Chapter Fifteen
Look how loose my shell bangles.
Little kuyil fly to him from your grove
of laurel, wild poppy, nalal and pear,
make him come quickly to me
Nacciyar Tirumoli 5:1
And so the month of Tai followed Marghazhi, then came Maci. Soon it would be Panguni. Andal was in her second year of Pancaratra schooling. Despite her errant ways she was one of her father’s best students, her mind matured beyond her twelve years. She asked questions, even challenging some of the principles he taught, but always outside of class. She was a girl after all—soon to be someone’s wife, her parents continued to think—and therefore must show deference. Andal tried her best but it was hard, so many constraints. Temple courtesans, on the other hand, lived independent lives practising their worldly sk
