THE WONDER OF LOVE

Do the names of Anjula, Bipasha and Mumtaz sound familiar? All three were in the news recently. Mumtaz Mahal was the wife of Emperor Shahjahan, who built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum, in her everlasting memory. It is called an eternal love story, and some vague media company has now listed it among the new Seven Wonders of the World (7WW)

Bipasha Basu was all nervous and excited about the declaration to be made in Lisbon, by the Swiss media company. She was so excited that she arrived in Lisbon minus her clothes (lost baggage). Not that many men would be complaining! A classmate of mine, Vijay, who lives in Agra, found Bipasha a greater ajuba (wonder) than the Taj, in whose shadow he lives. He didn’t mention whether this was with or without her clothes, I mean baggage.

What of Anjula? One can be pardoned if one’s memory of her has dimmed. She is Anjula Singh Mahaur, the Mayor of Agra, who, together with Bipasha, but with her clothes, landed up in Lisbon, for the declaration of the ajubas. Bipasha’s glam role is over, so let’s roll over to the other two ladies (no pun intended). What is, or was, the role of Mumtaz and Anjula, in the recent declaration of the Taj Mahal, as one of the new 7WWs?

To begin with, the 7WW exercise was organised by an obscure media company in Switzerland. Can anybody off hand remember the name of the organisers? A survey in the Times of India showed that 73% readers considered the exercise a sham, with the telecom companies raking in the moolah through SMS and email revenue. A writer in the same journal observed that had this been a UNESCO survey, it would have had some legitimacy. Just orchestrating votes through celebrity endorsements means nothing.

Before the media blitz the Taj was not on the 7WW short list. It was in the 10th place. After the blitz, the Taj topped the charts. I wonder how many people from outside India voted for the Taj? With a population of over 1 billion, India’s trigger happy SMSers can win any popularity vote. The ground reality is, unfortunately, very different.

If the Taj got voted in for its architectural splendour and aesthetic beauty, as an Indian heritage, I would join the ranks of proud Indians. However, if star-eyed Bipasha and doe-eyed Shabana call the Taj a monument of love, I have a serious problem. Love is expressed to a spouse during her lifetime, and not by building a mausoleum in her memory. Was Mumtaz Shahjahan’s only wife? Did Shahjahan marry again after Mumtaz died? He probably did. Did Shahjahan build the Taj with the work of his own hands, and the sweat of his brow? He had thousands of artisans from all over the world slaving for him, for 22 years, to build his magnificent obsession. Where did the money for the construction come from? By additional taxes and levies on the poor populace? Then comes the ultimate irony – the Emperor’s fatwa to cut off the hands of the artisans, so that the Taj could not be replicated! Is this love? Or is it a symbol of selfish and egoistic indulgence, not unlike Mayawati’s obsession with making colossal Ambedkar statues and Buddha parks?

Colossal! That rings a bell. The Colossus of Rhodes has literally and physically fallen out of the 7WW. But another, with a similar sounding name, is still among the 7WW – the Coliseum of Rome! The Coliseum is where gladiators fought gory duels; or timorous early Christians were thrown to the lions, while the blood thirsty Roman Emperors gleefully watched. Another case of selfish indulgence and unbridled passion. The Coliseum, like Hitler’s notorious gas chambers of Auschwitz, is a symbol of hate and genocide. Would any right thinking European think of listing Auschwitz on the 7WW? The Jews would howl in protest. Yet the Coliseum makes it to the 7WW, without a whimper from billions of Christians across the world. Shameful!

If it is any consolation, particularly to the Christian community, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, hands outstretched over the bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has also made it to the 7WW. What irony. Jesus’ arms are outstretched in love, even when nailed to the cross. He wears a Taj (crown) of thorns, as the price for loving humankind. He protects his own, and sacrifices himself. This is the real wonder and symbol of love, which no SMS campaign or 7WW list can change. It is time that right thinking humans dumped selfish symbols like the Taj and the Coliseum, and stretched out their arms in loving service, as so beautifully symbolized by the statue of the Redeemer in Rio.

Now let’s come to the third lady in our 7WW drama – Anjula. What is her claim to fame? She happens to be the Mayor of Agra. I have nothing against Anjula, who has assumed this office just a few months ago. I refer to her only as a symbol of the Government – Central, State or Local. I have been to Agra several times. The first experience of a visitor to Agra, arriving by a morning train to Agra Fort station, is that of repugnance. The visitor is hailed by a line of bare bums, defecating along the railway tracks. I call it the 300 bum salute. What a welcome to the city of the7WW Taj. Shit man, shit.

Perhaps we Indians are inured to such shit. Not our foreign tourists, who come to Agra with romantic illusions. Tourists are in for more shocks. The next culture shock is of modern apartheid – racial segregation. At the Taj, or any monument in Agra, our distinguished guests, the foreign tourists are directed to a separate ticket window. We racially inferior Indians pay a lowly sum of Rs.20/- to see the Taj. The foreign tourists, being superior beings, are charged a whopping Rs. 700/- for the same peek-a-boo. I consider this a gross injustice, bordering on extortion. If we Indians go as tourists to America, Europe or the Far East, are we charged 35 times more that the locals, for the same service? This defies logic.

Agra stinks. Its traffic is chaotic. Taxis and autos are not metered, so tourists both Indian and foreign, are fleeced. There are five railway stations - Fort, Cantonment, City, Idgah and Raja ki Mandi. Of these only the first two have a semblance of passenger amenities? The bus stations at Idgah, Bijlighar and Buddha Vihar are in a shambles, though an attempt is being made to shift them to the new Inter State Bus Terminal. There is no airport, just a domestic flight terminal provided in one corner of the Air Force base. The once pristine Jamuna, on whose banks the Taj is located, is reduced to a filthy sewer.

If I were a foreign tourist to Agra, swamped by touts, louts and shouts, I would return with a sad and bitter experience. I would never have voted for the Taj. If we Indians really consider the Taj a national heritage (never mind the love angle), then we need to clean up, not just Agra, but all routes that are frequented by tourists. We need to treat foreign visitors with dignity and respect. And the Government should stop fleecing tourists by charging 35 times extra. Only when that happens can the Taj truly be counted among the 7WW. Bipasha and Anjula, are you listening, because Mumtaz can’t?

* The writer is a social activist, who lives in Kanpur, a few hours drive away from Agra.