Agra back in centrestage

By Anita Joshua

AGRA, JULY 15. After losing the seat of power to Delhi over three-and-a-half centuries ago, Agra today found its place in the sun once again. Though Agra has always basked in the reflected glory of the Taj Mahal, it has not seen history being made on its soil since Shah Jahan decided to move the capital of his empire to Delhi in the 17th century.

Despite all the hassles that come with playing host to a President and a Prime Minister together, a sense of deja vu prevails over Agra today. After all, it was the chosen one when the Indian Government was looking for an ideal setting for the historic summit with Pakistan.

Little wonder then that the Agra administration has spent well over a crore in sprucing up ``Taj Nagri'' (city of the Taj) for the summit. The administration even succeeded in getting ready two helipads - one near Jaypee Palace Hotel and the other near Fatehpur Sikri - on short notice so that the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, and his wife, Ms. Sehba Musharraf, did not have to travel the stretch from the Kheria Air Force Base to their hotel by road.

If the administration today is feeling smug about a job well done as Day One of the summit went without too many hiccups, the people of this city feel no differently. In fact, they are taking considerable pride in the fact that Agra could be host to a summit that seeks to usher in peace in a region that has been plagued by turmoil.

Added to this the fact that the summit has brought in good business in what is otherwise a lean period for Agra. Thriving as the people of this city do on the tourism that the Taj generates, summer is a difficult time for them as tourists are difficult to come by.

But now with hotels practically overflowing with the official delegations, government employees and mediapersons, the summit has proved to be a boon; albeit with the accompanying bane of security restrictions. So tight was security today that much of Agra wore a curfew-like look with people preferring to stay indoors and shopkeepers told to keep their shops closed. The only one allowed to move around the Fatehabad Road - on which both the hotels housing the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Gen. Musharraf are located - were either journalists or those involved in the arrangements.

Taking great pride in being host to the summit, the people of Agra are optimistic that the breath-taking Taj Mahal and the composite culture that Agra represents would work wonders and inspire the two leaders to make peace. But they hope that the fate of the summit is not similar to that of Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort, both of which were abandoned and forgotten by their own architects.

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