Holi 2017

A lot of folks celebrated Holi last weekend. I had just got back from Asia and was very tired, not to mention going through tooth ache. So we were very happy to celebrate Holi this weekend with friends.

Eveyone was colored.. we saw Indians, Chinese, White folks, Hispanic folks, black folks. . . the pets.. and we pulled in the cops to play Holi as well and they were nice and got colored by the kids! 

There were a 1000+ people in Foster city and the gang went and had a fun time with colors and jumped around to music from the DJ.

Here are a few pictures that just show how big this was.. 

 

and the one shot that made my day of the 200+ taken over two hours..

Happy Holi everyone! May this year bring you a feeling of oneness with everyone around you.. When you are all colored in such hues, you realize what true equality is and happiness is in sharing love!

Today total strangers came and put colors on me and let me put colors on them.. we gave a smile, hugs and wished Happy Holi !!

As long as there is love, there is hope!

Navarathri Golu 2016

This year we had Navarathri over two weekends, which is always a plus compared to it being spread only over one weekend!

Was way busy with work and had just come back from another overseas trip at the beginning of the festival. Wife, MIL and kids made it to all the Golu's while I chauffered them to select places over the weekends only. They took pictures of Golu's I missed so we can add it to the blog.

The highlight of this years festival was these two photos which we will cherish for a long time. Many thanks to our friends for the clicks and cracking the right jokes at the right time!

 

You need two things for good family pictures. Good lighting and good jokes that the entire family can get!

Then there were the golus. Neat and clean and simple, to complex to creative! Best part was to see the little displays the kids create on window sills and on the floor next to the Golus.. National parks, Hamma bead towns, cricket sets.. you can see they all are still setting classic three slips and a gully while the New Zealand team is now going to a field set up that has only third slip and gully!.. okay, where was I? yes, Golus!

We also had kids sing and dance and Jr. played the saxophone in two of the Golus. She is getting better. I get berated by my friends for giving her "feedback" after her performance, which is interesting in its own way. 

Here is a video of her doing the Thillana this year.

Hope next year she will do the entire piece without any mistakes. I am very proud of her, but given her ability, if she just practiced a little more instead of two days before the festival starts, she could have aced the whole thing! 

Finally the Golus.. enjoy the slideshow!  

Thanks to all our friends who invited us this year. It was fun. Next year, will try to visit everyone!

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!