The Mystery Of 79° 41'E | ✓

Chapter 5

"Please Chaithra and Charu eat something. It's high time since you both have to eaten lunch."

"No Ammamma," said Chaitra shaking her head. "I am not hungry."

"Ammamma, if Akka is not eating then even I'll not eat," declared Charusila.

"Of course if you both stay hungry your Thatha will come to you, won't he? Don't you think I am worried? Please eat something," grumbled Ramya.

The girls sighed as their grandmother can easily guilt trick anyone. They ate their lunch and cleared the table. Ramya heard a knock on the door and went to open it.

"Abhitha! When did you come from Vizag? Chaithra and Charusila will be happy to meet you."

"Ammamma I came a few hours ago. I came to know that they both have dropped here so I came here," beamed Abhitha.

Chaithra and Charusila came running from dining hall. The trio hugged tightly and told each other how much they missed each other. They offered her a seat. Ramya got up to get some snacks from kitchen.

"Ammamma, I am angry with Thatha," pouted Abhitha.

Ramya stopped on her tracks. "You met Panditji? But where?"

"At the station."

"At the station?"

"I greeted him but he didn't reply anything. I told him that I am Abhitha but he sort of ignored me. But why did he board the train going to Kanchipuram?" Abhitha asked bombarding them with questions and information.

Train going to Kanchipuram!

It slowly registered Ramya's mind. "Well, he had to go to meet a friend there. He must be in hurry as he got late. You don't worry. I'll talk to him when he returns."

"Okay Ammamma, I'll go now. I couldn't sleep properly in train. It was wobbling all the time. I will take your leave."

The last sentence pulled them out of trance.

"Yeah, bye bye." replied both of them.

Abhitha left the house. Ramya turned towards her granddaughters.

"We need to talk." Ramya said coldly.

***

"Hello!... yes Mahesh... I found out about her... her name is Abhitha Naidu... she is 18 years old... had gone to Vizag to meet her cousins... best friend of Pandit Bhavyesh's granddaughters... she already met them... she came out from the house very early... no I couldn't find about that eavesdropping girl... I have no access to CCTV cameras... only Pandit Bhavyesh had access... why means what? He is the high priest... if someone caught me then I am done for... I have to go..." saying this Pandit Aditya hung up the phone and went to the sanctum sanctorum.

***

Ramya confronted her granddaughters. "Now listen to me. I know you have many questions in your mind but don't speak a word until I have finished. Panditji had told me that he had to go Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. After two days."

"Chidambaram? It is in Tamil Nadu. But Abhitha told he boarded train going to Kanchipuram," said Charusila.

Ramya warned them, "Until and unless I complete both of you will not utter a word. Is that clear?"

Both the sisters nodded.

She took a deep breath. "Panditji told me that if he goes to Chidambaram or some other place a few days early, we should look at his journal. I didn't realise what it meant but now I understand. Panditji was postponing this meeting until you both arrived. I guess he did so because except him you are the ones in our family who have basic knowledge of Sanskrit. I think Panditji was sure something will happen like this. I want you to read his journal."

"Come let's go, Charu," commanded Chaitra.

Opening the wardrobe Ramya handed them a navy blue journal. Some newspaper cuttings and a piece of paper fell down. The sisters glanced at the cuttings. They were news of various gold items and idols being smuggled out from the temples. The cuttings were in the languages Telugu, English and Hindi.

But a piece of paper caught Charusila's eye. She looked at it tried reading it in her mind.

L-land? God? Era? Mugs? What is this?

"Akka, what is this? I know Thatha knew basic English but what rubbish is this?"

Chaithra stared at it for few minutes. She slapped her forehead and said, "Of course, this is an anagram."

"An anagram?" asked Ramya and Charusila.

Chaithra held out the piece of paper to them. It read:

LOIDS LAND GOD
ERA BEGIN
GLUED MUGS TO
79° 41'E

"Are you sure, Akka? This is still utter nonsense to me. Which era will begin? What are mugs glued to? Their handles?"

"Tell me Charusila if I wouldn't have told you that this is an anagram what would have you done?"

Charusila thought for a while. "I would've thrown it into dustbin."

"That is why Thatha wrote this. If our enemies would have discovered it then they would have thrown it. But we have to decode it to find where they have taken, Thatha."

"How will you decode it? There are thousands of possibilities."

"We will use the clue left by Thatha," Chaitra pointed at the newspaper cuttings in Charusila's hand.

Ramya was quiet and absorbing each and every word. She realised how smart her family was. No wonder Pandit Bhavyesh adored Chaithra. Her calmness, smartness and thoughtfulness were the traits she had inherited from him. Ramya got up.

"I think you are right. I'll get the dictionary. We three will solve the anagram."