I had no clue of Vithhala all my life. It was only after coming to Pune that I got to know about him.

But since it’s Krishna himself, I felt drawn to him in the same way as I felt drawn to deities of Vrindavan.

It came to me to keep a Mauna Vrat along with being bare foot for a few days before meeting him. My folly or his leela, I did not know you had to book your visit prehand.

As I live in Pune alone, it was amusing to keep Mauna Vrat here. Before that, I had kept it within the home itself when I was living with my parents in Amritsar.

The only major interaction I had was with the fruit and grocery store owner and his wife, a Rajasthani couple (apparently named Kanhaiya).

I told them beforehand about my vrata, and we interacted over written notes whenever needed. It was heart fulfilling to see how simply they accepted and how respectfully they supported it.

For me, the instruction to keep Mauna Vrata came from Krishna himself. And he enjoys putting me in trouble 🙂

I had booked the stay only for a day. I got there in the morning, took a bath, headed out, bought a big red rose flower mala for him and some Tulsi leaves.

And that moment came, to realize what he had put me into when they did not allow me to have darshan without pre-booking.

Rather than getting disheartened, I had a hearty laugh within me. Nice Vithhala, very nice.

For a rational-minded individual, it would feel stupid. But as a devotee, it made all the sense, in my head at least.

My personal experience is that, the more bhagwaan tests you, the more he has to offer you. So it was worth it.

With the withering big flower mala in my hand (my only concern), I ran from pillar to post to explain my situation. Except for one guard, nobody paid any heed to my request and kept me waiting with disapproval written all over their faces.

And yes, they suggested I have Mukh darshan, but I explained to them over chits, my vow is to look into his eyes to complete the Vrata.

It was only after about 4 hours of waiting that they allowed me and I entered the line for darshan, which took another 2–3 hours.

I did not feel any difference at all between him or, say, Radha Ramana of Vrindavan except that, here he is my big brother.

I had the darshan, came out, met Rakhumai and I looked for a place to just sit.

I found a perfect spot to sit, a stone slab on the way.

And my eyes closed naturally while I reveled in ecstasy and bliss. In my mind, I was just 7–8 years old and Vithhala was my elder brother. I was hugging him from behind by putting my arms between his arms, kissing him on the cheeks, swirling around him. I had not done any visualization of that sort, it just appeared on its own, so it was all the more special. I don’t know how long I stayed in that state.

Slowly the outer awareness started coming, and I opened my eyes slightly, eyes still lowered. Pilgrims were passing by me, intrigued, bowing to me, some even thought (young girls) if I was a statue and peeped closely that brought a smile to my face as if in answer to them.

Some kept some coins in front of me, which is totally against my principles, but I could not come out of that state as yet to say anything. I put them in a donation box later.

Soon I was aware enough and I walked back to my room.