India 2015

Part 1

I’ve decided that I have too much to write, so I’ll post this story in a couple of installments. Here is India pt 1.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a woman of many hats- photographer among them. Another hat I often wear is as the Youth Director at our church. It’s with this hat on that I spent 6 months planning a trip to take my high school students to the beautiful country of India. I’d love to share more about the details of the trip from that perspective (get in touch and we’ll chat over chai!), but for now I switch to my photographer-sociologist-psychologist hat to share some of my favorite images and experiences.

India is a great and loud and salient place. It is rare to find subtlety; all the senses are constantly saturated. Women wear all colors and patterns always, their long fabrics flowing in the wind and dust. Every kind of transportation weaves together in a river of traffic with a constant chorus of horns- oxen and Ambassadors, rickshas and scooters and motorcycles and bikes. It smells of curry and people and land. The air is cool and dusty in one place, heavy and humid in another. All food is thick with flavor, overflowing with spices and only settled by fresh mango juice or sweet lime soda.

As this was not my first visit to India, I knew a little bit of what to expect. By no means was I any less blown away, though! The culture of hospitality and the importance of relationships and kindness were still overwhelming. I was able experience these even more closely through living, eating, and traveling with the Sundararajan family. I will be forever grateful for their friendship and anxiously await our next encounter!