Devotion Vs Corruption

What has devotion got to do with corruption? If that's your question, then my friend, you have not visited the most RENOWNED SPIRITUAL places of India. Here, "paise main parmatma hai"! Never felt the reality of this statement hit me until very recently, when I visited Tirupathi, where the WORLD's most richest God dwells. And Boy, what a HARD HIT that was!

Believe it or not, Tirupathi gains so much of money each year that, probably we could complete atleast 50%* of our multi-million projects that haven't been completed due to the so called LACK OF FUNDS. No wonder the doors of the MAIN TEMPLE abode the seven hills is open for about 20hrs on a regular day. People keep walking in, encroaching the God's private time and dropping a nice chunk of their savings, in the name of helping Lord Venkateswara clearing his debt to Mr.Kubera** (google the story if you have no idea). I wonder how many more centuries would that take. If you ask my personal opinion, NEVER! Read on to find out why.

Right from the watchmen (mind you, not the central govt. security, but only the old men in shabby uniforms) to the chairperson of the TTD are so corrupt that they are comfortably drawing their share from the abundant offerings. Since there is no count of the money received or put into the HUNDIS, you can use your imagination on the scope of misuse of these OFFERINGS***.

Here is a small letter to the God on how DEVOTION has deviated hyperbolically to give way for CORRUPTION at His very doorsteps.

Dear God Venky,

You ain't clearing the debt anytime soon, sorry chap! And I know that you are probably the most hard working spiritual RESOURCE (in the HR terminology) in this universe. You get to work for 20hrs in a day, 365 days a year and you are assured with all the luxuries in this world. Even though they promised you a flashy package with an awesome job description, at the EOD, its all about MONEY, which they intend to use to fulfil their greed, rather than take extra care of the temple and the poor. That's it!

The queue system, even though looks very well maintained, is completely flawed. And I have observed that the TTD executives are cashing the faith of the devotees by reducing the number of tickets for Rs.50 darshan and increasing the numbers of Rs.300. I bet, the Rs.300 devotee expected more privileges and a faster DARSHAN. (LMAO here.. sorry couldn't stop myself.... I was in the Rs. 50 line).

The devotees, who spend thousands of rupees and hours of journey time do not get to see a clear image of you, when the SCOUTS try to push away people, as if your devotees were stray dogs. Neverhteless, they dont mind to add utter confusion, and will even let us stand for a few more seconds if we can BRIBE one or two of these scouts with 100 buck bills.

And I need not say anything about the way people behave for your most favourite LADOOS. It is a prestige issue now a days. If I can get more Ladoos than the guy in front of me, then my de tour to your temple is a grand success. Believe me when I say this, Number of ladoos in my hands is directly proportional to a successful trip to Tirupathi. (yeah, wouldnt have this satisfaction even if I were successful to finalize a billion dollar deal...) As you might have already guessed, yes, you need to squeeze in the smaller currency notes into the hands of the people on the other side to achieve this.

Moving on to the place where they bless us with your silver MUKUT. The person or pujari is so skilled in removing the coins or notes from the plate that I was mesmerized and impressed. I don't remember the counting machine to have pulled the notes so neatly. Similarly, when you go to the regular PRASAD queue, in the opposite end, you will find one hand giving you the prasad and the other palm facing upwards, in anticipation of a compensation. If you can impress this guy with a suitable AMOUNT, then you and your family can lay down a table to dine at this stall for as long as you wish.

The expression OMG, is written all over my face, when I happen to encounter these things in bits and pieces. Adding to the surprise package, I did see a few people with ANNA HAZARE caps (previously a.k.a Gandhi Caps... but Anna is in fashion these dayz you see... :p). However, even they were so engrossed in this whole ritual that all they bothered was to play along and SPEND meticulously. And did I forget to mention their periodic "Bolo Ganapathi pappa, Moriyaa" slogan was the highlight of the day. Seriously, didn't anyone tell them that they were inside the BALAJI TEMPLE, not GANESH's! A serious case of miscommunication I guess...

All in all, I have noticed that there is far less devotion in the minds of people who come to have a glance at you and are stuck in materialistic things like lack of conditioned air and watery floors etc. Everyone wants a quick darshan and are ready to PAY the price.

I have only spoken about the things I encountered in the main temple My Lord! The scenario at the govt. guest houses and other places is a complete journal in itself. Will let you know later. C ya. Buh bye.

Yours FLF (finding his lost faith) devotee
TinTo

*This is just my own estimate. You may contribute the FACTS if you happen to know the exact figure.

**Am still confused why did he take the loan, when he had Goddess Lakshmi Devi as his wife. Anyways, lets not mix mythology with logicology.

***Kindly refer the number of cases on all the people, who held top positions in the TTD.