Mera Gaon Mera Desh - Kithana, Haryana (3/3)

Part 3 - My impressions

On this trip, other than my village, I also got to be in my state again. And learnt a lot more about the society that my parents have left behind. Haryana is still a very rural state. Village life is core to it, which revolves around agriculture and raising cattle. And since the Jats are the ones who are farmers and own most of the lands, they are the dominant caste in the state. The people of the state are more attached to their land than elsewhere and don’t leave it so easily.

People in Haryana villages were never rich, have never been rich. But the villages have always been sustainable - not enough to be lavish but there was always enough to eat for all. Also, earlier the villages were self-sustaining in many ways, though this has changed over the years. The social structure has also changed now as would be expected.

Women have not had equal status to men as in most of north India. But they were never killed at birth like in other states. They were just ignored and not cared much after birth (as if that's better!). So a lot more died during childhood and that is one of the reasons for the low sex ratio in the state. The women also have a tougher life than the men. They work at home plus help their menfolk in the fields. The men only have to work in the fields:). Hopefully this is also changing, at least women are studying and doing better in academics than men - so there is hope!

Wearing ghaghras by the women has almost vanished. Everyone wears suits now, even sarees don’t exist much in the villages. Jats never really had much jewellery. Most of their jewellery was made of silver - hasli, kanthi and thick silver anklets to be worn with ghaghras. And when they would collect enough jewellery, they would sell if off to buy more land! Land was just so dear to them. Back on clothes, the men still wear the dhoti and the kurti and pagdi - all in white. It looks regal I must say!

Religion is not huge among Jats. Arya Samaj has always been popular in Haryana, hence idol worship and rituals are not too common. Also, Jats were ostracised early on by the Pandits for their lack of beliefs. And as a consequence, Jats don’t believe in Pandits either and never get their janampatris made! (total anecdotal information). Caste of course is real and important, as you would have noticed from the rest of my article.

Jat food has concentrated amounts of dairy - butter, ghee, lassi, milk, kheer, etc.. They can all be part of a single meal:). I love the lassi we get in our village, its a pale pink colour, very light and sweet tasting. I never find it anywhere else:(. Wheat is critical, rice not at all and vegetables also not much. And we eat halwa before we start our meals!! Really!! I found it very tough initially to start with a sweet dish but later on started enjoying it:).

Education is becoming a big business in the villages now. There are loads of private schools coming up in every village, located in the fields:) and consequently loads of money. There are government schools too in every village but they are neglected and not paid attention too.

Bureaucracy doesnt help here at all. Some schools have students but no teachers while some have teachers but no students!! Lot of private colleges and universities have also come up across the state, include the Baba Mastnath university (funny name!), which we crossed while driving. Apparently it was all set up by a single person - Baba Mastnath and has a religious angle to it.

Cowdung fields

Overall development in the state is low. Till it was with Punjab, it was ignored by the government. Once it split in the 60s, some progress started but its still way behind. The roads are not good enough. The bus network is good, though quality is debatable but the train network in Haryana is quite limited. There is not enough water in the canals for agriculture (and Punjab refuses to release more water!). Sanitation and electricity is also an issue, especially in the districts farther from Delhi. In fact I still remember when power came to our village, we could see parts of the tv serials when the voltage was good and miss part of it when it wasn’t enough:).

In the villages, some people have started selling their land at high prices due to proximity to Delhi. But they are not using this money well. Most of this is spent on buying huge cars and building palacious houses and having grand weddings. Not much of it is used in entrepreneurship or for securing a safe future. And the effects of that are already being seen. The new generation who do not have lands are not in a good situation. They need a stable source of income and that is one of the reasons for the Jat agitation for reservation in jobs.

There is not enough land left with the Jats. Especially with constant division within a family, the size of the farms is very small now. Plus with the dependency on nature and limited water, revenues are also low from farming. While the other castes have the stability of a job income, a lot of Jat families are left with no stability. And that is said to be one of the reasons for the Jat agitation for reservation in jobs. What happened after that though is deplorable.

