India and the Taj Mahal

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra
March 13th 2007

Published: March 13th 2007

Edit Blog Post

rinbob

Indian State Railways

Charter train to Agra

India, the ‘jewel in the crown’ of what once was the British Empire, treasured by Queen Victoria yet never seen by her? Elephants, tigers and TEA! But we are here on a flying visit (literally and figuratively) to see the Taj Mahal specifically and get a ‘taste’ of the subcontinent. Landing at Delhi International mid afternoon, a short transfer by coach to a railway station on the outskirts of the city to pick up a chartered train for the 3hour+ journey to Agra some 150km distant. It had been an early start, 3am call, at Beijing airport by 4am, (too early, emigration-customs not open!). But in compensation…the excellent duty free was open, (accident or design?). Our main luggage was to be left in Delhi and overnight bags only taken to Agra for a one-night stay. The tour group were now two weeks into our Round the World, the combination of early calls, constant packing - repacking, and jet lag, was beginning to tell. The sudden descent into an India full of new and strange (to affluent western eyes) sights was a ‘culture shock’! Chaos, ‘squalor’, apparent poverty, and the apparent contrast between the opulence of some and the deprivation of

Affluent India

Near the Embassies in delhi

others hit most of us hard. The street children whilst appealing and entertaining made most of us feel guilty and reminded us of our families back in the prosperous UK. (In retrospect I personally have had to rethink much of my initial conclusions since returning to the UK but that is another story).
The train trip was an exciting adventure, as was the packed lunch supplied! Most was given to the street children who seemed to think it was Christmas (or the local equivalent). It would seem that most Indians live by the trackside in shanty buildings (but with TV/satellite dishes) together with as many dogs, cattle and ‘suicide taxis’ (3wheeled motorized rickshaws) as can be fitted into a pint pot. Our guide however tells a different side. India boasts more (rupee?) billionaires than anywhere else in Asia. But only 3% of the population pay taxes, tax avoidance being a national pastime such that most residential ‘houses’ are deliberately made to look shabby, to avoid the appearance of income thereby avoiding the tax inspector. (We were unable to verify this account.)
Suffice to say that our hotel in Agra was splendid, magnificent, opulent, staffed by uniformed replicas of the Raj

Packed Lunch

'food for thought'

of history, yet in the midst of the utmost indescribable poverty? The service and food impeccable, the 6am start next morning well organised and we arrived after a short drive at the Taj Mahal. Traffic was heavy, chaotic and the mix of sacred cattle, suicide taxis and pedestrians, produced a continuous stream of near misses but no crashes! The Taj is best seen in the early morning mist before sun up. It is certainly spectacular yet mysterious in an odd sense. It is a memorial, created out of an intense love of one person (very rich) for a beloved departed wife. Some of this love can be sensed but of course it is now a ‘tourist attraction’ and since the picture of Diana on what is now called the Diana Seat, its reputation is established forever!
As the sun rose, the building began to shine and present many photo opportunities. The dome is reputedly the heaviest dome ever built, double skinned and ‘indestructible’. Time for breakfast and onto the next visit, the Fort at Agra across the Ganges. All too soon, back to the station for the return trip to Delhi and the plane to Dubai. Goodbye to India, lasting