The Blessing!

Marrying a Sikh, visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar, seemed the most obvious thing. But for some reason or another, from its too hot it's too cold, we can't take off from work just yet... It took me three and a half years post marriage to visit.

I believe that there is always a calling from a place of worship. You go when you need it the most. And it calls you when you need it the most too.

So on the 9th of July the whole family and a few family friends took a train to Amritsar from Jaipur.

Amritsar is a typical Punjab town. Quaint and almost village like. The little shops selling jutis and suits and bangles... Really felt like a tourist!!

 And the food... Don't get me started on the food..... Wow!!! The parathas and the chicken and even the daal tastes like something else. The masalas they use... The amount of ghee in everything... Hmmmm!!!

The other thing we wanted to do in Amritsar and I recommend most people should do is the Wagah Border. One of the few borders between Pakistan and India where there is a guard change ritual that takes place every evening.

It was crowded as hell. Full of villagers from everywhere!!!!! Free tourist spot... What do you expect!!!! But no really, massive crowd. Once we got some space to sit after a lot of pushing and fighting!!!

The show began.

At first they let girls hold these huge Indian flags and run to the border line, while girls from the Pakistan side do the same! God alone knows what got into me, maybe my patriotic sensibilities!!! But I went down for the run... Thankfully by the time I made up my mind to go down and run I had time only for a photograph with the flag!!! (yes... me and running don't usually get along!!!!!)

Then they played every filmy patriotic song that there is and all the girls and women from literally all over the country and a few foreigners too danced for like the longest time... Me included!!! I had such a blast... It was so not me that I think I enjoyed it more! Usually I would have been sitting in a corner complaining about the crowd and the heat... But for some reason I decided to just let go!!!

The actual ceremony of the guards was very cool. Watching our soldiers perform against the opposing ones.... it gives you goosebumps.... a certain thrill..... I loved it!!!! damn near had tears in my eyes..... OK fine I had tears in my eyes!!!

Lucky for us, our hotel was literally a two minute walk from the temple. So we could go visit as many times as we wanted to.

The first sight of the temple is mind blowing......something you can't ever forget.

The beautiful white marble structure with the golden top, the lake with huge fish in it...

Wow!!!

The silence and yet the crowds.... As opposed to most places of worship, this one was devoid of people pushing you to get to the end of the line and rushing you to finish praying before you've even begun.

You could take your time walking around the temple and inside, praying. It was one of the most serene experiences I've ever had.

But the best was yet to come....

Visiting the temple at 3:00 in the morning. That's when they carry the Guru Granth Saheb from one room into the main temple. Before which they wash the whole temple with milk.

So it was here at this peaceful time at night that we were taking a walk around the main temple, when for some reason I just wanted to sit there. Again this is very unusual for me since I'm not a very religious person, but I had been praying for a baby for a while now, and something made me just sit there because I knew right there that it had happened.

I didn't calculate my dates or any such thing, but instinctively I just knew.... And I wanted to sit there and say thanks.

I didn't tell anyone, not even my husband. I wanted to be sure.. A hundred percent sure...This was something too special... too personal and I wanted it too bad to take the chance of telling without knowing for sure!

 So I said thanks for my blessings and left.

The train ride home I was all in flutters....from  being extra careful with climbing up to the last bed and eating very little of the super tasty but masala laden food!

We reached home at 6:00 in the morning of the 13th and  I couldn't wait to take the test. Luckily I had a home test... that 5 minute wait is probably the longest wait in the whole world.... but that result was well worth the wait....

Positive!