Taj Mahal - another side!

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.

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.

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. 

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!

15 Aug celebrations at The Imperial, New Delhi

Published in Express Tribune on October, 12, 2013 
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/18680/my-visit-to-the-taj-mahal/