My April schedule

 April activities.

          I left SFO on March 24th to visit my son and daughter in Toronto.  Next day after my arrival my son Jibesh and daughter in law Rachna organized birthday celebration for  Sayaa and me. Lata, Bianca, Pocca came to attend celebration at Jibesh’s house. We had a good time together. The days passed and on 29th we (Jibesh and I) went to see Brayden and had lunch together. After coming back home I had gone of a long walk. Rachna made dosa. On 30th March I spent with Lata and went to downtown to watch a movie. On 31st I gave Sayaa a purse and $100/- for her birthday. On April 1st Bianca Pocca and Lata came to pick me up and spent the day with them. On 6th April Lata’s birthday we had dinner at Pickle Barrel. Wanda came and gave me a scarf as gift. Later Pocca and Lata dropped me at Jibesh’s place. On 7th April we went to see Brayden and had lunch at McDonal as all other restaurants were closed. Prabha called from India and now at her home in Gurgaon. On 9th April went to winery, Rachna’s sister in law Supriya also came. On way back we much at McDonal and had Fish Fille. Came back home and chatted for sometime until Supriya’s husband came to pick her up. Family get together before Bianca leaves for Portugal on 18th April.

    I spent April 11 with Ushi Choudhury.She drove to Downtown area and had lunch at Moti Mohal.  Spent the rest of the day at her apartment until Jibesh came to pick me up. Next day went to Brampton with Jibesh and had hair cut. Also talked to Ushi to find out about the Upashna culture. I was informed that my booking for India is on 26th October reaching on 27th. Bianca and pocca  moved to Portugal on 18th April 2023. I spent most of the time watching shows in TV and if weather good gone for a walk. Lata is all alone now.   We all sat at Jibesh’s backyard drinking and Lata also came to stay the night. 

      On 22nd April I left Toronto for San Francisco. Even though I had good time in Toronto I am so happy to be in my own room and bed. I keep myself busy gardening as well as reading books. Made hawaijar for our Manipuri meeting.  On April  27 I talked with Gautam’s mom for a long time. She reminds me of my grandmother’s life. Came to know about Arvind’s upcoming surgery on 15 May.

      Spent time with group of Indians for holi color festival in the city along with Shobha and Lall. Leon also came to play. I didn’t join at the last moment even though I went prepared. Evening on 29th April I listened to Jo Biden’s and also Roy Wood’s (black man) speeches and found very interesting. Next day was also  busy day, going to Paro’s place as well as to Gurudwara where special celebration was going on  and hence it was too crowded. (When the Pathans invaded India Sikhs were the ones who fought against the invaders.)This was the reason for celebration.

March Entry

 It is already March and February already over without a single entry. I am surprised how time passed by. How I missed February!  Here is my experience during February: We had gone to Paris on 9th and stayed at an apartment : Sabastopol, 58 Blvd. Sebastopol 76003 Paris, on second floor. Second day we walked and didn't have much to do. On 11th Feb we went to museum, also saw Mona lisa painting and came out around 2 pm. Had lunch at Kabuli place. Dev and MJ also came and joined us. At night we went for night river cruise and saw the Eiffel tower with light, quite different from day time view. On 12th we were greeted by Shana and showed us different interesting places. On 13th we went to Sacred Heart church and went along the Moulin Rouge and  also saw Eiffel Tower by day time. Took pictures near the Tower. Another interesting place was the bridge where princess Diana had accident and died. There was monument in her memory. Evening we had food at an Italian restaurant OTIAMO. After coming back to hotel we got ready for morning check out. Left hotel by 6.30 am next day on 14th and flew from Charles De Gaulle airport Paris. After nearly 12.30 hours we arrived at SFO airport. As upgraded to business class flight was comfortable. The month of February was an excellent one with wonderful experiences for me.  

January 2023

 1/25/23

New year started with a picnic with family friends like Paro and Supriya and her husband and Anandhi and Vijay and our family Shobha, Lall and myself. After the picnic at Park we all went to Paro's house at San Jose, spent some time there. 

The month of January is almost over and I have not written anything for posting till now. The new year started with our visitor from India Shakun Gidwani from Bangalore and her friend Rini from Calcutta Shakun is my niece, daughter of my sister in law Kavita(Mohini) Gidwani. Shakun and her friend stayed with us for two days and left for Seattle for their conference. 

