SUMMER'S WELCOME

What a difference a month makes. This picture was taken within four weeks of the one in the previous blog showing brown, dormant flower beds. Once nature makes up its mind it takes no time to showcase its bounty. On a warm clear day we took Surina out to introduce her to our garden.

She looked very suspicious of the tulips, wary of their garish colors and abundant growth. I guess she must have assumed ice and snow are the norms.

When finally she did go close she was dwarfed by the huge blooms.

Curiosity ultimately took over and with the precision of a scientist she checked out their texture, smell and crushability.

These pinwheels remain her favourite flowers.

I had such good time sitting and enjoying the flowers with her.

I let her have all the flowers she wanted for they will all be gone too soon. Tulips come for a short while only; like childhood. Jyoti took these pictures of Surina and me. Jyoti is an enthusiastic and creative photographer. The other day I asked her if she could redesign her life what profession she would pick. Without nary a thought she replied, "A Photographer for sure".
While we were enjoying the outside in the late afternoon sun Sachi decided to go get some coffee from Starbucks.

A kiss from Surina and off he went.

Ravi came out to pose with Surina against the backdrop of this beautiful 'Red bud' tree.
We have a picture of Ravi, on Jyoti's shoulders, taken about twenty years ago in the exact same pose.

Soon Suraj drove home and got captivated by Surina. She presented him with her tulip and against all character Suraj tucked it behind his ear.

A tender kiss followed. The two of them are very close.

Suraj is taking flying lessons this year in this single engine Cessna.

This picture was taken during his first lesson. By now he has taken more than half a dozen lessons and is doing quite well.

Torry came over and brought his new girl friend for us to meet. She is pretty and all smiles. We liked her very much. While everyone was busy meeting her I took Surina inside, gave her a bath and dressed her in her night clothes. When we came out she amused us by walking in and out of Aja's legs like it was no big deal.

The sun set with a big splash of color. Jeff was also there. He had come to take Surina back home.

But soon these clouds blew in from the South. They looked real threatening.

And Surina was in no mood to get in the car seat. She kept trying to go to the back of the house with Suraj in tow.

A hat was offered as a bribe to keep her in place. That is Jeff's Pathfinder in the background waiting for the trip home.

Surina loved the hat and went to show it off to Aja.

Then something else caught her attention.

She decided she absolutely had to have it.

She tried kneeling on it. Then decided it did not feel right.

She tried to stand on it like Ravi did. But the wheels kept flying away from under her.

Finally she let Ravi stabilise the darn thing and help her sit down in the middle.

As advised, she kept her arms and legs tucked in front of her, away from harms way, and let Ravi Mamu push her around, for the time being. Later, two hours after her bed time, Jeff and Surina drove home. The threatening clouds had blown away by that time. The house, still filled with kids, suddenly seemed quiet.

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This is a good place to continue the narration of our India trip.

From Pushkar (ah! the memorable Pushkar) we drove back to Delhi, to Biji and Papaji. Since Bablee was with us Biji had been trying to manage the kitchen with some help from Albeena. Biji was glad to see us and we were glad to be home again.

The boys got some time with their cousins. We loved seeing Savvy and Ravi together. They look more like identical twins than cousins. After a day's rest we started our journey to Bhubaneswar.

The boys were amazed by the opulence of Mayfair. Our last stay there with them was seven years ago and they had forgotten how beautiful it is. We got settled in our rooms and then went to see 'Jejema'.

Bou welcomed the boys with flower bouquets. They were touched by this endearing show of affection. Bou chatted with them and asked many questions. Bhai and Sanju were there too. It was a nice get-together after a long time, specially for the boys. We stayed there for some time and then went back to the hotel. The boys did some shopping in an adjacent mall. Then we went to the Bhubaneswar club for dinner.

Ravi, Torry and Suraj put on their new finds, the Indian Kurtas, and strutted around modelling them.

