Monday, March 12, 2007

Peace ruffled!

The temple bells, the pervasive aroma of camphor and incense sticks, and the melodious lullaby being recited for Lord Krishna welcomed us, as we entered the temple arena of Sri Krishna Temple in Udupi.

We joined the long queue. As we moved, suddenly a group of people rushed in from back, all clad in saffron, seemed like a bunch of VIPs. The queue ahead of me was stopped and a special entry was given to them. I don't know what went inside me, I asked the guard in a raised voice about breaking the queue. We waited nevertheless, but it seemed like an endless wait with these VIPs not moving at all after their darshana (glimpse of the Lord).

Few more people joined me and then it seemed as though I didn't have any control on my reaction. I raised my voice higher and was shouting at this guard. My raised voice fell on deaf ears. A loud temple bell in the background brought me back to normal self.

The queue moved and as I was having the darshana, a priest appeared from nowhere and was shouting at the people to move fast. I asked him, "Where were you when VIPs were here?" He didn't have an answer.

Although I felt good that I asked a fitting question to the priest, as I walked back to the hotel, the scene kept coming back. Did I do the right thing by shouting at the guard? Did I achieve anything by losing my temper? Did my shout will bring about any change or made any difference to anyone? Will those VIPs stop cutting through the queue in the future?

Nope. Peace at the temple ruffled for a moment.

5 comments:

naanu said...

Ur protests are source of entertainment oh sorry i mean "inspiration" :-)

Seriously speaking we are like this because all of us think its waste of energy, time and loss of peace...

Anonymous said...

It might not have made an immediate impact. But that was better than the option of resigning yourself to it and letting things be. That attitude is what led to this state of affairs in the first place.

Well done :)

Preeti Shenoy said...

I have been to the udupi temple too.The VIPS cutting in somehow makes you think that everyone else are children of a lesser God.The guard is just a pawn in the game--but then--so are we.You had to vent out your frustration and you did.Thats all there is to it.
BTW thank you for stopping by.And thank you for the kind comment.

Anonymous said...

It was wonderful to read your blog.

Now we can keep in touch.

Much love,
Dore

MyriadMaiden said...

Tsk tsk...what will God think of you now? ;)