No part of a city can claim to be a bastion of traditionalism unless it has some of the markers needed to prove it. No, not just curios or knick-knacks, but stuff that the owners / users / sellers do not consider anything other than real, everyday things, no matter how quaint it appears to outsiders. Getting into the Triplicane area, many Chennaiites would be completely at sea; even allowing for the antiquity of the temple and its environs, few would be prepared for such signs on what seems to be the door to a residence.
The sign clearly says that it is an appalam store. Vedas Appalams functions here at specific intervals of time in the morning and evening. Five-and-a-half hours of work split by an equally long siesta seems a wonderful way to get through the day. But then, how many appalams can you sell in an hour or five? To bad that it was a Sunday and the store was not going to open anyway. Any thoughts about asking the neighbours about appalams were frightened away by the words on the door: "If the door is closed, do not trouble any of the neighbours" - maybe I shall be back one day, to check these appalams out!
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