A blood-red moon was visible on a late-autumn night in the holy Sikh city of Amritsar. This moon was symbolic of everything the land of great philosophers such as Guru Nanak and Baba Waris went through 65 years ago when a line divided this land of big strong men and beautiful women on the basis of religion.
Amritsar is not as dirty as many people believe. It is a city with a very distinct character and a very friendly local populace. There is still so much of small-town India here and the warmth that comes with the real Indian soul.
It's nice to see so many Sikhs in colourful turbans. I feel for the wonderful Sikh community, which has a large number of its holy sites in what is now Pakistan. As I watched a tractor on the Pakistani side of the River Ravi and the electric fence on the Indian side of the border at Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur District, I couldn't help feel for the pilgrims who could see the Kartarpur Gurudwara, which was 3 kilometres away but now in another country.
As the Sikhs at the viewpoint fretted the impossibility of just walking across those lush green fields to pay obeisance, an eagle flew over the border into India, spent 10 seconds here and flew back. It felt like the bird was mocking the Radcliffe line that divides the proud and beautiful Punjabi race.
Amritsar is not as dirty as many people believe. It is a city with a very distinct character and a very friendly local populace. There is still so much of small-town India here and the warmth that comes with the real Indian soul.
It's nice to see so many Sikhs in colourful turbans. I feel for the wonderful Sikh community, which has a large number of its holy sites in what is now Pakistan. As I watched a tractor on the Pakistani side of the River Ravi and the electric fence on the Indian side of the border at Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur District, I couldn't help feel for the pilgrims who could see the Kartarpur Gurudwara, which was 3 kilometres away but now in another country.
As the Sikhs at the viewpoint fretted the impossibility of just walking across those lush green fields to pay obeisance, an eagle flew over the border into India, spent 10 seconds here and flew back. It felt like the bird was mocking the Radcliffe line that divides the proud and beautiful Punjabi race.
