SUNDAY

The day heats up and by midday the light and heat, entering every crack, feel like a blast from the open door of a furnace.  I feel drowsy and find my eyelids drooping, moving around, causes waves of sweating - I pin my hair up on my head and wet tendrils stick to my neck.  Everything is quiet outside,  even the birds are silent and in the background, only the hum of Christmas bees - nobody is on the white hot street, even the dogs are silent and all shutters and doors are closed.  The strange emptiness seems to intensify the stifling heat, as if everything is panting and waiting for a reprieve at sunset.  I rouse myself and glance out and see two lone women walking slowly in opposite directions, their sari veils covering their heads and shielding their faces from the sun.   I try and concentrate again on the pantheon of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, the page is damp under my hand, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Triad, they remind me of the Three Graces in Botticelli's painting of the 'Primavera' and the Platonic idea of the Giving, Receiving and Returning of Blessings, in an eternal dance, then there are the Goddesses Devi, Lakshmi, Sita, Radha, Parvati, Durga, Kali.....