Amritsar-Vaishno Devi--DAY 1

THURSDAY, 02-04-09

Finally, Sandy's prayers were answered. A trip, which in some way, was planned a long time ago. But could not materialised because of the one of my sins-SLOTH. Frankly, I could not muster enough courage to decide whether to go or not. But finally we boarded train no-2013-AMRITSAR SHATABDI.

After hailing an auto from our place to NDLS, a commute of 45 mins spent half sleeping, we waited for the train on Platform 1, Dipak went around with his uncanny talent of bird-watching. After boarding the train and settling down in our seats, we were informed by the train PA system that it would take 5 hrs and 40 mins to reach Amritsar. After a round of snacks consisting of 4 biscuits(not enough!!!), only 1 Samosa(again not enough!!!), 1 cheese-butter sandwich(thankfully only 1!!!) and a choice between Tea or Coffee, we passed out time with music and sleep. The train departed at right time of 16:30 hrs.

In-between, we had conversations about Sandy and some coincidences, esp. those lost-smiles-on-his-face types. The mention of all coincidences again made him smile and he tried to present some weak arguments over the denials of those coincidences. I don't know when will he become more pragmatic than be lost in fantasy world. He also went into his Gluttony-mode, asking more food before time. Seeing so many laptops, I felt restless for still not able to but one. A kid behind me was making such a racket.

At around 19:45 hrs, we had our dinner comprising 2 rhombus-shaped paranthas, rice(or was it pulao??), watery Dal, Paneer Butter Masala/Chicken Preparation, pickle, curd and Vanilla Ice-cream. I slept most of the time after that, with y iPod plugged into my ears. Dipak, after failing to decipher Agatha Christie, went off to sleep too. Sandy, in his usual way, drifted in and out of slumber frequently. Somewhere()may be in the train PA system), "Jadoo hai nasha hai" was being played.

At 22:35 hrs, we reached Amritsar. We were very excited, more so, because our salaries were credited to our accounts that instant. Took an auto to Golden Temple so that a hotel in that place would mean easy trips to Jallianwala Bagh and Wagah Border too. We had already checked out some decent hotels on net, but they were quite expensive. A few names cropped up when we asked about this to a policeman. One was Archana Guest House. Price??-Rs.300. By its look, looked like a rundown place. Not worth. A Sikh guy pestered us and took us to another shady types. Everything same. He said he can get us better rooms for Rs. 400 too. Dipak said, "Enough is Enough. There is one down there. Lets check that". HOTEL GOLDEN CASTLE. Turned out to be a good place. Rent?? Rs. 600.

"Babuji, 400 ka budget tha. Aap to 600 maang rahe ho. Abhi to season bhi nahi hai".

"Betaji, hamare yahaan to hamesha full rehta hai. Chalo 500 de dena".

"Chalo na aapki na meri, 450 final".

"Oye Room ki chaabi le. Sahaab logon ko le jaa".

Fixed. Nice room. Then went out for a stroll to Golden Temple.. Here you need to cover your head with a cloth, deposit your shoes, and walk through a pit of water before entering the main premises. It was exhilarating. The view, the air, everything. Looked at the watch. It was 12 in the morning. Lightening with drizzle added up to the nice background for snaps. It started to rain heavily after sometime. So we ran into the building where Langar is served. Had a cup of "Masala" tea. Then lead by Sandy towards the Community Service, where people voluntarily wash dishes used in Langar. Stayed there for 15-20 minutes, after which went for a round of Langar food-Rotis, Kali Dal, rice and water. After roaming around for some more time in the premises, we headed back to hotel for a nice sleep.