|
Newsletter #16 - October 3-9, 1959 |
|
Newsletter #16
October 2nd to 9th, 1959 Reed, Wilmington, Del. 10/16/59 Hi everybody, [October 2] We had an unexpected plane stop last night at Lucknow, India as the airport at Agra was fogged and we had to stop all night at Lucknow. Got up at 4 a.m. the next morning to be at the airport by 5 a.m. and we landed at Agra about 7 a.m. and flew over the Taj Mahal which was a beautiful sight. After checking in at the Lauries Hotel and washing up a bit we were off to see the Airlines about the trip back to Delhi as we have had a great deal of trouble with Indian Airlines and their confirmations. Agra became renowned with the coming in of the Mughals who made it their capital for nearly a century and for many years it was the center of great culture and a vast empire. But today I saw the real reason for our coming here — the Taj Mahal — a veritable dream in marble, whose perfect symmetry, harmony of proportions, lyrical beauty and aerial grace, render it an exquisitely unique piece of architecture. This gorgeous structure was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. This wonderful mausoleum which was started in 1631 took seventeen years to build and the efforts of many artists and architects from foreign lands as well as from all over India made it the perfect work it is. It is really "poetry in marble" and I hope Meredith's pictures will capture its true beauty. Some marble boxes I've bought will show you in miniature the designs used from stones of lapis, jade, jasper, onyx, mother of pearl and conalayan. The beauty and grace and exquisite workmanship are hard to describe. The approach to the Taj is remarkable also and the lettering in black onyx on its facade is so carved that the letters eighty feet up appear to be the same size as those at the base. There is a paved promenade with a double row of dark green cypress trees leading up to the terrace of the mausoleum, with two long pools 16 ft. wide and a pool in the center between them. The four minarets are on each corner and the interior walls are incredibly beautiful mosaic work of precious stones. I was most impressed by the Cenotaph Chamber which is enclosed by an exquisitely carved lattice-work screen of 4-inch thick ivory. Here the Shah Jahan and his beloved wife are buried and the acoustics are wonderful which are all shown by the guides who explain every bit in detail. We also visited Agra Fort where we viewed Jahangir Palace, the Palace of Mirrors, the Nagina Masjid, the White Marble Gem Mosque, the Octagonal Jasmine Tower with its wonderful marble filigree work inlaid with precious stones, the Golden Pavilion and the Pearl Mosque. |
|
-2-
A double wall surrounds this fort area and you'll find the Dehli Gate the most impressive one but we entered across a drawbridge over the old moat through the Amar Singh Gate where a long ramp leads up to an open courtyard. Here again we saw endless sights of indescribable architecture and arches of fantastic beauty. Later we went across the Jumna River to the Tomb of Itmad-ud- Daulah. Except for the fact that its proportions are not as pleasing as the Taj Mahal, it is almost as beautiful. It also is made of white marble and the workmanship of the mosaic and inlay work is magnificent and exquisite, but the surrounding grounds are not as well laid out as the Taj Mahal. You never spend a dull moment in India as you see scores of parrots and beautifully-feathered birds, hundreds of monkeys, carts drawn by donkeys and dromedary camels, huge herds of goats, burros, water buffalo and pathetically thin cattle of all kinds. These things you pass as you walk along just as you pass people in the city of York. You pass through typical dusty Indian villages with their thatch-roofed houses and dry adobe huts with groups of colorfully costumed women with golden bracelets and anklets grouped about their water wells and just clusters of men squatting around talking and loafing or bargaining for wares. Women wearing colorful saris will be carrying huge bundles of green grass on their heads and at times you will see a woman wearing her sari working on the roads like men. We were amazed by the many kinds of headdresses the Indian men wear and most of them are quite attractive head gears. We are in India on a very important holiday. October 2nd which is Mahatma Gandhi's birthday and at Agra they had a little parade early in the evening. [October 3] Again our plane was several hours late leaving Agra and we got to New Delhi plenty hungry at 10 o'clock at night, but the Janpath Hotel served us dinner that late at night and it wasn't too bad a meal. We got up rather early the next morning [October 4] and started to see the sights of New Dehli and Dehli. New Dehli is a large and beautiful modern city with wide streets, fine parks, beautiful gardens and homes and enormous impressive public buildings. Old Dehli remains beside it like a very neglected backyard slum area. In Dehli all the sights are pathetic and depressing. We first went to see the India Gate which is a lovely war memorial and then viewed a tall Parliament Bldg. a very beautiful |
|
-3-
