A girl in the temple

Surjit Aribamm

A girl dressed all in white
Wearing a ketuki behind her right ear
With a paste of chandan on her nose,
Carrying a shiny brass plate
Containing a posy of lotuses
And some incense sticks
On trimmed banana leaves—
She’s a beauty that exudes calm.

Standing in the temple courtyard
In the line opposite to mine
She too is here to offer prayer like me.
There is an air of sanctity all about her.
A halo of serenity, I would rather say.

But a question arises in my mind.
Is the holiness hovering about her
Tied to the ambience of the place—
Something lent to her by the temple
Or something coming out of her soul?

Very difficult to say for certain.
But if it is immanent in her being
Then, hers is a beauty that blends
The physical and spiritual very finely—
A beauty that can elevate my being.
And now my greatest wish is this:
She won’t leave behind that beauty
When she steps out the temple gate.