Jan 10

My first day of singledom. It had it’s ups and downs as would be expected. Some moments I found myself relieved and looking forward to the freedom that I’ve always enjoyed, the lack of responsibility, the flights of fancy; other moments, I was filled with anger and resentment, questions, and a little bit of worry. I suspect many more days will pass with this particular cocktail of emotions running through me. But, all in all it wasn’t so bad. Did very little today. I’m calling these days, work days, where I wake up, get online, take a break, get online again. That’s pretty much all I did except for walking around in search of a means of getting an airtel sim card, which failed after numerous run-ins with the brick wall of Indian bureaucracy, but in the end, Indian flexibility won and I found someone able to cut thru the tape and get me what I needed. It wasn’t cheap though, but in the long run it’ll save me quite a bit. So, other than the sights seen during my walk, the time spent at the net café with a cool young sikh who’ll share his life story with anyone, I can’t really say all that much. Maybe something will come to me a bit later. For now, I’m gonna try and get some new music on my phone, take a much needed crap, maybe a shower, and see whether I can get to sleep early tonight. I doubt it, but weirder things have happened. Would be nice maybe to chill with some peeps, but more and more I’m realizing that I probably won’t really have any significant contact with anyone till I hit the south, and most probably only in Goa, where people tend to stay longer. I'll find out soon enough.

Might take off with a guy I met here from France who seems pretty interesting, photographers working on a project about Sikhs. Seems to know quite a bit about it and has some interesting things to say. He’s headed off to some small town not too far from the Pakistani border. I don’t know if work will permit and quite honestly, I’m just tired of all the moving, constantly constantly moving. It’s hard. But I might take him up on the offer. He seems to be someone who goes off the beaten paths in search of the shots and info he needs, and might be an interesting companion for a couple days.

I’ve been talking mainly bout my daily routine, not much about the people and places I’ve seen. I guess it’s easier to just spit out fact rather than formulate opinions and make coherent and personally accurate observations. But maybe I should try that a bit here.

I had said kashmiris were a little intimidating, but seemed to be a little warmer strangely than the Indians I had met up to then, and of course these are generalizations, but that doesn’t mean Kashmiris were at all warm, just less cold. Yes, they had the whole hospitality aspect of their culture, come in, have a tea, and that’s great, but without smiles, without interest, it lacks impact. And to be honest, for the most part there was very little of the come in and have some tea there anyway. Things have been hard for them, and its infiltrated their mentalities I think but it hasn’t overshadowed them. They seem like proud people, strong people, but also serious people. Sure they laugh, but there a more serious undertone to their interactions. That seriousness also plays into the drabness of their clothing, the lack of color that seems to be representative of their farons. Only ladies, like anti-peacocks break that pattern and even then, not very often. Even their Kasmiri Chai, is salty where Indian Chai is sweet. Perhaps more pragmatic out of need, they simply feel different, with different architecture to line their streets, a different language to express their thoughts, and a different outlook to make them Kashmiri and nothing else.

In contrast, the warrior culture of Punjabi Sikhs, seems so much more docile, so much warmer, colorful, jovial, fun, charismatic. It’s strange that they used to be warriors. They seem so peaceful, so welcoming. Where is the warrior in them? What I expected from Sikhs in their home territory, is quite different from what I see around me. Even their Gurdwaras seem to exemplify openness, giving, generosity, pride. Of all the people I’ve yet met, these are by far the most approachable. I’ve asked more people here for directions than anywhere else. I’ve been touted far less than anywhere less, maybe all but Kashmir, but it’s hard to tell as it was dead season. But here, the food can be free, lodging can be free, outside the gurdwara, a man sat me down out of nowhere, said hi, told me to sit, then made tea for me and a bunch of Sikhs who had exited the temple at 11 at night. Sat us down, they got really close to me, made fun of me in Punjabi, relentlessly while I understood nothing, then upon finishing their tea, got up and left. All free. It was the first time I had seen that. Inside I would have understood, but outside seemed strange. Sure the day before I had free food in the temple, and that in and of itself is cool, thousands of people every day are offered free food. How can that be? They have gurdwaras all over the place, all free to pilgrims, of any faith open enough to be a part of it and respect the customs. It’s a beautiful thing. I can’t tell you how they can afford it, but it seems to work. They’re always laughing, telling jokes, poking fun. They seem so much more lighthearted and yet, upon first glance, the apparent stoic traditionalism represented by the turban, make them seem like serious people, after all anyone so devout as to wear something so overt has to be a serious person, no? Well, the answer should be clear to you by now.

Amritsar’s the cleanest city I’ve seen yet. There seems to be a different kind of dynamic here. Maybe the plenitude of temples means people have to respect the sanctity of the area around it, or maybe more people are hired to clean up here than elsewhere, but even the more hidden parts of the city seem much cleaner. It still has all the color of the rest of india, but it’s not drenched with urine, or covered in heaps of garbage. The streets, though just as loud seem a bit more organized, more thought out, more space, less vehicular traffic, more pedestrian priority. The turbans add a constant streak of color to the streets and the women tend to reflect that with their attire as well, something between a salwar camis and a more modern version of haute couture. Sikhs are also by far the most stylish Indians I’ve encountered. In essence, they seem to have an air of pride to them that has so far been unmatched in any other Indian cultures I’ve come across. And that pride gives them the ability to be warmer, cleaner, more generous, and more distinguished. I can’t speak for the rest of Punjab, and hopefully the smaller town of Mukstar will give me a wider perspective, but it seems to be a "better" version of India.



I have to go back and spend some time in the presence of the temple itself tomorrow. I hope it’s not so cold, and I hope my cold is better cause it’s a pain in the ass to have to chase the liquids running from my nose all day long. I have no idea where the liquids are coming from cause I’ve been drinking so little lately. My kidneys can’t be very happy with me.