Power of Shiva

Setting:
Chinmaya Mission’s 2nd Annual Function on May 2, 2010 at Vestavia Elementary school, Birmingham, AL

You can imagine the anxiety and tension back stage when a little Shiva could not perform on the stage at the last moment. This poem was written by the performer’s mom, Bipasha Samal about the play ‘Ganesha goes to a Party’ by the Madhuram students (Ages 4 and 5) where this episode took place. Read to find out the full story -

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Posted by ks on 05/10/10 at 06:34 PM
Alabama • Around Town • Family • Parents • Permalink

Living in USA – A Senior’s perspective

By Kishore Sapat

It was in the year of 1988 that we first visited the USA on a USA conducted tour of SOTC at the end of which in LA, we stayed back with a cousin of mine in the city of Torrence. We were not so old then. We did not get tired easily and enjoyed every moment looking at this great country and its ways of living. The people were always open, helpful and guided the newcomers and visitors with interest. We were impressed.

Our married daughter Deepa was in Birmingham, Al and a bachelor son was studying for his MBA in Iowa. The daughter after her marriage in India completed graduation there and then joined her husband in 1985. The first time we saw a big mall was in Torrence where my cousin had an antique shop of glasses and specialized in inscribing the glasses with various scenes, names and quotes. She and her husband employed an American named John to do these inscriptions and as general help. In spite of our being reserved and shy, John was very friendly and took us to neighboring shops and helped us in shopping. We found him to be very honest in approach and straightforward with a keen desire to be of use and help to any one who sought his help. We felt safe in USA and formed a good impression about the average Americans.

From LA we went to Iowa where our son was studying. He was staying in an apartment with a student friend, doing their own cooking and cleaning. The concept of doing all menial chores themselves appealed to us. We liked Iowa with its slow pace and leisurely living. From Iowa we went to Birmingham and stayed with our daughter and son-in-law. Both of them were working, so the entire work day we were on our own but in the residential area all we could do was walk around. We felt lonely. We used to eagerly wait for the evenings for children to return and have some company. That was the first visit and we carried a good impression of the USA and its people which we still maintain.

Since 1988 we made several visits to USA. In between our son got married in the USA and our daughter was blessed with a daughter. Our son now has also two daughters ages 13 and 10. Our daughter also two daughters ages 16 and 5. In the meantime, I retired, then was taken up in service again and retired again when my daughter insisted that we come to USA.

We are now old and stay with our daughter, son-in-law, our teenage granddaughter and five-year old granddaughter who is our mainstay and around whom our lives now revolve. Our daughter is busy working and so is our our son-in-law. We still wait for them to come in the evenings to have dinner with us. My daughter has found me some work which keeps me busy and my wife takes cares of all of us.

The Temple is there for Poojas and for celebrating all Indian festivals. We enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. We also enjoy taking short vacations in USA. Once in 2 years we visit India and revive our links. The concept of joint family in which we grew has not only fast dwindled in USA but also in India and that is what we old people miss very much. It is the love of children and being near them in this old age that keeps us here; besides we are now used to the life in the USA which offers comforts, freedom and no class distinctions. We live the way we want and there are plenty of Indian American families around to mix and have social contacts. Americans are open and friendly and make good friends and are genuinely interested in your well being.

The trouble with old Indian American seniors is that they have to be escorted when going places. There are now American senior services which are helping seniors to better their lives through social contact, bringing them together, creating opportunities for play and study making their lives healthy and lively.

Without hesitation we will admit that with the facilities available here our children take much better care of us than what we could of our parents. It so seems that the life until the last will be worth living and peaceful.

Posted by ks on 02/28/09 at 09:32 AM
Family • Parents • Permalink