Gold in Thirupati

We all would have heard from our parents and grandparents that, Lord Sri Venkateshwara had taken loan from Kubera for his wedding. It is believed that the lord is still paying back his loan. It is also said that the day lord completely pays back his loan, this kaliyuga will end.
But, still the devotees, have been helping GOD, by contributing their part.
Joking apart,Thirupathi, the place of lord Sri Venkateshwara is probably the India’s richest place.
Few months back there was a news that, Thirupati is the worlds richest sacred place
The reason is, devotees who come here show their devotion towards Lord by contributing either money or gold or both.
The Tirumala Thirupati Trust (TTD) which had never disclosed any details on this Gold, recently announced that there is upto “12 tonns of Gold”.

A glimpse into the history of contributions
The contribution of devotees dates back to days of Kings like Sri Krishna Devaraya and his contemporaries. Not only the hindu kings, but also the Mughals and the British rulers have shown their devotion and respect to the lord, by offering gold and money.

In the recent times, especially after the 1960’s, the inflow of money and gold from devotees to the lord has been increasing at a quick pace.

Some of the major contributions in the recent times.
1. Owner of Penna Cement has offered Gold ornaments worth 7 crores.
2. Former Karnataka tourism minister has offered a 30 Gold crown, that is studded with diamond and other precious stones. The price of this crown is estimated to be well over 7 crores.
3. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachan, has offered various gold ornaments worth about 11 crores.
4. Andhra chief minister Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy has offered gold pada’s (replica of lords feet) worth 5 crores.

Also, there are many others who have offered various ornaments to the Lord, but never wanted their names to be disclosed.
Not only the riches, but also the middle class people make offerings of Gold and money of lower values.
All these offerings from the devotees, has summed and made Thirupathi the richest sacred place in the world.

But, above all these lies the ultimate truth, BELIEF IN GOD. And this belief is ensured that inspite of all the money and gold coming here its the divinity that holds a very high esteem in Thirupati.
Which is why this place is called as Bhoo Vaikunta, the only place on earth where lord Vishnu is believed to be staying.

No Bribe

No Bribe

As I read this heading on the front page of the news paper this morning. I was delighted and shocked. I thought for a sec that may be the government is planning to have strict actions to curb bribing. But, when I read through the details it was not that, but I was much more a news that made me happy and proud.
The residents of a colony near Surya City (a BDA developed residential area near Electronics City) had refused pay bribe to the authorities to get their Katha, and other norms that are mandatory to pay their property taxes. Instead they forced the authorities to give them information using the RTI ACT.
I feel this is a news to feel proud about. Our fellow Bangaloreans have shown that if we stand united and work in the right direction we can ourselves eliminate the evils in our society.
I had always wondered, why bribing was such a dominant thing in our lives. My dad always says “You cannot get any work done in any government office with out bribing.” and my response was “I will never bribe anyone” and luckily I have been able to stick to my word.
As I read this first thing that I did was showed it to my dad and said “See this” , he said “This is just one, and they are lucky to have got this done…”
I felt bad for a moment, but again this is just a beginning and for all to believe in the strength of unity and truth, it needs a lot of time.
I know this was just one bunch of people achieving what they wanted without bribing and also acting well with in the law. But how many do this? Everyone has their own reasons of not doing it. Some say it takes a lot of time, others say that it requires a lot of effort. But we are failing to understand that we are spreading a wrong culture which is depriving the underprivileged from getting what they are supposed to get. In one way people who bribe are equally responsible as the people who receive bribe.
Have you ever thought, what will they do if all refuse to bribe them? They will have to stick to the rules and do their work without demand bribes.

I hope that more and more people will take this as an example and realize the responsibilities as the “Great Citizens” of India, and will work towards ending such a malpractice.

MY DRIVER IS DRUNK…

“We are sorry, his state is very critical… we cannot say anything until next 48 hours”, was the doctors response after examining Vasu. In no moment his entire family was filled with sorry and there was absolute scilence.
Just a few hours ago, Vasu had finished partying with his friends and insisted on driving back home even though he was drunk. His car crashed on to a tree and he was now fighting for his life.
This could happen to anyone who would drink and drive.

