My Reminiscence

On 10th September, Friday I woke up early in the morning and after my daily routine and breakfast I got ready to go to the Newark airport in the afternoon. I was thrilled at the thought of going to meet my grandson Sarath and his wife Athira within a few hours. We had booked tickets to Oakland airport in California. The flight was scheduled to take off from Newark at 5.30 PM. We reached Newark at 3.40 PM and waited for the wheelchair to arrive which we had requested while booking the tickets. It can take time sometimes due to nonavailability of vacant wheelchairs or due to scarcity of navigators. I have seen a navigator controlling two chairs at a time so as to get the passengers in time to their gates. To save time and effort, to get the formalities done easily, some passengers book wheelchairs even though they may not need. Passengers in wheelchairs usually get prioritized over passengers waiting in queues to get their luggage checked in, or to get their boarding passes o...

In the United States of America, it is common to visit famous educational institutions. Such a visit is equally important and prestigious, to both, the visitor and this country. US parents generally take their high school going children on these visits carefully choosing universities depending on their child's talents and academic interests.  In the olden days, the Indians called educational institutions as "Saraswathi kshethra" which means the holy abode of Goddess Saraswathy, the deity who blesses and flourishes us with knowledge. I remember celebrating "Navarathri pooja" in school every year, where the students brought their school textbooks, notebooks, pens or pencils, instrument boxes etc.  and placed them in front of the deity and worshipped after lighting a holy lamp. This was not compulsory, but students were willingly doing this irrespective of their religious beliefs or thinking or social standing. People who are eager to earn more knowledge should hav...

It was the last Saturday of September and Dr. Suma, a busy practicing psychiatrist, whom I was meeting for the first time, gave us a visit at 10 AM. She hails from Karnataka, India. She was so friendly that within a short time, I felt like she was one amongst us. Her son and Ajay were baseball buddies. After chatting for a while and having lunch with us, she bid goodbye.  As the weather forecast warned for a cold evening, we were a bit hesitant to go out. Eventually, we decided to visit and worship in the BAPS Swamy Narayan temple, which has gained fame and name as "Akshardham" all around the world by now. It took more than an hour to reach the temple located in Robbinsville, New Jersey. When we were nearing the temple, we were astounded to see that all roads leading to the holy shrine were crowded with snail pacing different makes of cars. We finally managed to reach the vast, free, parking lot of the temple. Many a security staff were there directing...

At Bridge water, New Jersey Venkateswara temple, there is a shrine for Sathya Narayana swamy. During my previous visits to the US, I had attended Sathyanarayana pooja at a temple and at another friend's place. Although I watched and worshipped, I did not know the significance of this pooja. This time, when I worshipped this deity in Sri Venkateswara temple, I became curious once again and wanted to know more about this deity and the pooja.   Sathya Narayana swamy is a benevolent form of Maha Vishnu. The name represents pure Truth (Lord of Truth). According to the legends, several kings and merchants used to perform this pooja in the past to overcome adversities and to earn the grace of Sathya Narayana swamy. As per the legend, once the great saint Narada, on his usual travel, for the benefit and upliftment of various worlds, arrived on earth. He saw people going through the cycle of birth and suffering as a result of their past deeds. For the salvation of humanity,...

Though last Sunday was cloudy, it did not affect us or lessen our joy of a holiday. At around 4.40 PM in the evening, we started to the nearby temple in Bridgewater and reached there by 5.05 PM.  The temple is known as "Sri Venkateswara temple of Bridgewater". The main deity is Lord Thirupathi Venkatachalapathy. But as in other temples in the US, under one roof there were many other shrines for other deities too. Sri Durgadevi is one amongst them. Being Navrathri festival season we were aware of the special pooja for Durgadevi, chanting of Devi maahathmyam and cultural performances that were being conducted during these nine days. Although we started late, we reached the temple cultural centre hall before the dancers finished their Dandiya dance.  Dandiya and Garba are two popular dance forms of Gujarat in India. While Garba may have more of a devotional appeal, Dandiya may be more vibrant and is centered around two deities, Goddess Durga and Lord Krishna. The dan...

  A few days back, while Sree and Preetha had gone for their usual evening walk, sitting on the bench in the park, I saw children of about high school age playing an unfamiliar sport in the nearby field. The players were wearing helmets with face shields to protect their heads and faces and they had gloves on their hands. Each was holding a stick (a rod about 4 feet long with a pocket net at its head). The children were also wearing other protective gears for the chest, arms and shoulders.  I am familiar with the game of cricket where the players wearing helmet with face shield, kneepads, wrist pads etc. But these children were not playing cricket. So, I was curious to know more about this game. When Sree and Preetha got back, I asked them about it. Preetha said that it is a special game which is popular in America now a days, known as Lacrosse. They did not know more about the game. I wanted to know more about it. When we reached home, I decided to collect more de...

Today is a rainy day with the sun hiding behind the rain clouds for most of the day. A day of full moon and solar eclipse.  Yesterday was a bright day. We drove to the Watchung park a bit early than usual. The park had a big lake in the centre surrounded by walkways. The lake also had a small dam with a few fountains. Sree and Preetha had their regular evening walk while I enjoyed the warmth of sun sitting on a bench and enjoying the surroundings. It was amusing to see the symbols of Halloween that were exhibited in the park.  Jack-O'-lantern, bats, witches, spiders, ghosts, skulls, skeletons, black cats and full moon are the symbols of Halloween festival. All kinds of spooky decorations are placed in front of the houses during this festive season. Halloween falls on the 31st of October every year. People are in a festive mood from the beginning of this month itself. One can see real/artificial big pumpkins (carved and uncarved) on the side of thresholds leading to...