Dinner was Chinese and a lot of fun because Sanju and Sini joined us. We sat there enjoying ourselves way past the closing time. Sini had just come back from New Delhi that evening and came to dinner straight from the airport. Her enthusiasm and happy demeanor defied her fatigue.

Next day was reserved for sight seeing in the city. We started the day with a visit to Dhouligiri. The drive was very scenic and the Buddhist temple at the top of the hill a sight to see.

First Baba took them up and I sat guard over the shoes at the bottom of the steps. The boys were quite taken by the quiet dignity of Buddha's statues.

They went around doing pranaam and offering their respects, just like the other people. We took a few pictures for them to remember this time.

They liked going around by themselves and soon caught the eye of a pujari. This pujari took them around diligently, showing them the right way to make offerings, even producing a flower for them to leave in lord Buddha's presence. When the pujari found out that the boys had no money to offer he shooed them off. In the mean time Baba came down to take his turn at guarding the shoes and I went up to join the subdued boys.

I took them around and told them about emperor Ashoka and that this was the location of the famous Kalinga battle around 230 B.C. near this Daya river and its banks .They stood where the emperor might have stood, centuries ago, conducting the battle from the vantage point of this hill. They heard of the river running red with blood and the emperor, in spite of the victory, felt disgust and shame at the carnage of battle. He then decided to renounce voilence and accept the peaceful teachings of Buddha as his spiritual guide, there and then, on that hill. The boys sat there, next to the guardian lions, for a long time, visiting history. They understood India's decision to adopt Ashoka's pillar-head 'Trimurti'(three lion heads) as the official emblem of the goverment and Ashoka's 'Chakra" as the wheel in the national flag, to announce to the world that peace, at its core, is the guiding principle of India as a nation.

We came down to find Baba guarding our shoes and video taping the surroundings.

To our amusement many visitors wanted to take their pictures with 'white skin' Torry. Torry glady posed with them.

On the way down the hill we enjoyed the calls of the 'Fruit-wallahs' and the 'Sugarcane juice-wallahs'. The pungent smell of the ripe fruit was very appetizing to me. I finally gave in to the temptation, against Sachi's better judgement, and bought one of those hanging bunches of 'Baeres'. At the hotel I washed them in soap and water and enjoyed them for days.

From Dhauligiri we went to Udaygiri. It was a long, steep climb up a row of these stones. Sachi and I did not remember them being this steep, from thirty-five years ago, when we had climbed them just after our marriage. Now we lumbered up slowly, while the boys ran up effortlessly and sat waiting for us, looking bored. They had so much fun at the entrance that they did not think anything else could match that.

The steps to the entrance were lined with these very 'human' monkeys. Over time they seem to have learnt uncanny number of things that we 'real humans' think only we can do. They sat there grooming each other in sociable companionship, keenly watching the visitors. At appropriate times they advance their hand for alms. If offered something not to their liking they brush it off and point to what exactly they want. They cooly pose for pictures. Not surprisingly, the boys were hooked to that place.

Torry and Ravi took so many pictures that the monkeys got annoyed. One of the young rebel even tried to snatch Torry's camera. We have a hilarious routine of Torry screaming and falling back while hanging on to his prized possession.

Here are two monkeys posing for us.

Suraj watched them from afar, not trusting their gentlemanliness too much.

At the top of the hill we visited the Jain temple. In 1974, when I visited this place for the first time, it looked like a 'khandahar'. The Mahavir temple was out in the open, exposed to the elements. I remember it as a deeply spiritual place. Now, the statue is enclosed in a shabby looking stall, where one has to buy a ticket to go in. A pujari guards the door. The whole thing has a capitalist, touristy feel to it. I felt saddened by the change.

Khandagiri, on the neighboring hill, with it's numerous caves and beautiful gardens was lit up in the setting sun and looked beautiful. We had plans to go up and visit that too but felt drained with fatigue and unquenchable thirst from the heat. We will visit it next time.