The recent riots between the Jats and the non-Jats has affected the state a lot. There were a couple of discussions about it, and even though I heard only one side of it, it felt like the situation was created by politicians. Since Hindu - Muslim differences cannot be used in Haryana, BJP used caste differences to build a division in society. They opened fire on peaceful protestors, and then the police beat up Jat students killing some of them. Their families from the villages then got agitated and acted. And then non-Jats were sent to create riots.

I don't know how true or untrue these stories are, but a peaceful state has surely been wrecked! When we were driving through the state, we saw a lot of police around. And billboards asking for people to stay with each other peacefully. I've never seen anything like this before. I only hope this is a temporary situation and things go back to normal soon. Though I don’t think it will ever be the same again!

Overall, I saw my village, state and community from a very different perspective this time and loved it! Looking forward to sharing more such interesting titbits over the next couple of years from the place I belong to...

(I have loads of more stories to share about my state, but am limiting this article to all the new things I heard this time)

Part 1 - Towards Kithana
Part 2 - Kithana

Mera Gaon Mera Desh - Kithana, Haryana (2/3)

Part 2 - My village, Kithana

Village jhod

The first view of my village was the jhod - the village pond. Its where all the cattle bathe and is quite the village gathering spot. There are multiple jhods (haha, love the mix of Haryanvi and English!) in the village and you can always see buffaloes swimming there. And then wells for people to drink water from. And I realised more as I went around, each village was supposed to be a self-sustaining unit. It had all amenities available within - water, schools, shops, cobblers, barbers and so on.

Andhe baba ka dera

Our first stops were the Shivalaya and the government school, both located on the village main road. The Shivalaya (Shiv temple) is I think the only temple in the village. But apparently we (the Jats) don't really worship at this Shivalaya. There is another place visited by a lot of people, known as Andhe baba ka dera. Its not really a temple, but still revered by a lot of people.

Govt school, Kithana

After that we visited the government school where my father had studied for about 5 years. The school felt the same it would have been 50 years ago. Classrooms in a single floor spread around with basic furniture. And lot of empty space in between for the children to play during the breaks.

Some of the teachers and the principal were there (on a Sunday!), so we chatted with them for some time. The principal told us how for a year, the class 10th and 12th students haven't had a Maths teacher. And that the girls from the school were doing better than the boys:). He mentioned how the school was going down in quality because of more private schools coming up nearby. There were at least 5 private schools in the village itself. And also that the government teachers in the village had multiple duties - counting cattle, election duty, health duty and so on that they did not have enough time to teach:). No wonder it is tough for them to focus enough on students.

When we offered to give a scholarship to the most intelligent student of the year, the principal was unwilling to take money and said we should come and give the prize ourselves. He seemed like a very dedicated teacher and asked for our help in getting a Maths teacher for the students. Meeting him made me feel that not everyone is corrupt and lazy in the government. There are people who are dedicated to their jobs and there is still hope!

Kithana high street:)

The main street of the village seemed quite developed, with lot of cars and shops around. Then we took our car inside and it was like driving into a different world altogether. Narrow lanes, with mud/brick roads, some brick and some mud houses, bullock carts parked on the sides, buffaloes walking on the street and so on. How I always remembered my village like:).

We first stopped at my grandfather's first house where my dad was born. The old house wasn't there anymore. But papa ran into some old classmates of his who he had studied with more than 60 years ago. It was like he was returning to his childhood days:).

Our kitchen!

Then we went to my grandfather's current house. Our house was earlier almost at the outskirts of the village but its now within the village. And then onwards I don't remember the next 4 hours, they were a blur. As children, me and my brother had spent many of our summer vacations in that house, playing with the buffaloes; mom cooking in a kitchen with an earthen

Where food for cattle is threshed

chulha; sleeping on the terrace where sometimes cotton was put up to dry; going to the khet to relieve ourself; trying to cut the chara for the cattle but everyone telling us to be careful; being scared of the buffaloes, and so on. As I said it felt like a different life altogether and I also felt that nothing much had changed. The house was the same, the roads the same, it was all same old, same old.

