A short story
For two hours, the man did not so much as pause. His voice did not crack, his forehead did not crease; nor was there a hint of his fervour slackening. His palms were pressed together in supplication, his eyes lay transfixed on the image of Lord Muruga. People gathered around him, their heads swaying gently to and fro with an inaudible prayer on their lips. They stood silently on aching feet. And when they left they walked away so quietly that it seemed that neither the rustle of their veshtis and saris stirred the air from its unswerving attention. The children watched the man in awe. The peacock came out from its resting place in the dark corner of the temple and stood close to him, unafraid but subdued, its feathers bunched up with humility.
It was not every day that a devotee came to sing in the temple. The cool sea breeze had set in, the street lights flickered on one by one. The priest lit the earthen oil lamps placed all around the courtyard. Ah, such devotion in his voice, how could Shiva be unmoved by his pleas? The priest felt elated. He did not see any need for the usual prayers and offerings for the evening; this mysterious singer´s voice more than made up for a lifetime of prayers.
When at last the man stopped singing, after the resonance of his voice between the pillars of the temple had damped, there was a worshipful silence only broken by the soft crackling of oil-lamps. The man prostrated himself before the sanctum with outstretched hands and lay still for a few moments. Then he got up, lightly dusting his white veshti, and walked away as though his presence had made no difference at all that evening. Outside, under the streetlights, beggars loitered and flower sellers sat hunched behind baskets of marigold and jasmine garlands from where a sweet fragrance rose into the night air. They could see his throat still throbbing with fatigue, and his dark, wrinkled face was wet. The white towel on his shoulder lay unused. As he walked away towards the street-corner, the beggars retracted their begging bowls and the stray dogs stepped aside.