Why an Architect Keeps a Tiny Indian Temple Replica on His Desk—and Sometimes Uses It as a Pencil

My parents are emigrants from India, and my older brother and I grew up in a house in Los Angeles with an at-home Hindu temple called a puja mandir. Up until middle school, the mandir was in a corner of my bedroom; there’s a little bit of an idea that spiritual protection or osmosis can happen if you’re around the mandir, so it’s not uncommon for it to be in the youngest person’s room.