It was the moment!
No, the sky was not a palette of pink and gold and mauve. No, there wasn’t any melody playing on the piano or saxophone or even the mellifluous song of beautiful birds. No, there weren’t any distinguished people shaking hands or garlanding winners.
Things just fell into place like a jig saw puzzle. Her mind cleared up and reality, dawned gently like a soft drizzle.
It was a few months back. She had noticed strange goings on near her house. One day a child’s toys left out by mistake went missing, next the milk pouch from her neighbour’s door. There was a feeling of disbelief and wonder among the residents. Lots of speculation. Who could it be… stealing children’s toys? And snatching even the milk from the mouths of babes, from the tea of the elderly and the bowls of the few pets occasionally found browsing around?
Well, the milk packets’ disappearance became a regular feature. But the clever thief made sure it stole from all homes dispassionately, without depriving the same home in a row. The murmurs and rumblings had increased. People were talking of volunteers guarding the derelict neighbourhood. After all who could afford to lose precious milk, that too with the rising prices, inflation, and high unemployment rates!
Rukmini devi had always had a burning desire to solve mysteries. Having been married off at the tender age of ten (or was it nine?) she had to sacrifice her urge to study. When she had come to her husband’s house finally, the slew of household chores was balanced only by the stolen moments of romance with her husband, a good ten years older than her. He taught her the alphabet, to read and to sign her name. ”My wife will not put her thumbprint on documents,” he would say.
He was a teacher, a teacher of English, in the big city. After a few years of marriage, he found the gumption to take his wife with him to the city. The new life in the big world beyond their little village was daunting. Though the workload decreased significantly, but she had to shoulder all responsibilities from dawn to dusk. Her tender shoulders bruised now and then; however, she would flex them along with her resolve and would never give up.
The romance between the husband and wife evaporated with the arrival of their children. Three daughters, in quick succession. But the young man was a good teacher. Resolutely he taught the girls and Rukmini devi found this to be her lottery. She lapped up the lessons like a hungry sparrow. Every speck, every crumb. Soon she could read and write quite fluently, at par with her daughters.
The gates to the world of books was flung wide open. Books to read, revel in and ingest. Her afternoons became the best part of the day. Somewhere down the line she developed a penchant for mysteries and thrillers. Her grey cells ticked and hummed; her skin glowed with youth, while her eyes gauged all they saw.
When the strange things started happening, her inner Sherlock sprung out. She started wondering, who could it be. At first, she was sure it was that old neighbour of hers. The sly one, who would always try to stuff an extra ladoo from the prasad plates. But what would he do with the toys?
As soon as she ruled him out, her grey cells found the old beggar outside Ramu kaka’s all-purpose shop, fitting the bill. Definitely it was her. Off late she seemed to have gained weight too. All the milk she had downed. She started shadowing her at odd times, but to no avail.
Then it dawned on her the milk was stolen early morning… when most were fast asleep or running around. One night she set her alarm and slipped out of her house past midnight. She popped her pillow under her bedclothes, so no one would miss her.
Keeping to the shadows, she first went all around the neighbourhood. It was dilapidated all right, but bereft of people it looked, not bad. She could hear snatches of conversation punctuated by snoring and deep silence. She wondered if she was taking it a tad too far… but Holmes had completely clouded her mind. She took out her disguise and donned it… a pair of oversized dark glasses. She wished she could catch a glimpse of herself, though she was no Mata Hari.
Around 3am she realised her eyes were getting heavy, her feet were feeling like logs, and she wished she were in bed. How did Ms. Marple do it? She was glad her husband was far away and would not be able to pass any remark from his Heavenly abode.
‘A little while more’ she told herself as she rubbed her palms vigorously and ran about a little. Nothing suspicious anywhere! Just then she noticed the horizon was changing colour in the east. Ah! The milkman would be around soon. She would check the packets and nab the robber. The milkman came on his bicycle, humming a tune merrily. Soon he was followed by quite a few strays. He knew each one of them. He had even named them… ‘Pirate’ the one with a patch around his eye, ‘Boss’ the one who kept all the dogs in check with his growls, ‘Pretty’ the one with beautiful brown eyes and shiny golden coat and so on ‘Jughead’ ‘Veronica’ and ‘Archie’. He would let them have some drops of milk now and then as they jostled around, as if he was the original Pied Piper.
Rukmini devi had had enough and turned to go home when she heard it. A soft scraping and guttural sounds. She had goosebumps. Making sure she was not visible, least of all to the milkman, she tiptoed towards the sound. She found herself chanting the ‘Hanuman chalisa’ but continued bravely. Only for a moment she stopped to pick up a stick for self-defense. Stealthily she moved on. The sound had now changed a little. Something like lapping mixed with heavy grunting. She raised her stick, proceeding one step at a time, freezing midair and gently stretched her neck to see what was going on.
What she saw, stunned her completely. There was a big grey cat carrying a packet of milk in her mouth, a few kittens followed. Some were busy erasing all evidence, as they greedily lapped every drop that flowed out. The arduous task of lifting a litre packet was tiring the cat who grunted while executing her weight training.
The moment was self-explanatory.
‘Shoo! Go away!’ she shouted as she chased the cats away.
The mystery was solved, and she felt completely elated. She Rukmini devi at seventy, had achieved what no one else had.
