India Trip 2009_Recollections_Part VII_ Delhi and Agra

Saturday January 24th: Got up at 3:00 AM in Chennai to get ready to leave. After farewells, took the bus to the airport at 4:30. Jet Airways was nice. Had an excellent conversation on the flight with flight attendants Rebecca and Prakash. The former liked romantic movies while the latter preferred serious thoughtful movies. They talked about how Jet Airways was doing well by its employees. Rebecca was from Mumbai but now she is based in Chennai, and likes it because here boyfriend is in Chennai. She likes to take the Brussels-Toronto leg because it meant that after five days of travel she got a week off. Prakash preferred domestic travel because he could get home every day. Arrived in Delhi at around 9AM. The planes taxi for a long time at the IG International Airport.
Got out of the airport, met our TCI rep and then boarded the bus. Went near Gandhi Marg and waited for our guide Rahi Jha to meet us. Went near Gandhi Marg but Rahi determined that it was closed due to the Independence day preparations. Lots of policemen on the streets. Then went to the Kutub Minar. This was an interesting site, and we met some college students who explained a bit of the history of the pillar to us. We saw the defacing of the idols of Hindu gods on the pillars by the muslims. After Kutub Minar we went to the Hotel for Lunch. Checked in, changed clothing and then left for Lodhi road and IILM. We were received by Perna and then welcomed by the Deans. It was quite heartening to see that the Deans who were running the school were women and the faculty who talked to us were women. We met the IILM MBA students in a classroom and I talked to them for a few minutes. It was a great group, and our students interacted with the IILM students very well. Then we had a little tea get-together and we left. The IILM faculty treated us really well- it was delightful.
We then left for Delhi Haat- this is an Arts and Crafts bazaar with shops representing every state of India. After getting money from the ATM, students went on a shopping spree, while I looked around. It was an interesting site, with many folks in Jeans and not many in Salwar Kameezes. We met outside at 6:45 and then got on the bus and returned to the Hotel.

Sunday January 25th: After breakfast, left for Agra. On the way we found that one of the students had left his passport at the Hotel, but our Agent was good enough to pick it up for us. The traffic was horrendous, and it was a painful drive. The Republic Day being on Monday, many folks in Delhi and nearby places were heading for Agra. The situation was further compunded by a strike en route. Stopped at a couple of places for restrooms. Rahi got a bunch of bananas to help stave off hunger. Reached Agra around 3:30, went to the hotel for a quick bite and then left for the Taj Mahal. the crowd at the Taj was just huge. Our guide Rahi took us around to the West entrance. While the Taj Mahal is impressive, I was not blown away by it like I was with the Mysore Palace. Rahi bought shoe covers for us- I was saddened to see the sheer amount of plastic being used. BF and I waited in line for a long time to go up to the upper level of the Taj and saw the Yamuna. It was dusk and we came back towards the entrance and found that one student BG had lost his wallet. he had committed the sacrilege of taking a picture of Mumtaz's tomb, and his pocket was picked. Rahi was very gracious and let BG call home on his phone to cancel the credit card. We then returned to the hotel for dinner.
Monday January 26th: We had early breakkfast and left for a few sights. Saw Fatehpur Sikhri, the palace of Akbar, and the Agra Fort. All of these were beautiful and impressive. Students had a lot of fun with the autorickshaws. Then we had lunch and left Agra for Delhi. The return trip was quite smooth. We made a stop for tea, and as I was having mine, a student pulled me away to give her advice about a particular idol she wanted to buy. By the time I came back the waiter had taken the tea cup. I made a light comment about the incident and the server actually came back with a full cup of tea. Great service in a small place. We came to Delhi by evening. Went to Birla Mandir, which is a beautiful place. AM, our agent, came and met us. We stopped for dinner and a TCI person came with the passport. After dinner went to the airport, but had nearly three hours to kill before boarding the flight.