Kukke Subramanya

A few weeks ago, my grandmother had a dream. She dreamt that a huge snake was crawling up her arm, and the next day, apparently, the servant-lady found a snake while she was washing the dishes.

Clearly, this was a sign.

And so, my grandmother made sure we were able to fit in a visit to the Kukke Subramanyam temple while we were in Puttur, and we found ourselves up at 5 am on a Tuesday morning to make a trip to this famous temple.

The huge archways and intricate paintings and sculptures were impressive; the incredibly long lines and the ladies rolling around on the floor (??) not so much. Still, I enjoyed walking around, watching various poojas and eating Prasad, so when my grandmother suggested we walk to the old temple, I said why not.

Why not? Because you have to walk barefoot for twenty minutes through hot gravel roads.

Definitely not a fun experience. And after seeing the old temple, the walk back was especially unpleasant.

When we finally got back to the car – after navigating through hordes of people and cars and cows – and when we were finally settled in, my mother noticed that her purse was halfway open. Frantically, we started searching through, trying to figure out what was missing.

The wallet was there. The jewelry was there. The granola bars were there and the keys were there. The chapstick, the compact, and the glasses were all accounted for.

But the toilet paper was missing.

A half-used roll of toilet paper.

Toilet paper?! I know I treat toilet paper like it’s gold here in India, but I highly doubt anyone else has any use for toilet paper. Hardly a hot commodity. I wonder what the theif thought when he realized what he’d grabbed.

Actually, I wonder if he knew what it was.

Serves him right, stealing people’s things at a temple.

-June 21st