When a Legend Comes Alive...

Traveling around the Globe for several years, there were many opportunities to see and visit some of those places which are held as monuments to history. This was one such visit; a visit which left an imprint in my heart and mind. 

As mentioned in different entries, during the early 80’s my job consisted of traipsing around the world on behalf of an association of life insurance companies, headquartered in Connecticut, USA. While most of my early work was done in different parts of Latin America, starting in early 1984 my services were required (so they said…) in countries far from my then regularly beaten paths.

So it was that sometime during late summer of that year, I received the directive to go to the clinic and be ready for several shots. OMG!!! They weren’t kidding. Over the next two weeks I was subjected to an array of shots and vaccinations which would have made M. Pasteur proud. Finally, our marching orders came in: in two weeks you and a companion will leave for India, where we have a number of consultation jobs with the National Insurance Corporation and have contracted three seminars over an 18 day spread. The trip would take us from Hartford to NYC to London to Bahrain to Bombay (now Mumbay)… This would take some 30 hours of travel time… Yes Virginia, it was 1984 and some of the long range routes and planes we now fly were not in service yet.  The total trip time would be somewhere north of 3 weeks; this would be the longest trip (time and otherwise) I would take during my tenure with the Association. Needless to say, I was somewhat taken aback… India was the stuff of dreams and the embodiment of an “exotic” (to us) and radically different cultural exposure.  While my latter travels included a return trip to India as well as a couple of trips to Japan, Malaysia and other countries in that part of the world, that first trip to India touched my inner core in a way that no other exposure did during my other trips. I still do not know why, but I came to care for this country and to feel extremely comfortable there; with its very old culture and with the people.

When we received our schedules, we noticed that we would be primarily in two cities: the first week would be in Mumbay, then going on to Delhi for the rest of the trip and where we would have 2 weekends to explore. This was great news because there was one place my weary body would go to, no matter what the trouble to get there: The Taj Mahal. I was promised that we would have a full day and a half to explore this monument; this made me happy.

The week in Bombay(Mumbay) went by quickly; we did some sightseeing in the bay islands, these have quite a story to themselves; saw much of the city and then finished our work there. The Air India flight to Delhi took about three and a half to 4 hours (India is a very large country) and we finally arrived. I have to tell you: during our stay in Delhi we witnessed many things, including crashing a very wealthy wedding at our hotel; we were invited by a member of the groom’s party whom we befriended, and who turned out to be from Brooklyn, NY… Small world, Huh?? It was an incredible experience… elephant and all!!

Finally, the anxiously awaited morning arrived. We (my travel and work companion and I) were picked up early by our host, since the trip would take some 3 hours by car. Honestly, I fell asleep, until we came to a small village on the outskirts of Agra, where we purchased milk and sugar sweets (delicious!!), a soft drink and got ready for the final leg.

Then… There it Was!!! Even from a distance, the impression is truly incredible. Forget all the photos you may have seen of this Wonder. They simply cannot approach the reality of what it is up close and live. As we came closer, on foot, the marble walls would change colors as the sunlight would hit them from different angles and yet… this was nothing compared to what entrancing sight we witnessed that night under the light of a full moon. What brilliance…! the walls absorbed the moonlight and threw it back at you with an inner glow of its own. Each square foot filled with calligraphy (mostly passages from the Qur’an), motifs, decorations… totally incredible, in a scale which would be impossible to duplicate today. 

 

As I took, or tried to take, all this in… I was humbled and have to say that a spiritual awakening came to me through the beauty of what man can actually construct. It was truly totally beyond anything I had felt before. If we add to this the history behind this magnificent Monument, then it becomes that much more impacting.  Emperor Sha Jahan built this as a monument to his wife Mumtaz Jahan; actually, as a tomb where her body could be put to rest after dying in childbirth. Took 21 years to complete and, after it was done, Sha Jahan was deposed by one of his sons, being put to spend the last years of his life as a prisoner in Musamman Burj, a smaller tower palace across the river from The Taj. He died while looking at the Taj Mahal, where he was then put to rest next to his beloved wife.

As my travels took me around the globe, I was blessed to be able to visit many of the sites which are considered to be monuments of (and to) mankind. What man can be capable of building, when it has been so desired, stands out and cries out to remind us that when we want, we can create beauty that comes from true love and care; even in the most difficult of times.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words below:

  

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator’s glory.

This was certainly a love story for the ages…

Be Well!!... Be Back!!