There he was, The Great Lord of Tirumala/Tirupati standing at the doorway of a room, lit dimly by light from the burning lamps. He stands, beholding all through his sandal paste ensconsed eyes and through the sheer curtain of the haze created by the smoke from the burning camphor and the lamps; a hand raised in a gesture of reassuring ashirvaad to every one of the thousands who throng to have a glimpse of him every day of each year. Such is the aura that mind automatically submits and commands the body to bend in a gesture of reverence, the eyes to bring forth those tears of emotion and the voice to lend a note to the chanting thousands- “Govinda! Govindaa!!”
This sublime, emotion laced Darshan lasts only a couple of seconds before the devotees are unceremoniously pushed forward by the hundreds of security personnel. The spell breaks, the nascent webs of maya are swept away and reality, in the form of a surging multitude of humanity, grips from all direction. Before you realize the surging crowd has pushed you out of the temple, into the open courtyard outside. You are free from the jostling, pushing crowd of followers, to go and live out your own destiny once again.
The 300 rupees of paid Darshan took two and half hours approximately. Some said we were lucky to have had the opportunity to do Darshan in such a short time.
A short waiting time vis a vis a fleeting glimpse of the Lord; even Gods demand their share of compromises!
Straight From My Heart 