Tour Guides in Agra & Fatehpur Sikri
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Tour Guides In Agra & Fatehpur Sikri DISCOVER INDIA PROGRAM 2017-18 Certificate This is to certify that the work incorporated in the report titled “Tour Guides in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri” submitted by the undersigned research team was carried out under my supervision. Such material as has been obtained from other sources has been duly acknowledged. Sr. No. Name Designation Signature 1 Aditya Jha Visual Documentation 2 Advait Makhija Group Leader and On-field Research 3 Amalina Sengupta Accounts and On-field Research 4 Aman N Shah Accounts and On-field Research 5 Anish Jayaraman Content Writing 6 Deepta Iyer Logistics and On-field Research 7 Enasha Thakker Creativity 8 Hardika Zaveri Creativity 9 Maitreyi Menon Content Writing 10 Manasi Pant Content Writing 11 Sharvari Karandikar Content Writing 12 Shreya Negandhi Creativity 13 Tamanna Rajabali Creativity and Visual Documentation 14 Vishwambhar Vaidyam Visual Documentation Name of the Mentor: Dr. Juhi Sidharth Signature: Date: ii Table of Contents Sr. No. Particulars Page no. 1 1.0. Introduction 1 1.1. Geographical Location 1.1.1. Location 1.1.2. Climate 1.2. Economy and Education 1.3. Historical Overview 1.3.1. History of The Region 1.4. Research Statement 1.5. Research Aims and Objectives 1.6. Research Methodology 1.7. Limitations 2 2.1. Literature Review: Evaluation of Secondary Sources 11 2.1.1. Roles of a Tour Guide 2.1.2. Types of Tour Guides 2.1.3. Training 2.1.4. Conduct 2.1.5. Challenges to The Guides and The Industry 2.1.6. Gender 2.1.7. Religion 2.1.8. Economy 2.1.9. Demonetization 2.1.10. Narratives 2.2 Gaps in Literature 2.3 Conclusion FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 3 3.0. Tour Guides in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri: Their Work and 28 Lives 3.1. Ambassadors, Performers and Interpreters 3.2. From the Colonial Era to The Present Day 3.3. The Training Process 3.4. Incentives 4 4.0. Tourism Industry in Agra: Problems and Challenges 41 4.1. The Commission System 4.2. Corruption 4.3. The Advent of Technology 4.4. Poor Infrastructure 4.5. Unlicensed Guides and Lapkas 4.5.1. Types of Unlicensed Tour Guides 4.5.2. Contrasting Perspectives 4.6. Policy Measures iii 5 5.0. Women Tour Guides in a Male-dominated Industry 57 5.1. Gendered Profession 5.2. Role of Family 5.3. Safety and Reputation 5.4. Relationship with Male Tour Guides 5.5. Empowering Profession 5.6. Conclusion 6 6.0. Narrating Facts and Legends of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri 68 6.1. Multiple Versions of History 6.2 Tour Guides as Entertainers and Performers 6.3. Stories About The Taj Mahal 6.3.1. The Emerging Myth of Tejo Mahalaya 6.4. Narratives Surrounding Fatehpur Sikri 7 7.0. Conclusion: Overview 79 7.1. Relevance and Utility of Research 8 8.0. References 84 9 9.0. Appendix 87 10 10.0 Glossary 151 List of Graphs, Tables and Images Images and Illustrations Sr. No. Title Fig. 1 Map of Uttar Pradesh, highlighting Agra Fig. 2 Streets of Agra Fig. 3 Department of tourism in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi Fig. 4 A tour guide conducting a tour Fig. 5 Young man selling us his souvenirs Fig. 6 A local vendor trying to sell his souvenirs Fig. 7 Yellow triangle highlights the golden triangle of tourism Fig. 8 Shahnawaz Khan proudly showing us his license Fig. 9 ASI sign board Fig. 10 Tourist receiving a souvenir iv Fig. 11 Vendor trying to convince a tourist to purchase Fig. 12 female tour guides (first from the right) conducting a tour Fig. 13 Listening to stories of Fatehpur Sikri tour guide Fig. 14 Listening to stories of Taj Mahal tour guide Illus. 1 Glimpses of female tour guides Illus. 2 Glimpses of male tour guides Tables Sr. No. Title 1 Research Methodology used for various stakeholders 2 Religious denominations in Agra 3 Literature Review Matrix Graphs Sr. No. Title 1 Seasonality in tourist arrivals v Acknowledgement We have worked with diligence to have been able to successfully complete the journey that Discover India Program entailed, however, it was widely contributed to by the support and guidance of numerous people and organizations that we interacted with over the course of ten days in multiple regions of the cities of Agra and Delhi. We would like to sincerely thank all of those involved for allowing us to contribute to the research and documentation of one of India’s oldest professions. We would like to thank Discover India Program for providing us with a unique opportunity to explore beautiful cities in the wondrous country of India and for allowing us to be a part of a larger than life experience. We express our gratitude to the DIP Collegium, for their supervision and assistance and our hosts in Agra and Delhi for being welcoming and supportive throughout our journey. This opportunity would not have presented itself to us if it weren’t for FLAME University, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Devi