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TRIP UPDATE - 6 (December 30, 2006 - January 1, 2007)
Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Mathura and reaching Delhi
December 30, 2006, Jaipur to Agra
During the past 3-4 days our riding starts late and finishes early everyday, primarily due to cold and fog. We are not experienced riding in such hostile weather conditions and the cold is really biting. Hence our ride from Jaipur to Agra started at about 8.30 am after a breakfast of sumptuous Upma and a cup of steaming tea. Getting out of the Pink City is an experience one has to undergo. The road passes through parts of the walled city and as we exit through the gate it is a straight downhill descent flanked by long rows of stone dolmens, not pink but white coloured. Quite expectedly this stretch of the road is quite narrow and after about 2-3 km we get completely out of the city.
The ride from Jaipur to Agra was quite a tough one for two reasons one the current two-lane road is being converted into a four-lane one and hence there are several stretches under construction and traffic had been diverted at numerous places. Moreover being a weekend, the traffic on the Jaipur-Ajmer road was a little more than usual. Tourist taxis of all brands, sizes and colours thronged the road and each driver wanted to be ahead of the other and would mow down anybody to get to the apex position. But we managed to frustrate most of these ruthless drivers with our bikes, Apache's pick up is phenomenally good and even Chevrolet Taveras and Toyota Innovas were having trouble in keeping up with us, leave alone overtaking us on the highway. We weaved in and out of traffic jams like swift arrows leaving the car drivers frustrated and envying our quick getaways.
One thing I must mention here is the wonderful feeling of adrenalin rush we get as we throttle our Apaches. I don't know whether Apache does 0-60 in 5.5 seconds as claimed by the company but one thing is certain, the machine races from 50-90 within 4 seconds flat. I have checked this out several times during the past few weeks and it is simply amazing the way the engine just revs up and refuses to come down. Moreover unlike most other bikes one doesn't feel vulnerable at high speeds on this bike, or is it because our bikes are loaded with luggage plus rider we don't feel fidgety, I don't know. Anyway we had a great time riding on the smooth and at times gravelly but quite busy road from Jaipur to Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's old capital about 60 km before Agra at about 1.00 pm.
Fatehpur Sikri built by Akber as a summer palace is sited atop a small rocky hill. The main entrance to the fort known as 'Buland Darwaza' is an imposing architectural wonder. The entire fort is built of red sandstone and presents a picture postcard vista of the grandeur and glory of the country's foreign rulers of a bygone era. The Buland Darwaza is perhaps the most impressive architectural feature of the entire fort. Inside the fort contains several interesting places such including tombs of several Moghul rulers and their families. Just inside the doorway is a wide corridor which runs through the perimeter of the main fort area. The corridors are quite dusty and seems like ages since they were cleaned properly. But the architecture, styling, arches, roof panels, lintal relief sculptures and calligraphy are remarkable and display a high level of perfection.
One main irritation here is the ubiquitous presence of self styled guides, trinket sellers and others who try to grab the visitors attention and then his money. As we parked our bikes and walked up the steep flight of steps towards the Buland Darwaza we were approached by over 20 people aged from perhals eight-60 asking us if we need any guide services. The rate started at Rs.80 and went down to a mere Rs.25 to show, explain the architecture, tell the history and advise us on the best photographic angles. Here I met a few young lads perhaps about 10-12 yrs old who spoke fairly fluent Hindi, English and managed in few foreign languages like French, German and Spanish selling books and other trinkets. When I asked them about schooling, both laughed. "Agar hum school gaye, ghar pe khana nahi banega," said one of the boys named Yousuf Khan who had completed class III. The other lad had never been to school, when I asked them about their future, they were quite sure what to do. "Hum guide banenge and foreigners zyada paise denge. It is easy to make big big money here," they chorused. Here were two young boys, linguistically quite talented and industrious too but lack of proper education will lead them nowhere and they are blissfully unaware of it.
Another example of abject poverty in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh we notices was at a water tank just outside the fort. There were two youths who were diving into the ultra filthy water in the tank for a paltry Rs.5 and even willing to jump into the water from the top of the fort for a few rupees more. The water is so filthy, brown coloured and has algae floating everywhere, I or any city dweller wouldn't even touch it but these boys were willing to jump into it for a few coins. Poverty makes people do things beyond imagination.
  
