Visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine; Meeting people from different parts of country

Visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine; Meeting people from different parts of country

I take the path leading to Vaishno Devi via Himkoti Marg which is not steep and mostly plain. As i leave Ardhkuwari there is battery operated vehicle board followed by frisking that is half hearted. Battery operated vehicles are meant for those who have difficulty in walking or not well. There is a check post. There are no screening of baggages. Baggages are searched by hand and that too with little effort. As one moves ahead one can cherish the hymns in praise of Vaishno Devi Ma in Hindi, Sanskrit and perhaps in Dongri or Punjabi. The tea and coffee at different outlets have more than the desired level of sugar. The coffee that i had from a Bru Gold outlet is too sweet. As i keep walking i come across different set of people coming from different parts of country; some are ascending and some are descending. There is Mr Kanti from Varanasi, there is a family from Amritsar which started at 4pm and reached shrine at 2am. There is Rinku a disabled guy. There is Mr G Venkat Gowda from R R Nagar, Bangalore in Karnataka, there is Mr Ram Singh from Gonda in UP, there is a family from Shahdara in Delhi, there is a family from Allahabad and there is a woman from Orissa.

From Satya Bhojanalaya the shrine is 3.25 kms
There are boards warning about shooting stones areas one need to watch out for plus boards saying a word or two on  landslide zone and one needs to walk carefully. There is an  outlet of Noga The Taste of Purity. There is Maharashtra Vikas Mahamandal Maryadit outlet. From Satya Bhojanalaya which i reach at 4.35 the shrine is 3.25 kms.  Here i come across a man from Gujarat settled in Bhopal and has come with his family. Coming to know that i have visited different places in Gujarat like Somnath, Dwarkadish, Nageshwar, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Morbi and Ahmedabad he moves on only to take a break after every 20 minutes.   About 1 km from Satya Bhojanalaya i get Shahnawaz a pithoo (man carrying luggage) as my luggage is heavy and we reach Vaishno Devi Shrine by 5.45pm. On my return journey from Vaishno Devi Shrine to Katra which takes place on a Monday night i get the services of a Pithoo Ghulam Qadir who is very down to earth and simple. Both Mr Shahnawaz and Mr Ghulam Qadir probably hail from Rajouri district in J&K. After reaching Vaishno Devi i head for cloak room.

I don't take the cloak room which is the first one opposite Parvati Bhawan. About 20 metres before second cloak room there is screening of baggage facility. I settle for cloak room  which goes by the name locker room 2 and 3. There is a long queue out there. I am told no leather items would be allowed inside the shrine. There are two boys from Patiala who too are in the queue and tell me about the items which are banned from being taken inside the shrine. There is a board as well as announcements frequently made informing the devotees about the items that are banned from being taken inside the shrine. Near locker room i get into a different outfit. It takes more than hour before lockers begin to get allocated. Perhaps the shrine board could find some place near JKM Bhojanalya for another locker room for which the people may not have to descent and ascent. With a prayer diary in my hand i head to room number 8 from where the yatra slip issued at Katra is shown to get the entry paper.

Ma Bhagwati has revealed herself in the form of pindies
There is an important information displayed on a board which goes like this: Ma Bhagwati has revealed herself in the form of pindies inside the holy cave. Focus your attention on the natural pindies when going to sanctum sanctorum. I join the queue a little after seven after gaining entry from Gate no 5.  For the next two darshans on different days i join the queue from the gate from where all devotees enter. Well the Gate closes for Aarti at 5.30 pm and opens after eight pm (aarti is from 6.15 pm to 8 pm in the evening and 6.15 am to 8 am in the morning). I am in sanctum sanctorum a little after 9.30. Each devotee gets turn to sight the pindies and get tilak on his forehead from the priest. After getting darshan i come out of shrine. I go to locker room to change my outfit and deposit the prayer diary in the bag. Later i head towards Manokamna Bhawan to seek a bed in dormitory. I am given a bed on the third floor with an assurance that i can stay there till 10 am the next day. The dormitory is fairly clean. I head to the dining hall of Manokamna Bhawan. What is on offer are tea, milk, coffee, rice, kadhi rice, rajma rice, chana rice, butter slice, cold drinks, bread pakora, mineral water among others.

