Enjoy the Ride

Traveling is something that I have grown to like. Family trips were never a common phenomenon and neither is it now. Well that is how things stand.

However, a lot has changed in the intervening years. For the greater part of the last six years has been spent in hostel rooms densely filled with smoke, in lodges at the most unlikeliest of places and in hotels with varying reputes. But there is no denying that traveling has a charm of its own.

In traveling, one is presented with the rare opportunity of coming across people of all kinds - replete with their customs, beliefs and idiosyncrasies. Sometimes it also serves as a platform for a quick reality check where often our ingrained conception are proved to be weak or even baseless.

Apart from these, traveling is also a pleasurable experience. There is nothing like a long drive down the highway, with the road signs and markers passing by in a haze and the long winding road stretching ahead. A good company surely boosts the entire experience.

The most recent of my escapades was to the holy city of Tirupati, to the Venkatachalam hills that form a part of the seven hills at Tirumala. Situated at a distance of just over 150 kms from Chennai, it is easily accessible by trains, buses and cars. To begin with the road was excellent and the car was even better. We drove at over 80 kms an hour on an average for the entire length of the trip. Most importantly I was amidst people with whom I could really be me.

Since I am not keen about either architecture or religious sentiments, I would rather skip those unessentials wilfully. However, in passing I would say that the temples have become more of a money making engine than anything else, thriving on milking the emotional setiments (or weaknesses) of the people. As I write this, I fail to conceive in my wildest imagination of a god who weighs the living kingdom by how much riches they are able to offer. To me it is just insane.

So it naturally follows that more than the puja (or the darshan as it is called) I liked the wonderful journey with the people whom I know almost since childhood. I am also certain that this time spent together will surely not fade away from our proximate memories.