Agra: Fatehpur Sikri and Taj Mahal

Finally I can say that I have seen the Taj Mahal.....but not without going through some tough situations. I guess one can say that this is the way these things happen in India, so I should have been more prepared!

I had booked my train reservations separately from my friends so I was traveling alone, although they were on the same train. We were to depart around midnight and before this I was living it up at a restaurant / bar watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games. I ran home and packed my bag, knowing that I was cutting it really close with time. At this moment one of my roommates "needed" to have a conversation, even though I made it clear I was going to be late (I was too nice to just leave). We talked for about fifteen minutes and then I ran out the door.

So finally I was on a cycle rickshaw headed to the train station, and on the way no less than five times did men on motorcycles harass me. One of them said, "Are you comfortable? Where are you going?" And after I ignored him he asked, "Are you a Christian?". That freaked me out a little. Next, a guy drove up and said "Hey baby, can I drop you somewhere?" And after passing a group of men standing around an idle bus, several of them started yelling and began to chase after my rickshaw. One of the unfortunate parts of my summer here has been the many incidents of harassment, such as verbal slurs, inappropriate advances and in some cases violent groping, that have happened to myself and other women in my school's program. Its been hard, as a woman, to live and feel safe in Lucknow because you feel trapped--either you should be staying at home, or not stay out past eight o'clock at night, or have several men in your entourage. At first you think to yourself maybe its because I'm walking in some sort of suggestive way, or my dupatta is not on correctly, etc. But after some time it seems as if no matter what strategies you employ men still make unwanted verbal advances. Back to that night--I yelled at my driver to go faster, and said to him in Hindi, "Please do something!" He said "I don't understand what they are saying, I speak Hindi". To which I replied, "Just tell them to go away!" Finally we arrived at the station, but my train had left the station just five minutes before. After all of that, I went into the Station Commissioner's office, told them I missed my train and cried my eyes out.

I pulled myself together and tried to find a different train. There was no way I was going to go back home at this point--I was too scared to go out onto the streets after all of that. Most of the informational signs in the station are in Hindi script, so I was lucky that I knew enough to ask for what I needed. I was sent to no less than five different places, given five different answers, but eventually bought a ticket for a train going to Agra that would leave in the coming ten minutes. However, I did not have a reserved seat--I had a 'general ticket', which means you just stand around for the duration of the trip. Anyone who has been on Indian trains knows how awful this situation was. I wasn't sure in which train car I should plant myself, so I went around asking other passengers and this was not at all helpful. Some police officers saw me and after I explained my situation, they brought me through several of the cars eventually to a seat. They told me to sit there, and after an hour came back and said "Listen, you are going to have to pay a penalty fine because this is not your seat". I told them that was fine. Then a passenger came to me and said "Ma'am, don't do what they told you--this is India--everyone tries to cheat you". I replied "Thanks, but I did not pay the fare for this seat. So when the ticket checker comes I will pay if I need to, but I won't pay anything to the police officers". I stayed awake most of the night, worried about being in someone's seat and worried somewhat for my safety. When the checker did come it was 5:30 in the morning, and I had to pay a fine equivalent to what the regular fare is for that seat.

The train pulled into Agra at about 6:30 am, and I took a rickshaw to meet my friends at their hotel near the Taj. It turns out that they had different ideas about how to spend the day, so I hired a car and driver to take me to Fatehpur Sikri, the fortress city forty kilometers from Agra built by the Mughal ruler Akbar. I hired a guide to take me around the premises because they are quite large and there is little signage giving historical details and information. The guide was pleasant enough, but his speeches sounded like he was reading right from a textbook. He would get a little irritated when I asked him questions in Hindi, or when I challenged his explanation of the fort's architectural styles. For example, he would point to an elaborately decorated pillar and assert that a particular design is 'Islamic', the one next to it 'Hindu', and the one next to that 'Christian'. And all of this religious plurality in decorative work reinforces the historical legacy of Akbar, an 'Islamic' ruler who married a Rajput (Hindu) princess and also had Turkish and Christian wives. Especially in contemporary India, Akbar is lauded as an exceptionally tolerant and wise multiculturalist who believed that all of his subjects, no matter their creed, were 'Hindustani'. This example of tolerance from the highest position in society is especially compelling considering the intolerance that affects certain aspects of social relations in contemporary India. I very much enjoyed my visit here, despite the fact that around every corner there was a different goods seller working in collaboration with my guide.

The Taj Mahal was much more imposing than what I was prepared for. We spent about three hours here, hanging out in the gardens and watching the sunlight affect changes on the hue of the white marble. Now I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking....

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