Chicken and Bear (?) ...at a Bar in Amritsar

More pics of Amritsar visit on my Picasa web album

I did a quick trip to Amritsar with my family last weekend.

Of all the places, why Amritsar? I have been asked this question many times since by friends. Well, the only reasons I had was that I had wanted to visit the Golden Temple and also to taste Amritsar’s famous street food for a long while. Also, given the distance from Delhi and the rail connection, Amritsar seemed like a perfect quick 2 day getaway.

So, we boarded the Shatabdi Express from Delhi early morning on Saturday. I for one was hoping to get some sleep on the 6 hour journey, as I did not sleep well the previous night. But a bunch a noisy college kids in the row ahead of us made sure that I could not sleep a wink. The train reached half an hour late and thanks to Hotel Shiraz Regency goofing up on our bookings; it was almost 3 pm by the time we were settled in our room – tired and famished. My plans of hitting the streets and checking out the dhabha food had to be put on hold as none of us had the energy to venture out. We ordered room service instead and the food, though nothing extraordinary, was extremely satisfying.

A Taste of Patriotism

We had heard a lot about the “retreat” ceremony at the Atari-Wagah border, some 28 kms from Amritsar, the only road border crossing between India and Pakistan. The hotel reception advised us to leave by 4 pm to get some good seats for the ceremony that starts at 5:30 pm. While we did take the hotel’s advice, we had not factored in the weekend crowd and just about managed to squeeze into a crowded stand which only had a partial view of the gates. The mood was soon set by large group of school girls dancing to some bollywood style patriotic songs. It was a great setting – the evening sunset, a few Indian flags in the crowd, smartly turned out BSF jawans and a lot of patriotic slogans, song and dance – soon had me feeling proud as an Indian as never before. Keen to take some shots with my new camera, I pushed through the crowd and managed to reach as close I could to the balcony railing. I could see the other side of the border – the Pakistani Rangers in their black salwar kameez and also the audience on the other side of the border. The ceremony started with some smart drill and marching by the BSF, the jawans kicking their heels incredibly high and putting on a show of mock face-off with the Pak rangers, much to the delight of the crowd. After the first few minutes though, I found the entire ceremony to be repetitive and farfetched. Or maybe I had had enough of the hot humid weather and the milling crowd and I just wanted to get back to the air conditioned comfort of the cab. But there was no way out from the jam packed stands and I had no option but to wait for the ceremony to finish. As I walked back to the parking after the ceremony I could not help wondering about what the soldiers would do once the crowds had melted away. Would some of them casually saunter off across the border and share a drink with their counterparts? Or, what if the border had actually been drawn a few more miles north. Wouldn’t some of the soldiers guarding the frontier, be probably guarding it from the other side? What choice does an individual have in choosing his Nationality?

These thoughts soon vanished as we headed back to Amritsar, having picked up a chilled bottle of Coke and a hot “bhutta” on the way back to the cab.

Jalianwala Bagh

The cab promised to drop us at the Golden Temple on the way back from the border. But it dropped us at a point which seemed like a long walk to the Golden Temple, as no 4 wheeler traffic was apparently allowed further. As we walked slowly through the crowded bazaar full of food stalls and shops selling punjabi juttis and clothes, I spotted a building which looked like a gurudwara or a government office from the outside. However, on reaching closer I read a board which proclaimed that this was the Jalianwala Bagh. I was surprised as I had imagined the Jalianwala bagh to be a large maidan or park of some sorts. But passing through the narrow alley, the only entrance to the grounds and the exact place from where General Dyer marshalled his troops to fire upon a group of peaceful protesters, I understood the significance of this place. The place is illuminated at night, has a memorial for the martyrs and prominent signages and placards which give you a taste of the history. I slowly walked out from the Jalianwala bagh filled with a sense of reverence to the hundreds who had laid down their lives here.

