Of Meerut and Mathura (Part 2: Mathura)
Just as Meerut links me to my naani (maternal grandmother), Mathura links me to my daadi (paternal grandmother). This spring, as I travelled through northern India I saw both small towns and large cities crying for infrastructure. However the cities of Delhi, Mathura and Agra have less reason to complain as just a handful of cars zoom on the three-lane Yamuna Expressway connecting these towns. Aligarh and Mathura, both once-renown centres of learning and spirituality, appear to have lost some of their sheen amidst dug-up roads and mushrooming shops and houses. These street scenes below are again reminiscent of anywhere-in-India. I have yet to come across a town in India that doesn't have a tangled mess of wires in a public space! ...