India Part 2

This post is going to be about the people we met on our holiday in India.

What struck me most was the friendliness of everyone, from waving, smiling children, to young teenagers wanting our pictures, to street sellers realising you weren`t going to buy but still keen to strike up a conversation, to families visiting the sights. I was also struck by the level of cleanliness: from ladies sweeping pavements, to boys washing in watertanks and roadside barbers. 

This lad was willing to dive into the murky depths of this water tank in order to retrieve coins, at the Chittogarh Fort. The tank was filled with a miraculous never-ending supply of fresh water. The water was best collected at source!!! Anyway I threw him a coin to catch as I didn`t want to see him dive into that!!

These children were on the other side of the fence at the 

Mahtab Gardens opposite the Taj Mahal.

It was on this land that Shah Jahan wanted to build his own garden tomb in black. It never happened.

Many Indian families and groups were visiting the Taj Mahal themselves and it was obviously something very special for them as well as us.

We saw many school children visiting temples and monuments in their bright saris. This group were at the Taj.

Schoolchildren piled into the back of trucks, waving wildly as they passed.

The Taj Mahal terrace....quite stunning. The upper area of the tomb chamber was not a pleasant experience with hundreds of people walking clockwise around the filigree screen. There was a cacophany of sound, from shouting, an official with his whistle and general hubbub. We smiled when we saw the sign for silence. I felt a great deal of sympathy for the man who was cleaning the finely carved stone screen. It was a great relief to step outside into the brilliant sunshine. 

Many young people asked for our photographs. We, in exchange asked for theirs. It was a novelty to be the centre of such attention.

This family were visiting the Qutub Minar.

This family were visiting a roadside shrine dedicated to the victim of a motorcycle accident. After the accident, there were miraculous happenings. The tree which he crashed into, was tied with thick layers of coloured wool and strung with bangles.

When we stopped for a train crossing, these three boys appeared from no-where and tried out their English with us.

A happy, waving boy.

This little beggar girl was sitting on the esplanade of 

Fateh Sagar Lake. She, along with her brother, did have a few things to sell.

This is the potter`s wife from one of the Bishnoi villages. She thought it was a huge joke when I sat cross-legged with her in their tiny yard. Her daughters were sorting millet.

A happy family group at the Chittogarh Fort.

  Two enigmatic faces from the crowds.

On the left a calm serene man at Chittogarh and on the right a musician at the Meherangarh Fort playing a most haunting melody which echoed around the richly decorated walls of the entrance.

The beauty and richness of the many palaces and forts we have seen is equally matched by the beauty, richness and colourfulness of the people we met. Truly unforgetable.

And just for the contrast.....a young lad sorting through the rubbish about 20 metres from the hotel entrance.

Talk about stepping from one world to another!!