Category: Life

Generosity + Goodness > Greed + Grift + Graft!

Just when you are resigned to hearing and reading more news about greed, grift and graft 😡 comes a heartwarming story about generosity and goodness 👌that restores the belief
Generosity + Goodness > Greed + Grift + Graft!
You just feel like reaching out and giving a warm hug to the 88-year-old gentleman still working 8 hours/day, 5 days a week and applauding 👏 the efforts of the social media influencer and all the folks for their kindness and generosity to ensure that the nice, grandfatherly person can enjoy retirement 👍🙏

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ed-bambas-army-veteran-working-grocery-store/

Winner eats all? 🤔

No, I am not talking of Joey Chestnut even though I understand he again won the hot dog eating contest today (July 4, 2025) 😊. I am referring to the kings of eating, squirrels! This year I got a new bird feeder to replace the older one in our backyard. On day one I filled the bird feeder fully with seeds. Immediately, the squirrels and their smaller siblings, the chipmunks, started making merry and helping themselves to the seeds by jumping straight from the rocky ledge on to the bird feeder. 😀Within a day or two all the seeds were gone, nary a bird in sight. 😢To make it tougher for the squirrels I decided to move the bird feeder pole about couple of feet away from the ledge. To make it more difficult I also turned the hook for the bird feeder, pointing it towards the house and away from the ledge. Pretty soon, to my delight, the bird feeder attracted cardinals, finches and sparrows. 👏 For squirrels and chipmunks, access to the bird feeder required climbing up the pole and landing on the bird feeder. Couple of times I saw chipmunks climbing up the pole halfway to the top and then climbing back down as they were unsure of their ability to land safely on the bird feeder. Wow! I think the feeder is serving its purpose better, the birds are getting their fair share! 👍Alas, my celebration was premature. 😭 After some initial hesitation the bigger squirrels managed to gather enough confidence to climb all the way up the bird feeder pole, land confidently on the feeder and have a go at the seeds with gusto. As if to show off their acrobatic skills they started hanging upside down from the feeder base, like bats. 😂Those critters are a smart lot too! They realized that swinging the bird feeder releases the seeds from inside and spraying the seeds down on the lawn for a more leisurely meal later. Having mastered the art they finished off the seeds within a day or two. I was tempted to make it more difficult for the squirrels but then there are times when one has to applaud the winner and accept defeat gracefully. 🙏The squirrels had accepted my challenge and showed me what they are capable of to earn their reward! 👍So, I decided against moving the bird feeder again. Also thought the end result is probably a fair representation of the times we live in: The greedy grab all they can, leaving the needy staring in disbelief 😢🙏

Remembering Father: Requiem for a great man 🙏

Sad to inform that my father passed away early morning on March 3, 2025. He passed away peacefully at home with mother and me by his side after a brief stay in the hospital. He had been unwell for couple of months. He was 90. After a restless sleep overnight, his breathing was labored. To soothe him I offered a prayer of his favorite Hindu God, Lord Hanuman. By the time I had finished the prayer his life had either ebbed out of him or was very close to ebbing out. His eyes were open and had a glazed, distant look. When breath became air, his face looked calm and he was in a better place, free of pain, and ready to meet His Maker after living a long, happy and good life 🙏

