Golden temple by day

The previous post on this series is here..

We got up early in the morning and went back to the Golden temple. The tour guide said that if we go early enough walking bare feet on the roads and in the temple will be easy on the feet. The kids co-operated and got ready early. 

The previous night we had visited the golden temple and on our way out had a late dinner at a Dhaba right outside the temple. Let's just say that everything was "extra buttered" and extremely delicious. It was a miracle we got up in the morning at all after all that food. 

Golden temple by day is as magnificent as it is by night. There was a one hour wait to go to the inner sanctum, even early in the morning. We stood in line, said a prayer and came out. Then we walked around the entire temple, sat there to gather in the vibe of the place and that was that!

Here are some of the pictures that made it interesting for us. Will always cherish this pic of me and San as well as this one of the ladies walking out. They were already tired as it was getting pretty hot. Amritsar in summer is hot!

The little one looked sooo cute with a head scarf that I kept calling her "bittu". All the shop keepers there were calling her bittu! 

The rest of the photos are on a slideshow here..

We also got to go do some shopping at the stores that line up the walkway to the temple..

The next stop for the morning was the Jalianwalah bhag memorial which is right at the edge of the golden temple. . .

Golden temple by night

After visiting the Wagah border we drove straight to the Golden temple. We were told that the temple is open 24 hours a day and the view is mesmerizing at night. 

There were hundreds of pictures from the one hour spent in the temple that night.. but these three are my favorites. They go first!

We were not disappointed. Walking in through the cleanly swept roads was in itself an amazing experience. The cute statues gave the MIL and Jr. some ideas..

It was almost 9 PM when we got to the temple. The minute you see the temple from the entrance, it takes your breath away! We also got to walk past "appu bakers" and were giving the little one a hard time with jokes about her baking and staring a store there. 

There was a long line and the wait to go to the inner sanctum was more than an hour. So we took pictures and walked the outside perimeter. The standing in line would have to wait for early morning.

We got to see the temple again, bright and early the next morning. . . 

A line drawn...

As a kid, I would sometimes wish that India was never partitioned by the British. It was their ultimate victory even when leaving India. When so many calories are spent fighting what was your own, it seemed stupid that just because some british guy decided to draw a line on a map, a country gets torn apart for the foreseeable future. Then there was the much anticipated India Pakistan cricket matches and that seemed to be the only plus point for having Pakistan. That was the kid in me..

This time we actually got to see the India Pakistan border at Wagah on the Amritsar trip.

It was quite an experience. Given our US passports, we got to go sit with all the foreigners, which gives you an interesting perspective. We made up for part of the few brown and black people in a sea of white faces on that section. The rest of the gallery was full. 

The changing of the guard ceremony was what we had gone to watch. It was a rehearsed display by the Border Security Force of India and their Pakistani counterparts. We waited for 2 hours in the heat for the ceremony. Given the soldiers were dressed even more than we were and were sweating it out, we used that as motivation to sit and watch the proceedings. 

The flags were brought down, handshakes were in display but so was all the dramatic signs of agression from either side as part of the ceremony. The crowds on either side did not make me comfortable either. There were chants of "down with Pakistan" from the crowd which I thought was uncalled for. There was also the competition to see whose loud speakers could drown out the other side which made your ears hurt. This went on for a full hour. 

It would be great to have pin drop silence with thousands of people on either side of the border stand quietly in solidarity. A large group of silent people always puts things in a different perspective than a loud jeering crowd. 

At the end of the ceremony, it started drizzling and there was a mad dash for the exits and parking lots. Just before leaving, I caught a dove that came and sat right on the flag. It was touching and also ironic that the tension is so high and it takes very little for it to flare up. 

Every country should be proud of its defense forces. You do get goosebumps watching parts of this and seeing what folks sacrificed and continue to sacrifice. Peace is a better option is the only bitter thought that kept rushing back.

Turn the volume low before playing this.. 

On the way back we stopped by a Dhaba for some maggi noodles and tea.

It was perfect for the clammy weather. Kept thinking "how do you get the average person to love and not hate? How do you make folks realize that the other side is not much different?". Did not have very many answers. For one, you cannot force people to do Yoga or breathing. That would help calm folks down, but there has to be a willingness that comes from within. 

It was definitely quite an experience and would recommend this to desi folks in US who are trying to explain the "India-Pakistan" divide to their kids. Expect 20 questions.. or 200 and be prepared and do the right thing and focus on love being the answer.

We went back towards Amritsar for a night visit to the Golden temple.

The Yellow Chilli next to Pathanjali...

On the recent India trip, we visited Amritsar for two days. It is a family deal now that we do a trip within a trip to go see a place that the four of us have never been to within India. This breaks the monotony of visiting the same relatives on a tight schedule in Chennai and Mumbai and flying back. It also gets us to interact with family in a "non-home" setting in India. 

This time it was Amritsar with my in-laws. As soon as we landed at the airport, the tour guide/ driver took us to the hotel which was 15 minutes from the airport. We checked in and the plan was to go to the Wagah border right away with a quick stop for lunch. 

For some reason, he decided that we should go to an upscale "bar" type place. Why, we dont know.. maybe he had a deal with the place. So we went to "The Yellow Chilli". It had Sanjeev Kapoors face everywhere and the ambience was definitely not a "family restaurant" one, but a couples place to get drunk. We were definitely the only family there and there were no kids in the place.

I amused myself by looking at the Pathanjali "super store" next to the restaurant. I did not know there were stores like this. Over the last year, have become a big fan of Pathanjali shampoos. Rate them highly right along Loccitane! I digress. Pathanjali products are great, but this post is about The Yellow CHilli. 

Once the menu items showed up at our table, we really didn't care what the restaurants customer base was. We were hungry and the food looked and tasted great!

Every item was better than the previous one or so it seemed. Then came the final dessert. This thing was downright divine! The hot/cold combination was amazing.

The video says it all..

We gupled the thing down and were off on a drive to the Wagah border. We also told our driver, "this was good.. but next time.. dhaba ka khana!"

By love, for love, of love..

It takes a lot of courage to jump into a home remodeling project, especially if you have gone through it thrice already over the years. 

We decided last year to remodel and get the girls their own bedrooms. Their bunk bedding days were clearly over. We also wanted an open layout and have a backyard we would spend time in. So we took the plunge and started the project. 

We lived in one part of the house (read two rooms and a bathroom with no kitchen) and managed it with a lot of sacrifice from San, the kids, MIL who visited us. We also had help from our neighbors and friends who understood what we were going through.

I made 9 trips to Asia during the time of this remodel and that did not make it any easier for the family, but we pulled through. 

Every day, we would do "inspection" when I got home from work and take pictures on my iPhone. The family would go to the forbidden side and see what changed during the course of the day!

There were more than 2500 pictures in this sequence. I took a select few and have made a video out of it.. have also included a few random pictures as time markers on things that still happened while all this was going on. . . 

and now that we have a final permit and things are done except for decorating the house... this video got made!

Here is a picture of San "doing the official milk boiling to intiate the new house". Brought back memories of a different time from 11 years ago.. 

I think I am done with remodeling. This is "IT".

Then again, wife and kids laugh at me when I say something like this. 

On the bright side, there will be no more fighting between the ladies for closet space, no more "you took my shampoo" fights when said shampoo is same bottle same brand same size in same bathroom, "you are in my space" fights, etc. etc. 

One can always hope! 

The best part was that we were a happy family in one room. When we all spread out after the house was done, there is more space, but more distance between people. It was a great experience to live in one room for those months!