Sikhs

Wednesday 7th December 1983

We had porridge and tea on the roof before moving our luggage into the courtyard and setting off for the parliament buildings. We stopped to look at a Sikh Temple with a golden dome on Baba Karak Singh Marg. This was Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, a magnificent shrine with golden dome and tall flagpole in the heart of Delhi. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is one of the most prominent Sikh gurdwara, or Sikh house of worship, in Delhi, and known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan, as well as the holy river inside its complex, known as the "Sarovar."

It was first built as a small shrine by Sikh General Sardar Baghel Singh in 1783, who supervised the construction of nine Sikh shrines in Delhi in the same year, during the reign of Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II. We soon found ourselves on a free guided tour and an old boy gave us a rundown on Sikh beliefs.

It was unnatural to cut your hair which made you look more like a woman, and far from turning the other cheek, you fought back hard when attacked. Through this attitude they had gained the respect of the British in the 1800’s. The younger Sikh who accompanied us did not seem convinced that we had no tobacco (abhorrent to Sikhs), but we were given some handkerchiefs to cover our heads and the tour proceeded inside the temple.

Sikhs bowed to the floor with their offerings while a four-piece ensemble poured religious songs of praise into the microphone that Tannoyed it to the outside world via the speakers outside. Behind the dias many Sikhs sat counting the money offerings for the treasury. This would go to the schooling and medical facilities.

Back outside in the grounds, we had a free snack of rice, sugar and butter paste. There was also a marble holy pool outside the temple and a free kitchen that dispensed food to hungry visitors of any religion or creed.

We look briefly around the art gallery at violent religious holy war paintings before leaving with thanks. The dome was covered with 60 kilogrammes of gold and in front of the temple the huge flagpole covered in gold cloth and bearing a small flag stood as the symbol of Sikhism (like the cross in Christianity).

We had a coffee break in Gaylord’s and wandered along through the parliament buildings between the main palace, the Rashtrapati Bhawan and along the Raj Path which linked it to India Gate. The Rashtrapati Bhavan ("Presidential Palace", formerly Viceroy's House) is the official residence of the President of India located at the Western end of Rajpath in New Delhi.

There was some sort of political demonstration going on. Communists by the look of all the red banners. We headed back down Janpath and called into the Student Travel Office. I asked if our tickets had been confirmed and was told that we were on the “waiting list”. Then ensued a heated argument. Had George and I paid £177 each to be put on a waiting list? “It will probably be alright”, was the response, they are usually not fully booked”. We were well unsatisfied with this flippancy and left them to sort it out.

We had a vegetarian meal in the Madras Coffee House and returned to discover that the manager had still not returned from his lunch break. As our train was due to depart at 16:40 hrs. the clerk grudgingly agreed to use their emergency booking procedure to confirm our flight.

We returned to Sunny’s Guest House and got our gear together for the trek to New Delhi Railway Station. One of the Germans who had boasted that ate what he liked, including unwashed salad, and took no medication or anti-malarial tablets because he had a strong mind which would maintain his body in peak health and fitness, was moaning quietly on his bed. He was pale faced and sweating in a delirium (probably malaria). He only left his bed to rush to the toilet for bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting.

Our next destination was Mumbai (colloquially known as Bombay, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city’s official name change, to Mumbai from Bombay happened when regional political party Shiv Sena came into power in 1995.

The Shiv Sena saw Bombay as a legacy of British colonialism and wanted the city’s name to reflect its Maratha heritage, hence renaming it to pay tribute to the goddess Mumbadevi. The goddess Mumba was patron of the Marathi-speaking agris (salt collectors) and kolis (fisherfolk), the original inhabitants of the seven islands of Bombay.

We got on to the train after reading our reservation from the list on board. Uncharacteristically, the system seemed to be working, and we found our berths easily on the empty train. As the berths were part of the tourist quota we found ourselves in relatively civilized company. Martin and George sat next to an Indian and I sat opposite, sandwiched between a German hippy and a German old dear (elderly lady).

We read our books mostly, until about 22:00 hrs., jumping off the train occasionally at stops to buy biscuits and bananas. I nodded off to sleep fully clothed in the middle bunk with my holdall as a pillow. I awoke later on to put on my sweatshirt and get my sheet sleeping bag out as it was freezing cold. I nodded off again as a baby wailed in the next compartment.