An unassuming and helpful man, dad departed the earthly life just as he had lived: in a quiet, dignified manner. To me how much power a person has is not as important as using the power in a positive way. Dad used his power in many ways to effect a positive outcome. Whether helping out pensioners with their queries or help clear obstacles to help them get their money, using his power as a school committee member to make learning a better experience for students, helping deserving students get admission, helping qualified teachers get an opportunity to teach, or using the power vested in him, as a gazette officer recognized by the Government, numerous were the ways he helped out others quietly, without expecting any gain in return👍 A devoted family man, he made sure he always had time for us. Towards the end of his long and fruitful career he even removed himself from consideration for promotion as that would have meant staying away from the family. I can’t dream of doing even a fraction of the good deeds that dad has done. He was very active till about couple of months ago, leading a very simple and disciplined life. His routine involved visiting couple of temples early morning in the community where he lived, followed by prayers at home, for the welfare of family and peace and prosperity for all. As news of his passing away reached members of the community, relatives, family friends and even acquaintances the first reaction was one of disbelief. Many were saying the sight of him return from temples’ visit in the morning, greeting them warmly with a smile, while they were on their way to work was such a familiar sight it was taken a sign all is well and normal in the world.😊 Many were unanimous in praising dad for his humility, knowledge and wisdom, love for reading and writing, knowledge and love of South Indian classical music, his keenness to share and help, and support and encouraging words for all. It was wonderful to see the love, affection and respect so many people had for dad expressed so sincerely. Left me wondering if I ever thanked him enough for all the kindness he showered on me, if I ever said sorry enough times when I might have sounded unintentionally harsh (of course he was always magnanimous and forgiving as he understood the intent), if I ever said I loved him enough times for all the unconditional love I received. Those regrets will remain with me. 😭 I posted on FB and my blog knowing about his love for reading and writing and his eyes always brightened with delight seeing my posts as he read my posts and commented with words of praise and encouragement 😊I will miss that too 😭

In the present tense while I am struggling to recover from the shock of dad not being around physically, it’s been a flood of emotions and memories that I am still processing through. The toughest thing has been to mention or even think about dad in the past tense. For a long time, I had not shed tears and the past few days I have been finding my eyes getting moist/watery with emotion frequently and I have even burst into tears a few times. I realize I must stay strong for my mom. Dad and mom were married in 1962 and stayed happily married for 62+ years till the time it was literally “till death do us part”. In addition to being blessed with the protective hand of both parents over my head until now, I was blessed to be near dad past few weeks and help out mom and dad just a wee bit. Both mom and dad were so grateful just for my presence. Even as his health was in decline dad was more worried about him being a burden, just for needing a bit of help. This despite my reminding him it was nothing compared to all he had done for me and our family and actually feeling blessed to be near him. Can’t help wondering if passing away was his last selfless act, in a life full of them, to avoid being a burden on anybody 😭
Dad – You may be gone physically, yet you will always remain in our hearts and continue blessing us from above 🙏

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! 🎄

In keeping with the spirit of the season many cities and towns celebrate by putting up lights show for public viewing. 👍 Last week visited one locally in Madison, WI. As I drove around, little did I know that I was in for Capitol gains! 👏 Look at the picture and you will see what I mean! 👌

Was able to Capitalize on the opportunity by lining up the Capitol in lights with the actual Capitol building, the serene waters of Lake Monona acting as a great setting for the picture! Two trees, on either side of the Capitols, provided perfect frame for the picture! 👏 Couldn’t have asked for more! Hope your face lights up into a smile on seeing the picture. It sure did for me! 😊

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! 🎄

A century of journey! 🙏

Life is a journey. My journey began more than a century ago! Read on, if interested!

