Touching the thick glass window, I could feel heat emanating from the pane, although I was seated in a chilly, air conditioned passenger plane. It had just landed and was still coasting the rough gravel runway of the Mumbai airport, yet the familiar clicking of seatbelts being unfastened, though the “fasten your seatbelt” sign was still on, brought my senses to full wakefulness.

Everyone around me was rushing to gather their bags and depart the cramped quarters, as I just sat, contemplating. “Am I really here?” I slowly got my backpack and stood along with the rest of those waiting to disembark. As the plane’s doors opened, a wave of heat rushed in to greet me, along with a blend of unique scents: some good, some not-so-great.

Excited, but terribly nervous at the same time, I tried hard to remember why I was doing this. “Come on!” I told myself. “You’ve wanted to do this for a long time! You’ve been working for more than a year to afford it. Imagine, a year in India, working to help the underprivileged, giving classes to inmates, cheering mentally handicapped children. This is what you want to do.” Having sufficiently psyched myself up, I stepped out of the airplane, descended the rickety staircase, and my feet touched the ground of the land I had dreamed of so long. Continue Reading