all part of life

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Amazing places of worship- Istanbul Day 2

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The previous post in this series is here..

Day 2 started with a nice breakfast at our hotel and we walked to the tour guide for an all day walking tour of Old Istanbul. Our Viator guide came on time and told us that we will have an hour and a half break. The other two folks in our tour (from Kerala, India) had opted for lunch while we didn’t. So he was going to give us a break. That meant everyone in our group was making their own plan for the rest of the day already! The kids are no longer kids, you see..

We walked through the Hippodrome area, got a lot of history of the place, how Christianity came to be what it is today, how Islam came to be what it is today, etc. One thing was certain.. no matter how big the empires and how great the buildings, time has a way of changing empires, religion and we are moving forward.

The grandeur of the two mosques we visited.. got my backbends for the day done, taking these pano shots.

First the few photos of us.. I just went nuts taking photos of the blue mosque and Hagia Sophia. These buildings are architectural marvels that are places of worship. The idea is to inspire awe, and that they do effortlessly as soon as you walk in. They humble you!

The portrait picture gallery..

And the gallery of landscape photos..

After the tour was done, we were taken to a multistory leather goods shop (apparently has a tie up with the tour for our rates). We got treated to a catwalk show of leather clothes. Given none of us in the family wear leather, we just enjoyed the experience, walked around the store, then went to the rooftop to take in views of the city. There was no obligation to buy and I could get Ramarajan shirts from 0 to 255 on the RGB color scale for the price of one of these jackets.

Then we walked to a nice restaurant called Sultana Cafe, which had vegetarian options. Our guide did good by taking us to this place. They had rice, aaloo parathas Turkish cousin, made right in front of us! and other veggie dishes that delighted the family. (also we saw Turkish crows that look like desi crows but have brown, black and gray feathers.. they are also called Kaa Kaa!!)

The photo I cherish the most from this days trip…

After this it was back to the hotel. It was hot out and we all wanted to clean up, rest our feet before meeting our tourguide for the afternoon session.

A video highlight reel of the mornings tour..

It was getting really hot and we made a dash for our hotel.. we had 90 minutes before catching our guide at the post lunch stop..

will pick it up there tomorrow.

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Summer 2025 Bikram Yoga 60 day challenge

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After the India trip and father’s day, had still not gone to the Yoga studio for a few days. I really did not want to face the string of condolence hugs. Then came International day of yoga.

We went there to smiling faces. Bikram Yoga San Jose has been home for me for 15 years now. Was not going to miss this. Got to pose with my poster to everyone’s amusement.

Then came July 1st. Was sitting there before class and was reminded that the challenge started. In spite of San giving me the look, signed up. There were conditions. No skipping hikes or other duties. No complaining of any kind as far as time constraints go.

Started on 1st and finished the challenge 5 days early. Felt good to be back in the hot room regularly. It was the best therapy I could ask for. Wanted to do all the 60 classes in my usual corner spot. Managed to do almost 90% of the classes in that spot. Everyone asks me why I pick that spot. There is a back story. BYSJ’s first manager was a wonderful man named Chris Cannavero. He left us too young. He always used to goad me into doing things with his sarcastic wit. When BYSJ moved into the new studio in 2012, he set up thermometers in different parts of the hot room and asked a few of us to keep watching the temperature through the class and report the temperature range. I was in the corner spot and it went to 112 F and for the most part stayed at 108 F. He claimed after that exercise that the corner spot was the hottest.

A few days later I went back a few spots and he called me a wuss for chickening out of being in the hottest spot. After he passed away, I just go to that spot in hopes he is giving me energy when I am about to collapse in a heap or when my brain tells my body to sit down. It may be my imagination, but my % of sitting out poses has become negligible over the years. Just will myself to do it. Now I can add my dad to the list of folks giving me energy every time I put my palms out facing the ceiling.

Every challenge is different, every class is different, every set is different, every side is different. Yoga is something that works on me at glacial pace. It works though!

There was a lot of clutter in my head and yoga helped me still my monkey mind, at least 90 minutes at a time.

A video clip..

A heartfelt thanks to Michelle and all my teachers, fellow students, friends and family for continuing to support me on this yoga journey!

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A graduation to remember - Jr.' finishes her Masters

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Jr’s (we still refer to her as Junior in this blog after 20 years) graduation was a highly anticipated and planned event. My in-laws were going to join us a few days before and there was a trip to Great sand Dunes National park etc. My dad’s passing changed everything. My in-laws did fly here and spend a few days with Jr. while we were performing last rites in India.

We flew in from India the previous evening and I flew out first flight to Irvine the next morning for the gowning ceremony. San drove a good 7+ hours with her parents with jet lag. I was still in a daze from the India visit. My voice was gone. it was like being in a twilight zone not being able to place feelings or facial expressions appropriately. The little one was going to drive two hours from her college right after finishing her last exam to be there for the gowning ceremony. However she got stuck in traffic and did not make it in time. So it was just me and the kid at the department function.

Got to talk to two of her professors. They were resilient given where the country was going with respect to health policy. Health expertise they said was going to be much needed given the times we live in. By the time the ceremony finished the little one joined us and we went to the hotel. San and her parents had also made it.

We got a short break, and went back to the stadium for the big graduation ceremony. It was a circus with parking, seating, everything. It was not easy for my in-laws to walk that much in a rush to make it on time.

Was glad to see the kid walk the stage! Was asking her to do a Ph.D but she smiled and declined politely. Said she wanted to get hands on experience in the real world. We all wished her well.

We were fortunate to have a dinner with my classmate and his family before driving out of UCI. They were her local guardians. We also got blessings from his in-laws who were celebrating their Sadabishegham.

The kids just drove off together. The oldies stayed back in the hotel and drove the next morning to Santa Barbara to show them the little one’s college. She gave us a quick tour and we all drove back. It was our wedding anniversary.

We did have a bittersweet wedding day and Father’s day celebration. The kids declared that “your dad is not there.. ours is right here. so stop moping, smile and come for lunch with us”. My facial expressions were all off that weekend. Looking at the pictures I look like that kathakali artist who could display happiness on one half of his face and sadness on the other.

There were good moments in summer. Just getting to blog about it and clear my iPhone. Next year we hope to celebrate the little one finishing her undergrad!

Here is a video clip (including the one the university sent us at the end of the video)..

Time is a great healer!

Copyright © 2012, Sundar Narayanan. All rights reserved.