Rambling

After a rough night at the Hotel Taj Heritage (Nadine...it didn't have a day spa) we drove about 50 km to a world heritage site.

Fatehpur Sikri was built by the 3rd Mughal Emperor and pre-dates the Taj Mahal. It took 14 years to build almost entirely out of sandstone. This emperor had 3 wives. One was Muslim, one was Hindu, and the 3rd Christian. The story about him traveling around praying at various places of worship in hopes of having one of the wives bear him a child is somewhat long and drawn out so I won't bore you with the details. Long story short he did end up with a son and built this incredible place to house his wives and son. I totally enjoyed touring the various palaces and buildings while learning how this extremely wealthy emperor lived.

Our next stop was Jaipur. It took about 4 hours to reach our hotel and our driver suggested that we call it a day. (I don't think he is feeling well).

During the drive there was plenty of time to reflect on how lucky we are as Canadians. We live in nice houses, have plenty of food to eat, healthcare and elementary schooling is provided at no cost. While we all complain about the high taxes we pay....the alternative is the way Indians live. We don't have to daily scoop up cow shit, form them into large pancakes and dry them on the roof of our houses to obtain a fuel source.

Approximately 30% of the children don't go to school. They are beautiful little people with grubby hands and feet and always have a big smile. They are quick to wave to us and run over to say hello.

I was sitting on the hotel balcony last night and watched a shoeless boy with tattered clothing who was around 12 years old steal a piece of fruit from a vending cart. He was hit with a stick and dropped the fruit. He didn't see the vendor pick up the fruit and spent the next few minutes frantically searching for it in the dirt at the side of the road.

We are regularly asked to pose for pictures with people. The first time this happened we were walking into the Red Fort. I noticed a teenager trying to sneak pictures and videos of Sue and I. I smiled and gave him a "thumbs up". His father came over with his hand extended and asked if he could take pictures of us with his family. They took turns posing with us and he explained that they were from Kashmir and were on holidays.

When we checked into our hotel this afternoon the front desk attendant asked for our passports. When he saw them he commented, "Canada is a great country".

Everyone of these people that we meet would gladly pay a percentage of their earnings to enjoy the type of lifestyle that we at times take for granted.

Oh Canada!