A few days I visited this historical monument in Aurangabad. I knew that the Maqbara was inspired partially by the Taj so I was really keen to see it for myself.

This is located in the heart of the old city in Aurangabad. Its quite well known, so we did not have any trouble in reaching the monument. We did stop at a couple of places to ask for directions and people in general were helpful in pointing out the way to us.

This is the official description written by ASI. It was put up at the entrance of the monument.

They have put up a marble bench in front of the monument just like it is at the Taj. It provides the tourists a vantage point for getting their photographs clicked. The fact that Bibi ka Maqbara has been built around the same time as the Taj is somewhat strange. Because as per the inscription its been built by Shah Jahan’s Grandson.

This photograph shows the lawn in front, leading to the Bibi ka Maqbara(its behind me). One enters from the Arched Gateway, show in upper right and walks to the monument.

Tuktuk had a grand time running all around the Bibi ka Maqbara. She was literally jumping out of my arms. In this photograph we are standing at the rear of the Maqbara with lawns and the mountains behind us.

Tuktuk wanting to get out of her pram at he Bibi ka Maqbara

This is a view of the rear lawns at the Bibi ka Maqbara in Aurangabad.

Me standing besides one of the side doors of the Bibi ka Maqbara.

View of one of the minarets of the Bibi ka Maqbara against the monsoon sky

Evening view of the Bibi ka Maqbara

I started from Pune on the evening of 25th November. Konark Express was on time and it reached the station sharp at 1900 hrs. I did not have a confirmed ticket. Since I had booked it at the last moment the best that I could get was RAC. But luckily my ticket got confirmed and I got a berth.

Since this journey is a long one(around 36 hours) it tends to get boring. I took a couple of magazines and a few novels on my phone to pass the time. Giving company to me was a young student from IIT Bombay. It was nice talking to him.

Hyderabad was the only place where I got down from the train. We reached Hyderabad at around 7 am next morning. Had a breakfast of Idli and Vada.

I passed the day by reading a short writeup on the Google way of doing business and by conversing with my co-passengers. Eventually the day ended and I woke up the next day when the train was just about to reach Bhubaneshwar. Daddy had come to receive me.

We left New Delhi at 3 in the morning and reached Beijing at around one in the afternoon but the flight was of only 6 and half hours…so effectively we had lost around 2 and half hours of time. We went around in a stupor for the first day as the body gradually adjusted to the missing time…by 2nd day everything was normal.

Had been hearing about Jet Lag and I experienced it for the first time..

I chanced upon this book a couple of sundays ago when I was visiting Crossword at Senapati Bapat Road. Having heard so much about this book, I purchased it right away. And spent the next 4-5 hours reading it.

My first impression of the book is good. I liked it. It makes for a good light hearted reading. I first heard of this book when the author had come to Jaipur for some literary meet and he was praised to the skies by the Indian authors. From that day onwards I had made a mental note and was looking forward to reading it. Incidentally, one of the names used in the book is of Kayani, who is the current chief of Military apparatus in Pakistan. The book is funny at times.
I had read Perwez Musharraf’s biography a few days ago and then I read this book. I got two different views of the same person(Gen Zia).