The Golden Triangle - Written back home

There is no way that I could rate the cities that we visited in order of importance, but I can say that although we were the busiest in the last four days of our trip, the Golden Triangle was possibly the most exciting. The Golden Triangle, which is comprised of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi, offered us insights into a vastly diverse set of experiences ranging from the history and beauty of Akbar’s Temple and the Taj Mahal to the confident smiles of rural women working for fair pay and self-determined hours in the comfort of their own villages.
As I passed through the north gate at the Taj Mahal, I was suddenly hit with a wave of awe that stopped me in my path. My stomach dropped, my breath caught in my lungs and my mouth fell open at the sight of such a titanic structure, built from exquisite white marble. It was majestic and the sight has been burned permanently into my memory.

Lastly, I was blown away by the hard-working women in the village that we visited who were gainfully employed by the Jaipur Rugs Company. We had the opportunity to see the women skillfully weave the colored yarns in and out of a loom to the musical sound of the pattern conductor reading the codes of instructions to the women. We saw that the children of the village were dressed better than they had been before the opportunity to work came to their village. We also had the opportunity to visit the training center and saw teenage women learning the craft. My instant reaction to seeing these women training so young was that I thought that they should be in school, my instinct was generally to apply the ideals and norms from the U.S., but I learned, progressively throughout the trip to challenge these beliefs. These training centers postpone the time for young girls of 15 and older to marry and allows them to develop a skill that they can use for the rest of their lives. It was an unbelievable experience and I’m so thankful to have been able to meet these women and see their phenomenal ability to take opportunities, risks and go from surviving to thriving.