Inside outside

For the last few days I make it a point to go to the temple in the evenings on the way to amma's house. I feel quite good to soak in the positive vibes inside. The temple is managed as a community activity and with very efficient management. Throughout the year, there will be some special event, festivals, music programmes or discourses or homams. Pandals will be erected and a policeman is usually seen around, as heavy crowds gather on most of the evenings. It has a small town feel inside the temple and mornings are still better. More calm and more serene and less devotees. Recently they have started a goshala also. I heard one of the trustees mentioning that it is very difficult for the cow when a stream of  devotees give 'ahathi keerai' to the cow on a single day (dhwadasi day is considered as an auspicious day to give ahathi keerai to cows)

As you come outside after a good darshan, you stop by to collect your footwear. There is a lady who manages this, let us call her R. This being a  neighbourhood temple, many of the devotees know her very well and lot of ghupshup and bonhomie is exchanged. My aunt is a regular visitor to the temple and when she saw me there actually introduced me to R!

When such friendship exists, you dont expect that a devotee, standing just a feet away from her footwear is asking R to pick it up and give to to her.  The first time I heard it I was wondering what is happening here. .All she has to do is put it on and walk away. There is no jostling crowd.I thought for a minute is the devotee in question getting any advantage in R picking up her chappal and placing it next to her.Is there any bending down and stretching up to reach the footwear, so that they seek R's help. No.

How do you explain, that just because they give her one rupee to take care of their footwear, they have the urge to make her do something to earn it.

You go to a temple and get purified inside and again make it dirty, so that they need to come again next day to purify theiir thought?