Intern Excusion to Amritsar

On 10 July, Mrs. Singh offered the intern and volunteer cohort (Me, Chelsea, Jeevan, Jill, Hannah, and Virginia) a chance to visit Amritsar. We were all excited to go for the opportunity to see a city of such historic significance with some of the most impressive sites in India. We took a train early Saturday morning and reached Amritsar by the late afternoon. Mr. Anant Ram went along with us and we stayed at a guest house being run by the General's brother, Mr. Bubble. The accommodations and food were wonderful and we had a blast getting to know Mr. Bubble and his wife. We were in Amritsar during the consolation World Cup match between Germany and Uruguay and stayed up late watching the game with Mr. Bubble.



The evening we arrived, we went to the Wagah Border where the Singhs were able to arrange some seats for us. The Wagah Boarder is the only road border between India and Pakistan. Each night there is a traditional lowering of the flags ceremony in addition to a parade by Indian and Pakistani border patrol officers. We were all fascinated by not only the parade and ceremony, but also by the large gathering and energy of the crowd on both sides of the border. Wagah Border was an interesting and enjoyable experience. I loved every minute from the disciplined marches and rituals the guards showcased to the energetic crowd pridefully shouting in response to the intercome "Vande MATARAM" and then "Hindustan ZINDABAD".



At night we had our first visit to one of the most famous destinations in India, the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib, a Gurudwara, which is a religious place for the Sikh religion). The temple was easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; the entire group was deeply impressed by how the lit temple looked in the middle of the surrounding water. We walked around the area with Mrs Singh and she took us inside while explaining some of the significance of the Golden Temple and Gurudwaras.



The next morning we went back to the Golden Temple, which was a completely different, although equally amazing, experience. Both times the Temple was packed with people coming primarily for worship. In the morning we spent more time inside the Temple and saw and learned more about Sikh practices and traditions. We were fortunate to have seen the Golden Temple both in the morning and the night.



In the afternoon we went to Jalianwalla Bhag, which is the memorial for the massacre of a peaceful gathering in Punjab back in 1919 when 50 British soldiers opened fire on between 1,500 and 2,000 Indian civilians-- one of the worst massacres of a peaceful gathering in world history. It was haunting to see the location in its present day-- bullet holes in walls brought a sense of realism to the independence struggle faced in the early to mid 20th century.



After visiting the memorial, we spent our last moments before our train ride home wandering in the nearby markets and then ate at Brothers Dhaba, which was great food to say the least.

Our two day trip to Amritsar was an amazing experience-- Amristar is now easily one of my favorite places in India. The trip was full of enjoyable company and the best possible sight-seeing. We are all very thankful to the Bubble's, who were our gracious hosts and the Singhs for planning this opportunity for us to come see this great city.


--Suneil