Listen along to this song while reading, it'll set the mood.
After the mugging yesterday, we were very cautious and decided to leave after sunrise at about 7:30-8 am. Walking in a group, we reached the golden temple.
The temple from the inside is stunning too. Gold plated with intricate red, blue, and green designs - it is art. We saw Gurus reading prayers, and visited other buildings on all four sides as well, but the temple had my heart. The area so peaceful, I told Parthvi it would be great if we could sit here for 10-15 minutes near the water. Good decision because people tend to listen to her. :P
I don't know about everyone else, but I wouldn't have minded sitting there for a longer time. It was just very peaceful. I think I feel this way about most temples that have more space than people. I also feel this way about the sea, and the golden temple is a sort of mix of both.
We drank a handful of water, nibbled on yummy prashaad, and moved on to Jallianwalla bagh. Oh, before this we had kulcha at Bhai Kulwant Singh Kulchia Wale. I only ate paneer again, but what kulcha! The Gobi Kulcha (cabbage) wasn't that great, and my friends really liked the Aloo one (potato).
What felt even crappier was getting teleported back into the Partition time at the Partition museum. There was so much history there that I had forgotten, and so much that I did not know about. What was interesting and not sad was how well people could write in English. I have not read more formal letters ever before. They were so politically correct and well written.
Anyway, we went back to the hotel, rushed through lunch and left for the Wagh border. I think I fell asleep on my way which surprised me.
The Wagh border filled me with patriotic spirit. I think the entire day was like that. We saw foreigners cross no man's land to come to India. That was really cool and I wish we could do it too. Funnily enough, Apple showed us that we were in Pakistan right until we got out of the complex.
With people shouting slogans, patriotic music, and a border-security-force (BSF) drummer on the top of the 'stadium' perfectly in sync with the force marching below, it was pretty incredible. I also don't know how they can shout so loudly and for so long.
The rest of the day was spent shopping. I got a bunch of dupattas for family and juthis for myself. I think we gave those shops lots of business. 20+ juthis and 16 dupattas is quite crazy - this doesn't even include all of us.
We walked on our way back around 10-10:30 pm. That was the time recommended to us by the reception and locals. We were about twenty of us walking back so that was good.
I hope I am not missing anything!!! If I am, you know the drill. Commenttt.
Kanksha 😀
After the mugging yesterday, we were very cautious and decided to leave after sunrise at about 7:30-8 am. Walking in a group, we reached the golden temple.
Hume koi sharam nahi hai bolne mein ki humein dar lagta haiThe golden temple is fabulous. It shines from the outside with the sun over it, itself acting like a sun in the middle of clear blue water. Everything in its complex works like clockwork. If something is dirty, volunteers are there with cloth to clean it up. There are people assigned to everything including live music with old instruments. TV screens display lyrics to prayers, and their translations. (The translations could honestly be much better though since they were literal ones like Google Translate.) The line was thankfully not much and in fifteen minutes we were inside.
Jhund mein chalo, jhund mein chalo
The temple from the inside is stunning too. Gold plated with intricate red, blue, and green designs - it is art. We saw Gurus reading prayers, and visited other buildings on all four sides as well, but the temple had my heart. The area so peaceful, I told Parthvi it would be great if we could sit here for 10-15 minutes near the water. Good decision because people tend to listen to her. :P
I don't know about everyone else, but I wouldn't have minded sitting there for a longer time. It was just very peaceful. I think I feel this way about most temples that have more space than people. I also feel this way about the sea, and the golden temple is a sort of mix of both.
We drank a handful of water, nibbled on yummy prashaad, and moved on to Jallianwalla bagh. Oh, before this we had kulcha at Bhai Kulwant Singh Kulchia Wale. I only ate paneer again, but what kulcha! The Gobi Kulcha (cabbage) wasn't that great, and my friends really liked the Aloo one (potato).
Some people didn't like Bhai Kulwant Singh Kulchia Wale because of the jeera seeds though (which are needed for digestion) so keep that in mind before you go.Jallianwalla bagh was my least favourite place because of the sad history there. 120 people who jumped into the well and died to avoid Dyer's shooting apart from the thousands that died otherwise. We saw bullet marks on the walls. We read old news clippings at the memorial. For a moment we got teleported to old India, and it felt crappy.
What felt even crappier was getting teleported back into the Partition time at the Partition museum. There was so much history there that I had forgotten, and so much that I did not know about. What was interesting and not sad was how well people could write in English. I have not read more formal letters ever before. They were so politically correct and well written.
Go visit The Partition Museum even if it isn't on your list.Here's a small poem which to me seems like a party invite from there:
The Wagh border filled me with patriotic spirit. I think the entire day was like that. We saw foreigners cross no man's land to come to India. That was really cool and I wish we could do it too. Funnily enough, Apple showed us that we were in Pakistan right until we got out of the complex.
Apple, I am not in Pakistan. Fix the glitch ASAP!For the first time, I understood the importance of flags. With Pakistan having a super large one at their gate, I wished India did too. Because the flag standing strong seemed like a sign of strength. Nothing can beat the strength of all the voices of India come together though. Compare the number of people on either side, and India easily had five times the number Pakistan did. Each side put on a great show. Women were invited to run with the flag, and had a mini dance party to pass time before the ceremony began.
With people shouting slogans, patriotic music, and a border-security-force (BSF) drummer on the top of the 'stadium' perfectly in sync with the force marching below, it was pretty incredible. I also don't know how they can shout so loudly and for so long.
The rest of the day was spent shopping. I got a bunch of dupattas for family and juthis for myself. I think we gave those shops lots of business. 20+ juthis and 16 dupattas is quite crazy - this doesn't even include all of us.
We walked on our way back around 10-10:30 pm. That was the time recommended to us by the reception and locals. We were about twenty of us walking back so that was good.
Hume koi sharam nahi hai bolne mein ki humein dar lagta haiAs it was the last night, we got together in a room to play games. With some of spyfall that Shanay asked brilliant questions in, rounds of connect, and bidding dumb charades where the girls were clear winners, we called it a night. I think we all learnt that Saumya is great at guessing, and Purav and Shanay really can do any movie by dancing. :)
Jhund mein chalo, jhund mein chalo
I hope I am not missing anything!!! If I am, you know the drill. Commenttt.
Kanksha 😀
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