A very happy birthday to my dearest parents - Appa and Appa whose birthdays fall on consecutive days- Aug 31st & Sept 1st respectively..I really do miss being @ with them in Pune and celebrating with the entire gang..I owe everything I am to them and words can never describe my gratitude to them for all that they have done for me and still doing starting from giving me the most precious gift of this life. Every single positive trait I have has been passed down by them either through virtue of their genes :)) or through their parenting. And the many negatives I don't have has also not come to my life , thanks to them. And yet no matter how much I will try , it will be a long time before I can catch up.
When I reflect upon those days of parenting when materialistic comfort was scare, family pressures were huge , I wonder how did they manage? As present day parents we have so much , yet it seems so hard!
Can we EVER find words to thank our parents? No wonder our Vedic culture says " Mathru Devo Bhava", " Pithru Devo Bhava" ( Mother is God, Father is God). I wish them many more years of fantastic health and happiness.
Had we been in India we would have done a huge cake cutting with Dhriti, Akkachoo and Manavaa. It would have been such a great celebration! I really do miss being in India.
And ever since being in California it's been striking me again and again that the girls have got so much from staying with family all these years. They time and again remember everyone, sometimes even cry and ask to return back to India at the earliest. And it makes me so happy to see that there is that emotional attachment , that " Bhava" in them that Dadaji talks about all the time. Actually being in India , you really can't escape it. People kinda grow on you, inspire of their interference ..sometimes it feels like too much but then it also brings with it attachment and love., a feeling of wanting to be with others, like others matter. I still vividly remember that moment when the girls told bye to Appa at the Mumbai airport . It had such a strongman emotional feeling to it. That's when it struck me that these girls are not gonna be @ family for a long time now and how much they are gonna miss!!
Being with everybody brings in so much growth, so much maturity. It's a part and parcel of learning. Children have always grown up @ their grandparents and extended family. It provides such a strong sense of identity , of belonging and makes well adjusted kids who understand that everything in the world doesn't have to according to ones wishes and yet one can learn to be happy. Here I feel kinda uprooted. Probably also becoz I have to start from scratch building my own community. Family especially strikers as crucial when one is in trouble.i still remember that day when we came to know that Mahesh is in the hospital in Kolkkata and how in a jiffy everyone was at our doorstep and I could just take off like that without having to worry about the kids at all. That couldn't have been possible anywhere else except for India.
I really do hope for my children to have family with them always as they grow up. Their cry for Dhriti is so endearing. It really warms my heart, it convinces me that they are in the right path. They care and want others. What more could I ask for?
When I reflect upon those days of parenting when materialistic comfort was scare, family pressures were huge , I wonder how did they manage? As present day parents we have so much , yet it seems so hard!
Can we EVER find words to thank our parents? No wonder our Vedic culture says " Mathru Devo Bhava", " Pithru Devo Bhava" ( Mother is God, Father is God). I wish them many more years of fantastic health and happiness.
Had we been in India we would have done a huge cake cutting with Dhriti, Akkachoo and Manavaa. It would have been such a great celebration! I really do miss being in India.
And ever since being in California it's been striking me again and again that the girls have got so much from staying with family all these years. They time and again remember everyone, sometimes even cry and ask to return back to India at the earliest. And it makes me so happy to see that there is that emotional attachment , that " Bhava" in them that Dadaji talks about all the time. Actually being in India , you really can't escape it. People kinda grow on you, inspire of their interference ..sometimes it feels like too much but then it also brings with it attachment and love., a feeling of wanting to be with others, like others matter. I still vividly remember that moment when the girls told bye to Appa at the Mumbai airport . It had such a strongman emotional feeling to it. That's when it struck me that these girls are not gonna be @ family for a long time now and how much they are gonna miss!!
Being with everybody brings in so much growth, so much maturity. It's a part and parcel of learning. Children have always grown up @ their grandparents and extended family. It provides such a strong sense of identity , of belonging and makes well adjusted kids who understand that everything in the world doesn't have to according to ones wishes and yet one can learn to be happy. Here I feel kinda uprooted. Probably also becoz I have to start from scratch building my own community. Family especially strikers as crucial when one is in trouble.i still remember that day when we came to know that Mahesh is in the hospital in Kolkkata and how in a jiffy everyone was at our doorstep and I could just take off like that without having to worry about the kids at all. That couldn't have been possible anywhere else except for India.
I really do hope for my children to have family with them always as they grow up. Their cry for Dhriti is so endearing. It really warms my heart, it convinces me that they are in the right path. They care and want others. What more could I ask for?
