A day spent in a school with my Dad

 

No matter how old we grow, a part of us always longs to return to our childhood—to the school where we learned, the home where we grew up, and the familiar paths that shaped who we are. Our roots never leave us.

One of my Dad's wishes at 90 was to revisit Veliankode and his high school in Mookkuthala, built on five acres of land donated by my husband's Pakaravoor family to the government for just one rupee. Life has a beautiful way of coming full circle—my husband's grandfather was my Dad's teacher, and years later, his grandson married that teacher's student's daughter. What an incredible connection.

As we drove through the villages, Dad recalled walking miles to school, crossing the river by boat every day before continuing on foot. Watching those roads from the comfort of a car made me realize how much determination education demanded in those days, especially in rural India.

The moment we entered his school, his face lit up. He pointed to the walls and said, "Gandhiji came here during his dandi yatra." Looking at the playground, he smiled and remembered running on that very track during sports day. Instantly, I was transported to my own school days at Kendriya Vidyalaya Khadakwasla, Pune, where I too loved sprinting and winning trophies. Some memories truly bridge generations.

As he quietly looked around, I knew he had gone back to being that little boy again, remembering his teachers, classmates, and simpler times. One curious young boy watched us, and when I told him that my 90-year-old father had once studied there, his eyes widened with amazement.

As we drove away, I couldn't stop thinking about that little boy my Dad once was. Life may have been simple, with very little, but it was rich in resilience, dreams, and joy. Seeing him relive those precious memories was one of the greatest gifts this journey gave me.

May I always see you smiling !

 

Once you were so small

you fit easily within my hands.

Today you have grown so much

that even my arms cannot hold you the same way.

Back then my heart carried quiet worries,

wondering if I would make mistakes

while raising my son,

learning motherhood step by step.

Muttasi would smile at my anxious thoughts

and gently remind me,

“Children are all the same in this world—

sons and daughters alike.”

You were the youngest in our home,

showered with love from every corner.

Yet you never took advantage of that affection;

simplicity and kindness stayed with you.

Nineteen years have passed,

but a mother’s heart remains the same—

filled with care, pride, and quiet joy.

Stay happy always.

Never bring sorrow to another soul.

Whenever you can, lend a helping hand,

for humanity still lives in such acts.

My only prayer is simple:

may life treat you kindly,

and may I always see you smiling

as you walk your own path in this world.

~ Dawn

With love, today and always —

 

Your smile lights every heart,

Your friendship is a beautiful art.

You bring loved ones closer in every way,

Spreading joy wherever you stay.

May your life be filled with cheer,

Blessings, laughter, year after year.

With love, today and always —

Have a truly wonderful birthday !

~ Dawn

The World I Grew Up In

 

I long for the India of my childhood—

Where faith was only faith, seen through secular eyes,

Where no one asked the last name of a friend in play,

Where Diwali sweets were shared, and from the same hands

came bowls of sevaiyaan in Eid delight—

How free was that India when childhood was mine!

I long for the India of my childhood—

Where patience to listen was still a gift,

Where minds differed but we dined from one plate,

And if words stung, we laughed the hurt away,

How mindful, how gentle, was that India of youth.

I long for the India of my childhood—

Where many tongues wove one conversation of smiles,

Where a gesture alone carried honor and respect,

Where no one feared the other—only reverence reigned,

How tolerant was that India of innocence.

I ache for the India of my childhood—

Where theft was seen through the lens of need,

Where violence gave way to compassion’s hand,

Where Usha and Farzana studied and played as one,

How human, how luminous, was that India of my youth.

Yes, I ache for the India of my childhood.

~ Dawn

Happy New Year 2024

And here we are, stepping into the realm of 2024!

I don't subscribe to the tradition of crafting New Year's resolutions. If there's something I need to tackle, it's best addressed in the moment, irrespective of the year. Our goals shouldn't be contingent on a calendar flip.

Life is brimming with dreams and ambitions, requiring meticulous planning and strategic steps to navigate the path toward both minor milestones and grand objectives.

