Beneath a Marble Sky (47 page)

Is it love I feel? Or a oneness surpassing even love? For love is a human emotion, and what I sense now is beyond anything of this Earth. It’s too perfect to have been conjured by mortals. For Isa is with me, and as my face tightens and tears come forth, I see only him. He laughs. He cries. He holds me and we whisper, as candles burn low.

“How I miss you,” I say to the rock. “Will you come to me, in my dreams?”

Even if no answer is offered, I know he shall. Allah might have taken Isa’s body, but he isn’t truly gone. We speak sometimes in the night; talk of our Taj Mahal, or our child. He still calls me Swallow.

My hands touch the marble and again I feel Isa. He is here. Mother sits with him, as do Dara and Father. I feel Ladli as well. Their mood is gay and they’re as young as the seasons. Soon I will join them.

Many fear death. But I do not. For I’ve tasted this oneness we call love. Death cannot steal it. Nor temper it.

No, I’ll take my love with me, wherever I travel.

And it shall endure.

You know, Shah Jahan, life and youth, wealth and glory,

they all drift away in the current of time.

You strove, therefore, to perpetuate only the sorrow of your heart.

Let the splendor of diamond, pearl and ruby vanish.

Only let this one teardrop, this Taj Mahal,

glisten spotlessly bright on the cheek of time,

forever and ever.

—Rabindranath Tagore

. . .

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For readers wishing to experience something of the Taj Mahal’s architectural marvels, the author recommends an online virtual tour,
“Explore the Taj Mahal,” at www.taj-mahal.net.