MONUMENTAL PERCEPTION

Oh look everybody! It was my husband exclaiming that the “cut out “ had ben brought down – the three of the remaining crew trained our eyes in the direction and found to our utter dismay and disappointment , the wonderful architectural marvel  we had drooled over , gone, vanished in thin air! My husband had  the ‘I told you so’ expression on his face as we stared at the empty horizon in sheer disbelief.
        For a few days now, our dinner table conversations revolved around that ‘astonishing spectacle’ which seemed to spring up one fine day in all its glory. Each one of us had our own thoughts and perception on it . First , it was about the location- my two sons ,who measure the length and breadth of the city in their school bus, shouted in chorus that this monument , though looked near was atleast 7 to 8 kilometres from our home- they even quoted the latitude and the longitude  of the place  and did some navigation on their smart phone to prove their claims. My husband pooh –pooohed their notion and emphatically stated that the distance between the object and the house would be only around 3 to 4 kilometres going by the curve of the elevated highway which formed the background. Not to be left behind , and unsure of whose side to be on, I carefully treaded  the middle path and proclaimed that it would be around 2 to 3 kilometres! The male bastion had only contempt for my views and scoffed at it, fully aware of my inglorious eyesight- I could read their minds when they thought in unison that I was born not with a silver spoon but with ‘spectacles’.
       Then came the shape , for me it was a replica of a ‘poorna kumbh’ which is an ornamental pot with decorations  and mango leaves and a coconut on top- this symbolizes goodness, wellbeing and prosperity as per Hindu beliefs.I was dead sure that the architect was a believer in vastu and the like.
        There was no vociferous disregard for this theory but they added their own ramifications – my younger one who was credited with having hawk eyes put forth a decorated dome with a pinnacle structure on top, we had one long ,hard look and did not deny his assertion  as we did not want to belittle his field of vision!
         My elder one , a  mathematical genius in his own right , added some dimension and articulated that the dome was not spherical but flattened at the sides , the professor fetching his binoculars to prove his point- there was craning of necks and straining of eyes to get a better glimpse and somehow his propounded theory could not be shot down!
       Day after day, we were overawed and delighted by the different shades and hues it presented itself and our speculations continued . On some nights, the illumination around it made us to wonder and ponder, argue and debate more and more- on one such occasion, it was a full moon day  and it bore a resplendent look that I firmly concluded , despite the male chauvinistic clan disapproving in totality, that it was a temple dedicated to Lord Sathyanarayana, an avatar of Vishnu . To support my claim , I argued that  offerings to please the deity are normally held on full moon days and hence the illumination.
       The lack of any consensus , like our political parties , in our household with regard to this structure , it was unanimously decided that on the next available holiday,we would explore , more so as each one of was desperate to prove our theory and assumption right!
        But the very next morning, the piece of marvel had simply vanished and that is when my engineering hubby shouted in jubilation that it was just a cardboard cut out erected for some big fat Indian wedding – for a few moments we all were transported to the world of Band, Baraat and Badhai and not even a monosyllable was uttered!
A couple of minutes later, routine , mundane activities had followed and nobody had the time to stand and stare.
            By early evening, the fog and mist on that  December day had lifted and lo and behold the venerable edifice was back to where it magnificently belonged and a huge shout of hurrah followed!
        The next instant, all of us were huddled in our car for the on site action- hardly had we covered  a mile, when a super imposing view of a Church with a dome  and a shining cross adorning the top came in full glare- we were stupefied, numb and speechless at this spectacular phenomenon , the creator had given us our fair chances to come out ith our takes and each one of was right in our own small way but the Lord had humbled us by the “WE KNOW ALL” attitude ……

Merry Christmas to the lovely bloggers …..