Washington DC (TAN): We arrived at the Indian Embassy in Arlington on a bright sunny morning, a little nervous that we were scheduled to meet the Ambassador of India to the United States H.E. Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
After a fifteen minute wait, he was there with a welcoming smile on his face. I got the opportunity to present my book Shadows of Solitude to him.
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From the Embassy, a car drove us to the Cannon Building, right opposite the Capitol in Washington DC. We met the young, dashing Ro Khanna, the famous Congress representative from California at the House of Representatives. He had arranged for a special guided tour of the Capitol for us, and it was an experience of a lifetime.
There are several phases in which you get to see the Capitol – the old Senate, the Supreme Court Chamber, the nine coat hangers of the nine Chief Justices, and many many more. The stairway that leads you to those chambers are shrouded in history.
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At last, you see the most magnificent part, the dome, which was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol, and was constructed between 1855 and 1866. The fresco Apotheosis of Washington was painted by Greek-Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865 and visible through the oculus of the dome in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building.
There is this beautiful souvenir store where you get all sorts of things – from the Capitol dome carved on dark chocolate, to T-shirts, coffee mugs and even cufflinks.
Washington DC will steal your heart with its grandeur. If you’re at DC, make sure you have at least five days in hand to absorb its old-world charm.
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Author Aryani Banerjee gives us a peak into her US trip in this series
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