Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

CHAPTER TWO
RANAKPUR, INDIA
Su Yi placed her hand on the white marble pillar and with her fingers traced the intricate
carving of a goddess, feeling every undulating curve of the figure, so cool to the touch.
The entire pillar was carved with figures of dancing damsels from the ground all the way
up to the soaring dome. Su Yi looked around the space and saw that she was surrounded
in every direction by thousands of white pillars, so many of them that it was impossible to
count. *1 And every one of them had been sculpted with deities, animals, love scenes, war
scenes—each one so painstakingly carved it looked more like lacework than stone. She
could hardly believe how exquisite it was.
Su Yi felt so grateful that the maharani had arranged this trip for her to the Adinatha
Temple, hidden in the remote Aravalli Range between Jodhpur and Udaipur. As she
followed the marble passageway, she felt as though she were walking into a dream, and
around another corner of the temple she came upon a beautiful tree growing in the
middle of a serene stone courtyard. Underneath the tree was a young man in a simple
saffron-colored robe, picking up stray leaves. He glanced up for a moment and smiled at
her. Su Yi smiled shyly back at him before walking into yet another breathtakingly carved
vestibule, this one depicting a deity entwined with hundreds of snakes.
“Excuse me, do you speak English?” a voice behind her suddenly asked. Su Yi turned
around and saw that it was the young man. This time, she could see a faint gold dot
painted in the middle of his forehead.
“I do,” she replied.
“Are you from China?”
“No, I am from the island of Singapore. It is in the Straits Settlements—”
“Ah, yes, on the tip of Malaya. There are a few Jains in Singapore. Please allow me to
introduce myself: My name is Jai, and I am a priest here. My grandfather is the high
priest of this temple, and one day my father shall be high priest, and then it will pass on
to me. But not for a long time.”
“You are very fortunate. This is the most beautiful temple I have ever been to,” Su Yi
said.