The finger smudges ran all over the glass booth with a sign that read Airtel. A man from inside the booth shuffled about while a blonde woman outside the booth stared at him in annoyance. A figure came over with a slight frown juggling a passport in one hand and a phone in another. The crowd gathered around him like he was the one true messiah. I looked at the crowd into their tired eyes, barely any sleep, yet eager for the messiah to give them a nod. A confirmation. He turned towards me and handed me my phone and muttered something. As I reached out for it, a message appeared and I smiled widely. I had a functioning phone and my Popola (grandfather) had just called.
It had been four years since I last stepped foot in the Delhi airport. I recalled vividly the emptiness. It was a ghost town and I was bound on a repatriation flight as part of the Government of India’s Mission Vande Bharat during the covid pandemic. Four years later, the hustle and bustle of people rushing about, the never ending honks of cars, and the smell of spices in the air made me smile. There was a familiarity in this wonderful chaos.
I was back in India and this time I had come as part of a fellowship cohort of young people trying to make their own impact in this ever-changing world. The more than two years I had spent in my small, rural town in Ecuador, I hoped, would help me somewhat navigate the Indian development sector. I was to be placed in Jaipur, a comparatively large city of more than 4 million people working with a waste management company. What little I knew of waste were the two bins marked trash and recycling on my driveway back home. I guess I did wonder once, a long time ago about what happens to our waste. But that was now a distant thought…
I wasn’t nervous or that excited of this new endeavor. It was a culture I was familiar with, I felt comfortable in my environment, and I knew the language. I had only just carefully followed all the steps that led me to this point standing in the airport with my hands full of suitcases. Maybe I was looking for some butterflies in my stomach or the voice in my head telling me I had made the wrong decision. However, that didn’t come.
Instead, I reached for my phone and dialed Popola’s number as I had missed his previous call. After a brief few minutes of assuring him that I had arrived safely, I hung up the call. My heart felt full and warm. I realized that whatever led me here had happened for a reason and for now I was happy with that answer. The world started opening up again, the future with its beautiful possibilities and new learnings. The sky seemed a bit clearer even through the smog. I clutched each suitcase tightly and strolled past the big exit doors with a sense that all was right in this world.
