It isn’t as if I was unaware of the way India functions in reality. Having been born & brought up there for over two decades I knew all the pros & con’s of this developing country. But living in the beautiful state of J & K I wasn’t much aware of how life is for a visitor. However during my recent 2 day visit to Agra, I got to see India from the eyes of a tourist.
On leaving the Indhira Gandhi International Airport I was well aware of the fact that the rest of Delhi wasn’t as developed as the airport. The moment we boarded the pre paid taxi, the reality of being in India started sinking in. The hotel we had booked was in Safderjung with Kamal Cinema being a nearby attraction. The moment we reached Safderjung, the taxi driver started showing his reluctance in looking for the hotel. We had to make him stop the taxi, enquire about the location & then move on. In spite of this he was clueless about which direction to choose & he had the audacity to blame us for not knowing where we had to go. Thankfully a scooterist had to go to the same place & he agreed to accompany us. Had he not been around, we might as well have spent the day arguing with the nut of a driver.
Finally we did manage to reach our hotel in one piece. The next day we had to reach Fatehpur Skirl at the earliest so we booked the TAJ EXPRESS which would be leaving at 7:30 am from the Nizamudin Train Junction. Now for those of you who haven’t been to India, a visit to this junction is a nightmare. People, luggage, kids, beggars-you name it, everyone is everywhere all the time. People waiting for their trains which are running late by even 10 hours; people saying goodbye to their loved ones or coming to receive their loved ones. Its Jam packed. Luckily for us, it wasn’t much of a shock for we already knew what to expect. Our train got delayed & arrived at 8:30 am. Thankfully our A/C boogie was very comfortable & we enjoyed the four hour journey.
We reached Agra Cant by about 12:15 pm. The moment we stepped on the platform we where hounded by taxi drivers, rickshaw wallas & beggars. They did everything in their power except pushing us into the taxi/rickshaw. Walking & bargaining with us till we reached the pre-paid taxi stand (which seemed to be more like run by the taxi wallahs than by the government). We booked a taxi to take us to Fatehpur Sikri; one of the worst travel decisions we made in this trip.
The taxi wala had a second hand vehicle which he drove at a uniform speed of 60km/hr. Imagine our plight-without lunch or water we where in a taxi which had no A/C on the road. Our pleas to the driver to drive a bit quickly met with no response. He could sense that we where hungry so he stopped at a road-side restaurant (dhabha) which he was advertising all through to be the best in Agra. That’s when we realized we where being exploited for the dhabha was less of an eatery & more of a tuck shop. We refused to get down & asked the driver to drive on. Very reluctantly he drove on.
Finally as if after an eternity we reached Fatehpur Sikri.That’ when another surprise greeted us. The taxi couldn’t go up to the Buland Darwaza. According to our driver the government had restricted the entry of taxis in view of the pollution they can cause to the monument. Fair enough we thought till he added that an auto would take us there! Autos don’t cause pollution?!?We where absolutely furious but he was unfazed. The moment we got down from the taxi we where again hounded by the auto Walla’s (something we had started getting used to). They wanted us to pay 50 Rs for the small almost wakable distance from the taxi stand to Buland darwaza. It was because we paid no heed to their walking alongside us & bargaining that they finally agreed to take us there for 15 Rs. I couldn’t but imagine what the foreign tourists are charged. They don’t even know the language.
We finally reached the Buland Darwaza, after a satisfying lunch at a local restaurant. Once we set foot inside, we where again hounded by self proclaimed guides who where claiming to be government employees / local students (obviously they would charge bakshish at the end of their tour). The sheer absence of any government guide/body around the monument was appalling. This was Fatehpur Sikri, which dates back to 1570 AD.
The visit to the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chisti was very refreshing & soul enriching. After that we went to Jodha Bhai’s Palace. Here we saw how suspicious Indian’s can get. The ticket collector took us to be foreigners but our Urdu confused him. He however gave the tickets. The palace is a dream in red for sure. The Diwan-i-aim is truly a sight for the sore eyes. It has greenery, parrots, shade & the finest of architecture. One can easily picture how life would have existed for Jodha bhai back in time.
Finally at about 5 pm it was time to head back to the taxi. We had to escape from hounding sellers who wanted to sell us necklaces, tavees, budding poets who would charge us just 5 Rs for each couplet & what not. We finally reached the taxi & left .En route the driver again began sympathizing with us telling us we better stay at a hotel which was just near the Taj with the best facilities (we happened to talk amongst ourselves about getting a hotel near Taj). At the same time his boss called him & he told us to talk to him. We refused to talk to his boss who was talking about arranging a hotel for us. This seemed to anger the driver but we held our ground. It was indeed funny to see him angry & us singing Hindi songs to infuriate him even more.
In the middle of traffic his car broke down & we had to push it for some distance before it started. When we did reach around Taj we where again hounded by hotel owners who wanted to strike a deal. Finally we decided to finalize one hotel; from nowhere the driver came out & began negotiating with the hotel owner. As we looked on he did manage to lower the price by about 100 Rs, act as our well wisher & of course earn his commission.
We went to sleep straight off to wake up by 6 am the next day. It was like a dream come true-visiting the Taj, a dream in white marble. There where separate ques for Indian’s & foreigners. It was interesting how local self-proclaimed guides where nearly stalking foreign tourists. My camera stand was not allowed inside the Taj for reasons best known to them. Perhaps I might have used it to break some pillars!!
An American standing next to me was fuming too. His videocam had inbuilt mike (like all videocams) & because of that he either had to remove the mike from the cam or leave the cam outside! How hilarious can the security folks get? This is one of the wonders of the world for its architecture, beauty & history not because of the moronic security reasoning. I do hope they realize it sooner though.
Once inside we left all the bad vibes behind. The Taj has a mesmerizing effect on everyone. It was truly worth the trouble. Be it the ambience, architecture, eye to detail, location, peaceful environment et al. The exterior decorations have been emblazoned by Quranic passages in line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms. Everything is just perfect. I was moved to see the tomb area. Though it was full of people, the moment we entered the iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) we found how peaceful a grave can be.
I was surprised to know that the actual graves are in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right and towards Mecca as Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration 
of graves. Then we strolled around the Taj & within an hour we left this mausoleum of royal love.
My experience of just 2 days as a tourist in India where enough for a years time. India is a beautiful,developing country with a rich, multi cultural past & a vibrant present. If only its managed properly it can well be a major tourist attraction.
This time I saw bargaining, stalking, getting frustated, hounded, taken for granted & what not but as I sat in the train on my way home only one tune was coming to my mind—-India, Incredible India
No comments:
Post a Comment