To the Golden land and back...

There has been so much mention of our trip in everyone’s blog that I really don’t need to talk about it. And I wouldn’t be doing it if I weren’t missing the place so much (surprisingly enough!). Yeah, Amritsar reminded me of Alwar, and probably that’s why it keeps flashing in front of my eyes even after a whole week.

The small galis with the hustle bustle of a busy city, and yet the peacefulness I miss so much in the Delhi-NOIDA kind metropolitans. I had heard that every city has an aura of its own. And though I have been to many places (courtesy my Dad who is a travelling freak) …. I was very young when I visited most of them. And all I remember is being to a whole lot of hill stations. My Dad doesn’t seem to get tired of hill stations and all of them look the same!

So, when we entered the city of Amritsar, I experienced that strange uniqueness of a city for, practically, the first time. Right from the old rickshaws to small halwai shops and narrow lanes, the city was full of “Punjabi-ness”. And the most adorable part about the city was small Sikh children. They are the cutest kids I have seen till date!

Why Amritsar reminded me of Alwar I don’t know. Probably the same small-city-charm. Striking similarities, but nothing uncommon. Every other small city of India is like that.
Take for example, pigs!
Dirty pigs strolling lazily around in markets and garbage places or lying in a drain. A sight I was used to when I was living in Alwar, and after that, Amritsar. Funny that watching pigs can excite someone as it excited me!

The small city charm can be the only explanation.

The best part of our stay in Amritsar was the half an hour that we spent walking towards the Golden temple standing in the middle of the sacred kund. The beautiful ardas (Punjabi bhajans) that were playing there took me straight to the heaven and back! I was so lost in them that about thrice the line went ahead and I was pushed by people behind me to move forward. It’s like you are automatically connected to God when you step in the premises of the Golden temple. It’s heavenly!

Let me not get into explaining what it was like standing at Wagah border because it isn’t something that I will be able to put in words. Can just say that the feeling was out of the world!!!

As the day ended, we came back to the hotel and after a few precious heart to heart exchanges of thoughts and feelings…..we called it a day.
A well planned, well executed and a will-always-remain-in-heart kind of a trip.