Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Leaving on a Jet Plane


It wasn’t easy getting out of Sethu’s Ambassdor, loading the bags onto a luggage cart and making our way through the sliding doors for ticked passengers only. Even more difficult was saying goodbye to the three people to whom be owe much gratitude for making our time in Chennai so memorable: Sethu, Joyce and Sekar. Before arriving at the airport, we visited the Thiruvanmiyur Shiva temple and had a brief dinner at the Guindy Sangeetha where I enjoyed my last authentic South Indian dosai (of paper masala variety) and we all tried to eat, knowing that a painful goodbye was close at hand. Kaia was curiously upbeat and excited (something he hadn’t been for days) as he popped little idlis in his mouth.



At the airport it was all tears and silences. Not much you can say about saying goodbye that doesn’t come off sounding shallow or patronizing. Kaia was really quiet from the time we left the restaurant and made the 5 minute drive to the airport. He knew what was going on. So what to say about how it went? I guess I was a bit surprised that it wasn’t MORE emotional than it was, but I suppose it was because we were all spent from the previous few days. In particular, I’ll never forget indiamama reading Joyce the letter of recommendation that we wrote for her…it was almost like a living eulogy…

So, thank you Joyce, Sekar and Sethu. Joyce, we love you more than you’ll ever let yourself know, Sekar, thank you for all your support, and Sethu, we couldn’t have survived without your consistent rescues—you are like Superman in a Radhamma getaway car!

Why I Love this Time: Forging relationships like these that transcend citizenship, class, caste and gender is not a minor thing. Few have the opportunity to experience such depth of connection and I am thankful that we’ve been able to, particularly Kaia.

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