Thirumala to Corcovado (తిరుమల శిఖరాన జాలువారె….Corcovadoగిరిపై పొంగి పొరలె…)

Last June, when I was in Brazil, I had a chance to visit Christo, Christ the Redeemer, before boarding the return flight. On the way up the Corcovado mountain, I felt like hugging that “Man” of Love. But forgot all about it while enjoying the breathe-taking views of Rio de Janeiro all around. I was pleasantly surprised  when our guide asked me to pose like that 👇. 

I never mentioned my thoughts to him and I am practical enough to think that it is a pose popular with tourists. But didn’t see any others posing like that while I was there. But, it was enough to make me feel that my visit was “acknowledged” 🙏🌹.

Still, there is a gap. The gap between the two pairs of hands, Jesus’ and mine!

That seems to symbolize the gap that exists between the emotive Heart and the calculative Mind. That gap reminds me of  our beloved Ghantasala’s own composition on Lord Venkateswara, “నీ కొండకు నీవే రప్పించుకో (roughly meaning, “Lord! Lend me your helping hand to reach your abode..”)…,” in which Ghantasala says, “మా మనస్సు మా హృదయం పరస్పరం శతృవులై మా లోపలి దివ్యజ్యోతి మసకేసి పోతున్నది…(the misalignment between my mind and my heart is making the divinity within dimmer and dimmer)”

As I finish writing this post, another thought occurred to me. My feelings about the gap between human and divine occurred in the presence of a divinity situated atop a mountain. And, Ghantasala’s words were an outpouring in the presence of another mountain-top divinity. With a desire to connect the two experiences, separated in time by about four decades, I am now trying to understand the similarity (shoud I say Unity?) of thoughts in the presence of two different manifestations of divinity. I also need to know if the difference is in human thoughts or in divine manifestations.

🌹🌹🌹