Mother and Son Make The World Their Classroom for a School Year: March 29, 2015 (Agra, India)

We woke early to head to the Taj. We were picked up in speedy golf carts and driven to the main gate- seriously they were going like 45 mph. Sam was thinking we need to get one of these! As we entered it felt like I had just been there with the girls and Nate. I remembered exactly where we took all our pictures and all my favorite spots and discovered a couple new ones. It is interesting how things have clamped down since I was last here, with no shoes inside without covers, no photos and some of the popular benches to take photos on you couldn’t anymore- maybe to keep the log jam down. When we entered the courtyard and the main entry gate, that was so spectacular but when we came through the main gate it was so cool to see Sam’s expression, “WHOA!” It is spectacular and it is because it is white, it sits up on a marble base that is maybe 10 feet high and so even from far away you are looking up at it. The gardens and water that lead up to it enhance it. It is so beautiful.We walked around the grounds and into the tomb. I was reminded that the script around the entry are passages from the Koran and to defy perspective which make the letters look smaller on the top, they thickened the script so it looks all the same size and proportions from wherever you are. The inlay work throughout the Taj is all done with semiprecious stones from Malachite and Lapis to translucent coral and turquoise. Each piece of stone is handcut and then its shape is chiseled into the white marble which is almost translucent and light reflects through it. It is secured with a kind of glue that is only known and passed down to the stone masons of this region. Your rubbed your hand across he inlayed stones and you can barely detect any ridge between the stones. It is spectacular all done by a Mughul King as an expression of his love for his third wife the Queen Mahal who is buried there. When the King died he too was buried there in the crypt below the main dome. It was lovely to go back to the mosque as well and was reminded of the girls all posing with the Taj in the back and have sam leaping and playing for pictures like the girls had 7+ years ago when Syd was about Sam’s age.

We went back to the train for lunch and regrouped before heading back out to the Agra Fort. Agra Fort is really interesting because it was the home of the Moghul rulers while Agra was the capitol of the Mughul Dynasty. Here was also the home of hundreds of the King’s harem and courtyards where they would perform and balconies that were screened where they could watch in on the court. Since the Mughuls were Muslim technically they could only have 4 wifes so there would be main boxes for the wifes and then screened in windows for the harem ladies. These women were selected from around India and often were the most gifted with talents, beauty or intelligence and other than being just entertainers many of the senior ladies whom the king trusted became the moguls important counselors since they could be trusted beyond a male, since males were always vying for the king’s position. At the Agra Fort, similar looking to the Red Fort in Delhi, there was a beautifully carved in white marble and inlayed like the Taj which was the king’s living quarters. Next to it was an area where the Mughul Emperor that built the Taj was held under house arrest by his son who captured his kingdom and imprisoned his father. The room had a view of the Taj and there he resided for the remainder of his days after his son had taken the Kingdom from him.

We stopped by an inlay artisan shop on the way back to the train where they demonstrated how the work was done that was displayed in the Taj and how these artisans are some of the last that know how to do this kind of work by eye and hand. Each of the pieces of a flower for instance are hand crafted on a spinning stone cutter and then that shape is chiseled out of the marble to make a beautiful design.

Before dinner we went to a sound, light, musical and dance show that was performed depicting the love story of the Mughul King and his beloved Mahal and then with her passing, after bearing him a 14th child. The show was all one could expect from a Bollywood show: incredible costumes, over acting, great dancing, festive Indian music.

I could barely keep my eyes open during dinner back at the train and while Sam went all in on his Indian meal I had a salad and then went to bed. I was a bit worried about Sam too. His knee had begun swelling again today and I was texting back and forth with his pediatrician at home. We are going to start him on a round of Doxycycline again and taking Advil regularly to keep it from getting out of control like it did when we were home in Nov.The swelling from the Lyme disease that Sam was detected with in Nov and did a full treatment of it which ended in Dec) had gone almost all the way down and then just yesterday it began swelling again. I was very worried yesterday and began Advil as soon as we noticed. Thank heavens for Sam’s doctor Dr. Lena Terry for being so responsive and sending me a prescription for Sam. Hoping that it will not get crazy so that we can stay it off for the last couple weeks we have on this portion of our adventure. If he isn’t feeling well or it becomes a situation, we will come home. But, he feels totally fine and they say that sometimes the symptoms persist for a while even if the Lyme disease is managed and gone.