Nanded - March 12

The Brutal Barber

Last night was a bad night for Joan and I. Joan had the runs and I had a blocked nose. I canceled the scheduled visits to the multiple Sikh sights and we had a leisurely breakfast and rested. Feeling better I went to the barber shop next door. Joan, the rock star, sat in a chair just outside the shop. During my hair cut the crowd collected and we had an audience of 20 or so. The barber's chair did not swivel or go down and the electric clippers had a short chord so the ham-fisted barber twisted my head in all sorts of uncomfortable positions. He cut my hair and then shaved my neck. For the shave he unwrapped a broken razor blade and inserted it into a paint scrapper. The shave wasn't too bad, he did use some water. After he finished, he massaged my head. That was nice, but then he put on a show for the crowd . He started slapping my head, judo chopping my shoulders and pummeling my back. He finished with a flourish as he cracked my neck in both directions. I still had feeling in my fingers and toes so I reckon no major damage was done. I paid my 200 rupees (4$) and then posed for selfies with members of the audience. I guess everybody liked my haircut.

The Main Sikh Temple,  Nanded

Nanded is 1 of the 4 holiest cities in the Sikh religion. There are several temples in the city honouring Gurus. In the afternoon we went to the main Sikh temple in Nanded. It is a compound with 6 entrances, a large courtyard, and a temple inside, The compound wall is composed of residences that house Sikhs from all over the world. They come to study and to volunteer for work. In the evening I climbed up the stairs to the top balcony to take pictures. I was approached by a scholar who came out of one of the rooms. Instead of telling me I was off-limits he invited me in to the room where several men were bent over small desks reading large books.

The white buildings are the compound walls