Singh, and Associate Dean, Dr. Santosh Kudtarkar. Thank you so much to the chair of DIP, Dr. Poonam Gandhi, and the co-chair, Dr. Ravikant Kisana, for making this experience possible. We are highly indebted to our Faculty Mentor, Dr. Juhi Sidharth, for guiding and encouraging us by providing constant positive reinforcement that made us more determined and pushed us to work harder. It would be remiss of me if we did not express our gratitude to the members of the community who encouraged the research with warmth and their enthusiasm in being part of an academic project such as this. The group of expressive and insightful interviewees that we engaged with were kind enough to provide us with an immense amount of information without holding back and we are thankful for the same. We would also want to thank the staff of the various hotels, shops, restaurants and cafés for providing us with a space to engage with our interviewees. We express our gratitude to every individual who aided our research over the last six months-- this project would not have been possible without your invaluable support. vi Abstract Tourism in India is one of the most rapidly growing industries and a tour guide has a substantial role to play in helping its economy grow. Agra and Fatehpur Sikri are home to multiple World Heritage Sites and tour guiding has become markedly popular in these cities. Despite being one of the oldest professions in the world, research on the life and work of tour guides is surprisingly limited, especially in the case of India. The report contextualizes the work of tour guides in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri and proceeds to explore their livelihood by understanding the evolution of the profession, the impact of numerous changes in governmental policies, the countless challenges that tour guides have to face in their line of work, and the varying roles that they interpret and assume. Moreover, there is added attention given to exploring the experiences of women who work as tour guides and the influence of various political, cultural and religious factors on the narratives surrounding the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri. The report establishes the significance of tourism in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri by providing a historical and geographical context of the region, followed by an understanding of what defines a quintessential tour guide. Due to the lack of scholarly work on tour guides in the Indian context, most of the existing literature gave a non-native perspective on what the job of a tour guide entails. The nature of the profession makes tour guiding region-specific because of which it is imperative to understand it in an Indian context. Primary data for the study was collected on-field from a representative sample of individuals of the tourism industry in Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi through observations, interviews and focus-group discussions. The report explores and analyses the evolution of the profession, the multiple roles that a tour guide assumes, the different types of licensed and unlicensed guides, and the factors that shape an individual’s choice to enter this dynamic profession. The variation in narratives of the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri are explored and the causes for the same are analysed. Additionally, the assortment of challenges that a guide faces due to legislative, executive and judiciary bodies at a regional and a country level, and other social structures are also investigated. The joys as well as challenges faced by a female who choose to enter a male dominated profession are explored as well. The report attempts to address the necessity of research on the unexplored domain of tour guiding in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri and presents a detailed account of the work and the lives of tour guides. vii INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1.0: INTRODUCTION The cities of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri are steeped in history and are custodians of Mughal architecture. Marble-tops inlaid with semi-precious stones that create intricate floral and geometric patterns known as pietra dura are representative of Agra and its association with Mughal artwork. And, of course, Agra is home to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. Approximately sixty-two lakh tourists make their way to the Taj every year1. The city is also home to several lesser known heritage sites such as Sikandra, Humayun’s Mosque, and Kanch Mahal. Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s capital, lies at a distance of a mere 16 kilometres from the city. While several sectors such as the accommodation sector, transport sector and the souvenir sector are major contributors to the maintenance and encouragement of tourism (Srivastava, 2011), the role of tour guides as carriers and communicators of culture and history emerges as exceptionally important (McDonnell, 2001).