House of Cards by Sudha Murty Page B

brother is wasting his time. He spent two years in Bombay and four years in Bangalore and now he’s happily working for a low salary in a government job. If he were practical, he would find a good location to open a clinic.Then, he would make money. But Sanjay hasn’t learnt to be smooth and charming, which is essential in private practice. And Mridula is even worse. She believes everybody. After all, she has been raised in a village. If I were her, I would control my husband and push him to start a nursing home of his own. There’s nobody in our family who can advise this impractical couple. My mother is in her own world and I really don’t understand why she wants to run a small shop. After all, how much profit can she really make?’
    Lakshmi felt ashamed. She remembered how her sisters-in-law made fun of her. Shyamala, Mahadeva’s wife, had sarcastically remarked once, ‘Oh, Lakshmi! You come from a rich family—your brother’s a doctor and his wife’s a government schoolteacher. Your mother owns a shop. But look at me. My father’s only a revenue inspector and we have just one source of income.’
    Lakshmi had known that Shyamala was not really complimenting her. At the time, her veiled comments had hurt Lakshmi like a high-heeled sandal wrapped in a silk shawl. She wondered now, ‘How much money can my mother earn from moneylending, the fields and her shop?’
    If she asked Sanjay about it, she knew that he wouldn’t answer her. Sanjay was impractical. But not her husband, Shankar. She was proud of her street-smart husband.
    So she turned to Shankar and asked, ‘How much money do you think Amma has?’
    Shankar was distressed because the stocks he had invested in were not performing well and his wife’s question irritated him. He snapped, ‘Why’re you asking me? Neither your mother nor your brother shares their financial matters with me. The only way to get any information is from the village gossip.’
    Lakshmi realized that if she continued talking, it would end in a domestic quarrel. So she kept quiet. She thought about Mridula. ‘She doesn’t understand the real world. If someone says nice things to her, she thinks that the person is good. There’s a difference between what we say and what we actually mean.Mridula is transparent and absolutely naive. She thinks about others and how they feel instead of what she herself wants.’
    Whenever Lakshmi met Mridula, she praised her saying, ‘Mridula, you are fortunate. You give education to poor children and your husband gives medical treatment to poor patients. You are made for each other.’ Mridula happily thought that the praise was genuine.
    But Lakshmi actually thought, ‘These days, Bangalore is growing fast. There are more tuition classes than schools. Many teachers have resigned their jobs and opened tuition centres where they earn much more than they did when they were teaching in schools. Why does Mridula continue to work in a stupid government job? She can take tuitions instead and earn much more money. But I can’t tell her that. She’s the perfect daughter-in-law for my stingy mother. Mridula doesn’t buy anything for herself. She uses every penny for the home. She hasn’t bought a gram of gold after marriage. All of Mridula’s ornaments from her wedding are heavy. If I were her, I would have bought many sets of thin jewellery. Poor thing, she has only one silk sari. My mother did not give her any gifts when she was expecting her first baby either. My mother is shrewd. She will say, “Oh, we don’t have that custom” if it means giving a gift to someone. It doesn’t matter whether that someone is Mridula or me.’
    The clock struck twelve.
    Lakshmi remembered that she had not done any household chores since the morning. Her son, Anil, was still sleeping. Last night, all of them had gone for a late-night movie. She felt lazy and did not want to get up, clean the house and cook. She had an idea. She told her husband, ‘I’ve been