A good night's rest and we were off to explore more attractions. Our destination was Puri, with a stop at Konarak - the famous Sun Temple. The drive was long but the scenery beautiful. On the way we crossed Pipli. Due to crunch in time Baba was planning to just slow down a little and not make a stop there. The boys, however, thought different. They practically jumped out of the running car to visit these stalls, straight out of Alladin's story to them.

They walked up and down the bazar, marking the wares they wanted to buy, narrowed down their choices and called us to help them bargain. They spent all the money they had collected in gifts up to that time. The gifts bought there, that day, remain their most favorite momentos from India.

Next stop was Konarak. Sachi and I had debated taking them to this place, considering its explicit sculptures. Finally we decided that they are about the same age as I was when we got married, so it would be OK. The boys, on the other hand, had been warned by big brother, Vivek, of the content of the sculptures and had been advised by him to not visit the temple with us. So Ravi, Suraj and Torry, taking Vivek's advice, left us 'old folks' outside the entrance and went in to explore all by themselves. On returning they happily showed us some of the 'naughty' pictures they took.

Suraj mistakenly thought that the tatoo on his arm was a replica of this wheel. It is actually Ashoka's Chakra in India's national flag. Now he knows.

Ravi took this artistic picture of one of the sculptures. Like Jyoti, he too has a keen eye for composition and perspective.

We watched them, from outside the walls, horsing around and having a lot of fun.

Baba sat around, jokingly following me with his laser eyes.

I wandered among the richest resource of Orissa (in my opinion) - these centuries old Banyan trees. This is one tree; actually, a portion of one tree. I could not fit the whole tree in my lens. We humans, in our arrogance, showcase our own creations, relegating these natural miracles to secondary importance; sometimes even cutting these wonder of wonders to make space for our convenience.

When the boys came out of Konarak, we took them around to the Banyan trees, letting them touch and experience the majesty of these trees.

The boys had been dreaming about the beaches in Orissa. Suraj and Ravi do not remember a whole lot from previous trips but the fun at the beach they remember well. They had come prepared with towels, extra pair of clothes, beach footwear and of course the American football. As luck would have it, the current was so strong and waves so dangerous that there was an advisary to not go in. So we stayed on the sand.

The boys played with the ball at the hem of the ocean, skirting danger once in a while and sharply being called back. Other kids watched them curiously as they played with that unfamiliar ball. We had to stay there till they had their heart's fill and we had reached our patience limit. Then we drove over to Puri.

Puri was a cornucopia of sounds, smells and sights. The juxtaposition of animals, humans and machines of all kinds, put together in a functioning whole, was the most amazing thing for our boys. They had been watching variations of this scene from the windows of our vehicle. Now they had been dropped smack in the middle of it all. They were like...like in Jurassic Park! They wanted to travel in rickshaw, also in three wheeler, also in open tempo, also on foot, etc. etc. We let them do it all.

A few times we had to run after them when, in a show of bravado, they wanted to take off on their own. Other times Sachi and I stopped each other from being overbearing. Mostly it was very interesting to see their response to a very normal street in India. Sadly, the beaches were too dirty to even walk on the sand; the Puri temple, being exclusively open to Hindus only, was not our destination. So we saw only the streets of historic Puri (called Bada danda) and headed back to Bhubaneswar.

The next day's agenda was visiting Cuttack, the place Baba called home (before moving to Bhubaneswar). We planned to spend the day leisurely visiting places of interest. Our favorites were the two rivers. We climbed down the banks of Kathjori river and enjoyed the water and the people going about doing their daily chores by its banks. Baba regailed us with stories of how the water rises by thirty to forty feet in rainy season and in many places one cannot even see the other shore. Cuttack is built between the banks of Kathjori (which is a tributary) and the larger Mahanadi river. If not for the sturdy banks built to hold back the flood waters, Cuttack would flood every rainy season. The waters of these rivers empty into the nearby Bay of Bengal. People of Orissa , in ancient times, were renowned for their sea faring adventures. They travelled to far off islands and continents and traded with those places. There are many festivals in Orissa that celebrate this aspect of its culture. This all we learnt from Baba, while visiting these rivers.

