Our Culture, Our Beliefs, Our Identity

On Saturday, Karan and Shalu performed at IndiaFest 2012 here in Raleigh. Oh what a blast!

Shalu performed a Bharatnatyam Dance. This was her first HUGE performance. She did great! She was nervous at first, but at the end she was so excited!

 Karan performed the Finale of the performances right before the concert (which I will get into later) with his amazing Bhangra Team--Gajjdi Jawani. Words can't express their performance. I just can't ever get enough of these kids! AAAHH! I love watching them every time! :) :)

Meiyang Chang on stage

At the end of the night, Meiyan Chang performed. Chang was the 5th place runner-up of Indian Idol 3 and also won Jhalak Dikhlaja (India's version of Dancing with the Stars). I liked him a lot! He seemed like a very fun-loving and friendly person. I loved his voice and enjoyed each of his songs A LOT!

With so much going on the past few months with Karan & Shalu's dance events and practices, I've been thinking a lot about our Indian Culture and how important it is to pass it down generation to generation. Last month, we were at one of Karan's Bhangra competitions and before the start of every performance, one person from the team would have to take the microphone and sing a few lines in Punjabi. These were all young college  kids, so around the age of 18-22. Even the MC's for that night (also the same age range), spoke some things in Punjabi or Hindi and did such a magnificent job! I was just so amazed at the fact that these kids even knew how to speak Punjabi, let alone sing in Punjabi in Public!!

 I saw these kids singing on stage and it just felt absolutely wonderful how they had brought our culture to life, but at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking: How much longer will we see performances like this?  How much longer will we hear performances like this? How much longer will our culture last?

As we were growing up, we were NEVER allowed to speak in English at family gatherings in front of my Grandfather. Yes, I was born in USA as well as MOST of my cousins, but we all spoke in Hindi. We had no choice. He would yell at us and sometimes even slap us if he heard English words come out of our mouth! Because of his strictness, we were able to keep SO SO MUCH of our Indian culture alive! And words can't express how Thankful I am!

Today, because of what my grandfather instilled in me, Karan & Shalu both understand Hindi and can speak it also. I must admit, they are not perfect at it, but neither am I. Ever since we started homeschooling, most of our Hindi has gone down hill, because we speak in English most of the day when doing school work. However, we have still kept Hindi alive in my children. I must emphasize how important it is that kids SPEAK their native language, not only understand it. If they can not speak it, then there is no way they can pass it down to the next generation.

In our home,we also celebrate as many Indian Holidays as possible even if it is something as simple as staying home and doing some pooja with just the 4 of us and/or cooking something traditional :) I also regularly cook Indian food and don't give my kids choices about whether they will eat it or not. LOL! ;) We go to the Temple whenever possible and keep them involved in Indian Activities, such as dance and music :)  I have no family here in NC so it is very, very difficult to do all of this, but I don't give myself a choice.

Rakhshabandan 2011

Henna at IndiaFest 2012

If everyone starts forgetting our language today, then tomorrow they will forget our food, our dance, our music, our festivals, our families......OUR CULTURE! We will forget who we are and where we came from...

Passing on our culture and beliefs should NOT be a choice. We have to show patience and constantly remind our children over and over and over again to speak our language, to celebrate in our language, to eat in our language, to dance in our language, to sing in our language. For this is who WE are, this is who THEY are, this is who OUR kids will be, and this is who THEIR kids will be! This is who our past was, our present is, and OUR future will be.....

Most Importantly, we should ALWAYS be open to learning about all the cultures around the world and appreciate everyone for who they are. Each and every one of us has a unique Culture and we each deserve to be loved.

Cherish your culture and keep it alive because it is one of the most important ways to create Moments which become Memories...

Thunderstorms... followed by the Wasp!

I was awakened this morning at 6:15am by the LOUDEST Thunderstorms I have ever experienced in my 34 years of existence! I kid you not!!!  Everyone in my Town will tell you the same. For the FIRST time I was actually scared :(

Ravi was downstairs watching Cricket, and so I lay in bed alone staring at the ceiling fan spinning round and round and round. I was waiting for it to just come crumbling down on me along with the ceiling. OR I was waiting for the windows to shatter! OR perhaps I was going to get struck by lightning! OMG, so many thoughts were running through my head.

