I saw some beautiful photos of the Taj Mahal, so I decided to see it in real life. In 2015 I travelled to Agra. From my hotel I booked a taxi to the Taj Mahal. The taxi driver was a nice elderly guy with good English. We had a great chat. He asked about my holiday. I told her that I was planning to go back to Delhi by the 5 pm train and enjoy the rest of my holiday there. He talked about his family, especially about his elder son, who is an IT guy and also likes travelling. After a twenty minute ride he dropped me off. I was excited to see the Taj Mahal for the first time in my life. I had read a lot about it, and seeing it was a special moment. I understood why people feel wonder and peace there.

There was a long queue to buy a ticket to the Taj Mahal. It was not that quiet, the people in the queue were noisy. I guessed from their clothes and talks that they came from different countries. I was standing in the queue, looking around, waiting patiently for my turn. There was a camel nearby, nicely decorated. I had never seen a camel in a city before. I wanted to take a photo with my mobile… but my mobile was nowhere. I checked my pockets, my backpack, my small bag, but it was not there. My head was aching. I felt lost without my mobile. All my contacts, tickets, and banking were in it. I looked around and was thinking where it could be? Did I leave it somewhere? Or someone stole it? When was the last time I used it? Nothing helped. I gave up on it and tried to enjoy the view of the wonderful Taj Mahal. I bought a ticket and walked towards the beautiful building, but my heart was heavy.

After several hours I went back to the hotel to pick up my luggage, then I took a taxi to the railway station. I already had the train ticket, so I just had to find the platform. I had only five minutes for the train to arrive when I heard someone shouting behind my back: “Miss, miss, at last, I found you!” I turned around. It was the taxi driver who took me to the Taj Mahal in the morning. He smiled and put something into my hand. I was surprised, but only for a moment. “You left your mobile in my car, miss, here it is”. He remembered my train, and even its time. I could not believe how lucky I was and how honest the driver was. It was a really expensive mobile. I guess the driver should work for three months to make this much money. He could have kept the mobile for himself, he could have made some money, but no, he gave it back to me. I was really close to crying. I didn’t even know how to thank him. I just gave him a hug, because this is what we do in my country. I saw that not only was he surprised, but all the people around us. Then we just started to laugh. My lesson was that Indian people are nice. My heart was not heavy anymore.

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