More About Amritsar

Amritsar is 30KM away from the border with Pakistan. I don't know what that is in inches. It's 60KM from Lahore, Pakistan. It's located in Punjab, in the northwest of India. For the past few days, the mornings here have been really cold. It seems like people here wake up late and go to sleep early, based on store timings, perhaps because of the cold. It's still hot at noon though.

I've only seen a handful of Muslims here. When the country was partitioned in 1947, India and Pakistan became independent states, Punjab was also split. Muslims from east Punjab migrated to the west and Hindus, Sikhs, and (the small number of) Christians went in the opposite direction. Because of the heightened communal tensions of the time, the movement resulted in a devastating number of deaths. That's why you mainly see Sikhs and Hindus in Amritsar today. In honor of the Sikh religion, I haven't shaved or trimmed my beard since being here. Also, because the fucking bathroom didn't have a mirror!

Amritsar is famous for its fish fry. I had it from a place over on Lawrence, last night. It was a stand that stands out (pun!) from it's fancy surroundings. The server/cook was a middle aged man with a cool demeanor, his shoulders parallel to the ground, scruff on his face, and wearing a sweater vest. He didn't attempt to speak English. He stood there with a benign stone face throughout our entire encounter. Until after I finished my meal and paid. I smiled, rubbed my belly, and said, "Good. Good. Very good!" It looked like the corners of his lips were trying to run off of his face his smile was so big. For lunch today I had it again from a place called Bubby Chicken Corner on Cooper. Bubby Chicken Corner: Chicken like Grandma used to make (Especially if your grandmother is a Jew from Amritsar, which she almost certainly isn't). It's not a great slogan.

I checked out of the hotel today. I'm headed for Dehra Dun. Check out time was noon and it was already there. I searched to see if I had left anything behind. I lifted the sheet that was covering me through the cold nights and the tv remote went flying and shattered into pieces. "Shit!" I scrambled to put the pieces together. Miraculously, I managed and the remote even worked! 7 seconds later, there was a knock on the door. I opened it. "Sir, checking out?"