A Winter in India

For four nights each month in the winter they open the Taj for limited viewing at night. It just happened to be one of those nights, and we were able to get tickets for the 9 PM viewing. They take up to 50 people at a time and you get to stay there for half an hour.

Security was really tight. We were frisked twice; once before we got on the little bus, and once at the entrance to the Taj. The only thing you could carry with you was your camera and they made you snap a picture in front of them to show that it was really a camera. They little bus had the two of us, 5 other women and one man, plus three male soldiers and one female soldier all with very large guns. When it was our turn to go in we were walked as a group, surrounded by six other soldiers, again with guns. Once you are in place on the steps, they turn out the lights and there is the Taj, a ghostly white in the almost dark. Even with the moon behind the clouds most of the time, you could see the Taj itself and its reflection in the water pool. The picture does not do it justice. But really, if you stare at the picture really hard without blinking, eventually it will float into view. Really.

The whole thing was a surreal experience. Valentine's night. The almost full moon. The clouds. The soldiers. The mosquitoes.