Road Trip to Vaitheeswaran Kovil - Part 4 ::: The lunch bulb at Chidambaram

As mentioned in the earlier part, we were unable to have the darshan at the Chidambaram temple. After we came out and decided to have lunch, the next logical question was "where?".

Raghu had mentioned a "fancy" restaurant called "Udupi Sri Krishna Vilas" very near the temple. He'd also said that it wasn't a very fancy looking place and was more like a typical eating place you get in those regions. I remembered him vaguely mentioning something about long tables made of granite etc.

When we came out of the temple through the eastern gopuram, we saw a board that said "Udupi Sri Krishna Vilas". From the outside, it sorta matched Raghu's description. So, we went inside.

Inside, was not actually the dining area. We entered a big hall kinda place, which was still being constructed. There were cement bags, sand piled up, tall mixing tubs etc. Further down this hall, there seemed to be another room and here, we saw a couple of people eating.

I called up Raghu to confirm if this was the joint. He now said that the hotel he was referring to was not on that road but on the other side. So, we came back to our car, which was parked on the main road which in turn is perpendicular to the road leading to the eastern gopuram. You must follow the directions very closely here, else you will not be able to appreciate the bulb we got.

To go towards the direction that Raghu indicated, I had to make a U-turn on the main road. This I managed and went some 100 metres or so. We crossed the road leading to the eastern gopuram and almost immediately, we saw a board that said "Udupi Sri Krishna Vilas". I pulled over the car to a good parking spot and all of us got down.

When we entered the hotel, it still didn't look like the right one. My mother even checked with the guy at the kalla petti about the presence of "Udupi Sri Krishna Vilas" hotels in the area and he said that this was the only one.

We ordered 3 meals at the cash counter. Curd had to be bought separately. It was Rs.20 for the meal and Rs.3 for the curd. So, for 3 of us, the total was Rs.69. I handed the guy a 100 rupee note. The cashier took it and opened the cash drawer. Something there caught my attention. I guess all of you have seen the typical cash drawer in such places. Its a big draw where the notes are kept. And at the end, there is a small setting to keep steel cups. The coins are usually kept in these cups.

So what caught my attention in this particular cash drawer, was the fact that there were toffees in one of the cups. I thought it was an odd place to keep it. But within a second I noticed the cashier's hand dip into it and take one piece out. He placed it in front of me and handed over Rs.30 in notes. I was a bit shocked at the nonchalant way in which he replaced Rs.1 with a toffee. I just took it and went towards a table.

We handed over the tokens to the "server" and also ordered bottled water. We were served pretty ordinary food. The only good thing was that the place was clean and surprisingly, totally fly-free.

We had taken up a seat towards the end of the dining hall and near our table, we saw an entrance. The kitchen was on the other side and so we got curious about this place. On closer inspection, we found a lot of cement bags and also a pile of sand. There was also a tall blue colored mixing tub.

Ta-daa.... That was the very place from which I had approached this hotel earlier. I had actually called Raghu to ask for directions from a spot next to that tub!!! We had a good chuckle.

We continued eating, all the while pitying the guy who was serving us food. The pity was because he had a look that said that he was having trouble using his exhaust pipes, but had gotten used to it.

Towards the end of the meal, the guy gave me a separate bill for the bottled water. It was Rs.13. I knew that I had few coins in my wallet and got a sudden inspiration to give Rs.12 through the instruments issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the balance Rs.1 through the instrument sold by Cadbury's or Nutrine (I don't even remember what the toffee was).

I told my parents this and they somehow seemed to be proud of my approach. We even started discussing strategies of how to give this toffee back. What to say if he refused to take it back. What kinda arguments to put forth etc. etc.

Once the eating formalities were completed, we headed out. I stopped over at the cashier's place. A bit to my chargin, I found a new guy was seated in the kalla petti. However the guy I first transacted with, was standing near him. Since it was a new guy, I was quite sure that he would object to the toffee. And I started picturing the whole discussion I was about to have with him.

I gave him a Rs.10 note, a Rs.2 coin and then gave him the toffee. The guy didn't even bother to look at me. He just grabbed everything and put it in the appropriate places in his cash drawer.

It was my turn now to act cool. If I lingered there long enough, it would indicate that I didn't anticipate his action and so it would be clear to him that he won. So I quickly started moving out of the hotel, goading my parents to come along.

I have a strong feeling that the folks at Chidambaram use these toffees as actual currency!

We then resumed our journey and at around 1.30 PM, reached Hotel Sampoorna at Sirkazhi.

Mini pilgrimage to Tirumala and neighborhood

I was on a mini pilgrimage to Tirumala and its neighborhood of Tiruchanur and Kalahasthi.

But I am not going to write a travelogue this time, so you can be happy.

My parents and a cousin of mine all went as part of an AP Tourism's package to these places. The trip started on Friday evening around 6.15 PM and we came back to Chennai some 24 hours later.

It was actually quite a hectic tour. And I would not recommend this tour to anyone, because its really tiring. You barely get to sleep for 2-3 hours in the hotel room they give you. Other than that, its left to catching an hour or so on the drive.

And to answer the most obvious question of "Darisanam nanna kedachudha?", all I can say is that its the same amount of darshan that all of us get, subject to the mercy of the volunteer who pulls you first and then pushes you into the hands of the eagerly waiting next volunteer. The process continues till you are quite literally pushed out.

On a very serious note, the treatment meted out to the devotees by these volunteers is extremely disrespectful. They don't treat you as human beings. Next time you pass by a site where a building is being constructed, please observe the way the laborers pass on the "bond" containing the "kalavai of simintu, jelly and manal".