Personally, my life's aspiration centers on fostering a serene existence for myself and others. While injustices persist around us, I believe in striving for a life that is fair and reasonable for all—a basic human right.

We find ourselves on this Earth without any say or expectation. It's only natural to yearn for a tranquil and fundamental existence that brings joy to all.

Though it might seem like a utopian notion, achieving this is plausible if we eliminate one thing: the pursuit of power. 

The relentless race for power often leaves those without it vulnerable. From the microcosm of poverty to the macrocosm of nations like Palestine, the consequences are deeply poignant.

My sole wish for the coming year is simple: peace. May tranquility grace everyone's lives, allowing individuals to toil for their sustenance while coexisting peacefully.

I harbor no specific resolutions for the new year, but I aim to strike a harmonious balance between work and life, easing the stress that often blurs the distinction between the two.

In the months ahead, I aspire to enrich my life with more travel, music, and continuous learning—whether it's mastering an instrument, understanding a process, or acquiring a new skill.

I hope each of you carries expectations for yourselves and for the year unfolding.

Wishing you a joyous, healthy, and serene New Year in 2024!

~ Dawn

Harvesting!

There is a story about harvesting,

It's the saying as you sow,

So will you reap, not always,

But some lucky would get to eat!!

At Leket, it was kohlrabi crop this year,

Looking like a turnip it was ready to harvest,

Uprooting it and distancing with the soil,

We harvested 440 kilos of kohlrabi !!

The happiness of hard-work in harvesting,

And knowing hungry needy will be fed,

150 families would not be hungry this day,

It's an immense satisfaction I feel when I think!!

Imagine the grain and vegetables we get,

So many hands must be touching them,

Giving their love and wishes to all,

And landing on our plate!!

A story of kohlrabi that I harvested!!!

~ Dawn

 

Because of you, I laugh a little harder, cry a little less, and smile a lot more...!

This year has been a bit different than last year for sure. Because last year we were all 'stay at home' and some countries were in lockdown situation. This year at least we got a breather with vaccination doses and then the booster shot.

I hope you all have taken the right precaution for your and your loved one's health sake. Only we can bring that change by practicing it and that means everyone must take the vaccination as covid variants are getting tougher on us.

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

SO, this year it was all about meet and greet friends and family. I think this year after my two doses of vaccination I am partying all the way till now. It's wonderful time of the year but with proper care and precautions!

Yes just after Halloween, I got busy with Thanksgiving celebration with friends and in no time the plans for Sagittarius birthday celebrations and then Christmas.

It feels good when every day is a celebration day and its true. We often forget all our miseries when we see others happiness and be part of the celebration. 

I personally have so many reasons this year to be thankful and show my gratitude. 

I lived in Canada for almost ten years and being a big fan of ice hockey team #Mapleleafs from Toronto, I never had a chance to watch this game live, sitting in the stadium because of expensive tickets and those struggling days as an immigrant, I was only able to enjoy the game by watching it on television. This year I had the opportunity to watch the game live in SAP Center in San Jose California. 

When my daughter said can we go? She also knew the answer before even I responded to her. I cannot tell you my emotions and frankly speaking how can one even write about emotions? Those are different for every individual and so is for me. 

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." ~ Mae West

As we were walking towards the stadium everyone was wearing Shark jersey and me and my daughter were in Maple leaf jersey and imagine how we must have walked from parking lot to the stadium which was full of Shark fans and few here and there Canadians who were supporting by wearing the jersey of their team.

I remember when we were just getting into the stadium one guy drove yelling F*** Maple Leafs and I only said in my mind, I hope we win this game and guess what ? After all that humiliation from guys sitting at the back who were talking loudly bad about Maple Leaf teams and how they will cry and go after losing to Shark, team actually won the game. That day Shark didn't play good.

I was cool, I think life has taught many things and one of them is not to get too excited even when things are going well for you and believe me I am not saying not to be happy if your team is winning but I am saying, don't degrade your opponents ever.

Its like that turtle who focussed on his pace and won the race against the bunny. 

