On Sunday (November 14, 2010) I visited two of my favorite temples in Chennai: Satyanarayana Temple and the Chennai branch of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, both located in T.Nagar, the commercial center of Chennai.

The Satyanarayana Temple is unique in Chennai. The presiding deity is Lord Satyanarayana. The other deities are Lord Hanuman, Lord Venkateswara, Lord Narasimha (The Lion God), Goddess Mahalakshmi (Goddess of Wealth), Lord Hayagriva (the God of Learning), Andal (the devotee who later merged with the God), Lord Rama with his family and Sudarshana. I visited this temple after almost 6 months to thank you for blessing me with a child (my girl).

I then visited the Chennai branch of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) and sought the blessings of Lord Balaji, with his consort (Goddess Padmavathi). I guess it was God’s call and I decided to pay a visit to Tirupati (the richest Hindu temple) the next day (November 15, 2010).

The day started with a rude awakening at 4:00 am as I had to reach the embarkation point at 5:00 pm I showered, freshened up and reached my embarkation point at T.Nagar in 15, a kind of record as you travel faster on foot in the area (which, by the way, is the heart of Chennai’s marketing activity). This area is normally covered on foot in 30 minutes and by car in an hour (four times that time during the high holiday season).

For the uninitiated, Chennai is in the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, while Tirupati is in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

I boarded the Tempo Traveler along with 11 others (excluding the driver). A group of 6 passengers, consisting of two families (husband, wife and son) were from the Indian state of Rajasthan who came for a tour of South India and the second family of 5 members was from Chennai, who were going to a family function . . The hair of one of his relatives was being offered, since he is the deity of his family.

I was sitting next to the driver. The day before (Sunday night) I had watched the EPL and I went to bed at 12:30 am happy to see our main rival Chelsea losing 0-2 at home to Sunderland (I support Manchester United in the EPL, Barcelona in the Liga and to Brazil at the international level). Therefore, I had plans to catch up on my lost sleep.

From the moment I boarded the bus and the journey began, I daresay sleep was the last thing at the moment. It was drizzling a bit. But what shocked me was the way the vehicle was driven.

I remembered the joke about the Priest and the chauffeur, where the chauffeur goes to Heaven and the Priest gets stranded in Hell. I certainly support the Driver for his right to Heaven, after seeing my driver. The fear of God hit me and I sang all the prayers I could think of.

There are some common factors in the culturally diverse country of India: a passion for cricket, a craze for film and sports personalities, reckless driving, a lack of cleanliness and order.

The vehicle was traveling on National Highways NH 205 (which connects Chennai in Tamil Nadu with Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh). The speed limit displayed was 40 kms. When I looked at the speedometer (since I was sitting in front of the driver), it was barely 90 km. Not that our driver was reckless, others were driving faster almost 100 km on each side of the road.

There were a couple of sad things I saw during the course of my trip: a dog that had been hit by a speeding vehicle and bled to death, her orphaned puppy running aimlessly down the road. In another incident I saw a puppy crushed, only the body and his brother sitting next to it remain.

In several areas along the 152 km stretch, only one large vehicle and two vehicles could pass. But all the vehicles were pushing each other and saying I’m right honking their horns and driving fast. In almost 3 places, my blood froze and my heart skipped a beat. The driver on each side ran like he was going to hit and run or crash straight ahead was the choice.

There are a few things that I prefer during my road and rail travel: the beautifully lined greenery and trees, the opportunity to interact with and learn about other passengers, and a good night’s sleep.

Sleep was deprived in the first half of the trip. However, when I turned around, I saw other passengers doze off peacefully, unaware of the risk of the trip. How I envied them! I enjoyed the greenery and saw country life at its most beautiful and colorful.

After almost 3 hours of travel we arrive at Tirupati (the lower part) where we have breakfast. After breakfast, our guide joined us for the ride and I was given a break from witnessing the dangers of driving firsthand. I moved the last seat in the vehicle.

The second half of the trip was spent interacting with other Chennai passengers and taking in the natural scenery, which was breathtaking. Tirupati, is located in the Seven Hills and the weather was wonderful for driving: cool, a little drizzling. The mist surrounding the hills only enhanced the natural beauty. The second part of 25 km passed between deep curves, blind turns and hairpin turns. But from the way the vehicle jerked, I deduced that the driver was traveling twice the posted speed limit.

Once we reached Tirupati, we waited for the South Indian family to finish tonsuring the head of their relative’s son. This time delay delayed our program by 3-4 hours. We enter the cage, where we wait for our turn to book the ticket and have the Seegra Darshan. The tail began to move slowly. Our cage of nearly 200 was easily the most unruly. The pilgrim cages on either side were quite neat and well behaved. They gave us free food inside the cage which helped as we ate dinner only at 7:30 pm The funny thing was that while we on the Rs.300 ticket waited 4 hours and the Rs.50 ticketed pilgrims waited 6 -7 hours, the devotees who did not pay anything waited only one hour.

We had darshan of Lord Balaji at 4:30 PM for a span of 10 seconds. I certainly considered myself lucky to be in the presence of the Lord for the normal duration of 2-3 seconds. As it was constantly raining, we waited for our turn to collect our sample of the world famous Tirupati Laddoos. We then return to our bus and begin our journey back.

We reached the lower Tirupati at 8:00 pm, had dinner and went to Tiruchanur to seek the blessings of Goddess Padmavathi, the consort of Lord Balaji. The darshan here was faster and better, it was over in almost a jiffy (5-10 minutes).

We returned to Chennai which was mostly peaceful and I arrived home at 00:30 the next day (Nov 16, 2010).

Arriving home, I was informed that the new work that was pending had been completed and I was expected to join in a day or two.

I have met my friends and relatives who planned meticulously for months together but still could not make the trip to Tirupati unless the Lord Himself wishes. I agree with this point of view. My wish and plan were put into action and I was able to seek the blessings of the Divine Lord in a matter of 1-2 days. Recently, one of my friends who had successfully completed his interview was waiting to join his new job. After his trip to Tirupati, things moved at a feverish pace and he joined as soon as he returned.

“Man proposes, God disposes”. This is true for all religions. God is the Supreme Power and yet, no matter how much science and technology advance, we cannot match his power and will. We cannot stop death, we can postpone it only for some time.

I kept the title of this article for two reasons: One, because of the way the vehicle was driven everywhere, I spent more time thinking of God and seeking his forgiveness and blessings. Two, the darshan itself was wonderful and we look forward to pain and trouble.

http://www.tirumala.org provides you with all the information about Tirupati.