Taj , said my Alarm and my eyes went wide open , what would be your feeling if your first thought in the mind for the day will be about the eagerness to watch the TAJ.
After travelling to TAJ dozen times when I don’t know the value of a Ten Rupee Note , will those travels count , or shall the travel count when you earn your own money and you start to a journey to known the realm of life , the meaning of travel and beyond when you venture into history and know why the hell did Shah Jahan built this piece of rock that not only transforms life into it but proves the world that I’m the Crown of Beauty.
We have seen Taj in movies in post cards in magazines but what shall be the reason of loveliness in your soul when you take a left turn from the Darwaza that shows the Crown of Mughal India.
With purity in thought and loving eagerness in heart , I set to travel the most lovable journey I ever had. If there would be any architectural example for the John Keats’ words about beauty , it would be Taj.
The thunderous beats were in sync with the engine and I was almost there for the breakfast, food or Taj, Taj came to my mind and I jumped inside the Taj. The elevation shows the Taj as if a Slow RAM Computer opens the Image of Taj from Top To Bottom , a row per step, First the Chand then the top of Minarets , then the tomb and a couple of steps the Main Mahal , couple of steps up you Could See the beauty you could have known and the reason you live (again Quoting Keats). With the Arc of The Entrance (Darwaza) making a curvature upon the Taj acting as a Boundary , with an early morning sun , images of Silhouette boundary adding beauty to it. With the Restored British Type Gardens and a watered pavement adds to it. The Marble pinnacle is yeah taller than the Everest , uncertain like amazon , plain like the Sahara . May be the real Depth of Field a Human Mind can visualize is Taj Mahal , entirety of its behind and beyond was out of focus.
I decided first to love the place and then I spent time to capture it. Rightly I did. With a traditional Kurta which I bought on the previous night in Sarojini Market , a french bearded , tall stout guy wearing a spectacle was in complete romance with the beauty called Taj. Words fall silently to describe this emotion.
Steps further , I could touch it, I should say a hug was needed to drench my thirst , thirst of seeing the pinnacle of beauty. Kind of Cave allowed me on the same platform as the main Tomb and I was alone inside as it was not much crowded. Wish I could read each and every word scripted there , that’s is the problem with all the ancient architectures , we are unable to read the scripted walls. There lied two souls, no matter what was their life all about , what was their living all about, what was their sins rather deeds whatever , millions throng there, people come to see them, for centuries , may for centuries to go, that made me feel , to salute.
I just bent down in the middle of the couple and said , murmured , thanked and left without turning back.
With a walk on the platform I could see what would have been the spectacular view centuries ago , with Yamuna flowing by , may be this materialistic world couldn’t see the truth bout could only imagine.
For some time I was on the platform seeing people rushing in , tourists taking pictures and Guides escorting them, I had the customary clicks in the solo bench exactly in front of The Taj and near the entrance and I walked away….
Life teaches you only one thing, leave something behind that people might be proud , they have lived , the Legacy of Dill-e-ilahi Akbar and His family have lived more than what we read in our text books, yeah there might be some wrong pages in the history sins committed by them , but on the whole , the legacy of mughal shall be talked till the last of last Mughal Architecture is demolished.
After enjoying myself in couple of other places on the way to Delhi , I retired for the day , for next what we call the reason to Live and the reason to travel , the reason of what I m today for what changed me , for what the mighty mountains are Called Himalayas , my road trip to Ladakh.