Fatehpur Sikri - fort interiors
After spending about two hours in Fatehpur Sikri, we proceeded towards Agra and enroute we stopped at Joshi's Holiday Resort for lunch. After lunch we got chatting with the owner of the place Mr. Joshi, a former biker, who used to ride from Agra to Delhi regularly on his 250 cc Jawa. "What you guys are doing is not going to waste. I am sure that you will start a movement for quality education," said Joshi quite impressed by our mission and tour. "You are doing so much for the sake of poor children of our country, the least I can do is give you one meal," added Joshi and refunded the complete bill amount (Rs.250). We greatfully thanked him and proceeded further to Madhav Bhavan, the guest house of Seva Bharathi where our accommodation had been tied up.
Chatting with Mr.Joshi proprietor of Joshi's Resort |
Joshi Resort entrance - palatable food |
December 31, 2006, Agra - the city of the Taj
This was a bad day in terms of food for me. Being tired from the previous day's ride and cold morning we got up late at about 8.30 am and hurriedly got ready to go out and take in the city's main sights: the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort (Agra Fort). Kishore was adamant that we first visit the Taj and then have breakfast, I was hungry but I relented since I didn't want to pick up a fight just because of food. Since Taj Mahal is a world heritage site, the government has banned vehicular traffic within one km radius of the monument. One has to park vehicles and walk or travel by electric three wheeler to the entrance of the Taj. We preferred to walk through the maze of shops selling everything ranging from marble handicrafts to precious gem stones and finally reached the Taj Mahal.
 
Taj Vistas - Monument of Love
Sited on the banks of river Yamuna, the monument is uniquely beautiful, in fact apart from the main marble mausoleum, the gardens, surrounding red sandstone fort-like wall with four entrances are equally attractive and I think it is the combined impact of all these that makes the Taj such a unique monument. There is a small museum inside the precincts of the Taj Mahal and the beautifully maintained gardens, flower beds and fountains are a treat to watch. I feel that the Taj is so well maintained because this is one monument which attracts the maximum number of tourists.
After spending a few hours wondering at the beauty of the Taj we proceeded through the labrynthine streets of Agra towards the Red Fort which housed the residential palaces of the Moghul rulers. A large chunk of the massive fort is currently under control of the Indian army and is out of bounds of tourists. The remaining portion accessible to tourists contains several residential palaces of the Moghul rulers, it is obvious that it would have taken several man years of hard and painstaking labour to create such magnificent buildings. The Diwan I Am and Diwan-E-Khas are two must see locations inside the fort. Another very important part of the fort is the Taj view point, the balcony where emperor Shah Jahan would watch the Taj Mahal everyday.
We hadn't eaten anything since morning and had been walking quite a bit in the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort and it was already 2.30 pm and the afternoon sun was blazing in all fury. I was tired, hungry and wanted to desperately eat something. Kishore also mentioned that he was hungry. But instead of making a beeline for the nearest eatery Kishore decided to go for a jolly ride on a cycle rickshaw and we ended up wasting a lot of time visiting an 'Agra Peta' (sweet) shop, marble handicraft shop etc and by the time we returned to our residence it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner. And being a holiday most hotels were closed. So till 8.00 pm I waited hungry and frustrated with Kishore's attitude to have the first and only proper meal of the day.
 
