The Taj

It’s been more than 10 years since my last visit to India. Needless to say I went for one purpose and one purpose only….

To shop till I either went broke or just won’t be able to carry it all home!

Needless to say I’m totally satisfied with all the shopping I could cram into 7 days in Delhi 🙂

So with an agenda like that you can be sure of how upset I was when one of my travel companions who is a close family member suggested we take a day off to go see the Taj Mahel…

Oh C’mon seriously? What’s there to see? We were born looking at that image no?

Nope, not in a million years was I gonna go. Besides it meant leaving at 5 am and returning to Delhi at 11 pm. No Siree I wasn’t going and so a battle ensued and yours truly very grudgingly and in an extremely tasteless manner  ultimately gave in!

The journey was kinda cool because it was the first time my 6 year old was sitting on a bus and she chirped delightedly throughout so that took away most of my bad mood as I could see how excited my daughter was. Having arrived at Agra and on the parameter of Taj Mahel we were met with an intimidatingly long line of tourists. So I went around looking for someone who would get us in for a commission and before I knew it we were entering. Our guide who was leading us inside told us to hold on for a minute before we entered from the front gate. He pointed out the beautiful marble dome and red bricks gate and said that prepare yourself for your first sighting when you enter here.

Now frankly I wasn’t really impressed as I knew exactly what to expect so I smiled and went in.

What happened next was something I will never ever forget.

My first glimpse of the Taj had me rooted on the spot and I only came out of that stupor (that’s exactly what it was!) when people started jostling me to move on.

I cannot actually put into words the beauty of the Taj Mahel.

It was perhaps my most mesmerizing experience of visiting a place other then Masjid Nabwi and the Kaaba.

To say the Taj is beautiful would be too big an understatement. It’s like a dream suspended midair and everything about it gives you the vibe that you have entered a surrealistic and alternate dream world. Yeah that about sums it up!

The pictures don’t and never can do it justice and frankly I think words can’t either.

It’s dreamy, beautiful with an air of melancholy about it. I explored the gardens and got in line to visit the inside which was anticlimactic because it’s a moving line that allows you to take one turn inside without lingering for even a few extra seconds.

I would not trade that few hours at the Taj for any amount of shopping and that’s saying a lot coming from me!

If you ever have the chance to visits India than do remember that the Taj is what you gotta see!