Preserving life and beauty at the Taj Mahal

After some routine garden maintenance after work today, I had a flashback of a small incident at the Taj Mahal. Though it was only 7 or 8 am in the morning, there were already lots of people at the site. I was walking towards the tomb, along side the reflecting pond and tentatively listening to my guide about the history. Then all of a sudden, my guide put his arms in front of me, his hand almost touching my chest and motioned me to stop. I wasn't paying much attention and walked another step but somehow, the guide, without touching me, stopped me from putting another foot down and said "look", his eyes looking at what's beneath my foot. When I looked down, I was surprised to find a beautiful, colorful butterfly with intricute patterns 2 inches from me stepping on it. I immediate realized what bad omen it could have been if I have stepped on it at the Taj Mahal and thanked the guide profusely for saving me from such misfortune. We continued walking without making a big deal but later that day, I realized that it was something magical - the subtlety of beauty and life being preserved conscientiously, as it happened to me, in a very small way, at such an appropriate place - the Taj Mahal.

Me, happy at the Taj...