A Mahjong Day With The Northern Lights

I’ve always considered mahjong as not just a game, but as an opportunity for socialising, networking and entertaining or being entertained. One of the Mahjong Memsahibs was visiting from New Zealand and Monday was the first opportunity I got to meet up with her after a busy weekend. I had also promised the Northern Lights that I would play on that day so I thought I’d combine both engagements and socialise with everyone together.

The game was being held at Ajitha’s home in Hollywood Town, a beautifully serene locality in North Bangalore. We got quite lost looking for her house once we entered the gated community and, fortunately for us, Ajitha is popular in the neighbourhood so we finally arrived at the right gate. Wagging tails welcomed us in with Ajitha not far behind so we were relieved that the welcoming committe was part of Ajitha’s household.

My mission for the day was to teach scoring and Ajitha managed to win most of Rita’s and my counting sticks before we stopped for lunch. She’d cooked up a feast for us and I was dreaming of an after lunch siesta but the other table was ready for their scoring lessons and my lethargy vanished. Time just flies when you’re doing what you love with company that you love and we didn't realise how late it was. We departed hastily before the horrendous Bangalore 4pm  traffic brought our lovely day to a screeching halt.

After such an entertaining day I was so happy I got to share the Northern Lights' Monday ikigai.

Northern Lights: Rita Z, Jimlee, Bhavana, Ajitha