Some Old and New Memories

It was with great apprehension we planned a trip to Delhi and neighbouring cities. Having got used to the hot, hotter and hottest weather of Chennai, having not enough warm clothes even to face the colder temperature, we debated hotly on the need to make the trip. But two school reunions seemed compelling enough to take the risk.

Reunions
Had I continued to live in Delhi, studied in the same school till the end, would I have felt the same way as I did now, about meeting my friends from '86?

I don't know and this line of thought has to be abandoned as speculation that cannot be proved
conclusively. I did leave the first school I studied in half way, and I was immensely thrilled to be reconnecting with my old friends - and even those I had never met in school for they joined later, or our paths seldom crossed even when they were there.



But when I met them after 30 years, the excitement was palpable. It was a one-day affair, but many had traveled to be there, in the hallowed precincts of the school because of the memories it carries - of happy childhood, carefree time spent playing and pretending to study.

This was the second leg of my trip to Delhi, the first one being a get together of my husband's classmates. Though they studied in a different city, they had assembled in Gurgaon because of the connectivity for people travelling from abroad.

A visit to my residential locality in Delhi completed my trip down memory lane. Though hardly anyone from my childhood days lives there now, still, just walking down the streets was awesome! The streets seemed narrower than I remembered them - maybe because of the proliferation of cars. But the joy was just the same that I felt back then!

Revisiting childhood done, it was now time to move forward and visit other sights in Delhi and nearby towns.

Dilli ki Sair
Akshardham in the backdrop of the setting sun was beautiful and the light and sound show a class apart. It was constructed after I left Delhi, so even for me, it was a first time. I loved the symmetry and beauty of the place.

Humayun's Tomb

The next day, we were told that most tourist spots would be closed it being Monday, but we were able to see Qutb Minar and Humayun's tomb. Though I remember the monuments from my childhood days, I didn't remember the surrounding paraphernalia and so I still saw it with fresh eyes and enjoyed the visits.

Religious Fervour
Next we went to Vrundavan. A guide waylaid us and since we felt it will be helpful to have one, we went along. We saw the van where Krishna and gopis are said to still play the ras leela. This is also the place where people cannot stay back after dusk as the trees there are said to come alive as Gopis to recreate the Krishna magic. Even monkeys vacate the place, it seems. There is a room with a bed and ornaments for Radha. Krishna is supposed to come there to do seva. In the morning, the priest apparently find all the shringar items scattered despite all the windows being shut and the door being locked.

A rustic scene from Deegh

We were asked to laugh constantly, which was nice, but tedious after a point. Still, I was moved just at the thought of walking down the kunj galis where Krishna had played pranks on the Gopis.

Then the guide took us to some place and we were made to pay for bhog or offering. That was the disappointing part. When I visit a temple, I do not carry any desires, just go with prayers on my lips. Here they have different rates for different bhogs and when we chose the lowest, the priest tried to convince us to up it. He even had the gall to say that the Lord is asking us to do more. I told him that if the Lord so desires, he will bring us here again with sufficient funds. That was cheeky, probably, but the priest was trying to play on our vulnerability!

In the evening, when we went to Gokul, we had the same experience. It was ennobling to see the place where Krishna grew up, to touch the soil of His front yard, to walk through the hallways He must have ran. Of course, the building may not be the same, but it is the thought that counts.

Deegh Fort steps

But here, too, we saw the groundwork for bhog offering. We were alert and the priest sulked when we chose to make a nominal contribution.

Next was Mathura, Krishna Janmabhumi. The mosque in the background, the vast courtyard, the jail and the stone bed where Krishna was born (Devaki must have suffered, though) - beautiful!

But here too, though we were assured there would be no demands, we had to contribute towards distribution of laddus.

Offering, and how much, is a matter of one's personal choice, and I did not like being cornered. Though I was assured that the contribution is divided into several parts, I think leaving the devotees with the choice is better for the reputation of the temples than telling them to contribute in four and five digits. God does not count the money, and I felt sad that after one point, we had to think more about the contribution than experiencing the aura of the place.

We missed the main temples - Dwarkadheesh in Mathura and Banke Behari in Vrundavan. But we took it easy. We tried to squeeze in Govardhan mountain, but it is 21 kms parikrama and we didn't have the time. Instead we just visited the temple on the main road.

Visiting a Fort

Deegh Fort

Our next stop was Bharatpur. Our taxi driver, who belonged to Alwar district in Rajasthan, remembered his own school days and a fort that he had visited from school. Always interested in forts, we enthusiastically agreed to stop over and saw one fort on the way. Though that was not the place he had intended to take us to, still we spent quite sometime in that expansive fort by Surajmal. From there we could see a palace - called Jal Mahal, which is the one the driver remembered.

So we went there too. The building is an archaeological wonder. The front of the main palace looks like a two storied building, but it has four stories behind. One floor is under water to keep the building cool. Then there is a dining hall at a level just above it. This has European style dining facility. Above that is the Indian style dining room, for eating on the floor.

The bedrooms face the lawn. There was one granite cot at the entrance. Surajmal seems to have

Frame for a swing
Framing a hall behind

brought it without realising its purpose - it was used to wash the dead bodies of the Mogul royal family!

There are 2000 colourful fountains constructed by the king back in those days, that are brought alive twice a year by the government.

The symmetry and the beauty of the place have been well maintained. The water in the ghat was dirty, but the large tank had beautiful viewing points.

Bharatpur and Agra
The bird sanctuary attracts migratory birds of small and big variety. We went by cycle rickshaw - not my favourite means of transport, but it was fun. And cold. From 3-6 pm, we chased some rare and some fairly common but beautiful birds. There were neelgais and spotted deer, even a sambar deer. Then, in the dark, we saw a couple of jackals crossing the road as well.

I was quite enthusiastic about revisiting the place in the morning, but a bad catch in the back the next morning incapacitated me. Though my husband was hesitant to leave me, knowing his love for bird photography, I literally pushed him out. I think he had a gratifying time spotting owls and capturing pond heron gulping a fish.

From there we went to Agra, and toured the Taj Mahal. A Sugandril tablet held me up through the evening.

At the sanctuary

Though I have been there before, it still makes you drop your jaw when you see it! A guide took the trouble to explain it in detail to us - including the part that Shah Jahan did not cut the hands of the chief architect, as is commonly believed. In fact, the emperor was keen to build a black Mahal for himself, but his son, now more powerful, stopped him due to depleting funds.

From here, we were dragged to a marble maker's place, as well as a jeweler. I hate this part of tourism, though that's how the artisans survive. Not interested in shopping, I would have preferred going to the black Taj side across the Yamuna, or even tried catching up with Agra Fort - an engineering marvel. But Taj was all we got to see in Agra. The guide discouraged us from considering the fort, saying that only 20 per cent was open to the public. So we missed both the red forts in our Delhi and Agra visit. For me, that was disappointing, but well, we can't have everything.

We did get to see how the marble is engraved with semi precious stones. We also saw two rare stones with star like reflections, used in the Taj, and heard about its marvelous properties - the black stone used to engrave the Koran in Taj can cure migraine it seems. Another red/brown stone sweats when heat is applied!

That was wonderful. But when the jeweler said, "Now which one would you like to buy?" it was time to leave.

Truly, it was a nostalgic trip and the variety in the nature of tourism in the one week - from meeting friends, to religious/spiritual, to nature tourism to history/architecture - makes me long to return and catch up on a whole lot of other places in and around Delhi.

Dilli door hai - Delhi is far. Still, who knows what is in store for us?