I take rajma rice slip from the cash counter which has Mr Mulk Raj attending to customers. Mr Mulk Raj hails from Bharkh. Mr Mulk Raj informs me that he has made it a point to take a walk every morning. In Manokamna dining hall i come across Mr Manmona the head cook and Mr Kuldeep Sharma. After taking dinner i head to STD ISD PCO run by Air Tel. Perhaps Jio another mobile company could also be given a chance to run STD ISD PCO booth in Vaishno Devi Shrine complex.

Pooja Halwai Shop for black tea
The sleep i secure on a Saturday night is comprehensive. This is due to physical exertion of walking the entire day. Sunday morning i try different food courts for black tea. The general store next to JKM Bhojanalya is the only general store here and it can get you a range of products. Perhaps the people in the general store attending to customers could handle affairs in a more forthright manner. A pair of toothpaste, toothbrush and soap collected i head for black tea from Pooja Halwai Shop. Here in Pooja Halwai Shop there is Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Mr Mukesh Kumar and Mr Ravi Kumar. They are able to provide two sets of black tea. After taking the tea i return to Manokamna Bhawan.

Getting ready in Manokamna Bhawan isn't tiresome and soon after i vacate the bed and head to a place where there is enquiry counter and donation counter. I take a seat on a bench where i come across different set of people. There is a Jaipur family doing business in hardware which has one of his acquaintances walking barefoot from Jaipur to Vaishno Devi Shrine every year completing the entire journey in two months. There is a man from Lajpat Nagar  in New Delhi who has retired from Delhi Judicial Services and has a son who has started a start up on air purifier bags. There is a group from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand which is on a 18-day pilgrimage to different sites in the country. There are some women from Mysuru; there is a family from Mysuru with whom i discuss the famous Mysuru Dussehra. There is a family from Aligarh whose head of the family is not well. There is a woman from Jharkhand whose son is a judge. There is Mr Ram Chandra Mehta from Gaya. There is a family from Nepal which has one of the acquaintances working in the armed forces. There is a man from Jammu who in the past 28 years has visited Vaishno Devi temple 12 times.  There is Mr Gagandeep from Chandigarh. There is a man who has two daughters aged one and six from Amritsar who has come with his distant brother. Since waiting time for lockers is long he prefers to to keep luggage with himself and wait for his brother to return from temple. There is a man from Gujarat staying in Mumbai.

Meeting three boys from Tamil Nadu
I meet three boys from the state of Tamil Nadu. They go by the name Mr Ram from Chennai taking coaching for civil services in New Delhi, Mr Rabuth Kumar and Mr Elanchelian from Coimbatore. I tell them i have travelled extensively in Tamil Nadu in places like Chennai, Kanchipuram, Madurai, Rameswaram , Nagercoil, Kanniyakumari, Coimbatore, Mettupalayam and Udhagamandalam. I watch TV Channels like Makkal, Mega, Mega 24, Mega Music, Raj, Raj Plus, Zee Tamil, DD Podhigai among others. Mr Ram who is staying in Karol Bagh and taking coaching for civil services agreed with me that hospitality was low in Delhi and national capital should show a big heart. I meet a man from Behala Kolkata. I tell him i have been to Behala and we discuss about cricketer Sourav Ganguly staying  in Behala. I come across some men from Navgaon in Assam. I tell them about Brahmaputra Mail train going from Delhi to Tinsukia and here they correct me by saying that Navgaon comes much before Tinsukia which is quite far.

