Amritsar, Brought To You By The Sikh Community

I'm here in Amritsar, the de facto capital of the Sikh religious community in India. Sikhism is a relatively new religion (15th century), and its calls for caste equality were remarkably progressive for its time. On the plaque entering the city is inscribed: "To serve all humankind is to serve God."

Following this spirit, the Sikhs offer free lodging and food to everyone, of any religion, coming to the Golden Temple, their holiest place of worship.

I also visited the Indo-Pakistani border here in Amritsar. While in the words of one French person in Delhi, "India dies at night," here the party just gets started.

Crowds gather on both the Indian and Pakistani side to chant insults at one another as border guards scream, goosestep, and do generally weird spectacles to intimidate the other side as the border closes. You can just feel the love.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Dharamsala, which is the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Should be interesting, and I'll post once I get there.