Table Of ContentSudha Murty
HOUSE OF CARDS
Contents
About the Author
Also by the Same Author
Dedication
1. The Village
2. Young Dreams
3. The Beautiful Thief
4. Destiny
5. Reflections
6. A Second Chance
7. Generation Gap
8. The Strings of Love
9. Partners
10. The In-Laws
11. Changes
12. Different Values
13. The Fall of Idealism
14. Family Visits
15. Disillusionment
16. The Decision
17. The Beginning of the End
18. Money Brings Changes
19. A Silver Spoon
20. The Ways of the World
21. Shades of Grey
22. Sweet Revenge
23. A House of Cards
24. The Silent Cry
25. Connections
26. Learning to Survive
27. Things Fall Apart
28. Growing Pains
29. Hope
Acknowledgements
Follow Penguin
Copyright Page
PENGUIN BOOKS
HOUSE OF CARDS
Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka. She did her
MTech in computer science, and is now the chairperson of the Infosys
Foundation. A prolific writer in English and Kannada, she has written novels,
technical books, travelogues, collections of short stories and non-fiction pieces,
and four books for children. Her books have been translated into all the major
Indian languages.
Sudha Murty was the recipient of the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature and the
Padma Shri in 2006, and the Attimabbe Award from the government of
Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature in 2011.
ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR
FICTION
Dollar Bahu
Mahashweta
Gently Falls the Bakula
NON-FICTION
Wise and Otherwise
The Old Man and His God
The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk
CHILDREN’S
How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories
The Magic Drum and Other Favourite Stories
The Bird with Golden Wings: Stories of Wit and Magic
Grandma’s Bag of Stories
To all the Mridulas who suffer silently
1
The Village
There was a small village in north Karnataka with a population of five to eight
thousand. It boasted of a beautiful lake with a temple of Lord Hanuman on its
shore. The area was dotted with banyan trees. In Kannada, a banyan tree is
called ‘aladamara’ and ‘halli’ means village, so the village was named
Aladahalli.
Aladahalli had only one main road, with houses on either side, and a bus stand
right in the middle of the village. Most people who were from here preferred to
stay on and commute for work to the cities nearby: Hubli and Dharwad. The
advantages of staying in Aladahalli were a laid-back life, less noise and almost
no pollution. The greatest attraction though was the school, which was on a par
with any city school, and where the medium of instruction was both English and
Kannada. Just like in city schools, the students got a rank based on their merit.
Bheemanna’s daughter, Mridula, was among the top students in her class and
was known for her intelligence.
Bheemanna’s family was rich and owned a lot of fertile land. His ancestral
house was very old and large. The green backyard was filled with varieties of
plants and vegetables. There were jasmine creepers in the backyard; Mridula had
long, dark hair and would not step out of the house without a string of flowers in
it.
Bheemanna’s wife, Rukuma Bai or Rukmini, was from a neighbouring
village. She was quite different from Bheemanna and talked less than her
husband. They had two children, Krishna and Mridula.
When Krishna was born, Bheemanna had wanted to name his son Hanuman
but Rukuma Bai had insisted on calling him Krishna. After a while, Bheemanna
had lost to his wife’s iron will and started calling him Krishna too. But when
Mridula came along three years later, he put his foot down. He had once read a
novel in which the name of the main character was Mridula. He liked the name
since it was uncommon in this part of Karnataka. So, Bheemanna insisted that
his daughter be called by that name.
his daughter be called by that name.
Little Mridula was a bright student. Rukuma Bai frequently told people that
Mridula had inherited the smart genes from her side of the family. At such times,
talkative Bheemanna usually stayed silent.
Young Mridula was sitting on the swing under the big banyan tree opposite
the Hanuman temple. It was Ugadi time—the New Year festival for the Kannada
people, celebrated in the month of February or March. Summer had just arrived.
The mango trees sported soft reddish-green leaves and the cuckoos were making
lovely coo-coo sounds. Everyone in the village was busy preparing for the
festival. Yet, there was a pin-drop silence near the temple.
But for Mridula, nothing mattered. She was swinging without any bondage
and with a free mind. From the swing, she could see her house. She was happy.
Mridula was not like everybody, she was different. She had enormous
enthusiasm for life and unlimited energy for reading, cooking and sketching. She
wanted to spend every minute of the day fruitfully. It seemed that the sun rose
for her and the rainbow colours were meant only for her. Every day was to be
lived to its fullest and every beautiful minute to be enjoyed.
Years passed. The family was content and happy. Bheemanna had added some
basic modern amenities to his home.
Meanwhile, little Mridula had grown up and was excelling in school. She
scored a rank in the tenth class. Her teachers insisted that she must study either
medicine or engineering. But Mridula did not agree. Bheemanna did not take any
decision just for the sake of status in society. He left the decision to Mridula and
she insisted on becoming a teacher. But Rukuma Bai was hesitant. Her brother
Satyabodha was a bank officer in Hubli. His daughter, Sarla, was six months
older than Mridula and not as intelligent. But even Sarla preferred to study
engineering in Hubli. Bheemanna advised Rukuma, ‘Times have changed. We
can’t tell children that you should become a lawyer or a doctor or marry a person
of our choice. Education and marriage should be according to our children’s
wishes because these are for ever. After all, it is their life and they have the right
to follow their heart and make decisions by themselves.’
Bheemanna always bent the rules when it came to Mridula. She was his life.
When people asked Mridula whether she was her mother’s or father’s favourite,
she said, ‘I am Amma’s girl—and Appa’s world.’
Mridula remembered a conversation she had had with her father when she was
a child. When an animal in the village fell sick, her father immediately took
medicine made from the plants in his garden and treated the animal, without
waiting for the animal’s owner to call him. After the treatment, Bheemanna was
