House of Cards (17 page)

‘But Govindanna, I don’t know any ministers and Dr Saroja knows that.’

‘In that case, say that you know the chief editor of a big newspaper. One of my cousins is a chief editor. Doctor, please remember that you don’t have to be truthful in such circumstances. Nobody’s going to check whether you actually know a chief editor. When the other party lies and can harm you, you needn’t behave like the Buddha. Even Lord Krishna told a lie in the Mahabharata. You should know—you read much more than I do. But don’t tell anyone about my advice. Give me back the copies. I’ll keep them inside.’

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Govindanna turned his back to Sanjay and started talking about the weather. Soon, Sanjay left for home with a heavy heart.

When he reached home, he found Mridula in the bedroom. She was preparing for the school’s Annual Day. She had bought a lot of crêpe paper and was busy cutting it into various shapes. Sishir was sitting right next to her and helping her. When Sanjay came into the room, she wanted to talk about her work. First, she brought him coffee and said, ‘Our school’s Annual Day is
the day after tomorrow. But tomorrow is Debate Day. The judge is Sri Dasharati, the editor of a local Kannada newspaper. I’ve chosen a topic for the debate—“Should a person be idealistic or not?” Do you think the topic is good for children?’

Sanjay was feeling disillusioned and said, ‘I don’t know.’

‘I think that it’s important for children to be idealistic.’ Then Mridula looked at Sanjay’s face. She could see that he was disturbed. She asked, ‘What’s the problem, Sanjay? Are you feeling unwell? Do you have a headache?’

Sanjay did not want to talk about his problem or face Mridula’s questions. So he said, ‘Yes, I have a headache.’

‘Then please rest. It’s hot outside and you must be tired. The noise and pollution may have aggravated the headache too. Sleep for an hour and you’ll be all right. I’ll take Sishir outside to play so that you don’t get disturbed.’

She picked Sishir up, closed the bedroom door and gave Sanjay some time alone.

When Sanjay went to the hospital the next day, he was asked to meet Dr Saroja immediately. When he entered her room, Dr Saroja smiled and said, ‘Sanjay, I’m glad you’re here. Kempunanjamma has realized her mistake and apologized to the hospital. The entire inquiry has been closed.’

She did not apologize for her false accusations and rude behaviour the day before. She behaved as if nothing had happened.

When the list of candidates to be transferred from Bangalore appeared on the hospital noticeboard, Sanjay was surprised to see that he was first on the list. He had been transferred to Bellary. There were other people who had been in Bangalore far longer than him but they were still assigned to Bangalore. His colleague Lata has been in Bangalore for a long time but she had never been transferred. He knew that he had been reassigned because he did not have connections like Lata.

When he reached his desk, the transfer letter was lying on his table. The letter contained the sentence, ‘For the benefit of the people and service towards them, you’ve been transferred to Bellary.’

As he was taking it all in, Dr Saroja walked into the room and said, ‘Sanjay, I’m so sad. You’re my right-hand man. I don’t know how I’ll run the department without you. But your services are needed more in Bellary. It’s a beautiful place. I wish you all the best. You’ll enjoy your stay there.’

Dr Saroja knew that the transfer would not be cancelled unless a bribe was paid. She herself had got her transfer cancelled the last time by paying a bribe to someone through Lata. Lata was the one who had initiated Dr Saroja’s transfer to keep her in her place and had later pretended to help her by cancelling it. But Sanjay was not aware of these secrets. Before leaving, Dr Saroja said, ‘You’re relieved of your duties from today. Go home Sanjay, and prepare for Bellary.’

Lata also showed her sympathy: ‘Sanjay, you’re an honest person. Had they transferred me to Bellary, I would have gone. But the government requires your services. A sincere person like you will serve the poor people with focus. You work there for a year. After that, I’ll tell my daddy to get you back to Bangalore and I’ll go there instead. Mutual exchange is allowed in government service.’

Dejected, Sanjay headed home. What would they do about their apartment? Sishir was going to school in Bangalore. Mridula’s job was also here. He did not know what to do.

Mridula consoled him, ‘Shall we go to the minister and meet him? He should know that other people who have been in Bangalore longer than you have haven’t been transferred. It’s unfair.’

