Travel Tales of Molly and Monty
November 2014 : Puri trip for me was a mixed experience. On the positive side I was glad that my mother was satisfied and content on visiting the Jagannath Temple in Puri. That was the whole purpose of the trip anyways – to get mum to visit the 4 Dhaams at 4 corners (direction) in India – this being the first one. Seeing my mum happy and understanding what it means to her was for me the most satisfying thing which makes this trip worth.
My Experience
On a personal front it was a eye opener in many respects. The trip to the Jagannath Temple in Puri (one of the dhaam) started with me being questioned before entering the temple. My straight long hair, grown up beard and possibly a different dressing style made the security guards think I man not be a Indian/Hindu. I was asked for my name, my father’s name, place I come from and my gotra. I replied in a typical hindi accent confidently. And this is how I succeeded in entering the temple. Perhaps I shouldn’t have. It is well known that only born Hindus are allowed inside the Jagannath Puri temple. And silly me I always thought everyone is equal in the eyes of god.
On an early Indian winter morning of Nov 2014 I travelled with my relatives to meet my cousins, to a village 60 km from Delhi. Our intention to leave early to avoid Monday morning Delhi traffic did not prove to be useful. At any time of day Delhi traffic is manic. It took us just over an hour to reach there in good old Hundai Santro. Read more