Good things happen. One such good thing was I deciding to go to tirumala. It was a decision which took long time to happen but when it happened, it was worth it.
My decision was so sudden that I didn’t get enough time to even find a partner. So I started alone on my small journey from Chennai - Tirumala. My train from Chennai to Tirupathi was fast & pleasant. I had a good sleep. My mind was pre-occupied with seeing God and to see if I truly believed in God. It was not at all ready to experience what it did. As someone who has climbed the seven hills more than once in the past, I was looking forward to climb once again. What I didn’t realize was that I was alone this time around and that this was going to be really different. I started off like a foreigner taking photos of fellow climbers.
Half-an-hour into my walk, it all changed when I saw a man climbing with the aid of sticks - He didn’t have any legs. For every step he took, his face was filled with so much happiness, so much joy that I immediately realized how ignorant I was. I never believed in Luck and I never believed in God. God, for me, was a concept using which some discipline is instilled into a Human mind on the verge of destruction. I will never know if I am right or if I am getting carried away but I will always remember the moment I saw God. I saw the God in that man's hands, his eyes and his smile. My pity for him was gone; all I had in me was joy, Joy of seeing God. I finally kept my camera in my bag because it was where it belonged. This was journey for my eyes, my heart and I was sure that I didn’t need a camera lens to capture it.
My hugely inflated body made sure that my walk was very slow. My lack of exercise meant that I had enough cramps to sit down holding my legs. But for once in my life, I enjoyed pain- Pain was liberating. It was God's way of freeing me from the sins that I have committed. I managed to meet the lord in the shrine twice and the only thing left in me was joy. On hind-sight I am glad I was alone. I would never have experienced God, the way I did, if it was in any other way.
