During my first trip to India, I made the obligatory visit to Agra to hang out at the Taj Mahal. And yes, it is worth the trouble to make a side trip to see it. Like most Indian cities, Agra takes some getting use to: especially the closer you get to the Taj Mahal. It’s much easier to hire a bicycle rickshaw for the day than dealing with taxis. My rickshaw walla kept trying to take me to different shops so that some shop owner could try and palm some useless touristy crap off on to me, and my walla could make a couple rupees’ commission. Outside the Taj Mahal compound, the streets were clogged with the usual armies of begging children, crippled beggars, sadhus, and interestingly, wandering bull-whip vendors all surrounded in a ubiquitous cloud mixture of dirt, cow dung and flies.
Once inside the compound walls, things were more serene. After spending an hour or so inside the Taj Mahal, I was hanging out, and I noticed a lot of Indians came to just sit and enjoy the setting. This particular crew grabbped my attention, and when I asked if I could take their photograph, the man with the glasses replied in excellent English that they would be delighted. When he asked me where I as from, and I told him, he was over joyed to have finally met someone who lived in New York City. Of course, that led to a half hour or so conversation about the United States, and the English speaking guy translating for the other two. But all in all, it was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
So the photograph was a black & white image that I colored in photshop much the same way one would have hand colored a silver gelatin print back in the day. The color quality of the woman’s sari has always fascinated me. I wish I had gotten their address, I would have loved to send them a print.
