Wow Taj!

Finally as the sun came out the fog started disappearing, it was a magical moment to see Taj Mahal appearing from the fog. Shajahan, the emperor who built Taj, used the description of paradise in Quran and replicated it on earth as Taj it seems. No wonder, after 400 it is still makes an impact on people. The Persian immigration and all their efforts to blend in with the Indian culture was so evident in the Persian floral arts. It was my first experience of Mughal dynasty in India. I hope I will have more chance to discover their works in and Delhi in the next few coming days. End of the day, after interacting with 100s of people who were trying to sell us the beautiful souvenirs of Taj Maghal, we learned few tricks to identify the real marble. When you put light on one side of the marble who can see how opaque they are and also able to see the tiny crystals of the marble. This property of the marble makes Taj Mahal glow in different lights of the day it seem. Hoping to catch Taj on a bright sunny day, sun set and sun raise some day.

Back home!

Back home after 3 years where everything seems to be new but nothing feels like new, felt like home right from the minute I landed. After having stunning views of Himalayas from the plane, we landed in the Delhi airport. May be thanks to the recent Common wealth games, this international airport finally looked like one. The facilities in the airport may be like any other airport I have visited in European but many things around me reminded me that I am back in India. The crowd outside with garlands, waiting to receive and impress their foreign business collaborator; a very emotional grandma hugging a few months old baby, maybe she was seeing her grandchild for the first time and the group of at least 5 to 10 aunts and uncles waiting to have the first glimpse of that baby. I couldn’t stop wondering why I feel at home in both the airports where l left 8 hrs back and in the other end of the world where I landed . “ when you never lose the need to wander then you belong” these words in that huge master card adv. banner adv came as an answer to my puzzle.

We got into my friends SUV and hit the road towards Agra, they have new highways but still with old mad traffic, but I still enjoy the peaceful co-existence with cows and buffalos, we Indians still share the roads with them. The minute we entered Agra, the four lane road turned into 6 or I should say 6 and half, with traffic coming in every direction in each lane, we were in a Jam for more than an hour, just trying to untangle ourselves from the madness of the road. Finally arrived at a stunning oasis among all the madness, the most beautiful hotel I have stayed. The hotel rooms with pieces of arts replicating the works of Taj Mahal made me feel like princess, now I am in this king size carved bed waiting for the Taj Mahal to come out of the fog.