NO PLACE IN AGRA FOR TAJ OF SWEETS

The Agra petha is as much a part of the city's cultural confection as its architectural twin, the Taj. Pollution fears now put the padlocks on Noori Gate, its old abode

- Asish Misra

THE SMELL OF SYRUP IN THE AIR, the hot petha rolling out of factories on both sides of the road, their candied memories travelling up and down the country in tiny coloured boxes by road, rail and now air—this is the identity of Agra’s Noori Gate area. About seven kilometres from the Taj Mahal, these desi pâtisseries also churn out tiny, delicate monuments to the sweetness of composite culture. If the Taj was born in Shah Jahan’s mind, legend has it that the petha was born in his royal kitchen—upon a royal firman to create a sweet delicacy as pure and white as the Taj! Marble was traded for white pumpkin, Agra’s magic spell was spoken, and voila…the world was suddenly sweeter.

SUGAR SPIKED

That magic spell is being broken. The Noori Gate petha manufactories, running unbroken since the Mughal period, have been ordered to shift out of the city. That also breaks other ties with history. In 1929, the revolutionary Bhagat Singh, after shooting down British police officer John Saunders (the Lahore Conspiracy Case that led to his hanging), spent a few days hiding in a two-storey house right here in Noori Gate area.

Girish Singhal, 63, lives next to this house, beginning his