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It was a hot sultry day and it was one of those sleepy vignettes of the day which lie on the blurry borders of afternoon and evening. Seethalakshmi sighed out of heat and exhaustion.” And they say late afternoons are cooler in Chennai!” Seethalakshmi was muttering as she fanned herself. Today was indeed going to be yet another long day, she thought. She still had one more place to go before she could have her meal and rest for the day. She did not like the idea of having to walk on such a hot sunny day. Not for her the luxuries of modern transportation. She would have preferred to have freedom to take the day off.

But in her world of hand- to-mouth existence that would have meant sleeping on a starved and growling stomach. And there were also four mouths to feed. So she took it in her stride and neared the wedding hall. The place was decked with gold and lavishly decorated with flowers. People had too much money these days, she ruminated, as she was getting ready – ready to get decked up in all the finest gold-plated jewelry that she could afford. She was never comfortable in the vicinity of the rich and famous.

She was happy that she was not a guest here but only a worker who got paid by the hour. The groom would be here in five minutes the father of the bride announced. They handed flowers and garlands around. Strange customs and Stranger whims she thought. The atmosphere looked festive with all kinds of people who had converged from all across the globe. A child shyly came near her and smiled. She liked children and waved at him.His mother rushed protectively and took him away.

Just then, the band started playing a popular film song. It was a relief to her to listen to that after the listless devotional music she got to listen the whole day. She was glad that she wasn’t one of those religious types. She had heard enough of it in her life.This morning she had to wake up to the sounds of the hymns in the Shiva temple. That temple never had money and could afford only bad singers who were content with a meal or two. As she walked around the sacred ashes fell from her forehead onto her eyes. Squinting her tiny, reddened eyes she continued on her routine and finally after an hour of hard work she was rewarded with her breakfast. Just then she heard someone yell across the hallway, “Seethalakshmi is wanted at the Vishnu Temple a few streets away”. Not even a moment’s rest, she wanted to grumble but her thoughts drifted to the smell of warm ghee-dripping tamarind rice. So She trudged all the way to the temple. She was careful to remove all traces of the sacred ash from her forehead. She believed in the adage,” When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. She now entered the precincts proudly with an impeccably applied vertical sacred mark. It was amusing to her in her younger days but now the daily ramifications these things became routine affairs.

In her younger days she had foolishly assumed that verticality and horizontality of the stripes on the forehead were the only differences. But then, Age and Experience had taught her of the subtle differences between one vertical mark and another and how important the difference was. The Y-Shaped thing was entirely different from the U-shaped one and each bearer claimed the superiority of his clan.

As her thoughts were running amok, the official temple elephant walked by. As the scrawny elephant passed by, she tried going near it but it seemed as if he was in a bad mood. She backed away remembering the fate of the great Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathiyar. It was in this very temple’s hallowed precincts that a temple elephant trampled him. She wondered if that elephant and his tribe even realized the cross he had to carry? She attributed this elephant’s bad mood to all those bad genes and the karma and ignominy of killing a great soul.

As she finished up the tasks that she was assigned, the smell of the tamarind rice attracted her. Now was the time to do some belly worship she thought and devoured her food in no time. Two good meals in one day – She was indeed lucky. This was how her day went by before she had arrived at the Wedding Hall.

Today was a busy day. In fact she had to choose between attending the wedding and participating in a political rally. Attending a political rally was fun. Carrying a few placards and recognizing others in the same boat – with the unspoken sarcastic smile ”Oh Weren’t you at the opposition party’s procession last week screaming infamies at this leader?” This was probably the commoner’s way of getting even with the politicians, Seethalakshmi reflected philosophically. But on the downside, she had to face the milling crowd and had to tolerate strange grimy hands that indulged in moments of fleeting pleasure. Once the leader walked past and the crowds dispersed she could do what mattered to her the most – eat her fill and feed the hungry ones that eagerly awaited her at the door.

The considerations of money and better food and her troubled history with the police cast the die in favor of the wedding. So here she was at the wedding waiting for this pompous groom. The groom had arrived and was escorted towards her. She garlanded him and stooped low enough so he could climb. He beckoned to his friends to help him out.

He wishes to ride on an elephant but is so clumsy, Seethalakshmi thought as she waved her trunk. For a moment she wanted to twist him with his trunk and throw him down. But the mahout was getting impatient and started patting her and entreating her to try and stoop down a little lower. Finally after a ten minute ride the clumsy groom felt sick and wanted to get off. Content that yet another day in her elephantine life was over, Seetha majestically followed her Mahout Ramu as he made preparations for dinner.

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Picture provided by: www.tulsisflorist.co.uk

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