Mahabalipuram illuminated

It was the goats we saw first. Silent, statuesque, skinny-legged silhouettes on top of a gigantic bas-relief. Who knew that goats sleep standing up.  

I had giggled on the way as the moped whined under our holiday weight. It swung erratically through the street like a sulking pendulum. Head ducking, sarongs blowing, cobblers pounding, beads rattling in my face. It was dusk and the hawkers had turned shrill.

We almost overlooked Arjuna’s Penance. What kind of a UNESCO World Heritage Site stands abandoned at the roadside anyway? He had to show off his new Nikon, so I got off and shuffled about while he struggled for his shot in the dark. And there I had an epiphany.

“Shall we try flashing the headlights on the stone? The elephant carving is worth capturing.” Uh oh. I knew that look he gave me.

I, who had never touched a two wheeler of any sort, found myself accelerating the moped and holding on to keep it from shooting off with me. Click click click. He looked at me and we both laughed gloriously.

It was my idea to rent the silly thing as well.