The month of March began with an exciting trek to Handi Gundi. The following weekend, my niece Varsha and I visited a Puja at a relatives place. I have great regards for them as they had offered me a job soon after my graduation. I had spent 3 months working in their factory. As the family is a follower of ISKON and its ideology, I gifted them a painting of lord Krishna. This was done in a style that I had created during a visit to Belur temple.  During the event, sitting close to the homma (Vedic fire ritual), it was impossible to see the madness practiced by people of faith. 7 or 8 priests had booked a tempo traveller from Mangalore to reach Bangalore. They had brought all the required items with them. It was of course paid for by the family organising the puja . There were two or three different mandalas drawn for various types of Pujas . In the homma they poured litres and litres of ghee, several kilograms of cooked rice and other stems and leaves. It was a heart wrenching ...