We saw these kids frolicking in the water and Baba and I remembered our childhoods. Baba of course played in these very rivers and I, being from land-locked Punjab, played in the monsoon puddles.

This huge Banyan tree grows by the banks of Kathjori river, close to where we took the steps and went down. Its roots make steps part of the way for people to walk on. Someone has made a make-shift temple within its branches. If this tree could talk it would tell us the history of the origins of Cuttack.

From the rivers we went driving through the city. Baba showed us his medical college (hard to see due to major construction going on), the stadium, some favorite spots from Baba's long ago life and the tales to go with them. Then we headed to Cuttack club for a late lunch. The dining room had long closed down but servers graciously opened the kitchen for us. Cuttack club is not really impressive, when compared with the Bhubaneswar club, but serves the best, umm..um., Chinese food we have ever eaten.

Contented and full, Baba and I, spent some time just sitting and vegetating. When we came out we caught the boys 'khusar-pusaring' some things away from us. I wondered aloud what boys talk at this age. Baba smiled and said, "I know! And you don't want to know!!"

Wonderful as sight seeing was, the best part of the trip was the family reunion, where we met many near and dear ones. This is Ashok, Mona, Bul Bul, Mama and their kids (all of them actually visiting from USA). We loved meeting you all. When I first saw you guys, you were not much older than your kids, sitting next to you. Thankyou for taking the time to come see us. Love you very much. Sachi is going to take over the writing from here on as I know everyone in the pictures by relationship but not always by name.

This get together was on Dec.29th.'09 at Bhubaneswar club. Here Achintya, Leema, Sini & Sanju are enjoying each other's company, catching up on recent developments.

Lili mausi, Chanda mausi, Baby mausi & Manju mai simultaneously chatting & paying attention to those nearby. Within a short time there was so much to talk about & so many to meet with, that everyone was literally multitasking.

WE THE MEN!

Three boys posing with Sangram mamu who has visited us in Lincoln several times over the years. The boys feel quite comfortable with him. They felt important in this party knowing that they are being presented to our extended family. We are glad they got to meet so many . Now with all these pictures it will be easier for them to remember .

We were very glad Achintya could be present inspite of his hectic schedule, so was Leema. Hopefully during your next visit to USA you will get some time off for a trip to Lincoln.

Chanda mausi, Tanu & Mily are all smiles-- thanks for your presence & posing for this picture.We are truly so grateful to all of you for showing up & making the party so lively & enjoyable.

The popular hero/villain of oriya movies, Biren mausa, graced the occasion & posing here with Baby mausi, Sini & Sanju. He appears to have finished eating! don't you? Just kidding.

One, two, three, smile, don't blink. Seems to have worked. Mona, Sona, Ambi, Geeta mai, Kuni, Jhunu mai & Lili mausi displaying best of their smiles. Hard to judge who gets the flowers. Thanks to all of you anyway. Hope you enjoyed the food.

Now, this is a special treat. All these young fellas! are medical college class mates starting in summer of 1962. That has to be a very important date for our medical college to get such a unique group of individuals joining at the same time (hahaha!). Ranjit, Ramesh, Sabita, Purna, Pipi, Surama, Dhira, Badal, Sarat, Ghulam & Sharada-- all of you look the same as when we met in 1962. Let's continue with our regular get togethers & stay so close that we never die!

This looks like a better idea to keep the two wives in the front to brighten up the picture. Thanks again my old buddies for being there & to continue our tradition (what tradition?).

Finally Ambi got to meet our dear Lili mausi. She liked her (very much) instantly & it shows in both smiles. Ambi even knows the Dashyu Samrat story !!(& still lives with me).

