Tony D'Onofrio
Leadership
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“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Continuing our global journey to learn something new, our next stop is the Taj Mahal in India. This UNESCO World Heritage building was actually a mausoleum commissioned in 1632 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the remains of his late wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Indian, Persian, and Islamic architecture influenced the construction. Its white marble façade, which seems to change color according to the time of day, is a masterpiece symbol of love.
Constructions took 20 years and involved 20,000 workers, and the mausoleum houses both the emperor and his wife. 1000 elephants were used to haul the construction material to Agra, where it is located.
Inside the Taj Mahal, you will find beautiful flowers such as tulips, lilies, irises, poppies, and narcissus inlaid into the walls with 28 different types of precious and colorful stones. The cost of this perfectly symmetrical building in today’s dollars would be $1 billion.
Of all my travels around the world, this visit to the Taj carries special memories. After important customer meetings in New Delhi with retailers, the local team organized a trip to this unique location. The visit coincided with my birthday, and the hotel recognized this as I was checking out. While I was getting into the private transportation to visit the Taj Mahal, two hotel employees rushed out and handed me a dozen roses and a bottle of champagne. Every year for a long time, this same hotel also sent me birthday wishes. I wish I had kept the hotel’s name as I would mention them in this article.
Life is a great adventure if you do indeed live like you are dying tomorrow and learn something new continuously as if you were going to live forever. It’s one small beautiful world of potential ideas to explore to their next level starting now.
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