SYSTEMS, PROCESSES, RULES AND REGULATIONS - WISE or OTHERWISE

i read in an article today that Tirupathi will not be issuing VIP passes in January.. This is to give the common devotees more time for darshan at the temple.. it rekindled my memory of my trip there and the letter i wrote to them which of course met no reply..

below is an extract of the letter i wrote to them..

RE: TIRUPATHI DEVASTHANAM - SYSTEMS, PROCESSES, RULES AND REGULATIONS

With reference to the above, I would like to officially record my feedback on the recent turn of events during my visit there. My name is Komathi Dhena Doraisamy. I am an Indian from Malaysia, though in Malaysia we are known as Malaysians of Indian origin. I am proud Hindu. I am proud of my heritage and am intrigued by the spirituality India beckons to the rest of the world.

My experience in Thirupathi Devasthanam was anything but that. I have in previous trips visited many other temples in other Indian states but my experiences here was far from being divine altogether.

It all started when I arrived at Tirupathi. My first experience there was with a local ticketing officer. Not only was he obnoxious, but he was chauvinistic as well. He insulted us for not comprehending the complex Indian Transport system but also demeaned me, as a woman who shared her voice in the banter.

Then when we got to the temple grounds, we checked with a couple of authorities, police included and nobody had any clue how we are able to get admission into the temple. Then one kind soul told us to look for the District Officer who lived in the temple compounds as well. Tired from the trip from Madras and dreading the travels the next 3 days, we walked to his house and waited until 7am.

But the entire wait was a waste, as again, we were faced another boorish man, who made us feel that Non-Resident Indians (NRI) were traitors to the motherland. He disregarded our request and at no point offered any solution. He spoke to us for not less than 2 minutes and then scooted off muttering in Telugu that we NRIs do not need to visit India as we absconded from India previously. That was the second blow.

Then we walked back to the supposed ticketing counter that provides tickets for NRIs if we showed our passports as proof. We waited until 10am for the counter to open and battled through locals who were also waiting in the same line and finally, we were on our way to get the blessings of balaji..

Upon arrival at the front door of the devasthanam, I noted that each one person had 3 seconds in front of the deity.. as I walked closer, I said a little prayer.. that if God is all pervading.. and eases the route for success for us then this must be the test of time and patience... But then again, these systems, processes, rules and regulations are put in place to assist us mortal beings to be more efficient but instead the case is otherwise at the devasthanam?

As I was nearing the moolasthanam.. I closed my eyes to pray, only for my prayer to be rudely interuppted by this man who shouted at me and manhandled me like i was a piece of meat.. all because i closed my eye in prayer.. Interesting, after all that i had been through that day, here i am in silent prayer and even then, the treacherous dogmatic processes come into play.. My perception of India changed that day. The place that I hold so dear and close to my heart crumbles right in front of me due to systems and processes put in place by human to supposedly make themselves efficient but by default more inefficient.

It is true what the elder say.. when the systems, processes, rules and regulations were made.. the persons behind it had the best interest in place.. but by the time the entire thing cascades down to execution something else takes shape..

I have a couple of questions for the Management of Tirupathi Devasthanam:

1. Are NRIs coming to India not additing to your tourist revenue? If yes, why are they not respected and treated well? Is this not the Hindu culture?
2. If rules and regulations are made for man to be more effective and efficient, why are they not the case at the devasthanam?
3. Are the civil servants not trained to handle tourists / NRIs?
   Is the oldest brand (Hinduism) creating a platform for suicide?

I strongly believe, that today India is the second Super Power in the world amongst other things.. but it will not be there if they continue to have grand plans but weak in the implementation or execution front..

I hope that this email of mine will get the right attention and receive a reply from the respective parties and of course I hope that this letter will see the beginning of the exodus of change in the devasthanam's processes and procedures.

never got a reply to this.. WISE or OTHERWISE.. now i wonder...