Vaikuntha Ekadashi

Today is "Vaikuntha Ekadashi", a holy day for most Hindus. It is believed that one must visit a temple of Lord Vishnu/Venkateshwara today because doing so will fetch a lot of 'punya'. It is also believed that the doors of Vaikuntha are open for everyone today, so if a believer dies today, he/she will get a free entry there. So it is common to find long queues at all Venkateshwara temples, from early morning all the way till late night. Luckily people don't commit suicide on this day to get their free pass into the Lord's kingdom!

People seem to believe that the God, who is most willing to grant you your wishes on this particular day, won't be so forthcoming for the rest of the year. Is the God going to hibernate for the other 364 days, or what? My beliefs in religion are a bit different from the mainstream. I don't usually get sucked into standing in those long queues at temples on this day.

Today was an exception to this rule. I accompanied my parents to the Venkateshwara temple in J.P.Nagar at six in the morning, mainly because I had to drive them there. To my dismay, I found that the queue for general entry (dharma darshan) was already winding past a few cross roads! We were in a 'special' queue, having paid a fees in advance. However, the special queue was not too short either, reassuring me that J.P.Nagar had no shortage of rich people. What disappointed me was the way people were behaving.
People just did not follow the queue. Everyone felt he/she was special enough to break the queue and walk straight to the entrance. Even when we were moving in the queue, there were people who tried to overtake me - as if I was not moving fast enough! Many did not think twice before throwing garbage on the road. Petty quarrels were breaking out between the devotees as they waited in the queue. I was thinking - these are some of the best-educated, rich people of this city. If these people don't possess basic civic sense, what can we say about the rest of the juntaa?

I think Hinduism should have included a couple of rules about civic sense. Like, "if you jump a queue, you go to hell" or "if you throw filth on road, the doors of Vaikuntha will be closed for you, even on Vaikuntha Ekadashi". Sheesh!