Day 2

JUNE 16, Monday

So after a decent nap we had to leave for Amritsar today. So woke up by 5.30 AM and got ready by 6 and left for the train , New Delhi – Amritsar Shatabdhi, was scheduled to leave New Delhi at 7.20 AM. Now the journey from Delhi to Amritsar is about 450KM and the scheduled arrival time was 13.25 implying the train would cover around 450 km in 6 hours which roughly comes to an average speed of 75Kmph and trust me it is fast. To give u a better idea the first stop after delhi was AMBALA cannt which is around 200kms away. With just 5 stops till Amritsar the train was really a wonderful experience esp because of the wonderful breakfast, coffee, juice thy served on the coach. It was a great feeling seeing all the lesser trains bow out of the way when we passed them like a blitzkrieg and the route was also great. The bridge over beas river and the adjacent station is something to behold.
So alls good nd we reached Amritsar by 13.30. Then we fit into a few scorpios and went off to the hotel. This was the first time I got a glimpse of Amritsar nd it wasn’t cool …. Esp the area arnd the golden temple ,where our hotel was , was a labyrinth with roads nt wider than 10 ft !!! the best part was the driver lowered the glass nd gave a few coins to the traffic police standin thr nd whn I asked him he said somthin in the typical punjabi accent (which is something lik Coimbatore tamil or thrissur malayalam ) which I understood as “ yeh one way hain …. Isliye dena padhtahain” …. So its lik a toll for breakin the rule…. Gr8!!! So reached the hotel… washed up nd went dwn for lunch… then our guide gav us 30 mins to get all set and we had to proceed to Wagha border in attari. But before that jst adjacent to the golden temple is a monument which all Indians at some point should visit. The story of the jallianwala bagh massacre will giv the chills to any Indian. The only entrance which was about half the width of our hostel corridors and the place whr gen.Dyer stationed his troops; the well where all the people jumped into to tak cover from bullets and like the ghost of the past the bullet marks on the walls…
So after rediscovering the spirit of the freedom struggle we went to wagha border and it was nothing like I imagined. I could literally c wht “ all roads lead to rome meant” cos in the highway both lanes were full with vehicles goin up. The retreat ceremony at the border starts at 6 PM and we were tld that ppl would gather from about 2 or 3 pm to get early seats. Whn we reached the place the atmosphere was great!!!! Nd for a routine exercise it was a hell a lot of people. All the galleries were full with young children and Punjabi girls dancing to the tunes of vande mataram ( rahman version) , phir bhi dil hain Hindustani and many other bollywood numbers which was interspersed with the jawans shouting slogans of “ vande mataram “ , “ Hindustan zindabad “ with all passion and vigor that would make any indian fill up with pride.
Then at 6 the perfectly choreographed and synchronized retreat ceremony started. Swift steps in between some very authoritative stamps made the ceremony a wonderful sight to behold. The hand gestures including the thumbs down to the Pakistani soldiers which was designed to convey contempt was accompanied by cheers and slogans from both side. It was like a comic relief among the tensions between the borders.So after the ceremony we started to make a move bak in spite of the bright lit sky , at arnd 7.30 PM , tryin to fool us.
En route we took a slight deviation form the main road to visit the ATTARI RAILWAY STATION. The border station or the last station in INDIA was very thrilling experience. This is where the samjhautha express to Lahore get the customs check done when it was in service. The schedule was put up. But now the station looked lifeless and sad…. Hmmmm…..
Then we returned to Amritsar and had our dinner. Nice rotis , palak paneer som Punjabi dish and a lovely dessert meant I didn’t have it in me to get up and go to the golden temple which I could c from my hotel room. So after a lot of persuasion we left at around 9.30 or 10 to the temple which would close at around 11.30. It was wonderful at night … the lights around giving the structure at the center of the pool a distinctive glitter. So after standing in the Q for abt 45 mins we went into the sanctorum and cam bak thinking wht was the fuss all about … its just a book!!!!
The day had been one of the hardest considering all the emotions that I had been through. Right from a sense of speed and comfort ( ironically courtesy INDIAN RAILWAYS) followed by appall in the congested Amritsar then to a sense of INDAIN spirit from jallianwala bagh and the attari/ wagha border to the tranquility of mind at the golden temple. A long day and I retired by around 12 to the comfort of the hotel room just to find out the itinerary next day is goin to give me little respite and I better cherish the few hours of sleep I am given….