Sightings in Tirupati

I am fairly regular in visiting tirupati;I am sorry appa will correct me and say it is tirumala(when people used to say, mel tirupati and keezh tirupati, appa used to get irritated. it is tirupati and tirumala, he would explain to them!)Lord Balaji is my ishta devatha and due to association kumar is also an ardent devotee of the temple now.
This time we climbed up the seven hills from tirupati to tirumala.
It was very very hot; unbelievably so; even though we started the climb in the evening after 5 pm. Had enless bottles of cool mineral water, buttermilk in satches and of course my faithful 'strong peppermint'(polo). Kumar was curious and wanted to know what is the use of this toffee. I said it gives energy; and when he was still skeptical, i said, it keeps me distracted.That seemed to satisfy him!
There was a small boy climbing along with his dad and uncle. At one point he sat down and said 'mala lift paijiye' in marati(i want a lift now to go up the hill)
My heart warmed up to him as i was in the same boat, puffing and panting.
There was a sister brother combination, who were into painting the steps with haldi and kumkum.I saw process efficiency in the way these youngsters were handling it compared to some elders that i have seen. The girl had the haldi and would in one sweep apply the haldi on a set of 10 or more steps without looking up or taking her hand away. The brother will follow with the kumkum and would repeat the process.Next generation improves the way of doing things!
We saw a brand new Himachal pradesh apple juice outlet.Companies are smart to be where the customer is and with crowds burgeoning every day in tirupati, they are sure on to a good market!Of course other shops which sell everything from mineral water, buttermilk, all sorts of cool and bottled drinks are growing by the day.Dont forget kurkure and lay chips packets.(Even in the highest point in Gangotri in himalayas, Kurkure packets were seen.Cant say these mncs dont know a thing or two about distribution!)
Saw quite a few groups of boys, both climbing up and down. They carry their backpack and are usually quite boistrous!One of them had a sing song routine imitating a nursery rhyme; a balaji, b balaji, c balaji......and some permutation combinations of the same.
Kumar likes to feed a group of deer in their park, halfway up the climb. There are some vendors, who sell, carrot pieces, cuccumber pieces and the shell of darboos fruit, in packets.He relishes doing this and tries to feed the younger ones. But then the antelopes and the bigger ones invariably shove away the kuttis!
Whenever i was struggling to climb, some elderly lady with a few heavy bags would pass me by and i would feel ashamed and not complain.Or there will be women, who carry their babies and small kids and continue climbing without much ado.We did see one elderly man, who was physically challenged, climb up with a stick to support him.
The last lap 'muzhangal mudichan'(the bit which tries the strength of your knees,as it were)was particularly trying, so i kept my eyes low, and looked at only one step in front of me(so that i dont get fazed by endless steps ahead).And like lakshmana who noticed only the anklets of sita, I got to notice lots of anklets of passing ladies. And everyone of the ladies was invariably wearing an anklet. Except very elderly ladies and that too who appeared to work in fields or as domestic help, did not sport them.All others did.I remembered my trysts with anklets.I used to like the idea of wearing them.So would wear them, and the inconveniece of it would get me after a couple of hours and i would be happy to take it off; some of them will tug at the saree; and some have a habit of falling off when you least expect, even though you had fastened it very well(this usually happens when you go to the beach!)and of course if you wear them and take them off and on a few times, the clasp has a way of coming unstuck!Which means it gets into a pouch in the cupboard for being taken to the jeweller, the next time(and it never comes!)
I also noticed that women wore synthetic outfits, both sarees and churidar.When with a cotton churidar, i was feeling so uncomfortable, they were all of them in synthetics(polystar as my servant would call it).Is it for its drape and fall, which is better than cotton, or that it is cheaper and easier to maintain, or it comes in more glamorous designs, i actually wanted to stop a lady and ask.
There is a stretch of road which goes around the hills and we have breathtaking view.There is a spot where you can see an arch at a distance and in the night, you felt as though it is a scene from kailas in some movie!Reel reflects real life!Only the siva parvathi silloute was missing!Noticed a constellation, saptharishi mandalam and felt good about it!
The fitting finale is the darshan of course. But the scene of the glistening gold vimana of the sanctum sanctorum, in the early morning half light with the cool clouds sweeping over it, was breathtaking and came a close second.