Unique composition of three religions at Ellora Caves baffled Hillary Clinton

Rafique Aziz

Aurangabad:

Hillary Clinton, the former US first lady, left the city cheerfully on Thursday afternoon. The 75-year-old lady spent two nights in the Tourism capital of Maharashtra but was very much keen and anxious to know more and more about the world heritage Ellora Caves for its unique composition of three religions at one site.

According to reliable sources, “The inquiry about the farmhouse near Khuldabad where she stayed was made one month ago. The US security team arrived in the city one week ago and was having meetings with the key officials concerned and the guide, apart from surveying the area from the farmhouse to Ellora. Two days before her arrival, foreign security visited the Ellora Caves with the guide. The aim was to plan what has to be shown to her as she is a septuagenarian. It was then decided to fix a visit to one each cave of three different religions.”

The tourist guide Alim Quadri, who is in the profession for the past two decades, said, “ The foreign security told me to explain in brief and if she shows interest then go for explaining in detail. Ellora Caves are closed on Tuesdays, therefore, earlier, a tentative decision was on the chart to visit Ajanta Caves on the same day, but to avoid climbing stairs and uneven surface site it was skipped and the visit to Ellora Caves was fixed on the next day (February 8) morning.”

“ I started explaining caves to her concisely (as planned), but she started raising queries. This led me to understand that she is interested in knowing them in detail. Hence she spent two and a half hours seeing selected caves. Interestingly, when we all reached Cave No.32 (Indra Sabha, Jain Caves), I was hinted to explain it from outside to avoid climbing of the flight of steep stairs. I wanted her to see it in detail, therefore, I suggested entering the first floor of Indra Sabha from its neighbouring Cave No. 33 as there are fewer steps. Hence we all entered the first floor through Cave No.33 and returned through the same route and then saw the remaining part of the Indra Sabha on the ground floor,” said Alim Quadri, who had also guided Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (and family) and HCL’s Roshni Nadar (and family).

Healthy Lunch

The guide further added, “ I was invited to join for lunch with them at the farmhouse as Hillary Clinton was curious to know more about the Ellora Caves. The lunch menu included dal, cabbage, chapati, kheer, raita, salad etc. I answered all her queries which were related to the uniqueness of the caves as the composite site belongs to different cultures - Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, spiritualism and details about the city and region, etc during a couple of hours. She also inquired about other heritage monuments including Ajanta Caves in and around Aurangabad.”

God is Great

The guide shared his personal anecdote saying that 3 years ago, Suzi, a friend of Hillary Clinton, liked his way of guiding. Hence prior to planning the tour, she told the tour agency to contact me for guiding Hillary Clinton. I was on bed rest for the last two years due to a slipped disc problem. My colleagues in the tourism circle were aware of it. Hence when the inquiry from the agency came they apprised them of my health situation. I resumed my service on January 15, 2023. Anyhow, the agency contacted me, inquired about my health status and obtained my consent. When Suzi arrived with Hillary Clinton she inquired about my ailment. This is how I got the VVIP assignment,” said Alim Quadri adding that God is Great.