part 1 one my north india tour - taj mahal

“wo kehte hai na badrinath jana ho to bulawa aana chahiye “ well our bulawa came as a call from our family fren- uma aunty.The trip was to tour the beautiful places of Uttarakhand – haridwar,rishikesh and badrinath.My 3^rd year engineering holidays were going on but we were very reluctant about it at first because it is a very dangerous trip, dangerous as in the road to the place situated 10,000 ft above sea level is merciless.we were torn between danger and the once in a lifetime opportunity of going with people we know. We chose the latter. It was a dream to go to the Himalayas, to stand on the lakshman jhula, to take a dip in the sacred ganges, to see how ferocious a river can get . My dad decided to fulfill another dream of mine , to see the magnificent Taj . There was nothing else which could increase my excitement levels! We set out on july 19^th ,8:30 pm in rajdhani express to delhi. It was 36 hrs journey, one of the most memorable journeys of my life! we bonded very well with a Punjabi woman, uncle from meerut, one old woman from nainital we sang songs, dicussed cuisine.. thanks to mrs bhatti(Punjabi lady) that my mom can cook yummy aloo parantha and dal makhani now!!! We reached nizammudin on 21^st morning , we had booked our stay in SBI guest house situated in south delhi –NFC .

We set out for a delhi city tour on that very day at 9! We saw the local places from qutub minar ,dilli haat,raj ghat,vijay path, india gate,indira Gandhi memorial to lunch in the famous pandara road’s Gulati! Next day early morning we set out to see agra and mathura . Must say that the agra red fort which is one hell of a place where akbar once kept his 500 "keeps" at a time under one roof!! Phew! (psst whatever happened to the love story shown in jodha akbar movie!)must say these kings did have a very colourful life! Mr shahjahan who LOVED his beautiful Irani wife- mumtaz had 14 kids with her in a span of 18 yrs of married life.. he built the taj mahal after her death (she died while delivering their 14^th child) stands testimony to his love, though he also dreamt of constructing a black mahal made of black granite next to it on the other side of the river, it couldn’t be fulfilled due to his imprisonment by his own son aurangazeb. It touches ur heart when u see the efforts shahjahan made to see his wifes dead body and taj everyday even though he was grounded and paralysed .. The red fort symbolizes love,lust,greed,anger,architecture,marvel and the mughal lifestyle. temperature soaring with 45 deg Celsius , humidity touching 70 perc , roads getting dirtier, urine smell becoming stronger one wonders what the hell is he doing here? Is taj mahal , afterall a burial worth a visit ? ? whats this hype all about especially after standing in the queue in that scorching sun for hours ! well the first look of taj mahal says it all.. that was the first time when a monument actually blew me off my mind. Was completely taken aback after looking at the marble beauty. A walk to the place where their dead bodies are kept and the beautiful balcony behind the mahal. Wah! Taj! That was everyone’s reaction! The quotes from Koran , the marble carvings.. the love behind building it.. the effort made by the man to see it everyday from the red fort..the whole aura is just mesmerizing.. I was in love with the place.. the temperature ,humidity , sweat all vanished in one second after seeing the taj..sheesh.. it was a dreamland! My mom and me just dint wanna get back to our couch from there! I would love to go there once again with my husband holding his hand and admiring the beauty of the monument and the legacy of love