Mylaporeans know how to hang out and enjoy an evening well. This was best seen in and around the tank of Sri Kapali Temple, Mylapore this Tuesday evening as the third and final day of the Thai Poosam teppam fest got underway after 6.30 p.m.
As the decorated float with lord Singaravelar and his consorts did the first laps of nine rounds inside the tank, people streamed on three sides into the tank and sat freely to watch the float come their way, to the sound of chants and later, music.
Once they had taken in the scenes and prayed, people left the tank and made time to look at the string of hawker stalls that had come up on South Mada Street and R. K. Mutt Road, hugging the tank environs.
Hawkers of bangles, chains and bindis, potato chips and kamarakat and ladoos, keepers of merry-go-round and sellers of balloons, kulfi and fruit cuts and all else, set between vegetable hawkers who dominate this road.
Through the evening, people streamed into the streets – since the teppam took time to do the rounds, giving people time to watch it go by, inside the tank.
Through the evening, the hawkers’ mela went on merrily, unaffected by the honks and roar of cars, autos and bikes on the Mada Street.
Some people munched on bajjis, some took home aval ladoos and kamarakat, some bought toys for their kids and some women picked up ‘trending’ bangles.
