Sunday, February 27, 2011

Trip to tirumala-tirupathi with an ATHEIST

Yes with an atheist Mr Prashanth eswarapu one of my best pals.
A guy who hasn't visited any temple for 20+ years suddenly plans to go to Tirupati.

That was a very fine evening.I was in office gym doing bars when 'roja' background song played..yeah its my cell phone.It displayed "sleep" (i call him sleep otherwise)is the caller.Prashu called me to give a good  news about his visa approval interview.It was his second interview at Kolkatta after a challenging attempt at Hyderabad .We started talking about procedures,questions asked etc in interview.He hardly had a week time to catch plane to states.

me:So finally all went well.Congos.
sleep:Yeah.i was confident i know that i wil  pass through.
me:So when are you flying?
sleep:next week i guess..i dont have much time .i have to join college by 7th jan.(HEz into NPU)
         i have few thing to wind up here.i am also planning to go to Tirupati.

WOow! this is the most shocking sentence i ever heard off his tongue.U cant expect water from white clouds!!!!


me: U and Tirupati??????????????????? are you sure???
sleep: yep,i wished to go before i leave.

Man dats soo cool..i was left rock still for few secs .

me: that is great! i am also wishing d same for years.

Yes i really was.I only visited it when i was in 5th grade.
sleep: oh! then lets plan for it....check for train reservations.
me:ok....

That night i searched for train reservations.I couldn't find any.So we tried volvo bus.
We got bus tickets for tirupathi.
next day i was waiting at bus stand  waiting for him when i met our college principal Mr.Rudra Pratap.
He was there to give a send off to his son who is also leaving to US via vskp-banglore bus route.Had a brisk chat with him.We discussed ongoing  of  college.
Prash's dad's car parked in front of me.first thing he said me when he got down with a hot news"They have just called me to inform that I got visa for 5 years" .

offffffffff!!! 5 years?? i never heard of it...how did US approve??? well whatever, it was indeed a good news.only few get such a bumper prize.
Our so awaited bus arrived and we set to Tirupathi.
We reached Tirumala at 5 am.Got freshen up at a local guest house of APEPDCL (his dad works for it.so we got permit to freshen).

we took a bus from APSRTC bus stand to Tirupathi.There we met his uncle who is on a pilgrimage.He was a very kind man.
Without his help we couldn't have made it well there.He knows almost every thng about temple.he was here for 19th time :O
He guided us all the way from arrival to departure.I still wonder what would have been fate of two guyz roaming on streets of Tirupathi without knowing where to go,what to do and what not to do.Thanks to him.

Well we got into 300 rs darshan line.It took us 2 hrs to finally reach abode of Sri Venkateswara.
Darshan went well.
Oh! we were on fast till we saw the idol.now its time to eat, eat and eat.We ate at Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam's free meals dining halls.Food quality and taste was very good.



From there we set to ISKON temple at Tirumala.I always wonder how artistic these ISKON temples are made.Elevation and inner decorations are mesmerizing.One should not miss to see it...
From there we dined at a local hotel..His uncle and his group of friends gave us a send off.
Finally we are at bus stand once again waiting for our bus to arrive.

We were in vizag by next morning.
It was second and last tour with prash before he sailed off.
It was really wonderful experience.It seems like a dream to me even now...Travel to a devotional place with an atheist and some one already waiting for your arrival there, to guide you all the way.
Thanks to god for glitch less 'everything'. 
Thanks to sleep and his uncle.

Looks like it was all already arranged; just like as it goes in movies :)


moral:Atheist also visit temples :P 











       



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