When you go down to offer puja in a place of institutional religion, there is a certain grammar you are expected to follow. Certain rules. Since you must interact with the divine through an intermediary in the given space, your language must be moulded according to the established norms.

I'm reminded of a special incident which occured some years ago. I went to this very popular Hindu temple in Bolpur. If you make an offering in the temple, it is mandatory to mention a name and gotra (as a signifier of caste/ lineage). The idea is to ensure that the intermediary (in this case, the priest) may make an offering to the deity on your behalf in chaste Sanskrit (apparently), specifying the particulars of the beneficiary.

I have always had a difficulty accepting the idea that someone you acknowledge as the Omnipotent and Almighty, would need such specific directions in an archaic language so as to understand what you want of him/ her. 

Nonetheless, grammar is grammar. Anywhere.

So, here I was standing in front of the priest asking me for the details of the beneficiary. I smile and tell him, "no name, no gotra". 

I see him turning away from me. And he chants amidst his prayers "na naamo, na gotraayo".

The institution remoulds itself - even if for one moment, to accommodate the individual.

That instant lives. Like a rainbow reflected in still waters.