But where are the men? Alcohol was not served at this party. May be it's the food. Or may be, they just wanted to enjoy watching from a distance! Thanks to you ladies for your pose & such vibrant outfits-- Ambi, Manju mai, Sini, Kuni & Mona.

Munnu should be in to complete the family portrait. I still love this picture of Tanu, Mily & Rocky for it's simplicity & warmth. We very much appreciated your presence & enjoyed your company.

Getting all of them together in a picture in not very common. Sangram mamu lives in Cuttack, Budu mamu moved from Rourkela & Ashok is visiting from USA. Our extended family is very large with most of them from my mother's side. From early childhood we grew up together & staying close with them feel like a single family.

When Bandana mausi visited us in Lincoln a few years ago their youngest daughter Mita came to know our three Lincoln boys quite well. On meeting recently in Bhubaneswar they had lots of 'stuff' to talk about & update each other. We just enjoyed watching them.

Here Ravi & I are joined by Tunu mamu & Manju mai at the flanks, Baby mausi & Biren mausa in the middle. The mamu & mausi are among the youngest three siblings (two of them are younger than me & the youngest Bandana mausi even younger than my sister) of my mother- Bou. When my father went to England for MRCP we all stayed at grandpa's huge Govt. bunglow 1950-1952. Those enjoyable early childhood years made us grow up like real brothers & sisters- a feeling that continues till today.

Tunu mamu is joined by Bandana mausi's ( our youngest mausi) kids Mama & Bulbul, trying to look younger- I think he is close. He & Manju mai are among the most magnanimous hosts. In 1977 he was not only instrumental in providing all the papers needed for Sudha & me to come to USA, they let us stay with them for 6 months! Four adults, their 5yr. old daughter Mama & mai in late pregnancy in a 2-bedroom apartment must have been incredibly inconvenient to them everyday. That is some exceptionally kind gesture & sacrifice that I have not forgotten nor ever will.

This is ofcourse our dear sister Sini & her husband Sanju. They are quite a singing duo. We very much enjoyed their dual & Sini's solo performances during Jyoti's wedding in Lincoln. After Sanju's retirement from HAL in Sunabeda, Koraput they now live in Cuttack with frequent visits to Bhubaneswar. Sini is not retired! She continues with her nonstop, round the clock multiple tasks & engagements which has become her trademark. Besides running the house she frequently pitches in to help Bou & also Sanju's mother.

Our young Siddu mamu has moved to Bhubaneswar after retiring from the steel plant in Rourkela, & lives with her mom- sana aai. He has two grown up handsome sons (like father) living in Chandigarh & USA. Bandana mausi (youngest sister of Bou) since retiring as a Physics professor been staying very busy in writing Physics books, volunteering, religious works & taking care of her husband. Her older daughter Mama lives in Seattle. We are very much hoping the youngest Mita comes to USA soon. The middle son is temporarily in India while his wife is patiently waiting in Dallas.

Sangram mamu and Budha mamu (who is deceased), these two uncles always maintained close contact with us, the younger folks, which we enjoyed very much. Sangram mamu continues to do that with both young & old, consequently is most current on a lot of family news. We frequently update ourselves during conversations with him. Baby mausi is another story. As we were growing up together during early childhood, I don't know what went on in her mind. She started calling me her son (she is 2yrs younger than me) & still does! She is quite gutsy too, which she recently displayed by undergoing two knee replacement surgeries at the same time & recovering quite well. Way to go Baby mausi.

Manu bhai is our older cousin & is as close to us as all other brothers & sisters. We always see him during India visits & have a great time together. Putul nuabou is also very lively & fun loving. Recently they put up a fantastic marriage ceremony for their older son Booby both at Bhubaneswar & Balasore. We had a blast at both places. The younger son Bobby has been in USA pursuing PhD course at Oklahoma state univ. We see him relatively more often - when ever he can get away from his busy schedule.