Sanjay had not forgotten his previous encounter at the Health Secretariat. He said, ‘No, Mridula. It doesn’t work that
way. Moreover, we don’t even know the minister. There are hundreds of people like me who want the minister’s help with their problems. You have to be recommended by an MLA to meet a minister and we don’t know any MLA.’

Mridula asked, ‘Do you remember if any MLAs or their relatives have come to you for medical help?’

‘When I deal with my patients, they are only patients to me. I don’t ask who they are. I know only Chikananjappa, a clerk in the Health department.’

Mridula was good at converting every negative to a positive. That was her nature. She said, ‘That’s excellent. Sometimes, people in lower positions are more useful than bigger connections. Why don’t you ask Chikananjappa? He may tell us how we can get to talk to the minister.’

Sanjay called up Chikananjappa and explained the situation to him. Chikananjappa said, ‘Doctor, it’s difficult to get an appointment with the minister at this busy time of the year. A small person like me can’t help you. It’s better that you go through an MLA. But don’t join your work at Bellary immediately. Give yourself at least one week.’

Mridula suggested, ‘Sanjay, why don’t we go and visit Principal Muniyappa? I think he had told me once in passing that he knows an MLA from Kolar. He’ll definitely help us if he can.’

Sanjay had had very little interaction lately with Principal Muniyappa and Kantamma. So he was hesitant, but Mridula insisted that they go.

They visited the old couple on a Friday evening. Arun and Anuradha were not at home. Kantamma welcomed them and went to the kitchen to bring them some coffee. Sanjay explained his problem to Principal Muniyappa in two sentences and then fell silent. Mridula said, ‘Without an MLA’s recommendation, it’s difficult to get an appointment with the Health minister. We don’t know any MLA. It’ll be nice if you can introduce us to an MLA.’

‘Mridula, I’ve taught many children and today, a lot of them are in high positions. But when we ask them for help, people respond differently. Some people refuse to even recognize us. Some of them say that they’ll help us but they want a favour in return. Sanjay’s a doctor and everyone will think that he must have made money under the table. So they’ll want to extract money from you. Nobody will know that your husband is an honest doctor.’

Sanjay knew that there was truth in Muniyappa’s words. Muniyappa continued, ‘Even if you meet the Health minister, there’s no guarantee that she’ll fulfil your request. All the ministers say “yes” in front of you but they may not actually do as you ask. This is exactly the reason my son has never wanted to join any government job. He is happy with a private company.’

Kantamma brought the coffee out. Muniyappa said, ‘Anyway, I do know an MLA from Kolar. Her name is Thayamma and I’ve taught her son. He remembers me and always thanks me for teaching him. It’s quite rare for students to do that these days. I’ll talk to him.’

Mridula said, ‘Sir, we won’t ask Thayamma to cancel the transfer; if she can only get us an appointment with the minister, it’ll really help.’

After two days, Muniyappa called Mridula and confirmed an appointment with the Health minister at her house at 9 a.m. Since Sishir did not have school that day, Mridula and Sanjay left him at Muniyappa’s house for a few hours. Then the couple went for the appointment.

When they reached the Health minister’s house, they saw that it was full of visitors and there was no place for them to sit. Somehow, they both managed to squeeze into a bench. There was an old man sitting next to them. He politely asked the peon, ‘Is Madam at home?’

The peon said loudly and arrogantly, ‘No, Madam has gone to Tumkur. She’ll be back at any moment. You just sit there and wait.’

Sanjay wondered, ‘Why did the Health minister give an appointment at 9 a.m. when she hasn’t returned from her trip? How can she help people when she doesn’t value their time?’

Everybody kept waiting. Even at noon, there was no sign of the minister.

The old man asked another peon, ‘When is Madam coming?’

The peon took pity on the old man and answered, ‘Madam’s at home. There’s a phone call from the high command and so she is busy.’

‘When will she meet us?’

‘Please wait. I’ll let you know as soon as she gets here.’

People waiting outside in the hall felt restless. Some of them got hungry and went to have coffee and snacks at a tea shop in front of the Health minister’s house. The shop was doing brisk business that day. Mridula started talking to some people around them. Sanjay felt frustrated. He said, ‘Mridula, I’m going to get myself a cup of tea. Do you want anything?’

‘No. You go ahead. I’ll stay here. If the minister calls your name while you’re out, I can go and talk to her.’

