Kozhukattais, Kanjeevarams and Karting!!!

Today, after what seemed like ages, set foot in a temple. Three of us drove over to Livermore after a blissful lunch involving kozhukattais at S Bhavan. The stereo system was churning out Rahman's numbers from the 90's and we were involved in a discussion about the subversive eroticism (perhaps subversive is not the right word, too much of a negative connotation) that's very common in Tamil lyrics. Conversation that was benign from my perspective but would have made my grand-pa ask god to redeem my soul. Anyways, we arrive at the temple and are greeted by quite the crowd dressed in it's resplendent best. Men in pattu veshtis and sherwanis and the women flaunting their kanjeevarams and salwars reminding me of all the obligatory social occasions I was dragged to back home. Turned nostalgic for a bit and felt a calm descend on me. My belief systems preclude the possibility of god, so it set me off thinking about why temples had such an effect. Was it the memories from many summers past as a kid of the umpteen visits to the thousand gods, the thrilling myths and legends that morph into history, the sounds, the smells, the proud grandpas and the doting grandmoms, the food and the familiar tug of mum's voice making sure you didn't go off making chums with the monkeys and squirrels in the trees. Whatever the reason was, I did appreciate the time there. The day ended with a session at a local kart track. Modesty aside, did splendidly well and burnt quite a bit of rubber. Was a great end to a week that brought wonderful news about 2 of my friends getting engaged. And I still have a concert lined up for tommorrow and a book to finish :). And regarding the kanjeevarams, realized that i am still a sucker for a woman in a well draped saree. Sigh!!!!

-shri