UNFORGATABLE TAJ FROM ABROAD. We NRI s love to take all the pleasure s of living in a foreign country enjoying the pleasures of that country and deep within develop a sense of fear of our children becoming westernised.Like every India lover I too have that fear so always try to visit India once a year ...try to educate my son with all Indian culture and knowledge. Our country is so rich in everything that when we visit different countries we are looked upon as a well educated .knowledgeable culturally rich people wiping out the fear of being circled by rascist peoples cos Indian s have made a position in the heart of whole developed world. Even President Obama has admitted this..that Indians and Chinese are most educated clever bunch in todays US. So I being an NRI I love to train my Son into one... loving his roots wherever he is.We too like migratory birds visit India once every year in winters. It was few years ago when we decided to travel to Agra and Rajasthan to show my son our heritage country proudly. We had done all bookings on internet ....from drop off... pick up..hotels.... travel...everything. Thanks to the age of technology and Google. .:) On the very day we packed our bags and boarded Emirates to New Delhi. We all were excited to see the second wonder of the world. The flight to Delhi was really exciting because the smell of soil was pulling me like a magnet. From airport we were picked up by chauffeur driven Innova and the road to Agra was in par with foreign roads with flowers blooming on the boulevard.My son too was enjoying every bit of it.The driver showed us small huts and said These are the huts where thieves live.Thinking we were quite ignorant like many Indians who takes the pride to tell people that they are from developed country. My son believed him and after that seeing any hut would look at it with awe thinking of it to be another of thief.....:) . Because thief to him was dashing Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean. ..:) We passed through the streets watching awestrucked at the Kathiya babas ashram. India looked like a green carpet leading us to the historical city ..the city of love. We were famished so stopped at The Ambanis new venture then A1 Plaza. We asked for breakfast and visited the washroom which although being under lock and key looked sparkling yellow never seening the janitors brush.We came out with fresh looks because thats the fun of traveling in our own land where everything seems so own inspite of being soiled...:) After waiting for almost forty minutes our paratha bhaji appeared We were about to devour our food when my son shouted Maa they too eat coacroach fries like Shanghai.We went and shouted at the stewards and bought few biscuit packs...bread and bananas because when we would reach Agra the plush interiors of Holiday Inn wont be able to provide us anything other than chair tables before lunch hour. The drive into the fantastic ambience of Holiday Inn was thrilling as we had two opposite suits( as mother was also with us..)..which over looked the lush green lawns and the pool. We were given welcome drink and after bath entered the beautiful dining hall decorated in royal style and food buffet. We ate a sumptuous meal and slept for a while because it was Full moon night and I couldnt wait to see the lovers delight in the full moon light. We drove to the site at eight o clock after dinner and queued near the gate being thoroughly searched with metal detectors as a safety measure from those miscreants who are always threat to the national treasure. The gate opened exactly at eight thirty and we entered through the gates slowly walking down to have the glimpse of the jewel. The lush green lawns leading us to the TAJ. ... making us stop dead in our tracks.The white marble fantasy transported us to the heaven...The moon light making it glow like the minarets had just bathed in milk.Taj has no comparison of its beauty with anything in the world and I saluted to the craftsmanship of those unlucky geniii who had lost their thumbs so that they would not make another Taj. We were given soft cloth shoes to walk on the alabaster. My son was so happy that he too forgot his tiredness. We roamed around the place enjoying every bit of our stay. When we returned to our hotel room after having dinner I was still in Sahajahans age. Next day we woke up early to visit the other historical monuments like Akbars tomb at Sikandra ,Agra fort where we watched from the window Taj Mahal which used to be viewed by Prisoner Sahajahan being held up by his tyrant son Auranzeb .....to have a glimpse of the monument where laid his heart locked up in grave. We also visited Nurjahans palace Salim Chisti. And Fatepur Sikri .The bedroom s looked like small lockers with cemented bed and small windows. I touched the walls to feel the touch of emperor and empress.History smelled from each corners.It was a wonderful moment. We had our lunch at an Indian restaurant where the owner was a friend of our chauffeur and treated us in a different room with different menu card because we were NRI s expecting a good tip.The lunch was delicious and my sons favorite dish of Butter naan and Paneer was the best. We visited Taj again and this time during the day as we could not keep away from our fantasy world. The Taj looked like a newly wed blushing under the moon light in front of her lover .....,and a brave matured woman who stood bold and strong in the broad daylight straight and solid . The yamuna though had dried up and the pillars were little yellow due to pollution for which our government is trying a lot to save it. We left the Taj on our way witnessing the grand arrangements of our then MP film star Raj Babbar with awe at the amount of wealth being wasted in high profile weddings. We had an early night as the next day we would head for Jaipur having a trip to Keoladeo bird sanctuary commonly known as Bharatpur bird sanctuary on our way. Funny experience es awaited us.........:) America, s president Bill Clinton had said after seeing Taj,There are two types of people in the world. ..One who has seen Taj and one who hasnt.Now I can say proudly that I belong to the former category. To be continued. ..........!
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 10:38:25 +0000
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