Aanya Anand
During Thanksgiving break in November of 2017, I along with many others part of Chinmaya Mission went on a Yatra in Trinidad conducted by Acharya Vivekji. While I at first didn’t really know what was going to happen on the trip and what exactly we were going to do, I was still very excited to go on this Yatra because I knew it would be an incredibly unique experience. When we got to the ashram, we were greeted by several people who accepted us lovingly into their community. It made it that much easier to feel at home in this Chinmaya Mission abroad. Everything we did on the trip, from doing puja at 5am in the morning, to meditations, to listening to Prakashananda speak about the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita, to exploring the beautiful island of Trinidad was something so different from anything I had done before. I met so many people my age from different Balavihars across the country and was able to listen to their experience as well as share my own. Throughout the whole trip, I really got to understand on a deeper level our culture and I got to reflect on myself, my life, the people in my life, and develop a greater love for all those things. Being able to dive into this retreat for a week without cellphones and just listening and reflecting was such an amazing experience and one that I would do again in a heartbeat.