Girivalam at Tiruvannamalai

There is something I found out when I went yesterday on Girivalam at Tiruvannamalai.

Time is really oppressive.

We were late starting, we were late eating in the hotel, we were slow walking round the hill, we were late getting to the bus, we were late coming back. And at the end of it, we had nothing much to do.

We planned to start at three. But I was able to start only at three-thirty. Not much of a difference, but what it meant was that by the time we got to the bus stand, there was quite a queue there. If we had come earlier, we would have started soon. But as it is, we started late. And to rub it in, the driver of the bus was a disinterested sort of man. He did not like to rush. So our bus took about a hour longer than it should have.

By the time we reached Tiruvannamalai, it was ten at night. We had to eat something, so we went into a hotel and found there was no place to sit. Went to another hotel, where we were rewarded with watered down Sambar and Chutney. We were late, so they were running out of dishes.

By the time we had finished eating, we were conscious that if we did not catch the bus by two, it will mean we will get back to Chennai only after six thirty or seven.

So we started walking against the clock. Stopped nowhere, just chug-chug like everyone else. I have to confess that more people overtook me than the number of people I overtook. The hill stood to our left, but no one noticed. We were busy looking at our watches, talking over the phones.

And when we finished our walk and got back to the bus-stand, there was quite a crowd, we had to stand in the queue for more than forty-five minutes. And the bus, in coming back, ran late by thirty minutes, so we got home only at around seven-forty five.

The point of Girivalam is that you do it on the full moon day, and you expect that  your desires will be fulfilled. The hill itself is supposed to be beautiful, but you can't really see it most of the times, and what with the electric lights, the moonlight is clearly faded out. So, there is not much in it to enjoy, and add to it your worries about time, it is a masochist act.

But the interesting point is that once we decide to go from point A to point B, everything in between is reduced to insignificance. What matters is that we should reach point B at the right time. It is that way in life, too.

We find a work, or a wife, and what we do with it is not seen as important as where we go from there. How much money we get, how much we make, what kind of respect we find, how well we are appreciated... That kind of questions. It is the same- I don't want to be here. My place is elsewhere.