The Taj Mahal experience!

If Delhi symbolises a fast paced metropolis, Agra is a city/town that is not in any hurry! Mainly centered around the Taj Mahal, Agra being a mandatory stop for most International tourists touring India, chances are that every second person you bump into is masquerading as a tourist guide. While tourist guides help, I feel it is best to take an audio tour as and when provided by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as most tourist guides, especially the ones catering to Indian tourists lack necessary knowledge and only seek to rush through the visit in order to take you shopping at a place that offers them commission! 

Taj Mahal is best seen at sun rise, when it is relatively less crowded and the crimson hues are faintly reflected in the white. Luckily we were put up close to the Taj Mahal so as to enable multiple visits to the monument and thus enjoyed a wholesome experience of the splendour and beauty of the Taj Mahal. As you walk past the security check, through the red sandstone gateway, and catch the first glimpse of the white marbled edifice... for a brief moment you stand mesmerised and transported into another world... until you are shaken out of your reverie... by the thronging crowds, the tour guide with his broken English and questionable knowledge and the haggling photographers all trying to get their day’s worth from what you had hoped to be one of life’s memorable experiences......and not to mention.. screaming and squabbling kids!

It’s only after we went again the next morning at sunrise without any attachments of tour guide, photographers and kids,  did we get to soak in the sublime beauty of the Taj Mahal! 😊

Anyway, though our Taj Mahal experience with the kids would rank lower than that of our experience sans the kids in terms of our best travel memories,  the overall tour around Mughal era architecture like Taj Mahal, or the light and sound at Agra fort, or the Panch Mahal of Fatehpur Sikri did impress upon Abhay the majesty  and scale of the Mughal era. He did enjoy the Taj Mahal visit and though his memory of this visit may get hazier as the years go by, nevertheless the glorious sight of the most famous monument of India will always be etched in his mind like it was for me, ever since I had first seen Taj Mahal with my parents during less crowded and much simpler times! 

Who knows... decades later as Abhay travels to Agra to show his kids the Taj Mahal...he may laugh over how irritated his mother was or how cranky his little sister was during his previous visit as a twelve year old! 

Now,  Abhay may be able to remember his visit to the Taj Mahal, but what about his three old sister who will in most probabilities have no recollection of the same? Simple... you read a book about it! What are the chances that you plan a visit to a historic monument with your three year old and there’s a wonderful children’s book revolving around the very same place and that too for very young children! Tulika’s “Pooni at the Taj Mahal” by Manjula Padmanabhan is just what I wanted and a book that we carried along during our trip. More like a sequel to “Where’s that Cat?” by the same author where a little girl, Minnie can’t let go of her pet cat, Pooni who seems to have wandered away. Similarly, during Minnie’s trip to the Taj Mahal with her parents, she carries her pet hidden in her back pack. But just they enter the Taj Mahal, Minnie finds her bag empty and the reader is given a peek into where Pooni runs off. Minnie is inconsolable and despite assurances by her parents to find Pooni as soon as they finish the tour, she remains desolate and disinterested with the exquisite marble carvings! Just like all kids... she couldn’t be least bothered about what engages the adults!! So what happens to Pooni..? Does Minnie finally reunite with Poonie? Read on to find a charming little story to enthrall your little one on a tour like this! Beautiful illustrations that present an authentic setting of the Taj Mahal area, realistic portrayal of flustered parents, annoyed tour guide and the tantrums that kids love to throw in crowded public places just when you wish them to leave you to enjoy the surroundings!! Since we had read this book as a prelude to our Taj Mahal visit, our little Minnie was also on the look out for Pooni at the Taj Mahal!! 😊

Resplendent Rajasthan!

After a hiatus of almost two years following the birth of our little one, we have embarked on our annual Bharat Darshan tour with extended family around the Desert State of Rajasthan. As we travel from Pink city to Desert city, from Golden city to Blue city, enthralled by the majestic forts, earthen landscape, scintillating musical and folk art performances and the vibrant Rajasthani culture, this trip around Rajasthan seems to have everything -travel by flight, long road trips, train journeys, rugged and rustic experiences like desert safari and a taste of royal splendour at the numerous palaces and heritage properties - in all a wholesome experience of everything that is quintessentially Rajasthani! 

This  trip also seems like we've truly come of age in the balancing act of travelling with now two kids and all it's trappings. From carrying an additional check-in baggage to the omni present "baby bag", from waking up at the crack of dawn, not to catch the sun rise but to cook the day's to-go meal for the little one in a travel size rice cooker or lugging an umbrella stroller hoping to wheel the little one around, only to realise that the fort has stairs at every turn, jumping into the swimming pool or utilising other such amenities of the hotel with the older one when all  you want to do is curl up on that very fancy and comfortable looking couch with a book- Travelling with kids is more like business trip for parents as you always have to prepare for what may happen next! Amidst all the ensuing chaos, if you still manage to catch a glimpse of the fantastic desert sunset ...taste the delectable local mawa katchoris, or get a good bargain on the day's shopping spoils and have your kids enjoy the folk art performances/puppet shows,  you've got a winner...Let's reserve the museums and galleries for another time ....probably when the kids grow up or grow out of our nests!!!!

