The eye can see and hear colours and tunes of Taj Mahal…a tear on the cheek of eternity

By: Kamal Zuheri

Al Gomhuria (26/1/2006)

I loved painting so I liked very much visiting galleries. I also loved poetry and traveling. My first travel was to India, when I was still 21 years old. India is a country that is full of colors. 17 years after the first visit, I visited India for the second time and I visited Taj Mahal. Tagore described Taj Mahal as “A Tear on the Cheek of eternity”.

During the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan who built this edifice, arts flourished. His loving wife used to accompany him even during his military expeditions. She was very smart, and very pretty. She liked music and used to write poetry in Persian. Shah Jahan was raised up in the court of his grandfather Akbar.

I have to say something about saris worn by Indian women. It was said that the hot weather in India is behind wearing such light dress. It is made of transparent silk.

Taj Mahal was built of marble and granite. Architects at the time reached a high level of professionalism and creativity. When Shah Jahan lost his beloved wife, he decided to build Taj Mahal. It was built in 20 years. Over 20000 artists and craftsmen participated in its building. This building has become one of the wonders of the world.

The first time I visited India, I stayed there for a year and a half. I wrote that India was my first love and France was my second love. I wanted to know more about Tagore, Gandhi and Nehru. I found articles written by Gandhi before his assassination. He wrote that he rejected the idea of the establishment of a state on a religious basis, meaning Israel. He predicted, with his insight, that such a country would bring no good.

One of the reasons why the Indian Congress Party, Gandhi, Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad admired the Egyptian national leader Saad Zaghloul is that he managed to gather Muslims and Christians in one national movement calling for independence. They aspired to achieve this concept in India.

As there were ancient ties between India and Egypt before 1952 revolution, there were strong bonds through the non-aligned movement and the support of all independence movements in the Third World.

Five years ago, I met with the former vice President of India Krishna Kant in Cairo. We talked about our ties, old and new. I talked to him about the need for translating several Indian books into Arabic. Then we talked about boosting bilateral cooperation in the scientific field. As the Indian vice-president, he was also Chairman of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. We talked about the oldest Arabic books about India, the most important of which is the book of Abi Al Rayhan Al Bairouni “Verifying what is said about India, whether it is logical or illogical”. The author of the book visited India 13 times and wrote in different fields like astronomy, medicine, pharmaceuticals ad history.

*****