House of Cards: A Novel Read online

  Ratnamma sat on the ground for lunch. Lakshmi had made ragi balls and vegetable sambar. There was majjige huli in another bowl. Ratnamma got irritated. She thought, ‘It is such a waste if Lakshmi makes food like this every day. It is expensive and this kind of food puts a person to sleep. Usually, the women customers come in the afternoons to take loans because the men are away and won’t know about it. If I sleep, it affects my business.’

  She was about to scold Lakshmi, but saw her grandson, Anil, sleeping on the floor. So she changed her mind. Cleverly, she asked her daughter, ‘What do you make for lunch every day in your house?’

  Lakshmi was a chip off the old block. She understood what was going through her mother’s head. She said, ‘My husband always says—what’s the purpose of earning money if we don’t eat properly and take care of our health? So, I cook two vegetables, sambar, rasam and a dessert every day.’

  Ratnamma started eating and did not answer her. ‘If Lakshmi spends all her husband’s salary in cooking, then she can never save money for a rainy day,’ she thought. ‘Shankar is greedy and may have his eye on my property. Maybe that’s why they spend all their money. I also want to enjoy life and eat good food but I control myself and save every penny.’

  She was worried that after she was gone, Lakshmi would inherit a part of her hard-earned money and Shankar would enjoy it and spend it all. The idea of someone else enjoying her money made her uncomfortable. Then she saw Lakshmi’s sari. Though it was not silk, it was not cheap either. She couldn’t help thinking, ‘Why does Lakshmi wear such good saris at home? After all, she is only a homemaker. An ordinary sari is enough. She could have used the same money for something else. But Lakshmi behaves as if she is very rich. I have not bought a new sari for ages.’

  A few years ago, Lakshmi had celebrated Anil’s first birthday and insisted that her mother come for it. Under a lot of pressure, Ratnamma had closed the shop for a day and gone to Mysore. But she was unable to eat lunch looking at the grandeur of the party. She was shocked at how much money they had wasted on a baby’s birthday. The food was expensive and they had bought boutique clothes for the boy. Ratnamma had repeatedly told her daughter not to gift her a sari. Money would have been better. But Lakshmi had not listened and had given her mother a sari. Ratnamma had told Lakshmi to buy the boy a gold chain instead of having such a grand party but her advice had fallen on deaf ears. So, she had wished the child a long life and had not given him any gifts. According to her, wishes and blessings from elders were more precious than any gifts.

  Lord Narasimha’s wife, Goddess Lakshmi, was very popular. In the Narasimha temple, many people gifted her a sari. The goddess usually wore the sari only for a day. Sometimes, the goddess’s sari got stained with turmeric or vermilion. Such saris were given away as prasad to people. Once that sari was washed, it was as good as new. If it was a silk sari, then the head priest’s wife kept it for herself. Otherwise, Ratnamma usually got one or two non-silk saris every year. She felt fortunate that the sari was the goddess’s prasad and she could enjoy it without spending any money. Her wardrobe was full of such saris.

  Ratnamma finished her lunch. Just then, she heard the sound of digging in the backyard and went to check what was happening. The backyard was huge. In one corner, there was a honge tree planted by her late husband. As an Ayurvedic practitioner, he had told Ratnamma about its many uses. When he was alive, he had grown herbal plants. Now, Ratnamma preferred to grow pumpkin creepers. She thought that growing herbs like coriander was a waste of money because coriander seeds were expensive to grow, and their only use was that they gave out an aroma during cooking. But growing a pumpkin had more advantages. She could throw pumpkin seeds anywhere and not worry about them. A creeper usually started growing without much care. Pumpkins didn’t decay either. So she could keep them for many months in the house. When there were no vegetables in the summer, the pumpkins became expensive. That was a great way for her to make some money.

  Ratnamma came back to the house, washed her hands and lay down on a charpoy. She thought, ‘What’s the use of the honge tree? All the unemployed and young boys sit below the tree and chat to kill time. Sometimes, they even steal pumpkins. Then I have to spend more money on fencing.’

  For a minute, she was upset with her dead husband. ‘Had he planted half a dozen champak trees instead of the honge tree, we would have earned money by selling flowers to the women who worship Gowri. I wish I could cut down the honge tree. I can get wood from it. But I’m sure that Lakshmi will oppose my decision. She calls the tree “Appa’s tree” and is sentimental about it. She doesn’t understand my difficulties. The best time to cut the tree is when she is not around.’

  Then she thought of her son. Would he also oppose her decision? For a minute, she was worried. It was more difficult to face a son than a married daughter. Then she remembered that her son had fallen in love with a lovely girl. He may not remember T. Narasipura, much less the honge tree.

  A little later, there was a dull noise from the site being dug. Mada had hit the rocks. Ratnamma noticed that Lakshmi had come to lie down next to her.

  When she was in Mysore for a visit, Ratnamma had seen Shankar bring five rupees worth of champak flowers for his wife every day. She had calculated how much it must cost him per year—more than eighteen hundred rupees! What a waste of money on flowers that wouldn’t last for more than twenty-four hours. It was too much for her to take. She knew that Shankar was a loudmouth and his relatives avoided him for this reason. But still, for the welfare of her daughter, she had said, ‘Shankar, you should save that money and invest it somewhere, maybe in a fixed deposit.’

  Shankar had replied harshly, ‘Mother-in-law, we will be able to save even more if we just stop breathing!’

  Ratnamma had thought sadly, ‘He does not respect my age or my position.’

  That was the last time Ratnamma ever spoke to Shankar about money matters. She had also made up her mind never to help this couple financially. She knew that their life was a bottomless bucket. If she ever gave them money, it would be spent very quickly.

  She was brought back to the present when Lakshmi broke the silence: ‘Amma, you aren’t saying anything about Sanjay’s marriage. Are you hurt?’

  ‘No, he has to get married some day.’ Then she thought, ‘Lakshmi has changed a lot under Shankar’s influence. She is not really worried about Sanjay’s wedding. It doesn’t matter to her whether he marries a rich or a poor girl. But she wants the status that will come if her brother marries a girl from a rich family.’

  Ratnamma didn’t care about status. Though she had some gold jewellery, she kept it in a bank locker and never wore it. She didn’t plan to give it to her daughter or daughter-in-law. Gold wasn’t just jewellery to her. It was an asset and an investment. If things went badly, she could mortgage or sell it. What was the use of spending money on silk saris? Once they were washed, they were worthless and couldn’t be sold.

  Her mind jumped to Mridula. ‘The girl is from Dharwad district and people there always buy pure gold. It is good that they don’t add copper and make intricate designs. If the gold is pure, it melts easily and there is no wastage. Usually, the girl and her parents take care of the wedding expenses. The boy’s side hardly spends any money. Mridula’s father is a landlord. He can give whatever he wants to his daughter. I don’t want to be a part of it. Anyway, the girl is not going to give me gold for the moneylending business. If her family wants to give me a sari, then I will tell them that I want cash and not a sari. I will also let Sanjay know. But whatever he wants to give Lakshmi will be between the brother and the sister. I don’t want to interfere. I want to make it very clear that I will give Mridula only a mangalsutra, my old earrings and toe rings. I don’t want to spend much. It is also a good omen for a daughter-in-law to get her mother-in-law’s ornaments. The greatest gift that I can give the married couple is my blessings. I’m not going to talk about any wedding preparation or have marriage-related discussions. All the neg