The trustees of the Perur Temple of Lord Nataraja approached Sri Kalyanasundaram with an urgent request. “Do you think Ramaswamy would take up the management of our temple? He seems to be the proper person for the job and we are in great need of such a manager. The previous manager has left.” Ramu was familiar with the Perur Temple. Since childhood, he had been very fond of its large statue of the Nataraja—the dancing Siva, arms raised gracefully to the side, one leg balanced in the air between steps. As the temple’s executive officer, Ramu’s job was to supervise the temple’s finances, organize its festivals, take care of the managing and leasing of temple lands and oversee the maintenance of the temple. When all the devotees had left after the final evening prayers, Ramu would decorate the image of Lord Nataraja with all the ornaments in his charge, light the lamps and spend the night in meditation before the flickering flames.

After a number of months the temple trustees found another manager, and Ramu returned to his uncle’s business