Meeting Pradeep from Madhya Pradesh; Visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine Again
I meet Pradeep from Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh who accompanies me to Bhairon Mandir. I tell him there is a Katyayani Temple in area called Chhatarpur as well in New Delhi. There is Mr Vijay Kumar tea maker near Bhairon Mandir where again the tea is too sweet. I start for Bhairon Mandir from Vaishno Devi a little after 2.20 pm and i am there in 40 minutes. When i return to Vaishno Devi i take meals from Manokamna Bhawan. Later i get into the temple queue a little before six pm from the gate from where all devotees enter and have darshan some time after 8.30 in the night.

I head to Parvati Bhawan where in the morning i was told by Mr Gopal Sharma to come in the evening to make enquiry  about bed in dormitory. There are vacant beds and i gain one. The sleep i secure is ok but not as good as the one secured in Manokamna Bhawan. There is an added advantage of staying in Parvati Bhawan; it has cloak room as well. Monday morning i head to room number 8 near Jammu & Kashmir Bank ATM and after introducing myself as a blogger from Delhi secure a yatra slip with no difficulty. Here the staff at SDM Office is quite cooperative and i give them pictures of Lord Venkateswara. One of the members of the office is even prepared to show me the way to the Shrine but i tell him i haven't taken bath. Later i head to the general store and this is followed by a visit to Pooja Halwai Shop where personnel are kind enough to dish out black tea.
The best part about Vaishno Devi Shrine apart from temple is that it has no pollution given the absence of vehicles. Only battery operated vehicles ply and that too for devotees.

Interactions in national capital in October

Interactions in national capital in October

Interactions in national capital in the month of October brought home the message that there were fewer contacts between local and those hailing from other areas given their commitments to their daily chores. Meeting Ssaganka from Manipur who did his schooling from Samaritan Public School Manipur. Later he did his 12th and college from Moing College Manipur. He has done MBA from Lovely Professional University. For two years he has been staying in Delhi on a rent of rs9000 each month for a single room in Krishna Nagar near Safdarjung Enclave. He has had a mixed experience in Delhi. Met Surinder Batra from Noida who had come to Safdarjung Enclave to meet acupuncture doctor. Near Bhikaji Cama Place met Chaman a painter from Rajasthan. Met Mr Mohan a security guard in Africa Avenue hailing from Rajasthan whose daily shift made up of 12 hours.  Met a man from Jabon in Central Africa, the nation about which people have fewer clues. I told him the news channel beamed from Qatar extensively covered different parts of Africa.

When i had been to South Extension the other day met Mr Tashi from Tibet who had put on a face mask given the pollution which was always in a rising mode. I came across two girls from Arunachal Pradesh one of them went by the name Lima. They agreed with the view that fewer people in Delhi or in entire North India knew about different locales of Arunachal Pradesh. When i came across Mr Navjyoti from Assam what all he could narrate was about fewer contacts and fewer people hailing from his state in the national capital of Delhi. Came across Pradeep from Kerala and Bapu from Assam, both working in ayurvedic clinic in South Extension.  Came across Porcia a girl from Meghalaya while waiting for a public transport at Bhikaji Cama Place. Met Mr Ramesh Manchanda who has been living in Delhi for over 50 years. He has to put an extra effort to walk. Met Mr Mohammad Irfan from Bijnore.

Met Mr Tenzing from Mcleodganj who had come to the national capital with his family members. Met Ankit from Jharkhand taking coaching from Aakash Coaching Institute for Medical. The fee was around rs 100,000 for a coaching lasting 10 months.

Visiting Ayyappa temple
On first visit to Ayyappa Temple in R K Puram came across Mr P K Kailashnathan and Mr Ratnakar Nambiar from Kerala. On another day came across Mr Raman, Mr Ravinder and Mr Prabhakar who have been frequenting the Ayyappa temple for a long time. According to Mr Raman Ayyappa Temple was established in 1972 and relocated to the present site after 1975. Met Mr Mohammad Ansar and Shaheen in Safdarjung Enclave. Came across Mr Ranganath from Tamil Nadu who is expected to go to his home state by TN Express. He was impressed when i told him i have been to Kanchipuram and Udhagamandalam in Tamil Nadu.

