08 Mar India Day 3: Memories

Day 3  (Memories)

Another day, another 8 am wakeup call, but this time I arrived to breakfast on time and in business casual (which sucked).  Yesterday, our professor informed us that we would visit some unknown company and that our attire mattered considerably.  So, after shoveling down millions of beautiful breakfast calories and taking a bus trip, we found ourselves in front of a building that did not look like a company.  Before us stood the astonishingly pulchritudinous temple, Akshardham!!! (Shameless Word of the Day plug.)   What. A. Temple.  Elaborately carved sandstone of Indian gods, an opulent room with intricately carved marble, a gold embellished statue of Swaminarayan, and an Epcot worthy audio-animatronics show depicting the life of Swaminarayan (complete with a ridiculous 40 minute IMAX film) entranced us.  The only downside:  NO CAMERAS ALLOWED.

(imaginary picture)

Coincidentally, this temple has a website with pictures! Check out the photos on http://akshardham.com.

Despite wearing conservative business causal attire, my skirt, along with several others’, proved much too short, but no worries.  Bright orange wraps materialized to cover our scandalous legs.  Epic. Picture. Moment – because we – Pulled. It. Off.  Alas, the camera policy prevented us from documenting this Scarlet Letter moment.  We already stuck out, but the fantastically bright orange wraps made us stick out EVEN more.

Inside the temple, I felt this positive energy pulsating from within the place that I could not explain – I felt inner peace.  I will always remember how Rohit, Amit, and I laid on the cool marble floor looking up at the wonderfully carved ceilings. Mere words cannot describe the feelings that rolled over me as the coolness of the marble absorbed through my pores.  Those five minutes, because the guard eventually removed us, will stay with me forever.

Then epicness came in IMAX form.  An androgynous Michael Jackson lookalike represented Swaminarayan, who also travelled half-naked in the cold to teach non-violence to the world.  At one point, Swaminarayan turned arrows into flowers!  My enthusiasm lasted until I fell asleep.

After Akshardham and grabbing a bite at the food court, where I ordered a North Indian Thali, we made our way to the Apollo Hospital.  Neat fact:  In India certain surgeries are much cheaper than in the United States and Singapore.  Either a joint replacement or heart bypass (can’t remember which) costs $30,000 in the States while the surgery costs around $7000 in India.  Crazy.  The vast difference in price comes from using generic drugs and leads to many medical tourists going to India.

After the hospital, we ventured over to the Lotus temple, a place of worship for the Bahái.  The incredible temple, open to any religion, has architectural elements inspired by the lotus flower.  I, of course, “asked” my classmates to perform an Indian dance move in front of the temple.  (A Bollywood music video might come out of this as I have accumulated way too much funny footage.)

That night, we ate dinner at the Venue, which showcased fusion Indian food, for a UT alum dinner.  Once again, I stuffed myself and proceeded to pass out at the dinner table (habits die hard).

Unfortunately, this is  my last night at the ShangriLa hotel.  Since we take a train to Agra tomorrow, to prevent stolen baggage, our luggage needs to be loaded on a bus leaving at 9 pm that will meet us in Agra tomorrow.  Everyone keeps saying that riding the train to Agra is a must, although I’m not yet entirely convinced.  Especially because we have to congregate in the lobby at 5:30 am.  Five alarms should do the trick.  Time for passing out.