LOVE & MADNESS

There i was .... running at break neck speed towards the ticket counter..... the train was supposed to leave any moment & i had to buy a ticket still ..... damn the crowd ..... well my turn came & i thrust my hand forward & got the ticket .... just in time ... the departure was being announced ... and i made another dash .... i just made it into the general compartment & there i stood panting at the entrance, ... phew ....

slowly regaining my breath i soaked in the situation around me .... it was absolute mayhem ..... people were strewn all over the place ... any piece of space available was grabbed ..... the floor, the seats, the baggage rack
.... all conqured .... people shuffled around to make themselves as comfortable as possible & some stalwarts were even dozing ... experience is a great teacher they say ... and i was barely able to stand myself with all
the shoves & pushes .... tenacity at such moments was paramount .....the sadus & sants jostled with us mortals .... the kumbh ka mela in nasik seems to have done its trick in ensuring that the railways get a good business

well u might be thinking what was i doing here in the first place ?? .... u see Bill Clinton said that there we two groups of people, one who have seen the Taj Mahal & the other who havent..... and i was hell bent on correcting this anomaly by joining the former group ... and here i was sweating it out to make it a reality .....

we made it to Agra after three & half hrs. of jostling, pushing and shoving ... anything ... just to stand upright .... the sweat stench was becoming unbearable...... now i realised why the cats were so territorial .... we fell out onto the the platform & were hounded by the rickshaw guys ... we finalised a deal with a guy & off we went ....

He dropped us off at the south entranace .... and we were craning our head to get a glimpse of the Taj .... but no ... the entrance concealed well ..... so we bought the tickets & we entered .. after a strict security check
....

And there it was ... in all its splendour & magnificence ..... one mans love for his wife ..... the magnanimity of the thought was beyond ones comprehension .... it was an awesome sight .... a sight to behold, to be drunk, assimilated & ground into our senses .... the structure was immense & beautiful at the same time & Yamuna flowing by added to the granduer .... what a visionary the architect should have been .... the intricate carvings
in marble, the translucence and the sheer height makes it truly a wonder
....

was it a mans madness or greatness that he spent 22 years, 22 Lakhs using 22000 workers build this homage to love .... what drove him to such extremes ?? what was his motivation ??? these reasons fled me .... i couldnt justify it !!!!! .... may be i should fall in LOVE

U should see it to belive it ....