Oh GOD .. and the industry ... Part 1:

It has been some one and a half hour that I’ve been standing in the queue. It was moving at snail’s pace. Suddenly a pilgrim takes a seat on the ground and starts rocking a kid. Whoa !! Haven’t I noticed that the queue is not moving anymore. For the past 15 minutes I haven’t moved an inch. I hear someone call to me, “Water.. Sir.. WATER”. I stare shocked. Well let me first describe the setup I was into, because that would help one understand why a single call kept me staring. Here I am, standing in a long queue where every single person is ready to pay in cash or kind to advance his/her turn to take at peep at Lord Venkateshwara at Tirupati Devasthanam. One can easily deduce that this long queue is not anything new just by looking at the 2 miles long caged path resembling a python’s chamber in a zoo. The queue was moving past the edge of the famous lake where this (spider)man with a bottle in his hand climbed down from nowhere. What he said next came as the second blow, “aanly twenty rupees sir”. Be it this bottle of water or a pack of mango drink, here in this holy place one needs to shell out an additional 66.6% over the printed Rs. 12. Well, its just not this!! Tirupati Temple is situated at Tirumala on top of a hill and as one plans to get there, it comes as a realization that the entire township not only at Tirumala but also at the footstep of the hill with over 12 laks resident is based on a single industry that is pilgrimage. Starting from the transportation, the restaurants and lodgings, the numerous vendors, the banks and whatever a person can think of is supported directly or indirectly by Lord Venkateshwara. Lost in my thoughts I was standing in the queue when a cry of relief brought me back. “Govinda.. Govinda “ ….. The other name for lord Venkateshwara. Most of the people in the cage were already frowning and we still had to move over a mile. I walked on and with me walked the bald man with his bald son sitting on his shoulder, the bald lady along with her bald hubby, the bald boys and the bald girls (NOTE: Bald girls don’t look good at all). Many devotees get their head tonsured on their way to Tirupati. The total hair collected everyday is over a ton. And this hair when sold to international buyers adds a sum of over 6 million USD to the temple’s treasury.