The Punjab

I arrived at the bus station in Punjab at 6pm after spending 12 hours on 3 different buses. I was knackered and desperately needed the loo, but the journey hadn't ended yet. My cousin (Toti) and one of his sons (Shelly) came to pick me up and we still had an hours drive to the village. He came to pick me up on his motorcycle and he brought his friend along on another motorcycle for my luggage. It was just about light at this point, but would ge dark by the time we got to the village. Also the village lanes were bumpy, with ditches and speed breakers. I was so relieved when we arrived home.

My cousin's wife (Bhabie Binder) was ready and waiting with the doors open. She dropped some jasmine oil by the door on both sides. It's a little something we do when family come and visit from far or on special occasions. I walked in and gave her a big hug and the other son (Jessie) (Don't ask me why both their nick names are girly ?!). I headed straight for the bathroom! We had tea and I was offered some indian sweets. I realised I was starving, all I had eaten was a packet of crisps all day. I didn't fany anything that was offered at the bus stations so kept drinking water.

Other family kept coming to say hello. My dad has 4 brothers & 4 sisters and he is the second youngest. So I have a lot of cousins older than me and most are married with children. All of my uncles families live in the village, whilst my aunt's families live in other villages. We all sat around chatting and everyone wanted to know how my folks were doing and how I was finding India.

After a couple of hours I went to have a bath with hot water (yippee!). Dinner was soon served and I ate loads. It's great to be home! We went to bed quite early and I slept like a baby.

In the morning we got some bad news. My dad's youngest brother in law had passed away. It was such a shock to us all. He is the same age as my dad and wasn't even ill or anything. He had had a heart attack earlier in the year though. He'd been to work the day before and when he came home in the evening he felt a little unwell and started coughing. Then he stopped breathing and keeled over. It all happened so suddenly. I was really sad because I was going to surprise my aunt. I hadn't told her I was coming and I know she and her husband would have been over the moon to see me. And now I would have to visit under such sad circumstances.

The funeral was to be held the very same day so we all got ready to go. I went as well. Toti hired an open truck for us all and we all sat on the floor of it as there were no seats. When we arrived at my aunt's house all I could hear was crying from all the women gathered there. The body was lying on a bed in the yard for all to see. We don't bury the dead so there was no coffin. My uncle was cremated at noon in the nearby cemetry. We left soon after the cremation. All of that day all we talked about was him and his stories. I spoke to my parents later that day to tell them the news, they like me were just as shocked.

I didn't have any plans for my time in Punjab as I had mainly come to visit family and catch up with everyone. My nan was arriving the next day so I would go and stay with her for a couple of days at some point. I went to visit her on the Tues, but didn't stay then. I told her I'd come later in the week.

My days were spent by having a lie in, reading, watching tv, cycling - (I actually learnt this whilst here as I had never owned a bike as a child), chatting to everyone, playing with the kids, getting the kids to show me their schoolwork and letting them read to me. I asked my bhabie if I could help here with any housework, but she wouldn't let me. Also they do all their housework sitting down (yes honestly, everything),so it would be a little difficult for me. They rest on their feet, but their bum doesn't touch the ground. I tried it, but fell over.

My bhabie would wake up at 4am. They have cows and she has to go to collect milk twice a day, once in the morning and once around 4pm. The kids wake up at 6am to ge ready for school. Toti wakes up at 5am to go and get grass to feed the cows. They also grow some other greenery for the cows to eat. These leaves have to be shredded down. There is a machine in the area next to the cows where this is done. That was about the only job I was allowed to do as it was done standing. My bhabie would then make tea and get started on breakfast and pack a lunch for the kids. The kids are at school from 9am to 3pm and even have to go on a Saturday! She would make mine separately after I would wake up.

On the Fri (28 Sep) Toti took my out to the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. We had an early start 4.30am as it would be a 4 ish hour drive. We went to a temple (Mandir) of Mata - a female goddess. The particular mandir we were going to was one of 7 sisters. All 7 have a mandir dedicated to them throughout Himachal Pradesh and all of them seem to be in high up places in the mountains. We arrived at the mandir at Chintpurni at 8am. I rang the bell and took my offering to mata and said a prayer. I asked for somthing. Legend has it that your wish will be granted in time, so fingers crossed. I promised if it came true I would come back and visit all 7 mandirs. After the Chintpurni mandir we went to another one at Jawalamukhi (another sister). We saw lots of monkeys on the way up sitting by the roadside, playing and watching.

