Sikh temples and cows in roads

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Firstly, I'm going to try to upload some photos, so just so you know who is who:

Aussie gappers
Celia - long brown hair, going to Dar-ur-fazl in Manali
Alex - the shorter blonde girl, going to Naggar
Elyse - taller, very short sortof purplish/burgundy hair, Alex's gap partner
Tenzin - (I'd say a height, but all the guys are tall o_O) red hair, close to me in Dharamsala
Chris - the giant. Black hair. also close to me
Nick - brown hair without glasses. also close to me.

UK gappers
Felix - brown hair with glasses, with Chris. From London.
Dale - purple hair, going to Shimla. From Liverpool, and the accent really shows when he says 'goooorgeous'
Jo - my gap partner, darkdarkdark hair, from Bristol (?)
Philippa - brown hair, taller than Celia, with Celia. From Oxford.
Daisy - tall blonde girl, going to Dharamsala. Signed up about five days before leaving. From London.

Been exploring Delhi. I"m used to the pollution now, (and the bucket showers), so am very much enjoying it. Rekha, our gap rep (she's awesome) showed us a local market where we got our salwar kameezes (cheaper, but we got stared at a loooot.) Connaught place is the centre of Delhi, and really not what I was expecting -- further out, where we've been exploring, is much more what I thought it'd be like. Which is GOOD. The colours are amazing.

Autorickshaws (like tuktuks) are THE best way to get around. We're getting adept at fitting four in one...
Speaking of which, most surreal wonderful experience today -- on the way back from a park (must find out the name) there was me, Dale, Tenzin and Keke (Kekram, works for gap) in an auto. Tenzin was on Keke's lap, and Keke was singing Michael Jackson and a song from Spirit of the Stallion as we weaved our way through the traffic.

There are less beggars than I thought there would be.

Salwar kameez (tunic, pant and scarf combo) were worn today -- we've noticed that men stare at us more in them, but they're also much much MUCH more respectful towards us O__o. They also want to take photos of us. It's actually an improvement, even if the photo-taking is a bit odd.

I also got a henna tattoo (which I don't think will last very long) from a woman outside the markets.

Everyone's so nice.

We went to a Sikh temple this morning -- we had to cover our heads and take off our shoes, and someone guided us through and explained something of the Sikh religion and the colours and symbolism. Saffron head covers denote sacrifice and therefore holiness, blue victory, white purity and black sorrow. There was singing, we had to dip our feet in water to purify them before going into the temple, and we saw a room where they make free food for tens of thousands of people (on sundays, and less on weekdays). There was singing and prostrations and it was all very good. SIkhism was founded as a reaction against the caste system, so eating the food that was being made represents equality as rich eat with poor. There was also a sacred pool with huuuge catfish, where people bathe. Our guide was saying how he loves Hollywood, how Owen Wilson came there a few months ago when he was filming Darjeeling Limited, and how he'd swum in the pool.

Also had a Hindi lesson, and went to see some sites. Yesterday Rekha got a Tibetan monk in to speak to us. Lovely person. He taught us how to greet the Dalai Lama and a little about Tibetan culture.

Tomorrow we go to placements (our 14 hour bus ride starts at 5:30pm. Poor Dale gets the train to Shimla at 6am.)

Having a WONDERFUL time 😊

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Comments

[Kerry]

comment title
haha, i laughed when i read that you visited a "SIK temple"... that's sik julia, sik as! wow! sounds awesome! what colour Salwar Kameez did you buy? i hope you got a red one? or a blue....oooh how exciting!! sounds like you are having a blast!! missing you! xox

[Girik]

Delhi!
Lol, the autos are an awesome way to travel. Unfortunately, they rip off even Indians who are not from that particular. So they must definitely be taking you to places by the longest route possible. Anyway, FYI Sikhism isn't devoid of the caste system. Perhaps the Sikh Gurus shunned, but all religions in India (including Indian Muslims and Christians, not just Hindus) have some sort of caste system. It is a social and cultural phenomenon in India, not a religious one. If you don't believe me, ask some Sikhs whether they are Jaats, Khatri, Ram gharia or Rajput. They may not discriminate other castes, which fortunately is declining rapidly also for Hindus, but in terms of arranged marriage, they would only want their children to marry someone in the same caste.

[Girik Sehgal]

Question
By the way, how is the public reaction to India beating Australia in the cricket? Just curious to know :p

[Spud]

green eyed monster
Am jealous!!!!! Am happy you're having such a wonderful time...but that still doesn't stop me wishing I was there. :P