Max Goes To the Punjab.

Sikh pilgrims at the Golden Temple, Amritsar.

After Agra, Kara flew to Slovakia for two weeks due to a family emergency. This was the longest period of time Kara and Max had been apart for over a year. Kara told Max to go wherever Max wanted to and she would meet him somewhere on the subcontinent when she returned. He chose to visit Punjab state, in the Northwest of India. Punjab is home to the majority of India's Sikh community, a culture that was hitherto unknown to Max. All he knew before this sojourn was that Sikh's made very good samosas at the Punjabi Deli on Second Street and Avenue A in Manhattan.

Max had set up a couchsurfing host to stay with when he arrived in Amristar, Punjab state. His host Narinderjit Singh, was a wealthy and generous Sikh whose family had lived in Amritsar for over 400 years. Max was met at the railway station by the man's personal rickshaw driver who spirited him to the farm estate a half hour's drive outside of the city. Max was initially confused as the building he arrived at was clearly set up as a hotel, complete with numbered rooms and a staff who "checked him in." He feared that he was a victim of a couchsurfing scam, however it turns out that Narinderjit was a legitimate and zealous convert to the couchsurfing movement. He had previously converted his traditional family dwelling into a rural resort but decided to run it free of cost once he found out about couchsurfing. The staff is a Nepali family who runs the kitchen and charges only for meals. They clean and maintain the rooms in exchange for free rent. In this way, Narinderjit has created a self-sustaining hospitality complex, complete with pool, A.C., TV and horseback riding. Kara is jealous she missed out on this couchsurfing experience. Seen above is Narinderjit giving Max and other couchsurfing guests a taste of Punjabi sweets.

The first day after arriving, Max joined two other couchsurfers for a tour of the city. The first stop was Jallianwala Bagh, a park situated in the city. The park was the site of an infamous massacre of early independence protesters in 1919. Thousands of unarmed men, women, and children were shot down in cold blood by the British occupiers. The incident came to worldwide attention and is said to have inspired Mahatma Gandhi's lifelong commitment to non-violence protest.

A pyramid at Jallianwala Bagh offers a message of peace in Urdu, English, Punjabi, and Hindi-- all languages spoken in this state.

The Harmandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is Amristar's main attraction and holiest site in the world for Sikhs. It is here that the religion's ten founding Gurus built their following and refined their new religious theology. The main temple is situated on the holy lake or Amritsaravar, from which the city derived its name. It is at this temple that the oldest holy texts from the Sikh religion are kept and visited every day by thousands of people.

Max stands in front of the temple on the marble causeway. Behind him, worshippers take a holy dip into the water. Max was chastised for being too relaxed during his holy cleansing because it appeared to the guards that he was swimming without proper respect to the holy water. Max meant no disrespect. After saying goodbye to Narinderjit, Max decided to stay at the temple for the night. Any pilgrim, regardless of race, religion, or sex can spend the night at the temple, free of cost. The temple also provides free food for all visitors to the temple if they are in need. The food is delicious and clean, and the accommodation is spacious and comfortable. Max used this time to read up on Sikhism and its history as well as speak with pilgrims from all over India.

Sikhism arose as a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam and emerged from hundreds of years of gestation with a distinct view of the universe. The architecture of the Golden Temple clearly involves elements of the architecture of both cultures and thought. Seen above are cusped arches and tile mosaics borrowed from Persian and Islamic architecture on the causeway. This causeway surrounds a temple on a holy lake, a layout also used in Hinduism. Max's experience at the Golden Temple was educational and enriching.

No trip to Amristar would be complete without a visit to the India/Pakistan border at Waga, approximately 40 kilometers from Amritsar. The daily border closing ceremony has become a sight of much pomp and circumstance necessitating bleachers for the hundreds of spectators on both sides. It is a circus of nationalism, yet in all the strutting and posturing in the end it is clearly for fun.

"You guys just watched the border being closed. It's closed now. You can not pass." Check out the ceremony on youtube. After 4 days in Amritsar, Max headed southeast towards Chandigarh, the capital of the Punjab and Haryana States.

Chandigarh: India's only planned city. Designed in the 1950s by French architect Le Corbusier, Chandigarh is an ode to the straight line that exists in stark contrast to the entire subcontinent. One of the richest cities in India, Chandigarh is also the first city in the country to go smoke-free and has banned polythene bags since last year. Max was shocked when he arrived to this clean, well-planned metropolis and marveled at how architecture and city planning can completely transform a community.

Chandigarh is laid out on a grid of 81 sectors. Each sector is designed to function as its own unit with shops, schools, parks, and living spaces. Within the sectors, the streets have a more organic and twisting pattern (to a point), typical to most Indian cities. This allows each sector to function somewhat like a small village with the broad gridded avenues providing swift and efficient transportation to other parts of the city. The one baffling thing about Chandigarh is that in all this planning, both locals and foreigners are constantly getting lost. The source of the confusion is an illogical numbering system, seen above. The sectors are numbered in a snaking pattern rather than from left to right.

Nek Chand's Rock Garden. A former Chandigarh department of transportation worker, Nek Chand, started building this rock garden from scrap pieces scavenged from work sites. He built thousands of figures out of tiles, bangles, pvc piping, wire pieces, etc. When the site was discovered, it was first slated for demolition as it was sitting on government property. However, it was well received by the general public and after gaining international recognition, Nek Chand was given grants and was allowed to expand his self-described "dream world."

Bangle people. These figures are made of fragments of plastic and glass bangles. They stare down at the visitor in intimidating rows.

Chandigarh. Where am I, Max asked. Walking through the sectors, Max felt like he was in suburban America. Then a cyclo-rickshaw would pass him with an image of Shiva painted on the back, and he remembered exactly where he was. Despite being fundamentally atypical to India, Chandigarh offered a fascinating lesson about both the power of architecture to change people's lives and the enduring nature of Indian culture which retains its essence even in a completely "alien" environment.

Kara and Max agreed to meet in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya and Max slowly wound his way there from Chandigarh. See you in the North.

-Maximilian and Kara