We are at an unenviable phase in our parenting adventure! While our little one is supposed to be high maintenance, given her age, she makes herself comfortable anywhere, provided her basic needs are taken care of!  Whereas our older one who is at an ideal age for travel, hence supposedly low maintenance, has instead proven to be quite demanding! Almost ten years apart, our older one and our little one couldn't be any more diverse in terms of their tastes,quirks, and mood-swings!! Of course, it immensely helps to be travelling with the extended family of parents and relatives, as your little beasts can be unleashed on them as well...and thanks to them, we could enjoy our morning walks minus the kids or go on zip lining adventures, but just as you begin to breathe a little ....your little one is promptly handed back with a soiled diaper!!:-)) 

Through out the State of Rajasthan, the camel is a ubiquitous presence. From camel rides to camel skin merchandise and camel prints on arts and handicrafts, the ship of the desert best represents the state, at least from a tourist point of view!:-)

As always, we look for something to read when we travel, so imagine my delight when I found a new release from Tulika publications that's set in Rajasthan! Replete with illustrations draped in vibrant hues and colours that present an authentic Rajasthani setting, this book is a visual treat in itself!  "When Bholu came back" by Kavitha Punniyamurthi and pictures by Niloufer Wadia revolves around a camel named Bholu and his  owner Beni Ram. Finding no use for a camel as a means of transport in modern day Rajasthan, Beni Ram tries to sell off his beloved Bholu, only to have the camel return back to him as he refuses to go to his new master. Just as Beni Ram and Bholu spend the night in the desert pondering  over how to find work in a time when village carts are preferred over camels, hordes of tourists arrive in jeeps with banner "Taparia camel safari". As the travellers get ready to climb onto the camels for a ride around the sand dunes, a little girl and her mother are left out as the safari team falls short of one camel .......and no prizes for guessing who got roped in to take the little girl on the most exciting ride across the golden sands...!!! So meet the newest camel on the "Taparia Camel Safari".....Beni Ram's Bholu!  Who knows may be we rode on him at the Desert Safari near Jaisalmer a couple of days ago!:-))) 

Barnyard manners!

Kids, especially the younger kids love farm animals. It was very easy to pick a book for Abhay when he was a toddler as any book on cows or barnyard animals would do….irrespective of whether there was a story or not! J  This is partly due to the fact that his first memories of his maternal grandparents’ place was their farm in Dharmasthala which also comprised of their small scale dairy farm. Abhay was quite fascinated by “Amba”, a child’s reference to cows in the Kannada language. Since most of the houses in rural South Kanara always maintained cattle farm, it was easy to handle my two year old when visiting relatives. All I had to do was to  take him to the cow shed! Even when we had moved to the US, he would enquire about them over telephone!  My mother had even composed a lullaby on Abhay and the cattle in our farm which was a mandatory request at bedtime back in those days when we would sing him to sleep. It was so much a part of our nighttime playlist for Abhay that when we started reading to Abhay, we missed it  more than Abhay! J

 

 

As Abhay grew up (and he still growing!), slowly his fascination for cows began to wane and now he is more interested in the farm dog than the cattle and sadly has no recollection of our own farm song! Anyway, with today’s prompt for the 30 books in 30 days Challenge being Barnyard, I picked out a book on barnyard animals. We’ve all read about animal making raucous noise in a barn…but have heard about a barn where the animals teach good manners to good little children? “Atchoo!” by Mij Kelly and Mary McQuillan is a story of Suzy Sue who goes Atchoo offending her farm friends, including the cow, sheep, horse and the rooster who chide her for not covering her mouth. When they realize that Sue doesn’t have a clue, they wonder if she were born in a zoo! So Mr. Cow pulls out a book titled "Good Manners for Complete Animals” and goes over all the rules only to find a few others too needing a crash course.  For instance, the farm dog with a running nose is given a handkerchief, pigs are guided into observing table manners and not to wallow about in food, cats are asked not to fight as they bring disgrace to the farm. In short, they explain to Sue that she shouldn’t pong like a dog, or eat like a pig or fight like a cat. Not pleased by such references, the dogs, pigs and cats take out a protest march against the manner-preachers. So it’s now Sue’s turn to chide the cow, sheep and the horse to expound the most important rule of all – “Always do what you’d like others to do to you” and counsels them to be polite so that the clumsy ones learn by imitation and not by bullying. So they realize their mistake and soon the good mannered help the ill mannered to make up a well mannered farm! A nice little book that drives home the value of being well mannered and courteous without being too preachy! So if your little one has an issue with minding his p's and q's…….have the barnyard animals train him! J