Punjab

The Golden Temple

It is about 6:30am and I have already had the most amazing experience in Ameritsar. The group got up at around 3am and drove to the Golden Temple…a 10-minute drive from our hotel. The Golden Temple is the Mecca for the Sikh religion. Sikhs form the majority in Punjab. This temple is the largest and most important center for the Sikh people in the world and it is an amazing place indeed. As we drew close to the temple the sounds of worship songs and drumming filled the air with an almost magic beat. Before entering the main worship area, we removed our shoes and covered our heads (guys too). The first glimpse inside the temple was breath taking. A huge marble courtyard with a small lake in the center and two long walkways leading into a sculpted room plated with gold in the center of the lake which contained musicians seated on cushions. The music was live and blared from several huge speakers surrounding the temple. I think the atmosphere of a mosque must be similar to that of the Golden Temple. There were hundreds of men, women and children, heads shrouded in turbans and duppattas, praying, sleeping, bathing, and worshiping. I felt almost ashamed to be there because I was so obviously out of place. In spit of my misgivings, everyone seemed to accept my presence well enough.I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures there but I found these on the internet, I hope they give you an idea of the beauty and magic of the place.
Some of the other volunteers (namely an young Indian American brat named Raj) were completely disrespectful and insensitive. I could have strangled him. Taking photos of worshipers, talking and telling a Sikh man to move over so he could sit his fat a** down next to his friends…the disrespect of it made me cringe. At that point, I left the central temple and passed a thrown held by several men on my way out. Placed upon the thrown was the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh holy book), which contains the teachings of their 10 gurus (teachers). I walked to the front of the lake and sat on a marble ledge that surrounds the water, absorbing the atmosphere and watching the ceremony in peace. It was so beautiful to sit on the shores of that holy lake and watch all the people praying and walking through the golden plated structure that glowed like a shining star in the center of the water while the moon shone serenely overhead and the stars reflected in the water. When we left, the temple, I began to look more deeply at the people around me. Punjabi guys are sure good looking relative to other Indian men and they have something that resembles manners. They are tall, strong and dark with serious faces and slightly slanted eyes with an upright poster that gives them an air of authority. The Punjabi culture is intriguing and I wish that I had more time to learn about these people who worship so beautifully. If I ever married an Indian, it would be a Punjabi. I have finished my two pineapple juices that I had for breakfast and everyone else has been asleep for hours so I guess I will hit the sack. LATER All hell has broken loose with the group. Apparently, none of the trains are running due to flooding on the tracks around Chandigar so the plan is to take sumo cars back to Delhi by the cover of night. Before we head back, we will go see the changing of the guard at the Pakistani border at around 6PM. Everyone is a little panicked because we are going to have to drive through Chandigar. Chandigar is the location of a resent bus hijacking that occurred in an attempt to encourage the U.S. and Indian govt. to make a deal with Iraq about two Indian truck drivers being held hostage there (or so the story goes). I hope that it will turn out all right. I am a little angry with Joggi for demanding that I return to Delhi instead of hanging out in Punjab but he may be right, there is an air of tension about. This afternoon we went to a Hindu temple. It was all right but the Golden Temple would be impossible to beat for beauty and atmosphere. I witnessed an older man literally kicking the sh** out of a little half dead puppy covered in sores and mange. The wretched creature kept screaming in pain and the bastard that was kicking him actually laughed. It made me sick. The whole scene put me off the place. Although the Hindu temple was nice, I still felt like I should not be there and was somehow insulting to the people there. Anyways, I can feel Pakistan. Maybe that is what the tense feeling is in the air. It is like a giant hostile beast, laying in wait, ready to explode in violent aggression and blood shed at any moment. Islam is looming just over the hill with all its hatred and oppressive violence. Terrorism does indeed suck. Besides, the fact that it undermines the sensation of well being and overall assurance of safety we American take for granted and costs thousands of lives-it is damned inconvenient. You cannot trust anyone; you cannot go where you like or when you like. It is so restricting. I cannot imagine how people in Palestine or Israel have kept it up for so long. Fear is its fuel and it is not a foundationless fear by any means. The good thing about the hijacking is they are every unlikely to kill us since they already have a busload of foreign hostages. Rape and uncomfortable/unfriendly conditions are more likely. I hope that we wont have to deal with that. Wow, Punjabi guys are cute. The guy cleaning the room looks like a model. Tall, dark, lean with a muscular build and at least the ability to pretend he has manners. I hope you do not get the impression I am guy crazy. But when you are in India a guy who is tall and has manners is almost as shocking as meeting a hot pink talking monkey from Venus in Bend…so I can’t help but notice. Well, most people decided to fly back to Delhi but me and a few others are taking a chance and going in a car. All I have seen in the papers about Delhi over the past few days is floods, drowning and other unpleasant watery things. In other words, monsoon has hit with full force (according to the news paper). Hot as hell and 3 feet of water to boot..can’t be that bad right? I wish I could get into the heart of Islam, meet its people and truly understand their culture without having a 90% chance of being raped, bombed or stoned to death. It’s an interesting culture. I love the feel of ancient religion (even though Sikhism is not that old) in the Golden Temple. Mecca must be truly amazing during the Hajj. I cannot imagine how intense that would be. Maybe somehow I will experience it someday. That is all to report now. Better, go or I wont be able to stop gawking at that guy. India must be rubbing off; I am starting to stare at white people and handsome devils the same way as Indians do.