SLOW TRAIN TO AGRA

Well I have never done a 24hr train journey before but I have now. 5.30am from Hyderabad to 5.30am in Agra...

And it was actually great. Knowing it was going to be long I spent a little extra money and got a first class ticket. A lovely cabin, food. Fab.

And I got to share it with a lovely young Indian family, the Muckherjees, and their two children. They were wonderful people. They were on their way to Amritsar where they were about to be stationed for the next while (the husband is a soldier).

They were great. Incredibly friendly and interesting and we chatted about pretty much everything for most of the journey. Puja, the wife, is a freelance article writer so her mind ranged across many subjects while the husband was incredibly knowledgable about pretty much everything else as well, so we covered all the bases. They looked out for me, showed me the ropes, shared food with me and the husband even woke up with me at 5am to make sure I got off the train safely in Agra. Out of three months of meeting incredibly friendly people in India this family win the prize for the most generous and friendly of all!

So now I am in Agra, staying in a really nice hotel called SHEELA'S (recommended to everyone) which is in the no-pollution zone right next to the Taj. It couldn't have worked out better. I am taking it easy today as I want to go into the Taj tomorrow first thing to watch the sun rise and stay in the Gardens throughout the day. Feeling the energy of the place is wonderful and revealed to me once again how the atmosphere of a place can effect one. Hyderabad and its hotel did one thing to me, Agra and this hotel another. SHEELA's has the same feel as VALLI did in Thanjavur. Its secluded, quiet, comfortable without being pretentious and the rooms, being in chalets, remind me of the Ashram in Tiruvannamalai. Its a good place to rest and contemplate, and its nice to allow the anticpation to build. It will be special tomorrow.

Getting to the hotel proved to be pain free. Getting off the train I was braced for impact with the Agra Autorickshaw crowd who are notoriously nightmarish to negotiate. I expected a repeat performance, only worse, of the Hyderabad Sai Prakash experience... but it didn't happen. It was fine, although the station did STINK of poo (sorry, it seems impossible to write an entry without mentioning shit somewhere, alas. It seems to come up a lot in India. Even Gandhi can't help returning to it as an issue in his autobiography every few chapters!). I arrived at the hotel hassle-free. Someone is watching out for me, perhaps.

Now for a little secret. I am here for three reasons. One, because its the Taj Mahal and I couldn't visit India without seeing it. Two, because it was where my Grandparents fell in love, or first started stepping out together, my Grandfather popping the question in the gardens one night...

But three, because of a dream I had...

About a week before I left the Royal Exchange last year I was staying with my bro in his flat in London. I was still unsure whether I was doing the right thing, whether taking this leap was a good move or not, whether going to India was a sane or crazy thing to do. On my last day with my bro I had the most vivid and wonderful dream...

I opened my eyes in this dream to find myself in some kind of cabin. It felt like a compartment in train as well as a hut somewhere. All around me I could hear people milling around outside. Bright sunshine was coming in through the windows, making it hard to see. I got up and got out of the hut/compartment and there it was: the Taj Mahal, standing in all its splendour in front of me. I remember it vividly right now. I was stunned. What was amazing about it was that the quality of the image was not like that of a dream. It was there and I was there, standing in front of me. I saw it twice and was filled with such a feeling of awe and joy. I couldn't take it in. I remember thinking; "I knew I was coming to India but I didn't think I would see this so soon!"

I was with someone in the dream who was less impressed and wanted me to walk over a nearby bridge with them. I found myself following them, catching glances over my shoulder at the Taj...

When I awoke I was filled with the most incredible sense of joy and wellbeing. It stayed with me all morning. I felt that the dream was telling me that going to India was 100% the right thing to do. Since then, whenever I have wavered (and you know I have out here!) I would conjure up the dream and remind myself that I had given myself that message...

So... Tomorrow I will see it. I will enter at daybreak and spend the day there. I am sure it will be special and I will encounter my dream in the flesh.

So wish me luck and joy on the morrow!