Red Earth, Pouring Rain.

யாயும் யாயும் யாராகியரோ
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளிர்
யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி யறிதும்
செம்புலப் பெயனீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாம் கலந்தனவே.

There are two ways by which you can travel to kanchipuram-the ordinary way, and the lord langote way. The ordinary way is the one in which you pay a train fare of Rs.16, endure a long and hard wait for a seat for almost the entire journey(or till chengalpattu) and finally get a seat a few hundred yards before kanchipuram east station(this is close to a lot of temples, get down here. thanks:sdk); alternatively, pay Rs 23 on a bus that takes you on a lovely tour of the scenic madras-bangalore highway at 25 kmph, spending close to 2.5 hours for traversing a distance of 75 kms. You can also see snails on the road flying past your windows(no puns on the operating system please).

Lord langote way, of course, is the AC bus. No.576, kanchipuram to t.nagar. At Rs 75, it is not something that could I afford to do everyday, but once in a while, it could be fun. I got on the bus at a temperature of 30 C, and I got off the bus at the same temperature. I am not sure the bus qualifies for being 'kulir saadhana perundhu'. Maybe 'saadhana perundhu'. I spent one half of my journey as a man of the masses, and the return trip was the lord langote way. A lovely cloudy morning, the fields all along the way wet and inviting, and I was standing for almost 2 hours on the footboard of BTL1 looking in awe at the 'singaara graamams' as one of the signs on a bus stand said.

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There might be a contrasting difference between a sivan temple and a vishnu temple, but you understand that one thing is common-indifference. Service to mankind is service to God, and in some temples both of them are denied service. Maybe the temple priests are not paid well, but do they have to take it out on the people who come here with all those false hopes and prayers that are going to fall on deaf ears anyway?(satire, take it easy) I have to ask some people in the crowd(especially the women) the following:

#just because you stand in front of the deity for a longer period, is he/she going to bless you more than the other persons behind you?

#If you had come all the way and you would want to see the god in all the glory for all eternity, doesn't applying for a job at the temple make better sense?

#does any god ever ask you to be ill-disciplined by stalling or jumping queues?

In one temple, the priest gave me vibhuti with as much interest as I had on my life(squat). In the perumal temple, I was looking askance at the shataari and the priest told me that it was closing time. If that is not a convincing answer, what is

#All the temple tanks metaphorically resembled my head-huge, but nothing inside.

#Bovonto is awesome. I really don't know why its not a success unlike a coke or a pepsi. If a willing entrepreneur is listening, I think there is quite a fan following for this drink.

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Once I was back in madras, I realized my folly. I had stumbled upon yet another blunder in my life(an everyday incident)-I did not consider the deepavali week factor in my travel equation, the AC bus mogham had created this maayai which had veiled my vision to the truth. Anyway, I got down at T.nagar bus stop, and to get to doraiswamy road, which is 100 m from the bus stand, it took me all of my energy, time, patience, will, positive thoughts, confidence, along with a strong urge to blow the entire road into smithereens to get going. The honking had produced such a pounding headache, that the left portion of my head was playing a kacheri with nothing but blaring tavil and a cacophonous nadaswaram. If someone would pull down T.nagar, or all the shops there, I would talk to obama and try to bring peace in the middle east, or teach namitha proper tamil. maybe the first one.

I managed to get inside saravana bavan, which was a sorry sight:

#A long line of women in front of the loo(really long). The idiots building the shops can't build restrooms for god's sake?

#I did not see a public toilet either, and even if there was one, people would avoid it like politicians avoid people or sensible policies-they are sparkling clean, and beautifully maintained.

#The toilets for men were provided by a what looked like the dilapidated remains of an old transformer(maybe it was working, only god knows)

Anyway, it took me 20 minutes to find a seat, 10 minutes to order coffee, 5 minutes to drink it and 2000 minutes to get back home crawling on the stupid north usman road(I paid the bill, to all the smarty pants). I am sure somebody could have travelled to singapore, watched the grand prix and could have come back in that time.

Having accomplished my mission to kill boredom for atleast half a day, I went home and crashed. So much for attainable goals.

What kin is mine to yours?

And how Did you and I meet ever?

But in love our hearts have mingled as red earth and pouring rain" 

-translation for the poem from kurunthogai(at the top)

(translation:The hindu; poem source:project madurai website)