Pain Relief

On the third day of the Pongal festival I took a photograph of a sidewalk shrine: a few lithographs of gods, surmounted by a tiled picture of Lord Hanuman, fastened to a compound wall; but decorated with flowers, and with a pretty kolam design for the festival. Slapped onto an adjacent utility box were ads for "PAIN RELIEF CLINIC".

I thought, Well, this place itself is probably a pain relief clinic for someone, if only for the person (not in evidence when I passed) who tends the shrine. And it gave pleasure to me, too, when I stopped for a moment on a beautiful, quiet morning.