Tuesday, 2/16/16 - Tomb of Itimad-ud-Duala, Viewing the Taj Mahal from Mehtab-Bagh Moonlight Gardens, Colonel's Brightland School, Sukumar and Sonam's Wedding Anniversary |
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This morning we once again woke up early to watch Mukul feed the birds on the rooftop. We saw the "seven sisters", birds who travel in flocks of seven. We were surrounded by a cacophony of singing and calling, as the bird table was completely covered with birds joyously eating the millet. Parakeets sat on the wire above, waiting, but again, we didn't wait around to see them eat.
 Sukumar, Sonam, and Sara (the 3 S's) left for work / babysitting respectively. We got dressed, and Sunita kindly did a load of laundry for us. After breakfast, Bishan picked us up shortly after 9 o'clock. Today was our day to sightsee in Agra. There are so many wonderful tourist destinations in Agra that we needed to think carefully about how to spend the day. We drove past the Agra Fort on our way to one of our favorite sites: the tomb of Itimad-ud-Duala (aka the "Baby Taj"). We had visited it in 2007 and again in 2009. This mausoleum commissioned by Nur Jahan (wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir) for her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg (also known as Itimad-ud-Duala, or Pillar of the State). The tomb was built between 1622 and 1628. We walked through the sandstone entrance gate which was inlaid with white marble, and then approached the tomb itself, a lovely "jewel box" of white marble inlaid with semiprecious stones in the piedra dura technique. There were only a handful of other tourists here. The tomb's footprint is a square, and on each corner is a octagonal tower topped with a dome. The center of the building has a square "barahdari" rather than a dome. We put shoe covers on and climbed the stairs onto the building's marble plinth. We entered the tomb, which contained several chambers. The floors were decorated in a dizzying, colorful array of tessellated geometric shapes. Every surface of the building is decorated: either in piedra dura, frescoes, or bas relief. The patterns depict Persian motifs such as stars, plants, vines, flowers, trees, and vases. Stucco and paint were embellished with gold leaf. White marble muqarnas (ceiling details) were intricately carved. There were very delicately carved marble jali screens, one of which consisted of patterns of concentric stars and hexagons. Shafts of light filtered in through these screens and illuminated the cenotaphs of Mirza Ghiyas Beg and his wife Asmat Begum. Like the Taj Mahal, this mausoleum sits on the banks of the Yamuna River. We walked across the courtyard and through a sandstone gate to view the river. The water level was low. Locals wash hotel laundry in the rivers, and we could see many bedsheets spread out drying along the riverbed. We could also see small groups of people sitting in circles in the dry parts of the riverbed. Mukul explained that they are illicitly gambling, and they choose that location since they can see the law approaching with enough lead time to hide the evidence. Several families (including one from Orissa) approached us to ask for photos with us, and we happily obliged. Everyone we met was quite friendly. After enjoying our third visit to the Baby Taj, we headed over to the Mahtab-Bagh (moonlight garden), for a glimpse of the Taj Mahal. We decided not to visit the Taj itself on this visit. Although it is lovely and we have enjoyed our two previous visits, the building is currently under restoration. Two minarets are encased in scaffolding. So we chose the less crowded and less expensive option of viewing it from a distance, across the river. This beautiful garden is where Shah Jahan would sit on moonlit nights and admire the Taj Mahal in a large octagonal reflecting pool. Shah Jahan established the garden between 1631 and 1635. We walked through the green gardens, and soon the dome of the Taj Mahal peeked through the treetops. As we continued, the view opened up and we had a full-on view of the Yamuna River with the indescribably beautiful Taj Mahal on the opposite bank. It looked almost like a mirage. A large group of adorable preschoolers (age 4) and their teachers were enjoying the view as well. We waved to the kids and they waved enthusiastically. Their teachers got them to pose with me for a photo...I was inundated with smiling, giggling, little kids. It was amazing! We did some yoga poses with the Taj as the backdrop. It took me many attempts to get into half moon and warrior III. The ground was uneven and I was not used to practicing outside without a drishti. It was hard to lift my gaze when the sky was so bright. The renovation of the Taj Mahal resulted in it not being as picturesque as usual,though we used some creative photography angles to try to block out the scaffolding at a distance. Next we visited the Colonel's Brightland School, a charitable school run by Mukul and his family (most notably his niece Dipika and her husband, the school's namesake Colonel). We had visited in 2009, but it has expanded greatly since then. They now have 3100 students and are one of the top 10 schools in Agra! There