A weekend trip to Balaji Temple, Tirupati

Ever wondered the reason which kept you thriving at your workplace the whole week immediately after a magnificent trip, we have unravelled the secret and revealing it here . Yes, that's what my colleagues and myself are upto . Never miss an opportunity to go on a trip , and even this time , it was no less-different . Vellore trip was still fresh in our minds and Tirupati trip was shelved just a week back due to unavailability of high-profile companions . But , the moment they confirmed their availability, the plans were finalized on Friday evening ! Madhu aka CM, Pramod aka CS , Raja and myself were the lucky bhakts to seek darshan of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirupati , and later, GB aka Ganesh was the surprise entry to the gang .

As we all know , the queue at Tirupati is longer than you expect, and you will only visit Tirupati when Lord calls you . And to jump the queue, there were few adventurous preparations but explaining them will simply eat away the essence here . So , I will give you the glimpse of the moments I cherish .

5.00 am Saturday : Planned start time . I had kept alarm at 4 and woke up at 4.10 and was ready by 4.55. Meanwhile, I called Madhu to make sure he is ready , because we were going in his SWIFT .As I realized that it had rained heavily through-out night , Pramod drove his i20 as safely as he could . Raja was ready before time and was already waiting for me from 6.15 but my good habit of keeping my mobile in silent mode has irritated others a lot , and I sincerely apologize them . Luckily, the trip started at 6.30 from Rajeshwari theatre [ very famous landmark ] . Madhu, the driver in fact safe one and GB occupied front seats. Raja and Pramod at back. You are guessing where I sat. Sorry, not boot-space , you dirty minds ! I was sitting between the two behind . A serene start to our trip on a rain-drenched roads and cold weather was just the best kind of start we could ever expect . A stop at K.R.Puram tea stall to suffice the hunger of Pramod gave the chance to all of us to have a sip of tea and munch cookies , although local ones :) . Financial planning was done and all contributed equal amount to me, so that I need to handle the trip expenses , and it was not at all a bad responsibility at all .
Journey took off with full josh , and comments kept flowing from CS and CM regarding the ownership of fields, mines , ponds and roads until we crossed Kolar . The ownerships were never on papers , but just imagine, if it belonged to our lucky CM. [ The names are abbreviated to maintain certain level of privacy, reader discretion is advised ] Unfortuntely, our dear Raja suffered from motion sickness , and anything he consumed, was sure to be puked out . It reminded me of my days when I was also victim of the same , and can feel the pain now. Now, I have overcome that after so many trips . He was just resting in backseat , and moment he dethroned GB from front seats, he took the responsibility to make sure our dear Madhu drove his car and took us safely onto the tirumala hills for first time by keeping him awake . Before that, we stopped near Bangarupalya to eat breakfast around 9 am . We had decent break here, and scorching heat made its presence so early. Honors were done by me from the funds , and so on ahead too . We reached around 11 to Alipiri and it was 11.40 when we reached atop the tirumala hills . Weekend culture has completely crept into India , and you go anywhere on these days, you will be told that " If you have come on week days , the crowd would be less " , but we must also not forget that even we are part of the crowd ! :) Right ?

All the plans of quick VIP darshan by taking cross-route didn't helped us. But we were lucky to stand in short queue to buy Rs.100/- ticket which in turn would help us get a quick darshan .A furore erupted in the longer queue , and it was accepted as they were totally frustrated to wait for counter to remain open and issue tickets until their turn, but something else to happen was destined, specialy during lunch breaks . We had to wait for another hour up-til 2 pm for the counter to open . In the break, filler stuffs like an argument with a fellow- person in queue kept us active for next one hour . Madhu enjoyed this break with a good nap in Baba Ramdev's posture . We were lucky to get the tickets immediately , and rushed in darshan queue . To be precise , we had a glimpse of Lord Venkateshwara in 45 minutes, and I had almost after three years . The crowd was packed , and was as usual . We fetched delicious laddoos and back to Bangalore SWIFTly. Ofcourse, shopping by GB, Pramod and Raja was inevitable . GB got a good deal with his binoculars .We had a glimpse of Garuda Parvatha [ an eagle-beak shaped pointed outwards the tirumala peak , clearly visible when you are on the way back down to Alipiri or foothills. ] Interesting conversations kept brewing through out the journey, and all were juggling up their seats now and then . Frequent breaks for coffee, soda, cigarettes and nature's call along with rains at journey on a highway at night delayed our schedule . I was trying to get my share of nap when all others kept the journey alive. Raja was feeling good now, just because his stomach was empty . He was hungry and so were all others . We halted at a pakka Punjabi Dhaba, where country-side cots reminded me of my childhood when I used to visit my native and sleep on the same kind of cots. Nowadays , all such cots are replaced with modern beds , and I hardly visit my native home now . Anyways, we ate nicely sitting on the cots enjoying the Jab We Met and India losing to SriLanka in a no-show match .India played pathetically except Dravid's heroic six which I loved in the whole innings. I had also predicted that they will win the Compaq Cup finals after losing this no-decider match , and it was true , luckily :) After dinner, I was charged up while the rest of us slept nicely with a few sher-o-shayaris from both ends. Madhu took the charge of driving the rest of journey after Pramod gave up and we reached the city around 12.30 . My cousin came to receive me , and we were already quite happy to pull the Balaji darshan trip in a single day ! It was a day laced with full of adventure + spiritual upliftment .

I would love to visit Tirupati sometime soon after all our prayers get fulfilled. Until then, stay tuned for more such posts . Your comments here are highly appreciated.