The Taj

The other day I was browsing through my Delhi-Agra-Jaipur photographs and came across the picture of the Taj Mahal. I was still amazed to find out my level of admiration did not decrease. I have never been taken aback by any structure ever in my life except for the Taj Mahal.

Having lived in the UAE for more than 20 years, I have seen numerous sky-scrapers, building of various shapes (well one of my favourites in Abu Dhabi is the Aldar Office – you could google for it), mosques, malls and many more. But I was never fascinated or never stopped in my tracks to give it a second look.

I have also visited many museums, palaces, churches, cathedrals and other historical structures in the UK. I have also seen the Eiffel Tower, one of the other wonders of the world, and other beautiful buildings in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was definitely a pretty sight in the evening, but it failed to make a deep impression in my mind.

A year and a half back, my husband and I made plans to visit the Taj Mahal. I wanted to find out what was so great about it to be considered as one of the wonders of the world. I have seen pictures in books, shots of it in movies and it looked like just another mosque made of white marble. It has a touching love story behind it – was that one of the reasons to make it so popular?

So, we take a train from Delhi to Agra, early in the morning – all excited. The train journey was uneventful. On reaching Agra, I was so disgusted by the foul smell and garbage piled up all around. People were oblivious to the nastiness around and were hurrying up to the taxi stand. I was struggling to make my way between the piles of crap and being careful not to step on anything squishy.

After our visit to Fatehpur Sikri and lunch, we headed to the Taj Mahal. We entered one of the gates and I was shocked to see throngs of people swarming all over the place. Few minutes of walking and we reached the arch and it was again filled up with people either posing for or taking photographs. We snaked our way between them and finally, the sight of IT emerged! For a minute, I was rooted to my spot. I am not exaggerating - I had goosebumps. I was awestruck by the massiveness of the Taj Mahal. As we walked towards it, I started wondering, just like anybody – how the hell did they manage to build it without any of the technology that we have now? The beauty of the Taj Mahal is beyond explanation. It has to be seen and experienced. Taking a closer look, I was spell bound by the perfection it was built with. I could not spot anything that was out of place. The science and art that has gone into the construction of this divine structure is truly admirable. I, then realised why it was considered a wonder and it more than deserves to be.

I was exhilarated by this experience and the smile on my face remained till we got back to Delhi that night.

Pyramids of Egypt is yet to be struck-off from my list of must-sees.