Sundaze

The land of spirituality. A place to find yourself. The wellspring of god/enlightenment/peace/happiness.

We’ve all heard these euphemistic descriptions of India. I encountered them prior to my arrival, and I certainly am bombarded with them now that I am here. So many people from every nationality come to this place seeking solace, answers and inner change. While there is no doubt that India is imbued with spirituality, a land filled with seekers is not always a positive place in which to reside. Many come to India expecting her to fix their problems, to heal mental and emotional wounds, or to run away from lives and realities back home. On the other hand, pilgrims and devotees and yogis can be incredibly inspiring with their bhakti and dedication.

I’d recently felt a deep frustration that my life here felt – at times – rather mundane. Press releases and mailing christmas presents and budgeting are things I can do anywhere in the world. Working and residing in India is quite different from romantically, haphazardly backpacking around for months on end. Yet I’ve always been grateful that I am seeing India from a day-to-day urban perspective. Chennai is quite cultured, if barely cosmopolitan. What we lack in nightlife and liberal alcohol laws we make up for in classical music and dance. Still, I found myself feeling challenged by the fact that my India was, in many ways, a life quite ordinary. But I was simply missing the details.

About week ago, along the walk to work, a group of men began to build an enormous structure in the middle of the road. At first I thought it was a bus depot, then perhaps an impromptu wedding hall. It turns out it is a puja, or worship/ritual structure that has gone up in honour of an important pilgrimage that takes place this time of year. On Friday, this place was lit up and featured live musicians and various hawkers and the requisite firecrackers. There were 20ft tall images of the three important Hindu goddesses outlined in tiny coloured lights. And yesterday, as we three interns were trying to catch a rickshaw to a Tara book launch, we got stuck in the midst of a long parade. Well-dressed women and children carried oil lamps as the men danced around with drums and horns, and all moved ahead of a large deity processing on an oxcart. A brahmin priest sitting with the deity gave me ash for my forehead. And I smiled as I remembered why my life here will never be mundane. I merely have to open my eyes – something I can do anywhere in the world.

As if to reassert this point, Natalia convinced me to go to a Carnatic (classical South Indian style) music concert on the beach at 5:30 on Sunday morning. The (free) concert was to feature two of today’s most revered and talented professional vocalists, and was to be Chennai’s first professional sunrise seaside event. While I will typically sleep in until 11am or noon on a weekend, a small voice inside urged me to go. We rode our bikes to Kalekshetra, the dance academy/school near the shores of the Bay of Bengal. We then walked down a torch-lit path to the beach, where there were 300 other early risers mingling in the pre-dawn light. We settled on a mat just in front of the musicians, and listened to the most beautiful music as the sun rose over the ocean.

It was, by far, the most moving experience of my time here in India. The vocalists started by chanting Om and Sanskrit mantras to the sounds of crashing waves and accompanied by Indian violin and percussion. Then, as the light in the east grew brighter, so did their songs. They picked up the tempo, welcoming the day, as local fisherman wandered across the beach to hear the music. At one point, I felt compelled to envision myself doing the Sun Salutation (flowing series of yoga poses meant to honour the sun and invigorate your day). I breathed in time with each imagined pose, doing one complete salutation. I opened my eyes, looked towards the sunrise, and saw a dozen young yogis, all dressed in white, going through their own Sun Salutations. It was surreal!!! I felt so connected to my surroundings by the music and the environment and the yoga (real and imagined). What a beautiful way to start a Sunday!