Tirumala – A town that never sleeps

A visit to Tirumala is always special for me. The very first visit of Tirumala was during my toddler stages. Stretching back my memory as far as I started to remember, vaguely get images of a train window through which I saw a glowing orange + red faced rising sun, some random room walls.

I don’t remember visiting Tirumala in later years for except eating Tirupati Laddu until June, 2005. Since then, I have made 9 trips with every trip giving me a new experience and remember each trip precisely with month + year also. 

Why do I love Tirumala? Is it because of: 

-- Ghat road or the walk to Tirumala?

-- Tirumala laddu & food in Tirupati?

-- Govinda Govinda movie !?

-- The sense of feeling when you finally get to see the Lord for about less than 30 seconds?

I was in a wrong assumption that the ghat road is closed usually between 12 AM till 3 AM, so no activity would be there on the hill temple. With the latest trip it made me realize that Tirumala runs 24/7.

 “An idle brain is a devil's workshop”

After a significant gap, I got some time to be alone. Out of the blue, I told myself – reach Tirumala by walk, sit in the first seat of a bus going downhill to reach Tirupati, have food in Bhimas, return home in a day. Darshanam was not in mind. It has been more than 6 years since I last walked to Tirumala and hence decided to do it.

After waking up at 4.45 AM, managed to reach Tirupati by 12 PM to start the climb of 7.8 KM at 12.23 PM. The initial hour was very difficult. Every 10 mins, I was taking a break, scolding myself for coming alone to the walk and not having breakfast. Previous walk instances were with my friends and I do not remember if I struggled to this extent to climb. Is it because of age? Or lack of company? Or lack of fitness - Earlier trips were done when I was used for long walks and public transport. Slowly, started to count 10 steps at a time to reach Gaali Gopuram after an hour. From here, the walk eased out.

Finally reached Tirumala at 3.30 PM – more or less the walk took about 3 Hrs. Good job. Next agenda was food – had onion dosa and hot badam milk, followed by heavy rain. After several back and forth consultations with my wife, enquiries with locals, I decided to go for Sarvadarshanam – free darshanam. The locals told there were hardly any people for sarvadarshanam and you might be out in 1 or 2 hours also. So I decided and went in but the wait turned to 6 Hrs in Vaikuntam queue complex 21. Without a mobile/newspaper/book I spent the time by sleeping for a while, chatted with some people over there, had free sambar rice distributed by TTD. After this wait of 6 hrs, observing people around, realized that folks who bought 300 rupees advance darshan tickets are no different from these. Men & women belonging to all type of classes were present and in both cases, people were fighting to get in line for food, darshan, losing patience over petty things.

Exactly at 11 PM, we were allowed for the darshanam. When the queue reached near the main temple walls, not sure if that was a pre-recorded voice or a live one, there was continuous voice being heard from speakers. The male voice was enthusiastic, making people smile with his small sarcasms, jokes, warnings to take care of things & babies in 4 or 5 different languages. Combined with a bit of cold and pleasant air, it made me forget the walk & wait. I was out by 11.54 PM post darshanam which meant I had to stay for couple of hours to take a bus downhill to reach Tirupati. It was the first time that I had such late night Tirumala visit.

The ghat road would be opened by 2 AM that night instead of 3 AM. I took my time to have some food, go around for buying small things. The food joints were open, people having rice items at 1 AM, shops were open, all around were people. Wah..!

I checked with the food joint guy to see if he will ever close his place in a given day. He replied that the place is closed between 2 to 3 AM for cleaning but apart from that, they will be serving food all the time since there are always people.

I decided to reach and stay back in Tirupati, have a good sleep, and then leave home after having lunch. I wanted to take a nap in the bus itself which would start at 2 AM. The tickets aren’t supposed to be issued inside the bus but can be procured through a counter at bus stand. After watching people getting mad at each other to buy the ticket first, it was impossible for me to get one without a proper queue at the counter. I took a shared taxi costing 75 rupees to reach Tirupati bus stand. The driver told me that they hardly sleep at nights except for some power naps in between because they will be going around the hill also for smaller trips when the ghat road closes.

I took a small room in Tirupati, slept for a solid 5 hrs, and then had a good breakfast. Visited Govindarajaswamy temple and Tirupati museum opposite to it. Lot of details were present in the museum. Walked around a bit before having lunch in Sri Venkateswara Deluxe hotel instead of Bhimas since the former was featured in Highway on my plate – Rocky & Mayur. Food was decent but not up-to Bhimas standard. Took a Volvo bus this time to return home which was very comfortable for a good & exact 3 Hrs sleep.

On the whole, the trip told me that: 

-- Tirumala is always up & running.

-- People’s behavior remains the same – whether buying a 300 rupee ticket or going for free darshanam.

-- Huge efforts are put into maintaining Tirumala clean – especially the public restrooms. Was truly impressed about this especially since there are always people floating on the hill.

-- More or less Tirupati also runs 24/7 but when compared to Tirumala, Tirupati rests for some time.