The power went out for a minute or two, but the lightning outside was so so bright and consistent, I couldn't even tell if the power had gone out. Then I noticed the clock blinking, so I figured it did go out and had just come back on. The whole time, I am also wondering why none of the kids have woken up, especially Shalu. I thought she would have come running in by now. Right then Ravi came upstairs and told me that he asked Shalu if she wanted to go lay down with mummy, but she said she is too sleepy to move. Hahaha! That's MY GIRL! And Karan was awake and playing Draw Something since like 530am because he also couldn't sleep.

Just then Ravi informs me that the power only came back to half of the house, but half of it still has no power! And guess what half had no power?? The half that holds the Wi-Fi router! I would have rather the ceiling fan collapsed on me....LOL! :) :) :)

Finally, after a couple hours or so, things settled down and we all fell back asleep around 800am--Which means we all woke up very late! OOPS!

This isn't where scary ends.....

Yesterday, when I had taken the kids to Kumon, I was sitting in the van with the windows open, reading Catching Fire. Suddenly, a big wasp comes flying in. I PANIC! Wasps and Bees are my worst fear after Snakes! I immediately get out of the car and just stand there staring at the wasp inside. All the parents in their cars are staring at me because by now I am just standing and reading in the next parking spot. LOL! Finally, I see it leave and I get back in the car and roll the windows up.

So, today, we are coming home from Karan's Spanish class and have just entered our subdivision. All of a sudden, Karan yells to open the windows! I say they are already open and he says, "There is a wasp in the van!"

OMG!, could you imagine my panic?? My fears?? I totally tense up and become stiff, but I am driving and had to be careful. At that point I still hadn't seen the wasp. and just then I hear the LOUDEST SCREAM I have ever heard "in my 34 years of existence"........... it was SHALU!!! The wasp had gone in her shirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I found this out later) Poor Girl was not able to speak any words. She just screamed for about 3-4 seconds and suddenly was crying so so so hard! (no, she was not stung by it, just scared like her mom!) All of a sudden the wasp is in front of me, charging at me! I swerve the wheel so hard :( All I know is we were only 5 seconds away from home at that point. Right then, the wasp went out the driver side window.

Those were the worst 15 seconds of my life......ok, fine maybe not the worst, but very close to it! So, those were the last 30 hours of my life! 

FEARFUL.....!!

University of Cincinnati Bearcats to the Sweet Sixteen!

YES!!!!!!!! I think today was probably the FIRST time I have watched a UC game while living in NC. I watched the entire game and seriously bit off every one of my nails (well, almost every one!). I haven't bitten my nails for about 5 years or so!! I am soooooo happy right now!

The state of Ohio will represent ONE QUARTER of the teams in the Sweet Sixteen! No State has ever done this before!

MY UC won! MY Bearcats! My College!! My home! MY "good ole days" are going to the Sweet Sixteen! :) 

My Relationship with Sports

This is totally NOT my kind of topic. I am not one who really has any interest in sports, but I have a lot of interest in a lot of the people around me who have an interest in sports!

As I was growing up I was surrounded my many, many male figures (dad, brother, cousin brothers, Uncles, etc) and therefore, I did watch most American sports and did learn most of the basic rules enough to understand and enjoy the game.

However, I was never a die hard fan! I had fun watching it, but didn't get too upset if "our" team lost. There was one exception though, and that was when Cincinnati Bengals lost a Super Bowl (maybe in the late 80s, not sure of the exact year) against the San Francisco 49ers in the last 34 seconds! I will never forget that moment of disappointment! :(

Other than this, I was never emotionally involved in any games.

I ended up marrying a  DIE HARD Cricket fan, but then I was too busy adjusting to married life, working, going to school, and raising kids ALL AT THE SAME TIME that I never cared to learn  about Cricket. And, of course, it was not readily available to watch here in the USA so I had never even seen the game and knew NOTHING about it other than there is a bat and ball involved. LOL!

As the years went on and my son got older, he became more involved in sports and is now ALSO a great Sports fan. Back in 2010, the FIFA World Cup (soccer) took place. I had never ever watched a professional soccer match! All I had ever seen of soccer were my kids' games! Karan was such a HUGE soccer fan and was ecstatic about the WORLD CUP! Therefore, I decided I better also act like I am excited! Haha!:) :) We dropped everything and just focused on the World cup for the entire month (or however long it was). We would just sit in front of the TV all day and watch the soccer games. We had so much fun! There was just some kind of a security there that we could forget everything, relax, and spend so many hours together and not worry about anything else. I absolutely LOVED IT!

