Agra-cultural
Trip Start
Aug 29, 2009
1
27
32
Trip End
Ongoing
Agra,
Uttar Pradesh,
India
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Dad and I decided to go to the Taj Mahal very early to try to avoid the thousands of tourists. After fending off every guide and rickshaw driver wanting a piece of us, we got to the Taj. (Dad and I have gotten very good at getting people off our backs. Our latest method is to pretend we are deaf and start signing at each other. The Indians get very confuse and eventually leave us alone). So we get to the gate of the Taj and I have to make a point to say that one of the most absurd and non-nonsensical things happened there
Taj Mahal 1
. I carry with me a stuffed walrus that Katie gave me so I can place it in funny situations and take pictures of it. I was excited as the Taj Mahal would make a great spot to take pictures of my stuffed animal. While going security, the guards took out the walrus (whose name is Wally Jr. by the way) and started laughing. "Not allowed in here. very dangerous item" one said. I laughed with them, clearly thinking that he was joking. I place Wally Jr. back in my bag and the guy gets belligerent and takes back out. The guy was actually serious. He seriously believed that my 4 inch long stuffed baby walrus could pose a threat to the Taj Mahal. My jaw dropped. The told me they would keep it for me and I could pick it up when I left. The Indian guards of the Taj Mahal took my stuffed walrus hos-taj...hehe. But you want to know the best part. They let me walk in with a knife. I am allowed to bring a knife into the Taj Mahal, but a stuffed walrus is prohibited. This country works on an entirely frame of mind as we do.After that debacle, we arrive at the Taj Mahal and once againmy jaw drops, for a good reason this time. The structure is awesome. It's pure marble facade reflecting in the early morning sun was just something you have to see to really understand its beauty. The building is perfectly symmetrical from every angle. This guy must have seriously loved his wife to build such an beautiful tomb for her
Taj Mahal 2
. What was more entertaining, however, was watching the hords of Indian tourists come with their family to take photos. They all lined up and on at a time would pose together to take a nice photo to put on their mantels (for those who have mantels of course). Something very strange then happened to me. I was sitting alone on a bench, admiring the Taj, when an Indian guy sits next to me and asks if he can take a photo. I thought he wanted a good vantage point from where I was sitting, but he actually wanted to take a photo of me. I found this rather odd, but I'd be hypocritical of me to refuse after all of the pictures of Indian people I have taken. He then poses next to me and has a friend take a picture of us. Then his friend does the same, and his other friend, and his other friend. Overall, I posed with 6 different Indian guys so they could take a picture. I'd find this understandable if I was in a small village where white people wee rare, but this was the Taj Mahal. It's visited by 3 million tourists a year. There were white people everywhere. I started thinking that maybe they confused me for someone famous. I laughed it off, since it was absolutely ridiculous. I'd come to find out the Taj Mahal was a very odd place.After that, Dad and I realize that we had time to kill as our train to Varanasi wasn't until 11 pm. We decided to check out the mall right around our hotel
Me and Papa
. Most of the shops were closed, but we did manage to find a McDonald's. We wandered in to check if they served any beef burgers. They didn't. But they do have a very interesting menu. One can choose from a McAloo, McTiki, McChai and the one and only Chicken Maharaja Mac. That last one is the equivalent of the Big Mac. Of course we had to try. It was fantastic and beautiful to taste such an exotic counterpart to the Big Mac. We then saw that there was a movie theater in the mall. We bought tickets to the most ridiculous looking movie, ajab prem ki ghazab kahani. Yup, it was all in Hindi and it was awesome. We bought the most expensive seats, which only came to $4. When we got to our numbered seats, we find the most comfortable and plush LA-Z boy recliner chairs. We nestle in and start watching the movie. From what I made of it, it was about a hot guy and his friends living in a too clean version of India. Hot guy falls in love with hot girl, and through the art of song and cheesy slapstick comedy, he tries to win her heart. Of course their love affair is thwarted by an arranged marriage. Eventually, he wins her over through a very animated and colorful song/dance. The movie was actually really good and funny. It's weird though, because the comedy involved using very silly special effects, where people fight like crouching tiger, hidden dragon. Every scene is sort of incongruent with the next.Overall, Agra has turned out to be more than a shitty town based around the Taj Mahal. It taught me a lot about Indian culture.
