Second Chance: The Taj Mahal

As some of you know, I had the opportunity to work regularly in Bangalore, India, from April 2008 to May 2009. When I returned home, I thought for sure I would be back to India in no time. After all, India is an integral part of IBM globally, and I had many friends and colleagues there supporting the HRMS project just like I did.

Unfortunately, that mindset led to one of my biggest travel regrets. Despite trip after trip and week after week of on-site work, I never took the time to leave Bangalore and see the Taj Mahal. I stayed in Bangalore nearly every weekend.

Ten years later my chance finally came again, and not even a losing battle with "Delhi Belly" was going to stop me.

On Saturday at 3:30 AM, my #ibmcsc colleagues and I boarded a bus for the more than four-hour ride to Agra where the Taj Mahal is located. We arrived as the Taj Mahal opened. Pro-tip: If you go, get there as early as you can, even if it means being on a bus at 3:30 AM!

I have been very blessed to have seen many historical places over the years, and let's just say that sometimes, something that is ancient looks, well, a bit run-down. This could not be further from the case for the Taj Mahal. It was truly exquisite. For the next several days, I kept looking at my photos in disbelief! I finally made it and it was breath-taking.

The Taj Mahal is a gleaming white marble tribute to Mumtaz Mahal, the favorite wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. As the story goes, Mumtaz Mahal died during the birth of their 14th child. As a tribute to his beloved, the Shah had the mausoleum built in 1643 to house her body.

I hope you enjoy the photos here and throughout this site. It was a magical experience.

For fun, I encourage you to Google 'taj mahal celebrities' and check out many familiar face, most of whom had much better access to a crowd-free Taj.