AGRA

This was supposed to be a must-do trip since we were close to Delhi and my son Vijay had never visited. In retrospect it was a .. disaster. This trip was at the end of our stay and perhaps was one trip too many. We made some bad decisions: decided to drive from Delhi, a pretty arduous trip that takes 4+ hours. The better option would have been to take the fast train. The second bad decision was driving through Agra. It is a nightmare. The roads are non existent, every type of propelled means of transportation is on this non-existent thoroughfare. And then you have the dirt, the chaos. The short distance to the hotel was a mind-bending 90-minute trip. Having reached the hotel, neither Vijay and I were keen to see the Taj and the reassuring words of the hotel staff (Saritha) recommended that we do the Agra Fort and then see the Taj Mahal by sunrise the next day.

The Agra Fort was where Shah Jehan was imprisoned by Aurangzeb, his son, who carried a hostile takeover of the Moghul Empire. Aurangzeb was to be the last in line and the British put their stamp firmly on India after his defeat in the late 18th century. Mr A was a tyrant if there was one, the Saddam Hussein of that era. Not only had he imprisoned his father, but he methodically killed all his half brothers. When Shah Jehan was imprisoned at the Agra Fort, he made sure that he did not have the satisfaction of looking at his beloved Taj Mahal by gouging his eyes out. The Fort itself is beautiful, with large fountain areas and green grass. The view of Taj Mahal can be slightly discerned in the photograph.

The night Vijay got up and was retching and had the bad case of stomach upset. He looked very sick and I was worried that it could be more serious. We called off the sunrise tour of the Taj and just headed back to Delhi. The journey back was touchy, since he was not confident that he would not have to stop and go to the bathroom. After we arrived in Delhi he had a good night sleep and was fortified the next morning with Neer Dosa prepared by Zilla Singh, the cook. It was a relief that it was not anything more serious. More than likely he picked it up either at the hotel we were staying or a Pizza Hut we stopped along the way. But that day we did the tour at Connaught Place and I was relieved that he was well enough to attend the Beating of the Retreat Ceremony later in the night.