A Warm Texas Sunday filled with Peace and Tears
It was my kind of day. Warm and with promises of a beautiful spring. My kind of day. The sunglasses are out and we head out to the Meenakshi Temple (R has a post on the temple here). A good 30 minute ride from home, the warm sun on the face, laughing and talking with a friend on the phone. A perfect weekend!
The temple is no way grand compared to temples in India but it brings us both an inner peace. We walked along sanathi to sanathi enjoying the peace, the weather and just life in short. The swaying neem trees, the peacocks behind the Ganesh temple, the newly planted marigold plants, the incense and oil smell floating in the air, the kumkum and vibudhi lines on our foreheads, – we felt blessed.
Our last stop was the Aiyyapan sanathi. Just as we were about to enter in, we saw an old man come out accompanied by his wife and another couple. We stop to let them pass and the old man lifts his hand in a silent thanks and carefully walks away. Weenter in, and in front of the Pillayar I bow down my head, my hands held together. I could not stop myself from turning around to take one last look at the old man walking away. He is somebody I have never met, but he just reminded of someone I knew… someone I loved… tears streamed down my eyes and I prayed, “hope he has a granddaughter who loves him as much as I loved mine and hope his granddaughter shows her love and takes time to be with him unlike me”
A prayer for a stranger or was it something else all together?
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