Weekend visit

Last weekend, I was on a mini pilgrimage to various temples in and around Kumbakonam, a temple town some 250 kms from Madras. It is an awesome place, to say the least. I have never seen a place which is surrounded by so many temples (and covers almost all Gods worshipped in Hinduism:)). The serenity of the place I am sure can be attributed to these temples.

But sadly, most of these temples are commercialized and many a time, leaves distaste in the minds of the pilgrims. Not to mention the high handedness of some people who think they are above others when it comes to having a closer darshan of the Lord (Sadly, I was part of one of such teams and I just couldn’t do anything about it – I have no right to criticize others :(). But the solace was the fact that in a few temples, the Archakas refused to accept money offered to them directly. Integrity still has some takers.

The visit also brought back old memories. It was in this area that I began my career. I was employed with the Indian Railways and spent around 15 months there. How can one forget his first job?? Especially, the times when he bunked work and escaped to the nearby agricultural fields to play with the kids there and have an awesome bath in the pump-set waters. The places remain unchanged, except the demographics. (I am not elaborating further on this. Secular brigade might get angry).

Along my way, one thing I observed was the real estate boom, even in semi-urban areas near Kumbakonam. Lots of construction activities and land mapping activities. But the sad part of the story is that it looks as if many fertile agricultural lands are being converted for real estate construction. It was apparent in many places. Even areas near lakes weren’t left out. I was told by my brother-in-law that this is the case in most of the places. What a sad state of affairs? Who is controlling all these constructions?? Aren’t we having a long term plan to preserve such agricultural lands? What will our future generations do for survival??