Today I took on Agra. And 'sensation over-load' might be an accurate description. Instead of regaling you with a long prose piece I made my single goal (besides seeing the Taj itself) as making three observations per hour of this adventure and using them as "poetry notes." As such, here are the (first draft) hourly-poems I crafted about my excursion:
as I'm sure you can assume these were actually finished/posted the next day but let's just pretend I had the capacity to do it all in 24 hours.
And, of course, photo-proof of the Taj-visit (with many MANY others poses too):
4:00-5:00am
today felt ripe for a double dose
of anti malarial pills
as if they'd bring me stamina.
Along with addition to the morning routine
of sunscreen,
purple t-shirt the only thing clean.
My room with a view
of the early morning market
shops closed
guarded by owners sleeping on their rooftops.
5:00-6:00am
frightened at the first corner
by the motorcycle ghost
but found comfort in barren morning bazaar.
Walk to the once-daunting train station
Mystery cyclist dismounts to escort me
then vanishes into the dark crowds.
6:00-7:00am
Too early young foreign lad?
His platform vomit.
My platform mantras.
Captured
by the dedicated-to-authenticity
Japanese couple
each with a video cam.
7:00-8:00am
Bhopal Stbdi departed on time
Coach 8 seats me backward
Chair 74 treats me kind.
As neighbour no. 75 inspects newspaper adverts
with such intensity they must predict his life.
Ripened wheat fields blow past us
Tea is served.
Tea is removed.
Making room for two rifle-toting guards
to sweep through.
8:00-9:00am
Free in First Class?
Breakfast toast, red jam
that is not Red Jam.
A bite of contentment at Kosi Kala
to the no-charge song of Hindi PSAs
with all the money I just saved
I'll buy myself three extra photo-opts.
9:00-10:00am
Your wrinkled arm
her block-print sari
trying to tell me a story between the train seats.
A tale cut-off by the HindustanTimes
and chair 84-occupant snores and sleeps
as we race past people-blurs whom I'll never meet -
Express train
where passenger 12 insists on standing.
10:00-11:00am
Disembark from my chauffeured A/C chariot
for which I bartered well.
Agra-guide with grandkids
cuts long-lines and
takes copious well-poised portraits of me
in front of towering domes
empty minarets
"The Taj has lots of angles"
and stories of marble inlaid with precious stone.
Most unforgettably told
by the baby in the security line
who punched me in the left eye.
11:00a-12:00p
Shopping sprees well-planned
not by me.
Mosaic demos, local jewels
Cottage industries explained.
All my guides get kick-backs
every time I contribute
to the web of Agra-tourism
12:00-1:00pm
Solo dining at a table-for-four
beside one likewise table
accentuates the Lonely Luncheon
delivered with delicious food.
Where napkin wrapped fresh-lime-soda
sliver serving dishes
don't come cheap.
Next time omit the private butler and
stock the soap in the bathroom!
The punjabi hip-hop was nice though,
it took up at least one empty-plate-space.
1:00-2:00pm
with the Yamuna river trickle
inexalted Taj-face
hanging as my backdrop
I'm the tourist making faces
for (the kinds behind) the camera
who already thought me strange-
might as well make their tale worth telling.
2:00-3:00pm (at Agra Fort)
Rosewater fountain in the Jasmine Palace
Kashmir-imported garden soil for vineyard grapes.
You'll know you're Daddy's Favourite
when he renovates your room in marble.
3:00-4:00pm
After ticket-counter chaos
in the safer (?) Ladies' Line
preserving queue integrity
with English arguments and backpack barriers
To secure my second ticket
for a train I'll never board
and earn my questionable seat
on the Train Station floor.
"A/C Here" sign is fallacious
when the power is on Strike.
Dazed by smells and flies and unnamed spills beside me
as my skin is liquified.
4:00-5:00pm
A free pass to be invisible
at the product-less cafe.
Its empty tables. Empty chairs.
Brief respite for this tired traveler.
Until there's eight freeloaders at my table
the unsavoury seven watch me
as they buzz and fly.
Waiting in the dark
for a milkshake
or a cold drink
or just the power supply.
5:00-6:00pm
At the same sweltering snack-bar
my tour guide finds me:
a final lesson, last farewell.
Agra pyramid-scheme education
that now I'm mixed up in.
For my information,
if his compensation
could be quoted as "200"
he explained with gratitude,
he'd avoid a reprimand &
could take home the cash in-hand
I had paid to him
and not his over-seeing boss-dude.
6:00-7:00pm
Eating figs in relative-silence to pass the time but
Platform 2 has conversation:
family values and bank exams.
Until I board in the Second-Class cram
I never anticipated.
"Seats 6" holds 10.
but a reservation saves me
(plus my sex and novelty).
So I'm pried in W-55
as centre-attraction- soon too see
just how boring I can be:
sipping water, gazing outside
wedged in hip-to-hip, knee-to-knee.
7:00-8:00pm
Cool outside circulation now humid
turns to rain,
soaks my window-side
provokes a train-wide chanting cry
when we try
to close the window.
The ventilated Train-Wash.
8:00-9:00pm
Just as I found comfort and the perfect scheme
to be friendly, to be me
all co-seat-dwellers exit our fair train.
Mathura Junction is their stop.
Spaces quickly turn-over
company changes face and name
forcing me to re-plot and wait
to share my cookies.
9:00-10:00pm
First attempt failed
all the coconut treats still mine.
But I have time.
When the hoarse voiced chai-walla comes 'round
he brings me success:
I produce the cookies
and the Indian chaps've got the rest.
10:00-11:00pm
A photo-shoot requested
by new, live, Facebook friends
professing the Internet is perfect
for linking people 'round the world, both ends.
With the train's REAL late arrival
my eyes are tired...
but my smile still sends.
11:59pm (seriously, to the minute)
this Princess of Endless Journeys
is back at the Prince Palace Hotel,
the nick of time
to avoid turning into a squash of some kind...
And, of course, photo-proof of the Taj-visit (with many MANY others poses too):
 |
| Lyndia & SpongeBob storm the Taj |
 |
| The Silly-Face from "Hours 1-2pm" |
photos and poetry property of LyndiaP April 2011
Hello Lyndia in India!
ReplyDeleteI must confess(I wasnt going to) that I had been creeping on your blog since I came home. Im living vicariously through youe!(Im sure Im not the only one!) Your writing is brilliant and fun and insightful. I found myself reading it at night with a cup of mint tea right before bed (like reading a real good book!) but today the poems just make the icing on the cake! well done! take care! and perhaps more?!
Sophia