Page 22 - Seniorstoday May 2023 Issue
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Akshada’s life too was similar, as Akash himself in keeping up with the latest
learnt from his friend. She had finished her technology and all that is good with the
studies and migrated abroad to settle down social media. He was a member of several
with her husband and children. Life moves groups in Facebook like the Old Bombay
on for sure, given the resilience of the Group and several other meaningful ones
Homo sapiens in all their complexities. which prided themselves in useful and
Everything was on going fine till one informative posts on several relevant
day Akash’s life got disrupted, not by the matters. In the course of his digital
usual retirement from the job, but by an navigation he came across one called ‘The
unexpected turn of events. His wife, who Group Company’ and his interest was
had been an excellent homemaker and a aroused, naturally curious that he always
great support to the family, had gone the had been. On a deeper dive, he discovered
spiritual route for quite some time and that this group is all about bringing
finally in keeping with the philosophy together all singles, man or woman,
of the Hindu dharma, expressed a desire united by a desire for companionship, on
to relinquish the home-life and move a common platform and help build new
to an ashram in the mountainous areas relationships. Staying in a megapolis
of Uttarakhand, never to return. In all like Mumbai, Akash was pining for some
fairness, she had taken Akash and her companionship to spend his sunset years.
children into confidence in advance He joined the group and started visiting it
about her inner desires and then took the regularly and scouring the other aspirants
decision. Akash and his children, in the seeking companionship. The site enabled
fitness of the things and empathy with bespoke slicing of members’ data. Akash
the lady of the house, had reluctantly kept it simple and elicited data on an
agreed. Akash recalled his own cousin alphabetical basis and Mumbai based. His
who had given it up all at 21 and joined a search threw up some seven hundred odd
spiritual movement based in the east and names and 120 odd names starting with the
happy spreading spirituality and Vedantic letter ‘A’.
knowledge. Akash excitedly went through the names,
Akash’s life was cruising along, managing carefully looking at each’s education
his lonely life as best as he could, the and background to see if any would be a
children having long since flown the coup good ‘match’ from the culled list. He came
and settled abroad. He had accepted the across 32 single women with the name
reality that his wife would never return Akshada. While one or two had posted
from her vanaprastha situation and re- their pictures along with their profile, most
enter a householder’s life. He spent his had not, out of abundant caution knowing
time visiting libraries and devouring books the dangers of digital predators. Akash’s
and several social activities and of course heart was now racing, suddenly flooded as
regularly meeting his friends for a game of he with sweet memories of his child hood
bridge or walks and the occasional tipple, and his friend’s cousin, Akshada. In the
a universal weakness as common as chips excitement of the moment, Akash called
and fritters. his friend ( who continued to live in the
Akash was no tech dinosaur and prided same housing complex ) and asked about
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