Thoughts on the Golden Temple

Back when it was Ganesha Chaturthi, I had wanted to write a post tentatively titled "Why do all these white people want to see pujas?" (This I overheard one desi visiting fac say to another while three of us pasty-style visiting fac were getting ready to go pandal-visiting.)

When I told people I was going to Amritsar, the most common follow-up was "why?"

Of course they knew there was this famous temple in Amritsar. "Then go for a day," they told me. "You can walk through the Golden Temple in an hour and then leave."

Keeping in mind that I did become sick -- very sick -- in Amritsar, and that the last half of my stay there was spent in a hotel room watching the entire "Ross and Emily" arc on Friends, perhaps the people who told me I shouldn't have gone to the city had a point.

But I wouldn't give the three days I spent at the Golden Temple back for anything. You don't "walk through" a place like that in an hour.

I grew up in a very small, very white Midwestern town. We had church. We had plenty of church. One of my high school jobs was church organist/choral accompanist. I was an "every-Sunday" kind of gal.

And yet I couldn't help but notice what I felt to be an absence of spirituality at these churches -- or, at least, the kind of spirituality I felt like I needed in my own life. At my Midwestern church, there was plenty of warmth, plenty of friendship and kind words and smiling. But there wasn't a sense of the divine presence among us. "When two or three gather in My name, I am there," as the quotation goes. Perhaps, and certainly a force may have been watching us and loving us and cracking a wry smile, but for me it was Sunday after Sunday of sermons punctuated with jokes and flickering PowerPoint images featuring clip art a decade old.

To wit: I came from a church where on Christmas, our minister distributed blueberry mini-muffins for Communion and, in lieu of a sermon, told a story about an angel who wanted to learn how to tap-dance.

And so I got on a train bound for Amritsar and one of the holiest, most sacred places in the world.

Why Amritsar and not, say, Tirupathi? In part because I knew the Golden Temple would take me in. One of the tenets of Sikhism is that their sacred centers are open to people of all faiths. And, when I was there, not only was I "taken in," but I was also taken care of. I was welcomed, invited to eat in the langar hall, allowed to sit for hours and listen to the kirtan, even allowed to sleep. (And, when the time came for the temple's thrice-daily cleaning, I was, along with everyone else, handed a bucket and shown what to do.)

Did I "find spirituality" at the Golden Temple? I think it was one of the sorts of things where a person goes to a place to remember what she already knows. That is to say, being there and being invited to meditate on the name of the Lord reminded me again of the necessity of connecting to the larger sense of faith, to what one might call the Divine, the Universal Connector, the Ultimate Source, which may or may not be our idealized human-faced God but is a definite something.

The Golden Temple was a place I was truly sad to leave. I don't know if I will ever be in that kind of presence again, in my lifetime. And -- despite the complications of the rest of Amritsar -- I am so glad I was able to make the journey.

Golden Temple Pictures

In lieu of a more substantial post, I'll share some pictures of the Golden Temple.

As I learned in Delhi, the Nishan Sahib is quite large. ^__^

The langar hall, a free kitchen that is open 24/7. It is a place where people of all faiths and classes are invited to share a meal together.

The Harmandir Sahib (that is, the Golden Temple itself), in the center of Amrit Sarovar.

Pilgrims and travelers circling the sarovar. I'm tucked away in a shady area. I spent nearly three days sitting in various places like this around the temple complex, sitting and watching and resting and listening.

Another image from my anterior/interior position. ^__^

Blue Is... Feeling Better!

After nearly four days of rest and way too many episodes of Friends and Seinfeld on StarVision (and the realization that although Friends is a really stupid show which deserves all of its criticism, it actually has some pretty good one-liners), I am feeling back to my old self.

Just in time for Diwali and fireworks. (Blue likes fireworks.)

Happy Diwali everybody!

Jab Me With A Spoon

So. Jab We Met.

Well, let's put it this way. There was one thing I really liked about the film. (I try to be a positive person, whenever I can.)

I liked that the Bollyworld they created for Jab We Met actually resembled the India in which I've been traveling for the past three-odd months. When I've seen other Bollywood films on this trip, I've always had to crack a smile at their idealizations of this pretty, pretty country. I would look at the images on the screen (the opening song in Laaga Chunnari Mein Daag, for example) and think "where's that place? I'd like to visit that part of India."

But when I was watching the first hour of Jab We Met, I could finally say "Yeah -- definitely been there."

As for the rest of the film? Oh... let's say it was so boring that I sat during the second half mentally planning syllabi for next semester. And then caught myself doing it.

Oh, and that last dance number is just creepy.

Things that Make Me Smile

Someone has stuck a "Vote Jindal" sticker to the lid of the toilet in my hotel room. ^__^

Famous Amritsari Pictures!

