During the night, I did get up and, while opening the cold-water side of the tap, hot water gushed out. Thinking in my sleep that I had opened the wrong one, I went back to bed to continue tossing and turning, staying awake. As I, out of sheer ennui, tried to doze off, the alarm rang with the loudest sound possible, non-stop, ensuring I couldn't even think of dozing and was wide awake.

Happy with the thought that now I could get rid of the stickiness and sweat that had interfered with my nocturnal peace with the coldest water possible, I opened the tap and was almost scalded. Confused, I opened the other side, and that was even hotter. Escaping from this unwanted sauna, I went back and called the housekeeping guy, who was supposed to be awake but was in dreamland. Having passed on the pleasure I felt of jolting up from a half-sleep to him, I told him the issue. After managing to comprehend in the half-wakeful state, he said he would send a boy to attend. Ten minutes. No boy was in sight, even at the farthest distance. I woke the guy up again from his next dream, and before he could say, "another few minutes, Sir," he must have hopefully continued his rudely stopped dream. A boy suddenly manifested from our worried looks into the night—as we were getting late. He brought a bucket of cold water. He assured us that keeping the washing basin tap open for ten minutes and allowing the water to flow would settle the issue. What a waste of water. The issue refused to resolve with this water-wastage ungenerous act. My wife decided to have a hot water bath in the peak of summer to alleviate her body aches. I managed to scrub off a portion of sweat with whatever amount of cold water was in the bucket. Half-bathed, feeling less than totally clean but properly and fully dressed, we were at the Temple on time.

The protocols for the ritual are specific. After the removal of the previous day’s ‘alankaram’ and performing ‘abhishegam,’ the screen is drawn, closing out the sanctum from view. Then that day’s ‘alankara’ for the Goddess is done with meticulous care. Some priests are known for the deft touches in this. This is followed by the opening of the screen with ‘deepa aradhani’ and chanting of mantras. Then the ‘archanais’ are performed. It took nearly two and a half hours. There was quite a crowd, and all were sitting with patience, prayers, positive thoughts, and ‘bhakti.’ With these, the already charged atmosphere gets further charged, and peace and calmness pervade. The priests took great care of me. Knowing my health issues, a stool was given for me to sit on, and a fan was also directed directly at me to alleviate the hot flushes episodes. None of the other devotees took any objection. In fact, many of them were very helpful. One even kept describing to me what ‘abhishegam’ was being performed from time to time.

With a blessed feeling and inward happiness, we collected the ‘prasadam’ and returned to the hotel.

Continued in 262. Out In Inn - Part 5