All the 8-10 houses next to my grandfather’s house are owned by his brothers and cousins, and so all relatives of ours. The news spread very fast that we were there and everyone came out to meet us! I must have met 50-100 of my 'relatives’ who all knew me by name and everything about me:) even though I hadn’t met them for years.

Lanes of my village

In a village, neighbours and relatives are more connected than in the cities and know more about each other too. As I said, it felt like such a different world. Having all 10 houses next to yours occupied by your relatives is something I haven't experienced ever in my life. We visited them all and some of dad's classmates. Had milk and lassi everywhere, and so much sweet that I was totally full. I was also overcome with a lot of feelings at seeing the warmth of everyone I met. They were curious to know what I was doing in my life and also very very happy to see me after so many years.

Dada ka Kheda

After the multiple social visits, we visited the Dada ka Kheda which is where my family lights a diya (earthen lamp) on special occasions. This Kheda of an ancestor is revered more than the temples in the village. Its a small place made of marble. There is no idol there, you just light a diya and keep it inside the marble structure. Jats are not known to be very religious, especially in Haryana, hence they don’t pray much. And therefore, the Pandits in the village are also not that dominant, they depend more on the others for charity and are not as rich as say in UP.

While we were walking towards the kheda, we passed through several different areas of the village. And apparently different castes stay in different parts of the village and are segregated. There are apparently 36 castes in Haryana, and I heard some of their names mentioned as we were passing their sections - Doomb, Chamar, Kumhar, Lohar, Khati, Baniya, Pandit, Nayee and so on.

Each caste had its own roles in the village, but that’s changed now. Our village now has a SC sarpanch which doesn’t make a lot of people too happy:). People are known and even called by their caste and community names. My dad even remembered about a person who had come from Pakistan during partition and where his shop was. He was known to all as the ' Pakistani’ in the village but now has moved on to a city.

Gher

After the kheda, we went to our gher where cowdung is put to dry. Everyone who has cattle has their own gher and its an important piece of owned land. As a child, even I used to make and enjoy making cowdung cakes:). Now of course I would think its too unhygienic! I felt like an NRI taking photos of all of it, but it did feel different and exotic after the years in London!

Our khet

And last we went to our khet, our fields - with the golden hue of wheat all around. I walked around there enjoying the view. And touching the wheat. A lot of people have now starting building houses in the fields and not in the village. It sounds like a good idea:). Also, by this time I felt too hot as the sun was up fully and didn't want to stay outside too long:D. So we left soon to come back to the wedding in Jind.

Milestone to home

Overall, I was very surprised with how strongly I felt that I was back to my roots. I don't think I can settle in my village or even stay there for long. Have become quite used to city life and its conveniences. But it is nice to know you have a place where you belong. Its another home, its your own, its where your roots are. Where people know who you are even if you don't. Where you will always have a connection. As I said, its nice to have a place you belong to. It also makes me feel a bit different than people who have no place they can call their 'ancestral home'.

I don’t know when I will be back, as our house is locked and no one lives there anymore. But I can sense I will like to visit again.

Part 1 - Towards Kithana
Part 3 - My impressions

Mera Gaon Mera Desh - Kithana, Haryana (1/3)

Part 1 - Towards Kithana

I belong to a village in Haryana, called Kithana. My father was born there and lived his first few years in the village. Then he moved out, took up a job outside and we only visited during summer holidays to meet our relatives. When we grew up, everyone moved away from there and so our visits stopped. I recently got a chance to visit my village again after 10-15 years and it was a whole new experience. Taking photographs for the first time:), looking at my community, traditions and society as an outsider and an adult, was a completely new experience for me. This article is about all that I personally saw and felt during the visit, as well as a social commentary on what I picked up during my time there.