The two of the three main things which I initially planned were not accomplished: 

-- Sitting in the first seat of the bus going downhill.

-- Lunch in Bhimas

“పునః దర్శన ప్రాప్తిరస్తు”

Cricket Thoughts

During 2003 – 2004 India tour of Australia, I was in my grand parents’ house for a brief vacation stay. India did very well in that test series. I was watching every ball of the test match by waking up early in the morning at about 5.30 or 6 AM along with the pre & post match analysis. India put up a splendid show in its first 2 test matches in spite of being pushed to tough situations by Aussie bowlers. Every day, excitingly I used to update my grandfather about the happenings but he always simply acknowledged but never showed interest to watch cricket live on TV.

 I knew that my grandfather loved cricket. My grandfather and my father too watched test matches between India & West Indies in TV by waking up at early morning 4 or 5 AM, sipping hot coffee. He watched Sunil Gavaskar’s batting with great admiration and used to tell me the stories of West Indies fast pacers who were like 6 feet tall, bowling bouncers and how Sunil used to bat against them. He somehow did not have the same passion to follow cricket after Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev era and Sachin was the last one he loved to watch.

In movie language: “Cut” - to 16 years later, July 2019

After watching Ind – NZ world cup semifinal, realized that Dhoni would retire sooner or later. I wondered, if Dhoni retires, for whom I should watch out.  After Ganguly, Sachin, Dravid era, Dhoni was the last one I loved to watch.

 I may follow cricket now and then but as my friend told, I do not know whom I am going to root for.

Watching cricket was very passionate for me starting from 2003 world cup. Closely followed lot of matches involving team India – watch pre match + live +innings break + live + post match. I used to remember names of players from other teams also, like Sri lanka, Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand etc.

Post 2007 world cup, and specifically post 2007 T20 world cup, lot of changes happened in Indina team. ODI matches were being played with new players, seniors being rested/dropped/rotated from the team to achieve better results, some players being persisted even when they were consistently failing to play well, unfair treatment to some other players who might have cemented their place but due to lack of opportunities and some other players who were not cared enough, started fading away. 
Test matches still had my favorite players but they too slowly, after 2011 – 12, were not playing in the team. The players for whom I used to watch cricket for, like Gambhir, Sehwag, Sachin, Yuvraj, Harbajan, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid, Irfan Pathan, Uthappa were not regulars any more due to retirement/losing place in the team and other reasons.

After Dhoni retired from test matches, and gave up captaincy in ODIs, my cricketing interest further took a deep dive. Sometimes, I don’t even realize that India is playing a match today.

In my opinion, Dhoni as a captain trusted his team mates, believed in them, even when they were not performing well (ex: Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja). There was stability in the team and sense of calmness probably because Dhoni mentored others around him. There were some stubborn decisions from Dhoni also, but still loved to watch cricket because he was the captain.

 I had discussions with a couple of friends about Rohit Sharma being persisted in ODIs and being pushed into test matches, giving him ample of opportunities. As my friends told, the captain and team management might have seen the special talent in him. My argument was that the similar opportunities were not given to other players (ex: Robin Uthappa) to prove themselves. During Dhoni’s captaincy only some players were given long rope.

After Dhoni, it is now Kohli leading Indian team in all formats. When Dhoni gave up ODI captaincy, I was eager to watch Kohli leading the team because by that time, he established himself as a quality batsman and played crucial knocks. During early days of Kohli’s captaincy (after Ind’s tour of Aus where Dhoni announced his retirement), my friend once stated that Kohli is a very good batsman but doubt his captaincy skills in long term.

Team was never stable, be it ODIs/test matches/ T20s under Kohli. Except for 5 or 6 players in the team, the other players in the final 11 were always rotated. Probably they were trying out various combinations to figure out who would be the best. But on the D-Day, the soft side was exposed. India lost to NZ in world cup semifinal failing to chase 240 odd runs after losing 3 early wickets. As VVS Laxman said, 13 different players were tested for middle order but at the end, nothing good came out. The players are never assured of place in the team for atleast a series. 2 or 3 failures in a 5 match series, the player was left out of the squad. Ganguly always emphasized that a player should be consistently given chances for atleast 2 or 3 series before judging him. I saw a post in Instagram that Kohli is after success and results but not building a good team like what Ganguly & Dhoni did. Is that true?

I feel that Kohli strategies on playing eleven in the last 2 or 3 years leading to the world cup were weird. Don’t know what he or the coach or the team management were thinking.

Some weird samples:

-- There were instances when Pujara was sidelined or sent for opening to make place for Rohit Sharma in test matches.

--  Ajinkya Rahane was never given his due credit and is always not sure about his place in the team. Being a vice captain in test matches, he was not in the team for the first 2 test matches during South Africa series. This is the kind of player India needed in its semifinal match – a solid technical batsman.

-- Karun Nair was in squad but never made into the final playing eleven during England test series. Hanuma Vihari was given a test match debut while Karun was idle throughout the test series.

Below are the list of players who never got their due credit and respect they deserved. There might be other players too but noting down what I remember now. There are many other sorry tales and poor players. 

