We were overwhelmed by the number of family members who came to the airport to bid us farewell and a safe journey home. Ravi and Minny left Gudur before dawn for a three-hour journey to the airport; Chandra, Sampath, Uma, Kumari came from afar the previous days and Usha, Santhosh, Raju and Sujatha came from Chennai. They all came to have one final chance to say goodbye. Imagine taking a six-hour round trip like Ravi and Minny did just to say farewell at the airport.
We arrived to the airport early to give Ammamma plenty of time for her goodbyes. There were endless hugs and tears and more gifts exchanged.
A Malaysia Airlines employee came with a wheelchair and took Ammamma away through priority boarding and with a wave she bid farewell to her extended family and her homeland. It was meant to be her farewell tour, but would it be? Perhaps like a rock band from the ‘60s Ammamma will have multiple farewell tours. We can only hope so.
Most Indian airports don’t allow visitors into the check in area but Chennai allows an observation area. The four of us stood in the emigration queue for almost half an hour and each time we looked back to the observation area in the distance we could see the family wildly waving goodbye to us. I think eventually their arms tired as we looked back once again when we reached the head of the queue. We couldn’t see Santhosh towering over the rest in the crowd, we couldn’t see Chandra waving like he was trying to land a plane and we couldn’t see Sampath’s huge white grin. The family was gone and we were on our own.
After nearly 20 years of being married to Padma, I knew family ties in India were strong but I never imagined they were as strong as what I experienced first hand in our three weeks in India. Families take care of each other in India and that was crystal clear as family took care of every single need we had. They did so lovingly and not out of obligation.
In Kuala Lumpur, we bid farewell to Ammamma and Xander who boarded a flight to Perth while Padma, Joseph and I flew to Adelaide. We arrived home safely after an uneventful flight yet the curry aromas exuding from our pores reminded us that India was not far away.
We plunged headfirst into India and accepted her for what she is. She rewarded us by embracing us with caring and loving arms. You will either love India or hate it. Some will only see the dirt, the noise and the chaos. Others will see a magical land exploding with colour, aromas, and experiences unique to the Indian subcontinent. It is not for everyone but we discovered that India is indeed for us.
For Padma, Joseph and Xander, India is in their DNA so the journey provided a rewarding opportunity to get in touch with their ancestral roots.
For me, the journey was rejuvenating. It brought back memories of the adventurous days of my youth when I was a cultural traveller and would immerse myself into the cultures of Southeast Asia, Central America and the Middle East. I’ve missed those times after 20 years of living a stable and sedentary yet comfortable and happy life in Australia. In Andhra Pradesh I relived those days. There I was an oddity – a seldom-seen foreigner. Yet I felt perfectly at ease and in a familiar environment and with a camera wrapped around my neck and endless subjects to record I felt I was right where I should be and where I’ve been yearning to be for the past two decades.