I Cannot Beleive I Met .....

This summer I visited my sister's family in PA. My sister had planned a visit to the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam ( also known locally as Saylorsburg temple ). She had donated $500 to the temple for the "Gift for the Day" program. That donation covers a day of meals, utilities and operations at the temple. She made a donation in memory of my dad.

We went the previous night and they provided us with accommodations at the temple. The next morning was the actual Abhishekam performed to Lord Dakshinamurthi. So my sister's family and my family along with our mom we all got ready and we went to the temple and who do we see there .....

It was Pandit Jasraj Ji performing on stage inside the temple. Apparently Pandit Jasraj Institute for music, artistry and appreciation has it's annual Shibir at the Arsha Vidya Gurkulam every summer. We could not believe our luck. We were so thrilled to see him perform so up close. It is not a publicized event. We felt very lucky to have seen him. My mom was very touched. We all remembered our dad fondly. My dad was a great lover of music. He enjoyed music immensely and we would always catch him singing. So we all felt the connection of the great musician being present for our important day.

After the performance we all headed to the dining hall for our dinner. Pandit Jasraj Ji was there too. So I asked my daughter to say namaste to panditji, which she did. He was very kind and made some conversation with her. He is such a humble man for somebody who is so accomplished. Later my mom, my sister and I went and spoke to him a bit too. We were all so elated to have such an opportunity.

So you never know who you might see, when you least expect it !!

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Visit to the Temple

My family along with our friends went to the Livermore temple. It's been a while since we went there. My daughter was very excited about the trip just because her best friend was coming along. It usually takes us a while to wake her up, but not this time. She was the first to wake up and was eager to get ready and get started.

I decided to make some prasadam to offer to God. I prepared some yellow rice and halwa. We were supoosed to start by 10:00 A.M. in the morning, instead we only left home by 11:00 A.M. However everythng worked out well since we reached there just in time for abhishekam at Lord Venkateshwara. The pujari offered our prasadam to the God.

The atmosphere at the temple was very peaceful and relaxing. It always reminds me of India. After that we all had our prasadam, along with other prasadams offered at the temple and headed back home.

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Just Got Back From India!

I just got back from India. Wow! That was a great trip. I last visited India 2 years ago. Way too many changes in India this time around. I had been to Bangalore and some parts of Andhra Pradesh. Suddenly Bangalore feels more like Bombay with way too many high rise apartments any where you look. Lots of new shopping malls (Garuda mall, The Forum, Central mall ... just to name a few) all over Bangalore. This is the first time I felt as if I don't know this place anymore. That's odd since I spent most of my growing years there and I visit India every other year.

The other big thing is the economy in India seems to be booming. It does feel like silicon valley with respect to companies, since most of the big names have an office there. However there is one thing that needs immediate attention. That is the roads almost anywhere in the city (even around the airports) need to be improved drastically. So what used to take 15 to 20 minutes to commute previously, now takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. It could only get worse from here on once all the new apartment complexes get filled up. That would be a real nightmare

Overall there are lots of positive changes in India and economy is boo........ming!!!

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