On January 3 the sad news of Parminder's grand daughter found death in the morning by her month as she was chocked after a vomit. 

Trying to clean up my closet and all the papers and files to be organized and also to be discarded. 

On 12th January we left for New York and stayed with Ramki/Manju's place for two nights and then to the city near Dev's apartment about 15 minutes walk. We spent the last few days with Dev and MJ and came back to SFO on 16th January. I felt sick on the way but I was okay at home next day. 

I am now trying to write whatever happened during January. 

On 24th January I went to Dollar store with Ruchica and Prabha. Got two packets os flower plants and planted on 25th January.

So far passing time watching news, gardening, writing cooking etc. 

travel to Squaw Valley

Continuing our stay at Squaw Valley at the Village,
I got the main room where a balcony was there for me to sit and watch the visitors and the shops below. Nest day when I stay alone when Shobha and Lall go for hike with their friend I can spent time sitting at the balcony reading a book or watching the movement below.  Family friend who already staying at their friend's place came in the evening to join us for drink and dinner. As we walked around the nearby locations the view of the sunset attracted us and took a snapshot.

sun set at Squaw Valley

walking in the village

olympic site

walking with friends and family

view from my balcony

cable for ski site.

Writing during 2023

 7th January 2023

Called Prabha and Parminder but no response. Prabha called back and she was not feeling good yesterday. She has to go for the funeral service of Parminder's grand daughter who died suddenly on 3rd January. It was a very sad news. I spent at Parminder's house for about two hours as she needed help. Prabha was already there and I was surprised to see her. Parminder was hasitant to call her in the morning. 

Just finished cooking for lunch tomorrow with Guatam and family. Morning we went to Ranch 99 to get fish and some vegetables. Afterwards went to Indian store to get masalas and sweet dish. Watching a movie about ancient Egypt in which introduction of Christianity started and its opposition. 

New Year Travel

 

New Year Travel: 

January 1, 2022

            The new year started with our drive to LA. around 11 am Lall on the wheel three of us (Shobha and myself).  Arriving  at Valencia, Southern California we stopped by Hiru and Anju’s  house to collect Mala’s things. We were served with food like  paratha and fried rice by Anju Mala’s mom. We enjoyed seeing them after few months and also Komal their eldest daughter drove to her parents house just to meet us. It was sweet gesture of her. We drove towards North Hollywood but on the way we had to stop by Gul’s place to have dinner as Priya and Sandeep with Samir were also coming. Gul’s decoration of his house is superb and classy. Their swimming pool with Buddha’s statue nearby really energized us spiritually. Their dog Lily was quite big compared to last time I saw her, She was very welcoming and friendly. After dinner we went to spend the night at our (Lall’s) apartment in North Hollywood. Morning by 8 am we were out and did some shopping for use during the trip  and then later reached Hari’s place around  9am. They had a friend with his dog as guest.They have their own two dogs. Rhea went to airport to drop her boy friend and she came back while we were there. She showed us their three horses. Her professional hobby is horse riding. She herself is specialized in animal care in her college..  

Rhea and her horses

 

Night view of Las Vegas 

night view of Las Vegas

      We drove to Las Vegas and got rooms at Chealshi building of the Cosmopolitan hotel on 45th floor. It was an overwhelming view of Vegas specially at night from our floor. Luckily we got the room because of my son in law’s status at Marriott. Next morning I wanted to try at the slot machine and surprisingly  I won some money at a slot machine for cents. Out of 20 dollars I won 47 dollars after many ups and downs and then I stopped playing, After cashing out from the cashier I headed toward my room. When Shobha finished her facial at the spa, she called me and I was impatient to tell her about my win.

gambling at casino at Vegas

Shobha hiking

sunset

after watching sunset

       After one night .at Vegas. on 3rd January we left for Death Valley national park where we stayed at the Ranch of the tourism department. De   ath Valley has three distinct features  

          1) hottest on earth 134 degree F 57 centigrade on July 10, 1913. 

          2),Driest US national park

          3)Bad Water Basin 282 ft below sea level. It has the lowest elevation in North America.     

           Local inhabitants/tribes are Timbisha Shoshone people. 

