This Is Amritsar

What can a visit to Amritsar serve as a management lesson? The city is the nerve centre of pain. The free air we breathe is built upon countless sacrifices. We are a nation built on the edifice of violence and unimaginable grief. In our varied roles as a citizen, family person, professional and manager, we need to constantly practice ahimsa in speech, action and deeds. That is the true Indian ethos. That is our biggest responsibility as an Indian. Are we all listening?

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The lush green greetings at Amritsar airport as the aircraft made a smooth landing belied what lay ahead of us within the city. Descending from the aircraft gave us a hint of what summers in Amritsar must be like. Over the next three-and-a-half days, we would experience a city steeped in history, fondness for food, extraordinary serenity and yet constant lingering pain from the past.

As our cab drove us towards the city, we experienced a part which was trying to modernise itself away from incessant honking as well as decrepit roads and infrastructure. Though we stayed in one of the finest hotels in Amritsar with an ambience that can only be described as delightful, it gave nothing away of what awaited us on the roads and by-lanes.

For many people in Mumbai, the name Amritsar fills them with fascination. The name, which has the word `nectar` enshrined in it, is a popular tourist as well as spiritual destination, mainly because of the divine Golden Temple. I had been there before, but this time we planned to explore the city and not just visit it. Accompanied by my wife, my blogger daughter and a cousin, we had our places to visit planned in advance.

The main intent behind the visit was to commemorate my milestone birthday at The Golden Temple. Everything else quite naturally fell into place as a plan. I am fascinated by Gurudwaras and the service attitude of the devout Sikhs. As a spiritual person, I love the simplicity and dedication of the people who run Gurudwaras - small and big across the country. The Golden Temple was something I wanted to immerse myself in this time as I had to make quick getaways the earlier two times I had been there.

The Golden Temple appears as if heaven has spread itself out on a few acres of land on Earth. It's existence is almost unreal. It is in Amritsar, but belongs to the whole world, pulling people towards it from across the globe. It is unimaginable that in 1984 bullets were fired inside the complex to flush out terrorists. The Golden Temple itself seems to have come a long way since Operation Bluestar. But Amritsar as a city still bears the scars of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Partition and the division of The Punjab, which happened ages before Operation Bluestar.

For such a popular tourist destination, with the iconic Wagah Border on the outskirts, the city itself seems steeped in the past. Chaotic traffic as well as poor roads and infrastructure make you feel you are in an underdeveloped town. Wonder what is stopping its modernisation. Yet, two things make your experience stupendous indeed - friendly people and the who-cares-about-calories food.

The Amritsar experience is a mixed bag of lingering pain from the past and the opportunity to let your palate indulge itself in some mighty `irresponsible` eating along with the ubiquitous lassi. Every corner of Amritsar is about butter-soaked parathas, deep fried pooris and `sinful` sweets. It is almost as if the city, which is the nerve centre of pain, gives itself complete leeway to drown its sorrows by indulging in variety of irresistible food.

Nothing epitomises the pain that Amritsar holds for the nation as a whole than The Partition Museum. Is it any irony that both the Jallianwala Bagh and The Partition Museum are just a few feet away from The Golden Temple? While the museum and Jallianwala Bagh arouse your conscience by highlighting the sacrifices made by so many unknown faces so that we can live the freedom we have, The Golden Temple emanates constant healing and harmonising energies. The pain somewhere in some way is bearable because The Golden Temple gives you the kind of relief that only divine intervention can provide. The temple acts as the balm cover for the wounded soul.

The other pain symbol near Amritsar is the Wagah Border. Sitting in the stadium watching the passionate patriotic fervour and the iconic retreat ceremony are not the only takeaways. The biggest takeaway for me was the literal sight of a man-made border, which has given no joy to either country.

Sight of the two nation's flags on either side, the portrait of Jinnah on the Pakistan side and people from both countries filled me with remorse as I could not cross over to see the iconic Lahore. Two nations are separated not just by a gate, but by irrational hatred, politicking and enormous baggage from the past. The two nations seem so near, yet so far.

After visiting Amritsar this time around, my need to be an even better Indian was reinforced. As I stood at the Jallianwala Bagh and The Partition Museum, I imagined what might have happened. What if I had been there? What if I had been separated by my family? What if something cruel had happened to my brothers and sisters? What if.....what if.....what if........

The free air we breathe is built upon countless sacrifices. We are a nation built on the edifice of violence and unimaginable grief. Yet, over the past seven decades, we have moved a long way away from those scars. The India we live in has come a long way, but to forget that our life stands on many who gave it away is not just foolish, but sinful.

Amritsar is a must-visit, not just for The Golden Temple, the food, the Wagah Border........but to realise that there is this one city in The Punjab which still holds the roots on which the India of today has been built. In our varied roles as a citizen, family person, professional and manager, we need to constantly practice ahimsa in speech, action and deeds. That is the true Indian ethos.

That is our biggest responsibility as an Indian. Are we all listening?