I went to a temple after a very long time twice this week.
There happens to be this Kovil just a minute away from my house
and I never set foot there until tonight.
So, I was quietly standing outside the temple in my jeans and
cardigan, observing the architecture and wall paintings when I caught the
glimpse of a lady's face. I smiled at her and she smiled back. Eventually she
came up to me and asked: "To ress ici mem?"
Now, I do not socialise out with the locality's people at all.
And my existence is simply not something anyone is aware of. This much I knew.
But I got it's confirmation tonight.
I laughed slightly and affirmed. She would probably have been
much more contented with me coming from some alien planet; after all, all the
young damsels there were neatly dressed in their traditional attires, flowers
decking their nicely braided hair and with bhotus on their forehead. And then
there was me, wearing my savate lacaz and looking terrifically out of place.
"Avec kisanla tonn vini?"
I pointed towards my Dad who
was giving us his back. The lady quickly went into a nod as she acquiesced.
At that same instance, I saw my grandmother coming up at that
point and was hoping she would not tell me that I should not have let my hair
loose because we were in a temple. But she didn't. I guess that everyone in the
family made peace finally with who one wants to be. I quickly pointed towards
my grandmother as well and the lady said, "Ahn to appaye sa?"
I went blank. I was not sure what appaye meant exactly and said,
"Mo grandmere sa."
The lady turned her gaze down and walked away somewhere. I
continued to look straight ahead me to find everyone sitting cross-legged on
the mats.
In the middle was a pair of brothers, both probably around 4 to
8 years of age; the little one trying to get hold of the elder one's shawl.
Like any other normal sibling altercation, some screaming was involved and the
mother very quickly grabbed the little one and thrust her hand in front of his
mouth to save her from the embarrassment.
With subtle gestures of her pointed index and furrowed eyebrows
she scolded the little one whose eyes teared up. He hitched a cry and was
caught tighter to stop his crying abruptly.
In those facial dominance, all that came though me was
impatience that we tend to have when children to not quickly obey and we
force-shut them just so we can satisfy a small part of our ego.
Credits:- Our Alter Ego