Agra Fort views
January 1, 2007, Agra to Delhi via Mathura
New years day.... supposedly meant to start a bright, fresh, Happy and prosperous New year... but for me (I don't know about Kishore's feelings) the day and the year started on a rather frustrating note. I had dreamt, planned, worked hard and looked forward for this trip but now a month down the line things were going wrong. The first day of the year started the same way.. with a stupid decision to ride in thick fog from Agra to Delhi. Our hosts saw us loading our bikes at 9.00 am and getting ready to move and advised us to wait till the sun came out so that our ride to Delhi would be safe. Fog comes with two major hassles for riding one low visibility (hardly 10 ft on that day) and two piercing cold winds. But all advise bounced off Kishore's ears and he was unstoppable and by 10 am he was astride his bike and revving it. I didn't want to fight with him in front of our hosts and just started riding behind him. As we rode through Agra roads, fog hung thick in the air and visibility was less than 10 feet, but Kishore was determined to ride (I admire his dogged determination but would have appreciated if it was backed by sound reasoning). I don't know how many times I cursed him as I rode along and reached the open highway, where the fog was thicker. Even with our headlights on we couldn't see anything beyond 10 ft ahead and we were merrily riding at about 80 km per hour... too dangerous but who cares.....
Luckily for us the fog had kept most vehicles out of the road and there were only few cars. We saw one Delhi Police car moving very fast in the fog with all lights on and immediately started following the same. It was a big hazard, we could have met with a bad accident but we just sped on without thinking and I must say that I owe my life and limbs to the Apache's razor sharp brakes because of which I was saved several times that day. After about 40 minutes of riding in the fog we reached Mathura and that was a lucky break for me because Kishore wanted to visit the Krishna Janma Sthan.... I had visited the place already and was not too keen but any respite from riding like a mad man in the fog was welcome.
Since it was Id the entry of Hindus in that area where the temple is located was restricted. In 17th century the original Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Krishna was demolished and a mosque built over it by the Delhi Moghuls for the third and final time. After which the mosque continues to be operated above the temple in the same building. Apart from the Krishna Janmasthan temple there are eight other modern temples in the complex, each with beautiful traditional paintings depicting anecdotes from Lord Krishna's life.
After spending some time at the temple we proceeded on to visit Radha Kund and Goverdhana Giri. The former a palace and water tank where the celestial love-couple Lord Krishna and Radha would meet secretly in quiet and serene surroundings and the latter is a small hill which Krishna lifted to give shelter to people and cattle of Mathura during severe rains. Radha Kund is a beautiful place no doubt, but I don't think it has anything to do with Hinduism, it looks like some Muslim king's pleasure palace with a large stepped tank in front. It could have been used as a place for water sports and even as a bathing ghat but definitely not as a temple. There is a pair of footprints enshrined inside one of the domed marble buildings which are worshipped.
 
Radha Kund - ancient love spot
Radha Kund comprises of a large palace like domed building comprising three separate chambers. There are three separate buildings which are strikingly similar. The buildings are supported by smoothly dressed stone pillars with attractive relief motifs at the base and top. There are several tall watch towers surrounding the entire complex including the stepped tank. The central dome has attractive and colourful paintings depicting royal life, essentially scenes of courtship and enjoyment. The outer walls of the buildings also have rows of relief sculptures depicting patterns of flowers, arches and calligraphic works. However the most impressive part of the entire complex in my opinion are the separate private bathing enclosures built on the fringes of the tank, perhaps for women. There are 11 such enclosures and each of them have are hexagonal in shape and have attractively designed tracery windows. The stairs to these areas are enclosed and the main structure is built in such a way that it lies half submerged in lakes waters always. In my opinion it displays the maturity, sensitivity and respect to women's dignity of the builder of these bathing enclosures.
 
Radha Kund: inside and outside vistas
We moved further towards Goverdhana giri and I noticed several similar buildings in the vicinity. I would like to return here someday in future and explore each and everyone of them and study their history properly so I can learn about the creator and styles of these wonderfully sensitive buildings. We finally reached the Giri Raj temple in the center of the village and looking at the crowds we decided to skip the temple and moved ahead. From Radhakund to Giriraj temple there were thousands of pilgrims walking on the road and there were several kindly villagers who had erected stalls to give curd, water, kheer, beaten rice etc to these pilgrims, absolutely free of cost. Impressive in this era of commercialisation and materialism there are people who still want to do charity. But the bad effect of this charity is the enormous amount of plastic waste in the form of glasses, cups and plates it generates. I saw vast fields being covered by plastic cups, plates etc.
After the Giriraj temple we lost our way in the Hindi heartland and finally after enquiring with a lot of people reached a road which was to take us to Chapi a village on the natinal highway to Delhi. But taking this road to Chapi was a bigger mistake than getting lost in rural UP. Nearly 15 km of the 21 km stretch of road is made of only gravel and mud. The road appears more like an agricultural field, fit for cultivation than a road and villagers merrily travel on this 'road' without a care in the world, cycles, motorcycles, cars, tractors, lorries, buses and all other vehicles were on the road. I was curious and asked one of the villagers about why the road was so bad. "Yeh rasta to aisa hi hain, pichale paanch sal se hum bhi is road ka repair hone ka intezar kar rahe hain. Ab laktha hain yea kam nahi hoga," said the farmer. No wonder UP still ranks among the country's most backward states.
Finally after what seemed like eternity of negotiating through the bad road, we reached Chapi and turned off on the National Highway to Delhi. It was like a dream from then on: Smooth road, sparse traffic, cool weather and a powerful responsive bike... a biker could ask for nothing more. We just gunned our steeds and reached Delhi at about 7.00 pm where thanks to Kishore's contacts our accommodation had been arranged in Karnataka MP Sadananda Gowda's guest house close to Parliament house.
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