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Fatehpur Sikri







Male Grave

Female Grave

And what about the middle.




A guy put a chaddar over my head and starting chanting something about banishing 'Kala Saitan'. 'No, No, not the Kala Shaitan. Not the Chaddar,' I wanted to shout. The poet Guide repeated for the nth time: AKBAR THREE WIFE. ONE HINDU. ONE CHRISTIAN. ONE MISLIM. NO SON. AKBAR GOT SALIM ONLY BECAUSE OF SALIM CHISTI. NO SALIM CHISTI. NO SALIM. NO FATEHPUR SIKRI. NO TAJ MAHAL. In that instant, I realized what had happened. One moment, I was checking out a Chaddar portfolio with pictures of Tina Ambani, Shahid Kapoor and likes, and the next moment I was owner of a Chaddar sold in the name of poor women, not necessarily Muslim ( I was promisingly informed) who can't afford to get married.

The scene was later repeated at the grave of Salim Chisti's kid son. SON CONVINCED SALIM CHISTI TO HELP AKBAR. YOUNG KID. TOO YOUNG TO TALK. BUT STARTED TALKING. DIVINE. AND THEN DIED. NO SON. NO AKBAR"S SON. NO SALIM. NO TAJ MAHAL.NO. THIS ONE ONLY FOR 150.




The dark spot on the wall is proof of years spent demonstrating 'Akbar's Drum'.


Getting ready for Namaaz at Jama Masjid





Vendors running away with their ware in hands as policemen arrive just at the end of Namaaz to enforce protection.

A young kid offers to jump down from a 50 feet wall down into the water tank, just for Rs 20. And then offers to recite Sher-o-Shayeri. He has a scar running down from his left temple down to his jaw line.





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  1. Beth Loves BollywoodJul 22, 2011, 8:25:00 AM

    Any idea of the story behind the horseshoes on that door?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vinayak RazdanJul 22, 2011, 12:38:00 PM

    That's actually called Horseshoe Door. Horse shoe is supposed to be lucky, a sort of protection charm. The guide made it a point to inform that the bigger horse shoe at the upper end of the door belong to big horses of Angreez log.

    ReplyDelete

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