A little more sweating ensured that the laundry basket was back to empty.
Getting through Sunday was tougher though. No football games on TV - just boring movies and programmes. Decided to do some cooking as I was getting bored of hotel food. Turned out to be a nice decision, given that lunch was mouthwatering chicken curry and rice, with just 30 minutes of effort.
And then it struck me that I could go to church. What ? It was a long time since I went to church. Infact the last time I saw the insides of a church was the Syrian-Christian church in Alappuzha a few months ago - and that was on celluloid, in the Gauthan Menon movie "Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya".
Anyway, since Sunday is the best day of the week to enjoy a drive in Chennai, I get the covers off the car and drive out to St. Theresa's church, Gemini, Nungambakkam, which happens to be my (and my wife's) favourite place of worship at Chennai. Their 6:30PM English mass is for lazy-heads like me who sleep late on Sunday mornings and thus miss the morning mass.
I am there by 6:15PM, find a good parking slot and stroll around the campus, taking in the changes since last I was here some years ago. And that's when I see a new shrine for the Virgin Mary, to the left of the church. It has a rock-theme with quite some greenery in the background.
The moment I saw it, what came to my mind was the similar shrines seen in most Kerala temples. Apart from the main temple, you would have smaller shrines for various gods / godesses and this shrine looked like a straight lift from any temple. Check out this similar shrine I photographed at the Kandiyur temple near my home - same rock-based theme, with greenery behind it.
Not sure if the creators of the Virgin Mary shrine took inspiration from any temple, but there sure was quite some similarity. So, we have two religions, as similar as chalk and cheese, yet having something in common.
If only people looked at religion/prayers as a way to communicate with the power above and not something to fight over, quite some serious problems facing the world today would immediately vanish.
P.S.: As I wrote this post, I was reminded of the lovely & thought-provoking single 'Krishna nee begane' from the hit album 'Colonial Cousins', sung jointly by Hariharan & Lewis :
So come back as Jesus, Come back and save the world.
Bless all the future of every boy and girl.
Come back as Rama, Forgive us for what we've done.
Come back as Allah, Come back as anyone.
Krishna nee begane baro. Krishna nee begane baro.
