To the Taj

At 5AM, after an alley call with mother nature, a dangerous cup of street chai and a bumpy rickshaw ride from New to Old Delhi stations, we discovered that squalor meets chaos at all hours, even in the wee morning. With the discerning help of a large and assertive Bombay friend, purchasing a ticket to Agra was, in an optimistic description, near impossible. Trips between scores, literally scores, of ticket windows was to no avail. A brusque wave of hands, another non-descript utterance in Hindi, and exhasperation drew deeper lines into our friend's already furrowed brow.

The concept of lines in India is both frustrating and hipocritical. You'll get cut off all day, and the moment you adopt comparable propriety, or lack thereof, glowers abound. After the eventual 68 rupee unreserved seat train ticket to Agra, we experienced the insanity of boarding an unreserved train in Old Delhi station. Hundreds, if not thousands, rush for the still-moving doors of the train. When we finally made the train, it was the wrong one, as our platform had changed a minute before. Five hours later we rumbled into Agra station, and spent the remainder of the day meandering the tranquil gardens across the Yamuna from the back of the Taj Mahal. A trip to the older Baby Taj nearby was even more peaceful, with the venue nearly to ourselves (save for garden monkeys, of course).

The Taj Mahal, built as a monument to fallen love by Shah Jahan, is without a doubt, the most spectacular monument I've ever seen. Its pure white marble reflects the light differently through the day, from pure to pink to gold, changing with the sun. Unlike many monuments, its size and solitude bolster its already iconic status. Whereas Big Ben isn't so big, and Corcavado of Rio sits a thousand feet above a city, the grandeur of the Taj is singular and unavoidable in Agra. Up close, the Taj is equally impressive. Well-preserved, inlay marble upon marble, rock upon carved rock, it's amazing that even 20,000 individuals could construct such a masterpiece. We polished off a terrific day with scotch and a Partagas Cuban cigar, a glass of Hennessey and a view of the famous silhouette from an Oberoi Hotel balcony, rocked a rickshaw home and then slept it off in our $10/night hotel. Next day, back to work from our Gurgaon office near Delhi...