Out & About

I was washed up with the waves of colourful saris, in a sea of devotees and spectators, towards the caves, towards Hindus in trance, towards the drum players, sweets sellers, refreshment kiosks, the charitable organisations handing out free meals.
‘Are you okay?’ With both his beautiful Indian mother and daughter in tow, he approached me. I suddenly felt like an intruder, poking my nose into a private ceremony where devotees were making tremendous sacrifices for their good fortune.
‘My friend is taking part, why don’t you come with us?’ He shared none of my qualms and I gratefully accepted. An opening was made for me, the only foreigner, so that I could follow the preparations from an arm’s length distance. It was stomach churning. I wasn't used to watching people piercing their cheeks and putting hooks into their backs. The metal bar pressed against his friend’s cheek, he rolled his eyes, applied more pressure, in it went, and shortly after having pushed the opposite cheek away from the inside of his mouth, it suddenly broke through. There was no blood. It looked like some magic trick. The elated crowd cheered and my knees felt wobbly. I would not faint now. My new friend, very matter-of-fact, explained the process as if we were watching a documentary on TV, with some nibbles and refreshments. ‘What’s important is the number of hooks. It can be either 54 or 108, our auspicious numbers’, he stated, while the hook that was to pierce the back of his friend was held in an open flame. ‘For disinfection’, he pointed out, underlining that everything was in perfect order.
I was watching how the sharp metal ending penetrated the dark, sweaty skin. I forcefully swallowed. The devotee didn’t blink. ‘He’s in trance. The spirit has gained possession of his flesh. He’s outside, looking on.’ The assisting friends inserted more hooks into his back and attached lemons to add weight. It takes quite a while to do 108 of them and I wished I had access to the herbs he was smoking.
The Malaysian Red Crescent volunteers tried to keep the drumming, mind numbing and all-pervasive Thaipusam under control, and the Batu Caves were so well lit, one could forget that midnight was long past.