Amritsar: Holy City of Contradiction

I met two Indian guys on the train who were visiting the Golden Temple for the weekend and offered to help me find my way. I was told that the temple offered accommodation for free, including food with a donation, so I wanted to stay there. It was difficult to figure out where, exactly, to go because there are so many Indian families crowding the area in order to worship in the area. If there aren’t any rooms left, men, women, and children sleep anywhere they can find; this includes on the balconies, in the common space near the bathrooms, and along the walkways surrounding the Golden Temple lake We, or I should actually say the guys, spent at least a half hour arguing back and forth with a few different receptionists until they finally got me into the foreigner dorm room. Everything is such a labored process here!

I finally got to take a shower and relax; I cleaned my laundry in a real washing machine (for free), updated my blog, and went for dinner. Hundreds of people file into a big room after being handed a metal bowl, plate, and spoon then sit in rows on the floor. Men quickly walk up and down the rows with buckets, ladling out rice, curry, dahl or handing out chapattis and also pouring water into the bowl for drinking. I was the only Westerner in there and anyone who noticed me (which was practically everyone) pointed and stared while tapping their friends to do the same. I wonder what they say to each other. Oh, look, a white girl. It’s like I’m a zoo animal or a rare species of bird. I sat down between a younger girl and an old woman who silently showed me the ropes and flagged down the men if I looked like I might need a refill. The younger girl even took all of my empty dishes☺ When I left the building, ecstatic women in colorful saris grabbed me and had me take photos with them; I felt a clash of emotions between pride and embarrassment.

The next morning, however, was a different story. I went for breakfast at prime time eating hours, 7:30 am (they actually serve food in 20 minute waves over 24 hours). There were so many people pushing and crowding in order to grab the few dishes remaining and race into the dining hall. Within the twenty feet from the steps to the hall, I was groped at least four times by a group of boys behind me. I turned around twice and screamed at them. I couldn’t move away or try and hit them because there was literally no room to move. I finally got away once I was through the dining hall doors and sat down against the wall and cried (just a little). We are within the walls of a very famous and sacred temple--no shoes are allowed and everyone’s head must be covered. They are providing an amazing service by feeding tens of thousands for free and yet these young men think it’s acceptable and worse yet, funny to grope a Western woman. Traveling in India alone is so difficult (it’s significantly more bearable when I’m with someone else, even if it’s another woman), harder that I could have imagined. Coming from a first world country, I’m used to living where there are rules and regulations, a sense of safety and security that I have somewhere to run to if there’s a problem—it’s not like that here. There are no rules and not always someone to help. This was the first time in my travels, or ever for that matter, that I felt like if I were to get into some sort of trouble, that no one would help. I wonder if there can be change for the poverty, pollution and abuse; the issues are so rampant and ingrained, who will bring about a transformation here? Who can start the process of stopping the corruption?

The next day, I hid either in my room, reading, or on the Internet passing the time and unwinding from the stress of Amritsar, a city that never ceases to slow down (and not in a good way). I met an older couple from the UK staying in my dorm that was going to see the boarder closing later in the afternoon. We took a taxi with four others to the Pakistan/India boarder, which was about an hour away (solely due to traffic). I shared the front seat with a German man and, after the driver waved me to get in, I asked the other guy if he could sit in the middle, instead, because I didn’t want to be next to the male driver. Good thing, because the guy had to straddle the stick shift; the driver’s hand was in the guy’s crotch the whole time! Awkward. We got to the boarder and were dropped off in the middle of mass chaos. Thousands of people go to see this event every day. We all walked right up to the boarder where there is stadium seating on both sides of the Indian/Pakistan gate, along the road which crosses the boarder. Guards are wearing a tan button up shirt and pants that are buttoned at their rib cage. They have a thick, red striped belt, as well as a black hat with a red fan down the length of their head. Their pants are wide and too short, but have another piece of white fabric stretching to the ground, like official high waters. I don’t know how, but these men kept everyone sitting throughout the ceremony--it was an amazing display of order. Both sides have their own music and chants which gives it a feel of being at a sporting event. Then, they do a procession where one man yells into a microphone; it sounds like when you’re watching a soccer match and someone scores, “Gooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllll!!!” Then, one of the officers runs at the gate, though it looks more like straight-legged power walking, and then they do a series of kicks at each other and shake hands. At the end, they lower the flags at a criss-cross and run back. It was definitely an interesting display, but it was really moving to see how many hundreds of people come together(and this is every night) to watch these two countries working together peacefully (especially with the stigma of Pakistan).

I hung around for two more days, the final night I actually sucked up my tension and stood in line to go through the Golden temple. A massive line awaits entering the temple holding food, flowers, money, and other offerings to be thrown into a central gated space where men are sitting on the floor chanting and playing instruments (drums, chimes, and bells). People are sitting around the outside of the temple watching the procession or bowing in prayer. After you give an offering, you walk out the other side of the temple and drink a handful of the holy lake that surrounds the temple where Koi fish are swimming and people bathe in at all times of the day and night. Yep, drank it; maybe I’ve been blessed now? After exiting the main temple, everyone touches the floor and the sides of the entryway and wipes their heads and hearts; I had no clue what was happening but followed suit to be respectful. After finishing the walkway back, everyone is handed a ball of brown mush to consume; it was mildly sweet, thought I had no clue what it was. I went straight to bed, after, because it was going to be an early move to the next city!