Agra Day One

After getting up at 4:30 in the morning, we took the Shabooti Express train to Agra. The train station is mobbed and a good people watching place. On the train, you are offered water and snacks. The train passes through the supposed birthplace of Krishna.

Upon arrival to Agra, we went to the hotel, called the Gateway (formerly the Taj View). Our room was not ready so we went with our guide Anil to Sikandra, Akbar’s tomb. This tomb was started by Akbar and completed after his death. It is made of four different types of stone and elaborately decorated. It has typical motifs of script verses from the Koran, flower design and geometric patterns. No images of living things are allowed in Muslim buildings. It is a model of perfect symmetry. The chamber with his tomb is very simple and has a lovely echo. The grounds are a four-cornered garden, which is a traditional design and is home to some deer and Langur monkeys.

After lunch we started toward the Taj Mahal. To get the Taj, you have to leave the car and take an electric bus to the entrance. There are people hawking all kinds of stuff and they are very persistent. I have to keep repeating to myself to ignore, ignore, ignore. After buying the ticket, men and women stand in different lines for security checks. Finally, you are in. First, you see the elaborate entrance gate and then, the Taj Mahal itself. I can’t really describe it well enough to do it justice. The symmetry and sheer scale are amazing. The stone carving is amazing. The decorations are inlayed precious and semi precious stones including agate, jasper, malachite, turquoise, tiger’s eye, lapis lazuli, and coral into the white marble. The designs are intricate and elegant. In the center is the tomb of Mumtaz and just to the side is that of Shah Jahan. Unfortunately, the inside is crowded and does not allow photos but hopefully the photos of the outside will give some idea of what it is like.

I have written some about the beautiful sights that we have seen but I wanted to touch on some of the less nice aspects. India is a place where there are rules but nobody seems to follow them. I have mentioned the traffic – there are laws but people drive how they want. There are signs everywhere that say “horns prohibited” but the honking is constant. Begging is against the law; but there are people begging everywhere – including tapping on the car windows at corners. You have to step over them in the streets in many areas of Delhi and, sadly, a large percentage of them appear to be children.

It is hard to remember that this is a modern country, where cell phones, computer software, and nuclear technology exists. Drinkable water is not available in most places. The high-end hotel that we are staying at had power outages. The buildings are crumbling. The modern section of New Delhi was built by the British between the early 1900s and World War II and it appears that little updating has been done since. There are no modern glass skyscrapers to be found and every building appears to be on the verge of falling apart. There is no landscaping, everything is dirt and dust.

Along the roads, it is impossible to ignore the plight of the animals. There are many street dogs – all with their ribs and hip bones sticking out. When cows no longer give milk, they are pushed out and cows just wander the roads, eating trash. The horses we have seen pulling carts are pitifully thin (although, there are more people pulling rickshaws who seem to share the same working conditions as these horses). Goats, water buffalo, donkeys all wander through the streets. Other animals are tethered in a way that would not be allowed at home.
The trash and pollution are also amazing. Trash is just piled along the roads and highways. Unfortunately, a lot of it is plastic and will last forever. As you drive along, you see people, often children, picking through the trash. We were told that children are sent out to try to collect materials that can be recycled to try to make money. A heavy blanket of smog blankets the cities.
There is also sexism that is subtle but rampant. People rarely address me. All questions are asked to Jonathan. The waiters always look to him to order meals. Rather than have me sign a hotel form, they waited for him to come back from the bathroom.

The dichotomy that exists here is huge and omnipresent. Sexism is rampant but a woman owns one of the largest companies in India. Part of the population is rich but horrible poverty exists. India is responsible for more than 25% of computer software but most people here cannot afford a computer. People own pets, there are a lot of vegetarians, and cows are sacred, but animals are treated horribly and wander the streets. Certainly, this is an interesting country….