Walking out of the airport in Chennai we were greeted with the smells of exhaust, food, dirt, body odor, and feces, all mixed together and hung on us with humidity. It was midnight and yet there were hundreds of Indians in sight, along with traffic and the sound of car horns honking… I thought to myself, “welcome to India”.
We all stood there, exhausted, soaking everything in when we were greeted by two familiar faces who gave us each locus flowers – the locus is the flower of India, symbolizing that through all the dirt and mud, a beautiful flower can bloom and live. They led us to our bus, which drove us another 3 ½ hours or so to the Sri Arobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.
After about 35 hours of traveling, we had finally made it! It was shortly after 4 am so we weren’t really able to see much, but we eagerly unpacked, showered, and then instead of going to bed for a few hours, we decided to explore. We walked down to the beach just in time to watch the bright, orange sun rise over the ocean; and not only were we able to watch the sunrise, but we were also able to watch the town of Pondicherry come to life.
During our welcome/opening, a local man referred to India as the land of spirituality and discovery – and what I have seen so far, it’ll be just that. It is a land of poverty and beauty, it is a land of simplicity and rich/strong culture, and it is a land of death and of life; but most importantly, it is a land of love.
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