House of Cards (21 page)

One day, Sanjay told Alex, ‘We don’t value what nature gives us for free. We whine about the rainy season, but in the Middle East, there are people who have never seen rains. Why don’t we introduce a monsoon package? We can advertise it in the papers in the Middle East. People with small and not-so-serious ailments can come to India in the monsoon, see the rains, shop, visit the forests and take medical treatment in our nursing home. We can make loads of money.’

Alex was surprised at how Sanjay converted every idea now into a moneymaking scheme. He sometimes wondered whether he was the same old Sanjay who once felt too shy to even ask for a consultation fee. Time could change anybody.

A few days later, Sanjay decided to buy a Mercedes-Benz, but Mridula opposed it. She said, ‘Let’s not form unnecessary and expensive habits.’

‘Mridula, I have earned money with my hard work. When I didn’t have money, I rode a scooter. Now, I want a Mercedes. Please don’t try to stop me.’ Sanjay kept pressurizing Mridula with such words until she accepted his decision.

One afternoon, Anita came to Mridula’s home. She was looking stressed. Mridula kept her hand on Anita’s shoulder and asked, ‘Anita, what’s wrong?’

Anita ran into Mridula’s bedroom. Mridula followed her and Anita closed the door. Then she started crying. Mridula got worried. She asked, ‘Is Julie all right?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did Alex say something?’

‘No.’

‘Is everybody okay in Goa and Mangalore?’

‘Yes.’

Mridula did not know what else to ask. After some time, Anita stopped crying and said quietly, ‘Mridula, I want to tell you something personal. But promise me that you’ll keep it to yourself.’

‘Of course, Anita.’

‘You know that I went with Julie to my cousin’s wedding in Mangalore.’

‘Yes, you had invited me too but I couldn’t go.’

‘Alex did not come for the wedding because he’s busy with the new factory.’

‘But that’s okay, Anita.’

‘I know that it is. But when I came back from there, I wanted to have a bath—you know where my bedroom is.’

Mridula knew Anita’s house very well—she had stayed there several times. Anita’s heart was in her house. She spent all her days decorating and cleaning her house. Anita’s bedroom was large and had a huge bathroom with a marble tub. She also had a big dressing table.

Anita continued, ‘I was hot and went to the bathroom to have a bath. After that, I wanted to comb my hair and I pulled open the dressing-table drawer to take the hairbrush out. But by mistake, I pulled out Alex’s drawer. Do you know what I found?’

Anita started crying again. Sobbing, she said, ‘Condoms.’

‘I don’t understand. What’s wrong with that?’

‘Mridula, don’t be stupid. We don’t use them. Moreover, for the last two months, I’ve been bleeding continuously and Sanjay has been treating me. Didn’t he tell you?’

‘No, he didn’t. Sanjay doesn’t tell me anything about his patients and I respect that.’

‘Now, put yourself in my shoes. What should I think? What would you have done?’

‘Anita, have a little patience. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Was Alex in town?’

‘Yes, I asked a few people and they told me that he was here in Bangalore. We always lock our bedroom when I’m travelling. Alex has one key and I have a duplicate. Maggie doesn’t have any keys.’

‘Was Maggie here in town too?’

‘Yes, she was.’

‘Anita, do you suspect Maggie or do you think it’s someone else?’

‘Mridula, I really don’t know. I’m confused. But my intuition says that something’s not right.’

‘Did you ask Alex?’

‘Of course. He swore on St Maria and said he doesn’t know anything about it.’

‘How many condoms were there?’

‘It was a strip of ten, but two slots were empty. Mridula, tell me honestly, what’s your opinion?’

Mridula was quiet. She was aware that whatever she said next may have a profound effect on Anita. So she carefully said, ‘We shouldn’t think that we know exactly what happened without knowing the details and without proof. Think rationally. Your future will get affected if you take a wrong step. Anita, have you observed any changes in Alex’s behaviour?’

