Delhi/ Agra
my parents, taher and i got back from india last night; it was a whirlwind 16 days, and we are all completely burned out. but it was very, very worth it.
we hit so many places that i think i will blog about this journey in sections, beginning with delhi and agra.
we flew into delhi and spent the first day adjusting to the heat; the average temperature during our two-week stay in india was 45 degrees celsius. so about 113 degrees farenheit. i'd never been so sweaty in all my life.
we did a lot of sightseeing in delhi- raj ghat, which is the location of mahatma ghandi's funeral pyre, and things like humayun's tomb and jama masjid. our second day in delhi, we took a day trip to agra to visit the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Akbar's Tomb. if you know Mughal history, you know that these places are key to the stories of the emporers of the Mughal dynasty: Babar, Humayun, Akbar the Great, Jahangir (and Nur Jahan), and Shah Jahan (and Mumtaz Mahal). it was awe-some being in the very places where these dramas played out hundreds of years ago.
walking out of akbar's tomb, taking in the majesty of it all, my mom and i were talking about the fact that at first glance, huge structures such as akbar's tomb or the taj mahal seem like arrogant displays of wealth. but at the same time there is another way of looking at it, in that the money the mughals spent on clothing and jewelry is long gone; those displays of their wealth did nothing but show off their status in the present.
these huge structures, however, are what have made their names last well into history. and better yet, these investments continue to bring money into india even today. humayun, akbar, jahangir and shah jahan have ensured that their wealth will only multiply, long after they can personally benefit from it. they have ensured that the common laborers who put their sweat and muscle into building these structures have become part of something that would outlast them. something that would make them not common at all.
one memory of delhi: there is a picture in my parents' house of my dad, age 9, sitting on the steps of jawaharlal nehru's home with about 40 of his classmates. this picture was taken 56 years ago on a field trip to delhi, when nehru was relatively new as prime minister. as we drove around delhi on this trip, half a century later, my dad suddenly told the driver to stop in front of nehru's home (now a museum) and told us to look at the front steps beyond the garden. that was the scene of that picture, he said! so we piled out of the car and went to the steps and had my dad sit in exactly the same place, and took ten pictures. then we found a gardener to take a picture of all of us sitting with him. my dad, back in delhi with his wife, daughter and son-in-law. who would have thought.
it was a moment for me. made me consider my dad being 9 years old, having his picture taken with a historical figure. the realization that the pic was taken 56 years ago made my dad seem like a historical figure himself! :)
it was one of those moments where you realize you come from somewhere. this feeling became the theme of the journey, it turns out. i got a taste of how much india really has to do with who i am. i am used to india; things like the chaotic choreography of traffic or the street cows do not faze me. but this trip, i was more surprised by india than i have ever been before, because i saw so much more of the country than on previous trips. and i appreciated what i saw.
we hit so many places that i think i will blog about this journey in sections, beginning with delhi and agra.
we flew into delhi and spent the first day adjusting to the heat; the average temperature during our two-week stay in india was 45 degrees celsius. so about 113 degrees farenheit. i'd never been so sweaty in all my life.
we did a lot of sightseeing in delhi- raj ghat, which is the location of mahatma ghandi's funeral pyre, and things like humayun's tomb and jama masjid. our second day in delhi, we took a day trip to agra to visit the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Akbar's Tomb. if you know Mughal history, you know that these places are key to the stories of the emporers of the Mughal dynasty: Babar, Humayun, Akbar the Great, Jahangir (and Nur Jahan), and Shah Jahan (and Mumtaz Mahal). it was awe-some being in the very places where these dramas played out hundreds of years ago.
walking out of akbar's tomb, taking in the majesty of it all, my mom and i were talking about the fact that at first glance, huge structures such as akbar's tomb or the taj mahal seem like arrogant displays of wealth. but at the same time there is another way of looking at it, in that the money the mughals spent on clothing and jewelry is long gone; those displays of their wealth did nothing but show off their status in the present.
these huge structures, however, are what have made their names last well into history. and better yet, these investments continue to bring money into india even today. humayun, akbar, jahangir and shah jahan have ensured that their wealth will only multiply, long after they can personally benefit from it. they have ensured that the common laborers who put their sweat and muscle into building these structures have become part of something that would outlast them. something that would make them not common at all.
one memory of delhi: there is a picture in my parents' house of my dad, age 9, sitting on the steps of jawaharlal nehru's home with about 40 of his classmates. this picture was taken 56 years ago on a field trip to delhi, when nehru was relatively new as prime minister. as we drove around delhi on this trip, half a century later, my dad suddenly told the driver to stop in front of nehru's home (now a museum) and told us to look at the front steps beyond the garden. that was the scene of that picture, he said! so we piled out of the car and went to the steps and had my dad sit in exactly the same place, and took ten pictures. then we found a gardener to take a picture of all of us sitting with him. my dad, back in delhi with his wife, daughter and son-in-law. who would have thought.
it was a moment for me. made me consider my dad being 9 years old, having his picture taken with a historical figure. the realization that the pic was taken 56 years ago made my dad seem like a historical figure himself! :)
it was one of those moments where you realize you come from somewhere. this feeling became the theme of the journey, it turns out. i got a taste of how much india really has to do with who i am. i am used to india; things like the chaotic choreography of traffic or the street cows do not faze me. but this trip, i was more surprised by india than i have ever been before, because i saw so much more of the country than on previous trips. and i appreciated what i saw.
...Natural is the static
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