A very special birthday

The last time I was in India for my birthday was three years ago. It was a memorable birthday spent with my collegemates at a reunion in Varanasi. 

The last time I was with my parents on my birthday was in 2003! 

Recently my dad fell down (again) with his Parkinsons and stubborness both advancing more or less equally. So I decided to come spend the thanksgiving week with my parents in Chennai. 

Was welcomed shortly after midnight by the immigration officer who was nice and greeted me but missed the fact that it was my birthday. 

Had a short nap after three back to back flights and went to see Kabali early in the morning. My mom gave me some money to go buy a shirt. She insisted. I happened to be the first customer for the store. They were delighted to have a very happy smiling temple going dude as their first customer and I got to pray with them again as they did the prayer to start business for the morning. 

My dad is definitely doing better, but I think he is going on some adrenalin rush in the happiness of seeing his son back. This is a happy post, so I will stay positive. He is walking a 100 steps today. That is a big deal given he was not moving three weeks ago.

Then my mom insisted on some mini vadai and payasam to celebrate.. pre-diabetic label be damned, I promptly dug in. 

This was followed by a whirlwind trip from old Cupertino to old Fremont (sorry.. Mylapore to West Mambalam)  with an auto in waiting to see San's grandparents.

This is definitely a more adventurous ride.. see the two timelapses below..

The day is still not over but I am happy that my parents are smiling today. 

Have a few more temples to visit and relatives to meet. It has been a different and great birthday experience this year. Thanks to everyone for the wishes on social media. 

Ganesh Chaturthi 2016

Ganesha's birthday is usually celebrated in this house, except under extreme duress when we have cut a cake and sang a happy birthday song to celebrate it western style. 

Usually though, San and or MIL do the good eats, I do the pooja and we all eat and take a nice nap after being stuffed to the gills with Kozhukattai (dumplings)!

Today the long weekend helped with the relaxed atmosphere. I went to yoga class while San finished making the dumplings and Vadai.. which I will now present to you in HDR.. it was yummy. I say it in past tense because we were all digging in as fast as we could.

San has understood the concept of suppy and demand and recently she makes very small quantities of delicious stuff. The thing disappears off the kitchen table as soon as it is offered to the gods and she claims success! 

Some of my friends call this "sundar going into full Poojari mode"..will take that as a compliment. The apple did not fall far from the tree. . .  

There is a good chance this prayer thing might die with my generation. Will do it while I can to celebrate a certain event in a certain way. After that.. the world evolves with or without you!

For some reason, going off the philosophical deep end again. My dad used to do the prayer with such gusto and happiness. Last week I was told by my mum that dad's hands are shaking so much that he doesn't sit for prayers anymore. 

Was physically here doing the prayer, but my mind was in Chennai hoping that the new medication they are giving him will stop the shakes or at least slow it down so we can have long coherent conversations on the phone again. 

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to everyone! 

Hope you had a dumpling filled day!