Kula Deivam and the Act of Returning

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Kunnathur, rebuilt — familiar, and not. When I was growing up, I spent most summers with my grandparents and extended family. My maternal side was based in Pudukkottai, my paternal side in Gobichettipalayam—Gobi, for short—in Tamil Nadu. Like most families, ours has since scattered, pulled toward larger cities and better livelihoods. The structure is new. The pull is old. Back then, our visits were unremarkable in the best way. We stayed home. Visitors came and went through the day. When we were in Gobi, there was one outing we never missed: a visit to our kula deivam at Kunnathur, about twenty-five kilometers away. We would pile into a van or a bus, pack food, and set out like an informal family pilgrimage—grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, all together. My paati would make sweet pongal and offer it to Goddess Angala Parameswari, an avatar of Parvati. There were no restaurant...

Mesmerising!

It just doesn't matter how much ever the Professor says - It is a simple 100 marks paper. You will have five questions each of 20 marks. You should ideally be out of the exam hall in half an hour. The effort you put in to prepare for a relatively easy paper is almost the same as that of a tough one. Ultimately, whether the paper is easy or not, the contents can be filled in the sheet only when something is there in the mind. I am a professional as far as writing exams are concerned. Right from my school days, struggling through my Pre-University exams and battling it out in my undergraduate exams, I would have written close to 250 exams (tests inclusive) easily. Life doesn't change though when you are again preparing for an exam, the only difference being now you are writing a graduate exam. Atleast let me get the preparations right! Let's care about the result later!

Just like any other semester, there would be one elusive subject where you put the burden on the Almighty. The maximum efforts are put forth for minimum gain. You try every trick in the book to get your bearings right, but then there would be something or the other that flys off the track (Mostly a lot of things seem that way!). The realisation dawns a little late. Should I have taken this course? Now of course, you have no choice but to turn into a highly God-fearing person!
One good thing about exams is that you are finished with it at the end of the day. And the story actually repeats. Post-mortem that just doesn't shed any light on the returns in the paper and the results that really doesn't make you any wiser!

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