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The year was 2009 and the Sri Lankan civil war was at its darkest moment. At the age of 29, it was my first experience travelling overseas. My tour agent arranged a flight to New Delhi with a 12 hours layover in Sri Lanka. Memories of coconut trees swaying to the sea breeze and the sound of waves were the few things I could recall. Yet, the intense feeling that came along with it was unforgettable. This land is war-torn, scarred by decades long civil war! Yet, my inner voice said, “This is it. This is your destiny. This foreign land. One day you must come back here.” Soon, I bid farewell to this strange land, dismissing its obvious enchantment. Three month later, on May 19 2009, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE was killed. 25 years of violence and conflict ended and Sri Lanka finally ceased fire. After that, I didn’t think much of the tiny island nation until I had a second flight layover in Sri Lanka in 2015, almost six years after I first set foot on this mystical country. It was a slightly longer layover of 21 hours so I decided to go on a day trip. Negombo is a famous fishing town near the airport. Beautiful churches line up the streets and one such is the enchanting St Mary’s Church. Here, my inner voice told me “Pray that you’ll return, but next time for many days”. Usually, I approach spirituality with measured skepticism but that day I PRAYED hard. Soon after, the opportunity to visit Sri Lanka presented itself in the form of an invitation for a wedding reception dinner at Vavuniya, Sri Lanka and I accepted it without a second thought. Eventually, I arrived to Sri Lanka for the third time on November, 2016. Upon arrival, my inner voice thanked me. I was keen to understand this strange calling. Thereupon, I was eager to discover everything about this foreign land. I wandered around the great Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and marveled at its architecture, I was enchanted by the Kandyan cultural dance and strolled along the vibrant Kandyan streets. I travelled from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya by the famous blue train. Clearly, it was one of the most scenic and memorable train rides I ever had. Next, I decided to climb the Sigiriya Rock. Reaching the top of this ancient rock fortress gave me a great sense of achievement. I also witnessed one of the largest Wild Asian Elephant gathering in the world at the beautiful Minneriya National Park . It was tempting to linger in Sigiriya but I had to attend the wedding reception at Vavuniya. After that, my search would take me 100km to a port city in the east coast of Sri Lanka. Guided only by my instinct and the need for some seafood and the beach, I was on my way to Trincomalee. By now it dawned on me that I am reaching the end of my adventure in Sri Lanka. I arrived at Trincomalee on a cold, rainy evening. I wished it will stop raining and strange enough the rain stopped! Suddenly, a timid, spotted deer appeared in the middle of the road. Is this a sign? On the insistence of my car driver, I walked up to the top of the Swamy Rock to find a larger than life statue of the Hindu God, Shiva. Chills ran down my spine. I’ve found it at last! The place that my soul yearns. What a magnificent feeling! Many questions ran in my mind. Questions that had all been answered ever since then. After all, I have frequented Sri Lanka and its ancient Shiva temple every year since 2016. I’ve also grown fond of the Sri Lankans and their culture and have learnt to speak their language too. At the beginning of my journey, I thought that my soul searching was just a taboo but at the end, I’ve found my source of inspiration, idea and my inner peace. To be sure, I am glad that I went on this life changing spiritual adventure and found a sense of belonging in Lanka. Om Namah Shivaya.