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple proved to be all that I had heard about and more. Large, bustling with activity, crowded yet everything had a sense of peace and calm. The shabad kirtan had a soothing effect and after pausing to take in the beauty of the Harmandir Sahib, we soon joined to queue to enter the inner sanctorum. I am always amazed with the cleanliness and discipline exhibited at Sikh gurudwaras. The marble flooring was spotlessly clean and irrespective of the size of the crowd nobody pushes or tries to get ahead – quite unlike some of the temples that I have visited. I was quite impressed with the intricate carvings and detail on the walls and with the fact that everybody tries to do some seva or selfless service. We had initially planned to stay on to taste the famous langar but the humid weather and the crowd made us decide to give it a try at another time.

The quest for street food

Once outside, we were determined to sample the best of street food that Amritsar had to offer. Exhausted after a long and eventful day, I decided to seek expert advice and called Gunjan Goela – my sister in law and a renowned expert on north Indian cuisine. We took her advice and hopped on to a cycle rickshaw heading for Kesar Ka Dhabha. After going past the equally famous, also recommended and better located Prahwan da Dhabha, the rickshaw puller dived into what seemed like endless lanes and bylanes, before finally arriving at a nondescript dhaba. I checked twice to ensure that this really was the place. The place itself was overflowing with loud punjabi families and while we were promised a table within 15 minutes, it seemed unlikely looking at the number of people waiting. I spotted a small mithai shop next door and we ordered a plate of phirni and rasmalai. Both were simply outstanding and it did appear that nothing in the shop – from the furniture to the method of serving had changed in the past hundred or so years.

The heat and exhaustion once again got the better of us and we decided against waiting at the dhabha and instead headed for the air-conditioned comfort of Crystal restaurant which was next door to our hotel. Street food would have to wait for another day.

The next morning I was woken up by a call from Yogesh, announcing that they had left Jalandhar and would join us at Amritsar within the next hour. We got dressed and soon after Yogesh and family arrived, we set out for our first experience of the much acclaimed Amritsari street food.

Our first stop was Kanha’s at Lawrence Road known for its puri-cholle and lassi. The food was simply great and reminded me of the punjabi puri-cholle I used to have in Karol Bagh as a kid. Renu decided to stock up on the famous amrisari sweets and shopped for some pinni and besan ka ladoo after taking advice and recommendations from the locals who were eating there. On the way to Kanha’s, we had spotted a shop called “Ram Lubhaya’s Old and Famous Aam Papar shop” and we simply had to stop there. Ram Lubhaya proved to be a suave salesman and before we knew we had ran up a bill of more than 500 rupees on various varieties of aam papar.

Our next stop was again the Golden Temple. The place was packed to capacity with the Sunday crowd. We decided to do a quick parikrama of the sarovar and after posing for a few photographs, decided to check out the famous amritsari kulcha at a shop on Maqbool Road. The shop is simply called “All India Fame” and the kulchas were out of the world – thin and crisp and unlike anything I had ever tasted before.

Yogesh mentioned a famous chuski wala but I protested vehemently saying that the ice that they use is suspect and as we always stick to bottled water while travelling, tasting a chuski was a bad idea. But before I could stop protesting, Yogesh drove to a cart selling chuskis of various flavours. As the rest in the car started enjoying the kala khatta chuski, I could not help myself and had to taste it, and I am glad that I did. I liked it so much that I refused to give it back, making the others order more stuff including Nimbu Lemon Gola – a kind of chilled lemonade with ice. Simply great stuff!

As it was already late afternoon, and nobody could even think of eating another morsel, we headed back to our hotel to pack and prepare to leave for the station to catch our train back to Delhi.

All told, I really enjoyed my trip to Amritsar. A few tips and advice – I think Amritsar is best visited in the winters and having your own car is highly recommended. Also, if you really must sample the non vegetarian food that Amritsar has to offer then make sure you do not plan a visit during the navratras as most non-veg food stallas and dhabha are shut during this time.

One last thought – I wonder why most of our non-metro cities look like such a mess. Chaotic traffic, crumbling infrastructure and an evident lack of sanitation. While the authorities obviously don’t care, it seems most of us have also started to quietly accept this sorry state of things.

Will things ever change for the better – or are they set to go from bad to worse?

Tags: Amritsar, Dhaba food, Golden Temple, Street Food, Wagah Border