Clinton becomes Agra’s Hero no. 1

He had just come after visiting the Taj, looking relaxed and informal in hismagenta shirt and black trousers. Taj, it is believe, is perhaps the single largest reason why he wanted to visit India. When he spoke, he referred to the monument to love as a symbol of all that is required to be preserved of the heritage of the country.

The place where he was standing was also as historic as the Taj. The legendgoes that while building the Taj Mahal, the mud that was dug-out, wascollected on the other side to build a high mound. That lush green mound is part of Taj Khema, today a UP Tourism hotel. Today, the die-hard romantic who loves books, movies and people stood where Shah Jehan used to.

And guess who was there to welcome him! Priyanka Chopra, the Miss India. She was later gushing over the fact that while leaving he had made it apoint to say a special goodbye to her.

There was not much glamour in the rest of the crowd. They were just 200 special invitees who were mainly from CII, some local BJP politicians, the Embassy staff and officials. Shahnaz Husain was perhaps the only surprise invitee.

For most part of the evening, it looked like an informal meeting. Only the presence of the US Secret Service made it look important. For an event that had been hyped so much, there was no frisking, no cellphones taken away or bags being checked, thanks to the latest equipment which makes these security agents seem less intrusive. But it was there menacing expressions, earplus, black suits, black glasses which were deterrants enough. Their expressions changed with the proximity of Clinton to the venue. Every muscle tensed, expressions grimmer as Clinton entered the vicinity of the Taj. When he flew off to Jaipur, they were back to normal, waiting for the bus to take them back to the hotel.

As he waved and left, it was clear that Clinton had completely charmed the 20children who were present there and maybe converted them into crusaders forenvironment. Later, they chanted on how they wanted to preserve the Taj, thecity and the environment in general. “How dashing…” they said as theycompared notes in the bus on the way back and compared their autographs ofClinton.

It was the adminstration which heaved the biggest sigh of relief after theendless hours of cleaning and sprucing up the city. The namaaz had to be cancelled today as the timings clashed with those of the visit. When Eisenhower had visited 40 years ago, this had not been done, said the complaining Muslim leaders.

The adminsitration had tried to organise some schoolchildern to wave at the passing cavalcade, but Clinton expressed his displeasure at the fact that the public was too far removed. The over-cautious administration had made Agra look like a ghost town. “I did see some people. I would have liked if they were up front. I’d like that. I wanted to see them,” he said in reply to a question.

(with SIRAJ QURESHI)