This March when we were attending my cousin's wedding in Jind, Haryana, we decided to visit our ancestral village too, just like that. And to be honest, I was surprised by all I felt when I went back there! Given that no one stays there anymore and it’s been years since I visited, it felt very different.  I also learnt a lot about the society now as compared to what it was before. Hence this blog. It will not be much of a travel article, as much as just sharing some of my experiences on the blog.

Obviously its not researched, just what I picked up in all discussions with my relatives and others. One thing that was a surprise to me was how much caste is a part of life in the society there. We, living in the cities think it doesn’t exist, but it very much does. And it will take a long time to change something so ingrained as that.

My experiences of being “home” started when we were driving towards Jind itself. It was March and the wheat crop was ready to be harvested. All along the roads, there was a golden hue of the grain. No green, only golden, it looked so enchanting! Apparently many years back, wheat was grown mostly in Punjab while chane were grown in Haryana. That’s definitely changed now based on what I saw during my entire drive.

Golden wheat fields

As a child, when I used to visit back home, I don't think I ever bothered to look at or admire the fields. I didn’t even know what it meant. But now I do. Maybe it was the DDLJ effect:). Maybe it was the years of living abroad far away from your roots. Or maybe just that I am older and wiser now:). And know what a crop means to a farmer, and what it means to the farmer community I belong to, Jats.

The road to Jind was ok, at least till Rohtak. After that it was just a lot of potholes, where the choice was between the bigger and the smaller one:). So I drove till Rohtak and let my dad cover the fun part:). Surprisingly, the villages from Delhi to Rohtak didn’t even look like villages, they had cemented houses and pucca roads. Very unlike the villages I have been used to:).

While driving through Rohtak, I noticed a lot of billboards advocating people to live in peace and harmony with all. I am assuming all that was because of the recent riots in Haryana (there were Jat and then anti-Jat demonstrations in Haryana in March this year, which led to rioting and loss of lives and property). I also noticed a lot of police and security everywhere, its the first time have seen something like this in Haryana. And it was sad!

Before visiting Kithana, I spent some time in Jind and learnt a bit about the city. Apparently Jind had its own king too some time back. And an old fort, haveli and rani ka talab. None of it remains, or at least in a visitable state for tourism. The talab is now dry and lies in the centre of the market. Actually, that is true for most of Haryana, not much remains of its history, unlike the numerous palaces existing in Rajasthan.

We stayed in the Jat Dharamshala which was very well constructed (forgot to take a photo of that!). Apparently, it was about to be burnt during the recent anti-Jat agitation. Next to the Jat Dharamshala was the Agarwal Dharamshala which had a mandir too. And quite contrastingly, it played devotional music from early morning on:) (which is not too welcome when you are on holiday and don't want to wake up at 5:30 am!).

One of the days, we had a small gap in the wedding festivities and planned to go and be back from Kithana in a few hours. But the whole trip turned out to be much much longer! Kithana is about 30 minutes drive from Jind and the road passes through multiple other villages. We passed through Naguran till where the buses used to run when my dad was younger. The rest of the way to our village was not paved in those times.

As my father studied in MP, he used to often have to take the train from Jind for which he had to walk through 4 villages (~14 kms) up to Naguran. There he would get a bus to Jind and then the train to MP. And sometimes when the letters would not reach in time, there was no one to receive him when coming back on holidays and he had to walk the distance alone carrying a lot of luggage on his head. And sometimes he had to walk the distance without water! In those days, you could not drink water at a lower caste house, and if those were the only houses you came across the way, you chose to not drink! Times have really changed since then and for good.

Part 2 - Kithana

Part 3 - My impressions

Glimpses of Chicago, Milan and Chantilly

In April and May this year, I had a couple of very short work trips to some new cities. As is usual with work trips, I did not get much time to explore a lot. But here's putting down what little I saw during those times:).

Chicago

Chicago

I was in Chicago for a couple of days in spring this year. Given I had never been there before, I decided to head out a day earlier and explore it. So I landed at 11am on a Sunday morning, after a long flight from London. Even though it was a business class flight, I was still pretty tired. Am just not a fan of American Airlines I think. And of American politeness for that matter:-). The rudeness hits you the moment you land at the airport. I asked the taxi woman how far the hotel was, and for the next two days never asked a question of a stranger ;-).

