The God That (Never) Failed?
Episode 21
Part 1
"How unkind of you, Srinivasa? You strand me and my family, coming to see you, in the midst of the ghat road in the dead of night!. I will never come for 'darshan' again during my lifetime. This bitter experience will do".
The elderly gentleman, who had been venting his anger against Tirumala Srinivasa, soon was shaken by the experience he underwent half an hour later after his anger on Lord Srinivasa. Crushed by contrition, he has seen repeatedly slapping his cheeks and muttering that his salvation lay only in 'Govinda nama' recitation and the 'darshan' of Srinivasa.
Part 1
"How unkind of you, Srinivasa? You strand me and my family, coming to see you, in the midst of the ghat road in the dead of night!. I will never come for 'darshan' again during my lifetime. This bitter experience will do".
The elderly gentleman, who had been venting his anger against Tirumala Srinivasa, soon was shaken by the experience he underwent half an hour later after his anger on Lord Srinivasa. Crushed by contrition, he has seen repeatedly slapping his cheeks and muttering that his salvation lay only in 'Govinda nama' recitation and the 'darshan' of Srinivasa.
When I was the TTD Executive Officer(1978-82), like all other Executive Officers, I was all the time consumed by a desire to improve the 'sevas' in the temple and provide better amenities to pilgrims. That was one of the main reason why I attended as many 'sevas' as possible ranging from 'suprabhatam' in the morning to 'ekanta seva' in the night as many times as I could.
One 'seva' which I never liked to miss was Friday 'abhisheka seva'.
The Friday 'abhisheka seva' begins with participant devotees going in a procession at 4.30 am. Therefore, invariably, I made it a routine to leave Tirupati on Thursday afternoons, conduct inspections en route and reach Tirumala by 4 pm. Atop the hill, I usually conducted joint inspections and reviews with other officials. Arriving at the temple later, by about 6pm, I would stay on till 9.30 pm for the 'pulangi seva darshan' before reaching the guesthouse. At 4.30 am on Friday, I would take part in the 'abhisheka seva'.
When I was the TTD Executive Officer(1978-82), like all other Executive Officers, I was all the time consumed by a desire to improve the 'sevas' in the temple and provide better amenities to pilgrims. That was one of the main reason why I attended as many 'sevas' as possible ranging from 'suprabhatam' in the morning to 'ekanta seva' in the night as many times as I could.
One 'seva' which I never liked to miss was Friday 'abhisheka seva'.
The Friday 'abhisheka seva' begins with participant devotees going in a procession at 4.30 am. Therefore, invariably, I made it a routine to leave Tirupati on Thursday afternoons, conduct inspections en route and reach Tirumala by 4 pm. Atop the hill, I usually conducted joint inspections and reviews with other officials. Arriving at the temple later, by about 6pm, I would stay on till 9.30 pm for the 'pulangi seva darshan' before reaching the guesthouse. At 4.30 am on Friday, I would take part in the 'abhisheka seva'.
One Thursday in 1980 , my usual programme went haywire. Some unexpected work and an important visitor prevented me from leaving for Tirumala. In spite of my urge to leave, I had to stay on up to 8 pm in the office itself.
I thought I could leave by 9.30 pm after having dinner at home. That deadline too had passed.
Though I finished my dinner and was ready to leave, I remained in the camp office (located in the Executive Officer's bungalow), attending to incoming phone calls. My personal assistant Narayana and the driver had been waiting since 3 pm for my scheduled departure to Tirumala.
It was past ten. My wife Gopika dropped in and enquired why I had not yet left. Generally, she used to accompany me for the Friday 'abhishekam'. She was not to join me that day as we had some guests at home. Pointing out that I was already late, she suggested,"Why dont you stay here for the night and leave at 3.30 am.? I could also come with you".
I shot down her suggestion. "I should have gone long ago. Right now, I am leaving ".
Still, I felt lethargic. For the next 20-30 minutes, I was once again lost in God knows what.
Nothing particular prevented me from leaving. But, still I would not leave.
Meanwhile , Gopika peeped in twice or thrice , saw me at work and returned pursing her lips, wondering as to what could have happened to me.
