Wonder of the World

This year, flights dictated that Andy and I had an extended stop-off in Delhi. It was an opportunity too good to miss. Tourism in Delhi is a bizarre concept really because the sightseeing essentially takes place between the attractions you are actually going to see. The traffic is as usual - bedlam. I would liken to untangling a bag of single thread string - chaotic and unworkable. But that is the curiosity because it does kind of work. People manage to get from A to B to C. In our case it was a whistle stop tour including Qutb Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, India Gate and Raj Ghat (Mahatma Gandhi's place of cremation). The level of detail at Qutb Minar was outstanding - stonework that would be near impossible to recreate at that scale in this day and age. I do think LBQ could run a few spelling sets here. You can excuse 'Kwality Ice Cream' as a continent spelling difference but how do you explain 'The Old London Caffey'?

An early morning rise to the city of Agra took us to the sight of the Agra Fort. Only 25% of it is open as the other is in use by the military. It is here where the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal for his wife, was imprisoned by his son under house arrest for being incompetent after a period of illness. However, there is a belief that his son locked him away due to the costs of the Taj Mahal build nearly bankrupting the country and in turn wiping out his inheritance. My very own parents have just gone through a period of 8 months building a kitchen extension with ever rising costs...It is good to know that in the 17th century a precedent had been set.

The following day we awoke to a morning wake up call followed by a knock on the door - coffee in the room, a golf buggy waiting at the entrance of the hotel and a sleep deprived silent journey. There are, of course, multiple 'let downs' in life: Derby County at Wembley, Christmas mornings after you turn 18, missing a 2 foot putt on a golf course to win the match. The 10 or so steps through the India Centre of Archaeological Sites is certainly not one of those moments. What it reveals is the majestic vision of the Taj Mahal. At first, you could mistake it for some elaborate green screen background. It does not appear to be real - only, the few hundred meters walk up to its steps prove that it is. I don't think my words will do it any justice at all and so I will skip the history, skip the emotions it stirred and simply state - it's clear why it sits in the seven wonders of the world list. Maybe there has never been a better use of the word 'wonder'. We were fortunate in the sense that it was relatively quiet. The 40 degree heat and the fact we were there to see the sunrise illuminate the mausoleum were the main contributors of this. I did feel a little self conscious afterwards - Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal to show his love for his wife - I built Hollie a flat pack Keter shed. In fairness to myself, it houses the gardening equipment perfectly and the build kwality is superb. 

We are now on our way to Meghalaya where the real purpose of our visit comes to the forefront. Excited? Yes. Nervous? Actually, no. Monitoring of the project over the last year shows LBQ in the schools is in a good place. It is all about reflections and refinery this year. Small, incremental changes. Hold and stick.

'In a gentle way, you can shake the world.'

Mahatma Gandhi