A woof story.

Golden Temple of Amritsar through the eyes of a Dog.

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      Hi. My name is Anak Sharma (yes, I gave myself that). Just like many other dogs in the country, I was born in a dirty gutter, in Amritsar. I was a tiny tot when my mother passed away due to hunger and weakness. I grew up playing with my siblings, three of whom have already gone missing. I roam around the streets, I eat different varieties of food everyday, I run behind little kids, I play rough with my other dog buddies, I have my ‘spots’ in this city. But my most favorite of them all, is most definitely wandering around the Golden Temple.

It was about a year back, the fat aunty who feeds me was out of town and I missed lunch. I randomly wandered into this ‘orange’ street where, for a change, only tangas were used and a lot of people gathered. These humans can never get enough of torturing animals, can they! Orange because whichever direction I turned, I saw people wearing orange cloth to cover their heads. It was winter, a rather cold day, and crazy people were actually walking barefoot. I was 2 years old then and had picked up enough English, Hindi and quite a bit of Punjabi too. Whenever I walk, I try and listen to people and understand. Trust me, I’ve come across some of the funniest conversations ever!

So then, I followed this gang of boys, whom I learnt are from some college, into this Temple, and I had no idea where I was being led. One of the boys turned to me and whistled, I went upto him with a happy face and a wagging tail. He played with me for a while, and to my absolute surprise, he tied the orange cloth around my head too! I ran around in circles and continued my journey along with them. That was the first time I heard the name ‘Golden Temple’. It was nice to step into the warm water kept outside to wash our feet, and then we entered. It was a breathtaking view. I heard all the boys sigh in happiness seeing the beautiful structure and I couldn’t help wish I could, too. Despite all the atrocities that humans commit, there is a lot of good around too, I thought to myself. From what I could infer, there was 100kg gold used in the temple, and was built way back in the 1570’s. Woah! I enthusiastically took a whole round around the temple surrounded by the lake, music that played was so melodious and soothing, but unfortunately, being the dog I am, was refused entry into the main passage to the temple. How I wish I could disguise! I could almost imagine how the inside would look though. I knew that people would give in their offerings near the alter and they came back with an orange bag in their hands. Interesting.

That was the first day I entered the most peaceful place I’ve ever gone to. And since then, I’ve wandered there everyday. Not just for the lip smacking delicious food, but also for the very aura and atmosphere that adds to the richness of the temple. I find my kind of company there everyday, some person or the other to walk around the lake with. There are people who shun me away, who try to shoo me away from the temple, but it always felt like God wanted me to be there. I’ve even had a picnic there with all my buddies.

The serendipity and the richness that fills the place there cannot be compared. Whenever I miss my mom or my siblings, I visit the temple. I meet different kinds of people. Many of them speak differently. Some walk fast, some walk slow. Sometimes I come across playful kids, some scared parents, some extremely old and religious, many school and college groups, but most of them, are extremely nice human beings who come there for the experience and to gain some goodness from the air.

It was much later that I learnt that the tranquility that surrounds the temple today is quite an irony to what happened many years before. There was a seize fire and more than 500 Sikhs were killed in the temple itself. I was shocked when I knew this, but then, humans, yeah.

Its been a year now, and the only reason why I have still not left Amritsar is because of the Golden Temple, my only promising happy home.

It’s the 20^th of January today, early morning, am back at the Temple walking with three pretty girls from Mumbai. From what I heard, Wilson College?