The towns of both places are geared up so much for tourists and I saw lots of tourist buses and hotels. The tourist however are indians as it is a pilgrimage of sorts for them. Mata has a huge following. On the way upto the mandir there are shops selling all kinds of memrobilia and offerings to take into the mandir.

After Jawalamukhi we stopped for some lunch before heading off home. The drive back seemed to be a lot longer, but I guess there was more traffic on the roads.In the morning when it was still dark the roads wer clear, but it was freezing on the scooter. I was all wrapped up but could still feel the wind. It was a lot warmer now with the sun out, so the drive back wasn't too bad.

When we hit Punjab again there were a lot of rallies and celebrations going on as it was a special day. It was the anniversary of Bhagat Singh a freedom fighter when India was under British rule. He is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh (the word shaheed, means martyr). He gained support when he underwent a 63 day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners. He was hanged for shooting a police officer. His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and also increased the rise of socialism in India. Here's one of his quotes "The aim of life is no more to control the mind, but to develop it harmoniously; not to achieve salvation here after, but to make the best use of it here below; and not to realise truth, beauty and good only in contemplation, but also in the actual experience of daily life; social progress depends not upon the ennoblement of the few but on the enrichment of democracy; universal brotherhood can be achieved only when there is an equality of opportunity - of opportunity in the social, political and individual life." — from Bhagat Singh's prison diary.

We stopped off for a while to watch one of the rallies. The speakers were talking about him and what he had done and were celebrating.

We continued on home. I was aching by the time we got home from sitting so long on the motorcycle. I went for a walk soon after getting home to stretch the legs.

On the Sunday (30 Sep) my uncle wanted to take me out for the day to a place called Wonderland. It's a theme park in Jalandhar. His daughter in law and 3 grand kids came along as well. This time we travelled by car. I went to visit my dad's second to youngest sister first who lives near to Wonderland. We chatted about family and caught up.

Wonderland was a nice day out with the kids. Although as tthey are quite young they couldn't go on all the rides. We put them on all the baby ones and I went on the bigger rides by myself. The kids really enjoyed themselves and even my bhabie joined in. We got some chips to eat before heading off. We went to visit my nana and this time I had come to stay. I just chilled out and went to say hello to all the relatives. I had some cousins to hang ou with so sat with them. 2 of them had recently gotten married so I watched the wedding film.

Monday was a fun day, it involved shopping! My nan went to get some money from the bank first (My nan decided to give me the money to look after) and off we headed to the city bazaars, with my 2 aunts.  My mum and cousins had called me the evening before with their demands, so I had my list ready. I had to buy 5 outfits (indian style suits) so decided to get them all from the one shop as I didn't want to have to spend ages choosing. We went into a large store and I told the guys to show me 5 different coloured outfits all with embroidery, but to do it one colour at a time. The guy picked up a whole load of packets and unravelled them all for me to see. I was shown loads and chose the ones I liked best. I had these put to one side and then would choose from them. The ones I finally chose were packed up for me. The whole process must have taken a least 90 minutes!

Anyway we still weren't finished as we had to settle the bill and this also takes time. The reason being because there would be lots of haggling involved. Shopkeepers always charge travellers more, but overinflate the price sometimes 3 fold. My nan said to me not to say anything about the bill and let my aunts handle it. My youngest aunt was good, but my eldest aunt didn't say a thing. The first bill that was given to us was rejected and my aunt asked for a new bill after discussing it with my nan. I had a look out of curiuosity but didn't say anything at this point. After he second bill there was more haggling and discussion and at this point I said to my nan it was still too much and I gave her a price I thought to be fair. She agreed with me and told the shopkeeper she said was willing to pay x for the whole lot or we would walk out. There was a lot of headshaking from the shopkeeper. So I said come on then lets go. My nan laughed at this point. I said I've got the money and I'm not handing over that much. She then gave a final price to the owner and after finally everyone settling I handed over the money. We paid half the original bill. I was pleased as all the outfits were nice and we had spent so much time in the place and that was my part done. I could relax now and anything else I bought was extra or for fun. My nan still had a lot to get so I helped her and helped in the haggling as well. After the first shop she would always say in the next shop ask the cashier (me), when it came to the bill.

