Being from an extremely orthodox Brahmin family, temple visits are as unavoidable as the rolls of fat that overflow from the not-so-young mamis in their saris. And my palace of constancy is the Guruvayoor temple in Kerala.
Now, I have no problem with coming here since somewhere deep down, I love the atmosphere around it. But it's hard to get excited about the atmosphere when you have to get up at 3am to beat the rush and get a glimpse of the idol. But then, no one ever said God sleeps (though I'm sure he does wink or two in an attempt to deal with what is expected of him). But, as with every trip I go on my family with, it always seems like there's an appointment to attend at every temple so all it boils down to is a sort of 'temple run' as we move from one temple to the other in an attempt to cover as many of them as possible, to have an insurance policy of sorts; if one of them doesn't hear us, the other 20 definitely would have. To my knowledge, it's been a very long time since I ever went on a proper vacation with my family; no temples, no prayers and definitely no relatives whose names and relationships I can never seem to memorise. This inability to have a virtual family tree spanning at least 2 generations at the tip of my fingers gives my mother another weapon to tease me: "How many times do I have to explain who Jaya akka is? She's Ammaji's cousin's daughter-in-law and Rammohan mama's sister. Don't you remember how she got you cashew nuts when you were 5 years old? How can you forget these things?..." and so on and so forth.
Food seems to be the only solace I gain on these trips, seeing how I get a full breakfast, lunch and dinner to make up for the constant energy drain of standing in lines, travelling several kilometres and appealing to a dozen Gods to provide happiness and a good future. I gave up questioning these constant temple trips long ago and just follow my parents wherever I must go in order to maintain a façade of family time. "We're doing this for you only! Stop sulking so much and pray properly. Otherwise God will not take care of you", a constant refrain of my mother's. With the recent demise of my MP3 player, I've also lost my only source of release from the boredom of the trip, both during the journey to and from the temples. Staring out the window during a train journey has replaced this pastime of mine, but with the person beside you trying to engage you in a treatise on morality and Tamil literature, even that has begun to lose its charm.
And so, I do my best to survive these trips of torturous boredom with my camera as and when I can, but it remains to be seen if I shall ever be rid of them. I can almost smell camphor burning again...
Çiao!
Now, I have no problem with coming here since somewhere deep down, I love the atmosphere around it. But it's hard to get excited about the atmosphere when you have to get up at 3am to beat the rush and get a glimpse of the idol. But then, no one ever said God sleeps (though I'm sure he does wink or two in an attempt to deal with what is expected of him). But, as with every trip I go on my family with, it always seems like there's an appointment to attend at every temple so all it boils down to is a sort of 'temple run' as we move from one temple to the other in an attempt to cover as many of them as possible, to have an insurance policy of sorts; if one of them doesn't hear us, the other 20 definitely would have. To my knowledge, it's been a very long time since I ever went on a proper vacation with my family; no temples, no prayers and definitely no relatives whose names and relationships I can never seem to memorise. This inability to have a virtual family tree spanning at least 2 generations at the tip of my fingers gives my mother another weapon to tease me: "How many times do I have to explain who Jaya akka is? She's Ammaji's cousin's daughter-in-law and Rammohan mama's sister. Don't you remember how she got you cashew nuts when you were 5 years old? How can you forget these things?..." and so on and so forth.
Food seems to be the only solace I gain on these trips, seeing how I get a full breakfast, lunch and dinner to make up for the constant energy drain of standing in lines, travelling several kilometres and appealing to a dozen Gods to provide happiness and a good future. I gave up questioning these constant temple trips long ago and just follow my parents wherever I must go in order to maintain a façade of family time. "We're doing this for you only! Stop sulking so much and pray properly. Otherwise God will not take care of you", a constant refrain of my mother's. With the recent demise of my MP3 player, I've also lost my only source of release from the boredom of the trip, both during the journey to and from the temples. Staring out the window during a train journey has replaced this pastime of mine, but with the person beside you trying to engage you in a treatise on morality and Tamil literature, even that has begun to lose its charm.
And so, I do my best to survive these trips of torturous boredom with my camera as and when I can, but it remains to be seen if I shall ever be rid of them. I can almost smell camphor burning again...
Çiao!
Back in form Mr. Tarun Surya ! Brilliantly written; had me in splits all throughout :D
ReplyDelete"as unavoidable as the rolls of fat that overflow.."
"palace of constancy"
" if one of them doesn't hear us, the other 20 definitely would have."
and my favorite- "With the recent demise of my MP3 player"
you use your language so unassumingly but with such casual candor that i'm completely blown by it !
Genuine and brilliantly written, as always!
ReplyDeleteI remember very well our visit to Tirupati; it was April end, and it was quite hot. The temples we visited; Tirumala, Govindarajaswamy temple, Padmavathi Temple, Sri Kalahasti and half-a-dozen more I dont remember. The curd rice they gave us as prasadam in Padmavathi temple was the best part of our journey. It helped me get a lil relief from dehydration! Temple hopping esp. during summer months can really sap energy!
ReplyDeleteI just love the way you're able to write on the randomest of thoughts in such simple, yet effective ways. And not to forget, your brilliant use of such sublime humor that makes even the simplest of your life's experiences such an enjoyable read.. :)
ReplyDeleteMy buddy Ashwin Krish sent me this post when I complained of the same situation you've described here. I guess reading this at the right moment just makes it more relatable. Great read. Love it.
ReplyDelete