Skyline from Grant Park

After quickly checking in into the W hotel, with a map in hand, I left to explore the downtown area. I first walked towards Grant Park just next to Lake Superior. Surprisingly, it was a sunny and warm day at 23 degrees Celsius even though the next day it snowed! But still it felt cold, because of the winds. Windy City, eh? :-). There were all high-rises around, the typical New York concrete jungle look. I found it too dry and drab for my liking.

Lake Michigan

I walked a bit along the park, taking in the sights of the skyline behind and Lake Michigan on the other. Then I took a detour along the Chicago river and walked towards the city. The walk was very pretty, and scenic in a different way than European cities.

Chicago river walk

There were a couple of boat trips available for tourists. But when I checked, it looked like they only show you the buildings around, talking about their architecture. So I gave it a miss. During my walk, I had already seen most of the buildings around and it did not interest me anymore. I did see a Trump building right in front which is good to know the history about, given the presidential elections coming up;-)! And there were a couple of other old buildings and concrete bridges which made for a pretty picture. Especially the twinkling lights at night were brilliant.

But by then, I got so bored, that I walked into a Macys and shopped a bit:). I could have walked towards the Willis Tower for a view of the city or the Navy Pier but by then I had lost all hopes from Chicago:). Chicago is also famous for its deep dish pizza - which is a cheese filled heavy pizza. Its a must try, though not the most healthiest of options;-).

It looks like the city has mostly buildings and architecture to appreciate, and even though they were definitely impressive, honestly, I found it one of the most boring cities I have ever visited. Maybe less than Orlando, but that's not the right comparison anyways:-). In my view, totally missable if you are a tourist.

Details of the walk




Milan

I was in Milan much longer that usual, for about 5 days. Again given it was a new city, I flew in a day earlier and saw a bit of the city, as when you start work, it never really happens!

Milan Duomo

The downtown of Milan is centred around the Duomo - the huge cathedral in white was constructed over 600 years and hence is quite central to the city. It has a huge square next to it where loads of tourists hang around. We had a view of the cathedral even from our office, so saw a lot of it during the trip:).

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

I walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping mall towards the Brera area of town. I walked past a statue of Leonardo da Vinci, a couple of small squares to come to Brera. It was a nice hangout place with small roads and loads of small cafes. The restaurant I picked up though wasn’t as great!

View of Duomo from office 

And that's most of what I got to see of Milan during the time I was there. I did explore a lot of restaurants though. The Obika Mozzarella Bar had a beautiful open seating next to the Duomo and many varieties of mozzarella to choose from (!). The Asola was on the top floor of a hotel and had a good view of the city. The Enoteca Ronchi was a small find again next to the Duomo with very tasty food. And the manager was shocked when I and another foreigner asked for butter, olive oil and vinegar for our food! It was a hilarious situation we totally enjoyed. The Osteria de Brera I ate in Brera on the first day was definitely forgettable.

Roman columns

The last dinner, we went to Osteria Delbinari which was located in the canal district of Milan. That was nice too, in the open. While coming back, my colleague took us through some of the sight seeing spots of the city - the place next to the canal where the rich used to wash their clothes, the canal that was built to transfer material for the Duomo, the remnants of a Roman temple columns, Colonne di San Lorenzo from the 2nd century AD, the pillar erected at the place where a doctor was killed because of his suspected involvement in spreading the plague (which he was trying to cure it), and the students district where all the leftists hangout.

It was a good introduction to the cultural and historical aspect of the city even though we were tired at the end of the day and not fully awake:-). But overall, as I said, I did not explore the city much, just got a glimpse of it. The rest for maybe some other time:). (I just realised that the Last Supper is in Milan and I missed it!)


