Turbans turning the table

Amristar - Golden Temple.

Most people, including myself until this trip, saw Indians as one. They are brown, some wear turbans. Turban sounds like Taliban and the Taliban is represented by Osama and Osama attacked America so maybe these men with turbans could attack me? I suppose I would never know if I wasn't drawn to Amristar with promise of a Golden temple.
On the train to the city I began reading about where I was going and what I was getting myself into. Supposedly there was a free bus that brought you to a free dormitory where you could eat free food and read free books at a free temple.
Ya right.
When I arrived at 5:00 in the morning I was ushered in a somewhat chaotic fashion outside the train station. In the parking lot stood a mini school bus painted bright gold. It looked something like Mrs. Frizzles magic school bus. I got in, sat down, and the bus was off.
The sun was a dark burning orange color as it slowly began to rise over the black clouds. It seemed it might be a nice day.
The bus stopped at the temple, some people began getting on the bus before people began getting off, a little bit of chaos persisted until I was pushed off.
The bus was free.
At the temple I really started to feel I was in a new world. Most men had bushy black beards that tickled to look at. All men had turbans, some were bright orange, others blue. When I asked one men about this he replied. "The turban doesn't represent anything except complete commitment. When you choose to stand out by tying your turban, you stand fearlessly as one single person standing out from six billion people. It is a most outstanding act."
Some men also had speaks, daggers, swords. All are traditional garments worn by most male Sikhs in the past, but there the past is still present.
The dormitory was easy to find. People went out of their way to show me where it was. The foreigners area consisted of 7 rooms and a large dormitory. There was a new Sony washing machine, a hot shower, and a water machine, things unheard of in a normal Indian backpackers hotel.
Everything was there for us, for free.
After freshening up I went for my first look at the mess hall. I was hungry. Inside was a canteen that served up to 30,000 people per day. The steps were simple.
1) Cover your head
2) Grab a plate
3) Go upstairs and sit down on the carpet
4) Put your plate out when you want more, take your plate in when your finished.
Men with big buckets ran down the lines of people sitting on the ground dishing out different types of food. At each meal there were usually three different types of food not including nan bread and some sweet desert. It was some of the most delicious vegetarian food I had in all of Indian.
And yes, all day, everyday, for everybody and anybody, its absolutely free!
After eating I finally had a chance to get a look at the Golden temple. It sat in the middle of a turquoise green pool where radioactively large gold fish swam. The small marble walkway, carpeted and decorated with gold bars, resembled an isle leading to a priceless treasure. And at the alter stood the Golden temple. It shined viciously in the afternoon sun and glowed softly at sunset. It was surrounded by white towers with areas to pray to the 9 different 'gurus' or teachers of their young religion. All in all it represented one of the most beautiful and atmospheric places I have ever been.

I spent a few days learning about the Sikh religion.

Its one of the worlds youngest religions starting in the 1500's

The founder Guru Nanak Dev was way ahead of his time. He preached about equality between the sexes, elimination of caste system, and the union of all people.

The more I learned about Sikhism and spent time with the extraordinarily generous people the more I frowned upon myself for being so ignorant, judgemental and racist. The Sikhs turned out out be some of the friendliest Ive met in the whole world. Everything they had they offered for free, to everyone regardless of their race, gender, or tax bracket. And where does all this money come from? From the people. They give for the benefit of the less fortunate. They have set up numerous programs for orphans, hospitals for sick, and refugees for the homeless.

"The body is the field of karma in this age; whatever you plant, you shall harvest."
Guru Granth, The 5th Guru