Taj Mahal trip

"We (Muslims) came last and yet we are the first on the day of judgment. They have received the books before us (meaning Torah and Injil). We have received the book after them (meaning the Qur’an). Friday was their day to be glorified. However, they disputed on that while Allah had told us Friday is the day to glorify. Thus they will follow us. The Jews glorify Saturday, and the Christians glorify Sunday."

We had over fourteen days of holidays in between our semester during October to November in 2009. Our first one week we whiled away in free-boozing-spree during night and being free-sleeping-beasts during day time. Humans get tired on excessive labor, but all play and no work, made us not only dull but also tired. There seems to be nothing better or anything enough to justify our holiday. Nothing tuned so well into our interest. So our friend, Yeshi, came up with the most brilliant idea. And we decided to visit Taj Mahal- symbol of eternal love.

And our journey began at 6.am in the morning.  I am quite sure many of us might have even thought to go back into the velvet of cozy sleep when few of our friends came on banging hard on our door. 6. A.M was next to curse after having been sleeping till midday or so for many days. The cab we hired was not so big enough to accommodate eight of us. Yet, we adjusted ourselves very well. Sitting at the back seat, I dozed off to complete my sleep, and woke up in front of hotel. It was the spot to break our fast which could have began from some 2.am late night. And the funniest thing ever happened that day was waiting inside the hotel. We all walked away outside from the hotel one-by-one without the breakfast. Did anyone tell clearly to the driver to take us into a very clean and cheap Dhaba, or do we need to remind him again to not to take us in front of the 3-star hotel? We couldn’t dare to pay Rs. 80 for two boiled eggs, and one cup of coffee. People were way above exaggeration, nothing like us being humble with our might and pocket.

Next time when I woke up after having paratha, in a roadside Dhaba, which was stupidly exorbitant, I woke up amidst busy Agra town. It was a hot day. There were bullocks and carts everywhere with cars honking for the way. The people were busy and seem to care least about vehicles. There were flocks of people from all walks of life entering the huge Agra fort. We did it like them, not because we wanted but because TAJ MAHAL WAS CLOSED. It was FRIDAY. The whole point of going to Agra was to see Taj Mahal, and we ended up taking photographs of Taj Mahal from Agra Fort (I still laugh whenever I go through the photo album in my computer which reads its folder as “Failed trip to Taj Mahal”). And that was also because Agra fort wasn’t too far from getting a glimpse of Taj Mahal, so ended up taking out the photographs of Taj Mahal from the Agra. Most of us ended up studying some architectural details of the fort as if our holidays were over. It started to appear like some college trip. Apart from exciting Islamic architecture (which of course is plenty in Delhi), we couldn’t feel anything as sacred and as special as we would have had had we been in Taj Mahal. Of course, thanks to our driver, some of our friends bought the models of Taj Mahal made from white stones which apparently looked like a diamond. Allah didn’t spare us on that also; later on we found out that in Delhi, we get such models on much cheaper rate.

After, having a lunch (this time in a better and cheaper Dhaba) we headed to Fatehpur Sikri. It was like getting roasted alive in the small cab. The outside temperature was getting hotter, and the cab was filled with our body smells from the sweats. Driver insisted of not having A.C in the cab. We spent some two hours in Fatehpur sikri- 30 minutes in fort and the rest in a road jam. While most of us decided to get out of the cab and wait outside on the outskirts of the gate, one of our friends stayed inside the cab.

“He’s got the A.C in the car,”

We couldn’t believe; man was getting roasted alive with us and yet his greed and stinginess prevented him from using it until most of us left the cab and waited outside. That was outrageous. It was again MONEY, he could have asked for it, or was it in the package when we booked the cab; the guy was the cheapest driver we ever drove with.

Well, we paid the price for our dullness. But it was quite an adventure.