Sunrise over the Ocean

I have been waking every morning around 4 a.m. I don’t know why I just do. I mentioned this to Sundar and he suggested a sunrise viewing in Kanyakumari. So this morning we met at 4:45 a.m. to catch the bus for the 45 minute trip to the very southern most tip of India. On this tip is a large Temple built to honor Gandhi, and off the tip are two LARGE rocks, one with a statue Thearuvallur, (sort of an Indian version of the Statue of Liberty) and one with another large temple, Vivekanda. The sun rises directly behind this temple and statue. In the Hindu tradition it is a great thing to watch the sunrise, as the sun is a god and to see the sunrise is to know that life is full and great. Hindus do not watch the sunset, it is a bad omen of sorts. We arrive

d well before sunrise, just as the sky was beginning to lighten. Slowly, we watched as the clouds became illuminated and pink and gold and blue and the beautiful bright sun, with perfectly placed clouds, began to rise behind the temple. The shore line was packed with hundreds of people, all in prayer, as the sky became brighter and brighter. Watching the sunrise is also a romantic event, like an American sunset. There were young married couples, old men in prayer, young children, a group of college students from the North and everything inbetween, all here to share in this sacred experience of Sunrise in Kanyakumari.

The horizon is dotted with hundreds of fishing boats, and as I look across this great expanse Sundar explains that I am looking where three oceans converge

. I am looking at the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. I will bring home the differing sands of each.

As the sun peeked over the horizon the crowd cheered and clapped and thanked god for another beautiful day, and as I clapped along I thought “now THIS is gratitude. I think the next time I see a beautiful sight in nature, I too shall applaud.