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| In the Sikh temple eating the offerings with Mr. Singh |
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| Sitting on a real camel in rock garden |
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| Covering our heads in orange in the Sikh temple |
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| Narinder reading Punjabi book to me |
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| Narinder and us eating our delicious samosas in the high rise political office! |
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| Narinder giving Des a brochure on Shimla |
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| The lake in Chandigarh |
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| Hand painted timetables at the bus station |
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| Narinder reading Des Punjabi |
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| Wall made of ceramic recyclables |
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| Me and my KFC balloon gift from Mr. Narinder Singh |
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| Little people statues made of old waste |
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| Bird made of colourful bangle bracelet parts |
A couple days ago we had one of the best days yet here in India thanks to Mr. Narinder Singh! While in Chandigarh we decided to check our bags in at the local bus stop in order to wander the streets bag-free before leaving that afternoon. While we were contemplating our route, an old man approached us. "I want to welcome you to Chandigarh and to India!" as he placed a bright orange piece of fabric on my shoulder. "My gift for you!" Based on most of the people that had approached us up to that date, we were dubious of his authenticity to really just want to welcome us, as most people that give "free" things or time here want to be rewarded. However, something about him made us resist from shutting him out right away and instead gave him a chance and had a conversation with him.
"I want to help you see Chandigarh. God gives me a hobby now that I'm retired. I want to save you from beggars and men won't follow you or stare when I with you and I want to show you how to get things for very very cheap. You work and save for this trip but people here see you and think you rich. I am trying to get affordable hotels back for tourists here." (This was after paying way too much for our little filthy room the night before---although we hadn't told him this).
It turns out Mr. Singh worked under the secretary of parliament (or something along these lines--was involved in politics anyway). He is 74 and now retired earning 20,000 rupees a month as his pension, (not quite 350 euros) something he seemed proud of and says is enough to get him and his wife by. He had met Margaret Thatcher and they even shared letters following their encounter...all of this was delivered from him in a detailed way, and he was a very intelligent man. He carried with him 2 full bags of documentation, letters and brochures. His prized possession seemed to be this hand made notebook of pages taped together containing letters from all of the happy tourists he has assisted over the years. He has been mentioned in many local newspapers as well as the New York Times which he repeated to us many times---something he obviously is extremely proud of.
And so we opened up our faith in the human race to Mr. Narinder Singh. The day was unbelievable! He took us to many political friends of his and offices. The first was a sky rise apartment where we drank chai tea on the top floor as well as tried our first, and most delicious samosa here as well as a couple other snacks. The food was delicious and it was nice feeling for the first time like we got a very fair price...in terms of what locals versus tourists pay anyway.(25 rupees for everything--a few cents)
He took us to meet the secretary of parliament and we had tea and a conversation with him. He was very disappointed in how when he went to the States and Canada to visit his daughters that are living there, he was constantly mistaken as a Muslim and that people saw him as a potential terrorist.(He is Sikh). We then went to the local library and the whole time walked everywhere around the city. "A man must walk 10 km a day and then won't have heart attack" said Mr. Sing. The whole time he kept saying that he wanted to make us happy and "if you happy then I feel happy in my head" as he pointed to the middle of his forehead. He kept wanting to present us with gifts and so took us to KFC where he got both Des and I a balloon! Very sweet gesture I must say. We giggled about it with Mr. Singh and he said "the older I get, the more of a child I become!"
He popped in and out of shops getting us free sweets and took us into a beautiful sweet shop filled with all sorts of Indian sweets and came out with free samples for us. His goal was to give us a cheap day.
At one point, early in the day, we did say that we didn't need a guide but he reaffirmed what he was saying that "I don't want any money or anything from you, only to help you! If you happy then I am happy" and he grinned his big toothless grin---how could we resist?
The most amazing part of the day for me was going into the Sikh temple (he was a Sikh man himself). We took off our shoes and he gave us cloth to cover our heads with. He then took us to a long carpet where we sat down cross legged and held out our two hands as a man in the temple came and fed us naan, dahl and aloo soup. We then went into the temple where he showed us around the temple and some of the books written in Punjabi. The whole time he insisted we take pictures and he wants us to send them to him.
He referred to me as "my good daughter" and kept saying that des and I were making him very happy. He also insisted I keep the bright orange scarf to cover my head--"very very beautiful and this way people won't stare so much," he said.
He then took us to the beautiful rock garden that we were going to see anyway had we not met him. It is a garden that was created by a man who is friends with Mr. Singh that turned all the waste and garbage (ie-recyclables) into art. There were beautiful waterfalls and walls made out of old colourful ceramic plates. Walls were made out of old rice sacks and bottle caps were made into little statues. Old bangles bracelets were made into colourful birds and there were big swings, laughing mirrors and camel rides (sat on a camel there!).
Following this, we went to a lake--a lovely lake, although man-made, where people were boating and there were faint mountains on the horizon. Mr. Singh took me into the canteen and showed me how a dosa is made (the thin Indian pancake which I had told him I liked). He then somehow got one for us complementary! "My good daughter, you take this now and share it with your man. This will make me very very happy!"
He was eager to have us ask him as many questions as we could think of--he wanted to share his wisdom. I asked him what his wife thought of him being out everyday helping all these tourists as a hobby until ten pm at night and he replied that "it is very good because I talk too much and otherwise we would quarrel. I like to watch the news on our television and she likes to watch her programs. It is better this way."
I will never forget Mr. Narinder Singh. Indeed, he lived up to his word and did this all out of the goodness of his heart--and a letter with some photos. He was such a refreshing person to meet here. He has a wonderful and contagious laugh and he lit up at the end of our day when he told Des the name of a rose in Hindi (he had been teaching us Hindi words and sentences all day while we walked) and Des replied to him that "Andrea is my rose--except said rose in Hindi." He kissed us both and shook our hands vigorously and said we had both made him very very happy and told us that everything he had said came from his heart. He then took us back to the bus station and got us on our bus and wished us all the best of luck in the future and kissed us again. WOW! is all Des and I could say to eachother. What an amazing man.
