Banjara Diaries – Part 6
The Banjara had another walk down the history today.
Morning started with a good breakfast at Nick’s Italian cafe.
Tibet History
First visit was to the Namgayal Monastery which is also the official residence of, the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. The large prayer hall at upper level with Buddhist hymns creates a uniquely peaceful environment. Didn’t click any snaps here, just enjoyed the serenity.
Later we proceeded to the Tibet Museum. The Museum documents in detail the history of Tibet, the culture, food, homes, lifestyle of Tibetans . Pictures, videos and articles on the Tibetan struggle against occupation by China are heart wrenching, especially ones around self-immolation by young Tibetans.
Had a short stop to Norbulingka institute , which is dedicated to ensuring that the integrity of Tibetan artistic traditions is maintained. I didn’t venture much into the institute and instead chose to sit out for a while. Maybe another trip is needed to the institute which is a mecca for art lovers .
Again didn’t click anything here.
School Day Trip
The last spot of the day was the Gopalpur zoo nearby, also known as Dhauladhar National Park. It felt like being back to school on a half day trip down the memory lane.
The main attraction is Himalayan Black Bears (we spotted two sleeping, probably hibernation period start for them.) Different birds viz. Grey peacock, Grey parrot, Himalayan Goral, Himalayan Vultures (reminded me of Jatayu), eagles can be seen. Few meters ahead one can spot leopard, sambars and barking dears.
The entry fee is quite nominal. I will recommend this to families with kids.
Sunset from the Himalaya
Evening was spent watching the sun set at the sunset point with a quick peek to the Triund base camp, moon peak and Gallu Devi Temple enroute to Triund using a telescope.
It’s shopping time
Leaving without some shopping is a sin so we purchased some bowls for my kitchen and some souvenirs for family back home.
Its Tibet again
As promised, we returned to the Tibetan Kitchen for a sumptuous meal of momos, Thukpa, Tibetan version of Karanjis, Thai curry and Fruit Beer.
We called it a night as the next day involved a whole lot of travelling back to Amritsar.
Back to Amritsar
Major part of the next day was spent in travelling back to Amritsar. But there was one bit remaining that we wanted to visit before we called it a day.
We dumped our bags at the hotel and went to Govindgarh . We wanted to catch the light and sound show on Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It was mesmerizing show of 20 minutes with Kabir Bedi walking us through the history of how Maharaja Ranjit Singh came to power, the building of Govindgarh, subsequent takeover by British to the 1947 Independence Day. It was walking through history once again till the Bhangra at the end of show shook us out and made us shake a leg instead.
Back to the hotel, we slept off post a light dinner. We had a 4 am Amritsar Delhi train to catch for our return journey. A train journey, a flight journey and car ride later we were back home to Pune.
New year awaited us the next day.
Banjara Rewinds
Once home, revisiting the vacation through the photos and videos; the poem with which I began this series played with the history I had witnessed. The thought ran through my mind .
I would never be the “Banjara” who traveled the entire “Bharat”, just be an Indian who traveled across India.
“The Bharat” , Banjara described in the poem is partitioned, forever.