Mission Accomplished

My last few days in Sri Lanka were more than I could have asked for, because it was the bookend to my journey. In the end of my two months, I managed to "touch the hearts and minds" of all the people I came in contact with and they touched mine as well. It's always been important to me to see my family and keep close ties with them. Growing up in New York, I didn't have the same experience as many of my other cousins or friends who had all their relatives around them, instead mine were scattered across the world. 

This summer allowed me to find a piece of myself I had lost sight of in my daily life back in DC. I used to complain to my friends about how I "used to" be a good person and that was because in high school I did homeless runs, volunteered everywhere, and fund-raised for different causes all the time. Going back to my roots in Sri Lanka, gave me a fresh perspective and an opportunity to see myself in a new light. As I became more engrossed at my University, I would begin to believe anything and everything negative about myself but spending these past two months in Sri Lanka really helped me re-evaluate everything I do and why I do it. 

I do them, because that's what I enjoy, that's what makes me happy. A hard day's work, just lending a helping hand, being a smiling face and being there for others. I was some kind of hope or inspiration to my family, my students as well as the women in Shanthi Nivasa. We became each other's escape from monotony. I have a clearer mind than which I started with and that's because I was able to simply focus on being a better person. 

My last days in Ja-ela, I was able to reflect upon where my father had come from and where I formed my original memories of Sri Lanka. I traveled the same paths I did when I was younger, and everything has changed, the only thing that still remains true are my memories. How the sunlight used to slide through the window panes and into the house, how I used to run around from morning til night with my cousins, how I would climb trees, make flower necklaces, dig my feet deep into the mud. Each memory holds a precious gift of the magic I remember and I still can't find. But I guess that's why we cherish our childhood, because nothing is ever as magical as it is when you see it for the first time as a child. Everything else is only building upon that foundation.