The elderly gentleman sitting next to them was listening to their conversation. He said, ‘I’ll also come with you.’

While walking to the tea shop, Sanjay asked him, ‘You don’t look like you are working for the government. Why are you here?’

‘I have come to ask for help for my daughter and son-in-law. Both of them are doctors and they’ve been transferred elsewhere.’

Sanjay told the old man that he was there for the same purpose. The old man said, ‘Oh, this is very common. Most people are here for the cancellation of their transfers.
Everybody’s reasons are different. Some people lie and say that their spouse has cancer—and Bangalore has an excellent cancer hospital. They even get a false certificate. Some people are about to retire in a few years and are settled here. So they don’t want to leave Bangalore. People from north Karnataka come here for five years and then they don’t want to go back. Even people from different states come here and don’t want to return because of the nice weather here. Everybody wants to settle down in Bangalore.’

Sanjay thought, ‘That’s true. Bangalore has hi-tech hospitals for cancer, heart, eyes, neurosurgery and so on. It’s a good city for education too. Nobody would like to leave Bangalore.’

They bought tea and walked back. The old man wanted to talk more. He said, ‘Bangalore has around fifty-three engineering colleges and ten medical colleges.’

‘Do you know the minister?’ Sanjay asked.

‘Sort of. When the minister was young, she was a substitute teacher in our village school. Later, she got into politics and slowly went up the ladder. She is not very educated but has good experience in politics.’

‘How does she manage to do her job with so little education?’

‘Who says she manages? She has people under her to help manage everything. But I really appreciate her courage and aggressiveness, especially since she’s a woman. She doesn’t get perturbed even in stressful situations. There are many people more educated than her but they’re standing in front of her in a queue to request for the cancellation of their transfers. None of them has the guts it takes to be a minister. I tell my daughter—every year this transfer epidemic affects you. Both you and your husband are doctors. Why don’t you resign and start a nursing home? But they don’t agree. They say that there is so much security in a government job and private practice is difficult. So they send me every time to request for a cancellation. They don’t have the courage to even spread their wings.’

Sanjay thought of Alex. He was a man of courage. For a minute, Sanjay sadly wondered why he was not more like Alex.

When they got back, they saw that the crowd had increased and there was still no trace of the minister. The security man said, ‘Madam has tremendous tension. So she’s resting. I don’t know when she’ll be available.’ After some time, another peon said, ‘Madam is having a bath. Then she’ll do her puja and have lunch.’

It was one excuse after another. One thing was certain: the Health minister was not bothered about other people’s time. At 4 p.m., she finally came out. She was plump and in her mid-fifties. She was wearing an expensive silk sari and a lot of jewellery. The air-conditioning was on, but she was sweating profusely.

People crowded around her. The security men asked everyone to form a queue. Sanjay and Mridula stood at a distance. They noticed that everybody gave a written application and almost all of them were asking for cancellations or promotions. Mridula realized that if they continued standing there, nobody would see them. The Health minister may go back inside at any moment and then the whole day would be wasted. Mridula insisted that Sanjay go and give his application. By the time their turn came, the Health minister was at the end of her patience and looked tired. Without even looking at the application, she asked, ‘Which MLA sent you?’

‘Thayamma. She is an MLA from Kolar.’

‘Tell me, what do you want?’

‘I have been transferred to Bellary.’

‘And you don’t want to go there. Well, if nobody wants to go to Bellary, then how will our state progress? Karnataka doesn’t mean that you’ll only be in Bangalore. Moreover, this is a government order.’

Sanjay did not know what to say. The Health minister continued, ‘You’re young and energetic. At your age, there
are usually no physical problems either. You should be bold and adventurous. If you were about to retire, I would have understood why you don’t want to move. But it’s better that you go to Bellary. Come again next year and I’ll relocate you back to Bangalore. I’ll also update Thayamma about our conversation.’

Her personal assistant came in with a cordless phone. The minister was happy to take the call. She took the phone and, without even turning back, went back into her house. Sanjay and Mridula did not have much choice and came out. Mridula said, ‘I’ve talked to other people here about our situation. Most have bigger problems than ours. In government service, you can’t refuse your transfer. We are young and Sishir is in a lower grade at school. Even the minister has promised us that you’ll be transferred back to Bangalore next year. I can manage to stay alone with Sishir for a year. We’ll try again next year.’