It has been almost 4 months since I left Andhra Pradesh, India. Not a day goes by where I do not miss the time spent playing with children in orphanages, picking groundnuts in the fields, visiting the lepers in the hospital, and being swarmed by people in remote villages. India, a country of extreme poverty, heat, pollution, and territorial disputes, is home to some of my favorite people, the most amazing food, and brightest colors.
It is home to Gandhi or “Babuji” (his Telugu name) and the modern movement of civil disobedience and nonviolence. It is home to Nehru, the first prime minister who tried to unite two very distinctive religious groups. It is home to Jinnah who out of frustration and religious patriotism created Pakistan in opposition. Sadly, shortly after the independence of India in 1947, Gandhi would be assassinated by a lone gunman. Still without the work of three leaders and millions of nationals, India would not be the place it is today. Though they are learning and at times overpopulated, there is still promise in their future.
Today, I would like to be exuberant and celebrate a India’s independence and partition from British imperialism.