Chantilly Chateau, France

Chateau at Chantilly

I did a short one day training at the Chantilly Chateau, and was impressed. It is located about an hour or so from Paris, in the rural part of France. I have stayed at many old English houses but never a French one. It was definitely different! Again I got no time to explore it but could see it had great grounds around and some fun activities to do. As I said, for sometime later maybe :-).

The Taj city : Agra

I have been to Agra once before in 1995, much before the digicams came. So funnily enough, we took all of 3 photos of the Taj Mahal:)! And at that time, I did not know much of Mughal history in detail either. So I could not appreciate many of the sites I had visited then. Since then, for many years I had been planning to visit it again and the opportunity finally arose this year.

I with two of my girlfriends from college decided to go there for a weekend road trip, driving from Delhi. We started early on a Sunday with me driving, and were there within 3 hours. The new Yamuna expressway from Delhi to Agra is impressive. Its a great road where you can drive very fast.  We were mostly driving above 100 which was fun. The landscape around was quite boring though, it felt all dried up when we drove. That's the thing with highways na, so bland and without character!

On the way, there are enough services to stop at, for food etc.. We had an interesting experience at the petrol station though. The guy said he had filled the amount we had asked for which was incorrect. Then when he started refilling, he did not start the meter from 0. But asked up to pay the total of both the amounts!! We were quite insistent that he did not start from 0, so we should not and he finally agreed. But I learnt later that this is a standard way the petrol station workers fool customers!

We stayed in Agra for two days, visiting the Agra fort and Taj Mahal the first day and then Fatehpur Sikri the second. The Agra fort is a beautiful complex with many buildings of marble and red sandstone still standing. Apparently a lot is there no more, but what is left is mesmerising too! It felt a lot smaller now though from what it would have initially been.

Mosque in Agra fort

There were many different mahals and gardens to explore. The mosque, diwan-i-khas and the location of the peacock throne were some of the key spots. The other highlight of the fort is that you can see the Taj Mahal from there, especially from the mahal Shah Jahan was kept prisoner in, for the last few years of his life. And the first view of Taj is as fascinating as all the later views.

Diwan-i-Khas in Agra fort

First view of the Taj from Agra fort

Another view of the Taj from Agra fort

After the fort we went towards the Taj Mahal and got lost in the Agra galiyan. We followed directions to the East gate which took us through the narrow roads of Agra. It was quite a nightmare to drive there and I am very proud that I was able to:). There was two-way traffic with barely enough space for one car to pass!

Finally we got out of that maze and went through the North gate. You need to drop your car outside in the parking space, and then take an electric tuk-tuk to the ticket office. Tickets are quite cheap, about Rs. 20 for Indian citizens. You will need to show your ID though before getting the tickets. We took a guide to show us around and spent about 2 hours just admiring the beauty and intricacy of the Taj.

First view from entrance gate

Second view when inside
the entrance gate

The Taj Mahal

The Taj complex is not just the Taj. It starts with the grand entrance followed by the first peek at the beautiful mausoleum. And then you see the well laid gardens and fountains in front, the seat where celebrities get their photos taken:), the Taj with its four minarets built on a raised floor, and the identical mosque and rest house next to it. As you come close to the Taj, you start to notice the exquisite handiwork in the stones.

Images of the Taj

And then you realise, the flower patterns, the urdu ayats written on the walls and the geometrical designs are not painted! The shapes were carved into the building, coloured stones were cut to shape and fitted into those gaps, giving it the perfect illusion of being painted! As the guide took us around, he also showed some of the illusions built into the Taj - the size of the urdu verses is bigger on top than the bottom, to make the text appear as the same size; some of the geometrical designs were crafted so as to give it a 3-D feeling even when it wasn't and so on.

Images of the Taj

The minarets were being renovated when we were there. But even with that, the place looked fascinating, especially during sunset. We went inside the Taj for a tour, but it was a bit dark and crowded, so we did not spend much time there. We did see both Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal's tombs inside, next to each other with an exquisite lamp above it and intricate carvings all around. And then I suddenly remembered an interesting saying I had read sometime - 'all you need when you die is enough space to bury you. And what a joke life played on Shah Jahan. Even after being an emperor in life, he didn't even get his own burial space! He was buried in what space was left next to his wife's tomb!'

