The golden temple

10.20.09

Harpreet and I left very early to catch an A/C bus to Amritsar. We got up at 5:30 and his dad drove us to the bus. It took 4 hours to get there. Harpreet had gone to school in undergrad there in Amritsar. We went to this little hole-in-the-wall place where they have this Amritsar specialty called Kulcha that you can only get there. Amritsar is the site of the main Sikh religion's pilgrimage place called the golden temple. It is where the original of their holy book is kept. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place! You walk around the periphery of this holy lake that is supposed to have healing properties, so many people take a bath in it. In the center of the lake is where the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book, is kept. They read aloud from it and sing hymns from it; the singing is accompanied by tabla drums and harmonium and is very beautiful. Someone donated bose speakers to the temple so you can hear the music from everywhere in the complex. There is a bridge to get in to see where the book is kept, and the line is crowded. I think we waited 45 min or so to get in, it was pretty warm and crowded, but the inside was beautiful, too. Lots of ornate painting and a huge chandelier. It was overall a really amazing experience!

I think the best part of the trip though was being around Harpreet's family – even though they spoke in Punjabi sometimes and I couldn’t understand everything, it just reminded me of my own family and their dynamics. His dad was explaining about their religion – he has a little temple room in their house where he reads the holy book in the morning and evening. He was explaining how the book has teachings from saints from all different religions and that it’s accepting of everyone. To name their kids, the priest flips open a page, picks a random word and the letter starting with it is the letter the name should begin with. And there are 5 main things it warns against – like pride and greed. They believe all religions are worshiping the same, one god.

The two brothers are twins and are funny. Hunny lives in Baroda and loves to take trips all around while Harpreet and Sunny stay at home and don’t go out on the weekend. But it was funny to see, their mom saying how Hunny argues with her all the time on the phone. One time he called her only to say, "I can't talk now, I'm busy." I didn’t realize she spoke English for the first day! I didn’t know she knew what I was saying, but she just didn’t feel confident speaking it, but she could fine!

Their mom and dad said the town each is from, has a mental institution so that’s why they are all mental! And they told how they lived in Delhi growing up, and then moved to Chandigarh and their dad bought the land for their row house and how he wanted it designed and how he keeps their garden. When the sons get married he will build up a level for their families. The have a mango tree, a lemon tree, eggplant, bottle gourd. But it was too cute when their mom had made their favorite Chutney with cilantro and and mint and they were so excited.

It was just nice to see them all relaxed in the evening and joking. We were eating and I was going to pass a big platter but Harpreet said, no no it’s too heavy for you. So I said, come on, I’m not some little delicate flower. His mom laughed and said, yeah we’re all fat here! I guess her sisters comment about her weight and she doesn’t like it, but it was so funny, like something we’d say at home. Hunny had been to Italy for work and was talking about the food there, and how he had tried to eat non-veg but didn’t. And his boss from Spain who just wanted to come to India to shop. He’s working in Baroda now which is in Gujarat. He noticed that I ate my paratha with only one hand, and he said, someone in Gujarat told you to eat it that way, right? And they had when I was here before! His Guju roommate had told him the same thing. His mom said you have two hands, you should eat with two hands.

Oh and his mom even had bought me a yellow salwar kameez material to have stiched! It was so nice! And I think she also checked on me while I was sleeping because I didn't put the sheet over me when going to bed, but both nights I woke up covered; so cute! They are all so nice; I really enjoyed it a lot!