Not to brag, but my life is perfect. I have the sweetest husband, a beautiful child, a home. I’m blessed to be able to stay home to raise my son. Sometimes I look around my living room at my husband, my son, my dog and my cat and I feel so incredibly lucky. In my twenties I never thought I would have these simple things that I wanted so badly. And now here I am, living my dream. Yet in... Read more
It’s taken me a long time to challenge my assumption that experiencing pain is a valuable and good thing. To some that may sound crazy but I think there’s a lot of people out there who assume, as I have, that fully engaging with the world means not escaping from the negative parts. And maybe it’s part of the American psyche to think that suffering makes us tougher, stronger, and better. One of my favorite movies is one called My... Read more
(Scroll down to find some baby FAQs) I made a comment on my Facebook page the other day about me not having a problem with putting little children on leashes. It generated a fair amount of commentary and one friend said “They’re children, not dogs.” Yet it seems to me that there’s a fair amount of similarity between toddlers and dogs. Selective hearing, for one thing! And getting easily distracted or bolting when they want to check out something interesting.... Read more
It’s scary to admit doubt. I don’t want anyone to think me less of a Hindu because deep in my heart I have fear. I wonder if it’s all true. I wonder if I’m wrong and death will be nothing but an ending or an emptiness. Some people seem so very certain of their Gods and their beliefs. I wish I could be that way. I wish I could rest in the certainty that death is only a new beginning.... Read more
I am in a little bit of awe and it’s hard to take the enormity of this experience and express it. It’s hard to access my usual reflective thoughts in the midst of something so staggering and grand. Our son was born exactly one week before his due date, last Saturday May 21st. He is three days old today. The experience of labor and delivery was unlike anything I ever could have imagined. None of my plans or research meant... Read more
The struggle to bring women’s rights back into equality with men’s is one that is happening in every culture that I know of all around the world. There’s still a long way to go in both India and America for women to have autonomy over their own lives, to have the choices that men have, and to be treated as human beings. The saddest thing about this to me is that traditional Hindu culture had more equality for women than... Read more
Sunday school is religious education for kids. The vast majority of churches have these programs during Sunday morning services so that’s where the name comes from. As Brad and I await the birth of our son, we are thinking about religious education for his future. There are various Hindu programs in America to choose from. Chinmaya Mission Balvihar Using fun activities to teach Hindu values. Chinmaya Mission’s founder says children are not empty vessels to be filled but lamps to... Read more
Recently an Old Navy ad featuring an interracial family brought some intense racism out of the woodwork. Twitter was full of people insulted by this beautiful family in an ad. It’s pretty mystifying to me that people can have so much anger over someone else’s family. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know where it comes from. There’s a fear running deep in some parts of America, a fear of disappearing, of vanishing. There are white people... Read more
This topic was a real surprise to me. A friend on Facebook shared a post from Kat Blaque, a well known vlogger and activist for issues of gender and race. Ms. Blaque was telling her readers about a man who said that he was growing dreadlocks as a way to express his new found religion: Hinduism. She thought that sounded off so she was asking for input from Hindus about whether dreads are a part of the religion. To her... Read more
Holi was very late for me this year, but I’m glad I didn’t miss out completely! As I mentioned before, my baby shower happened to be on the same day as the big Holi event in this area. It’s a little sad to me that you have to find an event and go to a location to participate in Holi. I do wish it was more all around and something you encounter as soon as you walk out of your... Read more
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