It was going to be 3 PM. We still have to go to the Ayutthia Museum which contained some of the artifacts collected while excavating the temples. Like most of the massive structures in this part of the world, these temples were abandoned where foreign intruders showed up. Gradually forests covered them and they had to be "rediscovered." Similar large structures constructed around the same time still stand in Orissa. Many are in active use today.
I rushed to meet my driver. I did not know that the "taxi day" ends at 4 PM. The driver said that it was time to return, otherwise traffic would build up. Hearing "traffic" I did not negotiate any extra rental period and decided to return. I took some more coconut water and boarded the transport. The traffic was occasionally heavy, but I did reach the hotel by about 4:30 PM. In the room, I tried to assemble my stuff to pack them into my bag and suitcase. A World Conference in Sanskrit is expected to be a festival of books. I had a huge inventory of complimentary books gifted by various scholars. I tried to take a good look at everything by spreading them on the bed and occasionally scanning some. After an hour or so, I wanted to take a break. I took a stroll outside for a cup of coffee. I have to bid farewell to the city. Next to our hotel was something called International Fashion Mall. It had a sign for a coffee shop that I had noticed earlier I climbed the steps to the high rise complex and was greeted by a guard. He did not bother me and just let me in. I took the escalator up to the coffee shop. Coffee drinking has been fashionable lately with steamed milk being added to the coffee powder. Excess milk with herbal mixes has been in use in India from the olden times. Milked tea and coffee are late additions in India. In the west, various Latin names have been created to make them sound special. Apparently the milk technique went to Italy via Turkey. I love the Turkish small cup coffee, roasted and boiled! Good coffee is not an addiction, but certainly a tool to suppress noise in mind to create attention! I had noticed that my dresses were a bit heavy for the tropical heat. I needed a lighter shirt. I went to a garment store and picked up a shirt. The attendant was Thai, but the cashier was of Indian descent. The shirt had a British label, but was made in Indonesia. I had to try my size in the fitting room. The European sizes are different than the American. I had seen many tailoring shops on the road. A Thai is neither European, nor American. An Indian could be closer to a Thai. We need custom tailoring! While taking the return escalator, I noticed lighted glitters on the basement floor that I had missed on my way up. There were about a hundred ten foot by ten foot glass top show cases containing silver jewelry. Each case was alarmed and was specially lighted with halogen lamps. The stores closed at 6 PM. One lady tried to sell me a necklace and a pair of ear-rings, but I was not ready. I found that a jewelry salesperson could have a huge latitude in price fix-up. Massive presence of silver reminded me of my home town Cuttack in Orissa. I should have spent more time in checking the designs. Unlike the Cuttack filigree, the Thai jewelry was studded with gems of various colors. Unlike India, much of this land is still forming, leading to many colored stones.
I walked out towards Sri Mariamman temple to bid farewell to the deity. The priests were doing some special event at the back of the Temple. The area was cordoned off. The young priests were shouting commands and some lay people were following like servants. Appeasing the priests, the pastors or the Imams is a typical characteristic of the "religious" households. Religions survive through this hierarchy, though they claim that God sees all equally. The Buddha tried to cure this ailment from the Hindu faith, but did not succeed! It is easy to make religion a business. Some priests work in order to maintain livelihood, some go way greedy!
Women and children clad in clean clothes and covered with ornaments were anxiously watching the priests' ritual performance thirty feet away. There were rows of plastic chairs. I sat on one. A Hindu ritual is a process, the entire cosmos is called in to bless. The calling process is done in a language alien to the devotees. Hinduism also teaches that an ounce of truthfulness and internal sincerity can trump all external rituals. The priests understand the latter, but follow the former. It is not clear if a faith would survive unless the devotees do not fully participate. The separation of high priests and lay devotees has been a bane to the Hindu faith.
I was thinking about the immigrant community in the US and the possible practice of faith by the families a hundred years later. Once the ritual reduces to be a social outing, there is an effort to make it more "social" than "ritual". I had met a Norwegian family who wanted to study how the youth get distracted from the temple rituals. Priests do what they are trained for, they do not analyze the need and timeliness in the new society. Mothers tell children to wait till the food is served. Young people sneaked to the nearby eateries before the ritual ended!
I met a young Punjabi couple who had come to the Conference along with a massive turbaned "guru." The "guru" was introduced to me as a philanthropist. He had shaken my hands and had asked me to meet him in New York. Then he waved and entered a hundred foot limo with tinted windows. While I was happy for his opulence in a new city, I wondered about his philanthropy. Becoming a "guru" is a good way to be driven in stretched limos. The hierarchy continues! The lay persons respect the pomp! Some pastor had thundered the sermon that "God" wanted him to get a gold watch through the church revenue. The congregation agreed! There is hallucination in religion.
I dropped by in our Indian eatery to have my supper. I tipped them for their good service and wished them luck. I trekked back to the hotel for the night's rest.
