Page 28 - Layout 1

FEATURE
Incredible India!
Incredible India, as advertised, is that, but cremation site, the Jama Masjid, and Hu-
so much more. For me, India was an educa-
tional immersion into a culture filled with
religions, colors, sounds, smells, and tastes
new to me, with some of the world’s friend-
liest people.
Upon landing in Delhi, the smell of
smoke, the visual of fog at 3 a.m., the traffic endary white marble Taj Mahal built as her
was busy by San Antonio standards. On our
trip to Apollo Hospital the next morning the
traffic was intense. We saw a family of four
on a motorcycle, autorickshaws zipping in
and out with no apparent lanes, trucks blow-
ing horns and bikes with large platforms on
the back all sharing the highway. A trip to a
large Hindu temple began our teaching in
Hindu religion with a colorful water laser
show. On Christmas day, as we saw Gandhi’s
28 San Antonio Medicine • April 2017
By Roberta Lynn Krueger, MD
mayans Tomb, we were surrounded by young
eighth grade girls wishing us Merry Christ-
mas as they took pictures with us.
As an obstetrician, I imagine Shah Jahan’s
wife died from hemorrhage after having his
14th child. She was deserving of the leg-
mausoleum. An imposing structure, even
now one is struck by the juxtaposition of the
haves and have nots that exist in Agra today.
Our guide told us in Shah Jahan’s time his
third son, tired of his father’s lavish spending I was struck by the ancient history this land
(58 million for the Taj in today’s money),
killed his two older siblings and put his fa-
ther in house arrest, taking over the king-
dom. Visiting the garden area across the river
from the Taj as the afternoon came to a close
Ranakpur Temple
gave some peace to this beautiful monument.
A change in our flight made us leave Delhi
later than planned, which allowed us to see
the distinctive Lotus Temple, a Baha'i house
of worship. Quiet time in this architectural
and structural wonder of white marble was
an interesting contrast to the busy Taj. Arriv-
ing late in Udaipur at our lovely hotel, we
joined the AAPI delegation. At breakfast the
next morning I discovered delicious dosa, a
crepe-like food filled with potatoes and
lentils. As we ventured into the countryside,
holds. The Pratap museum told of Pratap
and his horse who helped save the day, all
narrated in Hindi. Dr. Shah helped me un-
derstand this dramatic story.
Our next stop was Nathdwara, meaning