The other day Talk to Al Jazeera programme had conversation with Mr Roosevelt of Dominica Republic where the hurricane had left agriculture and homes mostly destroyed. According to Mr Roosevelt, Dominica Republic was one of the few nations with local indigenous people and had second largest fresh water lake in the world. Forty five per cent of the country was protected by forest. "Historical facts and magnitude of hurricane would tell you about climate change."
It was time for the world community to provide all sort of assistance to people of Dominica Republic so that they could get on with their lives.  Dominica Republic post hurricane is a nation waiting for aid from different quarters.

Taking a train ticket to Jammu; leaving for Vaishno Devi Shrine

Taking a train ticket to Jammu; leaving for Vaishno Devi Shrine

Friday was the day when i decided to step out to trace a train that would take me to Jammu or Katra. It was a day when sighting an auto was not that difficult and accessing Sarojini Nagar railway reservation centre was easy and eligible. The auto being driven by a man hailing from Jharkhand took no time to reach the reservation centre given the less number of vehicles on road. At the railway reservation centre there were different set of queues definitely less than the number of  windows that should have been open to public. In all three windows were in operation against the capacity of six or seven. That was giving a hard time to passengers. The recess time was from 9.45am to 10am. There were some who wished to travel to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan and there were some who wished to take a ticket for Chandigarh. With a confirmed ticket in hand i left the reservation centre with the hope that travelling would be without any botheration. In the afternoon i visited State Bank of India to carry out some transactions. Later i visited Jammu and Kashmir House in New Delhi and met Mr Bhat who directs me to Deputy Secretary's office for getting the necessary clearance for availing different set of facilities in Vaishno Devi. The staff is cooperative with some suggesting that once darshan in Vaishno Devi has been secured one should descend.

In Safdarjung Enclave met Mr Narendar Singh hailing from Bharatpur who has some difficulty in walking. In the evening a little after 6.45 left for the station. The auto which i could hail and the fare i could pay showed the tendency of some autowallahs to charge exorbitant fares. Took metro from INA metro station with the increased fare pinching a lot of commuters. The increase in metro fare is not justified by any yardstick. The metro coach i boarded was packed to capacity and the ride to New Delhi Metro Station was nothing to write home about. Fortunate  enough to get a porter inside the metro station premises. Baggage screening was all that the passengers had to wait for before heading for their respective platforms.

Taking Jammu Rajdhani; Clean Station Premises
It was Jammu Rajdhani which i was supposed to board with the porter kind enough to drop the luggage at the platform. Jammu Rajdhani hadn't pulled in. There were no vacant seats on platform and all that one could sight was a clean station with clean set of platforms. There were announcements for different trains. Delhi-Rishikesh train departs at 7.30pm, Garib Rath from Saharsa running late by 7 hours and 45 minutes, Agra Intercity to depart from Platform 6, Sealdah Duronto to depart from Platform 10. Vaishali Express to Barauni to depart from Platform 8, Magadh Express to Patna to depart from Platform 16, Ahmedabad Rajdhani to depart from Platform 1, the train from Vishakapatnam coming on Platform 11. There were announcements for a slew of EMUs. Came across a couple from Kannur in Kerala working in Army whom i told i watched Manorama News and Asianet News beamed from Kerala.

Jammu Rajdhani leaves at 8.49 (according to my wrist watch).  Stops and starts again. I come across a man who is humble enough to declare his son has cleared Indian Engineering Services Exam. Came across a Geoscientist Aatish Thapa who has cleared Combined Geoscientist and Geologist Exam conducted by UPSC ( Union Public Service Commission) in 2015. To sit for this exam one has to complete Msc as against other exams conducted by UPSC where being a graduate was enough.  Mr Bassi former Police Commisioner of Delhi serving as member of UPSC was not part of the interview board in 2015 as he joined as a member of UPSC in 2016. Posted in Jaipur Mr Aatish Thapa did his schooling and college from Jammu. Being a Geoscientist Mr Thapa has had to make frequent field trips in the state of Rajasthan. He declares he has one of his acquaintances working in Indian Revenue Service. Mr Thapa had come from  Jaipur by bus and as he deboarded at Bikaner House in New Delhi all he could lay his hands on was an auto which was prepared to ferry him  for 100 rs; some were willing to ferry him for 200 rs. The actual fare from  Bikaner House to New Delhi Railway station would come to 40 to 45 rs if one went by metre.

