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| Red Fort |
Just got back from an action packed trip to India all coupled with a wedding, family reunion and tourism. Now I don’t want to get into details of the dreaded visa process and thereafter our woes on reporting entry/exit at every single city we visited, since this is what both the countries have agreed to put their citizens through. And trust me it is the same story when Indians visit us.
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| Turkman gate near Delhi Stock Exchange |
Once we landed in Delhi, the similarities struck us and it seemed as if we
were in Lahore! The people, the roads, the buildings, the architecture and the
food all remind you of things back home. The city is a twin version of Lahore. We
were a bit skeptic about diclosing our nationality but every single person we
met after getting to know that we were Pakistanis, looked at us in fascination
and almost everyone had a story to tell. Some had their relatives there, some
had shifted after partition and some were simply thrilled to know about
Pakistan. Our driver being a Sikh had special feelings for Lahore and Hassan
Abdal. He swored that it was only the politicians of both sides who wanted to
create differences and kept on chanting “yeh sab neta log ke wajah se hai, ham log tu
aik hain”.
The highlight of our trip was the visit to Taj Mahal. After going through numerous accounts on how magnificent and mesmerizing the monument is, we just couldn’t wait for the encounter. A brief stay in Delhi with tours of the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Humayun's tomb, Chandni Chowk and India Gate left us more desperate to see the wonder.
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| Yamuna Expressway |
For our visit to the Taj we booked a car and took the new Yamuna
Expressway from Delhi. The state of art 165 kms, 6 lane Expressway is built to
reduce travel time between Delhi and Agra and it takes about 2 hours to reach
Agra. It is one of the best and busiest highways in India. But once the
Expressway finished and we entered Agra city we were in for a shock. The road
narrowed down to a messy and chaotic traffic jam leading through areas littered
with heaps of garbage and undisposed waste.
The slums of Agra represent a
different world all together with urban poverty at its worst. The inhuman
living conditions in these areas are result of lack sanitation facilities,
waste management and disposal. Most of the slum dwellers live in dire
conditions without individual toilets.
Though public toilets are provided but the lack of maintanance and regular
cleaning have rendered them unusable. This totally unglamorous side of one of
the most sought after tourist destinations in the world left us baffled and
confused.
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| Agra slums |
A discussion with our driver cum guide lead us to the fact that they are no different than us! He was of the view that government was corrupt and the officials were filling their own pockets with all the revenue coming in. There are approx 50,000 tourists visiting the monumnet on daily basis with entry charges of about £10 per head and it seemed that none of the revenue was spent on developing infrastrucure and uplifting the slums.
By the time we finally reached it was already 6 pm so we
decided to call it a day and headed to the hotel instead. Next day we got
up before sunrise and headed out straight to the Taj. There are no cars or
buses allowed within the radius of 500 meters near the monument to curtail pollution
levels which have become alarmingly high due to smoke emmission, discharges from factories and clogged drains around the building. It has directly affected the color of the monument which
has taken a yellowish tinge. While walking past the handicraft stalls set up on
both sides of the road we met the artisans who claim to be decedents of the laborers
involved in construction of the Taj. They have been settled near the monumnet
for generations and earn their living by crafting soviniers and other gift
items.
There was a long queue of tourists already outside the entrance
with security checks. Once we entered the gates it was as if we were
transported into a different era. The air was majestic with lush green gardens
and the magnificent Moghul architecture. We hurridly made our way through the
east gate, lo and behold the Taj was there with all its mystery and splendour.
It is a breath taking sight and the building looks divine with its gleaming
white marble against the clear blue sky. The beauty of the scenery left us
speechless for few seconds and each one of us was engulfed in our own thoughts.
As our eyes got accustomed to the constant white marvel in the background we
began the ritual of clicking photographs. As we moved forward there was another
queue; people were lined up to get their photos taken on the famous Princess Di
bench. While it is next to impossible to have your picture taken without anyone
else in the background, it was fun to try. Even at 6 am the place was
flourishing with tourists from different countries and all sort of languages
could be heard from Japanese to French to German and of course Punjabi!
Adjucent to Taj Mahal is the Mosque which is open only for Friday
prayers. The mosque is made of red sand stone and has a similar design as the
Jama Masjid in Delhi. Another building replicating the mosque was contructed on
the east side to balance the overall symmetry. It is a guest house and is called
the ‘jawab’ or response as its purpose is to harmonize the scenery.
As per Rudyard Kipling who called Taj Mahal ‘the
embodiment of all things pure’ it would have been difficult to digest
the impurity we saw on the other side only had we not seen it with our own
eyes. The glowing monument, manicured gardens
and clear water ponds were a direct contrast to the slums of Agra. The Taj which is considered to be the pride of India
and a masterpiece of Moghul architecture deserves to be well taken care of and
that can only happen if the people living near it are well cared for.
All in all India is an
amazing place to visit; secular to the core with
masjid, mandir, churches, gurdwaras all in a row welcoming all. Azaan and
bells ringing simultaneously! From metros to malls, to high street fashion and
fast cars; poverty at its worst, beggars and homeless kids but the best part:
felt just like home!
