Holi 2016

Holi came and went this year. Given my travels, was glad to be part of a Holi celebration with the gang last weekend. As a kid growing up in Tamil Nadu, there was no Holi. My best memories of student days in Varanasi are of Holi.. 

Great time with friends, Colors, Baang, the mud bath at the end to wash off colors, a feast, did I already mention baang?!

We did celebrate in style at the local park with dry colors and great food! This year it happened again. We started seeing familiar people show up to our group only to realize there was another larger group planning the delayed Holi in another area of the park. Pretty soon, we merged the groups together for even larger fun as every family in our group knew someone from the other group!

Jr. was at her best and she had a lot of fun with her buddies. This one is probably the best shot from the entire collection of pictures for the day... 

 Then we did get a family portrait. Yes, the litle one looks plain compared to the rest of us. She had to go to a  meeting right after the Holi party and did not want to shower. So we respected her request to "not be Holi'ed"!

 

All said and done, it is great to have the company of people who can put a smile on your face and make you celebrate with abandon! 

Was thinking of IT-BHU all day.. three buddies in the group are my seniors from College and that made it even more special. One thing my college trained me for well? If not Metallurgical engineering, it is to play Holi with style... and to teach our kids how to play Holi!

Here is to the festival of colors ! 

Twelve years later

Traditionally south Indian brahmins do three things when the kid turns one.

1. Tonsure kids head

2. Pierce ears

3. A ceremony to pray for the kids long life that coincides with both.

When Jr. turned one, we had a cermony at home to pray for her long life. It was a quiet ceremony as it was done in the US with a priest and close relatives only.. on a weekday morning. Well, that last part explains everything else. 

We were told by the local barber shop that "tonsuring" was not legal in the US for one year olds, so we did the tonsuring two months early in India. The ceremony happened on her birthday per the Tamil calendar and that left the ear piercing. It was again a muted affair at the local Claire's in Vallco mall at almost mall closing time. It wasn't all that muted because Jr. let out a scream that could have registered a 2.2 on the Richter scale. A few minutes later, she was her usual self.. 

It was not easy digging up those old pictures. They were in a Maxtor drive that could be opened with an "old PC".. Spent an hour just to get the pics with some bigtime help from Jr.

Today, 12 1/2 years later, we went to another Claire's at another mall to get her a second set of earrings. Given mommy has three in each ear, Jr. has been clamoring for another set since she was ten. We told her she can get it when she turns thirteen. That was many months ago, but we kept pushing it back for no big reason.

Unlike the first one, this was a two minute deal ! The collage says it all...

Apparently that bear is called the Claire-bear.. we don't remember having access to that thing 12 years ago!

Jr. is happy camper for now.

The third set of earrings will have to wait...

Another backyard visitor

Our backyard has seen a lot of different creatures over the years... deers, racoons, bobcat, possums, foxes and a lot of birds.. 

Yesterday we were visited by a turkey! Have no idea where it came from. Landed in our backyard.. spent a few minutes.. and took off!

Did not have enough time to go grab the lens as I was jet lagged.. so a grainy iPhone photo is all we got. 

The backyard animal collection continues to grow..