Jeregandy^2 !!!!

It was one of those once-in-a-blue moon -expeditions to The Seven Hills - the abode of Lord Venkateshwara(a.k.a "Venky" ),Tirupathi. We reached the Ashrama close to half past ten in the night. With quivering lips and typewriting teeth, we went in search of a good restaurant. But as fate had it, or can I say, as "Venky" had it, we ended up in a restaurant that was close to driving away all my love for the two words in my dictionary of "food" -"Dosa" and "Sambhar".Taking pity on the fact that the restaurant was at least open at the dead of the night, still filling in with people, we forgave the slight lack of sodium chloride, and put up with the excess H2O in the sambhar, our minds silently chanting "Govinda Govinda!".The allotted time for Dharshan was 2.30 a.m., which is a time that I know exists on a clock, but never experienced for real..!So that meant, going to bed around midnight, and be up in a matter of 60 mins to get ready for the Dharshan. Making up my mind to sleep as much as possible, within the stipulated time, I closed my eyes and even before I realised, it was already 1.30 a.m. We were all ready and reached the temple on time. Since we had already taken special tickets, we reached the main Sannidhanam sooner than expected, which was as usual crowded. I could hear the priest chanting mantras in a speed faster than the speed of light (3×10⁸ m/s). I could hear the bells and everything. But I couldn't see the Lord as the curtains were closed. We patiently waited for the curtains to open, silently watching the "gold-gold-gold" everywhere, decorating the already beautiful "alayam".And suddenly, there was a shout from the audience on the men's side. I guess it was what they would call "the chorus". That's the cue that the time had come to see the Lord at last! The curtains parted, we barged into the interior to discover the beauty of what was to come. That's when my ears were greeted by those "golden " words - "jeregandy jeregandy"!! Well, the entire phenomenal wait for the opening of the curtains, and the process of getting something lesser than a decent glimpse at the Lord, made the entire journey a bit questionable.There were people who had travelled from far off places, just for those 30-40 seconds glimpse of the Lord. Every person is pushed around accompanied by the "justification limit"- Jeregandy! I don't know whether it means "quick! fast!soon!etc..etc..", but it sure meant one thing to me.. "get lost!"... The problem isn't with "Venky". Its with the people around "Venky".Commercialisation - even on divine grounds? There's one fine example. Its not just Tirupathi that suffers from the realms of commercialisation. All the major temples, make it a point to plunder as much as possible from the public, on divine grounds ,of course(Other examples- Palani,Guruvayur)!! After coming out ,near the Laddu stall, I saw a depressing board. "Laddu Cover -Rs.2 " . Even more shocking was what was written below - "In the service of the Lord Venkateshwara". I was speechless for a minute. I guess that's how it is. It will still take ages for things to change.. for the end of corruption, for the end of religious fanaticism, for the end of internal conflicts,for the end of tall promises, for the end of religious politics,for the end of the "divine abuse". I end with conveniently modified lines of Frost,its essence still fresh and alive in memory......
"We still have promises to keep,
And miles to go before we sleep
And miles to go before we sleep..!"
-Somsie+Frost.(;-)


Note :
The above is a narrative of a personal experience. What I observed, as an individual,with all senses still in place. If at all, this narrative stirs certain emotional conflicts of interests, I apologise for the same.