Amritsar : Not What It Used To Be

In fact I was the only one who had been there from my family, a school trip around eight years ago. Time passed and my aunt made another visit, we planned the trip and were off to Amritsar, a day after her arrival.

Amritsar is eight hours from Delhi.

We left Delhi early morning at around 6 and reached Amritsar at about 2 pm.

We had a wondrous lunch at Brothers ka dhaba. The mango lassis were something to die for. The food was scrumptious with exceptional service, showing us the hospitality of Punjab.

After which we were off to witness Jallianwala bagh, the place where general dyer order to kill around 1000 innocents, women and children slaughtered. The date- 13 April 1919. The place had changed from the last time I visited the place it had become a museum to make it more tourist friendly, the well in which hundreds jumped and killed themselves (we would rather kill ourselves than fall at the hands of the Britishers) had been made an enclosure. A park was built all around it. The rawness and the actual feel which it had seemed to be lost.

Wagah border our next stop, the border which separates the two countries(India and Pakistan) which were once the same land and have been at war ever since its separation.

The weather turned wild just like last time but trust me wagah border is more enjoyable in stormy weather. It was not before 6 that the parade started the atmosphere was electric and so was the wind and the dirt that came along with it still nobody left. My brother tried to save himself from the stormy weather by slipping into a shallow low region but tragedy was awaiting him only to be avoided by a foot as the shed fell apart. Tragedy avoided we thanked the stars and enjoyed the parade.

The parade ended and we made our way to Golden Temple, the Last spot in our travel chronicles of Amritsar . This place is the holiest in all of Sikhism built by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh guru. It took twenty years to build construction beginning in 1585 and completing in 1604. There were a few shops added which gave it a new look but it was as magnificent as before. The best of the lot was the Langar that they served, with the courtesy they served us with showed us what Sikhism is all about.

So this concluded our journey we stayed the night soaking in the atmosphere of Amritsar heading back to Delhi in the vibrant morning that it was.