Free House of Cards by Sudha Murty

I’ll get you a necklace instead.’
    Lakshmi had heard this for years but she was yet to see a necklace. All her sisters-in-law made fun of her. They purposely told her, ‘Oh, see the new sari my mother has given me this time.’

    Both parties knew that the sari had been bought from the husband’s money without his knowledge; Lakshmi was no exception. She took money from Shankar without telling him and bought saris in Mysore. She later told her sisters-in-law that her mother had given her the sari. Sometimes, Sanjay would send Lakshmi money for the Gowri festival and even send her a sari. But Shankar always suspected that that sari too was bought with his money.
    Lakshmi was angry with Sanjay for putting her in such a situation. ‘Amma may keep quiet about Sanjay’s wedding but I will talk. I’ll demand a sari from Sanjay and his in-laws. Whom should we invite to the wedding? Amma has many acquaintances because of her business. But none of them are true friends who will genuinely enjoy Sanjay’s wedding. Amma has a different principle in life. She says, “If you are running a business, then don’t become too friendly with anyone because, inevitably, they’ll ask you for a loan. Once people become friends, it is difficult to ask them to return the money. You’ll lose the money and the friendship.”’
    So, her mother did not have many friends.
    Lakshmi turned back and saw her mother sleeping soundly. Maybe the majjige huli had put her to sleep.



8
The Strings of Love
    Shankar and Lakshmi decided to go and talk to Bheemanna about the marriage arrangements. It was Lakshmi’s idea. Sanjay felt that it was appropriate since Lakshmi was older than himand was his only sister. So he told Bheemanna about his sister’s forthcoming visit.
    After a few days, Shankar and Lakshmi went to Arsikere and boarded the Kittur Express at night. The next day, they reached Hubli at dawn. They planned to return by bus the same night. Krishna was waiting for them at the Hubli railway station. He would drive them to Aladahalli as planned—it was only an hour away.
    But when Lakshmi and Shankar got off the train, Shankar changed the plan. He did not like the idea of going directly to Aladahalli. He said, ‘First, we’ll go to Ajanta Hotel and have a bath and eat breakfast. Then we’ll leave for Aladahalli.’
    Krishna found this impromptu change of plans a little strange but kept quiet and nodded his head. At the hotel, Shankar pretended to offer to pay the bill but did not refuse when Krishna insisted on paying.
    Due to this delay, Krishna, Shankar and Lakshmi reached Aladahalli only at 11 a.m. Rukuma and Bheemanna welcomed them wholeheartedly. They were genuinely happy. Soon, Mridula also joined them. She was wearing a simple white sari with a green blouse and looked absolutely radiant and beautiful even without lipstick or make-up. She reminded Lakshmi of a fragrant white-jasmine creeper. Lakshmi was immediately envious of her natural beauty. She started measuring Mridula’s family’s financial status by the gold that they were wearing; she was disappointed. Mridula was wearing minimal jewellery—a gold chain, gold earrings and four gold bangles. Her mother was also wearing similar jewellery in addition to her mangalsutra. Lakshmi did not understand why these women were not showing off their jewellery.
    She recalled her engagement day. She had gone to her neighbour Subbaiah Shetty’s house to get some gold-plated ornaments even though Ratnamma was dead against it. Lakshmi had adorned herself with the ornaments from top to bottom toimpress her in-laws. She had been wrong. Shankar’s sister Vimla was clever enough to realize that the ornaments were fake. She had sarcastically remarked, ‘Oh, these ornaments are available in Chickpet for a hundred and fifty rupees. My daughter Usha bought them for her college dance programme.’
    Lakshmi heard Bheemanna’s voice asking them to follow him outside the house. Bheemanna took