5:00 AM. It's freezing cold in Agra, and the hotel informs that hot water will be switched on only at 7:00 AM. After much cajoling, they give us a bucket of hot water. At 6:00 AM, there is not a single rickshaw to be found. SS insists on walking all the way. After an hour of walking, we finally hail a rickshaw.
The first glimpse of the Taj is through the arched gateway. It looked small - an optical illusion since the moment you step through the arch, it towers over you barely 500 meters away. There is hardly anyone around. The sun is just rising, bathing the monument in a golden hue.
SS goes crazy on the minars and clicks some 60 snaps of them alone. Even in that sparse crowd, the Chinese tourists are a nuisance for photographers. A German guy yells at two college students for incessantly interrupting his shots with their antics for almost 15 minutes. After much pleading they buzz off, only for another Chinese guy to seize the moment and run into the shot. The German helplessly goes berserk. The Patel snaps are of course there - people jumping together, trying to fly, reaching to touch the top of the dome and the minars, and one Chinese lady going as far as posing like an Indian Maharishi - standing on one leg, with her hands folded in a "Namaste".
By the time we finish there, people are being regulated into a long and winding queue to enter the tomb. Next to the Taj, stands the Taj Hotel - in case it surprises you, everything in Agra is either named after the Taj or the Mughals - run by the Ashok Group. We have a sumptuous breakfast of Cheese Omelette and Toast - for once, we are spared the biscuit routine.
To visit the Baby Taj, we are advised to take a "tempo" which would cost just 5 Rs. It turns out to be a small auto-rickshaw into which is crammed in eight people - four on the drivers' seat and four behind. In some cases, there are even people hanging on behind the vehicle. Quite an experience!
The "Baby Taj", formally known as Itimad-ud-Daula, is the tomb of Nur Jahan's father. It was beautiful and stunning - probably more than the Taj, since we had never seen it in picture. Pre-dating the Taj, this was the first Mughal monument made fully in white marble. It doesn't have a dome, but is a flat structure with a pavilion on top and decorated with design inlays in colored marble. At the back, the Yamuna flows quietly. Children take bath in its grey polluted waters. Inside the rear enclosure, two shy artisans are working laboriously to restore the gate. Foreigners stop to gawk at them, and they smile coyly. In the garden, guards are busy driving away menacing monkeys.
When asked about Chini ka Roza, the shopkeeper advised us: "Bas juaa khelte hai, cigarette peete hai aur latrine karte hai. Mat jaiye. Usse achha Mehtab Bagh hai". The little fellow in the rickshaw offered to take us there for 30 Rs. Barely had we gone 100 meters before he had a flat tyre. Fortunately, we found another guy near the Yamuna Bridge to take us to the Bagh for 20 Rs. Realizing how far it was, we asked him whether he would wait. He politely refused since we were unsure how long we would take.
Mehtab Bagh is an attempt to recreate the gardens during the Mughal times. In a few years, it might become an exquisitely beautiful garden, but today it is just full of growing shrubs. The most exciting feature of this Bagh is that it offers a stunning view of the Taj, for it stands directly across the Yamuna from it. Rumours abound that Shah Jahan had planned to construct a Black Taj here. The edge of the river is cordoned off with two barb-wire fences, as if this were a contentious national border. In the space between the fences, there appeared a little boy. "Hariom", he said his name way. We clicked his photos and showed them to him. He appeared non-chalant. Suddenly, a little girl appeared next to him and said, "Mera photo!"
"Radha": she announced her name.
"Yeh tumhari behn hai?" we asked Hariom.
"Nahin!" she interjected. "Yeh mere bhaiyya hai".
She smiled at us for the photos. She seemed happy to see her photos. As we turned to go, we heard her voice from behind us:
"Hello! Me Ten Rupees".
We were stunned. Hariom was still looking disinterested in the whole episode.
Next to the hotel, there stands the Jaiwal Emporium selling marble handicrafts at very reasonable prices - so much that SS never bargained. Mr. Ajay Mathur, was quite an interesting person. A casual mention by SS of him being in Agra for one year, broke the ice. We stood there discussing about everything possible, from studies to photography to Shakespeare.
Pic of the day:
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