— ❋ @maritamed ;; temple bound.
There is a peace that comes with thoughts. Thoughts that live in your mind, associated with a place or time. Caspian can always remember the first temple he had ever seen. No older than 8, he wandered the streets of Agra after running away from his Jungle Village. The city frightened him, and he ran through the streets with bare feet and tattered clothing with a heavy pant lifting his hollow chest.
And when he finally stopped his running, exhausted and panicked, it was the sound of a Pandit’s voice that reached him. He had sat himself down across the street from a Hindu Temple. One that recognized Shiva as the universal force. He stared, wide eyed and curious as they ate together, laughed together. They smiled. Happiness. It was the first time he had ever seen true and complete joy in other people. He tilted his head and once he was calm he stood, and walked towards the door. The Pandit’s wife came out with a broom –– Caspian ducked and cowered, expecting her to use it on him like an unwanted stray-dog lingering on your doorstep. She didn’t, she smiled at him, and told him to sit and wait outside. He did.
When the people left, he was brought inside and given Prasad. He got to stare at the Gods that he had been told had long abandoned him. These higher caste people studied him –– as if trying to understand what he was and where he was from. He never did tell them, even when they asked. It was nice, for once in his life, to have the Gods look at him with smiles. It was nice, to have people and his religion accept him.
He hoped, that while Noah wouldn’t believe in his religion, that the man might at least feel that same overwhelming happiness Caspian had that first time.
❝ So when was the last time you were in a temple? ❞ Caspian asked as he came in through the front door. His fingers brushed along the door frame before he gently closed it behind his friend. The smell was of incense and ripe fruit, the big windows casting light through the white walls of the temple, and just past the lobby was the place where the Murti’s sat. ❝ I mean, have you been in one since Prasad? ❞ he clarified, knowing the man had enjoyed that with his Fiancee. But to sit in the stillness of a temple was completely different than in a crowded room with busy, happy people. Here? It felt serene. Time had stopped around you –– and there was only a sense of peace.
