Sure most of the information makes sense only to me. The chickenscratch writing and scattered diagrams don't translate well to the outside reader. This is most unfortunate, for you dear reader as I'm sure you value my meanderings quite highly.
The above picture is followed by:
Incense... oil smoke... lemon... jasmine... dirt...
Sunlight in shafts filter the smoke, creating the illusion of a protective cage around temple carvings - lions, elephant, gods, etc. The stump (although not necessarily a stump - an old branch or black knotty piece of timber?) is caged this time by more solid metal bars and adorned with signs forbidding something.
On the floor, huddled groups of women are praying to ________(Diety Sri Sidhar?). Pentagrams (see diagram) and "Tamil Universe" diagrams in chalk clutter the granite floor. They use prayer tiny prayer pamphlets. Grand-daughters, daughters, mothers, nervous waiting boys talking, reticent fathers (OK - I'm officially projecting now), surround the diagrams and dig through plastic tote-bags of puja supplies. They are not messing around.
A sign says:
Beyond this limit
1. No cameras allowed
2. Lungies not allowed
3. Non-Hindus not allowed (in RED)
Order of Deputy Commissioner / Executive Officer
The description was followed by a list of Tamil vowels and a phone number. Like the phone number's origin, I do not know any of the 41 Tamil consonants.
When I'm not arguing with M or applying sunscreen or bug spray, I contemplate the future of blogging and note-taking. In several years we'll just carry computer-book sketch pads with wireless connections. We could do so now, but I'd hate to throw my $2000 laptop on top of the bus, or use it to cushion my tired ass while lounging on the train platform. I think that these devices need to become more durable and cheaper for us to really use them.
Of course, I see people toting laptops, scanners, digital cameras and cell modems all over the subcontinent - but not me. I can hardly be trusted to carry sunglasses or a watch without breaking or misplacing.
The forgetful and clumsy (along with the poor) need better technology options! I should know. We'll have to make due with the book until we find better options. With the non-linear, non-specific functions that the book offers in such durable casing... we will be waiting for a while.
M and I passed a jewelry shop in the Fort Cochin area that offered "Nose and Ear Punches." In an instant, I was bargaining with the owner over the cost of the punches. I tried to buy one for M, as she was due for a good nose punch. When the sneaky owner changed his song to "piercings, not punches" we kept walking towards the dusty antique stands, spice warehouses and synagoge of Jew Town. As we walked away, M punched me in the shoulder.