completely circular building symbolizing "unity and eternity" and then the Secretariat Bldg. located on either side of the boulevard leading up to the museum side of the President's residence. Here we had bad luck as Meredith's shutter locked or jammed again and we now must send the camera back to Sweden as no person can repair it without a new part. At present, we are writing letters to the Hasselblad Co. and having the camera packed and hope they can have it back to us in several weeks. This means we'll have no pictures of New Dehli, Kashmir, Pakistan, Jerusalem, Beirut, Damascus and Egypt and we have no idea how quickly we'll get the camera back. Meredith is sick about it and of course I feel badly also. We are to leave tomorrow [October 5] night for Kashmir by train to Pathankot and from Pathankot to Shrinegar by plane, but without pictures it will not be as interesting when we return. [October 7] Here we are back in new Dehli again after a frightening experience of about 38 hours. Took a train at Dehli station and our two seats were in something like a cattle car with twelve other people. We left the station at 9 o'clock and drove all night until 7 a.m. the next morning with snoring, roaches, bugs and odors galore. By the time we arrived in Pathankot it poured rain and we took shelter under a roof which leaked like a sieve and got very wet. There was no other place to go as the Airline office was closed and the station was too far away so we tried the Airlines Bus door and since it was unlocked we sat in the bus until the Airlines opened two hours later. (There were even leaks on the bus.) Our backs felt like they were about to break and we had to sit in the Airline office until 1 o'clock when we were to then go to the airport for a 3 o'clock takeoff. Again luck was against us and the flight was cancelled with a possible flight the next day. We were then really sick as the flight the day before had also been cancelled and we were afraid to wait for fear the same thing could happen for several more days. Since the town had no accommodations except cots in the station like a 16th class hotel we decided to go back to New Dehli and sit up for another twelve hours on the train. The trip back was far, far worse then coming over and I was the only woman aboard with about twenty men in a 12-seat car. It was awful and I know I can take a lot. By the time we got back to our hotel in New Dehli I had a swollen eyelid and huge puffs under my eyes. I really look grotesque and am frightened of my own face when I look in the mirror. These were two nights and one day I'd like to forget but am sure I never shall. We had nothing to eat the whole trip except some crackers I had along and a bottle of soda which was not too good. Never will I be able to describe the horror of those trains and the town of Pathankot. The only beauty of the whole trip was the |
|
-4-
snow-capped Himalaya Mts. which we could see all around us while in Pathankot. It is these same mountains which make flying very hazardous and cause cancelled schedules many times. It sure is hard to realize I will not see the beauty of Kashmir as it's one of the places I so much wanted to see and October is to be the best month to visit there but fate decided against that trip. We are clean again and well fed at the Janpath Hotel here in New Dehli and have a different room, but our same waiter in the dining room. This waiter has given us the very best of service and sees that I have flowers three times a day. He even fixes little corsages for me. He caters to us like we were very special and the head waiters are equally as accommodating. I'd recommend this hotel to anyone. While here in New Dehli for our fifth day we viewed many tombs, temples and mosques and the famous Red Port which is mammoth in size and scope. All of these famous buildings are either in Dehli or New Dehli. I do want to impress upon you all that New Dehli is really an excellently planned unusual city with its symmetrical buildings and tree-lined avenues and spaciousness. It's like a new India after the many dingy, drab places we've seen in most parts of India. Our own American Embassy where we again received some interesting letters is a really fabulous building which has only been in use since January of this year. Sure wish we had a picture of it as it is ultra modern and of a unique design. We also spent some time here getting our visa for Lebanon. I want to remind everyone again to mail letters 15 days ahead of time on itinerary as we are going by plane rather than ship as we had earlier anticipated, so we'll be in Paris by November 20th or there about. Regardless, if letters get places after we've left, we always leave forwarding addresses, so keep on writing. [October 9] Tomorrow we leave for Karachi, Pakistan and then onto Beirut and Damascus. We will soon leave the monetary unit rupee which is divided into 16 annas and the annas into pies and use pounds and piasters in Syria and Lebanon and dinars and fils in Jordan. As for shopping in India your money can be satisfactorily spent on enchanting articles such as saris, brocades, sandals, rugs, brass, wood, ivory, silverware, oriental jewelry, Kashmir wools and embroidery, paper mache, and buffalo horn articles. I have bought a few things but shipping hampers most of my buying as costs and wooden boxes, cloth wrapped etc. are drawbacks in these Far East countries. They have very strict shipping males and regulations but I did manage to ship six boxes from India. |
|
-5-
Sorry this week's newsletter is rather short but we did plan to tell you about Kashmir in this letter and because of not getting there we are leaving India 5 days earlier than we had planned, but I will say our 2 weeks here we learned a great deal about the Indian people. (The majority of the Indians are charming, gracious and as you'd want them to be and the rest of them have never had a chance, so be glad you're an American.) We're still feeling in rather good health other than a bad cold. Until next week - Warmest regards, Charlotte & Meredith |