Perhaps, it was past 10.30 in the night . Suddenly, I folded the file I was looking into, leapt up from my seat as if prompted by someone and hopped into the car. I asked the driver to proceed to Tirumala. In a few minutes, we reached the Alipiri toll gate at the foothills. (For security reasons, the ghat road was closed to traffic those days for some hours in the night). The tollgate staff , who opened the gate for me, reported that the pilgrim traffic to Tirumala was heavy that day. Heavy rush meant a waiting of seven to eight hours for the 'darshan'.
One Thursday in 1980 , my usual programme went haywire. Some unexpected work and an important visitor prevented me from leaving for Tirumala. In spite of my urge to leave, I had to stay on up to 8 pm in the office itself.
I thought I could leave by 9.30 pm after having dinner at home. That deadline too had passed.
Though I finished my dinner and was ready to leave, I remained in the camp office (located in the Executive Officer's bungalow), attending to incoming phone calls. My personal assistant Narayana and the driver had been waiting since 3 pm for my scheduled departure to Tirumala.
It was past ten. My wife Gopika dropped in and enquired why I had not yet left. Generally, she used to accompany me for the Friday 'abhishekam'. She was not to join me that day as we had some guests at home. Pointing out that I was already late, she suggested,"Why dont you stay here for the night and leave at 3.30 am.? I could also come with you".
I shot down her suggestion. "I should have gone long ago. Right now, I am leaving ".
Still, I felt lethargic. For the next 20-30 minutes, I was once again lost in God knows what.
Nothing particular prevented me from leaving. But, still I would not leave.
Meanwhile , Gopika peeped in twice or thrice , saw me at work and returned pursing her lips, wondering as to what could have happened to me.
Perhaps, it was past 10.30 in the night . Suddenly, I folded the file I was looking into, leapt up from my seat as if prompted by someone and hopped into the car. I asked the driver to proceed to Tirumala. In a few minutes, we reached the Alipiri toll gate at the foothills. (For security reasons, the ghat road was closed to traffic those days for some hours in the night). The tollgate staff , who opened the gate for me, reported that the pilgrim traffic to Tirumala was heavy that day. Heavy rush meant a waiting of seven to eight hours for the 'darshan'.
The cold breeze during the midnight car journey should have lulled me into a nap. But that night , I remained awake. Upsent over the setback to the normal schedule, I was eager to reach Tirumala as early as possible - for what, I was not sure. In fact, it did not matter so long as I reached Tirumala before 4 am.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, I was keen on landing at Tirumala early.
"Go faster", I instructed the driver. However experienced a driver is, he would not go fast on the ghat road during nights. The driver, however, plodded on.
Our car had negotiated all the curves in the ghat road. As we were within a kilometer of Tirumala, as elderly gentleman standing in pitch darkness at the end of the last curve was frantically waving his hands signalling us to stop. Our car headlights revealed an Ambassador car behind him. Our car screeched to a halt. What was he doing there in the dead of night?
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, I was keen on landing at Tirumala early.
"Go faster", I instructed the driver. However experienced a driver is, he would not go fast on the ghat road during nights. The driver, however, plodded on.
Our car had negotiated all the curves in the ghat road. As we were within a kilometer of Tirumala, as elderly gentleman standing in pitch darkness at the end of the last curve was frantically waving his hands signalling us to stop. Our car headlights revealed an Ambassador car behind him. Our car screeched to a halt. What was he doing there in the dead of night?
Even before I could raise the question, he came near my car and spoke in English,
"Sir, like you , we have come on a pilgrimage. Our car has broken down. We have to go uphill urgently".
In a tone tinged with anxiety, he pleaded, "Sir, wont you give us a lift?"
Deferring all questions, I asked him how many passengers were there.
There were in all five - the elderly gentleman, his wife, daughter and son-in-law and their driver.
In my car, beside me there were the personal assistant and the driver. The thought as to how so many of them could be accommodated in my car never struck me. I invited all of them to board the car along with their luggage. Only then I noticed that his daughter and son-in-law were in "madhuparkams"(clothes dyed in turmeric) indicating that they had just been married. Surprisingly, all the worry and anxiety of mine vanished the moment the strangers boarded our car.
Why did Prasad garu had to start his journey to Tirumala late and what are the miracles Lord Venkateshwara did to the stranded family in the middle of night ?? Read more in next episode to know the spiritual bliss Lord gives to His devotees.
OM NAMO SRINIVASAYA
OM NAMO NARAYANAYA
OM NAMO VENKATESAYA