Seek the blessing

I am kinda of religious. Priest that I am :P. I men I cant wear anything made of gold. I fall sick whenever I wear a gold chain or a ring or a bracelet. I don't know what causes the reaction. I just fall sick. I feel feverish all the time. I feel uneasy and just want to blow the whole world when I am wearing gold. So, the last attempt I made on teh Akshaya Thritiya day too went in to the locker to be kept safely rather than wear it. :P I feel good now. I am all well *touch wood*. Back to my priestly best with two dangling malas.

I had been to Tirupati with friends. I had been attempting to see HIM for quite sometime. This time thanks to my friend's persuasion I made it at last. We opted for the KSTDC package trip and we got our darshan ticket for Sun morning though we arrived early Sat morning at Tirupati. The whol eof Sat was spent visting all the relatives of Lord Venkateshwara. I just hate temples that have more than 3 gods in them. I mean, these days there are so many Gods in temples that by the time you go to the 4th God,, you are left with very lil' feeling. I mean I knwo that people are getting restless and impatient. But, this is not a way to bring the belief in people. I strongly vouch for one god in one temple. Ok make it 3 maximum so that the poojaris can atleast get their daily moolah.
I went to Padmavathi temple. There are atleast 8 sub temples inside catering to various Gods, Each God has a poojari who is spreadign his plate. All that the poojari says is for 5 bucks, I will do the archana. I decided that I won't be spending a rupee on these poojaris. Goddess Padmavathi is Goddess Lakshmi herself. And, i was feeling a lot jittery for having refrained from the pooja thingy. By the time i came to the 7th sub temple. This was another temple where Lakshmi was worshipped. My friend was paying up 5 bucks in every temple(sub). Other friends who had not even spent a single dime elsewhere were spending here coz it was Goddess Lakshmi they were dealing with. This friend passed by the poojari paying up 5 bucks. The poojari was asking the person's gothra *don't knwo what it is* or nakshatra *this i knwo :) ) and parent's names. I just walked pass the poojari after praying becoz I didn't want to become party to his venture. As I was about to leave the garbha gudi, I heard a strong voice calling me.. The poojari was calling me in Hindi asking me why I didnt want blessings from Goddess Lakshmi. He said you shouln't be doing this.. and asked me to come back. He then asked my parent's name and the gothra/makshatra. I told him and immediately this guy started speaking in Kannada. I guess he was an expert in identifying ppl by their names. This poojari actually didn't expect money from me but was actually doing it for free. I guess he hd sympathy for me or he may have been advised by Goddesss Lakshmi to bless me or guided him to get me to seek blessings. Whatever was the intent, he performed and chanted some things. I quietly dropped a tenner and left. I still don't understand why such encounters happen to me. This is the nth time it has happened. I felt happy and left.
The next day was the big day of the daarshan. We started in the Q at around 8ish and were bundled in to a chamber. We bought 3 news papers and it kept me busy. A baby who was enthusiatically playing was my next bakra to kill my boredom. Babies amaze me as well. I have never been wet by a baby. This itself is an achivement. I was playing with this kid for a good 1 hour i think. Then, the chamber got opened and ppl pushed and shoved each other. It was a quick walk to the main entrance and in half an hour I was standing infront of HIM. I felt a sudden chill run my spine. I came out and I had a wonderful feel about the whole thing. I said to myself, I am comig back in 3 months time. *if HE wishes*
That was my weekend. :)