June 2011

Tikaram-ji was so quietly setting up the tables, carrying them from the stored area. Along with Devraj-ji, his presence at the temple has become a sense of comfort to know there will always be someone to help out at the Seniors program. Our deep appreciation to Tikaram-ji.

We had a beautiful arrangement of flower display as our center pieces taken from our very own temple garden. It was arranged decoratively by Neha and the little helpers who would run back and forth, pick the flowers and come running back. With their constant question, "Can I help you?", the little helpers ran about bringing in chairs, setting them up,bringing flowers, distributing goody bags, etc. It was a heart warming sight to see the bubbly youngsters just wanting to help. Thank you to Palni, Aarav and Sohin for their enthusiasm and passing on that infectious spirit to us all.

While these arrangements were being made, our quiet volunteers Shyam-ji, Devraj-ji, Hiral, Nalini Niranjan were driving to UW Cascadia to pick up/ drop seniors to/ from the program. Their constant presence at the temple helps run this program smoothly. This program cannot expand without volunteers like them. Thank you to these dedicated volunteers.

Raman-ji has now become identified with our very own Seniors program and the program does not feel complete without having him come and do the yoga session. He takes time off from work every month and help us all live healthier lives, sometimes I feel he cares for our health more than we care for ourselves. Thank you for his dedication and commitment to the Seniors Program. Nitya-ji, Arun-ji, from the board and the EC President Virinder-ji took time off from work to come and personally thank Raman-ji's contribution to our community. As our first anniversary gift Virinder-ji promised Raman-ji a place at the temple board and yogawas recognized as a part of the HTCC. Now HTCC will follow up with that promise. Arun-ji also proposed an idea that the Seniors and Youth of our community team up to do more community events. Arun-ji has also promised his support and commitment to this newly proposed idea. Another email will be sent shortly on this proposed idea.

We had a very special bhoomi puja celebration for the Seniors. While the priests chanted purusha sooktam, every Senior and youngster in the room had an opportunity to bless the next phase of the temple by touching a brick that went around the room. The brick was then laid in front of Lord Ganesha which will then be taken to the foundation. Thank you to Srinivasa Bhattar and Vasudeva Shastri for staying long after their work time to do this special puja for seniors.

Our very own dedicated chef for seniors, Punam cannot be thanked enough for her quiet selfless work. She has been making these delicious meals every month for seniors and today again was one of those delicious lunches with the fruit Salad topping it all. I only wish I had remembered to acknowledge Punam this morning and seniors would have had an opportunity to know the deft hands behind the delicious meals. My apologies to Punam and a sincere gratitude for her dedication to the Seniors program. We had the help of Bharati Khandekar who came quite early to start cutting vegetables and help out in the kitchen.

While the Seniors had their lunches, we had young talented singers and dancers perform a dance from the movie song Devdas, followed by Madhuri singing a devotional bhajan. Nikita Kansal and Kamna Shastri sang another movie song - "iktara" from Wake Up Sid. This was the first vocal performance by Nikita in public. Well done, Nikita for coming out of your comfort zone and singing for the Seniors. Thank you to the upcoming artists and we wish you all success in your future endeavors.

Pran-ji, the original visionary of the Seniors Program at the Redmond Senior Center took time off from his other commitments to come and congratulate the success of this one year achievement. HTCC acknowledged his presence and contribution. Thank you to Pran-ji for his continued vision for Seniors.

One of the most anticipated moment and highlight of the event arrived and Ms.Kumud Nagarkar along with Chaz on tabla, Anjali Joshi on harmonium and Lalita on cymbals gave a soul stirring performance. One was visibly taken from this material plane to another plane where it was just you and the divine. A true gift! Thank you to Kumud-ji and the troupe for giving us this fleeting moments of connecting with the Divine. There were so many seniors giving positive comments about the program. We would love to see you more on our program. Next time, as suggested by quite a few, music first and then lunch. :-)

A special thank you to Seema Waghmare for suggesting Kumud -ji's name and to Padma Briggs and family who gracefully stepped in to pick up Kumud -ji from her home this morning.

After the program ended, every senior became the big helpers collecting chairs, stacking them up, bringing down the tables, cleaning up, stacking the tables back into it's place. The full cleanup was done in less than 10 minutes. Thank you to all the Seniors and little helpers who pitched in to help in the clean up. There is a beautiful lesson to learn from this program. If after every program at the temple, the participants do what the seniors do after their program, our mandir becomes a true mandir in spirit where all work is done in the spirit of service to the Divine.

We had a token goody bag to give each seniors sponsored by an anonymous person. It was a delight to see the childlike pleasure peeking through the Seniors as they collected the goody bags :-). Our sincere gratitude to the quiet helpers, sponsors who do their work in humility as a service to the community. Let us get inspired by these sincere helpers and get involved with the temple activities.

Have a safe month! Summer is almost here. We will see you in July. If you have grandchildren 7th grade and up please share the upcoming youth program at the temple that is set to begin on June 26th. We need young leaders to take this mandir to the next level of going green and other initiatives. Please check this link for

details. https://htccwa.org/flyer/HTCC_TACLE.pdf

aff'ly

HTCC Seniors Program