Balle Balle Mridangam

The Shree Vinayak temple in Sarojini Nagar, is a bastion of Tamilians, in the middle of a busy Punjabi colony. You forget you are in Delhi, the moment you enter the camphor-filled corridors of the temple. The idols and architecture are typical and so are the chanting priests – with the uniquely tamilian hairstyle of a bun and half-shaved head. 

The biggest attraction for me, is the evening arati. Because that’s when the mridangams and nadaswarams strike up a mean symphony. Like me, lots of ‘devotees’ shamelessly turn their backs to the idols and keep rhythm with the musicians. They are good and they know it. But the bigger rockstar here, is the hefty aunty whose off-beat clapping and ear to ear grin, shows an incredible joie – de-vivre – so lacking in the busy cities today. Her heartfelt “Oye” gives away her Delhi origins. As the music rises to a crescendo, she and her partner, another hefty delhi-ite, break into a dance. It could be called devotional swaying. Or we could just accept it as Bhangra. 

You cannot stop a Punjabi from doing the bhangra, even in a tamilian temple, to the beats of mridangam, with mildly disturbed/amused, less emotive tamilian devotees looking on.