Images of the Taj

I don't have any words which can describe the Taj's beauty and what you feel when you see it. The whole experience was so surreal, we were all lost in the place for long. It was very tough for me to leave it. The fact that it was closing made me;-). Otherwise I could have sat there for hours, just lost in its beauty and perfection! It's said that during full moon nights, the Taj looks even more magnificient. And watching the Taj during sunset from the garden across Yamuna is also an experience to be had. Maybe for next time:) (as I am sure there will be more visits!).

Images of the Taj

View from Sheraton's Taj-e-Jharokha

After this surreal experience, we checked in to the ITC Sheraton hotel located nearby. It was quite a foreigner focused hotel, grand but did not feel too authentic. We crashed after the long day but the next morning we realised, there is a terrace there called the Taj-e-jharokha from where you can see the Taj far off - a gleaming white against the chaos of the city in between. It left quite a lasting impression on me- the gardens of the hotel juxtaposed onto the chaos of the city, crowned by the Taj. Will always remember this view...

Buland Darwaza

After checking out from the hotel, we went to Fatehpur Sikri, again through small lanes of Agra where driving was an interesting experience. The place felt quite out of Agra, with its own small little town next to it. The palace complex is on a raised ground and split into two parts. The first is the Buland Darwaza and Salim Chisti's mosque. The second is the royal palace.

Poetry in red sandstone

We first went to the Buland Darwaza which as the name suggests, is grand. Inside, it is a beautiful square complex made of red sandstone and beautiful paintings and carvings adorning the walls and roofs. In the centre was Salim Chisti's white marble dargah, a poetry in white again. The whole area was very fascinating - the coolness inside the red sandstone structures, the light playing games with the carvings and so on.

Salim Chisti's dargah

But the whole experience was marred byall the ruckus created by people all around. There were too many people picnicing around, eating food, throwing stuff around and so on. The whole area was very dirty and not maintained at all. Maybe because it was free? I really wish it was better maintained, you could see the potential for it to be a place of such calm and peace; it felt the opposite of that when we went there!

Fatehpur Sikri

The palace complex next to the Buland Darwaza felt relatively small. There were a couple of mahals here - Jodha Mahal (the harem and not Jodha's mahal), King's mahal, the stage where Tansen performed, set amongst fountains, the multi-layered bhavan for watching dance performances, the kitchen, the Portuguese wife's mahal, the diwan-i-khas and the diwan-i-aam. All the places were pretty but it was too hot and we couldn't enjoy for long:(. We did enjoy reading up on all the stories though.

Fatehpur Sikri - Tansen's stage

Our drive back was a bit off the Yamuna expressway which in hindsight was not a great idea. We drove through Mathura and Bharatpur, through some quite narrow roads (Google Maps still has some way to go in India) and then we were back from the Mughal town to the hustle and bustle in Gurugram.

Other than the places we visited, I'timād-ud-Daulah's mousaleum, known as Mini-Taj is also worth visiting. And the park across the Yamuna overlooking the Taj, where Shah Jahan was planning to build another Taj in black marble. The platform where it was supposed to be built still exists and provides a good view of the Taj. The Yamuna, though a major river felt very lacklustre in Agra. It didn't have much water to be considered a full river even.

Overall, the tourist arrangements were convenient in Agra, and it was easy to visit these places. Traffic as expected was random. But everytime we would drive through the Cantonment areas, the road got fun to drive on. The only irritant in the whole trip though was the constant harassment by the guides. Young children and adults alike kept paining us to get them as a guide, even for as less at Rs. 10! And I don't think they are taught to accept no, they just go on pestering you. This is something that the authorities really need to sort.

Other than this, I absolutely loved the trip - spending time with old friends and visiting a place of beauty and history. And all for 80 pounds:). Given how much we spend on vacations in Europe, this felt unreal and more than value for money!