Even though the police and the government is been doing its best to stop people from drinking and driving, all the efforts have gone in vain.
One of the latest things that the Bangalore police did was so creative and fantastic. There was an accident where a drunken driver had crashed his car into a tree. The car was so badly damaged that, when the cop told that the driver survived, I was shocked. Anyone who had seen the car would have thought that the driver and all its passengers would be dead. The car was being towed away on the roads with a hoarding “MY DRIVER IS DRUNK”.

I asked the police officer who was in the tow vehicle, “Sir this is a fantastic thought.. but do you think this will make people think?”
He said “Sir, we have tried our best to curb this down, but its not working. But as they say a picture is better than thousand words, we want to show people first hand how hard it could be if you drink and drive. We will try to tow every damaged vehicle of a drunken driving accident, throughout the city and try our best to make sure people realize”.

I was really happy of this new thought by the cops, wished him good luck and hoped that their new measure would be a success.

But, one thing that haunted my mind for a long time is that, when others take so much pain to make sure that their (people who drink and drive) lives are safe, why are they so ignorant???

ಮದ್ದೂರು ವಡೆ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ಕಥೆ

ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಮೈಸೂರು ರೈಲು ಸಂಚಾರ ಆರಂಭಗೊಂಡು 128 (1881) ವರುಷಗಳಾಯಿತು. ಆ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲೇ ಉಡುಪಿ-ಮಂಗಳೂರು ಕಡೆಯ ಆಚಾರರೊಬ್ಬರು ರೈಲ್ವೆ ಕ್ಯಾಂಟೀನಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಡ್ಲಿ, ಕಾಫಿ, ಮಂಗಳೂರು ಬೋಂಡಾ ಅಂಗಡಿ ಇಟ್ಟಿದ್ರು. ರೈಲು ನಿಲ್ಲುತ್ತಿದ್ದುದು ಐದು ನಿಮಿಷ. ಡಿಮ್ಯಾಂಡ್ ಇದ್ದದ್ದು ಬೋಂಡ ಹಾಗೂ ಬೈಟು ಬೆಲ್ಲದ ಕಾಫಿಗೆ. ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಕಡಲೆಹಿಟ್ಟು ಮುಗಿದು ಹೋಯಿತು. ಅಂದಿನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ರೈಲ್ವೇ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ ಊರಿನಿಂದ ದೂರವಿತ್ತು.
ರೈಲು ಬರುವ ವೇಳೆ, ಹಿಟ್ಟಿಲ್ಲ. ಜನ ಹಸಿದು ಬರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಬೋಂಡ ಕೊಡಿ ಆಚಾರ್ರೆ ಎಂದು ಓಡೋಡಿ ಬರುತ್ತಾರೆ
ಏನು ಮಾಡುವುದು ಎಂದು ಯೋಚನೆಗೀಡಾದ ಆಚಾರರಿಗೆ ಹೊಳೆದದ್ದು ಹೊಸ ರೆಸಿಪಿ.
ಇದ್ದ ರವೆ, ಹಿಟ್ಟು, ಈರುಳ್ಳಿ, ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿಗಳ ಮಿಶ್ರಣ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಕೈಯ್ಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಪಾತಿಯಂತೆ ತಟ್ಟಿ ಎಣ್ಣೆಗೆ ಇಳಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟರು.
ರೈಲು ಬಂದಾಕ್ಷಣ ‘ಬೋಂಡ ಕೊಡಿ ಆಚಾರ್ರೆ’ ಎಂದುಲಿದ ಪಯಣಿಗರಿಗೆ ‘ಇವತ್ತು ಬೋಂಡ ಅಲ್ಲ ವಡೆಸ್ಪೆಷಲ್’ ಎಂದರು.

‘ಏನ್ ವಡೆ’ಗೆ ಬಂದ ಉತ್ತರ ಮದ್ದೂರು ವಡೆ.

IF FOUND DRIVING RASHLY…

If found driving rashly inform 9*****, is the most common message each of us have seen. We have always have had complaints about the way the cab drivers drive.
But have we ever thought about how we motivate them to drive safely?

Until a few days back I never thought about these things. But listening to a small conversation changed my view.

The Thursday before Good Friday, I was already in holiday mood. The thought of grabbing an ice-cream made me take a long walk (in hot sun) to the canteen,
which I’ll never regret. As I got in, there was a round of applause…..
Well, it wasn’t for me though, it was for the speaker of a small meeting held there.

