Deja Vu

It is so wonderful to be back with SVYM in Mysore!

The past few days have been filled with deja vu moments - while two years have passed since I last visited, everything still feels so familiar. It's a strange mix of similarities and differences... the physical is almost the same, with the exception of a number of beautiful renovations at SVYM's Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies (VIIS), but the intangibles are so different. When I visited last, I had never traveled this far away from home on my own, and never to a resource-poor environment for an extended period of time. I was unsure of myself, my goals and abilities, and how I would both navigate and handle being immersed in a culture so different from my own.

And yet, despite all of these initial concerns, I found a way to thrive in ambiguity, to communicate across language barriers and came to both respect and admire the deeply spiritual, sense-filling world that is this little part of India. It was here, at SVYM, that I began to discover myself for the first time. And in turn, these discoveries shaped my last two years at Cornell and continues to contribute to the opportunities and experiences that come my way. It feels incredibly fitting to return to the place that catalyzed my personal growth and transformation immediately after graduation. I've come full-circle, and I can't wait to see what the next chapter has in store for me. Bring it on, world... I'm ready!

We were all smiles after some successful sari shopping at the same store from 2 years ago!