‘I don’t know. He travels a lot. But I’ve never known what he does in other places. My mind says that there’s something wrong here but my heart doesn’t want to believe it. Tell me, have you ever suspected Sanjay that way?’

‘Not at all.’

‘Mridula, I’ve lost my peace of mind. A woman can go through anything but not this. I can’t share this fear with anyone. Alex’s sister, Barbara, is of the same age as me. If I tell her, she’ll blame me. She already says that I don’t dress well. Mridula, infidelity, deceit and lies are like close-knit brothers. All liars don’t deceive. But all deceivers are liars. All deceivers
are not cheaters. But all cheaters are deceivers. I’ve seen Alex lie many times for his business. So I don’t know what to think about him any more. Has Sanjay ever lied to you?’

For the first time in a very long time, Mridula thought about Sanjay’s personality. She believed that he told her the truth. Why would he lie to her when she had been honest with him? Just the thought of Sanjay lying made her uncomfortable.

Anita continued, ‘Mridula, do you know that when men get more money than they need, their wife starts looking ugly to them? They think that they could have done better. They forget that they were nothing when their wife married them and that she has stayed loyal to them through their ups and downs.’

‘Where’s Julie?’

‘Fortunately, she’s still in Mangalore. I don’t want anyone else to know about this.’

‘Anita, be careful with your servants and behave exactly like you did before. Don’t let them get suspicious.’

‘No, I won’t. I still can’t believe that Alex might have cheated on me. Sometimes, I feel that all these problems are because of money. If we had a fixed income, then I would know everything. But now, I don’t know where the money comes from or where it goes. Mridula, you’re more intelligent than me. Do you feel the same way? Don’t you think money is affecting our children? I feel that Julie is becoming a little too headstrong.’

Mridula knew that she was right. She had noticed that Sishir was also becoming very stubborn. She asked Anita, ‘Do you think Alex has changed with money?’

‘I think so. I don’t know where he goes or what he does. He’s permanently on the phone, even when he’s at home. When I was crying about this incident and talking to him, he didn’t show any emotions at all.’

Anita started crying again and said, ‘I’m really worried about my marriage.’

‘Anita, don’t worry. Things will work out in the end. Please don’t cry. I feel so helpless.’

‘Mridula, you are a sister to me and that’s the reason I can cry in front of you. I feel much better now.’

Though Mridula insisted that Anita have lunch with her, Anita refused and left without eating. Mridula became jittery, nervous and unusually quiet. She did not tell the cook, Sakamma, what to cook for the day. Instead, she told her to make whatever she wanted to and went to her room. Sakamma saw Mridula’s worried face but told herself that it was not her business to think about her employer’s issues.

In her room, Mridula thought about Anita. She was shocked to see what Anita was going through and did not know how to react. She examined her own life and analysed it—something that she had never done before. Had Sanjay changed with money? Was this affecting Sishir and changing him too? She was aware that money had brought a lot of comfort into their lives but she had never thought of the difficulties and changes that had come with it. When they had less money, she would take Sishir with her to buy groceries and they had a lot of fun at the store. Now, the servants went to buy the groceries. Even otherwise, their family time together was minimal. If Mridula had a school holiday, Sanjay came home for lunch. Otherwise, everybody met only in the evenings. They had separate televisions, computers and friends.

19

A Silver Spoon

Sanjay’s nursing home had expanded to a hundred-bed institution. There was a canteen and a pharmacy in the nursing home. Mridula had opposed non-vegetarian cooking in the
beginning but Sanjay had snubbed her and said, ‘This is not a temple. We have to give our patients whatever they need. After all, they’re paying us. Please don’t try to teach me moral science.’ Sometimes, Sanjay himself ate in the canteen.

