Monkeys on the Loose One day we woke up and said...

when as a child i watched Aladdin (...last month) i would see the Taj look-alike in all its splendour adn glory. never would i have imagined that reality could actually surpass fantasy! the Taj Mahal is enormous, splendid, grand but delicate and tasteful all the same. the flower carvings are beautifully subtle and we loved sitting on the ground staring up at them. words alone cannot describe our awe. but photos can't convey it much either. with this small ode to the Taj i begin our story about Agra, about Ahmed and his ability as a self-educated rickshaw driver to share with us knowledge, wisdom and a most memoralbe experience of India. Ahmed wakes up at 5 or ealier every morning. he takes a cold shower then feeds chapati to a stubborn cow who knocks at his door at 6am sharp every day. he puts on a shirt, trousers, shoes and gives thanks to Allah for his life, wife and children - whom he acquired from a late, difficult arranged marriage at the age of 33. Ahmed never saw his bride until the wedding day, he had no feelings for her nor amy desire to be married. but, in true Ahmed style, he embraced the challenge and thanked god for the opportunity to prove himself. for only through experience and keeping one's eyes open can one really live life. this is Ahmed's philosophy, together with patience, and this he tried to teach us. Ahmed believes in the importance of learning and though never schooled because he started working at the age of 9, he reads and watches Discovery, from which he knows more than us about so many things! he believes that a man alone can fulfill his destiny, but only if he is open to opportunity. for a man fixed on a single objective will not go far and will not be fulfilled. he will only reach that goal, if that. tourism is vital for india, Ahmed knows this and was admant to call us his honoured guests. he treated us like family and we felt him like a long lost uncle. he showed us all of Agra, the Baby Taj with its simple beauty, the Agra Fort,the Black Taj (yes, there are foundations for this mausoleum!!). we saw side streets and were taken to lunch at a mot exquisitve place. and for breakfast the next day as well. Agra's heritage sites will forever remain with me for their grandeur and beauty, but it is Ahmed's words, his simplicity and his devotion to righteousness that has touched us within. Ahmed would like to travel, but his family would never allow this. his parents still claim a right to his life choices, those that shape his destiny. Agra is less polluted than Delhi, less scary. There are fewer cars and more cows and monkeys and the children smile more often. but poverty remains. our guru taught us that poverty is as much a state of mind as it is a life condition. he is a rickshaw driver of 48, his wife a housewife and has three young mouths to feed. he is not wealthy but neither does he wish to become so in an easy way. he believes that wealth must go hand in hand with growth and learning. alone, wealth cannot bring true happiness. for this reason he advised us not to give money to needy children. but when i look into the eyes of these children i cannot bring myself to think that it is a state of mind. they have seen too much already and though they know how to hit my soft spots and how to cleverly take my money, they are only tiny, helpless and truly needy. some children are on the street to beg. others in their school uniforms run to us and stare. they posefor photos and wave to our passing tuctuc. when i smile at them they smile back or tilt their heads. whatever their situation, these actions are genuine. i left Agra with a sense of melancholy. though the hotel was pretty shabby and the toilet pretty daunting,i would miss the security of Ahmed's presence. we left Agra at 12.30. arrived in Khajuraho 8 hours later. exhausted, hungry and with our phones not working. we trudged into the hotel. room one didnt flush, room two was infested with bugs and room three, at last, cosy enough. now i will wake ron.