Walking Down Memory Lane

I took over the MacBook Pro recently from my father. As i was cleaning through the laptop, i found some photos of the trip we took to India a couple of years ago. I then realised that my siblings and i are very blessed to have a father who will exposed us to different parts of the world and culture during our upbringing. We have had the chance to visit San Franciso, Washington D.C, Morocco, Korea, Italy and even India. When i look into the photos taken in India, it reminded me how much we have all been through and how much things have changed. My father used to be very stern and frightening and we were all very afraid of him. As time passed and as he aged, he has mellowed down so much that sometimes it makes me very emotional. For instance when he looked so worried when i was admitted into the emergency ward in Beirut, or when he was worried death and called me when he saw that Algerians were fighting with the Chinese over the news. Now that he has also started a new family, he seems to be more fatherly especially with the new additional of our baby sister. Anyway, enough of these emotional thoughts and lets take a memory lane down to India.

I do not remember which year we went to India. I remembered we went to Mumbai by end of summer. The moment we touched down, we were greeted by heat wave, constant honking, smell of dung and very dusty air. Driving in India is crazy. There are more people walking on the streets and bicycles than cars. Honking is a way of them telling other drivers or pedestrians to "get out from my way", or that "i am making a left turn" or "speed up you fool"!. There are also a lot of beggars in the street and kids selling all kind of things and swapped to you the moment you stepped down from the bus. We were advised not to give any money to the beggars because that will only encouraged more of them swamping to you. Instead, what we did were to buy things from the kids but not before bargaining as they tend to throw us a cut throat price. Besides this, there were also stray cows and horses which when i first saw them i could not believed it. Then there were people who works, eats and sleeps on the side of the streets. We see them cutting hair for their customers at one corner and then cooked at the other corner. It was a heartbreaking scene. But because of this we were reminded of our good fortunes to have born in Malaysia. And it was those moments that we will think to ourselves as what were we still complaining about when all our basic necessities have already been fulfilled?

The ever busy street in India

There are also a lot of palaces and fords in India because it used to have different Moguls in different prefectures. I do not remember the names of the palaces of fords by now. All i remember is how the Indians love colours and how colorful the country as a whole is. Everyday our meals were filled with different kinds of curries. peas and roti canai. The water in India is also very salty. I remembered having my black coffee with sugar only to taste like salt water.

Inside some of the palaces

Some photos on different palaces

The elephant ride to the palace and the common hall where the king will have daily meeting with his people.

I called this the mirrors room because it was filled with hundreds pieces of mirrors in the room so that lights will be reflected and light up the room in the dark just with a single stick of candle. Very smart of them aint it?

Top views from the peak of the palace.

Gandhi's Tomb

Of course we also went to the Taj Mahal and it was really a marvelous and scarce looking architecture. The security points we went through just to get into Taj Mahal were abundant because since rumour was that there would be terrorist attacks. Before reaching the Taj Mahal we were greeted by a large garden with some beautiful fountains. Though it was weekday when we went, the amount of tourist were still a lot. We have to remove our shoes before entering the Taj Mahal. Luckily our shoes were all old and worn out because one of our members who wore a nice pair of shoes went missing. The poor guy has to wrap his feet with plastic bags and walked back to the bus in it. After that we were then taken to a shoe shop so that he can shop for a new pair in order to continue the trip.

Taj Mahal from far and the entrance to the garden once you passed the security check.

Many faces of Taj Mahal, from noon to evening.

What i love most about the trip was our stay in Jaipur is a palace turned hotel which is situated in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately the drought have lasted for a long time and when we visited the palace the lake has already dried up. However our tour guide stressed the importance of us crossing the lake via boat in order for us to imagine how the lake will looked like when it was filled. So as we sat in the boat while the engine hit into the muds and muddle up as we went, it really looked stupid on us when people with camels and horses just walked across the lake. The palace hotel is very beautiful and everything is made of marble. The moment we stepped onto the palace, a team of the working staff dressed in traditional costumes greeted us with royal treatment, flowers and welcome drink. And then it rained, the first time ever after many months. Of course we were said to have brought the rain to Jaipur! Despite the heaty weather, the environment and temperature in the palace was rather pleasant and cooling. Overall i think India is a country that everyone should at least visit it once in their life time. India is rich in cultures and histories. People are friendly and welcoming but most of all, it is still a country that is still very close to its original heritage that is now very rare in other parts of the world.

The dried up lake at one side and how we cheered to have "brought" rains with us.

Camels and horses crossing the lake walking. Imagine how stupid we looked!

My brothers acting they were in an intellectual chess game.

How Jaipur looks like from the top of the palace and the lovely hotel staff.