A Visit to the Temple

A visit to the temple always gets me into a philosophical mood. Usually, it imbibes within me an air of superiority and makes me feel above the mere mortals who visit temples (Read- Evil genius mastermind. >:D). The miniscule theist in me, tries to shun away these thought by imagining childhood dreams of god punishing us and a possible “eye poking” session by him or her tonight (Read- Saami kanna kuthum (Tamil)). However, today I made it a point to think of something else apart from these random thoughts.

When I was pondering over all this, I could not help observe the different types of people who visit temples. Usually, they are families in which the father may or may not believe in god, the mother is the traditional Indian woman(Read- you see them roaming around in many temples in India), children are more interested in running around and making noise than actually wonder why they visit a temple. Sometimes, they are students who remember the existence of a higher entity just before exam results but don’t really care rest of the time. And rarely, very rarely do you see individuals like me sitting alone and pondering over their lives or waiting for the prasdam vandi (Food offerings to God.) to arrive.

One common thread that runs through everyone in a temple (including me) is hope. For some, it’s a hope that there is a powerful higher entity capable of accomplishing whatever he wants to, might be able to them. For some, it’s a hope that visiting the temple everyday might please that higher entity to grant their wishes. For the rare cases like me, it’s a hope that this period of introspection into my own life would reveal something new and exciting.

Eventually, I decided to let go of the superior feeling I mentioned about whenever I visit temples. Because, I realise “temple visits” are just a way for humanity to maintain the trace of hope they have on the prospects of success in their lives. It is just that different people express it in different ways. =D

-From a matured agonist, who doesn’t think he is better than theist’s anymore! =D