We spent most of the day shopping and finally went back to the village around 6pm. We were knackered. We had some tea and chilled out. I orderd pizza for dinner as I needed a break from chappatti and curry. It took 2 hours to arrive. I was starving! My nan wasn't impressed with them, she said they're not like this in the UK. I said surely u can't expect them to be. We shared it all out between everyone. The others seemed to like it. I thought it was ok, just annoyed by how long they took to be delivered, ggrrr.............

After dinner we invited a tailor over as now I had to give specific instructions on how my cousins and aunt wanted their oufits sewn. I spent half an hour explaining and showing whilst she made notes. I was ready for bed at this point.

The next morning my nan had loads of people to visit so she took me back to my dads village. The kids were off from school as it was a national holiday - Gandhi Jayanti, as it was Mahatama Gandhi's anniversary, he is officially accorded the honour of Father of he Nation and October 2nd, his birthday, is commemorated each year. A ceremony is performed in Dehli that is shown live on TV. We watched TV, but the electricity went out (it often happens in the villages for long periods of times - so annoying!!!). So I played card games with the kids. Toti and bhabie had to go out for a while, so we were left to amuse ourselves.

On Fri (5 Oct) I went to the small town near the village to go on the internet and have a catch up. I posted some postcards as well. I only had an hour as we then were going to visit my youngest aunt and eldest aunt. They both live in the same village. I spent most of the day with them both and their family chatting and catching up. They showed me some pics of my folks wedding and some of me and my brohers as kids. They were funny.

On Sun (7 Oct) as it is the only day off for the kids I decided we should all go out. I got Toti to hire a car and we went to a famous Sikh Gurdwara in Bala where my nan has been. There is a saint some people follow there and that is why it is famous. The kids enjoyed it. It was a nice day out. The building is really nice, we had a good look round after saying a prayer.

On the Monday I went to Anandpur Sahib - a holy Sikh place as this is where the birth of the Khalsa took place by Guru Gobind Singh the 10th guru. It was quite a drive, we set off at 5am and arrived around 9am. It was even colder than the morning we went to Chintpurni and I couldn't feel my legs, feet or hands when I got off the scooter. We had stopped off once for some tea to warm up before arriving. I took some pics, went to say a prayer and we stopped for some langar (chappatti and dhal). The gurdwara is pure white the whole way round. It's amazing.

After Anandpur we went to another of the Mata mandirs called Nana Devi. It was only 12km away from Anandpur, but was up on a mountain and we had to drive along some small lanes. It was scary because the drop on the side of the lane was quite high in places. I couldn't believe they let buses go up there. We were only allowed to go so far by motorcycle. The rest of the way was on foot up loads of stairs in the mountain. There were more than 500 steps to climb. We only stopped once for water. It was a relief to get to the top. We arrived in time for aarti (a holy prayer). After aarti people were allowed into the mandir to say a prayer and make an offering. We were all given prashad of rice and dhal on a banana leaf. The views from the top were great. I could see mountains all round and the river Beas in the distance.

We drove back towards home, but stopped off after an hour at a holy Guru Ravidass temple. We said a prayer and had a good look round and I took a few pics whilst Toti chatted with the guide. We then began the long drive back home. We arrived home at 7pm tired.Bhabi gave us some tea to warm us up and we had some samosas as it was my cousin Mona's birthday. I showed everyone the pics. I told everyone that I would be leaving on Weds morning. Toti was going to book my train ticket for me tomorrow.

Tues was my last day in the village. In the morning I got all my packing done and then spent the rest of the day chatting to various family and saying my goodbyes. I was a little sad to be leaving as I felt right at home and now I would have to be on my own again, but I'm sure I'll soon get back into he swing of travelling. It was nice to see everyone and chill out and see the places I did.

In the evening after dinner most of the family came to the house to chat some more and tell stories. I asked them all to tell me stories of my dad. They in turn asked me to tell stories of home. I called my folks to tell them I would be moving on as well and they spoke to various family members. I drank so many cups of tea today as everywhere I went they made me some and my bhabie is always making some. Anyway I had to get some rest for the day ahead as it was a 12 hour train journey. So we all went to bed.