simulacrum of life

most people i know sleep in on the weekends, after having had early starts all week long. me being me, end up waking up MUCH earlier. was up before 4am both yesterday and today (on most other weekends, that's usually the time that i'm heading off to bed after a night out). the reason i was up so early on saturday was to go to perumal temple for suprabatham prayers. during a phase of my life, i thought it was quite nice to wake up to it, considering that i share one of his 1008 names, so it almost felt personal. i remember going for the suprbatham prayers in 1998, when i was in secondary 4. at that time, it was a much smaller affair. all devotees could fit into the main sanctum quite comfortably. it was nice and cozy. i could sit and meditate after the prayers. after being in australia the past coupla years, i've not gone for it, and when i went for it again last year, i was quite shocked at the HUGE turn out. from like 50-60 people in 1998 it had swollen to a mass of at least 1000+. people were seated all the way up to the gopuram doorway. this year was no different from last year. it's a wee bit hard to feel that personal connection with the almighty when you are being jostled by a huge maami. anyways, that was saturday.

and then this morning was lakshmi pooja at home. and the priest had to be ferried over from the temple, and guess who was volunteered for chauffeuring duties? :) that meant waking up at 4.15 so that i could drag my ass to the temple by 5 to pick him up. prayers all over. house smelling of the yagna smoke, and i'm off to bed for another nap.. lunch calls first though