Happy New Year - the Tamil one..

This year Tamil New Year day came and went before we could blink. This in spite of my moving a biz trip off by a week to spend the day with family. We both got super busy at work that week. So we decided to dress up over the weekend and take pictures to celebrate!

Jr. with her signature pose (apparently is is the new posing standard)

 She finally obliged me with a normal smile

The little one looked her happy self but refused to put a "pottu" after repeated begging from me. 

The little one said "you get two tries and that is IT! I won't stand for more photos". So two tries it was. 

They might not realize the value of these photos or blog posts now.. someday when they are my age they might look back at this and smile! 

 Last year was a good year for us. Nothing spectacular happened but nothing really disastrous either. Life moved on at a steady pace with things moving on without too much drama in the house. 

This post was to go online last Sunday.. a belated Happy Tamil New Year to all of you! May this year bring peace and happiness to one and all! 

Navrathri 2015

Golu 2015 went by fast. We are done with the Saraswati pooja already. Tomorrow is "learning day". Time flies!

This year was probably the most hectic Navarathri season in recent times as there was only one weekend to visit our friends golus! We did the best we could from a scheduling stand point.

The photos of the golus are still being processed.. but as usual, here are some backyard shots and "out takes" courtesy of the quirky Jr. 

 Jr. was "humoring" me with Yoga poses .. 

Was tempted to say "switch your right hand the other way.. remember  mama give me money!".. instead, decided to just enjoy the moment and keep clicking. The girl seems to be bow legged just like daddy.. seems to put all her weight on the outer edge of her feet. It took me a year to stay flat footed on this pose.. where were we? These days I cannot stay on the same train of thought for more than 30 words. Backyard pictures.. that was the topic!

Usually we get at least three sets of pictures.. this year we got only two. 

Also Jr. had to go to a dance performance which lasted all of 5 minutes . There was 30 minutes for make up, 45 mintues driving.. have informed the family that going forward they have to submit an ROI spreadsheet and I will review it before going to such "performances".

Remember this Photoshop masterpiece from three years ago? 

Tried to recreate it this year. But got only 4 kids this year instead of the 6. There is still time. If they pose for me tomorrow in another set of fancy clothes just for the photo, we can make a "teen saal baad" (three years later) collage. 

On the plus side, my photoshop skills are still intact. Took me all of 20 minutes to get this picture done. Three years ago, it took me hours. 

Wishing everyone a great closure to Navrathri celebrations. Tomorrow is Vijaya Dasami. A day to start learning new things and a very special day for arts and crafts.. Maybe I will pick up my guitar and play Stairway to Heaven.. who knows. 

Given I am cranky as hell last few weeks, it is time to surprise myself and the family!

Yet another family tradition

Just like carving pumpkins at their cousins place or doing portrait photos after every new dress up session during the Navrathri festival, the Traveling Narayanans seem to have come up with yet another family tradition.

The IBM Children's party that celebrates the holiday season in style.

This blog has photos of the kids attending this party over the last 8 years now. This year the tradition was almost broken because the little one is sick. However she did brave her misery and came with us to take a short break and enjoy the usual activities. 

First, the caricatures by Big Al ! He was almost ready to close and was wondering how come we missed it this year.. 

This year we also made two separate collages, one for Jr. and one for the little one so we can frame it 

The little one is not a baby anymore. You can see her face change all too clearly in caricature!

Here are the rest of the photos.. 

the little one posing like Mona Lisa..

Decorating reindeer cookies with frosting ..

Getting animaloons from the clown..

Then there was the last thing on the list.. Face painting!

Finally, the picture with Santa! This Santa worked for 30+ years at IBM and retired. He reminds me of my own grandfather for some strange reason. Same matter of fact tone when he speaks, same smile.. can't pin point it.. but he does! The team there took this great picture and gave us a printout (this is a photo of that printout)..

Yet another year has gone by! The kids are looking beautiful every year and daddy has gone down.. what happened to all that hair!

