Panguni Utthiram starts this evening, and today is the Chetty Koyil’s ther vizha or rathotsavam. We catch it on return, Vinayaka with damana at his feet, Murugan on his peacock, Somaskanda in the Ther, Chandrasekara on Vrushabha, and Chandikeswara as always bringing up the rear. The procession comes slowly back to the temple, paused along the way by women with archanai plates in their homes. Most of these homes are older ones, charming to my eye, many in need of renovation. But many of these places have turned into businesses, as the Chetty community grows, prospers, reinvents itself, seeks its futures elsewhere. What will happen to these great processions when everything around is a business, nobody comes with an archanai thattu let alone to see, or when God walks by locked storefronts? I ask this question to Aruna Mami, sitting inside, but it doesn’t go over well. “Be positive,” she said simply. I didn’t argue.