I woke up hearing an announcement ‘please fasten your seat belts’. It was good to hear that. The journey didn’t seem as tiring as I thought. We landed in the Chicago international airport. The airport was huge compared to those back in my home country. There were even walking escalators where you just have to stand and you get going, which I did not find in any of the airports at home. There were custom shops, restaurants, small gift shops and even cafes and I could see a small fast train running above. I was led to the port of entry officer and he asked a few questions about my stay and visa status in the USA. He gave me a form to fill it out. I did and returned it to him. I was through the customs and emigration soon and took my luggage and was eager to see my cousin who lives here. There he was waiting for me at the exit gate. I was at Chicago with my cousin for a couple of days before I first landed in Purdue University.

In India one would find a peculiar aspect amongst people of all religions. They all have a native town. They live in a particular city and have a native town in some other part of India, where their ancestors have lived for generations together. As I mentioned earlier I live in the city of hyderabad, but my native town is in south India, known as tirupati. There is a very famous and popular temple in tirupati, which is situated at the top of a hill. This temple holds the record for the largest number of people visiting it in a day. People wait for two, at times three days, to get a view of the god for just about ten seconds!! The Tirupati temple houses Lord Vishnu, considered to be a very powerful temple. As you enter the sanctum of the temple you can feel the force field of energy around the god being injected into you. I stood in absolute awe in font of the god. An extremely beautiful structure made in a shining black stone, with a body armor made in gold with every intricate detail being taken care off and upwardly facing palm of the god blessing all the devotees is a sight which one must see and feel. The light of a huge flame lights up the sanctum and there is no type of mechanized material inside the sanctum. Still I could see how bright it was inside the temple and enjoyed every moment that I spent with god and as I was praying I felt I was going into a state of trance and flow with god there guiding me and blessing me at all times. There are other temples of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu with each of the housing a different form of the god and maintaining their own individuality and having their own place in history. In one of the temples we visited a drop of water continuously falls on the stop of Lord Shiva through the wall. Researchers from all over the world have visited this temple to find out the source of water but were not able to do so. Isn’t this an indication of the true presence of god, I would certainly like to think so.

I entered Purdue in spring 2002. It’s been a great experience here, but as I have been here for almost a year and a half, I remember home more often and sometimes feel home-sick. I am originally from Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, one of the 27 states in INDIA. I was and born and brought up in Hyderabad. I have lived in the city all these years before coming to study here in Purdue University. I live in a place called Jubilee hi

Some topics in this essay:
, Purdue University, Lord Vishnu, India India, Tropic Cancer, Lord Shiva, Andhra Pradesh, Vishnu Brahma, Eastern Europe, native town, looked visitor’s, northern india, lord shiva, dear ones, south india, purdue university, lord vishnu, sect people, powerful yellow,