Unlike the room in Kanchipuram, this hotel was quite spacious, and navigation was easier, at least from my perspective. Though for whatever reason, I took a bit of time to get used to the arrangements in the room. Maybe I did not concentrate enough.

A short rest followed by high tea, and we had to rush to the mandapam for the first day's function. The peak summer period had just ended. In the present age, with global warming, these preset days for peak summer, monsoon, etc., have gone haywire. So as we tentatively set foot out of the hotel, it hit us—the heat. Within a couple of minutes, sweat started pouring down. The temple or even the hall within was not far away, yet this walk of fire drained me and others too. The temple, as expected, was bustling with activity with limitless crowds sweating profusely, forgetting this extreme discomfort in their devotion and eagerness for darshan. Photographs can never be avoided in such functions. So at various angles and different backgrounds, photographs and videos were taken and shot. All with perspiring faces.

Mine was perhaps the worst, with the hot flushes playing up and complicating. I am never the one who is keen on being photographed. But yet, I had to get into the group. My focus was centered on somehow getting into the hall quickly and enjoying the air coolers.

One part of this was satisfied; I could get into the hall fairly quickly, although after negotiating different-sized ramps, steps, and other impediments. My other wish wasn’t so fulfilled. The air coolers were no doubt present and swishing their blades with ferocity, raising din and noise. But the air that came out of them was not cool. The air coolers need to be replenished with water regularly, I think. It may not take much time to exhaust the water from its tank. This I have observed in many places. But air is air. Much better than no air at all. And I was drenched and feeling a bit giddy. My wife and a nephew of mine took me close to an air cooler, and I sat nearby, taking the full blast. Some welcome relief.

I have to admit. The decorations, flowers, and lights in the hall were gorgeous. And I am narrating this all only from my perspective. Imagine the other older people—at least half a dozen was there. How did they manage the heat? And my nephew and his wife and family who had to sit in front of the homam fire and smoke. It is the dedication to having the function done in the proper way for the couple and the in-built desire to participate in such functions that propels them, perhaps.

My wife and a few of the other relatives managed a quick, fleeting visit to the temple for a darshan. In view of the crowd and the oppressive heat, I was asked to stay behind with someone keeping an eye on me.

It must have taken around two hours for the function. How did I manage?

Continued in 284. Cookies In the Hall - Part 3