I actually have several very nice pictures of the Golden Temple. Unfortunately, this internet is very slow at uploading pictures. (Not to mention that it won't let me rotate them, and I would hate to show you a bunch of upside-down pictures.)

So I'll just give you one, to prove that I am still alive an' kicking.

I have been very surprised at the number of people (usually young girls) who want to take their picture with me. In Lal Bagh, at Mysore Palace, and now here. I suppose my face will be gracing countless university hostel-room bulletin boards. At any rate, here I am, surrounded by admirers. ^__^

(Note to my hosts in Bangalore: yes, that is the salwar you gifted me. The tailoring turned out great!)

Blue is Not Alone (in being food poisoned, that is)

So I'm in my hotel -- and first of all I have to give a shout-out to the hotel staff for taking such good care of me; checking on me every hour to make sure I'm okay, etc. -- and there's a knock at the door.

It's an elderly gentleman from the U.K. who is here on a pilgrimage. He's also come to check to see how I'm doing.

Then he tells me that his son is also food poisoned. He also gives me a piece of advice: eat only at the Golden Temple. "It's only you young people who try eating at the local dhabas," he said.

I have no problem with that. Of course, first I have to want to eat food again. ^__^

Blue Is... Food Poisoned.

Threw up six times today, nearly every hour on the hour. (Actually, it was every hour on the 0:50, so I missed half the endings of the 90's sitcoms that they show on StarWorld.)

Famous Amritsari kulchas, indeed!

Finally I got taken to the doctor (the hotel staff here is lovely) and got a steroid shot into my arm to stop the vomiting. Also some Punjabi-style Gatorade, which tastes... worse than the vomit.

I want a t-shirt that says "I survived the Punjab." Someone who has access to CafePress, if you put one together I'll send you my credit card number. ^__^

A Quick Story

I have lots to write about (haven't even finished telling about my Delhi adventure yet) but will keep this short.

Still... healing. Slept about 16 hours when I arrived and close to 20 hours yesterday.

Some of those hours were spent sleeping actually at the Golden Temple. I sat down in the shade to listen to the kirtan and...

And I was woken up about 90 minutes later by a crowd of women standing over me and arguing over whether or not they should wake me up. ^__^

Being Sick in Amritsar

When this trip is over, I'm going to make a tally. A sort of "how much money spent on hotels, how much money spent on transport, etc."

On this list I should include "how many days spent being sick."

When I was in Bangalore, I spent about half my stay there taking rest; my hosts and I both agreed that I was probably reacting to all of the pollution.

Delhi is... oh, I don't know... about 5 times as polluted. And filthy.

And Blue is... well... down for the count once again.

At least the hotel room is nice, this time. And the on-staff doctor assured me it was nothing serious. (And it isn't -- just another one of those nameless "upper respiratory infections" people get.)

So I'm hopped up on Indian drugs, and enjoying the view.

More to come later, since this internet costs 2x what it does in Delhi.

Blue is tired....

Delhi's taken both the piss and the vinegar out of me.

And, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm getting tired of being a tourist. The novelty of paying money to look at things has worn off. ^__^

I've got two more weeks in India. Part of the time includes a trip to Amritsar, which is worrying my parents because of its proximity to Pakistan. I don't think it's any more dangerous than any other city, not really.

Right now, watching the news in my hotel room, the two least safe cities in India seem to be Bangalore (at least they're hyping the whole "BJP Karnataka" thing on TV), and then Hyderabad, which is getting deluged by rain almost to the breaking point. And I've been in both of them already.

But throw in your verdict. How foolhardy am I being?

One More Adventure

I'm off to Delhi tomorrow. Then from Delhi to Amritsar, and from Amritsar on a 36-hour haul back to Hyderabad (thank goodness I upgraded the trains, right?), and then a few days of rest and I fly home.

My US suitcase is all packed and stowed away. All I'm carrying with me now is a small bag with a few blue salwars and a half-finished copy of Midnight's Children.

And, of course, my tiffin carrier, which is bursting with fruit and nuts to eat on the train.

The hotel in which I'm staying in Delhi purports a computer lab, so I will post when I can. I've heard there's a "History of the Toilet" museum in Delhi which must be explored and blogged about. ^__^

And one more request for help from all of you, Dear Readers: where can I go to find a cheap, safe hotel in Amritsar? I've made a booking already at a hotel that's Rs 1500/night because I couldn't find anything cheaper online... but wouldn't mind downgrading the hotel, particularly because I upgraded the trains. (In Hyderabad and Mysore and Delhi I've had great success in the Rs 500 range.)

Anyway. Next time I catch you, I'll be in the "untamed north." ^__^

See you soon!