What does one do after more than 100 years of existence? Document the story of the journey, of course! 😊 My exact date of birth is not known but The Creator ordained 1915 as the year I appear in my current form. 🙏 It has been an interesting journey ever since. Let’s start from the beginning. The aviation age had just begun at that time, but I had a Rocky start. Nah, rocky not as in a rough patch, my journey began in Denver, at the foothills of the Rockies. I could very well have come into being in any other city or town, let’s say San Francisco or Philadelphia for example, but Denver is the place it was destined to happen. Humanity has witnessed 2 world wars since that time 😢and hopefully another world war doesn’t happen anytime ever. I remember people of that time telling me I was round-faced, bright and shining in my younger days. Maybe they were just being nice and polite, but I preferred to believe them. 😀 Over the years I have travelled coast to coast in the USA and everywhere in between. I have had experiences both good👍and bad 👎. I was too young to remember the First World War, but The Great Depression left a lasting impression. It was so severe I was left to pinching myself in disbelief during that period of time. 😭During the Second World War resources for the likes of me were limited and it took some steel to get through an especially tough year. I have also witnessed many boom times when there were opportunities and growth aplenty.👍 I am what my experiences made me. 🙏Some have treated me as if I were of no value while others have treasured me. 👏Stoic by nature I have gone about my life quietly, whether shunted into a corner or looked at with pride. Folks have found me to be bankable and it delights me to think I provided value. 🙏Non-political I am, nevertheless, I have the great Abe Lincoln’s image carved on me. 👌I would like to meet peers from my younger days but not many are in circulation anymore. I guess some are quite wrapped up in their own world and some may no longer be around. I wonder whether the youth of today will show respect or simply not be interested in our 2 cents if they see me with a peer of mine. Dull and boring I may appear now but I have aged reasonably well. Whether it’s the stress of modern times or a sedentary lifestyle I do not know, it’s sad to see that some of the younger ones of my kind have not aged well. Maybe it’s my constitution or just plain good luck, whatever it is I accept it gratefully.🙏One can’t be in mint condition forever, right? 😂I am now taken well care of by a person who respects my age and values the experiences I have gone through. It’s been a century of journey for me and even now I am readily available for anyone looking for some change! 😉For those interested in knowing who I am, I have been dropping crumbs of bread, made from wheat stalks etched on my being, all along the way to help you guess.😊 If the penny has not already dropped, let me reveal my identity: I am a humble, wheat penny minted in 1915! 🙏

P.S. Above piece is dedicated to numismatists and to all those whose intrinsic worth is more than what some others may think! 👍🙏

What is God? 🤔

Let me start with a question. Have you sought a simple and satisfactory answer to a vexing question that has been on your mind? One of the questions I have been asking myself and pondering about is “What is God?” 🤔 Reason and urgency for an answer to that question is the fact that many of the current and past conflicts in the world have been in the name of God. Deciding to deconstruct God I wondered if the question should start with “What” or “Who” and settled on “What is God?”. Some might ask why. For some, God is like a person, for others a concept. I am going with concept as it appears more appropriate given that people have different ideas and visions when they think of God. The next question that arose was “Is religion a must for believing in God?”. After some reflection it appears that religion serves the purpose of a wrapper around the concept of God. Which led to the next question “Does God require a shrine?”. Human beings like to wrap and package what they consider is precious and I arrived at the reason that a place of worship serves as a package. Where there is religion, there is denomination too. Reason for that is human tendency to narrow down any group to only those who are aligned totally with a set of beliefs and values. Any group needs a leader too for direction. For some, the leader is a human being that embodies the qualities of God and for others it is God. In effect, God appears to be a construct (idea) that needs to be wrapped and housed in a construct (place of worship). Which brought an interesting thought. Even money could fit the definition of God for people who believe in absolute power of money! Typically, any currency has two sides with figures on either side. On one side the figure is a person (or a symbol) and on the other side the figure is a number. What does the number denote? Denomination! What is the significance of the number? Its value! The US currency even has “IN GOD WE TRUST” on one side of the currency! So, money has a figure of leadership (or symbolism), denomination and values attached to it. The similarity doesn’t end there. People in different parts of the world feel comfortable with their own versions of God and money! So, I ended up where I began with the question “What is God?” as I wanted to find an answer that fit my perception and general perception.

The conclusion I arrived at: God is each individual’s inner voice that commands their thoughts, words and actions. 🙏 The inner voice offers a rationale and can manifest itself in either good qualities (broad outlook, kindness, generosity, empathy etc) or unbelievably bad outcomes (harming and killing in the name of God). This definition of God fits everyone, whatever their beliefs (theist, agnostic or atheist), offers me a simple and satisfactory answer I was looking for. I am at peace with this conclusion. 🙏