“I left home in anger as a child with 1 rupee. I don’t even remember how old I was. All I remember is my father, who was a school principal, hit me because I played a notorious prank. I was furious and I ran away that night.

Since that day, I didn’t have a shelter for almost five years. I would wander and rest wherever I can in the night. I would eat whatever was thrown away as garbage. After I grew up a little, I started to work in a hotel.
One
saadhu saw me wash vessels. He asked me why I wasn’t in school. That was the first time anybody cared about my existence. It made me emotional and I told him everything about my life. He brought me here to Tirumala and left me with a priest because I’m a Brahmin by birth. He said, ‘How can you do this job? You can’t clean plates. You’re supposed to bless people.’ I didn’t have anything back then so I listened to him and came here. I
learnt everything about religion and God. I’ve been working as a priest here for more than 15 years.

In all these years, every day has been about God and his Seva. But I did go back home after a few years. My parents were shocked to see me as a priest. They weren’t even sure if I was alive. My mother, of course, asked me to stay back, but I knew this was my calling.

This is home!”