Darshan of Bhatji Bapu's Samadhi: 12th March 2011

Sunil had informed us that we should ask for KPHB colony  which is 1 km ahead and he would come to pick us up from there. As promised there he was with his Ford Fiesta at our disposal armed with cool bottles of mineral water a welcome for us after the all night journey.

Hyderabad, our first impression is dusty busy city and there was traffic even at 6.30 am. We drove to Sunil's home through quaint little defense colony of Jalavayu Vihar. His home is a little inside and cut off from the hustle bustle. We reached his home got fresh and meanwhile he made tea and had arranged for a breakfast of fresh idli with 2 types of chutneys, green tomato chutney and the regular peanut chutney.

After breakfast we had bath and relaxed after the night's journey. Sunil had to go to office so saw him off. Dad and Gurunath uncle sat on the sofa singing bhajans and discussing their spiritual experiences. I was feeling left out.

While I waited for Sunil to return from work so that we could lunch together I was just reading and chilling out. Gurunath Uncle was hungry so gave him a fruit sandwich and a pickle sandwich. I got the fruit salad ready and made masur dal and rice. Sunil came home with chapatis and curries bought from the hotel. He insisted on making sevayi kheer. It was an enjoyable lunch. The AP style bhindi was crisp and crunchy, a bit chewy but enjoyable as it was different. The sevayi was laced with nutmeg and I loved it as Sunil made it with so much love for Dad.

We took a longish nap in the afternoon as the sun rose to its peak and shone in all its glory. The plan was to go to Upuguda to visit Bhatji bapu's temple and Samadhi in the eve. We drove past Charminar to go there. I was quite surprised at the Maharashtrian population surrounding the temple. There are more than 2000 families and unlike in Karnataka here they speak pure Marathi with not a trace of Telugu. Got to know that they have couple of Marathi medium schools here and the school gets enough students to run successfully. The temple complex is large clean and peaceful. The Pujari spent some time inquiring about us, he was very non commercial is what struck me most. It is a legend that Bhatji Bapu was a great proponent of Annadan. Shree K.V. Belsare has mentiond about Bhatji Bapu several times in his discourses.

We returned home and Sunil refused to let me cook. He made broken wheat khichdi and phodnicha bhat from the leftover rice from afternoon. It was still a lot of food for the 4 of us. I was given a separate bedroom and I had all the privacy I needed. Sunil is an excellent host!