Festive portrait week

The first two weeks of August are full of events for us. We have the Varalakshmi Nombu function where the women pray for their husbands well being followed by a home stress test for the husbands health with delicious food. The food instantly tests the workings of the stomach, liver, kidneys, pancreas and heart in one sitting! 

This is followed by Independence day wishing to Indian relatives and friends, attending local events in the US celebrating Indian Indpendence day (It is usually celebrated here as Fifteentho de Augusto for most folks with Kingfisher instead of Corona if you get the drift..)

This is followed by first day of school for the kids and all the excitement that comes with it!There is one Target in Cupertino where all the parents descend last minute to finish their back to school shopping and the place is as festive as Mardi Gras! 

Then comes Aavani Avittam where the guys change their threads, the women look gorgeous and the food trumps the Varalakshmi stress test. This one is for real. If you survive this feast, you are on your way to a good year. 

To round all this up there is Krishna's birthday, aka Gokulashtami which involves a lot of deep fried goodies and more great food! It is customary for us to go on some kind of long hike in some national park for Labor day to get back to normal. 

This year the festive season has started nicely. As usual I now have a doctor's visit this week thanks to a jaw locking problem. Do not know what it is with 2nd week of August and Hospital visits. My mom asked me on the phone "Usually you visit a doctor on Aaavani avittam week. Hope you are okay now!" That was Sunday monring and promptly I was at the doctors on Monday afternoon, and as it is with every year, this has nothing to do with the good food! 

This year the kids dressed up nice as usual and posed for portraits!

Here are some of the pictures..

This year they were very involved in the function. They gave the Haldi Kumkum to all their friends and took part in the celebration. This is a good sign if they are learning something from us!

More photos to come, if six pack sundar succesfully does his Aaaviavittam ... The next few days, I will be explaining to folks outside the yoga room to answer FAQ's of "hey, come your thread looks new?!" 

Varalakshmi Nombu Function

The Varalakshmi pooja in our house is usually done on a smaller scale. This year my parents are here and my mother brought the deity from India knowing that for the first time since San married into this family my mom is here with her to celebrate.

We had invited many of our family and friends to this occasion. I was not well but managed to hang on and do my bit at the function.

The kids and my parents enjoyed the whole thing. 

With both grandmas dotting over them it was a special treat.

Some pictures..

and finally a picture that makes this year special in my eyes..

The decorations for the hand were done by Bombay paati and the Paavaadais (frocks) were from Madras paati.

Bombay and Madras may have become Mumbai and Chennai but notice how Bombay Paati and Madras Paati sound way cooler ?!

We get to rest a little bit before things catch up again with work. Now the focus will be on daddy getting better over the next few days.

Varalakshmi Vratham (pooja)

Today was Varalakshmi pooja.(see previous posts from 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. Even this blog feels old now!

We had a nice evening at home with friends and family.

This being a function for the ladies, the girls were ecstatic as usual. Multiple dress changes, good food, chit chat , (daddy learning about a few new iPhone apps from his friends).. all said and done a great time!

Here is the defining photo for this year's function

En raaasaaaathiiis..

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