Lakshmi Narayan Mandir
It's always strange revisiting the places of your youth. This was where I used to play the first couple of times I came to Delhi, aged six and 10, back in the 1980s when things were somehow different.
I worried that it no longer existed; the auto driver had serious issues finding it, but maybe that was because he was from Bihar and knew little more of Delhi's geography than I. When we finally got to the right street, I hardly recognised the place and even ventured into the ashram next door by mistake.
Finally, I found it. It was strange. I don't remember ever stepping inside the temple itself before today, and it took me a while to find the stone animals in the gardens. Maybe it's because I'm a few feet taller, but they just didn't look the same. They were my favorite things about India when I was a child, but now they just seemed a bit sad and unloved.
Built in the early 20th century, the temple works on the understanding that it is open to all castes. Inside, paintings embedded in the walls illustrate teachings from the Hindu scriptures in both Hindi and English. I didn't recognise a thing.
But just as I was leaving it all came together. I glanced across at the big stone tiger, and upon its neck was a small boy, about 10, enjoying the ride. Beside it two more boys were sliding down the polished marble slope beside the stairs, and I even discovered again the dragon's mouth that leads into the cool interior of the grotto.
All things come full circle, in the end.
