Travelogues  
India Revisited – 8

The Poignant Emperor

He spent a lifetime building a masterpiece,
The Taj Mahal became one of world’s wonders.
Yet, in his waning years the Emperor found no peace,
Imprisoned by his own son, alas, what were his blunders?

A feature of Delhi and Agra monuments that struck me is that they are not ornate and gaudy, as some of the later Indian architectures tend to be. The buildings are aesthetically pleasing, symmetrical and subdued in their colors and designs, ostentatious only in their scales. Though the basic design is Persian, the Indian-ness in them is unmistakable. Renovations of these monuments are well done and the good taste is maintained throughout.

Having taken in the splendor (and given our guide a lesson or two about history), we drove back to Delhi. Mercifully, we did not see the monkey tricksters or the snake charmers on this drive, as we did not have to stop anywhere on the way back.   

That night in Delhi we saw a little commotion on the roadside. When we enquired, we were told that a cow had given birth to a calf on the roadside and no one knew as to who owned the cow was. There was great concern that the calf may not survive the night without shelter as it was going to be very cold (seven degree Celsius). The guards of the nearby apartment complexes had wrapped the calf in gunny sacks and blankets but the cow was refusing to suckle the calf. We slept with a heavy heart that night but were told the next morning that both the cow and the calf had survived the night and were claimed by the owner.

We spent Christmas Eve in Delhi. We had a sumptuous dinner in a private clubhouse. It was a member’s only club with a live singer (singing nostalgic Talat Mehmood ballads) and the food was unique and well presented. A small Christmas tree with weak lights stood in a lonely corner. Before long our America-born children started singing Christmas carols and infused some Christmas spirit but the crowd did not sing along. Either they felt inhibited or did not know the words for the carols (I suspect the latter). The singer unfortunately could not sing anything other than glum old Hindi songs that night. We made a quick exit before the management threw us out for causing a ruckus!

There was a good chance that we could be stranded in Delhi because of dense fog. All the flights were being delayed and since we had to connect in Mumbai to go to Mangalore, I was resigned to the fact that my itinerary was going to be turned upside down. But miraculously the fog lifted on that day and we flew out of Delhi at seven in the morning and were back in Mangalore by noon! We fared better than Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the PM of India, who was stranded in Jaipur the previous day and could not return to Delhi by air. I also read that Delhi was blanketed with fog a day later that lasted for another week. I counted my blessings.

– Continued

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