A celebration of joy..!

I am at a temple in the south, quite near the former financial minister's town of Chidambaram, the monsoon which seems to have evaded the country is here, making rivers of the bullock cart ruts and brown mud pies thrown on our faces as cars splash in and splash muck and water on us less fortunate pedestrians. This temple is strange; most others are thronged with devotees asking for blessings with stone gods staring down stone faced giving no clue whether prayers are heard or blessings answered.
This temple at Thirekedu is different; procession after little procession enter the gates; some with trumpeters, some quietly.
I stare at them, each headed by an old couple, sixty years, seventy years, eighty years, says the man in dhoti next to me, sometimes even ninety years if they are both alive!
If they are both alive! That's the key; each couple who head the procession come to give thanks! It is the husband's sixtieth birthday, but he come with his wife, to celebrate not his sixty years but their marriage which existed in those years!
They give thanks with elaborate poojas, the sound of bells, the chanting of prayers, and the gratefulness of the children who follow behind, for their life together and all the good that has come out of it.
The ceremony, the journey, lunches, dinners and all expenses are generally borne by their children who are grateful for their parents, grateful not just that they are both alive, but thankful for all they've done for them.  What a lovely scene; old fathers and mothers, some with grim faces as they try to navigate through the crowd, treading carefully because of hurting joints, knees! I watch as procession after procession walk through the temple gates: It's a scene of joy, a day of gratefulness, for a birthday, a marriage, years of parenthood and just being alive together.
What a difference from continually asking for blessings, what a change  to see a temple of joy! I smile at my dear friend Ajit as he garlands Beena his wife, and his daughters, one an army captain and the other a software engineer clap gleefully. I clap too and enjoy gratefully this celebration of joy..!
        
 [email protected]

A celebration of joy..!

I am at a temple in the south, quite near the former financial ministers town of Chidambaram, the monsoon which seems to have evaded the country is here, making rivers of the bullock cart ruts and brown mud pies thrown on our faces as cars splash in and splash muck and water on us less fortunate pedestrians. This temple is strange; most others are thronged with devotees asking for blessings with stone gods staring down stone faced giving no clue whether prayers are heard or blessings answered. This temple at Thirekedu is different; procession after little procession enter the gates; some with trumpeters, some quietly. I stare at them, each headed by an old couple, sixty years, seventy years, eighty years, says the man in dhoti next to me, sometimes even ninety years if they are both alive! If they are both alive! Thats the key; each couple who head the procession come to give thanks! It is the husbands sixtieth birthday, but he come with his wife, to celebrate not his sixty years but their marriage which existed in those years! They give thanks with elaborate poojas, the sound of bells, the chanting of prayers, and the gratefulness of the children who follow behind, for their life together and all the good that has come out of it. The ceremony, the journey, lunches, dinners and all expenses are generally borne by their children who are grateful for their parents, grateful not just that they are both alive, but thankful for all theyve done for them. What a lovely scene; old fathers and mothers, some with grim faces as they try to navigate through the crowd, treading carefully because of hurting joints, knees! I watch as procession after procession walk through the temple gates: Its a scene of joy, a day of gratefulness, for a birthday, a marriage, years of parenthood and just being alive together. What a difference from continually asking for blessings, what a change to see a temple of joy! I smile at my dear friend Ajit as he garlands Beena his wife, and his daughters, one an army captain and the other a software engineer clap gleefully. I clap too and enjoy gratefully this celebration of joy..! [email protected]