Lekha was up early in the morning to pay her visit to the Kottarakkara 'Ganapati kshetram'. Over the years, I've observed with a sort of curiosity in the manner with which she dictates terms with her favourite god and gets away with them! And as I've said earlier I'm not always inclined to visit temples because everyone has his or her beliefs on the subject and I've learnt to accept that in toto.
We'd commenced our journey back to Kochi a trifle after 10 and the drive was smooth, uneventful. And we're back at home in time to have the afternoon siesta.
Leaving the trivia aside, let me indulge in a bit of serious talk. And since I'd started this piece with temple going and people's belief in a power capable of granting favours in return for the good deeds or hand out instant retribution for wrongs done, let me embark on my voyage to know a bit more about myself. To get into the 'good books' of the god, man can go to any extent and the one action that has always made me smile is when people pay penance before the elephant headed god, holding both their ears and bowing in quick succession with the fond thought that their mistakes would definitely be pardoned! Had they proffered their apologies to their victims directly, much of the anguish and the fear of retribution from celestial powers could have been avoided!!
But hold it, they also take it as an occasion to wipe their slates clean off all the backlog of bad 'karma' and would't take much time to get on with the next fresh round of misdemeanour!!
No, I ain't suggesting that I'm beyond all this. I've my share of the wrongs along with the rights, with the meek acknowledgement that the tendency is more towards the former because.....er, I'm still in the process of growing up.
Tailpiece.
I've trekked up the shrine of Sabarimala for my tete-e-tete with Lord Ayyappa for eighteen years. The strict regimen of 45 days' abstinence from the good(?) things of life - during the Nov, Dec months - was followed in right earnest and I enjoyed every bit of it with the satisfaction that I could do so without missing any of it!
And I must let you into this trivia - when I'd gone on my first trek up as I wound through the long, serpentine queue and reached the sanctum sanctorum, the sight that I was privy to was the priest's backside obliterating the view of the good lord. And before the priest moved away, I was whisked away from the spot by the policemen on duty saying that my time with Lord Ayyappa was long nigh over! Later on it was courtesy my uncle's ingenuity that I did indeed get a full 'darshan'.
Was it the god's way of telling me that he wasn't pleased with my preparations to visit him, I wonder? I've asked this question to many knowledgeable people but all that I've got as answer has been an uneasy smile! They do not want to hurt my feelings by telling the truth, perhaps!!
We'd commenced our journey back to Kochi a trifle after 10 and the drive was smooth, uneventful. And we're back at home in time to have the afternoon siesta.
Leaving the trivia aside, let me indulge in a bit of serious talk. And since I'd started this piece with temple going and people's belief in a power capable of granting favours in return for the good deeds or hand out instant retribution for wrongs done, let me embark on my voyage to know a bit more about myself. To get into the 'good books' of the god, man can go to any extent and the one action that has always made me smile is when people pay penance before the elephant headed god, holding both their ears and bowing in quick succession with the fond thought that their mistakes would definitely be pardoned! Had they proffered their apologies to their victims directly, much of the anguish and the fear of retribution from celestial powers could have been avoided!!
But hold it, they also take it as an occasion to wipe their slates clean off all the backlog of bad 'karma' and would't take much time to get on with the next fresh round of misdemeanour!!
No, I ain't suggesting that I'm beyond all this. I've my share of the wrongs along with the rights, with the meek acknowledgement that the tendency is more towards the former because.....er, I'm still in the process of growing up.
Tailpiece.
I've trekked up the shrine of Sabarimala for my tete-e-tete with Lord Ayyappa for eighteen years. The strict regimen of 45 days' abstinence from the good(?) things of life - during the Nov, Dec months - was followed in right earnest and I enjoyed every bit of it with the satisfaction that I could do so without missing any of it!
And I must let you into this trivia - when I'd gone on my first trek up as I wound through the long, serpentine queue and reached the sanctum sanctorum, the sight that I was privy to was the priest's backside obliterating the view of the good lord. And before the priest moved away, I was whisked away from the spot by the policemen on duty saying that my time with Lord Ayyappa was long nigh over! Later on it was courtesy my uncle's ingenuity that I did indeed get a full 'darshan'.
Was it the god's way of telling me that he wasn't pleased with my preparations to visit him, I wonder? I've asked this question to many knowledgeable people but all that I've got as answer has been an uneasy smile! They do not want to hurt my feelings by telling the truth, perhaps!!
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