It’s been seven years since I stepped on this soil, there was no feeling of a missing memory, my presence was always here. Yet, I needed to regain the knowledge of my roots. Upon arriving in Agra, I saw the green and orange flag with the print of a wheel in the middle, there was no wind, the flag wasn’t moving and heat was rising, but it was still. It was perfect.
“Good morning class, today we’ll be discussing about the Mughal Empire and the rule of Shah Jahan, also widely recognized as the prince who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved, Mumtaz” I heard the voice of my AP World History teacher telling me this as I was approaching the Mahal, but what I saw was beyond expected. The details on the walls were ornamented in a way a human could never imagine. The architectural design was an interlocking arabesque concept, behind the Taj Mahal was the sacred river Jamuna, placed in its serenity. You heard the Indian sitar, the people laughing and their faces in awe from the splendor of this paradise.
There was diversity present from around the world, but all belonging to the appreciation of faith, of culture, that brings a piece of our puzzle to humanity’s history. The land of my ancestors, the ruby soil on which I was born, love of all spirituality is what was carried inside me, but the appreciation wasn’t apparent, and in the moment of stepping onto the marbles of the floor, it was alive.
The roads on the highway seemed well established
but some were still coarse and bumpy. The stench of all the animals, cows on the side of roads were making conditions worse in the weather, yet beauty was present. I now arrived in Dharamsala city.
Everyday I was watching a group of yogis in a small corner of a temple meditating.
“Ong namo guru dev namo,” the mantras were like the waves of the ocean, serene.
“Mommy, why do you keep humming? Aap kya kare ho? What is the point of you doing this all the time?”
I was young and confused. What could sitting there and just closing your eyes do for you? Not even realizing, I was following in my motherland’s footsteps.
Influenced with no words being spoken directly to me, I began the process of meditation. My mind was still, and the Universe surrendered. “Aum” submerged into me and vibrated through my soul, and what I encountered was nothingness. My silence was shared with the art of “nothing”, and as I stayed still in my lotus position, I felt the breeze, the air had this scent of exotic spices.
I received my answer.
My visitation to a country of ancient temples, marbles of Taj Mahal, tranquility of the Dharamsala temples forever changed me.
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