Home » India » June 19th: Amritsar

I titled this travelogue "Open Wide" because I wanted to focus on the necessity of keeping an open mind while travelling in foreign cultures. I've decided that it should probably be renamed to reflect the reality I am living. I can't yet decide what its new title should be, but I have decided to share with you that I am simply one large hypocrite and a bad person. Maybe that's too dramatic, but I hope I've caught your attention, as this will be an honest reflection of another reality of travel.

June 19th: Amritsar

Esilbert
2006-01-19 13:29:03

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I titled this travelogue "Open Wide" because I wanted to focus on the necessity of keeping an open mind while travelling in foreign cultures. I've decided that it should probably be renamed to reflect the reality I am living. I can't yet decide what its new title should be, but I have decided to share with you that I am simply one large hypocrite and a bad person. Maybe that's too dramatic, but I hope I've caught your attention, as this will be an honest reflection of another reality of travel.

The first thing I learned to do here was push my 'off' button, put on my blinders and ignore. That runs contrary to everything I set out to do. I ignore beggars, rickshaw wallahs, smells, sounds and unpleasant sights.

Today I arrived in Amritsar after four days in Chandigarh and Shimla. After arriving at the bus stand of my luxury (hah!) bus, and solving a minor emergency (sample exchange: 'rickshaw madam? madam rickshaw?', 'toilet?', 'rickshaw', 'toilet!', 'hotel?', 'toilet!', 'rooms full no toilet', 'just toilet', 'toilet?', 'toilet!', 'achya. okay. upstairs.'), I headed to the Golden Temple. Checking my bag and shoes, I covered my head, washed my feet and walked into the complex. Everything was so white, save for the gold of the temple that it seemed like the Taj Mahal, so clean and peaceful. I sat down and watched people bathe in the Amrit Sarowar and then made my way to the walkway of the golden temple itself. A Sikh man in a beautiful indigo turban came up to me and said, "Hello, sister,"

Caught off guard, I mumbled hello, but I don't think I seemed too friendly, as he quickly left. My first thought was, "What do you want to sell me?" As he walked away, I realized he had just wanted to chat, and I blanched in shame, matching the marble in its whiteness, though not ...