Renjith Chandran's relatives were anxiously waiting for us in front of the Sri Krishna Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. We have only 40 minutes to complete the ritualistic packing and set out to Sabarimala. Hari and Reji, our fellow pilgrims, are already there with all the material we would need on our journey. We have to start before 3 pm, when rahukalam starts. Nothing is done when Rahu, the mythical planet, is aligned with Sun. The packing (kettunira) has to start with me, the first-timer. But there is a veteran pilgrim called guruswamy to guide me. I pour ghee into a drained coconut as the others chant ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa’. Guruswamy closes the ghee-filled coconut with a cork and seals it with wax. I put a handful of rice into a blue cloth bundle, in which the coconut
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