Thurst-day in India

That's right! A couple of us from the office decided that it was time to break loose, get some drinks, and do some good ol' booty shakin' in true Indian fashion.

(Sushmita, me, Pallavi, Mrinalika, & Sweta...oh, oh, and don't forget the random dude in the background)

We played this random game, where you put a piece of napkin on a glass of beer with a coin in the middle and you start making holes in the napkin trying to not let the coin fall in the beer. When the coin falls in the glass, you chug the beer with all the ash and the coin at the bottom of the glass.

...and Sush lost!

India - Pakistan Dance Off

That's right! Imagine a dance off between two of the world's nuclear powers wouldn't that be nice....

After we had an amazing time at the Golden Temple we made our way to the Wagah Border, which is the only border crossing India and Pakistan. I don't think I can speak of the experience...the video will do the rest

Amritsar (Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ, Hindi: अमृतसर)

I made it Amritsar on Friday. Amritsar is located in the northwest of India in the State of Punjab. It is home to the Golden Temple, and is the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion. This important sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal in Agra and is the number one destination for non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India.

We (Heather, James, Megan, Tim & myself) took the Shatabdi Express train from Delhi. The train ride was comfortable; this was my first time on an Indian train. They kept serving us food on the train - I think we must've gotten some sort of an eatable treat every hour and a half or so.

Like many countries, India also has a railway community - people that are permanent residents of railway stations all over India. For this community, the station is much more than a transit point, a final destination; it is home. My pictures below don't do the real scenery a justice. This reminded me of one of my all-time favorite movies Youssef Chahine's Cairo Station (Bab al-Hadid - باب الحديد).

We made it into Amritsar pretty late, around 1:30am or so. So, we went straight to our hotel, which was conveniently located a few blocks from the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib). Outside of our hotel:

Above a typical merchant's house - the architectural integrety is still intact, but the house is fairly run-down and is now, from what I saw, is used as a community house.

On Saturday morning after grabbing a quick bite to eat, we made our way to the Golden Temple.

(My breakfast)

I remember reading about the Golden Temple - the most culturally and religiously significant shrine of Sikhism.

The Golden Temple is absolutely magnificent and not just in an aesthetic way, but I think what fascinated me the most was how representative if a continuum of life.

Some devotees believe that their visit to the temple remains incomplete without bathing at this spot. So, it has become a custom to stop and bath here for any kind of healing.