Saturated tracks; giving breathing space
When Mr Thapa raised the issue of fewer connectivity between Jaipur and Jammu i told him about saturated tracks and the need to give them a breathing space. Perhaps in the entire country old tracks should be replaced by new tracks to make travelling by train more safe. There should be a moratorium on launching of new trains and new routes  for the next five to seven years and efforts should be made to strengthen the existing tracks across length and breadth of the country. From three tier i was upgraded to two tier (from coach B7 to A5) which the TTE who is very humble informs me. A passenger travelling with his family wanted the A5 seat and finally i had to settle for A1 43. Here i come across a family hailing from Varanasi settled in Delhi. I am told the city of Varanasi is getting a makeover with majority of residents quite alert and aware about cleanliness and doing their bit.  The train reached Ludhiana a little after 12 am. Bari Brahman came at 6.05 and Jammu Tawi at 6.15 am. I came across Mr Uppal who told me about connectivity from Jammu to Katra. On Platform 1 there was CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) Sahitya booth. Mr Ajay Sharma was the porter who took the luggage from platform to the bus stand.

There are a slew of buses like Katra - Reasi, Pouni; i take one which has Chalo Chale Shri Amarnathji sticker. I get down from this bus as no passengers are getting in this one and take the one headed towards Katra. The bus starts at 6.40am, Nagrota bye pass comes at 7.10 and from here Katra is 35km, Udhampur 60km and Srinagar 241km. There are three tunnels between 7.15 and 7.30. The third is the largest one. At 7.37 we go past Babu Caferia.  A little after eight we are in Katra.

Queries about Vaishno Devi
I check in Hotel New Regal near Rama Sweet Shop Main Bazar. A cooperative staff but a steep tariff. The best thing to do is to search on your own the places in Katra offering accommodation for limited hours as there would be a number of hotels not charging steep tariff. I take masala dosa from Hotel Harikrishna where i come across Mr R Shukla from Faizabad or Ferozabad in Uttar Pradesh working in Sambalpur in Orissa. Mr Shukla has just returned from Vaishno Devi. He entered at 5 in the morning and just under 10 minutes he came out of shrine. I am anxious to know about accommodation centres in Vaishno Devi and the queue that goes all the way to sanctum sanctorum. Would i be able to stay in Vaishno Devi during night?; would there be opportunities to get darshan more than once? We are in agreement that there is no point in staying in Katra if one has come for Vaishno Devi Shrine. Here in this restaurant i come across two boys having oil laced parathas. Perhaps the people of this area and those coming from other places have a propensity to consume oil laced parathas. These parathas are doing no good to anyone.

I come across Mr P R Sharma of Ganpati Vaishno Dhaba who is kind enough to dish out two sets of black tea. There is another Mr Gaurav Sharma. Queries at the Niharika Complex too are on accommodation and other facilities in Vaishno Devi Shrine which is also referred to as Bhawan. As i tell them i am a blogger from Delhi, some suggest being a responsible person you should descend the moment the darshan is complete.