“Hum is meeting ke liye bahut dino se tayaari kar rahe the, lekin aaj hum log yahan mile hai…” was what he started with. I thought it must be a Hindi samavesh or something. People holding meetings or small events limited to their small group or
is common in my company.

I sat down with my bowl of ice-cream and he continued to speak. I paid little attention until he said,
“Aap me se jo sabse ache driver honge, hum unke bachon ke padaai ka dek baal karenge. Drivers who don’t have kids, will get a cash prize or any other equivalent benefit”
This was really surprising as I had never heard of such a thing before.

He continued “We know that you are not treated good by all. You will be treated good, only if you are good. We have requested the cab owners and ensured that all the cars you drive will be 100% road fit.”

There were a lot of other things said but, this example he gave must have for sure created an impact. This is not just for the cab drivers but for all people who drive.

“A flight was on time to the airport in Mumbai, but due to bad rains, the airport was flooded and the flight was asked to land in Bangalore instead. When the pilot announced
this the passengers were panicked, and a few of them insisted that the flight should land in Mumbai at any cost. But, the pilot convinced the passengers and made sure that the flight did land in Bangalore safely. The thing you all have to notice is that only the pilot knows what is best for the flight and his passengers not the people who travel in it. Had he listened to the few people he would have put everyone’s life in a risk”

“Even you people are no less than a pilot, its you who know how to drive on which road, what speed is safe. No matter how much the employees pressurize you, please drive with in the safety limits and as per the driving rules”.

This is 100% correct, most of us do this. We start late and are in a hurry to reach the destination and take a lot of risk while driving. Probably we need to learn from this and make sure that we give first importance to safety.

We need to understand our responsibility, and help the cab/auto drivers drive as per the traffic rules. In case they don’t drive educate them.

Let’s build a safe world.

Please Sir

Please sir… this was not said to me by any sales representative or some one who was trying to sell me something over the phone, but it was by someone who was begging at the signal in Nagawara.

Everyday when I travel to office, it’s a normal thing for me that a beggar’s comes to me asking for money and most of the time I deny them and they go away either cursing or giving a cold look. But, today it was something different that happened. As soon as I denied her, she politely said “Please Sir”. I was taken by surprise by her politeness because normally people plead for money, but here she was being polite, I could feel the politeness behind her harsh voice. I gave her 2 rupees, expected her to move away and started to look back at the traffic lights expecting it to go green.

She stood there unmoved and seemed to be looking at something inside my car. I looked back at her and she said “Can I see that?” I didn’t understand what she was referring to, I asked her “What?” she said “the book”, and I wondered why she wants to look at the book. I just handed her the book. She looked at it and said “It is a very good book”, my instant reaction was “Have you read it?” I was thinking that someone might have told her. She said “Yes, sir I have read this and also I have read almost all books on Malgudi Days”.

This really surprised me, I was not only amazed at the fact that someone was educated to read and understand a book was begging on the streets but also hurt. I asked my self “Could I do something to change it?”

I was getting more curious to know about her, I asked her “What is your education?”, “I have completed my degree” was her response. I was startled; I told her “Why are you doing this then? You could find a job for your qualification?” She remained quite for a while; there was deep sorrow in her silence. She said “Sir, even though I am educated I can never work anywhere, people told treat me good, they think I am a curse to the society. Not only me sir, most of my friends who beg or do prostitution are educated. We do this not because we like to do, but we have no choice. Even today if we get a job, where we would be respected for what we are, we would definitely quit all these and start working and lead a decent life. I also agree that there are few bad people amongst us who take advantage of their sexuality. But are all normal humans good? Even you have good and bad don’t you?”

That’s when a truth dawned on me. I wondered “Why don’t we treat all as equal? When nature doesn’t discriminate why we should?”

I couldn’t stop myself from telling her “I am sorry for what’s been happening to all”. I was about to say “I promise that I will never disrespect people like you” but I heard the guy behind me honking, the signal had turned green. I started moving. While she stood back on the median looking at the signal waiting for it to go red, so that she can get onto business.

I am writing this because the other person with whom I spoke was not a lady but a eunuch (hijra).

After the conversation I could not refer to her as it, as normally we refer to them as objects and since she was dressed up as a woman, I took the liberty of referring to the eunuch as her.