To find out why William Jefferson Clinton is the most powerful man on the third rock from the sun, all you have to do is see how dazzlingly different even a routine guard of honour will look in Dhaka, Delhi or Islamabad. And, scroll the impressive roll of politicians and industrialists seeking an audience with the leader of the free world.
But to be convinced of the kind of power and influence the President of the United States of America exudes, several thousand kilometres and three continents away from his, turn the viewfinder away from the capitals of the South Asian nations and zero in, in particular, on Agra and see how things have been moving since his visit was announced.
Tens of kings and emperors, presidents and prime ministers-and their wives, children and courtiers-may have signed the visitors' book at the world's most famous monument to love. But never before in its 347-year history has the Taj Mahal got the kind of makeover that local and archaeological authorities have given it just because Bill Clinton is coming here on March 22.
The VIP Road from the Indian Air Force station leading up to Shah Jahan's paean in marble to Mumtaz has been repaired and relaid, pavements have been retiled, avenue trees and electric lamp-posts have been repainted, branches of trees have been pruned, eyesores have been removed, as have the dangerous electric lines crisscrossing the road, open transformers have been covered.
It's an Agra Agra-wallahs themselves haven't seen for a long time now. "VIPS keep visiting the city to see the Taj. But this VIP's visit is a little different from most others. So, accordingly, we had to do something different than what we have in the past," says Agra collector P.K. Mohanty on the Rs 80-lakh cosmetic surgery that the Agra Development Authority underwrote because the city corporation was too broke to foot the bill.
The Taj itself is sporting a new, enhanced look. Under the supervision of the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India, S.B. Mathur, who is expected to conduct the president around:
That is something Team Clinton hasn't lost sight of either. While the opportunity that the president's trip to the main monument will provide to still photographers is unmistakable, an even greater photo-op has been lined up at the Taj Khema-the Uttar Pradesh Tourism guest house that is nestled atop a little hillock to the west of the Taj-for the benefit of the TV cameras.
Before he visits the Taj Mahal, Clinton is slated to deliver a message for the preservation of the environment from the scenically-spectacular hillock that overlooks the Taj. This will be telecast live worldwide and the authorities are pulling out all stops to ensure that nothing is left to chance during his 45-minute visit.
Authorities downplay the hectic preparations as nothing more than routine, but the four-layered security for the president, with the Indian police forming the outer circle, shows just who is calling the shots on this trip. While Indian cops munch paan and discuss their provident fund, White House and Secret Service officials have been busy at work. "Imagine if Uttar Pradesh police alone were in charge of Clinton's security!" quips a local.
The Agra-Mathura-Aligarh belt is reckoned to be a hotbed of ISI activity and American security officials, in association with the local police, have been combing areas Clinton will visit with landmine detectors, bomb squads and sniffer dogs to ensure that nothing goes wrong. "A lot of Muslim locals don't like Clinton coming here because of his stand on Osama bin Laden, and Iran and Iraq," says Pierre Trudeau, a French tourist.
The Taj will be closed to tourists for three days leading up to the President's visit, inconveniencing hundreds for whom the monument is the sole source of livelihood. "Three days without work means a loss of Rs 375-400, which means a lot of hungry stomachs," says Naseer Khan, a cycle-rickshaw puller. But, he like others, realises that Clinton's visit will draw in more visitors to Agra, not less. And at least the potholes have been filled up.
The security considerations are such that residents who live in houses on Clinton's route have been told not to climb on rooftops and not allow anybody to do so either. "Clinton's visit is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has given a new look to the city, and on the other it has severely inconvenienced people," adds tour guide Srivastava.
The 1995 visit of Hillary and Chelsea Clinton to Agra has made preparations a wee bit easy for security officials. But like his wife and daughter, the India Clinton will see is not the India Indians live in. For, just a couple of hundred metres on the other side of the route he will take is a different Agra: pathetic, poor, disease-ridden and caught in a time-warp it will never get out of, as long as VIP's take the same route from the airport to the Taj Mahal.