Leaving for Vaishno Devi shrine
After getting ready in the hotel i recite Sunderkand in the most convenient environs and set out for ascending to Vaishno Devi Shrine. I hail an auto which charges 100rs to reach Ban Ganga. More attempt should be made to ply autos having share rides from Katra bus stand to Ban Ganga as some devotees would find this fare to be steep considering the distance is around two kms.  At Ban Ganga Screening of baggage serves no purpose as the security man who is supposed to watch the screen is reading papers with no thoughts on what luggage is passing through and what all it entails. I begin to ascend at 1.45pm with no pithoos and ponies in sight.  There is Mr Vijay Sharma at a vegetable shop hailing from Akhnoor, Kuldeep a boy working in Kohli Cold drinks. I come across a man from Bangalore who is descending. On the way there are a slew of shops, bhojanalayas, convenient points (toilets) and regular announcements on cleanliness. After over two kms of walking i get hold of one pony and seeing me in a difficult situation his rates soar like anything. From the place where i hail this pony to Ardhkuwari he charges Rs 1000. If i didn't have heavy luggage i would have walked all the way from Ban Ganga. There should be ponies and pithoos (men carrying luggage) at Ban Ganga itself for convenience of devotees who are carrying luggage.

The track is clean and clear. At different intervals we come across Shrimata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SVDSB) hoarding saying a word or two on cleanliness and safe walking. We reach Ardhkuwari at 3.45 pm and from here Vaishno Devi Shrine via Himkoti Marg is 5.5 kms and Vaishno Devi Shrine via Hathi Matha Marg is 6.5 kms.

Elections in Kenya; Opposition candidate Raila Odinga should be in the fray

There is an urgent need for Election Commission in Kenya to see that it invites a new set of nominations for Presidential Elections. Incumbent President Kenyatta can't be given a walkover. It would be highly unjustified if Opposition candidate Mr Raila Odinga is not heard who has quit the race in view of faulty election laws.

The elections in Kenya would be aberration of sorts if Mr Raila Odinga does not contest. The election law amended by election commission is faulty. If there is a free and fair election in the country Mr Raila Odinga would romp home easily. 

Giving space to pedestrian; meeting those hailing from Philippines and other places; the hike that should not come

Giving space to pedestrian; meeting those hailing from Philippines and other places; the hike that should not come

As i begin to write about meeting Saung and Macy hailing from Philippines and at present staying in national capital of Delhi, i am reminded of how unfair it would be for Delhi Metro to raise fare when there is no ground for such a hike. Already we are paying a huge sum for the electricity we consume; something for which a course correction perhaps would never come. The hike in Delhi Metro fare if and when it comes would be second time in a year; something other wings of transport too would like to replicate. The other day Saung and Macy were travelling in Delhi Metro where Macy revealed that Saung was taking a course in English from British Council and already three weeks had been spent and they were probably in India on a tourist visa. I was at fault when i mentioned about the unrest in Philippines which actually was a case of Marawi province in Indonesia seeing ISIL upsurge.  In the same vein the drug menace in Indonesia i mistook it for Philippines and that led to an interaction that was short and without any basis.

Giving space to pedestrian
As we parted ways the family from Philippines was right in noting that some of the impressions i was carrying was nothing but a case of figment of imagination. As for the proposed hike in Delhi metro fare, the auto fare which used to begin from Rs 10 some years ago has been hiked to Rs 25 in operation for almost three to four years, the minimum bus fare is rs 5 which at one point of time was Re1. The Delhi metro operation should be such that it encourages more and more car users and two-wheeler riders to take metro and give a breathing space to the roads of  the national capital. One household different set of cars is unheard of in other countries/cities and there is a pressing need to bring a draw of lots scheme for the number of vehicles to be registered in Delhi each year. The number of private vehicles on Delhi roads is more than the combined strength of vehicles in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai put together. More important is to impart lessons in driving to both private vehicle users and public transport drivers that they should drive safe and give space to pedestrian. The breakneck speed would take you nowhere. The crisscrossing of country that politicos of all political parties do on public money  is something that needs to be stopped. A quota should be fixed on the number of travels each year and there should be proper audit of MP Local Area Development Fund each year.

NDTV Cleanathon and Swachhathon
On another level NDTV Cleanathon that was beamed recently should be held every quarter instead of once in a year.  It is a non stop 12 hour effort and seeks to get the message across on cleanliness as well as hazards faced by ragpickers as far as medical waste is concerned and everyone doing his or her bit in mere dus gaz campaign. Probably the broad message that manual scavenging in areas that sees it should have been discontinued long time ago is not lost.  The Cleanathon also brought home the risks the people face while opening manholes and working inside in absence of safety equipments. Hope the other event Swachhathon to be organised by another institute scheduled for November does its bit to carry the message of cleanliness in areas of South Delhi.

