Day1 - 16 May 2008- Delhi.

Travelling for 2 nights and a day in air conditioned comfort in the Rajdhani express was alright, but getting out at 6 AM to the Delhi heat was altogether another experience. Especially, for someone used to the cooler climes of Bangalore, It was like being thrust into a blast furnace without any protection. :-)

We had arrived at Hazrat Nizamuddin- the railway station for the area named after a renowned Sufi master , Nizamuddin Auliya .

My cousin Namita had very thoughtfully arranged for her car and driver to pick us up from the station and drop us to a hotel that I had booked. As we drove past the 'Dargah' of Nizamuddin, looking at the wide open space and the towers within, I had the urge to visit it right then. Somehow, didn't do that. Will go one day, for sure.

The hotel , named Gold regency- no less (!), was just minutes away from the New Delhi railway station from where we had to take the train to Haridwar at around 4 PM. So, we had close to 9 hours of stopover at Delhi.

The paharganj lane where the hotel was situated, was as narrow as can be and I was quite amazed when the driver turned around the Honda city in a classic 3-point turn within that small lane. The lane was full of shops and got extremely busy as the day progressed ( See Pic).

The entrance to our hotel did not look too appealing and I suddenly had misgivings about having taken a room there. Would we have to stay in a matchbox sized room with cockroaches for company, I wondered.

To my relief, the lobby looked better and the room was not too bad either. In fact, at Rs 500 for an AC double room, I thought it was a steal. Ask me why? Because I remember having shelled out 35 Euros (Around Rs. 2100) for a much smaller room, minus the AC, in downtown Paris a few years ago. In these matters, there's really no place like my wonderful India ! Mera bharat truly Mahaan !

My dear friend Gaurav Gupta, the quintessential Delhiite, member of my team and lunch group at my previous firm, called and said that he'd come over to meet us at the hotel around 10 AM. All of us had showered and had a brief nap by 9.30 AM and were ready to go out, the heat notwithstanding. So, Gaurav comes in and says, "Chalo". I asked "where"? And he replied Gurudwara bangla sahib. It was located close by and really worth a visit. I was intrigued because I had never heard of this place before.

Although in the heart of the city near connaught place, the Gurudwara is housed in quite a large area. As I saw the spacious structure with golden domes and a large lake called as the Sarovar, I was mesmerised. I felt a sense of peace pervading the entire area. The inner sanctorum has the holy book of Sikhs, the 'Guru granth Sahib' placed on a golden pedestal. The hall is simple yet elegant. Devotional music can be heard at al times. There is a small tank where water is said to emanate from a natural spring and is called as 'Amrit'.

The water from this pond is said to have been sanctified by the 8th guru of Sikhs, Shri Harkishen Sahib. When he visited the site many years ago, there was an epidemic of smallpox in and around Delhi. At the request of the then owner of this area, Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, the Guru visited the place and kept his feet in the pond. Since then, whoever drank the water, got cured of the small pox. Even now, it is considered holy water and everyone who visits the place does partake of the 'Amrit' which is said to have healing powers.

When we went in, there were volunteers pouring the 'Amrit' from the tank into the palms of devotees and visitors. Everyone just filed in a line, drank the water and moved on. For some reason, one of the volunteers (very good looking sikhwith designer glasse, I noticed) pulled us aside and even without us asking, narrated the story and the background of the holy water , including the details about when and how it all occured. In some way, I felt we had been blessed.... because I noticed no one else was being given any kind of special treatment like us. I took it as a good omen and the thought suddenly struck me... Wow ! What a way to begin a long pilgrimage- An unscheduled trip to a holy site with holy water and special treatment thrown in

as a bonus!

Back to the hotel and a simple yet delicious packed lunch from my cousin Namita's place. We asked Gaurav to share the food with us and amidst a lot of ribbing about his impending marriage, we had a nice conversational lunch among the 5 of us.

Lunch over, Good byes were said to Gaurav and Namita. It was soon time to catch the train onward to Haridwar at 4 PM. Although I had made the reservation for the train online, I had not been able to get AC or even a sleeper ticket. The coach was a chair car and WITHOUT A/C! I thought that since it was just a 4 hour journey, we would somehow manage it. Big mistake !

The heat was truly ON! and for the next 4 and a half hours, I must have sweated a few buckets for sure...What a relief then that as the train approached Haridwar around 8.30 PM, mother nature showered rains all around and the air became cool ! I thought it was the perfect end to a gruelling, hot, 5 hour journey.

Tushar Nath, the main man from Haridwar based Shivalik travels was there waiting for us outside the station with our rented white Ambassador car which would be our mode of transport for the next 10 days or so. Although, quite an eyesore compared to modern cars, it is THE best car for Indian roads, especially Indian hill roads. Extremely rugged, the older version can still seat 3 people in the front and 3 at the back comfortably with lots of space for luggage in the boot. Arvind Sharma, the cab driver, who would be our friend, companion and guide for the 'Char dham' circuit, turned out to be a pleasant chappie who was a local and had been in the business for the last couple of decades. Finally, reached Manidweep Ashram, our accomodation at Haridwar, arranged very kindly for us as mentioned earlier, by Superintendent of Police of the neighbouring district of Rorkee. Had a quick dinner outside and crashed. Oh.. what blessed sleep ! Dreaming of what the journeys hold for us over the next 10 days !