Ahobilam to Tirupati---tour diary of 14.8.12
After a wholesome dinner at the priests house at Ahobilam, to the accompaniment of yelps of a huge Labrador , his pet [strange , priests raising dogs!]we returned to our lodge ,with well fitted rooms ,but right in centre of poorer and lower class dwellings who lodge not only themselves in their houses [which are however larger and more spacious than the flat i stay in the city] but also buffalo's, hens, goats ,dogs etc whose earthy smell assaulted my sanitised urban nose.
Of late priests with a business turn of mind are cashing on the flux of religious tourists from middle and upper income groups ,by providing good home cooked food[Brahmin women are adept in rustling tasty meals in a jiffy]as well as adding more rooms to their houses or building newer rooms with all facilities like TV, AC heater etc . A boon to pilgrims and travellers to such remote areas where these divyadesams are situate.I came upon this trend few years back itself when i visited Kumbakonam,inTamilnadu.
Having worshipped Prahalada Vardhan once again, to satisfaction last evening, and admiring the sculptures of Krishna devaraya in a leisurely fashion [ that ruler was really extraordinary in his contribution to Hinduism and remains to date incomparable in the services rendered in fostering the same]we were heading to Tirupati for the annual pilgrimage.
Naturally Professor Higgins has to show his hands.How could he let go off such a golden opportunity to educate his ward about real rural Bharat , like as if i haven't seen and observed it earlier umpteen times ! I played along his mega delusional mentor ship about my ignorance of my own country. Had nothing to lose.
The ostensible 'owner 'of the lodge that had been built on a land bought from the beneficiary of a govt's scheme, hitched a ride and took us through bumpy roads, fit only for bullock carts and tractors cutting through green fields and cute as well as dirty villages and small towns pre dominantly Muslim, Safari of real India? ,telling us that it was a short cut to the by pass road.
There were lush paddy fields ,the translucent pale green saplings submerged in clear water, glinting in the early morning sun .The plot holdings are bigger here than at Tamilnadu.But inner roads are terrible in comparison.Come to think of it the highways in Gujarat were much much better .We made the 450 kms in 5 hours there whilst it took 8 hours in AP for the same distance.
Either tractors or huge bullocks ploughed the fields.
Rustics like all over Bharat are thin wiry and for all their ill nourished looks must in reality be physically stronger than their well put ,urban bretherns.
Villages and towns are dirty and haphazarded unlike those at TN.Charpoy has its pride of place at front of all dwellings just like it is up north.Men, children roll over it lazily , so do goats and hens!
Reached the by pass after a lot of bumps and jolts.Passed an ancient looking temple and few quarries.[not coal].The ride on the high ways was fairly good for most parts ,but bumpy near towns and at all the places where the road widening works were going on.
Reached Trichanoor 200 kms away at noon .Had a quick darshan of Thayar from outside[ppts work?] unlike inside the sanctum we are normally allowed and entitled to.
A lot has changed in AP since i visited Ahobilam as a teenager travelling from Hyderabad then ,as a natural corollary to the tremendous increase in population..But two vexatious issues that were at its peak then has continued to this day.and is yet to be resolved.
If i spell it out in black white,my memories related to those events that took place in this state i was trevelling , as i normally did before my shady and illegal interrogation [like for eg how my two brothers,school and college going, lost a whole academic year due to strikes,or as to how bills were stuck on our car whilst travelling in these same highways by a belligerent mob or how a friend of mine who had suddenly become very friendly with groups having extreme views had to be rescued from sure death by her highly distraught father a top burecrat by falling on the feet of politicians or how violence used to rage in the campus and old city often] i 'll be branded as anarchist and a sort of right wing loony nurturing a secret desire to join politics ,since in India only the hallowed club to which politicians and main stream journalists belong are entitled to do so and discerning and interested citizen like me without any fancy prize to boast of for writing about poverty and evils of caste system would be shown the door and slammed against me [ mm maybe my Nobel prize is within arms reach] as has already been done with a vengeance and then try and trap me in the net being weaved so assiduously and patiently by Ppts who are for all accounts keeping me in sort of house arrest as shady as their actual motives , whose motto is 'Either join politics if you want to talk about issues prevalent in this country and hold yourself accounatable or else just shut up '.
