CM Akhilesh Yadav to meet modern-day ‘Shah Jahan’

MEERUT: Faizul Hasan Quadri has something in common with 17th century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Both loved their wives madly and both made a Taj Mahal each as visible signs of their love for departed wives. Now, even chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s curiosity has been piqued, and he has sought a meeting with the modern-day ‘Shah Jahan’.
The difference between the two Shah Jahans is that while one ruled over a vast part of the subcontinent in the seventeenth century, the other is a retired postman in Kaser Kalan village, Dibai, Bulandshahr district.After his wife died in 2011, Quadri, 79, set about trying to replicate the Taj. His labour of love astounded villagers and the word spread.
For the replica, Quadri spent all his life savings. Recently, while launching the Twitter account of Taj Mahal, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav came to know about the existence of this replica and invited Quadri to meet him.
“We lived together for 57 years before Tajamulli Begum left me forever in 2011. It was too big a pain to bear. I decided it was time to make my own Taj Mahal,” the retired postman told TOI.
So was it his wife’s name, which sounds so like the Taj, that made him set about the construction of his miniature ‘monument’?
“No, I just thought an expression of love for the wife need not be the preserve of an emperor,” says the retired postman, adding that it wasn’t all that big a decision, after all. “We had no children, I have no liability. The project kept me occupied and helped keep sorrow at bay.”
Quadri began construction in 2012 on his two-acre plot. He has spent close to Rs 23 lakh on his Taj until now. Part of the money was received on his retirement from the postal department.
“It was indeed difficult to get the structure right. Some portions had to be rebuilt because masons were not expert in maintaining symmetry,” he said.
Quadri is now saving money from his pension to get the white marble tiles to put over the structure. Like the real-marble Taj Mahal in Agra, Quadri’s mausoleum will not only house Tajamulli’s grave, but also his own. “I have told villagers that when I die I should be buried along with Tajamulli,” he says.
For now, though, death is the last thing on Quadri’s mind. He is busy completing his Taj, the 5,500 square feet structure that marks his wife’s grave.
“I am scripting a poor man’s love story. I don’t know whether my Taj Mahal will be as famous as Shah Jahan’s. But one thing is sure – there will never be any cost for visiting my Taj,” he says.
Bulandshahr district magistrate B Chandrakala said, “Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav got to know of the replica on August 15 while inaugurating the official Twitter account for the promotion of Taj Mahal. Now, I have been given the responsibility of arranging a meeting of Quadri Sahib with the chief minister.”