Sreekanth Kopuri
Mythusion
in Machilipatnam
. . . we are here as on a darkling plane
swept with confused alarms . . .
—“Dover Beach,” by Matthew Arnold
We do not know
the accurate East
“necessary” to build
an east-facing house here—
a myth, this is like
our dilapidated light house
but Siddanthis threaten
and ill-use on to relate
any ailments, accidents
and deaths to our “erratic vastu”
but while the lines and contours
of the day’s shadows are
accurate and reflect the sun’s
same pure mathematics
we still wander like crows,
for what we never find
and miss the visible light
for the invisible,
lost in shadows of myth that
leaves us alone at the sundown
like the silence after the
church or temple bells.
In this historical city of Machilipatnam it is said that true East and the direction of sunrise are a mystery.
“Siddanthi” means a Vastu expert.