Part 5: January 14 (Friday)

Max played a gig with Malcolm Dagliesh at the American School in Delhi a few months ago; Gene and Barb, teachers at the school, were his hosts. In an example of the strange coincidences that keep occurring on this trip, it turns out that Gene had taught with Jerri's close friend Bobbe Besold in Santa Fe. Jerri and Bobbe knew each other from their Visual Studies Workshop days in Rochester, a long time ago.

Barb Hegranes and Gene Harrell (JZ)

The American School is a remarkable environment, an oasis in the middle of Delhi. Kids from all over the world study here in a school that is equal to any private school in the States. And even though it is a bubble, the school is committed to the ggui (pronounced joo-gee) the slum community immediately outside its walls. They offer many scholarships and tutoring opportunities, hire local tailors to make kids their uniforms, employ locals whenever possible, have students interact with the community to develop a sense of social responsibility. It's impressive, and shows more awareness than our schools back home. How many suburban kids interact with the inner-city? Had we only known about such schools years ago, we would have signed up to teach!

We took a cab to the AIIS office and met Purnima Mehta, the Director. She had met Max several times and, as all the AIIS people we've met, was open and helpful. She drove with us to their Center for Art and Archaeology in Gargaon, some 40 minutes distance, to meet the Center's Director, Vandanna Sinha. The building is beautiful, a great place to work. Their archive is impressive; they aim to document every temple and archaeological site in India. Through a series of books, and a quick perusal of the card catalogue, we managed to actually identify one temple! It appears to be Dakshina-Kali in Malancha. We are hoping we will be able to confirm this in person in a few days, although it may be too far a drive. If we are able to return to India, we will clearly spend a considerable amount of time using AIIS' remarkable resource, and quite a bit of time on the road.

Kali Temple, 1945

Dakshina-Kali temple today © Aishee

The Center provided a wonderful Indian lunch, where we also got a chance to meet other colleagues. A car took us back to Gene and Barb, where their Burmese cook Babu offered us a delicious Burmese dinner. 

Babu in Gene and Barb's kitchen (JZ)

The next morning, we were up at 5:30. The AIIS had arranged for a driver, Manoj, to take us to Agra. It was a four hour drive, where we could not take our eyes off the scenes that passed before us. It started out foggy, which only accentuated the visual nature of the trip. 

On the road to Agra (AT)

Incredible crowding, with trucks and cars and bicycles all vying for position on the remarkably good road. We saw a man leading his camel; hundreds of small shops; animals everywhere. I spotted two peacocks strutting on the roof of a commercial building. I really can't tell whether it is a cornucopia or an assault. When we finally reached Agra, it was clear that we were no longer in Delhi, a relatively modern city with vast, ancient sections. Agra is old and chaotic throughout.

At the parking lot of the Taj Mahal, we heard wailing. A funeral procession was wending its way down to the river. Discretion and respect precluded our making any images. We were then accosted by camel drivers offering us rides to the entrance; guides galore offering us their services; and incessant hawkers of every tchotcke you can imagine. (OK, Jerri did buy a snow globe Taj Mahal. What can I say?) This is tourist India. We were amazed, however, to discover how few Americans or Europeans were there. Probably 95% of the tourists were Indian.

The Taj is...well, the Taj. It is incredibly beautiful and of course the story of monumental love is enthralling. The experience was marred by whistle blowing guides inside the Taj itself, where the sound reverberated directly into my head.

Taj Mahal (JZ)

At the mosque flanking the Taj, we met a Muslim family who wanted us to take their photograph.

Alan photographing Muslim family (JZ)

This was the beginning of a very bizarre experience that lasted throughout our journey—Indians were constantly asking us to take their photo, or to have our photos taken with their cell phone. And they wanted our autographs! They must know something about us that we do not know. There's got to be a dissertation here somewhere.

Muslim family at Taj Mahal mosque (AT)

Manoj then drove us to the Maya restaurant, where we had the best chicken tandoori ever.

Echo Women, Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra (AT)

Our next stop was Akbar's Tomb, about 5 miles from Agra in Sikandra.  It is an amazing complex, where there were almost no people. We were conned willingly into giving tips to a group of women who showed us the echo quality of the chambers.

Jerri with children & chinkaras (AT)

We were again accosted by young people wanting to shake our hands and say “Hello!”
The grounds were filled with animals – monkeys, peacocks, deer, chinkara (Indian gazelles.)

Doorways at Akbar's Tomb (AT)

Akbar's Tomb (JZ)

At the Akbar Tomb complex (JZ)

We returned to Delhi at 10PM, exhausted.