Letter to my Mom and Dad

Two friends and I went to Elephanta Island (I mentioned this before, but not in detail).

We got the last ferry over, and I learned how to count to ten in Hindi during the 45 minute boat ride, in between enjoying the view of Mumbai’s skyline and of the beautifully dressed family across from us with three kids who kind of tumbled all over each other and their parents.

After docking and leaping to the pier, we walked towards the center of the island, past rows of stalls selling everything from purses and intricately latticed stone elephant carvings, to these bitter-dry purple berries and grilled corn. It reminded me a little bit of the road to the volcano in El Salvador, where there are flowers vendors and people selling atol.

The caves themselves were incredible. They are actually carved far into the stony walls and are ancient and beautiful and deeply spiritual feeling. You walk though a series of pillars, and it gets darker and cooler the further you go in. the pillars were both graceful and strong, creating a sense of depth and space. They reminded me of one of your photos, mom - the one of some Byzantine church or something, where there are rows of pillars, you know? Etched into the walls were very detailed religious scenes, of Shiva and Ganesh and other Hindu gods. My friend told us the story behind one of the depictions –

Two brothers were asked

One small room was filled with yellow and orange and white flowers, and leaked out this thick sweet incense – a smell that will always remind me of this place. There was a space beyond the caves where rainwater collected during the previous years’ monsoon, and which the island’s three villages use for their drinking water. Water, especially clean water, is so precious here.

Earlier, we had spotted several monkeys in the trees by the cave’s entrance – hop-leaping from one spindly bowed over branch to another and nibbling at what most have been tiny berries. On our way out, we almost ran into a whole crowd of them gathered around a shallow pool by a water spigot – and there were babies ! they were miniature and bald and you could just barely see them peeping out from their mom’s stomach and arms. The adults were pretty small, but their faces looked old and wise, and their fingers seemed very purposeful in all of their movements. We watched them drink delicately from the pool of water, and a few of the babies ventured away from their parents for a few steps… I could’ve stayed there for hours.

We caught the last ferry ride -- and it was so much fun! The sun was starting to sink so everything was golden and blue, and the breeze was in our faces, and the boatmen played the radio, so our voyage had a bollywood soundtrack which made it feel like a film montage – I felt so alive and fresh and invigorated and fast-traveling and felt like my whole body-mind was saying “ YESSS!”