Peter Leibert's Page

Agra

 

ADDITIONAL WRITINGS ABOUT INDIA  by Peter Leibert 

I took a side trip to Agra.  Many people visit Delhi for the sole purpose of reaching Agra -- the medieval city of India which contains the “famous” Taj Mahal.  Agra is 126 miles west of the city of Delhi.  There seems to be only one road which is mostly one lane in each direction.  It was an exciting trip as the motorists we observed using that road convinced us that they were expert in their ability to demonstrate how not to drive.   

More that just going to see the Taj Mahal, three of us Americans decided to visit Agra together in order to observe what the rural areas outside the big city of New Delhi really looked like.  This came about because other convention visitors had told us, with immense authority, that the pollution had done a lot of damage to the building and it wasn’t worth the trip.  Later, we concluded that they likely had not visited Agra. 

There are two normal methods for tourists to travel from Delhi to Agra, by car or by train.  The three of us chose to go by car in order “to more closely see the people that live in the country”.  And we did see the local people even though the driving often kept our attention glued on what was coming at us from one direction or the other.  Our driver for the day seemed to not be as reckless as most of the drivers we had experienced in New Delhi. 

Driving in India not only involves speed but it requires a loud horn that is used almost continually in some situations.  It seems that the horn is to be used to alert any other driver that he is being passed, that he is blocking another drivers way, that he is going the wrong direction, that he shouldn’t have run that red light, or just to say hello.   

There are a lot of “standards” in India.  Autorickshaws all have three-wheels and are of very similar design.  We even rode in one that the driver proudly told us was “brand new and had cost 1,000,000 rupees” (30,000 US dollars).  All autorickshaws were black and yellow in color.  The four-wheeled taxis were also black and yellow and they too had been built to single design.   

Similarly cars-for-hire were all of one unique design, however, they were painted white in color.  These vehicular designs had probably cleared the designer’s drawing board prior to the end of the British rule -- 1948.  Each of these vehicles were propelled by a diesel engine, and their transmissions were manually operated.   

Speed is a unique item of interest.  When at top speed, the cabs or hired cars had their engines roaring, but their speedometer was only showing 80 km (48MPH).  I never saw a speed control sign but this design feature meant that the speed was actually controlled by mechanical means.  But in summary, no matter how fast we were going at any time, it seemed to be too fast for that situation. 

Cutting right to the bone, the highlight of the trip to Agra was a near miss we had where two buses coming directly at us appeared to be ignoring our presence.  We were on a two lane section and one bus was passing the other.  Our driver started to brake and his front seat passenger - me - had closed his eyes and was holding on tight.  At the very last moment, the bus heading right toward us evidently dived into a hole in front of the other bus and missed us by inches (I am told).  After I had completed my prayer of thanksgiving, I turned around to discover that the two passengers in the back seat had been taking photos of the entire event.   

One other point about the driving habits and then I’ll tell you about the scenery.  There were a few communities on the route to Agra which had a traffic signal at the center of town.  If there was a policeman present, the drivers would stop and wait for the light to turn green.  If there was no policeman, it was a 50 - 50 chance that a driver would stop or wait even when they did stop. 

But a unique situation to me was the common practice of three or four vehicles lining up across the road waiting for the light to change so that they might race across the intersection and be first in line to reach the one lane available over there.  Most vehicles showed signs of having “tied” during previous events. 

In the small communities we passed along the way, there were some very unique sights for us tourists.  About 15 or 20 feet back from the road, there periodically were rows of  little shacks -- open to the street -- that seemed to be little businesses.  These shacks were normally elevated on two- or three-foot high stilts (perhaps because of the summer rains), and were maybe 6 feet wide by 10 feet deep and 7 feet tall.   

A sloping roof was common, and there always was a two- or three-foot front overhang.  In these structures were one-man barber shops, a shoe repairman, and numerous other types of businesses.  It was easy to spot the barbershops, but for many it was difficult to ascertain what type of business it contained. 

There were bicycle riders and walkers on this road almost continually.  Most treated the road as their very own and were not concerned with the cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles which were whizzing by.  We saw numerous women carrying pots, boxes, or bundles on their heads, sometimes these were bigger than they were.  Probably most frequently the woman was toting what appeared to be a bundle of firewood that they apparently had gathered somewhere that day.  These bundles always were much larger in volume that the person toting that bundle. 

Also sharing the road, were animal drawn two-wheeled or four-wheeled carts.  The four-wheeler’s were most often being pulled by a camel or a motorized tractor.  The two-wheeled cart’s were almost always being towed by a Brahman cow or a bicycle.   The loads being carried were the crops of the area which varied from sugar cane, to vegetables, to logs, and sometimes even cow dung paddies.

 

We saw the results of four significant accidents along this road to Agra.  The first was a motorcycle and truck engagement, and with or without a safety helmet, the motorcyclist had lost the battle.  One of the tractor drawn four-wheeled carts had taken a quick dive off to the side of the road and went down an embankment into the brush - probably trying to avoid that same bus which was still probably speeding down the road.   Two others were overturned trucks, laying on their sides, waiting for the equivalent of the triple - A to show up. 

I never did see any mechanized tow vehicle by which broken down vehicles could be moved or righted.  I would assume that they would have to manually unload the vehicle and use volunteer manpower to put the vehicle upright again.  Since both of these trucks involved in the accidents were laying in the road during our travel to and FROM Agra, it probably is a long process to get that manpower to volunteer. 

One of the upset trucks had been carrying that “local crop” - cow dung.  They apparently are formed as small 10 to 12 inch patties out of the raw material and then the patties are laid in the sun to dry.  When hard after the drying, the circular product is stacked into hive-shaped piles.  The hives were normally about 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall.   

In the locations where these roadside cow dung businesses were seen, it was quite apparent that the business owners lived nearby.  There almost always were a number of small tent-like dirt huts located in the middle of a group of these hives.  The huts were about the size and shape of a two-man boy scout tent and they appeared to be made of sticks and mud.  

The Taj Mahal was worth taking that exciting trip.  The Taj Mahal itself is just like the postcards.  From the numbers of native countrymen visiting the site, it became clear that this must be one of India’s loved tourist attractions.  But some previous visitors must have shown that distaste.  Security was tight with all visitors being subjected to very tight airport-type of search and scrutiny.  

Photo opportunities were everywhere and visitors numerous.  A steady stream of people removed their shoes, and climbed the stairs to get a very close look at this enduring symbol of love and historic beauty.  Given that the walls of this mausoleum had been touched and caressed by millions of visitors before us, the entire building still retained the beauty created by the very fine craftsmen of so many years ago.     

The structure was completed in 1659 after 21 years of construction by some 20,000 laborers.  Yes, there is no doubt about it.  Akbar, The Great, made Agra a great and interesting place to visit.   

Visited in November 1994.

 

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