TAJ (Agra) : Tourists and Health

The Taj is iconic of Indian tourism and perhaps draws the largest number of International tourists. Those who dare to visit India and Agra are charmed and awed by the pristine and majestic beauty of this marble edifice.  It is a common site to see International tourists arriving in air conditioned buses, huddling in groups with mineral water bottles in their hands, posing for that drawing-room-mantle photograph with Taj in the background, and then wrenching their noses and stealing glances at the squalor around the city of Agra darting off back to Delhi.

We are lucky that the Taj and Agra are in India and in Uttar Pradesh, and that it is a monument admired and sought after by tourists from across the world, but can we market the Taj alone without improving the surroundings, the city of Agra and the fabled Yamuna that are so intricately entwined with each other?

Tourists are warned before arriving at Agra to be careful of vendors, touts and self styled guides who might take them for a ride, or perhaps even rob them, to be careful with the food and water they consume – safer to carry your own water and to eat at their starred hotel, that they should not venture out into the city unescorted, that they should stay huddled together and not wander off anywhere on their own, and that they should carry their medicines as attacks of tummy cramps, loose motions, vomiting and fever often come free with their Agra package!  I marvel at the tourists who do finally make it to admire the beauty of Taj with so much weighing on their minds.

Any one visiting Paris or Heidelberg would recall how tourists are made to feel safe to wander anywhere they wish on their own, browse through curio shops in small streets, sit at roadside cafe’s or bistros and taste the local cuisine or wine, watch the clear waters of Seine or Neckar rivers and perhaps take an exhilerating boatride and come back safely to bed in their hotels with a dream-cum-true feel. 

If tourism in Agra has to get the much needed boost, we need to look beyond the Taj. Yamuna needs dredging and cleaning and its banks need to be made free of strewn multicoloured polythene bags. We need to ensure that shops selling “pethas” are hygienic even for the delicate western tummies, that hoodlums don’t cause uneasiness to visitors, that roads are indeed safe not just from goons but also the police, and medical help of international standard is available a phone call away to make our visitors feel safe and reassured. They will then be able to ejoy the beauty of Taj much more and encourage their friends too to come to Agra, UP and India.

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times)