The Taj

Mama wait! We cry out through the crowds as my mother is now unstoppable weaving through hundreds of tourists heading over to the Taj. No time to wait, she's been waiting for a very long time to take a look and you can't stop a Japanese tourist from their mission. After our pleas she slows down and waits for my father to get through security in which they open all of our pockets and go through a mild groping by a female security guard. (They are not taking chances--there a guns, armed security and metal detectors in every hotel that we have gone to now.) When we woke up this morning the fog was so dense that we could not see more than 20 feet ahead of us. We gulped in worry as we changed our itinerary around in order to ensure we could see the Taj. Luckily by lunch time the weather is significantly warmer and the fog has burned off.

My father begs me to take a photo of him alone with the Taj. Sibling rivalry never ends--he plans on sending it to my uncle to show off.

It truly is a thing of white elegant beauty, synmetrical, intricate marble carvings with prescious inlaid stones. They say that the Taj is for lovers and that women appreciate it the most because its a symbol of love where a king fulfills his promise to his queen. 22 years and 20,000 laborers later, the emeperor, Shaha Zan built the monument for his wife Muntaj Mahal. It seems that she was pretty and a good advisor too and bore the emperor 14 children. 8 survived, she died in child birth of the 14th, and he never remarried as a vow to her. (Although he had two other wives and probably an entire harem as he was a muslim/mughal emperor) When I started to take photos, one of the guards started taking me around several areas telling me to sit, squat, lean and shoot in several areas where some of the most elegant photos could be taken. I imagine there could be worse jobs than spending every day of your life for decades admiring the Taj mahal. His recommendations were in some of the most random places but made for some gorgeous photos.