Maximum visitation time is usually from February to mid April. October and January are lowest number of visitors 

           Evening time we went to see sunset, and next day to another place for sun rise reflecting lights on the rocks of different colors. On 4th morning I stayed at my room  while Lall and Shobha went for hiking. By 10.30 they called me to come out and as they plan to see the sand dunes. I got down and joined them and after seeing the sand dunes we went to have lunch at Toll Road restaurant. There we had a very delicious lunch/sandwich. Evening we went to see sunset at another location but by the time we reached  there sun just set and we missed it by five minutes            

            Another interesting program was the talk given by one of the staffs at night 7 pm about the stars .and milky way.  After the car park we had to walk in the dark along the way lighted with dim red light.  As Shobha saw me wandering she had to hold my hand till we reached the destination. We were supposed to get used to the dark so that we could  watch the stars on the clear sky. It was vast open sky with a view of the stars in all the directions. She explained about the names of the stars as a part of the Greek legendary. 

1/5/22

              We were supposed to leave Ranch by 8 am and hence I woke up by 6 and took shower after having tea. Shobha and Lall had gone for a walk while I was taking shower and hence could not hear their call. I responded afterwards and they were coming to the room to have bread and butter with tea before we got ready to leave. By 8 am we left the Ranch and drove toward Baker’s Field. Wanted to have food at Punjabi Dhaba but it was closed for one week as they had been too busy all those years. So we looked for another place for lunch and got food from a Japanese restaurant. Ordering take out mine was chicken with rice and I enjoyed my food specially rica as we had not been having rice for the last two three days. We reached home around 4.30 pm. Shobha  had  made khichri for dinner and really enjoyed it. I did my laundry as I had time.

colorful hillocks 

colorful hillocks

Sun rise

reflections of sun light on the rocks

Lall and Shobha hiking

Sand dunes

sun set.

Unexpected Guest

 Unexpected Guests

A Christmas card from Jan  usually comes every year. But this year seems a bit different. Our common friend Pangila from Nagaland is no longer here in USA as she had to return to her home town Dimapur, Nagaland in India. Jan and I  were not so close from the beginning, except that we happened to meet at our common friend Pangila’s place.  Since Pangila had gone back to Nagaland after the death of her only son. Jan somehow misses our common friend as much as I do. For Pangila, her son had left enough money and hence she could get a plot of land and built her own house in Dimapur a town in Nagaland. Her wish  to bury her son’s ashes next to her own is going to be fulfilled now. 

 It was more than three years Pangila  had left USA and for the first time Jan contacted me. She invited me to come and have lunch with her at her house at American Canyon near Napa valley. I was a bit surprised that i was invited to her place for lunch.There was no possibility of my driving to her place in American Canyon near Napa Valley since I stopped driving on freeways for the last few years.  Then she suggested that they could come to my place and meet me. Since they planned to be at my place by 11 am on Saturday, the 18th of December. I let her know that I was going to make North Indian breakfast type Gobi Paratha (Crushed cauliflower wrapped in tortilla). They were quite happy to try dishes other than their Naga type dishes. 

. On Saturday Jan and her husband Vik came around 11.30 am. I had already made half cooked and kept for cooking again just before serving. When they arrived in time.I was happy to see them after nearly three years. She had in her hand poinsettia plant and then her husband a packet. Once inside the house she handed over the packet to me which turned out to be a beautiful blanket. I thanked them and after some time I asked if they are ready to have food  Yes they were ready. I turned on gas and started  heating the parathas to be fully cooked. Both readily sat down on the dining chairs waiting for my parathas.  Along with the paratha I already made some raita (made with yogurt onions, coriander salt and red chili) and also ketchup at the side for the potato chops. I was quite happy to note that she  wanted to take some paratha to her home. Later I packed four parathas for her. She was happy to get some of the ghost chill I had from my plant at the back yard. I also had two small ghost chilli plants in a pot which she took with her. Also gifted to her a woolen beanie and a scarf which were crocheted by me. 

During the conversation I came to know her husband did his PHD in Archeology from UC Berkeley  His wife Jan did in education and leadership. She is working for a pre school at Oakland. Vik during PhD program he had digging done in Dimapur, there he found some potteries of ancient Kachhari tribe kingdom which were dated around 1400 AD..  While talking  publishing books he had already published one but he planned to publish about north eastern region of India's civilization. 

After sometime tea was served and they left with happy memories.

After few days Jan called wanted to know how Potato chops were made. I sent her the recipe and she said her chops came out good. Photos below were taken on 12/18/21

Jan and Jamuna

Jamuna with jan's gifts on the table

Jamuna, Vik Nuenu, wife Jan