On Friday, 20th April 2007, after reporting two frauds to the policemen in the evening I was walking back home when I ran into Manish Tekriwal, a school friend. He was returning from some management related tasks. He agreed on my asking him to join me at my place for recalling some childhood moments. We recapitulated some of the long passed precious days and also discussed about the never ending efforts of forming a proper alumni association for our school. Time passed, neither of us aware of the statistically correct information. We realized this only when my maid came in a terrible state explaining she’ll be unable to cook us dinner, given her condition I wouldn’t have allowed her to do so anyways. Arpit Mehra, my room mate since July 29th, was supposed to participate in a teams’ party so not an issue for him. It was pretty late by the time we decided to go out for dinner as Manish lives quite far from my place. We figured out that it shouldn’t take more than 90 minutes to return and bus will be surely available till then. Fortunately Arpit was dining in the same restaurant as were we. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have met him because of the time limit we had. Given the fact we live away from family, the dishes we ate could be addressed as ravishing. After finishing our single course of food we started back home. On the way I learned that Manish is doing his summers in marketing and wishes to get into finance. A top recommendation given by my sister, Nitu didi worked out wonders for him on some later date. She’s working in one of the biggest manufacturing companies of India, as a Financial Analyst. 2nd of May Manish will be giving a kick start to the bright career ahead of him. Coming back to the auto drive back home, when I told him that the next day we plan to go to Agra, he shared his recent experiences of visiting Agra and nearby places etc, with friends. I asked him to join us for the trip if feasible. Unexpected, but excellent, he agreed.
In the beginning we had intentions just to visit the famous Agra fort and the most gorgeous Taj Mahal. Keep reading to know what exactly it turned into.
It was pointed out as a matter of fact that we shouldn’t leave past 5 am in order to make the trip a success. The odd count-combination of people and bathroom being 3 and 1 respectively, it was concluded that I’ll have to be the first to vacate the bathroom to keep things moving. I woke up at an ungodly 0315 hours and finished up fast to allow them to do the same.
Our plans were looking quite good but I doubt whether the case was same as things went hay way. Why, you will find in a short while.
After gearing ourselves up, we made a fresh start for the trip and boarded a non-DTC bus that dropped us at one of the most connected places in delhi, dhaula kuan. From Dhaula Kuan, to my utter surprise we managed to bargain Auto wala’s 80/- bucks to 50/- and started happily for the Nizam-ud-din railway station. Roads were completely deserted and it felt terrific to sit against the cool morning breeze. In our knowledge the train which we ought to catch was scheduled to depart at 0715 hours. After accomplishing the most challenging mission of buying tickets we started receiving service calls from our stomach. Most willingly we paced into the KMG outlet outside the station, for feeding our hunger. I cannot miss to state that our eyes were more satisfied compared to our stomach coz the outlet service providers were busy attending a good lot of beautiful young girls from abroad. We don’t see such crowd often so I was more than pleased to have them in sight while having a terrible breakfast followed with an awful pastry worth something it wasn’t worth of. After getting rid of the breakfast session we rushed to the platform where the train was already waiting for us.
Here started the real journey as we did not have ‘reserved’ tickets but the general ones. We could have had the liberty of sitting on some unoccupied seats but thought it might not be a good idea once the T.T demands for an explanation. The general compartment was havoc and could have even taken away the breath out of souls so we couldn’t have dared to board it. We concluded that we should take the risk of traveling in reserved compartments, standing all the way in the journey. If the T.T asks for an explanation this time, we had a logical one ready with us. Manish and I stood for almost 80% of the journey, whereas Arpit managed to get himself a seat until a fat man in the middle of his 50s bribed the T.T to occupy the seat. Anyways Arpit could have managed a seat under any circumstances, this much confidence I keep in the guy. No sooner did we get down at Agra Cantonment platform and stepped out of the station, were we surrounded by don’t know what count of people, each asking us to avail their Auto or tours-n-travels service etc.
With the backup of Arpit’s research work on traveling, food and Manish’s unreliable experience of visiting the place in recent past we thought of first having our lunch at some distance away from station. The sun, unfortunately took an unwise decision of accompanying us wherever we went. In a near to unbearable atmospheric temperature, we were eagerly looking for some OK restaurant that could possibly feed us for the rest of the day so that we may not have to waste time on snacks. Arpit’s sharp eyes, like a magnet, got attracted towards the board pointing to the “Paratha Center”. The two words were impressive enough for us to take a decision that the breakfast problem is solved; let’s start worrying about other things.
The second meal of the day, at the paratha center, included a massive good-to-taste aloo paratha followed with a heavenly lassi for each one of us. People of Agra not being the most trustful ones, we thought of seeking help from the paratha center’s attendant. We asked him how we can reach Agra Fort and TajMahal at the earliest and cheapest. On his approval of Auto Rickshaw’s reliability, we took an auto destined to “Bijlee Ghar” (Hindi name for Electric House). Agra fort was just a couple of hundred steps away from the place the Auto rickshaw dropped us. I was amazed by looking at the 2.5 Km wide and 20 feet high asset of the country. The curiosity of scrutinizing the castle just faded away when we learned that we have to wait for another 40 stretched minutes with our uninvited fourth companion.
