One day I woke up to the sound of Vedas being chanted loud and clear! I pinched myself to see if I was truly awake and if so where was I?In Tirupati or in T.Nagar?I was in T.Nagar at the heart of the central constituency ,the bastion of Periyar parivar[ family,] where the local 'dada's' make sure that the D.M.K. candidates contesting Legislative or Parliamentary elections return to their seat of power without fail.
When I peeped out of my window that overlooks a play ground I saw scores of Brahmin priests sitting around 5 yaga salas ,pouring ghee into the holy fire and chanting all the 4 vedas -Rig,Yajur,Atharva and Soma veda ,occasionally pausing to explain the meanings of the 'mantras' in Tamil!
Lo' behold my eyes met with a fantastic sight!The local 'dada' and his henchmen who conduct 'Katta panchayat' at the road side corner every day dilligently,arrange for record dances in the annual Adi thiruvizha of the small 'Amman 'shrine constructed on the blatantly encroached land of our neighbouring flat ,and rollicking merrily on the road side with regular sun downers ,were all freshly bathed and neatly dressed ,had smeared themselves with sacred ash and took part in all the rituals spanning over a week,along with their wives in the consecration ceremony of their road side temple!.
Suddenly I was transported from the land of Periyar to the sacred shores of river Ganges flowing by the ancient and holy city of Kashi.
In all my life spanning several decades I have never witnessed 'Khumbhabhishekam' performed at such close quarters although I have spent a lot of time living in the 'agraharams of Tirupati and Chittoor and have visited several other holy cities.
What a treat ! Right in the heart of a slum!
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