Paranthas and Partition: Amritsar

Introduction

Set at the border of India and Pakistan, Amritsar is a picturesque place perfect for food and clothes. Its markets are peaceful and serene yet bustling with trade and liveliness. This is my trip to Amritsar, or as a foodie like me would like to call it, the paradise of food.

Day 1
We reached amritsar at around 2 in the afternoon and instead of heading straight to the hotel, we drove to Wagah border; A place where the two countries forget their enmity and come together for a show of flags and power.

The Flag makes it’s way around the arena

The ceremony starts

India and Pakistan

The pudency , however was, that despite India being a secular country, every time a muslim woman or man joined the show from the Indian side, there were loud hoots. It shouldn’t be such a big thing in india, which is a secular country.

As weird as it may sound, I felt that people were displaying a fake sense of patriotism there. What happens to these patriots when it comes to trying to mend relations between the two countries? What happens to them when it comes to keeping their country clean? While shouting slogans for their own country, India, people were fighting among themselves. What a shame.

After waiting for an hour and enduring constant shouts from fellow audience members to other members for sitting down, the gates finally opened. It was baffling for me to see both India and Pakistan within 100 meters from me. The Indian side was of different colors while the other side was mostly white and black. Women in black Hijabs and men in white Izars and Imams. This was what in my opinion, reflected the differences of both the countries. The BSF jawans marched and carried out the whole ceremony. The ceremony ended and we left the premises. However, I would definitely recommend one to get access to VIP passes instead of the general stands because there is no view like the one just beside the gate, from the VIP stands.
We stayed at city park hotel which was at the perfect walking distance from the places we wanted to visit.

At night, after coming to the hotel, we explored the Market nearby. It’s a great place for taking pictures. This market is a recent development. It reminded me of european pedestrian zones. No cars, only shops and pedestrians. The walls were painted with murals. Some of the walls were beautiful grills. The streetlights were beautiful which as mentioned earlier made this a very picturesque location.

All major destinations like Jallianwala Bagh and Golden Temple were of walking distance from our hotel. The whole path in between was a bustling market called ‘Golden Temple Market’ with hawkers and peddlers at every step selling suits, jutis and led flyers. The sky was ablaze with red, blue and green flyers along with stars that resulted in an enjoyable patina all around. The beauty of the market cannot be described in words, so I’ll leave it to your eyes.

img src: https://www.tripoto.com/trip/exploring-amritsar-punjab-597ad95421929

Tip for moms: Consider buying your kids those Led flyers. Us kids spent the three days we were there trying to figure out better ways for them to work while our mothers shopped to their heart’s content.

I would recommend visitors to get a hotel near Golden Temple Market because it is located at the perfect location.
Exhausted from the day’s work we stopped to eat at a relatively famous Dhaba of Amritsar called ‘Bhrawan Da Dhaba’; literally, the restaurant of the brothers. You should definitely try an ‘Amritsari kulcha’ if you go to Amritsar because it was by far, one of the best meals I had eaten in a very long time. The butter slowly melting over the kulcha, enhancing the taste of the stuffing, eaten with the side dish of chole, is pure bliss.

Day 2 coming up soon. Stay updated!