The exemption to accountability for words spoken and deeds done is the preserve of few chosen ones and it is obvious i do not enjoy that privelege.
Of late priests with a business turn of mind are cashing on the flux of religious tourists from middle and upper income groups ,by providing good home cooked food[Brahmin women are adept in rustling tasty meals in a jiffy]as well as adding more rooms to their houses or building newer rooms with all facilities like TV, AC heater etc . A boon to pilgrims and travellers to such remote areas where these divyadesams are situate.I came upon this trend few years back itself when i visited Kumbakonam,inTamilnadu.
Having worshipped Prahalada Vardhan once again, to satisfaction last evening, and admiring the sculptures of Krishna devaraya in a leisurely fashion [ that ruler was really extraordinary in his contribution to Hinduism and remains to date incomparable in the services rendered in fostering the same]we were heading to Tirupati for the annual pilgrimage.
Naturally Professor Higgins has to show his hands.How could he let go off such a golden opportunity to educate his ward about real rural Bharat , like as if i haven't seen and observed it earlier umpteen times ! I played along his mega delusional mentor ship about my ignorance of my own country. Had nothing to lose.
The ostensible 'owner 'of the lodge that had been built on a land bought from the beneficiary of a govt's scheme, hitched a ride and took us through bumpy roads, fit only for bullock carts and tractors cutting through green fields and cute as well as dirty villages and small towns pre dominantly Muslim, Safari of real India? ,telling us that it was a short cut to the by pass road.
There were lush paddy fields ,the translucent pale green saplings submerged in clear water, glinting in the early morning sun .The plot holdings are bigger here than at Tamilnadu.But inner roads are terrible in comparison.Come to think of it the highways in Gujarat were much much better .We made the 450 kms in 5 hours there whilst it took 8 hours in AP for the same distance.
Either tractors or huge bullocks ploughed the fields.
Rustics like all over Bharat are thin wiry and for all their ill nourished looks must in reality be physically stronger than their well put ,urban bretherns.
Villages and towns are dirty and haphazarded unlike those at TN.Charpoy has its pride of place at front of all dwellings just like it is up north.Men, children roll over it lazily , so do goats and hens!
Reached the by pass after a lot of bumps and jolts.Passed an ancient looking temple and few quarries.[not coal].The ride on the high ways was fairly good for most parts ,but bumpy near towns and at all the places where the road widening works were going on.
Reached Trichanoor 200 kms away at noon .Had a quick darshan of Thayar from outside[ppts work?] unlike inside the sanctum we are normally allowed and entitled to.
A lot has changed in AP since i visited Ahobilam as a teenager travelling from Hyderabad then ,as a natural corollary to the tremendous increase in population..But two vexatious issues that were at its peak then has continued to this day.and is yet to be resolved.
If i spell it out in black white,my memories related to those events that took place in this state i was trevelling , as i normally did before my shady and illegal interrogation [like for eg how my two brothers,school and college going, lost a whole academic year due to strikes,or as to how bills were stuck on our car whilst travelling in these same highways by a belligerent mob or how a friend of mine who had suddenly become very friendly with groups having extreme views had to be rescued from sure death by her highly distraught father a top burecrat by falling on the feet of politicians or how violence used to rage in the campus and old city often] i 'll be branded as anarchist and a sort of right wing loony nurturing a secret desire to join politics ,since in India only the hallowed club to which politicians and main stream journalists belong are entitled to do so and discerning and interested citizen like me without any fancy prize to boast of for writing about poverty and evils of caste system would be shown the door and slammed against me [ mm maybe my Nobel prize is within arms reach] as has already been done with a vengeance and then try and trap me in the net being weaved so assiduously and patiently by Ppts who are for all accounts keeping me in sort of house arrest as shady as their actual motives , whose motto is 'Either join politics if you want to talk about issues prevalent in this country and hold yourself accounatable or else just shut up '.
The exemption to accountability for words spoken and deeds done is the preserve of few chosen ones and it is obvious i do not enjoy that privelege.
posted by K.C. Sujata at
8:21 PM
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