After a discussion of roundabout 10 minutes, the outcome was that we caught another auto rickshaw for “IdGah Bus stand”, from where we would board a bus to Fatehpur Sikri. We took our respectively chosen seats in the first bus in sight. It was only after being seated, did we realize that we weren’t sure whether the bus was destined for the place we intended to visit. On asking a few passengers, 75% confidence was gained. But when Arpit pointed out the foreigner sitting some 7 seats in front of us, were we rest assured that he can’t make any mistake in boarding the right bus and Fatehpur was the most likely place he could have visitedJ. After sometime I threw an open question to the group of three i.e. how do we come back from Fatehpur and how do we commute back to Gurgaon. None could give a very convincing response so I decided to consult the man sitting on the other side of the counter at the bus stand. I enquired whether we have any bus to Delhi/Gurgaon at night, preferably an air-conditioned one. He said that the last A/C bus will depart not after 5 PM, which certainly couldn’t have been the dead line of our tour. He said that some non A/C buses will be available. In order to be sure of the timings I asked him once again whether the bus will be available during late night hours. On this he asked what time do I need the bus? I told him somewhere around 9 PM. At this he gave me a weird smile and voiced that 9 PM is evening. When I explained Arpit and Manish about how my embarrassment at the counter, they were already rolling on their seats, don’t I hate them?
The bus journey begun, lot of water packets taken on the way in order to keep away from our fourth companion but they were of no good. The never ending journey of around 37 kms took more time than needed. It was around 1330 hours when we reached at the footsteps of the architectural splendor standing at its measured height of one hundred and seventy five feet. The red color of the massive monument was gleaming under the sunlight. From where the bus dropped us, there was a shortcut to the fort. Just when we started climbing the natural crust, a guy popped from nowhere giving explanations that he is not a guide but a student who can help us know the castle in a better way. We allowed him to describe us whatever he knew about all the famous parts of the fort and palaces.
First the so-called student showed us the famous Buland Darwaza. I must not miss to express that really the strong barrier is as beautiful as mentioned in the books of history. The feeling of being there was even better. No sooner did we enter through the massive gate, were we pleased to see that the castle looks even more beautiful from inside. The guy showed us the 108 small rooms, one each for 108 daasiya (female servants of Akbar’s queen). He told us that all the rooms are very well interconnected. Then he quickly led us through the interiors and the not so convincing stories behind them. All the rooms that were built right within the four red walls supported by four gates of the castle were surrounding a noble & sacred looking mosque. We went inside the mosque and tied our respective red strings on the window where all the wishes asked for gets successful one day. I doubt I agree on such beliefs but the place being religious, I’m not likely to disagree with the beliefs of the masses. The guy said that’s all we get to see there. We wondered whether that was all we came to see all the way from Agra. Just after terminating our alliance with the guy, when we were departing from there, we thought of taking the right, long way this time. Just then we saw some other groups of foreigners standing in front of a ticket counter.
We were stunned to see the counter as we didn’t take any ticket before entering the castle. On further enquiry, we learned that the guy was smart enough to make full of us. Just to defend, I’d like to say how under the sun we are supposed to know what all things we can see in a town where most of the people in view are either foreigners or illiterates. These were the tickets to the different palaces of Akbar and Jodhabai (Akbar’s queen). The difference between the ticket rates for an Indian and a non-Indian guy is unmentionable. We entered the palace and again hired a guide, this time an experienced one who claimed to be one of the guards at that place. I must say he was far more knowledgeable and convincing than the other guy we hired before.
He led us to two different small palaces facing each other, wherein Jodhabai used to stay during summers/winters. We saw various architectural efforts of the past, which were destroyed by the King who traded over the place. We saw the treasure room and got to know the various concepts behind the building construction. It was all planned and as per the needs of the King. We saw queen’s garden and also the forum where the King listened to his public’s needs. We saw the calm place where Taansen attracted the entire village with the power of his singing abilities. The place was surrounded by water on three sides and just being there felt like singingJ. We saw the relaxation room of King, but couldn’t get inside the massive bath room of the queen. Palace of Birbal, Akbar’s right hand, was very near to Queen’s. It baffled us and called for an obvious interruption, which was later shattered by a simple piece of information thrown by the defender. He convinced us by saying that the gap between the two palaces was filled with armed soldiers round the clock. Behind the two just mentioned palaces, lay the stable that could have accommodated more than 50 horses. After showing the empty stable, the guide guided us towards the exit gate, located behind the stable.
This time more satisfied with the Fatehpur Sikri visit, the diverse team of three was debating with each other regarding the possibility of visiting both Agra Fort and Taj Mahal the same day.
