Our Potluck Dinner group ❤️

Potlucks are very important part of the communities and a way of socialising. It is a smaller group with informal get togethers. We, me and my hubby, as the visitors of USA are really enjoying the monthly potluck dinner together. For the last nine or ten years we  are lucky to be the part of the beautiful group during our visit to San Antonio. The best thing what I prefer is the theme selection. The date and theme shall be fixed in the previous get together. The theme mostly is based on a country, region, state or a celebration. I am so excited to be part of it because it helps me finding out the recipe of the dish we get to cook, get some information on the theme and understand the culture to get dressed up for the evening. Potluck dinner is the way of eating a new cuisine and the highlight is that everyone is keen to know about the dishes brought by others. Potlucks are about sharing. Host of the program is selected on rotation basis sharing the space and all are sharing food and of course the great company. The dishes are assigned by the coordinator of the program. Our coordinator is Dr Cecily David who is wholeheartedly behind this amazing program. The theme of September was Spanish. The dishes brought were awesome. My daughter entrusted me the grocery shopping and I was able to find out the Spanish Paprika at HEB for our dish. Gazpacho a tomato soup, salads, bread, seafood paella, tortilla espanola, spinach and garbanzos, egg plant lamb stew, Spanish chicken rice, fish fry, different rices and delicious desserts were the dishes we had. Everyone enjoyed the dishes and were sharing the recipes. Girls with the Spanish costumes made the event more colourful.The game, quiz and the final dance went well. Thanks to our children and you all our dear friends in San Antonio for making our visit so memorable with your lovely company. Love you all ❤️❤️❤️❤️

My beautiful experience as a Yoga teacher 🙏

Sharing is Caring 🥰

Yoga 🧘‍♀️, the journey from ‘Me’ to ‘We’ 🙏
Yoga is the way of living that recharges the body with Cosmic energy. Yoga brings the physical and mental disciplines together to achieve a healthy
body, a peaceful mind and a blissful soul. It helps strengthening the muscles and making one, more flexible both physically and emotionally. Pranayama (breathing), meditation and relaxation are the mental techniques where as exercise and asanas (postures) are the physical techniques to maintain the harmony of body, mind and soul. Yoga as a routine rejuvenates and energises the aspirant by building up confidence thus relieving stress and enhancing immunity to lead a healthier life journey. Yoga creates a sense of oneness with Self, Universe and Nature.
I believe that I am on a mission genuinely to mobilise others and share the art of doing Yoga. Where ever I go I advocate the significance of Yoga that how one can grow and change for better. As the personal growth, of my students,  is the priority for me I know their highest potential. No doubt the sky is the limits. I use to give my students full freedom to modify the practice according to them as they only know their body and mind. I love to be more flexible in my classes to spark the potential in them.
My ultimate goal is to create Yoga teachers from my students here and there to teach and promote ‘Yoga’ the strongest handy tool for health that one can attain provided that they have to decide, determine and then proceed forward with dedication and devotion. Thank you Jenn for being my student in San Antonio during our visit. Thanks a lot for the Gurudakshina 💝Thanks to my daughter Soorya for introducing Jenn ❤️

Gurudakshina❤️

Gurudakshina is a token of gratitude you give to your Guru/teacher. It can be anything like happiness, gift or some memorable moments. It is offered when you get knowledge, skill or anything precious in your life that will last for ever. It is a form of reciprocity of acknowledgement and exchange of love between the student and Guru respecting the dignity of both the giver and taker. Gurudakshina can be linked to Honorarium, which is beyond the worth and preciosity.
My beautiful yoga student, Jenn, who is our daughter’s friend brought a gift 💝 today and asked me to open and see. To my surprise it was an ‘Apple Watch’. I became speechless, hugging her with tears welled up in my eyes. Interestingly it was the same offer by our daughter and son in law to get before we leave. It is an accidental coincidence that Jenn gifted me the precious present 💝 without knowing the offer. This is the most valuable ‘Gurudakshina’ which will be cherishing in me for ever.
It is really the immeasurable value of a beautiful soul with a loving heart which is so kind and compassionate 🥰 Thank you Jenn and Robert ❤️

Friends @ Toronto ❤️

Thank you all dear friends 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Stay connected with friends is my philosophy. My life partner is also of the same principle and that’s the reason to be in touch with friends in different walks of life. Life without friends is like life on a desert island. True friends are blessing from the Almighty. They make our lives worth living. Friendships can extend life expectancy and lower chances of heart disease. Friendship ignites the part of the brain that makes us feel good.
Go on making new friends if possible irrespective of age to get into the flow of life. The world is growing increasingly smaller as we continue to mingle on a global scale and soon enough everyone will have friends in all quadrants of the world 🌍
People are always important to me. Believe me I am a person who truly cares about others. In our busy lives, keeping up friendships and reaching out to them can be a challenge. But overcoming the big challenge and staying connected is always good for your health and happiness.
Where ever you are on a trip meeting friends and spending some time with them and their family helps to make the trips more worthy and gain extended family.
Thank you so much Rajagopal and family.

