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OF TEMPLES AND IYER MAMI'S

Yesterday my day was spent well at prasanna's place at yelaahnka.The evening did end on a sour note with India's lack lustre performance at nottingham.Suprisingly we went to a temple yesterday in yelahanka as we just wandered around the place,bcoz I generally am not such an ardent devotee of god.I went inside the temple as there was no gumbal-sattham etc etc, no iyer mami......showing off her culinary skills like "pongal la neyyi konjam korayathu" or saying "kadavaullikku pannina abishekm amogam a irunthuhthu ".

I like temples that dont have these pretentious characters,who tend to project themselves as if God gave them an personal appointment.Some tend to show off as if they were the CEO's of the temple ,and as if the temple would never run without their prescence. Especially near my place in chennai ,where there is a temple bang oppposite my place ,where some people come there,mumble some thing(supposed to be sloka ::: thats what we are supposed to belive) and after chanting verses in favor of the god.........the iyer mami's get down to business "who's son is in the US? Who's salary has more zeroes in it? whose daughter is coming of age? whose daughter ran away.............so to say in short ...it's a mini kumudham-cum-femina --40+ chat show when any kovil abishekam,kumbabishekam or any relegious festival in the name of god is celebrated.

whats more.........this kitty party ends when they close the curtains where the GOD is kept bcoz these pernicious thoughts of the IYER MAMI's has irritated the GOD and he prefers some silence.....and wants to shoo away these IYER MAMI's by offering them some offerings of food and some spoilt milk (by the way........it's called prasadam ).

Even there a sence of parochialism and nepotism shoots up....as certain self-proclaimed closest-2-god- mami's queue up to get a double take on the prasadam.....and ask prasdam in a huge ANDA ...(as per our tamil slang ! ) for the family....(that's the official excuse) and go home and hogg it ......

Then there's this great debate at the end of it all after the gathering has broken up , as to whose prasadam, served was better....was it andha theru mami or pakkathuveetu paati.

Inbetween all this we youngsters sincerely hope that bcoz we have invested some time in seeeing god...he will give us a great return of investment by sending some beautiful iyer girl ...in the temple....

thats the way life is ...............
Thats why I keep off temples..........but i do love places that are quiet and offer u piece of mind or has a a great heritage about it. I am not any ardent fan of any particular god.....but just believe in the existence of a universal power above us.