was a whole new building which housed the primary grades, as well as a large new auditorium. The library has also been expanded with generous gifts from various donors. We are so proud of them for doing such great work! We had a nice tour of the school, led by the principal Mrs. Rubina Khanam (Dipika and the Colonel were out of town for a wedding today). Two other staff members accompanied us, and one kept snapping photos of us around the campus as if we were "somebody." We observed an art class where older students were making hats out of newspaper using the same technique Yasmin had used for her quinceañera centerpieces in Guatemala. They showed us a variety of student art work which is destined for their big art show. We toured primary classrooms and science labs. We also observed a dance class, vocal music class, and a yoga class. The yoga class did puppy pose, wheel, Sun A, tree, plow, child, as well as a pose we hadn't seen before: figure four legs while propping themselves up on their hands.  When we got back to the house, Sunita gave me a beautiful high quality white cotton blouse embroidered with green, my favorite color. She also gave us two fancy monochromatic throw pillow cases: one with the subtle image of an elephant and the other of a horse. She and Mukul are too good to us! Sunita prepared lunch for us: chappathi, popadums, yogurt, dahl, rice, and cauliflower. It was delicious! And it was capped off with a lovely pudding made of carrots, milk, and almonds for dessert. It had been a busy morning, so we all decided to take a rest after lunch. Soon after we had retired to our rooms, we heard a tiny voice call out "Dadoo!!" Sukumar and Sonam had decided to come home early from work, because today was their 6th wedding anniversary. There was no way that Mukul was going to get to nap when his granddaughter was looking for him! We went downstairs to say hello to all of them. We wished Sonam and Sukumar a happy anniversary, and gave them a small gift. Sara was in a great mood. Sunita gave her a piggyback ride around the living room. She loved the owl toy we had given her. Sonam would say to her, "What did Auntie give you?" to which she would hold up her toy and say "aoooo!" Mukul presented me with my ring, which had been dropped off at the house by Kohinoor. It was fully repaired and sparkling clean. And they insisted to do it for no charge. I was delighted! They are a class act! Craig and I went back upstairs to take showers and start to get organized and packed. We would be leaving very early in the morning to catch our flight to Kochi in Kerala. We had gotten quite comfortable here over the past few days, and we needed to make sure that we didn't accidentally leave anything behind. Sukumar came to the room to visit. He had been working in his clinic a lot during our visit, and we hadn't really had much chance to talk with him one-on-one. It was great to get to talk with him while we packed our things. We went downstairs and proceeded out to the garden to enjoy the beautiful surroundings for a final time before it got dark. We sat among the flowers, listening to the birds. Everyone else was inside. Sara opened the door and waved for us to come inside. She is so cute! Sonam, Sukumar, and Sara (the 3 S's) dressed up in fancy clothes to attend a friend's engagement party. But before they left, we celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary with a cake that friends had sent over for them. Sara was very excited and literally dug right in, sticking her hand into the frosting! She is so funny! We said goodbye to them, as we would not be seeing them again before we depart. It was so nice to see Sukumar again, and to meet the lovely Sonam and Sara for the first time. They are a lovely young family, and we wish them all the happiness in the world. For dinner, we had ginger peas, a tomato/potato mixture, and chappathi. We thanked Sunita for the tremendous food that she had prepared for us over the course of our stay. She offered to make us some breakfast-to-go for our morning ride to the airport, and we gratefully accepted the offer. We would miss her amazing home-cooked food. Sunita prepared fenugreek chapppathi, which she spreadf with butter and wrapped in plastic wrap. This would make an amazing breakfast on our early morning ride to Delhi. Sunita takes such good care of all of us! We went upstairs at 8:30, did a few last-minute preparations for tomorrow, and went to bed at 9:15. Thank you, Mukul, Sunita, Sukumar, Sonam, and Sara, and we hope to see you all again soon, whether in Agra, Boston, or somewhere in between! Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula Mahtab-Bagh |
 Tea and cookies on the patio  Steph and Craig at the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Duala  Steph at the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Duala  Craig and Steph at the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Duala  Taj Mahal viewed from the Mehtab-Bagh  Preschool field trip at the Mehtab-Bagh  Warrior III in front of the Taj Mahal  Colonel's Brightland School primary classroom  Sukumar and Sonam's 6th wedding anniversary  Sunita and Mukul 
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