Monday, July 20, 2009

Babies for rent at Tirupathi Devasthanam

I was watching India TV just now. I was shocked at this news:

3 months to 2 year old babies are available for rent at Tirupathi Devasthanam for phataphat darshan! Mostly on Mondays and Tuesdays! If you carry a small baby in your arms, you can skip the long queue and go in, via a shortcut way and have the Lord's darshan within one or two hours! Rent is Rs.200/- per hour!

They showed 3 persons with 3 rented babies in their arms.

Where are we going?

27 comments :

Anonymous said...

We are going into the temple... n faster... !!!

pls to not watch this channel... for what I know this could entirely be made up...

They sent people to Ranchi and paid them money to burn Dhoni's effigy and than showed on TV that people burnt Dhoni's effigy....

Seriously suggest you stop taking this news channel as nothing but just a comical channel... !!!

That was some serious gyaan Sandhya... thank me for it...

Sandhya said...

hitchwriter: Oh, I forgot about the authenticity of the Hindi News channels, Dhiren! I might be wrong in posting this news. Feel bad.

thanks for the gyaan!

hitch writer said...

Not all channels but this INDIA tv is most notorious...

but at times it can be seriously funny to go to this channel for 5-10 minutes

ROFL

Kavita Saharia said...

True or false but i have seen people can do crazy things just to have faster darshan at the temple.....there is demand so hence supply is ready..

Renu said...

I feel pity for both the people who are renting and taking..one for going to this length to earn money and the other one..I would say why go there for Darshan if you are in so much hurry...go to any other temple.

Sandhya said...

hitchwriter: Yes, they keep on repeating the same news every second..and irritate the viewers. Yes, it is fun to watch, 'sometimes'. This video did not look like a 'made-up'. The faces of the people who were carrying the babies were blurred. Venkateshwara only knows! Is he laughing at us?!!!

Kavita: your view is good, Kavita!

Renu: Yes, if this news is true, I feel pity and angry at the same time, for the people who rent the babies, very small babies to strangers.

Crazy people.

Saritha said...

Sandhya this is true,i read this in deccan chronicle few days back.The people who give there kids for money are sure that they will return there babies,sick people.These people want to make money by using their own kids :(

Sandhya said...

Varunavi: Thank you Saritha. I wanted to add a link to this post. Couldn't get it. Tried in google news also.

The babies they showed were very small, one must be around 3-4 months old. Really sick people - the parents of the babies and the people who rent them.

manju said...

Wow! Maybe these people think that God will bless them extra after they go to such lengths and do such things just for 'Darshan'?

Anonymous said...

Goodness! The heights to which people go! I wonder why they think that god will bless them or whatever it is that they imagine, when they use such corrupt methods for a darshan? It is so sad that people resort to anything for a 'darshan'.

Sandhya said...

Manju: Mad people. We can say only this, Manju.

wordsndreamz: I think when Naidu was the CM, he had regularised the queue system, by tagging etc. Corruption was less. He did lots of facilities for pilgrims. Now no control, at all. Our people need control everywhere...even in pilgrim centres. I don't know what sort of 'bhakti', this is called.

Anonymous said...

Like Dhiren said this seems to be anotehr imaginative piece of news from India TV.

But even if it isnt..I think the temple authorities are being sensitivity in allowing those with babes to go first..but the people who are renting babies and the ones who are taking those babies inside?

Revolting!!
As Manju says will ''god give them extra blessings they think?'':/

We have made a mockery out of gods and worship..

Sandhya said...

Indyeah: I was not able to believe this story, when I saw it in the TV. I looked in the web for some authentication. Couldn't get any. But Saritha says, she read this news in 'Deccan Chronicle', a few days back. So it must be true.

No Bhakti, nor fear of god. No one thinks that this act is wrong.