There was a rumour that Sanjay performed all the operations in the nursing home, but it was not true. He had a team of highly paid doctors who were as efficient and as good as him. But Sanjay checked in during every operation. He was good at talking to patients, making them feel safe and boosting their morale. He had an office in the nursing home too. He knew that in government hospitals, you learnt through experience and by treating poor patients, but in private hospitals, you had to keep yourself updated with the latest research and findings. After his consultations in the evenings, Sanjay checked the accounts. He did not trust anybody with money matters, even though Rosemary was very trustworthy.

He came home and joined his family for dinner. This was the only time he spent with Sishir. He talked to him about everything and advised Sishir on his future. Mridula did not play an important role anywhere in Sanjay’s life. Rosemary assisted Sanjay in the hospital, Shankar managed the accounts, Sakamma did the cooking and Sishir entertained him. Sanjay hardly ever took a holiday and when he travelled abroad, it was only for business. Sanjay didn’t ask Mridula what she did during the day or about her family at Aladahalli. As far as he was concerned, this small talk was a waste of time.

At home, Sishir had a modern bedroom on the first floor and a small gym as well. He had everything he needed in his room—an air conditioner, a television, video-game stations and a music system. He went downstairs only for meals.

One day, Sanjay was talking to Sishir during dinner. He said, ‘Sishir, when you start practising medicine, you must have an infertility centre and a test-tube baby centre. There is a lot of money to be earned from these. Childless couples are ready to spend any amount of money to have their own baby. But
please remember—a childless mother consults many doctors and you shouldn’t get upset. It is the desire to have a baby that makes them take multiple opinions. You should exploit their weakness and make money.’

Mridula did not like conversations about money and such advice being given to her son. But she kept her thoughts to herself.

Sishir was intelligent and secured a merit rank in the medical entrance examinations. But he lived in his own world. After a few days, he asked his parents for a car. Mridula was against the idea because Sishir was still a student and she wanted him to use public transport and live the life of an average boy. But Sanjay said, ‘Mridula, we went through such a tough time because we didn’t have money to make our lives a little easier. At this age, children have lots of desires. Our desires disappear when we grow older. So let him buy a car. Why do you want to stop him?’

They argued this way about everything and Sanjay always ended the argument with, ‘Why not? We can afford it.’

Mridula was worried that there was no discipline in Sishir’s life. She tried to talk to Sishir: ‘I was young once and my parents were wealthy and could afford everything I wanted. But I listened to my mother and learnt to keep things simple.’

‘Oh Amma, that’s your old thinking of Aladahalli. It doesn’t work here in Bangalore,’ Sishir said. Sanjay agreed with his son and that hurt Mridula tremendously.

Mridula’s cook, Sakamma, made different and delicious things every day. Mridula was indifferent to the variety but Sishir was fussy about food and his father indulged him. Sanjay told Sakamma to make whatever Sishir asked her to. Mridula advised Sishir, ‘You should adjust and not complain about food. It isn’t good to be stubborn.’

But Sishir did not listen to her. Often, Sakamma would cook something complicated on Sishir’s instructions, but after it
was made, he refused to eat it and instead had only cereal and milk.

Sakamma wondered, ‘There are only three people in this house but I have to cook so many things. Sishir’s a difficult child. But Madam is kind and looks after me well. Sometimes, Sishir brings many friends home for a meal—and sometimes he eats alone. When Sishir brings his friends for a late dinner, Madam sends me home and serves them herself.’

One day, Mridula was waiting for Sishir. Sakamma had made several dishes, all of which were Sishir’s favourites. He was supposed to come home with his friends for dinner. Sanjay was also waiting for Sishir. At 10 p.m., Sakamma left and Mridula called Sishir. He said, ‘Sorry Amma, I forgot to tell you that today is my friend’s birthday and we’re celebrating at The Leela. I’ve had dinner and am leaving right now.’

Mridula objected, ‘But we’ve been waiting for you. Your father’s also here and he hasn’t eaten anything either.’

Her son interrupted her, ‘Amma, I’ve said sorry already. I can’t help it.’

He disconnected the phone.