A small Tamil New Year celebration

We are in June.. it has been a month and a half since the Tamil New Year rolled in. After that trip to SLO and the knee getting all inflamed, it took me a few weeks to just get back to walking.

So the Tamil New year was a muted celebration. However we did have two potluck parties to attend and had fun chatting with friends. For once I had company from my friend and guru, when it came to wearing a dhothi. 

When not in dhothi.. it was this..

Now that the number of folks coming to Tamil New Year party in a Dhothi has increased by 100% , there is a plan to double that coming April !! 

Wishing one and all a belated Tamil New Year! This years name is Sobakiruthu (google says Dhunmukhi which was I think the year in 2016). Apparently a good year for me.. time will tell.. 

We can always check the blog post next year same time!

Tamil New year - a delayed photo op

My mom got me a few shirts and pants to wear for this years occasions on my last India trip in December. This year we were not exactly in celebratory mood for Tamil New Year two weeks ago. 

We had just finished 30 days under lockdown and were at the stage where everyone was ready to kill each other within the house. The good news is we are all doing okay and are all healthy. 

I have been pushing the family to come for a photoshoot to get a family picture and tonight they obliged.. it was not possible to make everyone dress up as some folks expect me to be happy for them even showing up for the picture. 

We did have some good eats on April 14th to celebrate but we were in stay-at-home clothing.

Here is last years photo..

and this years photo..

and another photo to remember this time and this year..

Next year Jr. will be in college and given Tamil New Year falls on April 14th, chances are she will not be visiting.. it might be a good  8 years before we see the family in one place for this. . . which is why I was pushing for these pictures in the first place!

This year started in quarantine and has set the bar very low for any year in our lifetime. We sincerely hope that things will get better and we get back to at least 50% of our routines.

Given my grumpiness and the actual day being spent in back to back zoom meetings and calls...

I wish you all a better year! 

Hope by next April we are all back to normal! 

Tamil New year 2019

Another year rolls by.. and this year I had to explain to kids why Tamil New years day is as important to me as Jan 1st. They saw it as something less to celebrate.. the world turns irrespective of our celebrating and all these days are random markers in time .. birthdays, new years based on different dates.. etc.

I had to tell them about the history of New years on Jan 1st and how things have changed just in 2000 years with respect to Jan 1. The Tamil year system is more complex but the new Years is April 14th. 

We went to the temple yesterday given it was Rama Navami and decided to stay put at home today. There is 4 temples in the area and they are all super crowded. So we prayed for a good new year on "new year's eve" I guess! 

We were glad to have some friends visit us for lunch. The highlight was San's friends parents who came and blessed us with all their heart. To me, that is always what I miss about Tamil New Year here. When in India, you go to older relatvies and get their blessing.. Here I look around and realize that I AM the older relative!!! (when my MIL is not around). 

My MIL was happy today as well as she was superseeded by folks who could bless her! 

and what is a new years post without a family portrait?!

I am not exactly jet lagged but tired. It was time to turn on the sprinkler system today and I have not spent much time in the backyard in ages.. so went to check on things and ended up pulling out a lot of weeds.. some of them got to me. So I had puffy eyes for the pictures.. 

My saluations to all the elders on New Years and my blessings to all my younger family members.. Yes, I am now old enough to start blessing people as well as receive blessings.. 

This years name is Vihari, which is the 32nd of the 60 year cycle.. Wikipedia may not be the best source for this information (whenever westerners get to write or rewrite history..  a lot is lost in factual accuracy and translation)..but for what it is worth here is the link..

Given 2019 as a year did not start well for me.. counting on Vihari being a good year for me.. we can always count new years different ways, no?! 

That alone tells you that it really does not matter where the count starts. It is a good reason to celebrate, thank your stars and more importantly thank your elders and make sure you understand your responsibility as an older person to set an example for the young ones on this pretext.

The earth continues revolving and that is a good thing..