R. Ramesh said...

thanks for highlighting this sandhya..i desperately want to visit tirupati..but these kinds of activities just puts me off. u know what i did? last month during my visit to chennai i visited a balaji replica temple at T.Nagar to avoid going thru the tirupati crowd and corruption..i have visited tirupati several times..but dunno.lots can be done to improve things whcih they refuse to do.
dhiren has a point..maybe channels r playing their own game..but tirupati can do a lot to improve.thats just my feeling...me 2 sorry if anything said wrong

Sandhya said...

Ramesh: The T.Nagar Balaji temple is becoming famous. If you come on a working day in daytime, you can do archana and stand a watch the gods. They are really beautiful. We spend so much time and money to visit Tirupathi and come back home with frustration.

The temple is the richest one in India. The collection goes to the government. Naidu did some improvements but the people who visit are ready to spend in any way, just to have a quick darshan. They don't think that going down to this level is wrong in front of their god.

When Dhiren said that this incident was made up, even I felt bad for writing a post about this. But Saritha says that this news came in the Deccan Chronicle.

I have not seen this much crowd anywhere else. People should really treat the temple as a sacred place. Then shortcut darshans will come down and we can have a peaceful darshan of the god. Dreaming!!

Aparna said...

Why only Tirupati, you go to any famous temple in India, you will come back disappointed. The crowd is unruly, the guards misbehave, people push you all the time and you are too busy saving yourselves from the crowd to feel any bhakti or peace of mind.
There should be some rules and regulations implemented. Why go to temple if you cant have a peaceful darshan...might as well do puja at home. In fact sometimes I think that is better.
If the news is true, the less said about the sick people the better.

Sandhya said...

Aparna: My children have stopped coming to temples. My husband also says that it is enough if we pray at home, sincerely. I too get frustrated whenever I visit Tirupathi. I don't come back happily. Yes, so many people are coming and everyone should have darshan and they have to push us aside all the time. But the temple authorities also should be decent and more than that, the people who come there for darshan should remember that it is a place of worship. Not a movie theatre - rush to get the tickets.

Hmmm, slowly we have started postponing our Tirupathi darshan, thinking of the crowd.

Shail said...

Hmmm... this takes the cake! More than the people who rent out their kids (maybe poverty makes them do it) I feel those who use them for easy darshan are sicker. What excuse do they have for such behavior I wonder.

Anonymous said...

this is preposterous!indeed where is this heading?

But as Dhiren pointed out thuis might be a gimmick too! You cant trust these channels,especially the ones like India Tv,Khabar Tv,etc...they can go to any lengths to garner some viewership!

Sandhya said...

cool cancerian: You are right. We have to blame the people who rent 3 month old babies!

I tried to visit your blog. It is not opening.

deeps: After Dhiren pointed out, I too had this doubt. But Saritha said in the comments column here, that she read this news in Deccan Chronicle, a few days back.

Prashanth Lakshminarasimhan said...

Hi

This is a entirely made up scenario and this is what these people are doing these days .......

Indian TV..... i reckon this should be fun to watch....

cheers

Sandhya said...

Prashanth: Welcome here to my blog! No one knows if this is true or false. Only Lord Venkateshwara has to confirm!

R. Ramesh said...

interestingly whenver i visit the mahalaxmi temple in bombay i find that the movement is orderly...no extra favours for extra money.just keep moving. simply excellent..and S, thanks 4 comment..nanri, meendum varuga

Shail said...

Sandhya, you having trouble opening my blog page?? Are you using BSNL??

Sandhya said...

Shail: I was not able to open 'coolcancerian'! But no problem with Shail! Why so?

Sandhya said...

shail: No problem with 'coolcancerian' today. Don't know why I was not able to open 2 days back. I tried twice on that day.

Thank you.

kanagu said...

I hate going to some famous temples..
just because of teh money they are collecting for VIP entrances and all... god is common to all... money can't bring anybody closer to him..

and this is really new to hear and shocking.. how can we stop this ???
:(

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