"Rahul had wondered how someone could love their beloved so much that their dedication
to them became one of the wonders of the world."
- Faraaz Kazi from Truly, Madly, Deeply
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History has always been my thing.
Along with science, it has always been the subject I
gravitated towards the most. I was
actually a History major in college for a semester before I discovered
Psychology because of how much I loved the subject. While it’s difficult to pinpoint when my love
of the subject started, there are certainly events in my life that have clearly
exemplified this passion from a young age.
At first, it’s hard to pinpoint why I enjoy History, but now
with my love of Psychology, it makes sense… I’m interested in people, places,
and how they interact to create humanity.
While I’ve primarily chosen to focus on ‘people’ instead of ‘places/the
past’ in my career, it’s projects like the one I’m embarking on in India that
afford me the opportunity to enjoy both.
There are tales of me as a young boy asking, complaining,
pleading with my parents for the chance to go to Europe as I was incredibly
interested in the Roman and British Empires, but it was just not in the family
budget. There was the 8th
grade trip I took to Washington D.C. to which I was deeply saddened upon my
homecoming as the journey had concluded (trust me, my Mother can attest to
this). I’ve trekked through the entire
Boston Freedom Trail in heavy snow without complaint, explored and photographed
nooks and crannies of major cities across the U.S. and consider my visit to
Gettysburg at the age of 14 to be one of the most vivid and harrowing experiences
of my life. Hell, I even kinda like
“National Treasure” regardless of Nicolas Cage’s terrible acting… all because of
my passion for learning about places and the past.
While I’ve always had more interest in American History,
World History has always been fascinating to me as well. Obviously older and most intricate, I’ve
always found different aspects of world history intriguing but sometimes
difficult to comprehend. It most likely
lies in the fact that I am an American, thus the history is simply more salient
to me. However, there are several times
as a child I would spin a globe and just blindly place my finger somewhere…
Brazil, Russia, Italy, and would want to know more the country and try to learn
something about each place . At one
point or another, especially considering it’s giant land mass, my finger landed
on India. I don’t remember what I
learned about India the day that happened, but up until a year ago, all I knew
about the country was that it had the second largest population in the world,
was mainly a vegetarian culture, had terrible poverty, and that it was the
location of the Taj Mahal.
--
It’s 6:00 AM on a Sunday.
I receive a call from our driver.
“Hello?”
“Hi Sir? Good morning… no rain… we go now?”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll meet you downstairs at 6:30”
“Ok!”
The hotel room was the worst I have ever stayed in. The lock on the door to gain entry from the
outside was simply a latch with a knockoff of a Master Lock holding the latch
shut. The place appeared to be
relatively unclean from the previous occupant, save the made beds. There was only one towel, no toilet paper,
and the shower and toilet shared the same space aka no separating wall or
curtain. I was 80% sure I was going to
get bed bugs. While the digs weren’t
pleasant, they were a means to an end on a student budget.
Surviving the night, Gail and I headed down at 6:30 and met
with our driver and our guide. We had
arrived in Agra the night before at 6:00, after a five hour drive from Jaipur, the
city we had stayed in the night before.
Longing for coffee and a bite to eat, we forwent both and eagerly headed
to what is now considered a “Wonder of the World” along with the likes of the
Colosseum, Great Wall of China, and Machu Picchu.
Our driver dropped us off with the guide at a trail leading toward the West gate. We walked along the 700 meters, with merchants on each side asking us to buy something, and several of these guys hanging out on the park benches:
After purchasing our entry tickets, we headed in and let me just say, it was not overhyped...
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| The front courtyard heading into the main area... this building is the entry gate to where the Taj is located. You can see the dome poking out to the left. |
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| Looking through the front gate. Perfect symmetry in line with the Taj Mausoleum Gate. |
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| Some handsome guy. |
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| Front view of the Taj |
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| Close up of the front. |
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| Border around parts of the Taj. Each piece was made from a separate stone that was then hand carved into shape. |
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| Hand carved marble flowers in marble. |
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| Side view of the Taj |
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| Some blokes enjoying the side view of the Taj. Notice it looks exactly like the front. |
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| Resting against a pillar with the Yamuna in the background. |
We spent a little over two hours at the monument. Unfortunately photos weren't allowed inside, but capturing the beauty on the outside was enough for me. Another trek completed in my quest for learning and experiencing more about places and history... one that I will surely never forget.