A year that was, a year that hopefully will be....

As a family, we do not write those one page recaps of last year with the family photo or even send out a card with wishes. We have debated this over the years and finally figured out that the blog will be as good a place as any to wish everyone. It is almost our family multimedia newsletter!

For a change, you get my picture on the beach instead of the whole family. Last night San graciously agreed to put one photo which includes her, as a new year present! That alone was pushing it...

2007 was intense for us on many fronts. We had just entered into a serious remodelling project that almost ended up being a rebuild of the house. I put the family (especially the MIL) through a lot of trouble, yet again, by going for this home building project. We ended up living in one room for almost three months with a single electric stove on a dining table for a makeshift kitchen!

We did plan it so that the main demolition phase was done while we visited India. The trip which spanned most of Jan and the beginning of February, was an eye opener on many fronts. We were there for San's grandparents "Sadhabishegam", the in-law's wedding day celebration on a crocodile safari in the Goa swamps, saw Goa beaches, the litte one's ear piercing ceremony (Aayushhomam), not to mention seeing my mom after her jinxed knee surgery, visitng my constantly on the move sister, meeting my nephews again, one of them for the first time, crocodile park, dizzee world,...... so much in less than a month!

I took on additional work responsibility and became a manager, in a division that spun off as a startup! The new job has been a humbling learning experience on many levels. In between all that was unfolding, did get to attend a conference in San Francisco and a chance to reflect on the world today! The year flew by till Memorial day, when we went on an unforgettable trip to Yellowstone National park.

It was around the same time that we woke up and realized that Jr., while being extremely happy playing around in the Montessori school was going to have to learn to read and write a little faster. Thanks to "Learn to Read", "hooked on Phonics", Kumon, mommy's perseverence and daddy's special training sessions, Jr. was more than ready for school!

June saw Jr. graduate from the old school, our wedding anniversary celebrated on what has definitely become our favorite place (Route 1 and its national preserves) and a new addition to our family. I am of course, talking about the Digital Rebel XTi!

The rest of the summer was spent playing with the new camera, visiting zoos, more national parks, our first trip to Mono Lake, an almost finished house that never really finished, researching public school education, school parties, local sightseeing, and preparing for a trip to Philadelphia. A trip that brought back so many memories for a decade ago.

The last few months were extremly hectic, working harder than ever, both at work and at home, celebrating Halloween, Navrathri, Kaarthigai deepam, Deepavali, four birthday's on four weekends in November, not to mention a trip to Disneyland and Legoland, Christmas parties and a grand finale, a nice trip to Santa Barbara!

It definitely is easier to recap the year when you have a few posts to jog your memory! 2007 came and went, with us more than happy to have a status quo on many fronts. A silent highlight was the kids not coming down with any major illness and daddy scraping by with a countable number of colds or sore throats!

Another silent highlight was this blog, the people we get to know, friends we made, continue to make, and even get to meet on occasion. A big thanks to all those who give us the world, through different eyes!

Finally, the hope for next year?

My first wish is for my mother to get back on her feet. When one blotched surgery in Madras ends up becoming three surgeries in Bombay and you constantly know that the woman has been suffering for more than a year, you cannot help but pray. My mom, a school teacher of 40+ years, is a fighter. She has promised me that when she actually walks again, she will write a blog about her entire experience. She told me something very profound. "Sometimes, our purpose in life is to be a lesson to others!". I really hope she gets well soon!

My next wish is for another uneventful year, as far as our health goes!

The third wish is for my Brother in law to find his future wife. May all the stars align in the right places, all those black cats stay put and the temple bells ring at the right times when the families meet so that the whole thing gets arranged without a glitch! The same wish also goes for my cousin who is going to enter the bride search arena in 2008!

A wishlist from any dude in the silion valley without a high tech gadget in it, does not qualify as a wish list.

Finally, I wish the Camera would find its future lens!

Hope all of you have your wishes come true this year.....

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