India: Enjoyment is in the air

Some of us recall what it was like to live in this part of the Inland Northwest on Sept. 13, 2020. That day, Sunday, was – cough, cough – one of the worst for breathing ever recorded around here.

The air quality index, as measured by the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, reached a level of 499. The index’s highest rating is … 500.

“Given the unprecedented poor air quality levels brought on by regional wildfire smoke,” said then-Spokane County health officer Dr. Bob Lutz, “we encourage businesses to support employees working from home if possible and that all community members refrain from non-essential travel.”

Now, imagine if you had to deal with that kind of bad air every day instead of just those rare times when distant fires fill the sky with toxic fumes. Turns out, that’s pretty much what my wife, Mary Pat Treuthart, and I endured in December 2013 when we traveled to India.

Mary Pat had agreed to participate in a panel discussion that was part of the Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) conference held that year. Though the conference was listed to be held in Delhi, the part Mary Pat participated in actually took place at the Jindal Global Law School in the nearby city of Sonipat.

We flew to Delhi and stayed there a couple of days before catching a ride to Sonipat. And before and after the conference, we explored both Delhi and Agra, the latter city where the famous Taj Mahal is located.

Delhi is a fascinating place, one that we experienced in a couple of ways. One was to take a Hop-On Hop-Off tour, which is something we tend to do whenever we’re in a new city. We’ve used the service in Mexico City, Rome, Barcelona, Sydney, Auckland and Cape Town just to name a few.

In Delhi, the three stops (or eight or so) that I found most memorable were the India Gate, the Red Fort and Raj Ghat. The scenic India Gate, which was designed by the English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, is a war memorial honoring the 74,187 soldiers who died in service during World War I. Standing some 42 meters high, the gate – which was completed in 1931 – is lit up every night from 7 to 9:30 p.m., making it visible from what seems like miles away.

The Red Fort, by contrast, dates back to 1639 when it was commissioned by the then-Emperor Shah Jahan. It served as the principal residence of the Mughal dynasty that ruled the country from 1526 to 1857. Especially after entering through the massive Lahori Gate, you can spend hours touring the place, filled as it is with gardens, marble palaces, mosques and the obligatory souvenir shops.

Finally, the Raj Ghat is known as the final resting spot of Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated on Jan. 30, 1948. It is where, a day later, Gandhi’s remains were cremated. A sacred place, it attracts millions of visitors every year. Which leads to another, more personal, way to explore Delhi. And that is to hire a driver for the day. For a moderate fee, at least by U.S. standards, our turban-wearing driver took us wherever we wanted. And one thing we most wanted to see was the National Gandhi Museum, a place that features a number of artifacts, including journals and photographs, that memorialize Gandhi and what he meant both to India and to the world.

Going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal – and more – was something else. Mary Pat had found a tour company online that offered a one-day itinerary, which included a pickup at the Agra train station, a personal guide to take us around, entrance not just to the Taj Mahal but also to the Agra Fort.

After rising shortly after 4 a.m. to catch the Delhi-to-Agra train, we made the 137-plus-mile ride in just under four hours. Our guide met us and took us by van to the Taj Mahal – which, I’m ashamed to say I found underwhelming. It’s a scenic building, for sure, filled with a lot of careful detail, especially Arabic calligraphy.

Overall, though, it struck me as a one-note ivory-white marble building that was constructed as a tomb by one of the Mughal emperors to honor his dead wife (and later himself). And at least when we visited, in December, the surrounding garden looked fairly unkempt.

To be fair, though, I was exhausted, having been forced to rise so early. And in any event, the crowds of Indian visitors could have cared less what I thought, busy as they were shooting selfie after selfie with the monument in the background.

The rest of our day featured a stop at the Agra Fort, a collection of buildings similar to Delhi’s Red Fort, which served as the main Mughal domicile until 1638 when the emperors moved India’s capital south. It, too, is filled with palaces and gates, gardens and baths.

Our tour then ended, but not before we had to endure a massive Agra traffic jam that forced us to stop in the middle of a city thoroughfare for maybe a full hour. It gave us a feel for what life for the average Indian must be like. We, though, were able to escape by returning to the train station and then weather the long trip back to Delhi.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Traffic stop aside, throughout the whole day we encountered air quality that was every bit as bad as what hit Spokane in 2020. It certainly would have forced any U.S. government official to declare an ecological emergency – if not complete disaster.

From a distance, even though it was the middle of the day, even the Taj Mahal looked out of focus because of an atmosphere that made the sky take on several different shades of brown.

Not that the locals seemed to mind. I guess you can get used to just about anything if you have to.