The bell tolled loudly and she came awake with a start. Ugh! Every morning! Would there ever come a point when the sound would not startle her out of sleep? It tolled each morning. The head priest or Swamiji as everyone called him would rise at 3:30 AM promptly, bathe, dress, apply his tilak and make his way to the temple at 4:15 AM to chant. The Vishu Sahasranama and 30 slokas from the Ramcharitmanasa took him 85 minutes. At 5:40 AM, he’d put the texts away, slowly rise and make his way to the big bell near the east end of the temple. Grasping the old, frayed rope, he’d take a deep breath and begin to tug – dong! dong! dong! 108 times it tolled slowly as Mythili would shuffle out of bed and onto her yoga mat. Taking long breaths, she would gently stretch out her body before heading to the bathroom to brush, bathe and perform her ablutions. In the final 15 dongs , she’d begin counting down as she raced to dress and pull her thick hair into a ponytail that fell past her waist...