Spellbound by the beauty of Taj Mahal, US Second Lady Jill Biden felt that the little less than an hour she spent in Agra was too brief and wants to visit the monument of love again. As she entered the site, she took a pause for few moments in front of the imposing white-marble complex.
Then she took a 40-minute tour of the monument, accompanied by two guides Shamsuddin Khan and Barun Rawat, who informed her about the finer details of the 17th century monument. The visibly impressed dignitary was seen touching the walls of the magnificent monument to get a feel of the intricate marble carving.
"It is quite amazing. It is so beautiful. We took a drive of three hours to come to Agra and it is so worth it. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World," Jill Biden said. Dressed in all blue, the wife of US Vice President Joseph Biden was accompanied by their daughter Ashley and son-in-law Dr Howard David Krein.
While she was busy capturing the beauty of the monument, the young couple, who were married last year, were busy clicking photographs together. The family also posed to be clicked in front of the marble marvel. And this 45 minutes visit was not enough for Jill Biden. "She said this is a brief visit and she is not satisfied.
She would like to come again and will give a detailed visit to Taj Mahal," Shamsuddin Khan, one of her guides, said. Built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, Taj Mahal has attracted millions of visitors including celebrities across the world.
Jill Biden is the latest entrant in the long list of admirers of this marble marvel that includes Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, French President Nicolas Sarkozy along with his wife Carla Bruni, China's President Hu Jintao and his wife Liu Yongqing, Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and his wife and late Princess of Wales Diana.
Earlier in the day, the US Second Lady visited Kachhpura, a small slum community to know about Health for the Urban Poor, a programme aimed at providing basic health-care to the residents focussing on maternal health and community participation. Jill Biden is accompanying Joe Biden on his four-day trip to India.
The trip is aimed at bolstering ties in key sectors of trade, energy, defence and security. On Wednesday, Jill Biden will leave for Mumbai where she will be doing a health and nutrition event in neighbouring Thane district. She will visit the DILAASA Crisis Intervention Center at K B Bhabha Municipal Hospital and next day will visit the Anjuman-i-Islam's Saif Tyabji Girls School, an all-girls Muslim school founded in 1938.
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