Special thanks to Sheela my classmate for introducing new friend Elsamma and your niece.
Thanks to my friend Aleyamma for visiting us in Toronto during our short stay
Dedicated to all my beautiful friends across the world ❤️

Sikh Dharamsal @San Antonio 🙏

“One Divine In All”.....A sacred Saturday on 1st September 2019....First time in my life visited a Sikh Gurudwar during our trip to San Antonio. Thank you Neelam for taking us to the Sikh Dharamsal at Green Glen,San Antonio. Very beautiful and peaceful place with great ambience. Felt really blessed and am grateful. Participated in religious service and had prasadam. After that we were directed to the Langer (free community kitchen). In the langer hall we were served with hot tea and snacks with love and respect. The volunteers serving in the Langer was so generous to us explaining their activities to my eagerness to know more about their  services. So thankful to the ‘Oneness’ feeling experienced throughout which made us feel we are not separate from them and made me feel at home. Empathy factor reflected in every moment proving that ‘One Divine In All’. 🙏🙏🙏🙏 Let’s learn from each and everyone and everything that surrounds us. The senior women folk in the Langer are the role models of gratitude serving the world around us ❤️

Grandparents Day Celebrations in schools ❤️

Happy Grandparents day wishes in advance ✅ which is on September 8th Sunday
Today we got an awesome experience to participate in the grandparents day celebrations at our grandkids school one in elementary and the other in prep. The first time in life we as grandparents attended a public function in school assembly and classroom visit to be with our grandkid. In India it is not celebrated. The efforts of a house wife Ms Marian Mc Quade who campaigned in 1970 to establish a national day that would honour grandparents came in force in 1978 when the then USA President Jimmy Carter declared the first Sunday of September followed by labour day to be National Grandparents Day in USA. The relevant facts are Grandparents day has both an official flower and a song chosen by the National Grandparents Day Council. Flower is the ‘forget-me-not’ and Johnny Prill’s ‘ A song for Grandma and Grandpa’. The thought of the day is to make sure your grandparents know that you are thinking of them. So also to honour and thank them for their immeasurable acts of love and care.
We were received by the teachers to the assembly and by the volunteers to the classroom. The class teacher’s warm welcome was more than a reward to us. We were seated with our grandkids and interacted. The task given to them was to draw the pics of grandma and grandpa. After completing the task they took pics and saved in the pic gallery. It was so great to spend time with our grandkid Aakash in his class room for about an hour. We were introduced to his friends too. Aakash missed his achachan who is in Boston now. Before leaving grandparents were served high tea in the hall down stairs where the seniors too had an opportunity to interact.

Welcome Summer Rains ❤️

After a long hot dry summer finally today we got pretty good rain in the morning. We all love summer rains.. It is really refreshing, soothing with a healing touch. Love the smell of rain. The bonus is that getting a break from watering plants. Childhood memories flooded in me singing in the rain. Missed our grandsons as they were in school. Took pics of the rain from our home and had fun ❤️

Nostalgia ❤️

The very first Onam in our life without our Amma. We are missing you Amma. Although you are not here you are always living in us with
your sweet memories. Your love is still our guide and the assertive attitude to be strong in life is leading us. The pic of Amma and we four children is a treasure for us which we took just a week before Amma’s eternal journey❤️ Made simple sadya for this Onam with our grandkids at San Antonio 😍

Curiosity of a Creative Child ❤️

Curiosity of a Creative Child ❤️

Today morning a ten minute walk with my four year old grandson made me work on this post. After getting ready for school, we both use to have a little time outside our house, chat, play or just a short walk. The usual practice is to sing rhymes or tell alphabets or numbers or find some ants 🐜 on the path or some caterpillars 🐛 in the grass on both sides or some butterflies 🦋 flying around. Today I got a question from our cutie pie, ‘It’s day time why the Moon up there 👆’Yes, the Moon was up there in the Western sky. Knew very well now is the last phase of the Lunar cycle. Gave him a quick answer that depending on the brightness of the Moon’s light and Earth’s rotation we can see the Moon in day light. Seems the little one got it 😍

This made me find more info. As a casual observer sometimes we have seen the Moon in daytime in a pale impression against a background of blue. We all know that during the day the Sun 🌞 is the most luminous object. The two reasons for why the Moon can be seeing daytime is the Moon’s apparent brightness which is due to it’s proximity to Earth 🌎 and the second is the Moon must be high enough in the sky to be visible. The best times in the month to see the Moon in daylight are close to the first and last quarter of the Lunar cycle when the Moon 🌒 is 90 degrees away from the Sun 🌞 in the Sky.

No doubt that curiosity of Grandkids are great thought boosters to Grandparents to energise the brain. Love you Ponnunni 😘😘

Today morning a ten minute walk with my four year old grandson made me work on this post. After getting ready for school, we both use to have a little time outside our house, chat, play or just a short walk. The usual practice is to sing rhymes or tell alphabets or numbers or find some ants 🐜 on the path or some caterpillars 🐛 in the grass on both sides or some butterflies 🦋 flying around. Today I got a question from our cutie pie, ‘It’s day time why the Moon up there 👆’Yes, the Moon was up there in the Western sky. Knew very well now is the last phase of the Lunar cycle. Gave him a quick answer that depending on the brightness of the Moon’s light and Earth’s rotation we can see the Moon in day light. Seems the little one got it 😍
This made me find more info. As a casual observer sometimes we have seen the Moon in daytime in a pale impression against a background of blue. We all know that during the day the Sun 🌞 is the most luminous object. The two reasons for why the Moon can be seeing daytime is the Moon’s apparent brightness which is due to it’s proximity to Earth 🌎 and the second is the Moon must be high enough in the sky to be visible. The best times in the month to see the Moon in daylight are close to the first and last quarter of the Lunar cycle when the Moon 🌒 is 90 degrees away from the Sun 🌞 in the Sky.
No doubt that curiosity of Grandkids are great thought boosters to Grandparents to energise the brain. Love you Ponnunni 😘😘