Wah (Wow) TAJ !!!!!, 5 exclaimation rating for you. I was marvelled at the sight of this magnificent monument. No wonder, it has earned its way to the esteemed club called "Seven Wonders of the World". What you see is what you get, a bird on hand is better than two in the bush. I had seen pictues, documentaries, movies of the Taj Mahal, but nothing matches the sight of the real thing, the awesome spectacle of this white marble monument, glistening under the winter morning sun.
The ride to Agra on the expressway through NOIDA on our way to Taj Mahal was pleasantly fast, though in spite of the fairly light traffic, I saw many driving in the middle of the lane. A few ran across the road, safety be damned. We drove past mountains of apartments complexes on the both sides, floating in a sea of mist and smog. Soon the sun peeped through the curtain of haze, revealing vast stretches of collard greens and fluttering waves of yellow mustard fields under a cool morning breeze, all seem to be smiling and waving at us, akin to the hues of green and yellow Sikh turbans I saw the day before at the local mall.
Closer we got to our destination, the traffic started to crawl through the labyrinths of narrow streets. We trudged ahead on the road filled potholes, amiably shared by homo sapiens and animals alike, Horse and camels driven carriages, non chalant buffaloes and goats, a mother monkey with her baby tucked to her back, finally managed to reach the gate of Taj. No sooner we got off from our car, than a bunch of irritating touts surrounded us, competing to sell their products and buy us a quicker passage to beat the long line.
Wish I brought my American passport with me. A ticket for a local costs 10 bucks, vis a vis 700 bucks for a foreigner. Though priced 70 times more, it buys you 70 times less time, as saw the line for the foreigners was a shoo in. Nothing is more precious, as time is money and worth every bit of it. Good friends and food is the luxury I have, but Time is the luxury I don't. It's the most independent entity on earth, never stops for anybody as everything is a function of time. So it doesn't hurt if money can buy you some precious time.
Behind the Taj, as sluggish Yamuna struggled to flow, looking more like a cesspool and a swimming pool for buffaloes, than a water body which can be called a river. As I enjoyed the caressing of cool air, the silght of a carcass floating on the putrid water gave me a feeling of puke erupting into my mouth. I am sure Sah Jahan would have shifted the Taj Mahal to another location, if ever saw this polluted Yamuna.
On our way back had a scary encounter when barely a 100 feet ahead of our vehicle, the tyres of a van burst, making it spinning like a top. Luckily for all, the van swerved to the left of the road without overturning. as it screeched to a complete stop. Whew!!!
My tryst with gluttony continues, as I tasted GOSTH RA RA at lunch, a dish of slow cooked chunks of mutton, blended with a spicy gravy of grounded version of the meat. The fitting finale of a long, eventful day was the Dinner with my friend Vijendra Rawat. Thanks buddy to your big heart and hospitality. Nothing can beat the taste of the Stripped Spicy lamb and the MEETHA PAAN (sweetened betel) as an icing on the cake to end an eventful day. More later..
The ride to Agra on the expressway through NOIDA on our way to Taj Mahal was pleasantly fast, though in spite of the fairly light traffic, I saw many driving in the middle of the lane. A few ran across the road, safety be damned. We drove past mountains of apartments complexes on the both sides, floating in a sea of mist and smog. Soon the sun peeped through the curtain of haze, revealing vast stretches of collard greens and fluttering waves of yellow mustard fields under a cool morning breeze, all seem to be smiling and waving at us, akin to the hues of green and yellow Sikh turbans I saw the day before at the local mall.
Closer we got to our destination, the traffic started to crawl through the labyrinths of narrow streets. We trudged ahead on the road filled potholes, amiably shared by homo sapiens and animals alike, Horse and camels driven carriages, non chalant buffaloes and goats, a mother monkey with her baby tucked to her back, finally managed to reach the gate of Taj. No sooner we got off from our car, than a bunch of irritating touts surrounded us, competing to sell their products and buy us a quicker passage to beat the long line.
Wish I brought my American passport with me. A ticket for a local costs 10 bucks, vis a vis 700 bucks for a foreigner. Though priced 70 times more, it buys you 70 times less time, as saw the line for the foreigners was a shoo in. Nothing is more precious, as time is money and worth every bit of it. Good friends and food is the luxury I have, but Time is the luxury I don't. It's the most independent entity on earth, never stops for anybody as everything is a function of time. So it doesn't hurt if money can buy you some precious time.
Behind the Taj, as sluggish Yamuna struggled to flow, looking more like a cesspool and a swimming pool for buffaloes, than a water body which can be called a river. As I enjoyed the caressing of cool air, the silght of a carcass floating on the putrid water gave me a feeling of puke erupting into my mouth. I am sure Sah Jahan would have shifted the Taj Mahal to another location, if ever saw this polluted Yamuna.
On our way back had a scary encounter when barely a 100 feet ahead of our vehicle, the tyres of a van burst, making it spinning like a top. Luckily for all, the van swerved to the left of the road without overturning. as it screeched to a complete stop. Whew!!!
My tryst with gluttony continues, as I tasted GOSTH RA RA at lunch, a dish of slow cooked chunks of mutton, blended with a spicy gravy of grounded version of the meat. The fitting finale of a long, eventful day was the Dinner with my friend Vijendra Rawat. Thanks buddy to your big heart and hospitality. Nothing can beat the taste of the Stripped Spicy lamb and the MEETHA PAAN (sweetened betel) as an icing on the cake to end an eventful day. More later..
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