Himachal Pradesh







BIG BABY CHIKKU



Okay folks, get out your handy India maps because I have been mobile and it’s been amazing. Since my sunny and green adventures in the South, I have made my way to the other side of the India and the complete opposite climate. After a few days in Delhi, I headed up to Rakesh’s house in Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh. (Rakesh is my old coworker and his hometown of Sundernagar was old stomping ground since I was there over the summer). Sundernagar is up in the foothills of the Himalayas, the weather was chilly, but beautiful. The occasion was Manju (Rakesh’s sister)’s wedding and it was a blast. Basically, I played with Rakesh’s son Chikku who is now big, chubby and adorable, hung out with Rakesh’s cousins, ate delicious food, etc. My friend Christina, who is also a Wesleyan alum and has been in Chennai studying music and dance, came and met us there. The wedding was awesome, and kinda different from Rupu’s Bengali marriage which I went to in December. In comparison, it was shorter, and there was more music and dance involved. When Manju’s fiancé arrived with his friends and family for the wedding, they came with a brass band and spent at least ½ an hour dancing outside the wedding hall. Then went they came in a small stage on the side was devoted to hilarious and extremely excited Punjabi dancing. It was great to watch, but as member of the brides side, we weren’t really supposed to participate (since we’re sad and humbled that the bride is leaving). Manju looked amazing and was decked out in jewels and the most glimmering, sparkling, shiny lehenga choli ever. The night was looooong and chilly so we huddled around a fires (indoors! Whaaa??) while the couple was blessed and the marriage was made official by the priest. The next day I went with Rakesh to the grooms house for the reception hosted by his family (about 5 hours drive from Sundernagar, near Shimla). 



Christina and me with the bride and groom.

Rakesh, Anju (Manju’s cousin-sister) and I were the only people from the brides’ side at the reception so it was pretty low key and we were able to get our bhangra dance on. Unfortunately, due to my lack of preparation for classy events and cold weather, there is now extensive video footage of me bhangra dancing in birkenstocks with socks…All in all, the wedding was great and Rakesh’s family was welcoming, friendly and lots of fun! I miss them already and hope to be back soon.



After Sundernagar, it was another long bus ride to Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala is the city nearby, but we actually stayed in McLeod Ganj). McLeod Ganj is best known for being the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. The Dalai Lama, came to India in 1959 when Tibetans feared he would be captured by the Chinese government because of the unrest between Tibet and China. After traveling by foot through the Himalayas, the Dalai Lama came to McLeod Ganj and settled there. He was then followed by thousands of Tibetans who can no longer live freely in Tibet because of the Chinese occupation. McLeod Ganj a small town of Tibetan refugees and Indians and the mountain surroundings are beautiful. Seeing the Tibetan and Buddhist culture is different than anything I’ve seen in India (or anywhere else really) and the atmosphere is peaceful, but also painful because it is so filled with stories of people forced to leave the native land and live in exile.



The town is plastered with Free Tibet stickers, which made me miss my best friend Schuyler who used to work at Students for a Free Tibet and is always decked out in Free Tibet gear. We did hang out with Schuyler’s friend Legdup who is a cool guy and from McLeod Ganj. We went to a “Tibetan Cultural show” which was a mix of a cultural show/a talent show/open mic night, but was thoroughly enjoyable. There was lots of Tibetan singing and some Bollywood dancing and anytime I started to feel bored or weary, I would look at the 2 monks sitting next to me, one of whom was constantly taking videos/pictures and the other who did not once stop smiling (the show was over 2 hours), they looked refreshingly excited and happy to be watching teenagers dance to Sheila Ki Jawani.

I also got as close as I’m ever gonna get to meeting the Dalai Lama in that I met his guard dogs!  While wandering around the perimeter of the Dalai Lama’s house we started chatting with a man who works for his security team.  Turns out, this guy is a total dog lover and is in charge of bringing the sniffing dogs to smell for drugs, bombs, etc, before the Dalai Lama goes anywhere pretty much.  The dogs were somewhat vicious, but cute and it was really cool to hear more of the inside story of things.  Other highlights of McLeod Ganj were the residence/temple of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibet Museum, a momo (Tibetan dumpling deliciousness) making class, and just wandering the streets looking at the lovely mountain views and taking in the atmosphere.

 



Dalai Lama's guard dog...

Next stop was Lahore’s old hill station, Dalhousie, a small town up in the mountains. For your India trivia, Lahore is the second largest city in what is now Pakistan and a hill station is a city in the hills or mountains set up by the Britishers because they could not stand the heat in the summer. So as you can imagine, February was definitely off-season in Dalhousie and not a whole lot was happening, but we did get to see SNOW which was really cool. The sights in the town included some Tibetan rock paintings and a Catholic church which was interesting to see because there aren’t a whole lot of churches here that I have been inside. We also did a day trip to Chamba where there are some neat stone temples and the drive there was a sight itself. The roads along the mountainside are insanely steep, but if you can get past the vertigo, the views are incredible. Although chilly, Dalhousie was a nice and relaxing stop over in the mountains.



Snow in India, WTF?

St. Francis Church, Dalhousie

Now I have left Himachal Pradesh and am in Amritsar, the holy city for the Sikh people in the state of Punjab. Stories to come, in the meantime, read up on Sikhism. It’s amazing.