I was more than glad to pose with these three young ladies. Manju mai is Budu mamu's wife (recently moved from Rourkela), Sini my sister & Kuni whose husband Pinu is Sanju's youngest brother. Such was the gathering on Dec.29th.2009, full of fun loving men,women & children eager to mingle, chat, laugh, eat & have a good time. Thanks to all of you for your active participation. We should do this more often. I hope to see most of you in late August. Untill then- Adios. Stay healthy & stay young. Remember it's all in the mind- like they say, it's mind over body what ultimately matters. Love you all.

OK. I, Ambi, am back again.

New year celebration was big for the boys. They had brought these vest suits, all the way from USA, expressly for this purpose. They took their time getting ready and came out looking like newly minted coins (...if I may borrow the phrase from the movie : Titanic).

When we saw them enter on the red carpet, it all seemed worth it. And we were not the only ones looking.

Ravi even got called on the stage.

He answered some questions and won a contest.

This was his prize - a bottle of whisky; and he not of legal age to drink. Jyoti and Jeff were the true beneficiaries.

The boys spent the time eating but mostly dancing. The club was not letting boys go on the dance-floor stag, so Sini, Putul Apa and I accompanied them but then slipped out quietly.

At the strike of midnight they wished us Happy New Year with these hand signals. It indeed was a Happy time with Sini, Sanju, Manu Bhai and Putul Apa also there.

Too soon it was time to say good bye. Next morning we packed and came to visit Bou on the way to the airport.

Runu, Sanju's sister, and one of my favorite persons, came to visit us. The day was so hot and bright, we are all squinting in the sun, but we had good time catching up on each other's news.

Baba and Bou's good byes are always emotional. It has to be hard to know it will be a year before they will meet again. This time Bou asked Sachi to visit more often, courtesy of his retirement. He agreed; as promised he will be visiting her in August and then again in February of 2011 with Jyoti, Jeff and Surina.

From Bhubaneswar we flew back to our base camp, Biji, Papaji and Bablee's home. (This picture of Biji and Papaji is from their sixtieth anniversary celebration in 2007). Two days later Baba flew back to USA and the rest of us took a short break before we headed out to Punjab. But before he left we had another get-together at the American restaurant - TGIF, very popular in New Delhi.

We were a large but cozy group.

As you can tell from the picture, the men outnumbered the women by far, mostly due to the younger age group. This was our only time with Nandini and Swarup Babu, due to schedule conflict. We usually meet them many times when in Delhi.

Here are the young cousins. They were a lively group. We enjoyed watching our youth reflected in them. Torry loved the family time and was accepted just like a family member by all. He sends his love to all of you.

Joy and Sunita, the brand new couple, looked very handsome together. Having missed their wedding I was very glad to see them.

This is my cousin Popin's husband, Kripal, who happened to be in Delhi and joined us. We were very glad to meet him, specially since he would not be in Amritsar when we were to visit Popin later on. The two 'Jawai' got along famously.

I made time to sit and visit with the newest member of the family, Sunita. She was charmingly shy but expressed gladness at meeting me. I liked her on sight and am looking forward to getting to know her more. We stayed at the restaurant past midnight and reached home quite late. Next evening we said bye to Baba for few days.

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Back to present time, we want to introduce you to the royal family of Orissa. They visited the Omaha temple as invited guests and stayed in Nebraska for a few days. Maharaja Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb gave a very interesting and researched talk on the history and mythology of Puri temple.

The Maharaja is standing in the back with Sachi. In front are the two daughters and the Maharani is next to me. The Maharaja studied Law at Delhi University & did masters at Northwestern university in Chicago. He practiced law in New Delhi & Deheradun for a few years. Now he devotes his time solely in the advancement of Puri temple. He plans to write an encyclopedic book on the Temple using the family's original documents. The Maharani hails from Jammu and is a Dogra princess.