Gautam Gambir: One of the pillars of two world cup wins. He made a comeback to the test team that toured England after being out of the team for a while. He was in the playing eleven for the first 2 test matches in which he did not make a huge impact. After that he never came back and finally retired.

Harbhajan Singh: A product of Dada. After new spinners – Ashwin & Jadeja came, he was sidelined from the team. Probably a mix of his performance and raise of Ashwin & Jadeja kept him out. He did not get a proper retirement.

Robin Uthappa: His only mistake was that he played during the days of Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir. He was a never a permanent player in the team. I guess he had a lot of potential but never made it big. What if he was given chances like Rohit Sharma? Anyway, at the end, it is all about ifs and buts

Mohammad Kaif: A product of Dada again. The Natwest trophy hero. He told in an interview that after Ganguly, Dravid times, the whole team dynamics changed and he probably was not able to cope up with the changes.

Ambati Rayudu: After Laxman from Hyderabad, he was supposed to break into Indian team and make it big. I have read articles stating the reasons for not making into the team early – state level politics, injuries, joining ICL etc. He was not recalled for world cup squad even after Dhawan & Vijay Shankar were ruled out of world cup and the selectors, team management had their reasons.

Dinesh Karthik: Poor guy. After 2019 world cup, I guess it is difficult for him to have a place in the team.

Irfan Pathan: Just one sentence for him – a wasted talent by our management. I loved your bowling man. Opened test match as a batsman also at one point.

Murli Vijay: Was never given chances consistently in ODIs and now sidelined in test cricket.

Murli Karthik & Piyush Chawla played only when Kumble/Harbhajan were not in team. At wrong place at wrong time.

Let me conclude these never ending thoughts with this small note:

I was fortunate to see India touring Pakistan for 2 times, the 2003 Ind – Pak world cup match, Anil Kumble as captain, 2011 world cup and some other silver linings. My grandfather never embraced the new Indian team with the same passion after Kapil & Gavaskar era. Simlary, I would never be able to embrace pandyas/dhawans/sharmas.

Like the river, which is always flowing and replacing the old waters with the new, I can watch it by sitting on the shore. Leave the shore when the desire ceases. 

Change is the only constant thing.

Tattoo Chronicle

Preface:

Tattoos have been catching up a lot these days. I see a similar pattern in them – either on outer side of the limb or below the palm or on the wrists. Some have it in a language other than Indian. We all are very good at aping in all but good and productive things..!

I am having one too and this is how I got it:

The Seed:

      My primary school peon had a tattoo on her inner side of the forearm when I was at the age of 7 or 8 years. I can still remember her face, appearance clearly. She was tall, lean, couple of nose rings, aged around 40 to 45 years. She had her name tattooed in Telugu on left/right hand forearm. It was the first time I saw something written permanently on skin and was quite surprised. I asked her why do you have this to which she replied, “I don’t know. My parents took me to a person, asked me to stretch my hand outwards and close my eyes”. I later learnt that it was done with a needle like thing by dipping into some ink kind of liquid and it was a bearable pain in the process.

The Sprout:

       The influence of movies grew larger inside me during the graduation days. That was the time when I was regularly going to movie theatres, closely following news related to them. Maharshi Telugu movie which was released in late 1980s had a huge impact on me even though it was a box office failure at its time. I felt the most beautiful part of the movie is the design of heroine husband’s role. There is a particular scene where the hero burns a locket with letter ‘S’ (means Suchitra, heroine’s name) and presses against his forearm.

I used to write మహర్షి in big letters and వంశీ in small letters on my forearm with a blue inked gel pen in Telugu! I am quite mad about many movies and this is one of them.

The Plant:

When I travelled to US, it was very amusing to see many people sporting tattoos that too full handed ones! My colleague had a huge tattoo after his wife’s name. The itch to have one for myself started.

The Tree:

The difference of opinions I had with my wife at that time was not the sole reason of tattoo. It was just probably a triggering point and acted as a catalyst – nothing more than that. Moreover, I know that I wanted a tattoo but was not sure of how should it be. Just the name? or just initials or letters? I decided concretely to have it when I stumbled upon a simple symbolic design. Sometimes you are not sure what you are looking for but suddenly you realize that this is the one I wanted. That is how it was for me at that time. I remember my friend and sister asking me why a tattoo. Well, it is not for a show off or prove that I love her or something - somethings are difficult to explain. So let’s shrug it off!

The trips I do, the photos I take, the moments with wife, my family is usually to please and make myself happy and probably share some of them with selective people. Period.

Note(s):

• I had got my tattoo inked in March 2015 (4 years ago as on today). Since I have developed a habit of writing something on something on its        anniversary, this came out now. However, it was long overdue.

• My couple of colleagues at that time advised me to wait for one more year and to have the wife’s name tattooed. Their opinion was that if we part ways, it would be difficult to get another girl in case of a second marriage with the same name or letter.

• Thanks to my colleague and friend Navneet for his inputs on various designs.