June

May flowers!

Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money."

- Cree Indian Proverb

Sri Rama Navami Subhakamkshalu!

  శ్రీ రామ నవమి శుభాకాంక్షలు!

   శ్రీ రాఘవం దసరధాత్మజ మప్రమేయం 

   సీతాపతిం రఘుకులాన్వయ రత్న దీపం|
  ఆజానుభాహుం అరవింద దలాయతాక్షం 

  రామం నిసాచర వినాసకరం నమామి ॥

Kuchipudi Arangetram!

 

Congratulations to my nieces on their

 Kuchipudi arangetram!

"Dance, like music, knows no geographical boundaries, no linguistic barriers and no racial divisions. All walls crumble where art is concerned. It is a great unifying and integrating force."
- Vempati Chinna Satyam

April showers!

Jaya nama samvatsaram!

You can read the significance of Ugadi and ugadi pachadi in Ugadi Subhakamskhalu!

Ugadi begins on Suklapaksha Padyami day in Chaitra maasam.

Ugadi or commonly said Samvathsaradi as the name says it is the  beginning of new era, the season of spring is associated with this lunar based festival. Ugadi is the New Year for the Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Sindhi speaking people around the world. Most of the countries around the world celebrate their New Year based on lunar cycle, unlike the Gregorian Calendar. I would like to put here what I know about how the Hindu lunar calendar is read. This is my basic understanding. 

Kali'yugam - 1200 divya-samvatsaralu

1 Divya samvatsaram-360 samvasthsaralu

60 samvathsaralu names-Prabahva to Akshaya

Jaya nama samvathsaramu (March 31, 2014-March 21, 2015)

1) Uttarayanam 2) Dakshinayanam

Ruthuvulu (seasons) (6) - maasamulu (months) (12)

Vasantha ruthuvu - Chaitra maasam, Vaisakha maasam

Grishma ruthuvu - Jyesta maasam, Ashada maasam

Varsha ruthuvu - Sravanam, Bhadrapada

Sarad ruthuvu - Aswayuja maasam, Karthika maasam

Hemantha ruthuvu - Margasirsha maasam, Pushya maasam

Sashir ruthuvu - Magha maasam, Phalguna maasam

Maasam - 2 pakshalu (fortnights) Sukla paksham (waxing moon phase), Krishna paksham (waning moon phase)

Thidhi (days) – Padyami, vidiya, thruthiya, chavithi, panchami, sashti, sapthami, ashtami, navami, dasami, ekadasi, dwadasi, thrayodasi, chaturdasi, pournami (full moon); the first 14 days repeat and the month concludes with amavasya (no moon day).

 

Welcome the New Year with complete anticipation, hope and eagerness. Look forward to a bountiful year of prosperity, satisfaction and peace. Have a very happy Ugadi!

March- the month of marriage anniversaries

Dictionary meaning of anniversary is annual recurrence of a notable event. In day-to-day life anniversaries are more of memories and celebrations.
The month of March is special to my family. My parents, my two brothers and I, all of us are associated with our marriages to this month. Last week my parents are celebrated their 61^st marriage anniversary. My parents were in their teens when they got married, that long ago. Needless to say it was a typical Hindu traditional arranged marriage. They did not have a honeymoon, per se. Do I need to say, there were no honeymoon's at all in any traditional Hindu families 50 plus years ago. They are happy with with 3 children, and 6 grandchildren. We all think that my mom and dad used to argue forever, now we know it is all for making children happy and not to cause inconvenience to us. Last week even we celebrated our anniversary, I will share more about it later. It is not all, couple of weeks back my elder brother celebrated his 24th marriage anniversary. They are blessed with two sons. To conclude the list, my younger brother's marriage is also associated with March. He was engaged this month 19 years ago. He is blessed with two daughters. How time flies......to bring special flavor in our life in its own way.

"Newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reasons that families work."

-Author Unknown

Thoughts and prayers

May God bless the 239 souls rest in peace

"May every sunrise hold more promise, every moonrise hold more peace." 
-Author Unknown

Eating with hands!

Eating with hands! What?

Has your mother ever told you to wash your hands before eating your food. "Mom can I eat with spoon" is the immediate question. Here is the answer for them which I recently read in Business-Standard.
Food is the God's given gift. We are honoring by eating with our own hands instead of using other modalities. Our hands are more hygienic when washed with water. We connect with food with a sense of touch. I know we are busy and eating on rush. Can we put some effort to eat once a day mindfully with our hands. We can find help, by thinking through these realities. Enjoy the food by licking your fingers, it tastes good ;-) as we did as a child.

Here is part of the text from Business-Standard:
"Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements. The Ayurvedic texts teach that each finger is an extension of one of the five elements. 
The thumb is agni (fire) - you might have seen children sucking their thumb, this is nature's way of aiding the digestion at an age when they are unable to chew.
The forefinger is vayu (air), 
The middle finger is akash (ether - the tiny intercellular spaces in the human body), 
The ring finger is prithvi (earth) and 
The little finger is jal (water)," 
the paper explains.

"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity."
 -Voltaire