Discovering the Homeland

On Dec 24 we took a flight from Delhi to arrive in Bangalore.   The flight went smoothly and soon we were picking up our luggage and getting into a Taxi.   Bangalore was a special stop on our adventure because our plans were to meet up with Roj’s cousins who he grew up with since childhood:   Anish and Anoop, and their wives Anusha and Junita.   These cousins hold a special place in Roj’s heart and I was so excited to finally meet them in person. During our planning, we knew that with the cousins, we would be a group of 8 and would need seating to accommodate us.   I managed to find a beautiful penthouse suite for rent that had a large living room, dining area and outdoor terrace with seating and patio umbrellas… it was perfect!   We booked that accommodation 4 months ago and checked the morning of our departure to ensure we hadn’t received any notices or issues.   Our cab dropped us off at this accommodation and we went to the front desk to...

The Taj Mahal trip was an early start.   We needed to travel ­200 kms from our home base in Gurugram (Delhi) to reach Agra.   As such, we left promptly at 6am from our hotel.   The start of the day was almost traffic free (a rarity in India) but after the sunrise, we could definitely see the congestion picking up.   Our driver chose the toll route for the way there, so we made it in just under 5 hours.   Upon arriving in Agra, I was surprised at the amount of poverty, pollution and lack of infrastructure in the town.   Apparently since the Taj Mahal is one of the 7 World Wonders, the government has banned all types of manufacturing and various industries in the town in an effort to reduce the pollution (the marble of the Taj is already discolouring and more pollution would only add to this problem).   For the locals, this means that the main source of income for them is in tourism, and since there’s not much else than the Taj Mahal, there isn’...

Baha’i Lotus Temple Our first stop on our second day of Delhi Sightseeing was the Baha’I House of Worship.    I know only a little bit about the Baha’I faith through our friend Salva, but this was a great opportunity to learn more.   The Bahai faith is a new, independent world religion whose purpose is to unite all the races and peoples of the world in one universal cause and in one common faith.   The members of the faith follow Bahaullah, who they believe is the promised one.   The faith is based on the notion of peace and understanding and moving towards a future when peace and harmony will be established on earth and mandkind will live in prosperity… great ideals in my opinion! This Lotus temple was built in 1986 and covers 26.6 acres of land in Delhi.   It is comprised of 27 petals, 9 pools and can accommodate 1300 people.   When we arrived at the temple, we were asked to take our shoes off and then were given a brief introduction into ...