Northern Exposure

Constantly I had heard from the MCC students, colleagues from my field placement, and from other encounters, that North India is much different then South India. I remember even before I came to India, when I spoke with people about this adventure and even to Indians in America, and my response to my destination was Chennai, they were sort of taken aback. Most had never been to the south, and explained that they did not really know what to say about the south because the regions are quite different. For the past couple months that I have been here in India, I have been curious to investigate these comments. I was so excited to go to Delhi, for this purpose, along with the monuments and history that the city contained.

I felt that I got a lot out of our excursion to Delhi. For one thing, I loved our visit in Agra to the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. I think our tour guide did a wonderful job of giving us the history, keeping it interesting, as well as keeping his patience when our excitement would take over causing our fingers to snap vigorously on our cameras. In and around Delhi, and in Agra as well, there was so much history and culture. Old buildings and facilities towered above the coconut and palm trees as we drove through much of the traffic on the streets. The Taj Mahal was beautiful. It is difficult to describe how magnificent it is. I guess I can say that I was extremely happy and satisfied that we went around sunset to see the Taj, even if there was a large mob trying to break back out of the tomb. Of course, the day we scheduled to see the Taj turned out to be on the national holiday, Gandhi's birthday, the busiest day after Christmas. It made for a great story!

One thing that appealed to me about the Taj, was its history. Although, our guide did a great job of providing us with that information, I still do not feel like an expert by any means. Yet, the idea that one man built a tomb, something so marvelous and enormous, only for his wife, the woman he loved, is pretty amazing. I am not a crazy romantic, and India has made me even less so if anything, but it was very inspiring to see the Taj, all the work, effort, and dedication that went into it. The idea that it was all a promise for someone was quite moving. I felt, “why can’t there be more displays like this in the United States.” In a nation so young, sometimes it seems that similar passions and commitments are not as prevalent, which is sad in many ways.