This weekend we had been to Tirupati for Tonsuring ceremony for my Niece who recently turned one. It was overall a nice journey except for a few things that I experienced and was really irritated to the core there. I have been to Tirupati quite a few times earlier too but somehow I felt that this time my patience reached its limit not just once, but a few times.
There is no difference in the sort of crowd you see there even if its off season. They have managed to build more buildings around the temple for better stays. They have installed water heaters (I dont remember having Hot water in their complexes earlier) and good drinking water units with filters , atleast in the ones where we had booked (Varahaswamy Guest house, much near to the temple). We had it planned and booked it in December itself, so I guess we got a good one (atleast better than the earlier ones we had got). They have toilet facilities in all places and the whole places is cleaned and maintained much much better than what it was earlier.
We had a Sudarshan seva booked for Sat and Vasanthotsavam for Sun. For Sudarshan Seva we have to go all the way to the other end and then start from entering the chambers where you will be locked in each chamber for some time till the line gets moving. This has its pro and con here. Once you enter the chamber there is no line.. so people run everywhere to be first to go out. God you should see how they run pushing you in all directions, as if the Lord Himself is going to run away from that place after a few mins and they need to see Him before He leaves.
Since we had a kid with us we made sure that we stick together as a group and no get separated because you cannot trace in that case as the cellphones arent allowed and to shout in that crowd is an utter waste of your energy. And once in a while when people are a relaxed a bit and the kids all around start to doze off because there is no movement, a group of youngsters start to shout Govinda just to keep up their energy and to see how the crowd reacts, coz when they start shouting like that , others join them and start shouting. Man!!! aatu mandhaiga dhaan .. Once they start shouting the kids wake up and start screaming.... Thankfully my Niece was so obsessed with the word Govinda that every time they shout she used to wake up and look around for the person who said it and then finding that its difficult to spot all of them , dozes off again.
When we were in the 4th compartment, suddenly the security opened up 5th too and let them all inside 4th. Now thinking that they will be opening up the 4th to allow them to enter the 3rd compartment, people started rushing so badly that in that mess they suffocated a young lady and she fell down fainting. We went to help her out with some water and her husband started hand fight with the guys around who pushed her. How many people can he fight and it was a real mess. People dont consider old persons and the kids in the queue. They keep pushing. We cannot blame them completely also. Because they try to keep up to their family in the crowd. And with more space they try to fill up all the space available and so others come in between and things collapse.
After this when you wait for almost 2 hrs and finally enter the main temple, all the queue merges and there is again a bigger mess out here. Even after handling all that queue and pushing and pulling around (at times you dont feel your feet on the ground, the crowd lifts you up and takes you near the Golden Entrance - Bangara vagili) you enter the golden gate entrance and that is where my patience went deep down south. Right from the Garudar statue there is a line of the security people standing on one side of the queue allowing lesser space for the devotees to walk towards the Lord and apart from that, irrespective of the availability of the space, they keep pushing every one of them so hard, that you dont have a choice other than to automatically fall on the one before you and that in turn will have its ripple effect and there is a swinging of the devotees happening back and forth. Crowd manage panraangalaam. Vennai.. Earlier this pushing used to happen only when you near the Lord so that people wont stand there for ever and see the Lord. Well that is atleast acceptable to some extent, not that people will do that because they have their own lives to carry on. No one is coming there to sit before the Lord and pray for ever. After all the time they spend on the queue they would want a few seconds to see the Lord and say a word or two to Him. I was already not happy with the pushing in the crowd and above that these people keep touching you and pushing you so hard that my good senses took leave and I shouted at a person who was about to touch me not to do so and if he does he will get it back. And then there was a lady who didnt bother my threats..coz she is a lady...and it doesnt make any difference. My brother who was before me fought with each guy because he had the kid and they were pushing so hard that it was difficult for him to hold the kid and move forward also.
The next day when we went for the darshan after the Vasanthotsavam, the same thing happened and this time I was ready to hit the guys if they touch me :) When a guy came to push me I shouted at him saying that if there was space and I wasnt moving he can push.. when there is no space to even breathe where was I supposed to go.. He kept quite and there was this lady before who was shouting at my brother and sister-in-law to move forward and that it wasnt their temple to go in their own pace....as if it was hers and she had the right to push people around.... thankfully she didnt come near me. And to top it all, the way they pushed people around an old person before my sis-in-law fell down and instead of lifting him up these security people are pushing people ahead to start a stampede. God.. I dont know how you can watch all these and smile there.. Is this how they manage Crowd ? If these people dont push, people will go in their own way , find out a way to see the Lord and come out. This kind of management of the crowd is causing more issues than solving them. You should see the kids crying so badly there and elders getting suffocated. How can one even remember the Lord's face after all this. Honestly, one has to safely move from that place and not get suffocated and in that attempt, if they are able to see a glimpse of the Lord, good for them.
I know that the same kind of thing happens @ Guruvayoor also and since I have not seen in person I cannot comment in Sabrimala. First of all people who go to pray should understand that the Lord will be there forever. Pushing and running wont help them at all. Second, the authorities should come up with a better plan other than pushing people around. Put a barricade in such a way that only one person can go through it. Why do you need 10 people near the Sanctum Sanctorum to manage the crowd. And above all this, if you pay the people (especially the police there) you can get royal look @ the Lord...Money plays everywhere in Tirupati.
I was a person who never went to temples because of the crowd there and always believed praying @ home almost till my Post graduation. Even after that I used to go to temples when it is almost empty or less crowd so that I can communicate with God a while without being worried about the crowd or pushing or even taking care of my hand bag...
I know one thing for sure, the limit to my patience is waning slowly. I used to ignore these earlier but not anymore. Is it my age ? or is it that these things have gone from bad to worse ?
Whatever it is , Lord , I think its time for you to take some action.... Coz people are very ignorant and will not do anything unless calamity befalls them and even then they have selective amnesia and so they keep repeating the same things again.
I think this is one of the very few times when I write @ the heights of my emotional irritation. So do forgive me if my language is little harsh....I am just upset @ what happened.
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