We started taking steps back to the stop from where we’d get the bus to Agra. The bus looking very uncomfortable and filled with all sorts of villagers, we offered the conductor to let us sit on top of the bus at the same payment. It felt stupendous when he replied immediately that it can be done but on our risk. We couldn’t have been happier coz sitting on top of the bus was much more airy compared to inside. But all our excitements were all died down when the driver simply rejected our plan with a reasoning that could not have been neglected as well. He said that on the way we might have to cut a lot of trees as their height is too timid to get away with. So we too gave up the thought of looking like ‘Men at work on top of bus’ and started looking for an alternative. The second option needed a small walk and we were ok with that.
We three sat in a jeep which was later packed with more than 12 people, just imagine!! There is something I’d like to share. I slept very quickly just after the jeep started, but when I was awake, I couldn’t make out who the actual driver was. I was aghast to see that the ‘real’ driver was driving in an unexplainable position. Not even a percentage of steering was in front of him, it was to his left. I still don’t know how he managed with the brakes and clutch because almost half his body was outside the gate. And I bet he did something with the gear positioning to get hold of same. Another tiring journey of around one and a half hour made us reach Agra.
No sooner did we touch the ground, we started looking for an auto that would take us to the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort already dropped on the way. Quite easily we got the Auto and started for the wonderful creation of Shah Jahan’s workers. We reached the spot after half an hour; 4:30 PM would be my guess. Taj was no where in sight thus confusing panicked me. Arpit assured that Taj is yet not shifted from Agra and is some 12 minutes away on feet. A rickshaw could have been taken as most do but we thought of walking all the way.
None of us were surprised to see the big queue. Again I saw discrimination done between Indians and foreigners and it made me sick but I could do nothing about it. They were suppose to pay around 36 times more what we had to, and in return they got the liberty of taking their video cameras inside, not to mention the water packets.
Police men were pretty fast in checking whether any traveler is in possession of any explosive, so the queue was technically short and completely acceptable. We entered through the gate and further saw another massive gate, very beautiful peace of work done on its surface. Without wasting a minute, I got busy shooting as many pictures as I could. We saw different buildings but weren’t interested in visiting one as we were too tired for the already very long day.
Then came the moment when we entered the gate and saw the gorgeous Taj Mahal through a gate that was having a rather small opening but the Mahal in complete vision. The wonder of Taj Mahal cannot be decribed in words. All its four pillars are in a peculiar angle, still look straight and give a better visibility to the ones who face it. Then we started walking towards the monument, not astonished finding half the crowd was white people. After depositing our shoes, we climbed the beauty and went inside to see something I’d address as nothing. I don’t believe anyone saying they actually could see anything from where we were allowed to enter. Inside we went to find that at one particular position, the first big entry gate was straight in line with the center of the Taj Mahal that is something I call perfection. Very soon the craze of watching Taj Mahal faded coz there was nothing much to see. We sat on the white marble admiring the creation of workers whose name could be found nowhere in history books. The Yamuna river behind Taj is running out of enough water, yet the beauty remains intact. The feeling of being there and watching Taj on the banks of Yamuna River is something unexplainable. Back we were on our regular selves, admiring the beauty of God and not men. Some of the foreigners were more beautiful than one could imagine. Soon we realized there is no point discussing what we can’t get.
We left earlier than what I had expected, and started looking for the way back. After finishing the race back to the very first gate of the big park that surrounds Taj Mahal, we enquired a few people if there is any moderate restaurant around. On getting to know that there is one near the Id Gah bus stand, we yet again hired an auto to drop us there.
The Auto driver, over smart, gave stupid reason to make fool of us. We all knew his intentions but none had the enthusiasm left to debate with him so settled with whatever destination he dropped us at. Twice we took wrong directions but finally found the Gulati restaurant we were looking for. Food was tasty and so the fresh lime soda. Arpit, as usual having some problem with the drink (be it water or anything else), called the waiter again and again to change the water and also the soda. After a very small debate, the manager stood and grants Arpit a replacement to the fresh lime, thus leaving a broad smile on his face. After finishing the long awaited dinner, we set out to search for a bus. An auto was taken that dropped us at a bus stop just a few minutes later. To our utter disappointment, we came to know that none of the buses departing from there would drop us from where we would further get an easy commutation to our respective houses.
The search went on until we came to know about a yet another place from where we would get buses for Gurgaon as well as Delhi bus stands. I suppose Arpit and Manish were equally frustrated as was I. so there was no point in showing irritation for hiring our 7th auto rickshaw for the day. We reached the place I cannot recall the name of. After waiting for several minutes, when we were about to give up our patience, we boarded a bus that would drop us somewhere in Delhi. Everyone was too sleepy before the bus reached Delhi at and around 1 AM with only one stoppage in between. From there, we hired our last auto that dropped all of us to a desirable destination.
