Song of the Cuckoo Bird by Amulya Malladi

Author:Amulya Malladi
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2006-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

There was a palpable feeling of love for the god. It was three in the morning but instead of sleepy devotees, everyone present stood, mesmerized and submerged in prayer, the power of the Lord shining within them. There must be some kind of magic, Kokila thought, when even Chetana who never wakes up before nine o’clock, can be bright at this hour of the morning, singing the song that will wake up Lord of the Seven Hills.

After the prayers, Shiva and Madhav went to roll around the temple with the other devotees who were also performing the angapradakshinam, while the women stayed to touch the feet of Lord Venkateshwara Swami.

He was a large idol, handsome, beautiful in black, adorned with heavy gold and diamond jewelry. Something shifted inside Kokila at the sight of him and she closed her eyes. Sometimes you had to reach your destination to know the purpose of the journey.

May his soul rest in peace, she said inside her heart, and hoped that Lord Venkateshwara Swami heard her and granted Ramanandam, in death, the peace he never seemed to have had in his life.

Since Chetana wanted to shave her hair off, Kokila and she went to Kalyana Katha, where several hundred barbers were sitting in long queues shaving hair off the heads of hundreds of devotees. The hair was collected and then sorted and sold to the thriving wig businesses in Tirupati.

Chetana and Kokila stood in a long queue awaiting their turn. There were at least thirty heads that needed to be shaved ahead of them.

“Do you also want to have your head tonsured?” Chetana asked Kokila, who raised her eyebrows in response. “Are you sure?” she asked. “If you have any wishes, this will certainly ensure they come true.”

“I don’t believe in this promise-and-vow business. I don’t think God is that petty,” Kokila said.

“A lot you know,” Chetana said, a twinge of nervousness bathing her words. “Do you think it itches after?”

“I think so,” Kokila said, seeing a young girl with her head tonsured being led away by her mother. The girl was trying to scratch her head while her mother was holding a bottle of coconut oil promising to lather her bald head with it soon if she didn’t scratch now.

“And how long do you think it takes for the hair to grow back?” Chetana asked.

“A year . . . maybe more,” Kokila said. “Why? If you’ve made a promise then just do it, stop wondering about the consequences. It’s just hair, it’ll grow back.”

When they finally got to a barber, Chetana all but ran away from him and his sharp razor without a word of apology.

Harini was even more disappointed with Chetana now that she had backed out of getting her head tonsured.

“My Madhu and father-in-law both did the angapradakshinam, ” Harini said. “If you make a wish, you have to fulfill the promise, otherwise . . . you can’t cheat God, you know, ever.”

“Oh, Harini, the good God above is not keeping track of such things,” Charvi said before Chetana could give their hostess a piece of her mind.

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