SVBC Channel
While taking tea the other day i met Mr Jonathan from Meghalaya at present a tourist in Delhi. The same day i met Mr Rallan staying in A 2 block of Safdarjung Enclave for the past forty years. While taking tea from Bhikaji Cama Place i took note of four set of thalis/meals from a nearby restaurant. It went by the name Regular Thali, Standard Thali, Special Thali and Executive Thali. Mind you each Thali had an offering of sweet and this sweet is doing no good to anyone. While taking a metro ride and reaching Huda city centre i came across Mr Shastri from Hyderabad and we discusssed about SVBC channel (Sri Venkateswara Bhakthi Channel)  beamed from Tirumala and how the cable operator of the city had discontinued this channel for over three years. Seeing SVBC on the net showed the upsurge in advertisements in the channel and this trend needs to be checked. It is not a commercial channel.

Thomala Sewa In Tirumala; Securing temples
At another level at one point of time in Tirumala the tickets for Thomala Sewa, Archana Sewa and Suprabhatam Sewa were disbursed on first come first serve basis. The people used to join the queue around one in the night and counters would open up at eight in the morning. Now Making everything online has not been found to be convenient for devotees. The online requests are rarely met and we find the number of tickets to be few and far. Devotees are finding hard to gain access to these sewas. Earlier they discontinued disbursing Rs 50 ticket and later Rs 300 ticket was too discontinued from being disbursed in Tirumala. The Lord truly belongs to all. The man on the street has equal right to gain access to the Lord. Single person should be given accommodation in rooms in Tirumala once the identity card has been furnished. We find a large number of devotees filing out of Venkateswara temple in Tirumala at 4 in the morning and thereafter with a prayer on their lips. These are those set of devotees who have joined the free darshan queue.
Security in Ahmednagar temple of Sai and in Lord Venkateswara temple should be at a level where frisking is not half hearted. Frisking of garlands and people should be of top most level. The Priority should be on securing the premises and coconuts and other things if possible should not be allowed inside the temple. While undertaking this exercise we should not hurt anyone. During the day the Palki is taken out security should be of top most consideration. Managing the rush of devotees should be done in a coordinated manner, not in a way where things go out of hand.

Three girls from North East; Lisa from Nagaland and Nung from Arunachal
While taking a metro ride i came across three girls from North East going to participate in a sporting event in a college (KMC) of north campus of Delhi University. Well they could not say much about the Hornbill festival of Nagaland and when i raised the topic, all they had to say was about some festival in India Gate in New Delhi. The same day i came across a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University pursuing LLM. He went by the name Sabir and hailed from Uttaranchal. While it was Deepu from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce pursuing a course in German language, it were Lisa from Nagaland and Nung from Arunachal both girl students studying in Aryabhatta College in South Campus of Delhi University that brought forward the varied space that the city provided to people from across the country.

Meeting those hailing from Arunachal Pradesh ; meeting those hailing from Kottayam

Meeting those hailing from Arunachal Pradesh ; meeting those hailing from Kottayam

While taking a metro ride towards Kashmere Gate station i came across two men from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. Associated with restaurant sector, the two men went by the name Phuntso and Lopsang. They were in their elements when i began interacting with them knowing fully well they would have least desire to hide anything and least desire to showcase their strengths. Down to earth and humble in their approach they spoke about how little the people in North India knew about Arunachal. As for going to Arunachal one has to visit Guwahati first and from there take a taxi or a share ride lasting almost two days. While the ride can be covered in one day for safety reasons the passengers take a break in between and resume the ride after much desired rest.

