Trip to Amritsar

I was going to Amritsar for my TCS medicals from chandigarh. I had to wake up in the morning at 4 to be ready for the bus at 5:30. I was already irritated by the frequency with which Tcs was performing medicals on me. Anyways with uncertainity looming large I boarded the Deluxe bus to Amritsar. It was about 4 degrees temperature and was super cold. The bus was not heated and they provided blankets. Just below the TV I was a figure which looked like the number 13. Things were not looking good from the onset. Before anyone could sleep they started the TV and Gajini was played. Well I had seen the movie so wasnt much interested. I went to the last of the bus where there are 5 seats without hand rest and slept there till we reached at Tandoori Bytes where bus stops every morning for nature calls. I rahter decided to have a breakfast. The bus stops for 15 minutes only so I decide to ask for a grilled veg sandwich. It was prepared in 5 minutes, but just one byte of it made me feel contented. It was very tasty and very filling. Anywas I ate it in the bus and continued to think of the medical just when the phone rang. It was one of my friends calling to tell that Cat result was out and told me my percentile. It was far better than what I expected so it did the mood in the positive direction. Now I was thinking that TCS rejection wont have adverse affet on my career. I was a lot positive now than what I had been in the morning. By 10 I reached the Piramal diagnostics which is just at the entry of the Amritsar city. So got off the bus and went inside straightaway. The doc was late again and this time I knew I would be grilled. The medical lasted for 4 hours till two and at two places 5 kms apart in Amritsar. Anyways the day had been good so far and it continued to be so and I cleared all the eye tests subjected to. By this time I had already pledged to myself that I would go to Golden Temple if I clear the medical. So I took a rickshaw and went to the temple and saw the magnificent structure and the meuseum inside. It was very beautiful monument and I was able to learn much more about Sikhism. I also saw the beautiful fishes in the water sorrounding the Akal Takht. The temple was very well managed and repair works were going on. I left the Temple and went to the Jallianwala Bagh were numerous people were massacerred by British during Baisakhi celebrations. It was very touching to relive the moments that the people had to face at that time. It was an experience when I thought what would have happened when numerous people jumped to escape the bullets being fired indiscriminately and died. Meuseum inside the Bagh is also a must see. Later I left the place and decided to go to another temple of Hindus: Durgyana Mandir which is an exact replica of the Golden temple minus the proper management and plus the time limits in which it opened. Legend has it that the Golden temple was also a hindu temple built by the same people who built the Durgyana Mandir but the Golden Temple was later captured by the sikhs but no one knows the truth. Anyways the structure is as magnificent as the Golden Temple but needs to be looked after or else it would be lost to time.
Being in Amritsar one has to tastet he local food. So I gotto a local Dhaba and ordered a Amritsari parantha and Lassi. Just One parantha and Lassi and you are good for next 24 hours. I really enjoyed the meal and headed of to buy the local but very famous papads and vadian. Lots of them are exported to various parts of the country and abroad. It was time and I had to reach the Wagah Border in time to see the flag down ceremony. I took a taxi service and reached in half hour or so to the place and I saw the ceremony. Post Mumbai attacks one could feel the tension in the ceremony and the intensity with which it is perfomed but people ttold me it has become a lot less aggressive over time and was much more fun to watch when the Kargil Wa was on. Anyways I enjoyed it. I was already late and reached the bus stop only to find that all the private buses had left by 2 pm and had to take govt bus now. I had no choice and took a bus that would stop at each and every important and non important place in between. The route which normally is covered in 3 and a half hours by a deluxe bus was covered in 5 and a half hours in this filthy stinking crawling bus. Anyways it was in this bus where I found out that the figure which looked like 13 in the morning bus actually meant Ik Onkar in Gurumukhi. I know something supernatural was with me. I was in a mood totally contrasting to the one I was in when I boarded the bus in the morning. I knew things are only happening for good.


PS 2 days later more good news came in the form of my application being selected from Kings College London in Advanced computing and Bioinformatics separately.