Last Days of Tour

Monday January 5th

Our days in India are winding down now to this last day. I'm writing in the dining room in Agra, waiting for everyone to come down for breakfast at the 5 star hotel where we are staying so that we can get to the Taj Mahal for sunrise.

We will try to get one more round of pictures up tonight, but there are not pictures for this entry.

Health update:

Everyone is doing well now, and no one will miss seeing the Taj.

After the concert on Saturday evening - and what a memorable concert that was - we had another delicious Indian dinner, and then came time to say good bye to Arun and Tushar Gandhi, and to thank them for honoring KSB by traveling with us here. Though we thanked them as best we could (in song, of course) but in reality, it turned out that Tushar was moved to thank KSB.

We were humbled when Tushar spoke about how moved he was when the Grads sang at the place where the Mahatma fell - a place where he has been hundreds of times. Then he told us that before his death, Bapu would say that when the world needed it, it would hear his voice from beyond the funeral pyre with inspiration to continue working for peace and justice, and that voice came this week in the singing of the Keystone State Boychoir.

Yesterday morning we were up early, packed and ready for the drive through the morning fog to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, with ongoing updates about the Eagles - Saints game. Our hotel here is a welcome respite to the spartan life at the hostel! After a round of shopping and a fabulous buffet lunch, we boarded the buses and drove to the gardens across the river from the Taj to watch the sunset. Arguably the peak of the human urge to build magnificently, seeing the Taj Mahal in person did not disappoint. Even a little bit!

But of course seeing the great treasures of the world is never enough, and though we couldn't get the drums through security and were told that we couldn't sing (and by the way - another question for your son: how many times he did he have to go through security in India) that never stopped us before, so after about an hour of just marveling at the Taj, Mr. Fisher found a place in the garden for the boys to sing Zikr and Ramkali anyway. Magic!

It's time to go now - the bus is boarding for sunrise and actually going into the Taj!

Hope to get one more entry up tonight -

see you soon!