Its the exact same way we devotees are handled by those TTD volunteers. I agree that its a thankless job considering the sheer volume of people who throng the temple. But do they think, even for a minute, how bad their actions are at a human level? Everyone does want to spend a lot of time watching the deity and praying. And to manage the crowd you have to make the devotees move, so that the next one gets the opportunity.

But, if you resort to this relay race approach, I cant even see the deity for a fraction of the second. As a normal human being, I am subjected to react to any untoward forces being applied on my body. I start trying to counter-balance all these pulls and pushes and end up not seeing the deity.

The serious devotee might be free from all such distractions and could have his thought process totally focused on the deity. But normal people like me, actually end up not having the basic darshan that I came for. The darshan for which I stood for more than an hour in long cage like structures.

To be very frank, I don't have a good recollection of having seen Balaji up close. Whatever I was able to see thanks to the slightly sloped ramp they have set up before you enter the main room, thats all I can remember. Up close, I don't think I saw much or even prayed much.

Anyways, since it was a packaged tour, we were then hustled into boarding the bus and were given some time at Tirupathi to have a breakfast. I was quite famished considering the ordeal that I went through in the morning and also the fact that I hadn't eaten anything properly on Friday too.

Afterwards we were taken to Tiruchanur where again there was this big queue for the darshan. It was slightly better organised than the one at her hubby's abode. We were then taken to Kalahasthi where too the treatment was much better.

Then after a lunch stop around 1 o clock at Puttur, we finally reached the starting point at T.Nagar around 4.

All in all it was quite a tiring trip, but the only good thing is that I at least got to see these temples after a year.

Coffee World needs to be boycotted

Badri - one of my few close friends in sothabama college - had come over this evening to invite us, formally, for his wedding on the 5th of this month.

We then got in touch with Shankar - another close friend in that same college - and met at Shankar's house. We then decided to just catch up on neutral territory and so left Shankar's place.

After a little deliberation, we decided to go to Coffee World on C.P.Ramaswamy Road. We sat down and got down to the business of ordering. 3 sandwiches and 2 cold drinks were ordered.

While we were reminiscing, the sandwiches were served and we then put our respective mouths to a different task.

After the sandwiches were harbored in some part of our food canal, we continued chatting. The waiters even cleared our plates after some 10 minutes. Then Badri, who hadn't ordered a drink in the first round, called for the menu and chose something.

In case the fact has missed your keen eye, let me point out that there were 2 cold drinks we had ordered earlier and these were not served yet.

Badri then placed his order for some juice and after 10 minutes that was served. But no signs of our Cookie Cruch Frappe and Choco Frappe. We reminded the chap who served the juice about it. He checked the order slip and said he would get the stuff.

But even after 10 minutes, nothing came up to our table. In the meantime, a supervisory looking guy had also taken a look at the order slip (in case you ain't familiar with Coffee World's working style, the order slip is placed on a holder laid out on the table itself).

Still, no signs of the Frappe. I called up another dude and told him about the situation. He too went back promising to deliver the goods. But history repeated itself. Once again, no sign of the drink even after another 10 minutes.

I called up the first guy and asked him about it. He apologised and went back to the preparation area. Some 5 minutes later, the Choco Frappe was served. But my order was still pending.

Even after 2-3 minutes, I didn't see any of the servers (that's what I am gonna call them) carrying any tray with my drink on it.

I called up the first dude and told him clearly that I was totally upset with the service. That it was ridiculous to take so much time to serve this drink. He responded saying that they were understaffed and there were many orders. I asked him if that were the case, then how come people who came after us have had their orders completed and have even left the premises. He was like blinking nervously.

I asked to speak to his manager and he said that guy was not there. Then another server came in with the Frappe. I actually blew my fuse at that point and asked him to take back the drink and cancel my order. Both were like a li'l shocked and I pushed my foot down even heavily and told him categorically that they can take back that Frappe and cancel my order. I also said that I am sorry to use these words, but your service is shitty. Yes, I said shitty to them.

I then insisted that I speak to the guy in charge of the store right away. He then went and sent someone else. That guy he was the store in-charge. Ironically, he was one of the guys to whom I'd given the reminder. So I told him that I needed to speak to someone else senior. I'd seen a guy in a yellow t-shirt and he had a bossy look to him. I asked for him. I got a very blunt remark that the Area Manager is not around and I'd have to wait to speak to him. This bugger then simply walked away.

Obviously, by this time I was quite furious. And I decided to play hard too.

A couple of minutes later, the Area Manager walked in. I think he was already informed about the situation and so he went to this rude chap who had just spoken to me. He spoke with that dude for a minute or so and came to our table.

I offered him the spare seat that was available. And told him in very clear words that I was totally upset. That I'd never experienced such pathetic service anywhere. I also added that I was meeting my friend after 9 years (technically it was only 7) and now this service and experience has ruined the evening. He apologised for the behavior and asked me to have the drink.

I told him that I was not going to take it. And that whatever he does or offers or however much he apologises, I was going to do only 2 things: One, I was not going to have that Frappe and Two, I would never ever set foot in this shop again.

I guess he was mildly shocked at what I said. He apologised more profusely and once again requested that I take the order and also that I come back to this shop and also offer my patronage to their new shop at Adyar. But I was in no mood for all that and said that I accept his apology, but reiterated that nothing he could offer me would make me budge from my stand of not taking that Frappe and not returning to that shop.

We talked back and forth like this for a couple of minutes and he then left assuring that he would look into the matter seriously.

We then asked for the bill and then paid the money and didn't leave even one ruppee as a tip. There was even a feedback form and I once again filled all this in it.

Anyways, the net result is that I will not go back to that store.