Monday, June 27, 2011

Yet another unforgettable week-end!!

Last five days of my life have been a real roller coaster of emotions. I experienced all the basic emotions like Joy, Trust, Fear, Surprise, Sadness, Disgust, Anger and Anticipation through out this period. I met the daughter of my friend who is just 20 days older, a bride, entering her new life, a 90 year old lady who is en-route to a temple, albeit her age and sickness, each one imparting a different kind of respect towards human life.

Man is a social animal and when the fear of society is taken off from that very man, he becomes a mere animal. There remains no difference between the thinking man and thoughtless dog or a pig. An incident that I experienced is so un-humanly that I was left in complete disgust towards the person who committed it. Very unfortunately, this man is a friend of mine with whom, I need to maintain the relationship for life.

On a very different occasion and another friend in the scene, I felt trust in the relationship solidified.

Overall, we are what we think. I know that I need to move forward remembering the incidents that impart positive energy to my thinking process and leave those, which will take me down. Thanks to my friends and well wishers who bestowed me with these emotions which will shape my personality.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Birthday Trip

I am not a spiritual guy by any standards. However, there has to be a force that is governing us. Religion is one name that we give to this unknown force and whenever we need help in matters that are out of our reach, we seek it from the religion.

I wanted this birthday to be extra special and decided to visit Tirupati to get the blessings of Lord Venkatesha. I have booked the accommodation and the Darshan three months in advance and failed to book the travel. So, started to Tirupati by bus. The travel took almost 16 hours and was uneventful.

Traveling alone has its own benefits: getting some quality time to think and evaluate about one's own life is one of them. I got ample time for this. I trekked up the hill on foot and it took 4 hours to reach the top. It was an awesome feeling to be in the temple town of Tirumala after 3 years. The Ramayan that played on the local radio puts anyone's heart at peace. It being the Brahmotsava's, the town is full of pilgrims and very busy.

After checking into the accommodation, that I booked earlier, I went for Darshan and was pleased to see the arrangements made by the Temple authorities for the pilgrims who walked to the abode. They gave me some basic meal to eat in the queue. This hospitality was not expected a couple of years back. I waited for 4 hours in the queue to see the almighty and the Darshan lasted less than 20 seconds. But all the pain was worth it.

After Darshan, I went to dinner and witnessed a strange phenomenon. I saw at least a dozen of newly weds enjoying their dinner. Where on Earth would I get such a glimpse?

The next day, it being my birthday, went to Darshan again and it took only an hour to meet the God.

I had to kill the whole day in Tirupati as my return journey is scheduled in the late evening. Tirupati is a small town. It doesn't have decent movie theaters or better shopping malls. If Lord Venkatesa miraculously vanish some day from his shrine, Tirupati will hold no importance whatsoever.

I managed to reach Kakinada, my home town, by next morning and spent some quality time with my family. Started to Vizag that evening and back to my routine, as usual...