Look at the photos from our very first party 8 years ago and you will see what I am talking about. 

It is great to have a blog where you can see how things transform over time. Even when my memory fails me and that seems to be happening more often these days.. the blog is like a search into my own head!

I digress as usual. 

Christmas is almost here. Here is to a wonderful holiday season!

Merry Chirstmas and happy new year to all of you from the Narayanan Family!

The Devi is in the details..

The Navarathri festvial is in full swing. As with most things in the US for Indian families, all festivals that run a long time peak during the weekend. Usually the 9 day festival that culminates in Vijayadasami, overlaps two weekends. This year, we got only one weekend.

That meant, the algorithm that is used to juggle the 20+ evites, the open times to go visit various doll displays aka "golus", the travel time between the various locations, average time spent in each house, and other factors like number of possible dress changes, simply quit on us after throwing a few singularity errors and saying "you have only 24 hours in a day"!

This also meant there was tremendous pressure on Sangeetha to "dress up the girls and get dressed herself" and even more pressure on me to take perfect portraits on the first try within 10 minutes after they all got ready and even even more pressure on me to drive like a maniac on local freeways to ferry them to their destinations. 

Needless to say, the kids did their best to co-operate, which is another way of saying "they fell way short of our expecations". 

This year also marked the first time Jr. wore a davani (Half-Sari)! Before we know it, she will be wearing a full Sari. There is nothing that makes you realize your daughter is all grown up, than seeing her in a half sari. 

Please also note my hairline which is slowly going to a point where it won't be captured in portraits, unless we start taking aerial shots! I am tempted to plot my hairline vs. Jr's height and see if it is a linear, parabolic or exponential curve.

The only thing odd in that picture (not my hairline) is that yours truly doesn't dress nice for Navarathri!

I go in a T-shirt and Jeans with my camera on my shoulder, looking like Jane Goodall about to join the Chimps for an observation routine.

This year I came out with a half sleeve shirt and took some photos with the kids while Sangeetha was still dressing up, and the little one tells me "Daddy, you look like a auto driver. This shirt doesn't go well with what we are all wearing!" 

San chimes in with "If you are going to dress like this, please don't bother coming with us!" 

Funny thing is, it was a new shirt from the recent India trip. My mom got me two shirts for "casual wear"!  

Next year I have to go in a suit to match the girls!

We did Photoshop specials for Navarathri in recent years (2012, 2013). This year I get to be the model for the photomerges.

I am happy for the auto rickshaw drivers!

On a final note, the title was intentional.

Navarthri is a celebration of Shakthi in all her forms. We celebrate with displays of dolls, sweets and savories to get everyone, especially the kids engaged. In most houses there is just chanting of Lalitha Sahasranamam or Soundarya Lahari by the ladies and a prayer. 

I wanted Jr. and the little one (at least Jr.) to learn Soundarya Lahari. It has been a long time since I recited it. As with anything else, I work on reciting things without a book, so they know that it has to be done by heart. That meant some homework for me. Sitting alone in a hotel room in Asia was perfect for this.

They say that once you recite this hymn and close your eyes Shakthi appears in the middle of your eyebrows!

One night I called Sangeetha and said "Last night, I recited the Soundarya Lahari and closed my eyes, and I saw you. Maybe I just realized that YOU are my ambaal!"

Her response was "The kids are fighting non stop. I am going through hell here. If I am a godess and this is my fate, I cannot imagine what my fate would be otherwise!" 

Did give that a lot of thought sitting on planes and going through airports.

Our Devi's are right in front of us. There is no reason to try and visualize a supreme divinity when she is all around us!

It was an "eye opening" experience!

ps. The golus are morphing over time in the bay area. Will post pictures tomorrow. . . 

Dress up we did..

We attended a friends wedding today. The entire family dressed up after a long time.. what I mean by that is that I wore a suit on a weekend after a long long time.

 

The kids are right. I do clean up "nicely" and the pictures look better if daddy also "dresses up"!