Shirdi.... the only place I ever knew since the time I was a toddler... from my naming ceremony, to initiation to my eating the human food for the first time... to the inception of my school life to college life and today till recently a week back to mark the end and a beginning to a new life after professional academics, to be blessed before I enter the actual world that is titled, ’the survival of the fittest’...its sai baba n his blessings that has always enabled me to keep me moving and graced me with all the confidence and blessed me luck and success for anything that I endeavored to do....
A holy pilgrimage where u feel the closeness and divinity as soon as u step in the soil of this holy land known only for the temple and nothing else... since childhood I have been fed with stories about sai baba and his life and his greatness... more of which has been depicted in movies made after his stories that speak for itself but the masses today rarely watch it for they are bewitched by the latest hypothetical casts and lifeless happenings that befriend their senses and they try aping the lifestyle into their own which makes the whole scene a made up reality......
Well, am sorry if I have deviated from the actual topic coz these facts always get me carried away and thus pull me far beyond what I am actually meant to think about.... human that’s what we are.... n that’s why we adorn such qualities.... n that’s why today coz of such qualities growing within us we become victims of this commercialized world of living where today the lands which are termed as a pilgrims sanctity is become so commercialized that we have people following us to lead us to the place we should stay, eat, they decide the time when we should meet God... its all become so mechanical... we try to escape from the mechanical world n come far away to such a holy place to feel at peace and here we find the same thing following us till the end..... Its our own creation n our own fate...
But yes shirdi in itself has transformed into a commercially polluted pilgrimage center... but the temple still stands pure and untouched by inhuman acts....
We visited shirdi end of last year (28, 29th dec 02) during the weekend... traveled by bus from Mumbai ... took us a good 8 hours... thanks to the driver who applied breaks at every junction at his own will n wish..... n then yes as soon as we were in, we were been flocked and attacked by people saying, ’ sir aapko kahan rehna hain... kitne dino ke liye... sir yeh bohot achcha hotel hain’ .....Irritating...
But we were lucky enough as if blessed to get a good hotel after a long search, as it was a weekend all the hotels were full... so I recommend do not visit shirdi during weekends or holidays or in such cases book the hotels before hand.... the weather was also pleasant and we went to sleep and got up in the morning well in time to be present for the abhishek aarti.... but once we were in the premises of the temple it was difficult to locate a right line to enter the temple near the shrine.... after standing in a number of lines and getting darshans from different corners but not as close as we could see the crowd get.... we approached one of the last lines... where if u are working and have an id - card or proof then u could get a special entry and join the line right at the beginning... so we were blessed again and I was fortunate to see the idol as close as possible and pray till I was contended.....
At shirdi everything from darshan to prasad to the bhakt bhojan... everything had a never ending line.... but its in one way systematic and prudent as the line was against all caste and creed.... well even the number of shops that have opened around the temple to sell memorabilia has increased up to an umpteen number that is shocking for me to even witness... well God has become a priority more to live and feed, than to pray and feel... anyways.... but everybody is God fearing so am I... n will always visit the place to visit him.... coz I believe in him and share a bond that is present within me since the time I was born....
Try visiting this place its heaven... if u visit it the way it should be.....
’’’’’’shri sachchidanand sadguru sainath maharaj ki jai...’’’’’’