Just as one gets tired of the relentless crowds and the enervating effort of shopping in an impossibly crowded thoroughfare, where the pavements have been encroached upon by thousands of vendors and pedestrians have to jostle and push to move even a few inches….

One looks up and finds a touch of beauty, an architectural touch from a bygone era….

It was the custom in the past, to adorn buildings with small statues of some god or goddess. Many buildings bear little figures of Krishna playing the flute, or of Christ with His arms outstretched, or Mary with the baby Jesus. This little adornment is that of

Gajalakshmi

or Lakshmi accompanied by elephants; for some reason, they are always WHITE elephants!

I wonder if putting up Gajalakshmi brought prosperity to this building. It would seem so, as the building still stands, and has a number of shops now,doing a thriving trade; but on the other hand, the buildings in Pondy Bazar are, for the most part, not well-maintained, and are in the process of falling apart. So..it’s debatable!