Worth the Wait

Getting up at 4am in the morning and preparing to climb the Tirumala hill was exciting. So was the actual climbing experience- 2400 steps, the invigorating crisp morning air and the breath-taking view. But excitement was the only feeling in me. To tell the truth, the only reason I’d agreed to go to Tirupati was the physical challenge that the climb had presented.

Two hours later, I was sitting in a room doing absolutely nothing. It was cold, I was hungry and I was bored. My family and I had managed to get a bench for ourselves, but every square inch of the floor was covered in people. Well, I had expected crowds, so I was quiet.

Three and a half hours later we joined the queue. To say it moved at snail’s pace would be incorrect, because between rare, brief spurts of movement, it didn't move AT ALL. I don’t know how long I spent standing in that queue. Running on a small cup of coffee and a ‘Mentos’ or  two that my aunt happened to find in her purse, squished between people who had never heard of the concept of ‘personal space’- it seemed like an eternity.

After maybe an hour I was literally fighting myself to keep from cursing blackly at everything in sight. ‘Why do people do this?’ I wondered. ‘Why do Hindus of all communities and all financial backgrounds come here, not once, but multiple times in their lives? So far, I had found nothing spiritual about the experience. I looked around. I saw tired looking mothers with bawling babies, devotees with weights on their heads and even a foreigner. What struck me the most was the patience with which they waited.  I realized that spirituality was not something that would enter me the moment I stepped into a temple. It was something that I would have to cultivate.  That was the turning point.

First, I stopped trying to protest. Accepting the inevitable gives great peace of mind. As we got closer and closer to the main shrine, I began to accept that (as I’d already been told) the long wait was like service to God and was as important as offering prayers at the shrine.

When we finally entered, it made sense. Maybe the room went quiet, or maybe I didn't hear the noise. The idol of Lord Venkateshwara- black and sparkling with gold- was awe-inspiring. The less-than five seconds I spent in front of it made all the difference. Suddenly, it all seemed worth it. I was filled with bhakti and I felt at peace. I admitted to myself that I would probably visit again. Maybe not for a while, but someday, I would.

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Oh, and I cannot omit the fact that I was thoroughly impressed with how well the temple is managed. The place is very clean, and aside from the waiting, there was nothing I could complain about. Considering that temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily (30 to 40 million people annually), I think the people who manage the temple are doing a brilliant job!