Meeting Mughals on Monday

“ It’s been years since we have been living here and we haven’t got a single good friend,” my sister, Aanya complained.

“ Calm down, sis. We’re sure to make a few friends in another few days,” I said.

“ That’s the hundredth time you have said that this month!” she said bursting with rage.

My little sis was no longer ‘little’. She didn’t turn red when she got angry like me. She was a good-natured girl (when she was not angry). Her curly, twirling, black hair had reached her elbows. She is as tall as me, just a couple of inches shorter.

Meanwhile, I had turned twelve two weeks and five days before my sister. I had certainly grown taller. By the way, I was taller than my mom.

Trrrrrrr... the alarm clock rang because it was 8:00 am and it meant –
“ Breakfast is ready,” shouted my Mom. “ Coming mum,” we replied.

We went to the dining room and saw sixteen pancakes sitting happily on the plate. “ Yay!,” I said. “ Pancakes!” Aanya exclaimed.

We rushed to the table and started gobbling them up. There were four pancakes for each of us.

“ Slow down,” my Mom intervened, laughing heartily.

After we were done, our parents started eating theirs. When everyone was done my dad said, “ Go along now. Have a walk anywhere you like. Come back in one and a half hour.”

We got ready with hiking boots on, as it was a rocky area. Also we each took a backpack just in case.

We set off at 8:15. We went past our building, through the rocks and approached the front of our clubhouse. It was not ready, still ‘under construction’. We went to the swimming pool which was above the hall. The water was a clear glass reflecting the blue color of the sky.

All of a sudden, I noticed something peculiar. The door to the clubhouse was open! I poked my sister.

“ What?” she asked.

I pointed towards the clubhouse. Her eyes followed slowly. When her eyes reached there, her jaw stood open. We had never seen the clubhouse open in the last few years.

Filled with curiosity, I started to go inside and my sister followed me. Inside there was nothing, which disappointed me. “ There’s a staircase going up!” my sister exclaimed.

And sure there was. It was in the corner of the room. We went up and found nothing again.We sat down, leaning against a wall.

CREAK! A door behind me opened.

There was a room inside. It had no windows, but a tubelight at the top. There was a machine inside, a strange machine. There was a label on the machine.

We went inside quietly. As we approached the machine, we realized what it was. It was written:

TIME MACHINE!

We were spellbound, astonished, surprised, amazed ... I don’t have enough words for it.

We rushed back home ten minutes before schedule.I didn't utter a word nor did Aanya.

We thought and thought, about where we would go, but couldn't get anything. Suddenly, Aanya remembered something. She recalled that she doesn't remember seeing Taj Mahal. She kept on saying to go to Taj Mahal. Finally, we got our answer.

Today it was another day. After breakfast, we wore traditional dresses, took a backpack ( torch and a book ) and went out at 8:15 am. We had researched about the inauguration date of Taj Mahal on Google, the previous day. We soon reached the time machine room and went inside. The machine was still there without any changes.

“Should we do it?” Aanya asked nervously. “ Yes,” I replied.

We went inside and saw a device which read, ‘ Please type the date’.

I typed the date 17/ 09/1683.

WHOOSH! A white light blinded us for a moment. I felt a sudden change in the air. It was like no pollution but a cleaner and purer form of air. And then it was gone. There was a loud silence.

When I opened my eyes, I saw myself and Aanya standing outside the gates of Taj Mahal. Suddenly, I heard buzzing everywhere. I turned around, to see people in traditional clothes, rushing about everywhere. They were getting ready for the inauguration of Taj Mahal. They had absolutely no idea how it looked like.

All the people gathered around the gate, waiting for the gatekeeper to come.

An hour passed and no one came. The people started to get worried. They called out the name of the gatekeeper many times. Still, he was not there. Everyone started banging the door of a small room where the key was kept. But it still didn't budge.

Me and Aanya, desperate to help, said loudly, “ We’ll get the key for you if you let us meet the Great Emperor Shah Jahan.”

Everyone thought about it before replying to us. They all thought the same thing. “ If we do not find the key, the Emperor will scold all of us, but these children here are ready to get the key. So let them see Shah Jahan.”

So they all said, “ Yes we will let you meet the Great Emperor. Inside the room, it is very dark. We are not able to light a fire. Can you help us?

“ Yes,” we replied.

Aanya and I then remembered that we had bought torches. But these people there didn't know about it.

So I said, “ We know some magic. We will help you find the key.”

We took out our torches and lit them. The people stood in amazement.

I used a hairpin to open the lock of the room. We then went inside. We started searching in every nook and corner but couldn't find the key. Then a thought came in my mind, “ What if there is a small hole in the wall?” So I told my sister and we started searching the walls.

After five minutes, my sister exclaimed, “ Here! It's here!,” I felt so glad that I embraced her warmly. She felt very proud of herself. We went out and told them that we had found the key.

A man said, “ Congratulations!, Emperor Shah Jahan is just about to arrive.”

When the Great Emperor came, five men went towards him, gave him the key and told him the whole story. Shah Jahan came towards us and thanked us. He took the key and opened the gates. Everyone stood with their jaws open.

It was a beautiful sight. There was the great white, shining, marble-made monument in front of us. There was a water fountain in the middle and many parks around it. Behind the Taj Mahal was the Yamuna river on which the monument reflected. It had four minars around it.

Shah Jahan then said, “ Please, all of you, say thank you to the girls for what they have done.”

“ Thank you!,” said all the people.

We both had a great lunch with everyone. Also, we sat near the Emperor! There were so many delicious delicacies.

We then said goodbye and went back to the machine. When we reached there, we typed the recent date - 23rd July, 2019. There was the same blinding, white flash. But this time, the original feel of air, I know, returned. There was a loud silence. We came back to the room and scampered back home, to find out no time had passed.

We rushed to our room, changed into ordinary clothes, and started to discuss our adventure.

“ Now! There you go. You have a good friend now,” I said smiling.

“ Yes! Indeed,” my sister replied back, grinning broadly.

By-Tanusha Achra
Class - 5B
Manthan School