India Revisited by Neria Harish Hebbar, MD

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Travelogues
India Revisited – 6

The Agra Taj Hotel where we stayed had a nice view of Taj Mahal but fog that day made visibility rather poor. However, we could not wait to see it from close quarters, and the decision to go to the Taj was made easy because we saw the sun struggling to come out from behind the clouds and fog. Knowing that tomorrow could be worse we headed straight to see the monument after lunch. The car can take you up to a parking lot and then for a fee, you ride in a battery operated (and battered) rickshaw-like vehicle to the gates of the Taj. After paying the discriminatory price for having the prefix NRI to our names, we proceeded directly to the gates of the most graceful building built by human beings.

The Taj Mahal

A few words of caution about the guides in these historical sites. It is difficult to find an English speaking guide, who is well versed in history and who does not try to squeeze money from you. If one is cautious about such matters, especially in Agra, one will forgo all the fun. My advice: be resigned to the fact that you are going to be fleeced, as they will smell and spot a NRI from miles away. Hopefully you don’t look and feel like a naked sheep with its entire fleece sheared at the end of the trip.

Now we were facing the breathtaking view of Taj Mahal through the framework of the main entrance. The guide was blabbering some history in broken English, but none of us was paying any attention to him. The Taj looked like a fragile structure, delicately placed on an open platform that you perhaps would have preferred to keep safely in your curio cabinet at home. As one approaches the Taj it seems to grow larger, until finally at close quarters the sheer size of it staggers you. The perfect symmetry of this magnificent building is only broken by the later addition of Shah Jahan’s tomb, lying next to Mumtaz. He had dreamed of a mausoleum built of black marble across River Yamuna for himself, across from the Taj, but its prohibitive cost and his failing health prevented Shah Jahan from going through with the plan. The asymmetry of his tombstone next to Mumtaz in the Taj looks odd, but the sight of the two lovers side by side in their final resting place adds heartwarming romanticism to Taj. This was my fourth visit to the Taj and it still did not fail to amaze me. Now I can claim that I have seen it in all shades of light and in all types of weather.

– Continued

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