We hosted a dinner, at our home, for the Oriya community in Nebraska, in honor of the royal family. All of us loved the family's gracious, unassuming ways - true symbol of class. Smita (standing) and her husband Alekha Dash offered their home to the family during their stay in Omaha.

Here is a part of the group that came to meet them. We had many picture sessions. The chief guests, good naturedly, bore all the attention and posed with everyone. Next day Smita and I took the family to our world famous Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. They had no idea the treat they were in for. They thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits and were loath to leave. The Maharaja and the girls wore us out with their enthusiasm. Finally, we women stayed back and they took off to see the tigers and the gorillas. I liked the Maharani and enjoyed the time on the zoo bench with her. When asked, I told her about my family's farming roots. She perked up then and shared her family's farming roots with me. Of course her conversation was sprinkled with words like 'our palace'

and 'our lands' (as in the plural !) but said without overbearing emphasis. I liked her very much. She invited us to her home in Puri. In fact, she invited everyone to her home in Puri.

This is our dear Lincoln, our home for the last 26 years, as seen from a small plane. Last May, for my birthday, Sachi promised me a private plane ride to take exactly these kind of pictures. It took some time for him to materialize this gift but it was worth the wait. Last week I spent one and a half hour in the plane, with the pilot (Sachi's friend) of course, taking pictures of anything and everything I saw. He took me wherever I pointed. I saw the Platte river for miles and miles. We flew over the surrounding cities and followed interstate I-80 east towards Omaha. It was thrilling to see familiar landmarks like the Gretna water-tower and the bridge we crossed over Platte river on our way to Jyoti's home from 2000 feet above. To take pictures I would ask the pilot to turn one way or the other. He always complied. I felt like I was on 'Airforce-One'.

This is our home (top middle). I fell in love with it all over again. Sachi was sitting in the family room, watching TV and waiting for me to come home. But not everything is great from high above. In the lush greenery of early summer I could not see the fruit of my weeks and weeks of labor.

This is what our front patch looks like up close. The tulips are long gone, replaced by other flowers now.

Here are the roses in their early glory.

They are almost rivalled by these peonies. These peonies survived the fire and we love them for it.

These are impatiens; small right now, but come late summer will fill the spot.

These are the Irises that have been blooming for 25 years in the same spot. They are gone now and I am glad I took this picture. Janet Mai...I wonder if you still have these flowers in your garden, since it warms up later in Kalamazoo. And Bijoy Mamu... I did not have a chance to work on these pictures yet, they are as I took them, so be kind in judging. Are you still entering photgraphic competitions. I wish I could see some of your latest work.

This is a basket of Petunias, artficially forced to bloom early at the nursery, and so that much more dear. Its twin hangs from a hook on the other side of the front door.

And these are Geraniums, again forced to bloom early to grace our front steps. Later in summer these flowers will bloom in abundance all over our yard.

This is Sachi, waiting for me to come home from my plane ride, obviously expecting a big thanks. THANK YOU. By the way what am I getting this year?

He has been getting better progressively and tenaciously fighting fatigue from exercise. He does not expect to gain back full strength since he is much older now. When Suraj heard Sachi make this comment he assented with a very expressive "Duh!". We must seem ancient to them. Any way, Sachi is really getting better quite well and looking nice and healthy. His pale skin is tanned from practising tennis and his time is all filled up with badminton (Mon.&Fri.), AA meetings (three in a week) and now free clinics where he volunteers as a doctor (Mon. thru Thurs.). In April, when he had his last check up at Mayo clinic the doctors gave him a clean bill of health, yet again. He goes back to them again in early August.

Looking at him we feel greateful for all that we have.

Happy Birthday to Nandini (5/6), Naren (5/5) and Achintya (5/4)

A special Happy Birthday to Sanju and Shyam (5/31 both) for sharing your special day with me. Thankyou Biji and Papaji for giving me a nurturing and secure start in life to build a future on.

Happy Summer to all of you.