In the month of March I
participated in a contest that was seeking ideas from applicant in the field of land and affordable
housing. The key objective of the initiative was to elevate the poor in India.
I gave an idea on
affordable housing for economically weaker section, which fortunately was
selected as a potential idea and I was invited to attend a two day boot camp in
Bangalore for further learning.
Now that is just the
background why I had been to Bangalore in April for just five days – After the
boot camp was over I had a day to myself and decided to visit my new tenant of
my South Bangalore flat to hand over the signed Agreement and say Hi to my
neighbors.
As I crossed Ramkrishna Pura
Gate on Chandapura-Anekal Road, I had the urge to get down to visit Balaji’s temple there – As I had luggage with me, I let
the thought pass.
I was supposed to meet the
new tenant around 11 AM however I was late by half an hour and she had to leave
to visit a patient, which any day is a much more important commitment. So I quickly
alerted my neighbor to get ready so that we can visit the temple. I dropped my
luggage at my neighbor’s place.
I had this nagging feeling
that we will be late and by the time we reach, the temple will be closed. We
got a bus immediately. From the bus stop, it is a good ten minutes’ walk.
We washed our feet, entered
the temple, offered our prayers, collected our Prasad, God’s flowers, charanamrit and kumkum – We were the only two people and as we left, the doors were
being closed.
If we were late by even a few
minutes, we would miss seeing Balaji and of course Sri Maha Ganapathi and Sri Maha Lakshmi.
Later, my neighbor tells me, that I was God sent as she was contemplating since a few days to visit the temple.
I wanted to click a few pictures of the idols inside the temple to be able to show them to my mother, back home in Kolkata. As she is always eager to pay a visit to this temple every time she is in Bangalore, I could imagine how glad she will be. Other times it is so over crowded that clicking photographs to get the full length of idols is just impossible.
To add to my woes, photography is not allowed and yet I wanted to capture the idols. I asked the priest there if I could click just one image - Something about my non verbal communication (my body language, the weight of pleading) made him say - "Go ahead". Then he asked where we were from which means, he knew a local person might not insist for an image as they can choose to come back to the temple anytime they want.
The Hanuman Mandir was closed by that time and I still chanted Hanuman Chalisa.
Now I can upload the images of God I clicked, however why should I? You need to go there and see for yourself what you are missing.
This, I noticed on our way back
Later, my neighbor tells me, that I was God sent as she was contemplating since a few days to visit the temple.
I wanted to click a few pictures of the idols inside the temple to be able to show them to my mother, back home in Kolkata. As she is always eager to pay a visit to this temple every time she is in Bangalore, I could imagine how glad she will be. Other times it is so over crowded that clicking photographs to get the full length of idols is just impossible.
 |
| We stood here and had our Prasad |
To add to my woes, photography is not allowed and yet I wanted to capture the idols. I asked the priest there if I could click just one image - Something about my non verbal communication (my body language, the weight of pleading) made him say - "Go ahead". Then he asked where we were from which means, he knew a local person might not insist for an image as they can choose to come back to the temple anytime they want.
The Hanuman Mandir was closed by that time and I still chanted Hanuman Chalisa.
Now I can upload the images of God I clicked, however why should I? You need to go there and see for yourself what you are missing.
This, I noticed on our way back
 |
| Added value to the place around.. |
