Happy Deepavali 2013

Namaste!!

We hope as always that this newsletter finds you in the best of health and spirits. The highlight of the year was Ashish’s parents “golden” anniversary. We celebrated the event on a cruise ship with the whole family. As an added gift, we compiled a book from the poems that Ashish’s father wrote over the course of his life. We also had a new addition in the extended family – Ruchi’s sister had a son in March and now this generation of baby making has come to an end. Phew!

Kids grow up so fast. Swati’s eleventh birthday (and her first exposure to middle school kids) turned our sweet, innocent little girl into a mature and responsible, if somewhat bratty, tween. We must say that she is doing a better job adjusting to middle school than her parents. She is keeping up with swimming, extra math, and theater. She is also playing the role of Mowgli’s wolf-mother in a local professional performance of the Jungle Book. Agastya turned six and started first grade, and has really gotten into soccer. He has been driving the whole family mad, kicking anything that comes within his reach. He also has a small part (including some singing) in the same play as Swati.

Ashish got promoted to full Professor, and has been spending the last six months thinking about what he wants to do next in his career. Ruchi changed jobs this year, and became a Director in eBay’s trust group. When we got married fourteen years ago, Ruchi was working for a networking company and Ashish was doing research in algorithms for networking. Now, Ruchi is working for a social commerce company, and Ashish is doing research in social algorithms. It is funny how the threads of life and career weave themselves. We will see what the future holds professionally. Hope it is something new and exciting.

This summer was full of small adventures and misadventures. We finished our house renovations, and finally moved out of our garage. We took a two-week trip to Japan and Vietnam. Kyoto was incredible – Ashish and Swati went jogging every morning along the Philosopher’s Walk, and we absorbed some of the peace and tranquility of the city. Tokyo was the polar opposite – more metropolitan than New York, Paris, and Delhi combined! The highlight of Vietnam was a long trek among misty mountains and rice fields in Sapa. The summer ended with Swati qualifiying for a debate team and Ruchi’s parents coming for a visit. On the flip side, Ashish almost severed a finger on his left hand when working in the garage (the tip of his finger got split down the middle), we had a fire in the house, and Agastya got a big scar on his forehead playing soccer. Luckily, neither mishap did any lasting damage to us or to our house. Ashish and Swati decided to turn lemons into lemonade, and wrote the following birthday limerick for Agastya:

In school there was a soccer star

He was hit while playing, and got a scar

But was he brave? You bet’ya

For his name was Agastya

And he scored on teams near and far

A very Happy Diwali, and please stay in touch.

First converstaion about familiarising Agastya about Hindu Gods

I did not realize how complex Hindu Gods and Goddesses system in till I made an attempt to get my son familiarized with them. You can even read it as how little I know about it. This is verbatim of the conversation that happened between me and Agastya while walking him to school.

Me - Agastya do you remember the names of main Gods that I taught you.

Agastya - No. I just remember that there were 3 boys and 3 girls. What was their names again?

Me - Okay so the first one is called Brahma and he is the creator. He created everything.

Agastya - Not everything. You made me. So what does it mean he created everything.

Me- Just remember the names first. His wife is Saraswati. She is the Goddess for wisdom

Agastya - What is wisdom?

Me - which makes us intelligent.

Agastya - No, books make us intelligent. How does she give us wisdom?

Me - Agastya let's just remember the names first. Next is Vishnu and his wife is Lakshmi

Agastya - Oh I remember the money God.

Me- Yes

Agastya - so if you are not nice does she takes the money away.

Me - Yes possibly

Agastya - That's nasty

Me (I am really irritated now by my inability to put any logic in this)- Next one is Shiva and Durga

Agastya - what do they do?

Me - Durga is a symbol of power. She destroys bad people.

Agastya - How?

Me (I opened my mouth to say by killing them but then stopped and just paused)

Agastya - where do they live? In the temple?

Me - In the temple we just go together as a symbol but no one knows. God is really a power or energy which just make things happen that we do not understand.

Agastya - I know Mom they live in clouds.

And that was it. We entered his class and he forgot all about it and ran in. I just kept thinking how I never asked these questions and accepted.

Ruchi's travel Adventures

As a kid when I used to read in geography about waterfalls,glaciers, valleys, gorges, canyons, etc. - I would wonder what they will be like for real. At that time my life was limited to the 15 km radius of where I lived with an occasional trip to my grandparents house, which was not too far away. And also, their place was not any different than my own 15 km radius. When the teacher talked about grasslands and rain-forests and about all the gorgeous creatures and plant life that lived in them, I would dream for hours about visiting such places. In history books when they talked about Pyramids and the caves of Petra, of Ajanta and Ellora and magnificent castles in Europe, I would make my own vivid imagination of those places. From whatever I remember of my childhood, I had this strong desire of being able to go to different places, experience them, feel them, and get immersed in them. So I guess deep within I was always so passionate about travel, and through these years a lot of my passions have come and gone, but the passion about travel has remain unchanged. For me, traveling is not about going places and taking pictures. It is about connecting my dots and my childhood dreams together.

The last 17 years have been very eventful for me. I was able to see the world. Now as I am approaching my forties, I am realizing a lot of those memories are fading away from me. So I have decided to write whatever I remember of from my experiences at various places. I will start backwards as that is how I remember them most.

2011

Spring - Bodega Bay
Summer - China, Cambodia

Winter - Orlando, Florida

2010
Summer - Yellowstone and Glacier


Winter - India (Bangalore, Tirupathi, Kanchipuram, Hampi, Ajanta & Ellora, Agra)

2009
Spring - New York
Summer - Mt. Shasta and Lassen Volcano National Park
Winter - Costa Rica

2008
Summer - Europe (Paris, Loire Valley, Amsterdam, Belgium, Iceland, Switzerland)

2007
Winter - Las Vegas

2006
Spring - India - Rameshwaram, Mahabalipuram
Winter - Australia, New Zealand

2005
Spring - Florida
Summer - Brazil, Argentina
Winter - Copper Canyon, Mexico; El Paso, Texas, Big Bend National Park and Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands

2004
Winter - Cancun, Mexico

2003
Summer - France - Paris; Switzerland, Germany

2002

Summer - Idyllwild, CA; Central Coast, CA

2001
Spring - Alaska
Summer - Italy, UK, and Greece

2000
Spring - Portland
Summer - Boston
Fall - Havasu Canyon
Winter - Hawaii

1999
Spring - NY, Washington DC

Concert by Margaret M. Kvamme

We attended an amazing Organ concert today with Don & Jill Knuth. The organist played "The Child's Book of Beasts" composed by Richard Proulx and "The Transporation Age" by Carson Cooman. Beautiful imaginative pieces. Music can totally transport you into a different world. This is one regret I will have in my life - not learning music as a kid and not trying enough as an adult either :-(