The Sweet Spot

The arena was bustling with energy; echoing with youthful chatter and laughter over the lively garba music and the rhythmic beats of dandia. College students of all ethnicities were dressed in finest kurtas, lehengas, ghagras and chaniya-cholis, dupattas and shawls in exotic designs. The colors and patterns were so brilliant that it felt like they had borrowed the vibrant autumn hues of reds, yellows, oranges and the remaining bit of green from the New England Fall outdoors and added to their already spectacular palette! Beautiful young students dancing and twirling and maneuvering the two large concentric circles, their prettified dandiya sticks matching the beats as they moved gracefully around a majestic image of Goddess Durga slaying the demon Mahishasura. The scene reminded me of my teenage years - different country, different generation, different population - yet the same nine magical nights of Navratri! The chilly, yet festive evening was a reminder that colder weather and shor...

I settled down on the couch by the fireplace, wrapping myself with a warm blanket and a mug of hot ginger tea in hand, when my whatsapp notification dinged with a photo of my cousin Seema, receiving a trophy for a marathon run. Before I had a chance to read the details, our dog Smokey started pawing me vigorously - his unwavering, piercing stare reminding me that it was time for his walk. Six o’clock on a dark, cold, winter evening isn’t my favorite time to walk. However, it can be very difficult to explain to a dog, eager for his evening walk, about the lethargy of a cold, winter evening, that us humans experience. With the image of my marathoner cousin in the back of my head, and the love for my demanding doggie, I quickly gulped down the tea, admonishing Smokey to be patient.  Following the advice of a good friend, who was a dog owner before us, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”, I layered myself with warm clothing, ready to face the bitter wind chill o...

This summer, “staycation” assumed a whole new meaning. Our backyard, with the newly installed Glenfeeder , opened our world to the exciting activity of a variety of New England birds. Within a couple of days of putting the bird feed out, there had been enough communication for the birds to start trickling in. We observed their patterns and slowly learned the best visitation times. We parked ourselves by the window when they visited and as time went by some birds were bold enough to visit even as we sat, not too far away, on the deck. I had never imagined birds would have so much personality, and even attitudes! We even ended up naming a few. Goldfinch            Black & White Chickadee House finch First we got the sparrows, and the warblers and the finches. Then one day we observed an unusual phenomenon. A big, fat, fluffy, grey bird sat plopped on the edge of our deck, away from the bird feeder; and a much smaller sparrow flew back and forth feeding th...

“The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion”, says Terry Orlick, the author of “In Pursuit of Excellence”. I knew that for my better half, Anil, this pursuit was Sports, but often joked around that his finer taste in the Spirits was contending for the top spot. In a surprising turn of the tide over the past few years, a new “Zen Zone of Woodworking” has taken a lead, with the latest sensation being the Glenlivet Bird Feeder. I had seen the signs of this pursuit scattered over the past few decades, never imagining this underdog to charge to the forefront, victorious!  The pursuit of this zen craft started innocently with assembling furniture, a need for every new migrant. It took another small step when our son chose “woodworking” as a summer camp hobby , and then picked it up again in junior high, when we started assimilating some tools. Our daughter was...

The Pandemic provided an opportunity for families to bond and brought them closer. Well, in some ways, way too close! Young parents, on one hand, heaved a sigh of relief on holding onto their jobs, while on the other hand, felt challenged as they juggled child care, home-schooling and work. Parents relaxed rules and found creative ways to balance their many unexpected responsibilities during the lockdown and nurture the best in their children. And during the restrictions of the pandemic lockdown, a star was born! One can sense the excitement in the dancing, bright eyes, as the eight-year-old holds a steady, articulate conversation that sometimes is difficult even for adults. The determined, dimpled chin is held firm, as he speaks of how his Mom has taught him the importance of hard work. “I worked really really hard, and I succeeded. I think my hard work paid off”. Beyond all the wonderful things that one can see in this bright, smart boy, the reason he is having a very important conve...

Our favorite game for a Family Game Night was “The Game of Life”. The game had just enough decision making for young minds to fathom, offset by the randomness of spinning a wheel that brought in the elements of luck. With its capitalist bent, in that, the wealthiest ends up winning, it opens up a healthy debate on the values we hold, an opportunity to discuss with children and gauge motivators in their lives. I don’t look at the game as a realistic simulation of life, just a fun way to introduce money management, with concepts of loans, insurance, stocks and paychecks intertwined with decisions about buying homes and starting families. In an interesting twist, recent versions added rewards for doing good, or adding fun life events and allowing adopting a pet. The game has a thought provoking concept of "life tiles". For example life tiles had events such as “Find a new Energy Source” or “Create a new teaching method” (the full list is at the end of the post) and the $ value a...

The sky is overcast and one can imagine the song “ghanana ghanana ghir ghir aayee badara” from the movie Lagaan, as the surroundings looked lush with trees and saplings of all sizes covering the pale sand over ten to twelve acres. There are trees of many varieties like Neem, Khejri, Acacia, desert teak and fruiting trees like pomegranate, among other native species. As the person in the video indicates there is a temple and sand dunes intact outside, in the vast, otherwise barren landscape of the Thar desert around Barmer district of Rajasthan, one can’t help but wonder why the landscape is so lush inside the compound, even attracting rain, and wildlife such as peacocks and deer.  The video depicts a forest adopted by philanthropists Vivek and Vandana Sharma, who, through their foundation have given back to the community through multiple projects in New England and beyond. This project in Rajasthan, and another one in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, is through SankalpTaru (Sankalp:Pledge, T...