India

Greetings from someplace over India- Mon/Tues/Weds. 1/11-13/09

Yesterday was a very strange day. To review, we originally were to fly from Chengdu, China to Agra, India, visit the Taj Mahal, and then fly onto Jaipur, India. Because of luggage problems in China we flew directly to Jaipur. Our accommodations were in a former Palace of the King of Jaipur. You can imagine that it was unbelievably beautiful. Through yeoman work by the National Geographic staff, yesterday morning, after a brief tour of Jaipur, we flew back to Agra to visit the Taj and then returned by plane to Jaipur. During the morning tour we were amazed at the squalor and very poor conditions of the people we saw. If anything, the conditions in Agra were .even worse. Despite the incredible beauty of the Taj Mahal, by the time we returned to Jaipur we were both quite depressed.

We gave serious consideration to skipping the evening festivities and just eating in our room. We were glad we did not. We bused to a 400 acre estate owned by a distant relative of a former King of Jaipur. We were greeted by camels, elephants and a bagpipe band. After drinks, a bit of shopping, and the men all being fitted with turbans, the elephant polo began. There were three matches with two teams of 4 elephants each, the first team to score two goals being the winner. Tim played in a very undistinguished manner in the first game. Lynda played in the third game and was the hit of the night. She scored both of her team’s goals in their 2-1 victory. The media voted her the number one star. You can watch a video of her scoring one of her goals. Notice the very impressive Henrik Zetterburg pose with her mallet after her score. The elephant polo was followed by a delicious buffet and then dancing. The wonderful evening lifted our depression and saved the day for us.

Despite the excitement of the evening we were reminded of a very important social lesson yesterday. Those in the world who are very well off must never forget about the less fortunate in society. From now on, whenever we see a picture of the Taj Mahal, we will also remember what is occurring 100 yards from the entrance to this magnificent edifice.
Tim and Lynda

Editor's note: Mom & Dad sent this to me from Jordan. They were having trouble deciphering the Arabic instructions and have not been able to send the aforementioned elephant polo video. We'll all have to use our imaginations for now! Jilayne