Dear Mukta Ajji,

Its very rare that one comes across people who continue to influence you even in their absence. Mukta Ajji is one such person. She was my neighbour, friend, confidante and also an excellent balm in my times of crisis. The first time i met her was when she was 94 years young. We hit it off really well. She asked me if we study poetry at school, and I said," Yes, we've just started with Lady Clare." The next instant she was reciting the whole poem, with the gusto of a teenager. She had an excellent memory, she could recite Milton and Shakespeare verbatim. Her enthusiasm in literature was infectious, she got me hooked on to classics. When i came home from school i used to stop at her place, we'd read together and i'd tell her the latest from my class. We could talk for hours and it never really mattered that she was so old. At her age she used to walk without any aid, she wouldn't hunch, and she lived all alone. We decided that when it came to books i would lend her mine and that she would lend me hers. So i introduced her to Nancy Drew, Three Investigators and Hardy Boys. Of course her comments after reading each book was the same-"How juvenile!".

During summer holidays I spent most of my time in her house.We spent the day just talking. We'd talk a LOT. She'd tell me her experiences as a child, she was 10 years old when the Titanic sank, she was married when she completed metric and had to move to Mysore. As a new bride she had to help around the house, which left her little time to indulge in her hobbies which were reading and painting. So she used to stay up late at night to paint. Her paintings were like photographs, she would capture all the intricate details of a scene or still life. One of my favourite paintings was the one she drew of the Temple tree. I particularly like it because it had a story behind it.Which goes like this --> The street on which we live, was the same on which R.K.Narayan used to stay. Outside his house grew a Temple tree and ajji sat right across his compound to paint it. R.K.Narayan came out and asked ajji what she was doing and she showed him. He was impressed with her painting, and told her he'd give her a copy of his latest book if she'd give him her painting. They agreed. Personally i don't think Mukta Ajji ever wanted to part with her painting so the exchange never happened.

She used to tell me about the time she spent in the Mysore Palace in attendance with the queen for tea and all the pretentious talk they had to exchange thanks to Ajji's husband's position. She enjoyed playing chess and was also a trained dancer and also played the veena. According to her, these were pre requisites for every girl back then. She couldn't rebel against it so she embraced it and enjoyed every bit of learning the arts. One evening after our daily session i went home and after a while there was this strange smell in my room and i kept complaining to my parents about it and they dismissed me. After an hour the whole house had the strange smell it was a really faint smell of chlorine but enough to make me want to step out. On stepping out of the house it was evident that every house on our street was aware of the chlorine leak which was traced to the water works behind our street. I decided to go check on ajji and as was expected she was up and out wanting to know what was happening. I told her and a couple of other kids also joined us. So while other people were out enjoying all commotion ajji wanted to step inside and start a game with us kids. She asked each of us to do something, i volunteered to deliver a speech I'd learnt, another kid sang and when all of us were done we looked at Ajji and being the sport that she always was she did a few Bharatnatyam steps( she could still do so in the aramandi position).

A few days after that i came home and i knew that something was wrong. I'd visited ajji in the evening but the uneasy feeling still persisted. My mom came and told me that ajji had a heart attack and that she was hospitalised. The next day on my way back home I decided to drop in at the hospital. She was in the ICU. I'd never realised how frail she actually was, I did that day and I couldn't bring myself to face the fact that she might not return home. I didn't feel like visiting her again. I hate hospitals and the whole atmosphere makes me uneasy so I stalled my visit. A fortnight later when i visited her she was all cheery and chirpy as a bird. She related her experience and was ready to get out of the hospital. She stayed there for over 2 months. By which time she had the nurses and doctors singing to her tune. She called her self a ball that would bounce back no matter what. After this instance i ensured that i don't miss even a single evening in her company. So come rain come shine i was there.

In June 2003 she had a fall which resulted in a broken femur. After that she was bed ridden for a while and had been asked to use the walker. Fenny and I used to visit her. Fenny served as a distraction from what was bothering ajji. Ajji hated it that she couldn't sit up to paint, or read for long or even walk on her own. But what She hated most was depending on someone to do what she'd been doing for the past hundred years. The fact that she had to, brought a change in her attitude. For the first time she told me that, she had no friends her own age. I reminded her that she'd bounce back, come what may. She had too. After all she'd survived a heart attack at 98.

19.10.2003 around 6:15 my woke me up to tell em that Ajji was no more. It took more than an hour and a half for the words to sink in. When it finally did I ran to her house to find her lying still. She looked so calm and peaceful, she had a slight smile on her face. To me she looked like she was sleeping, I was waiting for her to open her eyes and say." Hey! can't i still play a good prank?" So I waited and when that didn't happen I knelt down and kissed her cheek. I stood back and this time when i looked i knew she wouldn't be waking up and the dam burst. I cried, I don't know for how long. I remember that day like it is today. i believed she'd out live me! Silly of me, I know. I guess it was selfish of me to want her live on. But she does live on. She's a part of some of my best memories. That is something no one can take away. Today is her birthday. She'd have been 106 today. (Happy Birthday)