Ever since we moved to NC, Karan has become a DIE HARD fan of UNC Tar Heels and Carolina Panthers. Therefore, I am also a fan of these 2 teams :) It's not that I care about the team or the sports, it's just that I like the bond I have with my son when I show that I am interested in these sports! :)

Last year, from February -April 2011, was the Cricket World Cup. We bought some package on Dish Network and were able to watch all the matches! Besides Ravi, none of us knew anything about cricket except (again!) that a bat & ball were involved. We would all 4 wake up around 4am-5am  2-3 times a week to watch India's Cricket matches and Ravi would explain different rules to us with so much patience. At this same time I  also happened to re-unite with a cousin brother of mine after about 10-15yrs  on Facebook who lives in India. He is perhaps one of the biggest Cricket fans alive today! I am NOT exaggerating! So, everyday we would chat, and it was mostly about cricket since the World Cup was going on and he also would explain so many things to me about the game of Cricket also with so so much patience!!  Karan, Shalu, & I were really enjoying the matches and got really into it.  Pretty soon my entire news feed on Facebook was just about the World Cup! Everyone around the world was watching it. It was amazing!!! I felt such a unity with all the other Indian people around the world. All because of a game I had no interest about!

 India won the World Cup 2011

AND That is what Sports are about to me...

The security it brings among families... 

The bonds that are strengthened between children and parents... 

The relaxation it provides for our daily stresses and struggles in life... 

The unity it brings among people within a country...

My Reading Machines

As Karan was growing up, he always had a passion for reading! At that time he was enrolled in a private school in Michigan and almost everyone knew him as "The Reading Machine." He was only in 2nd grade and reading 200-300 page books. I still remember going to a Book Store at the mall and having an employee help me find books suitable for him. She was absolutely shocked at the size of books he could read at the age of only 6!

Shalu, on the other hand, loves reading, but only short chapter books with larger fonts :) If I suggest a book to her, she will first look at the size of the font and/or how many pages it has!!

Karan is always getting on her case to challenge herself and telling her to read books that are ahead of her grade level.

For one of her her Language Arts Book Studies, she had to read the first book of The Box Car Children Series. She fell in love! She was addicted! She would finish 1-2 books in a day!! She even started getting the big Special Edition books too and would finish reading those in 1 day!Where ever we went, her book went with her--in the car, to the restaurant, etc.

Karan still didn't think this was challenging enough for her (Neither did I!!), so he finally convinced her to read The Percy Jackson Series( by: Rick Riordan). He had been telling her to read this series for several months now, but as soon as she saw the small font and amount of pages, her answer was NO! Now Shalu knew that 2 of her cousins who are just a few months older than her had been reading the series, she finally agreed! :) :) YIPEE! 

We own the 1st book, so she finished it in about 3-4 days. Karan put a hold at the library for the other 4 books, but Shalu couldn't wait. She begged and begged me to buy her the book on the Nook right away. Finally I did!  She finished it in less than 24 hours! :) :) She just started the series Last week and is almost onto the 4th book in the 5 book series. These books range in 125 pages- 416 pages!! Every second she gets, she wants to read. And she is always gasping and yelling, "Oh My Gosh! He's alive??!!!" or " What?? That's HIS son??!!" LOL! It is so so cute to hear her. I am just so so so glad that she is finally reading something challenging! WOO HOO! :) This series is mostly intended for 6th-8th grade level. Now we can finally say our Little Shalu is reading 2-3 years ahead of Grade Level.

Of course this is Thanks to my brilliant son!

And you know what else I have to thank for this????

PEER PRESSURE!! Sometimes it works wonders and is a great thing...... :) 

Our Moments, Our Memories

Finally, I have created a Blog!! Yay! This is something I have been wanting to do for years now, but it always looked impossible. Recently, more and more of my friends have started blogging and it just seems so fun and relaxing, that I finally said "I have to try this!" Now the tricky part will be to continue blogging on a regular basis. 

I plan to blog about everything and anything relating to my kids, my family, my kids, Homeschooling, recipes, projects, my kids, daily encounters, my kids and everything in between and beyond! Did I mention my kids???!!!! They are my life and my every moment of life truly revolves around them, so I know in some way every blog will end up being about them :) 

I am NOT a professional writer, so please don't critique my grammar and typos, etc.

I truly can't wait to share with each of you our "Moments which became Memories." 

Thanks for accompanying us along the way.....