It was Friday. People of different categories were paying a visit to Kailasanathar temple. The entrance of the temple was a majestic and imposing seven storied structure. My wife had been coming to this temple quite often. But I had started to evince interest in such things only recently. Perhaps, my age might be a motivating factor.

I had a strange habit of observing, sometimes even silly things keenly. A petty shop situated nearby the temple caught my attention. An old man was busy selling things to the devotees that were offered as oblations in the temple, like coconut, betel leaves, camphor, incense sticks, garlands made of ‘Thulasi leaves’, lotus flowers, small lamps made of earthernware filled with ghee and everything that were useful to the devotees who were visiting the temple.

Now I went nearby the petty shop. It was around 11.00 a.m; devotees were pouring in; ladies outnumbered men.

‘You seem to be very busy’

‘Today being Friday, people will pay a visit to the temple throughout the day.I have been busy since morning 0800 O’clock.But yesterday, being ‘Pradosham’ I was even more busy.All Fridays, Days of Karthigai, and Pradosham are busy days because devotees throng in large numbers on those days’

Though he was talking with me, he was keeping an eye on his business, selling things, tendering the balance amount, pronouncing the price of the items to the buyers at finger tips, tackling at least five or six customers at a time, besides renewing his conversation with me.

‘You seem to be a new comer’

‘Yeah … I have been transferred here.’

‘This temple is known as Kailasanathar temple built by later Pandyas. You can see a very old ‘Venni’ tree atleast 300 years old inside the temple which is known as the ‘Thalavirutcham’ of the temple. And also the temple has a very rare variety of flower called ‘Manoranjitham’ inside the premises of the temple.’

I became even more curious to learn about the temple. Seeing that I was in rapt attention, the old man continued …

‘You should always go round the temple in a clockwise direction. Apart from the Lord Shiva, the main deity in the form of a lingam at the sanctum sanctorum, the navagrahas, Lord Ganesa and Lord Muruga and some other sub-deities are very famous in this temple.’

It was around 12.00 P.M..I was very much impressed by the knowledge of the old man. He must have been a staunch Saivite and a devotee of Lord Shiva.

‘You seem to be always busy on the auspicious days of the temple.When do you go inside the temple to worship?’

The old man was smiling at me. I was even more stunned when I saw him wearing a cap on his head and said these words:

‘I am Abdul Rahman. I am preparing myself to go to mosque. Every Friday I used to go to mosque without fail. Otherwise, I have no time….Zakeera look after the shop.I will be back from the mosque very soon.’

Zakeera, his grand daughter peeped outside.

It took sometime for me to become normal. It was nothing but his devotion to business; I could not believe my eyes, when I saw the old man riding his bicycle towards the mosque.

Finally I got convinced myself, it is this religious tolerance, it is this mutual respect and co-operation, it is this inter-dependence, it is this culture, it is this tradition, that keeps my country called India intact, despite of an avalanche of attacks by its detractors.