A bluish black whistling thrush signalled that the first rays of the sun have arrived today morning. I was asleep in my tent, puzzled about the things that are going to happen next. Everyday, has been a roller coaster of upheaval and tests that do not seem to stop since I stepped foot in India on 21st September 2023.
I rise up and zip open the tent, I killed a few mosquitos last night. It takes some skill to kill them inside a wobbly tent with walls, as they are made of synthetic sheets. However, I had the most wonderful views of the moon lit sky from the triangular net windows of my makeshift sleeping space.
The sun had risen to shine on the summer solstice that is today, illuminating the darkest parts of the earth as it reached its peak closest to the Tropic of Cancer. It moved something immediately in me. The desire to take action on the restlessness that has been stirring for many weeks.
The action is to wake up already in a direction where it’s clear to me what the day is for - a day of finding a space where the tent is but a camping experience and not my everyday reality. My identity of an adventure enthusiast needed to be sacrificed the day I stepped into India two years ago.
I saw the sacrifice happen in front of my eyes before it happened.
And that’s why I thought, won’t it be cool to create a space where I can safely be outdoors in India and I know that I am not violating any unwritten laws of social conduct for women? I am yet to find a space that can do that. My ego was sacrificed at this altar of Indian women civility and it’s been two years and counting.
The glimmer of the dying light from today’s sunset shows me that I am glad that I sacrificed that ego. Because it was preventing me from seeing the true reality of what would unfold the moment such a space was made available to people. I will share what that is in the next chapter.
Om.