PLA should not be seen sitting idle
Arunachal Pradesh which remains in the news for sharing border with China is a destination least explored by people of India. It would be in New Delhi's interest that People's Liberation Army and China Foreign Office are on the same page. China's People's Liberation Army should not sit idle. They should be entrusted with a task all the time like undergoing rigorous training because the moment they are idle they would resort to incursions in other country's territories. Something the PLA had not been raised for over the years. Any shortcoming in not giving them an assignment which they can handle would make them take recourse to actions that would make the border look unsettled. The President of China should at no point of time lose grip over People's Liberation Army and always keep a tab on its activities.

Coming back to two men from Arunachal, the national capital of Delhi known for spiralling rents, the two men had been able to take a room in a locale where rents were not high and there was reservoir of support. There was support from those who knew the Arunachal terrain well and there was support from those who wished to explore the same terrain.  It was here in the same metro coach i came across Rajendran from Bangalore who wished to be guided to a Central Delhi area and here in the national capital he was here with the family visiting as a tourist.

Meeting Pro Wrestler from Kottayam
It was a chance meeting with a pro wrestler from Kottayam the other day. Hailing from Uzhavoor village in Kottayam district the wrestler going by the name Arun was in the National Capital of Delhi for a practice session. He represented a team named Wrestle Square. For the practice session in Delhi for which wrestlers had come from across the country Arun was the  sole representative of Kerala. On coming to know that i watched Manorama News and Asianet News, the wrestler enquired whether i was familiar with Malyalam language. He took note of the blog i wrote and wished to see its content. Staying in Delhi at a place known to his  acquaintance he could speak manageable Hindi, having learnt the ropes all in the national capital. Was slated to take a Duronto on a Saturday which would reach Kottayam around 5pm on a Monday, the wrestler hoped to participate in professional events in the near future. As i deboarded from the metro coach i came across two Sisters from Kottayam at present staying in Delhi. I told them of having met Sister Dani Francis teaching English in Little Flower College near Guruvayur in Kerala.

Met David and Ruth from  Mizoram the other day as they were stepping out of post office. Talked about Chapchar Kut festival organised in spring in Mizoram. They had been in the national capital for a pretty long time and were pleasantly surprised to find that other people not hailing from their area kept a tab on the festival of the region.  On another day met David from Darjeeling at present pursuing a course in a south campus college of Delhi University.

Swachh Bharat Mission

Swachh Bharat Mission

MoUD (Ministry of Urban Development) had launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Thereafter MoUD came to be known as MoHUA (Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs). And MoHUA has been organising Swachh Bharat Diwas on October 2 every year. It is not a lone day initiative; it is an initiative to keep your surroundings clean round the year. Something that calls for participation of people from different economic strata.

IL &FS launched Special Purpose Vehicle Dakshin Dilli Swachh Initiatives Ltd which aims to handle waste through bringing in innovative ideas, latest technology, trained and skilled manpower in the area of sanitation and capabilities to change the standards of sanitation in concession area. Swachha is a two way process; not only the mindset that defines waste as something to be sorted out by ragpickers alone has to change, it is up to oneself to see that least waste is generated and if generated it is segregated and recycled. Accountability has to be fixed at every level. For this all stakeholders right from Municipal Councillors to Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) need to be involved. In this regard the queries that were put to municipal councillors were as follows
- Status of waste management awareness
- What you want to do
- How can Special Purpose Vehicle Dakshin Dilli Swachh Initiatives Ltd help you
- Remarks/suggestions that you would like to put forward
- Need to nominate five persons as Swachh Ambassadors to create accountability mechanism in                      each ward.
This work of involving stakeholders and getting the requisite feedback from them on waste management has been undertaken in 30 zones of South Delhi.

Swachharohan which was launched in June 2017 would be followed by Swachhathon tentatively scheduled for November 2017. This is entirely an apolitical initiative that seeks to set new milestones in waste management currently underway in wards of South Delhi and to be replicated in the entire city and other cities/towns in the coming months. What would be of interest would be how much Swachhathon is able to create awareness and make each denizen of the city at his or her level do their best to steer forward the waste management agenda.