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Our snapshot of India is just two days only, with the focus on going to see the Taj Mahal in Agra,
so it is only our "first impressions" that we can relate.......
The best metaphor for our "first impression" might be the story of the Buddha. He was born a Prince and kept inside the palace walls where life was a paradise; when he managed to sneak out beyond the walls, he was deeply shocked by the misery, sickness, poverty and death of the real world outside....... thus beginning his search for meaning and understanding of this life.
Leaving either aiport, Delhi or Agra, we were overcome at the sights along the roadside; the dust, dirt, chaotic traffic of old bicycles and old motorcycles with families on them, tiny old cars,
brahma bulls pulling old wooden carts, donkeys pulling old carts, a camel pulling a cart. Poor people living and working on the side of the road, dressed in dirty rags and colorful clothing all mixed together. We saw huge numbers of monkeys on the rooftops (about 10 ft from ground) and hanging off the doorways, cows in the middle of the major road lyingdown, eating grass from the center and at around five o'clock, they all start walking to their respective owners' homes for food.....!! In the middle of the crazy traffic scene. Beggars and street children and young mothers covered in dirt and in rags with babies, try to sell you any little trinket they can manage; some tapping on the car windows....... it goes on.
Arriving at the Mughal Hotel in Agra was like Siddhartha's early experience except in reverse.
You can see this in our photos a bit. The difference between the service and luxury inside the hotel walls was disorienting for us.
THE TAJ MAHAL --- We hired a driver and guide to take us for two days to the Red Fort and the Baby Taj and then the Taj Mahal. He was great at explaining the historical context of these great Mughal monuments/mausoleums; the Taj Mahal, as you know, being the great homage of love from Shah Jahan to his favorite wife, built in the 1600's, near the end of the Mughal Empire.
We all agreed that this took our breath away when we enter the gateway. It is much more awe inspiring than any photo can relate. I think it is the most beautiful building I have ever seen.
3 comments:
It's difficult to have a comment to this post after reading about the poverty. Maybe the only comment is that it should shut us upwhen we start to crab about something . . .
two things:
- that photo of the three of you with mom on the right is unbelievable. it looks so surreal. i have to see it in person someday hopefully.
- it seems like anyone i speak to who has gone to india says the same thing. even if they have seen or experienced first hand the worst poverty in this country, they still aren't prepared for just how extreme it is in india. i can't imagine how greatly that affects you. especially, like you said, if you are then walking into a luxurious hotel where they dote on you at the end of the day.
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