For me, India was both incredibly familiar but curiously foreign, a dizzying array of sites, sounds and smells. A place where I felt the welcoming embrace of the people and the land. India is a country where the ancient meshes with the modern, where you are enveloped with brightly colored silk sari and the warm welcoming smiles of the people.
The vibrant hues of the subcontinent are accompanied by an orchestra of children laughing, horns honking and the upbeat tempo of the latest Bollywood soundtrack. Towering Hindu temples which set the stage for millenia old rituals sit amidst modern buildings and even in cities cars dart around cows which lazily graze alongside the road. Though I had never visited India before it had a familiar feel to it - my master's research is on diasporic Hindu traditions in the United States so I had spent a significant amount of time immersed in Indian culture. In the U.S. the Indian community is a hodge-podge of people from all over the subcontinent, some recent immigrants, others long-term residents or natural born U.S. citizens who had created homes and lives in the U.S. long ago. The diverse Indian Hindu community brought along their traditions and rituals and established them in their new country and I had the privilege of being welcomed in by one such community. Therefore the chatter in numerous languages, the vibrant colors of sari and salwar kameez, the smell of incense and clanging of the bell, the taste of pongal and vada were all familiar. However, in India everything I saw, heard, tasted and experienced was magnified under the bright sun, along the dusty roads and amidst the cacophonous sounds within the temples. For me India wasn't just a country to which I wanted to travel to but a place I wanted to experience and this trip, thanks to my friend Chaitanya, her hospitable family and friendly neighbors, has been just that, an incredible and memorable journey where I felt at peace and content and more than a bit of sadness upon leaving. However, I'm comforted with the fact that I know I will return. नमस्ते |