Swing it Like Seniors 2- What Happened ?!

 It was not a typical Monday morning in the life of Vijaya Raghavan, the petite 65 year old with the eyes of a hawk and the uncanny ability to smell something unusual from a mile away . And to say that something was up with Meenakshi mami would be an understatement . After all , the entire colony knew that Meenakshi Iyer was unable to get over the demise of her beloved aathakar . No matter how hard the other women in the colony tried to include her in their activities and social gatherings , she just did not budge from her vow of leading a life of a recluse . Grief did that to people and who could understand it better than Vijaya mami herself , whose sole progeny , Ramya, had gotten married to her colleague Aaron; yes you heard that right ! Ramya married her American colleague Aaron in San Francisco  in an infamous semi South Indian farce of a  wedding  to which Vijaya and her aathakar Raghavan mama had been invited as guests ! Vijaya understood grief like none other , for she had experienced grief like none other ! 

Vijaya channelised her focus back to the problem on hand - Meenakshi Iyer and the crazy things she had been doing for the past two days . It all began at 11:00 in the morning two days ago when Meenakshi mami hailed an Uber to go somewhere . Vijaya could clearly see from the drawing room of her own home , which was right across the street , that Meenakshi looked way happier than she had ever seen her , when she got into the taxi and left . This left Vijaya feeling curious . After all , where had Meenakshi gone with a smile on her face and a song on her lips ? 

Her curiosity was sated when Meenakshi got back at 2:00 in the afternoon with a smile on her exhausted countenance and five large shopping bags in her hands . Wait a minute ! were they shopping bags from H&M?! Vijaya was confident about reading that right , all thanks to her razor sharp vision , post cataract surgery. But why ever on Earth would  sixty five year old lady go shopping in H&M. That was a mystery and she had no answers . Vijaya decided to file away this vital piece of information at the back of her mind and re visit it, should the need arise .

The need arose, right next day , when Meenakshi hailed an Uber again at the very same time. She went with the very same look of anticipation and joy on her face , which Vijaya witnessed from the very same location of her drawing room . Meenakshi came back at the very same time as well , except , this time around , she had two huge suitcases and a backpack as well . This made Vijaya curious and apprehensive at the same time . What was Meenakshi upto? Was she planning to move out of the locality ? But that didn't explain the five ‘bursting at the seams’ shopping bags from H&M.  She pondered over this for an entire evening and the next day, decided it was time to stop thinking and start working . Vijaya picked up her phone to make the all important call to Lalithambika Venugopal.

‘Namaste Vijaya ji’, said Lalitha, her voice a pitch louder than the Suprabhatham playing in the background , ‘what happened ?”

Vijaya soon bared her soul and made sure she did not omit any salacious details in the process . ‘I am very worried about Meenakshi mami’, she  concluded .

‘Houdu ree’, agreed Lalitha, ‘we keep reading so many things about depression and all these days . It seems it makes people do crazy things . But what are friends here for ? We will talk to Meenakshi and ask her what happened ‘, she concluded .

The two women decided to meet outside the gate of Meenakshi Iyer’s home in five minutes .

Meenakshi was busy in her kitchen making perfectly round, golden brown ,crispy dosas for breakfast when she heard the doorbell ring. Wondering who it was, for the housemaid had taken the day off, she turned off the stove and went to open the door and was surprised to see Lalitha and Vijaya standing there .

‘Is everything okay’, asked  Meenakshi.

‘Yes of course Meenakshi ji’, replied Lalitha with a smile on her face , ‘we were just walking by and we decided to stop by at your place for some chit chat.’

Meenakshi was wary and her expression did nothing to belie the fact . After all, she was barely on ‘stop by to chitchat’ terms with the two women who were at her doorstep . Nevertheless , she invited them in and asked them to take a seat . Vijaya did a quick assesment of the tastefully decorated drawing room and her gaze fell upon the large gilt edged photo frame containing the image of a beaming Sundaresan Iyer. ‘I was right’, muttered Vijaya to herself , ‘Meenakshi mami is missing her aathkar after all .’

Lalitha took a deep breath and cleared her throat as she braced herself to approach the touchy topic ; the sole purpose of their visit at nine in the morning 

‘Meenakshi ji’, she began in a suitably somber tone , ‘I understand life without Sundaresan Ji probably feels empty - like a void that is hard to fill , and rightly so, for you were a perfect couple, made for each other. But death is inevitable ; the ultimate truth , as Lord Krishna has rightly mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. Sundaresan Ji will always live in our memories . It has been more than a year since he passed away and it's time for you to move on .’

Meenakshi looked visibly confused as she remarked  ‘I am sorry, but I don't get your point’

‘I have been observing you from my drawing room for the last three days’, said Vijaya, ‘and I saw you go out and come back with fishy looking shopping bags and huge huge suitcases . I was worried, so I decided to speak to Lalitha ji, who knows so much about depression and all and together, we decided to have a heart-to-heart conversation with you’

‘Yes yes’, piped in Lalitha, ‘We understand your grief . You should start attending the Sahasranama class regularly . It will help you take your mind off all the troubles.’

Meenakshi could barely believe her ears, her eyes wide with incredulity . She burst out laughing, and laughed hard till she began to hiccup.

‘What happened?’. asked a visibly shocked Lalitha, ‘are you okay ?’

‘Yes, yes I am fine’, replied Meenakshi sniffing , ‘I don't have depression . I am going on a trip to Solang valley in Himachal Pradesh to do paragliding and I had gone shopping to buy the things I needed for the rip.’

‘Solang valley aa?’, asked Vijaya incredulously , ‘paragliding means you will jump from a hill to fly in the sky ? With whom are you going ?’

‘Yes, I am going to do all that you just described’, chuckled Meenakshi, thoroughly enjoying the look of discomfort on the faces of the two women sitting in her drawing room , ‘I am going alone and I don't need Sahasranama class to manage my grief.’

‘In that case’, said Lalitha ,rising up from her place, ‘ if you are okay, we will take leave of you. I have a lot of work to be done at home’

Meenakshi bade her neighbours good bye and went back to making her breakfast.

‘I am telling you’, said Vijaya, once they stepped back into the street, ‘ Meenakshi mami is missing her aathkar so much that she doesn't know what to do.’

‘Yes, yes’, agreed Lalitha, ‘this depression makes people do crazy things it seems, I just read about it in a WhatsApp forward yesterday.’