But it made no difference to him. He was more impressed with Sanjay’s sincerity at work.

  Sanjay’s thoughts wandered back to Mridula and he thought about her reaction, ‘Maybe she’s making fun of my letter in front of her friends. I have spent almost three years in Bombay now. It is time—I must either do my post-graduation in Bombay or return to Bangalore.’

  Finally, he slept.

  6

  A Second Chance

  November and December were the best months of the year in Aladahalli. There were no lashing rains and no windy, hot days. The sky was clear and the weather pleasant. The full-moon day was celebrated with great joy and all relatives and friends came together for a moonlit dinner at the side of the lake or in the mango grove. The entire dinner consisted of special items that were white in colour, such as curd rice, sugary desserts, white chiroti, kheer and jowar roti.

  Bheemanna celebrated this festival annually and this year was no different. All his friends had come from different villages. Rukuma’s relatives were also joining in. Champa Bai was like family to Bheemanna and her relatives were also invited. Bheemanna had hired a cook from Hubli and told him, ‘We’re not maharajas or gods. We’re mere mortals and can’t give expensive gifts to everyone. But we can give them excellent food, cooked with love. Please use a lot of home-made ghee, jaggery and fruits. Whoever joins us for this dinner must remember the food and the company until the Purnima festival comes around again next year.’

  After the Maharashtra trip, Mridula had become unusually quiet at home. For the first time in her life, someone had written a love letter to her. Initially, she was shocked. But once she had finished reading the letter, she began to like Sanjay even more. A wedding was an important milestone and she couldn’t take the decision on her own. Her parents would have a major say in this. She decided to tell her parents. Bheemanna had not noticed that Mridula was quiet and preoccupied. He was too busy preparing for the festival. Rukuma attributed Mridula’s quietness to her brief sickness and tiredness from the trip. She wanted to talk to her but there were too many guests at home and they were keeping her busy. Rukuma’s brother Satyabodha had also come with his wife and children, Sarla and Satish. Satish was not Satyabodha’s biological son but his wife’s distant cousin who had lost both his parents; Satyabodha and his wife had adopted him as their own.

  On the day of the festival, all the guests left for the lake with the cooked food. Bheemanna told them that he and his family would join them shortly. Rukuma had almost finished cleaning the kitchen. Now, only the four of them remained in the house. Mridula thought, ‘This is the best time to tell my parents about the letter.’

  Bheemanna was sitting on the swing and urging his wife to hurry up. Mridula quietly brought the letter and gave it to Bheemanna. Then she went and stood behind a wooden pillar. Bheemanna read the letter and was surprised. He immediately called out to his wife, ‘What’s your opinion about that doctor from Bombay?’

  Hearing Bheemanna’s urgent tone and unexpected question, Rukuma stopped what she was doing and came outside. ‘Why do you want to know? And why now?’

  Bheemanna said softly, ‘Because he has written a letter to our Mridula telling her that he wants to marry her.’

  By now, Krishna had also come outside. Rukuma replied, ‘We have met him just once and we don’t know anything about him or his background.’

  ‘Don’t worry. He belongs to our community. You already know that he’s a doctor. Now, tell me what you think.’

  ‘How can I give my opinion in such a short time?’

  ‘Well, take your time. Ah, I forgot to tell you one thing.’ Bheemanna told Rukuma about Sanjay’s handicap.

  Rukuma looked disturbed. ‘I think we shouldn’t pursue this matter. Our Mridula can get a better boy.’

  Mridula went inside the house. She wanted her parents to discuss this freely. Krishna followed her; he wanted to know more about Sanjay. ‘Mridula, you didn’t tell me about Sanjay!’

  ‘Brother, I never thought of him in that way.’ She told him what had happened between Sanjay and her.

  Meanwhile, Bheemanna said to his wife, ‘If everything else is favourable, then his arm shouldn’t be the reason to stop the marriage. The boy is handsome and intelligent. We can find out more details from Chandrakant. But let’s do that only if Mridula agrees.’

  Rukuma was still hesitant. ‘What’s the hurry? If I tell my brother, he’ll get her a better alliance.’

  ‘Your brother is unable to find a match for his own daughter. So forget about it. The boy is decent and that’s why he has written a letter. But if Mridula says “no”, then there is nothing more to be done.’

  Bheemanna called out to Mridula. She entered the veranda like a shy bride. She knew why they were calling her. Bheemanna said, ‘Mridula, don’t think that we don’t have the capacity to find you another boy. We aren’t insisting that you marry this boy because it reduces our tension. I believe that we should give our daughter to a boy only if he is good and we shouldn’t worry about how rich he is. This is your decision. Please feel free and tell us what you think.’

  Without even lifting her head, Mridula replied slowly, ‘If Sanjay met with an accident that left him handicapped after we got married, then you wouldn’t hold that against him. So I don’t have any objection to the alliance if both of you are okay with it.’

  Surprised at Mridula’s quick and decisive response, Bheemanna and Rukuma looked at each other.

  7

  Generation Gap

  Tirumakudalu Narasipura was a famous pilgrimage town near Mysore and was popularly known as T. Narasipura. There were small shops in front of the Narasimha temple in the town. One of them was Ratnamma’s. She was a fifty-eight-year-old widow whose house was right behind her small shop. She sold flowers, incense, camphor, bananas, coconuts and other puja items. Some pilgrims wanted to take a dip in the river Kaveri since they considered it very auspicious. So Ratnamma also kept plastic mugs, soaps and low-quality towels for them. There were many such shops on the same street. Still, all of them managed to make a small profit.

  Business was at its peak in May because of the cart festival, a day before Buddha Purnima. This day was also known as Narasimha Chaturthi. Devotees came from different parts of the country to T. Narasipura on this day and there were extra buses from Mysore too. On other days, the crowd was minimal. Usually, only devotees from Mysore visited the place. But they didn’t buy anything from the shops. They got their fruits and coconuts from home and went directly to the temple. So most shop owners had an added income during this time.

  Ratnamma had a lucrative moneylending business. She was shrewd and, at times, ruthless. When she lent money, she charged an extremely high interest rate. People frequently commented, ‘Ratnamma is a hard-hearted lady.’

  But she did not get upset. She calmly justified her stand: ‘Am I not giving them money when they need it? They know the terms. Why should they get upset when I ask them to return it? Why was Karna of the Mahabharata called great? Because he gave away money and things to everybody. If I start lending money with a low interest rate, there will be a big queue in front of my hous