Our tour itinerary for the day included the Orthodox church at 8.30 am (half way through the service), the supermarket, the fish stall and in the evening the Besant Nagar Velankanni church. Going to Besant Nagar is like killing 2 birds with one stone/bullet - u get to visit the church and then relax at the Elliots beach (for Malayalees, of the Mohanlal_Srinivasan starrer Nadodikaatu fame - 2 guys hoping to reach the Gulf shores by boat are dropped at the Elliots beach in Madras).
Lighting candles (which are immediately snuffed and stashed away to be sold again), trooping in a queue to the statue of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus to pray and take a prasad of salt (the devotees touch the glass pane which encases the figurine and even pluck a few flowers from the huge garland adorning it), and waiting at the priest's room for a blessing and a shower of holy rosewater (?) on our heads form much of the activity there.
With the pious walking into the church with their footwear on, the floor has much of the sand from outside. Devotees to churches in Kerala remove their footwear even at the risk of losing them to seasoned pilferers, so one goes to church with the worst footwear on. With devotees offering saris for favours granted, the two figurines of the Virgin Mary (who apparently appeared to a boy near the Besant Nagar beach god know when) are frequently disrobed to try on the newest sari while the older ones are bundled and taken away (I wonder whether they donate/sell/auction them?)
The church and the beach are receiving more visitors than they did some 5 years ago. As a result parking is scarce. We had chilli bajji at the 'Elliots bajji stall' which sold onion, 'pottato', chilli, 'bannana', and 'coliflower' (at the risk of getting infected by E. coli !! I guess). A plate of 5 bajjis cost Rs.10. I am sure the lady at the stall made at least Rs.1000 on a Sunday evening. Then there are the icecream, fish, corn sellers and the horses waiting to give a ride for a price. The jockeys daringly walked their horses into the waters. The moon shone its light into the sea while ships seemed to stand still in the horizon. I think it was a high tide that made the sea rough, the sea at Besant Nagar is anyway considered dangerous.
The trip home was spoiled by Mira throwing up all the milk she drank and the icecream she had at the beach. Our dinner plans were part spoiled, so we 
bought some takeaway at the Kairali restaurant - parotta and pepper chicken fry, which was truly great. Mira seemed fine thereafter.
She so loves to go out that she starts laughing the moment we diaper her. Poor thing! we dont take her out often enough. Even earlier we would leave her behind and take Ash alone.
An MTC bus driver happened to see her peeping through the car window and amused her by blowing the airhorn at three consecutive traffic intersections. Ash also struck up friendships with drivers in neighbouring vehicles at traffic signals.
P.S. Our attempt to watch the new Mal. hit Classmates on Saturday night had to be abandoned as the theatre was running houseful on the weekend.
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