That evening began at the Vizag Tirupati Balaji Temple. The sun was setting as I sat on the steps of the temple after darshan, having a mouthful of prasad. Still in formals, with a tote bag, hands folded, head bowed—heart oddly steady. I meditated for a while next to the stambh. The ambient sounds of winds blowing and the chanting of “Om Namo Venkatesaya” playing on loop—blissful and soul-stirring…I carried a quiet gratitude back into my chest. The 59th Indian Orthodontic Conference, Vizag, concluded that afternoon—successfully, smoothly. My lecture on leading a comprehensive cleft team as an orthodontist was well appreciated and applauded by one and all. Conversations wrapped up, smiles exchanged, hands shaken. By evening, despite feeling accomplished and appreciated, I wasn’t ecstatic, nor jittery. Just calm. Deeply, peacefully quaint. The kind of happiness that doesn’t shout—only rests. I didn’t even know, until I reached Vizag for the conference, that there was a Tirupati Balaji Temple by the same TTD trust of Tirumala in Vizag—it was inaugurated in 2022, according to the internet. And from the moment I heard of it, I was longing for HIM… to get darshan of Venkateshwara. I decided to take the manuscript of Phir […]