"When someone disrespects you, beware the impulse to win their respect. For disrespect is not a valuation of your worth but a signal of their character." ~ Brendon Burchard

Life teaches us to be humble and calm in so many ways as while all this was happening around the world due to climatic conditions. So many families were suffering either losing someone or losing everything in flood, volcanic eruptions, and of course covid cases to be frank, is on the rise but we hardly get to see the true numbers these days.

It's small things that we see to embrace and be happy. Imagine last year we were not even able to shake hands with friends or families who are not living with you. And now we are not loosing any moment that gets us to be together to laugh and be merry.

"Keep the ones that heard you when you never said a word" 

These are all small blessings telling us be humble, be considerate, help others wherever and whenever you can. What I love about this season is that there are so many voluntary effort taking place either it is for the homeless people, or orphan people or cancer research and cure related charity programs - all this is to help those who are in need at such time when everyone is having their holiday times with family.

Life can be sometimes full of surprises and some of them can be wonderful too.

~ Dawn

Note: Now you can listen to the audio version of my blogs in Hindi on the UshaDawn Hindi Podcast on Google, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Check it out and new episodes uploaded every day 3 AM Pacific Standard Time

Festivals and Celebrations are rooted in history and tradition!

 

Ganesh (Elephant God), festival or Ganesh Chaturthi - this is a Hindu festival and it is the celebration of Ganesha to earth from Kailash Parbat with his mother Goddess Parvati/Gauri. The festival takes place by installing a Ganesha made out of clay murti at home privately and publicly by Bal Gangadhar Tilak or knowns as Lokmanya Tilak in Pune city in 1893 to elaborate on pandals or stages. Pune city where I grew up and has so many memories.

It's a ten day celebration where people chant mantras and prayers and offerings during these ten days and on 11th day the clay murti of Lord Ganesha is immersed in the water such that the clay dissolves and it is assumed that Lord Ganesha has gone back to his home to Kailash Parbat.  

The Elephant God is considered to be the lord of new beginnings and also the one who removes all obstacles and God of wisdom and intelligence. 

"Most festivals are wrapped up in tradition and are tied to the past. People add special foods and celebrations to make festivals most memorable and exciting."

These are all mythological stories that we grew up listening to but we enjoy these festivals, as everything has its special way to do things, what you offer during the prayers - the sweets and modak and then the ten days just swifts by quickly. 

Most of the states in India celebrate this festival and being in Maharashtra I have seen as a child attending all the pandals in the city where different Ganesh murti's are kept with different decorations, lightings some of which will light as per the music that is being played and there used to be competition as who got the best decorated and the best one gets a prize too.

Last year with pandemic lot of things were not celebrated publicly and even the private ones were not the one where anyone was invited to homes. This year, since most of the friends are vaccinated hence I had the opportunity to visit two of my friends house for Ganesh puja.

The reason could be Lord Ganesha but it really brings the festivity in among everyone and it fills with happiness and galore where friends visit, help with decorations, cooking and making special offerings and when you do all this together as a team it brings a different kind of joy.

"Feasts and festivals are a feature of all major religions."

This Ganesh festival there's lot more to be thankful based on the time that we are living in and I was so happy to learn how to make modak (dumplings with sweet inside as stuffing made out of jaggery, coconut and sesame seeds). Being with friends, and getting ready for the event all this brings the sweet memories of Pune that I grew up watching and doing things closely during the Ganesh Festival.

These days with environmental concerns people have found innovative ways to make the idols such as either you make it with chocolate so you're not disposing it to the environment or sometimes they are made out of dirt and a seed will be inside so that you just plant it on the 11th day and this way no sea, or river water is polluted with its immersion. 

At the end like I said its mythological story and how much we have to follow the old ways is up to us. As long as we don't harm the sea animals and the environments everything should be a celebration and joy with greeting friends and eating along with them as one family.

Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudchya Varshi Laukar Ya!!!

(The prayer Meaning is : Lord Ganesha the father of everyone, who was worshipped by Morya Gosavi, should return soon next year).

"Festivals are happy places, and you don't really want to enjoy them on your own."

~ Dawn