Ten Jewish Indians off to Hungary

Off to the International Jewish Youth Camp tomorrow with a group of ten Indian Youth. Can't belive it! Here's a photo I later added of our Hungarian counterparts.

Birthday Photos

Orchids for all the special people in my life with birthdays in this month...
Happy belated birthday Grandma :)






May flowers apparnetly bring Birthday parties..


..and one of the Four birthdays celebrated this month at the JCC

Teardrop on the face of time

whirlwind of travel over the last few days with my Mom included a visit to a world wonder- The Taj Mahal. This monument to love was absolutely striking in the first light of the day, I still can't believe I have seen it with my own eyes. I also cannot believe how much I am missing crazy, crowded Bombay. More about the rest of our journey to come...

Mumbai Cup: Dabbawallahs versus Brazil!!

One headline from todays Mid Day tabloid type newspaper that made me smile. Tried to find the article to link here, but no use right now... in any case, this one goes out to Mumbaikers and football/soccer fans around the world!

By the way, Dabbahwallahs are the men here in Mumbai who organize millions of lunch deliveries daily in dabbahs- small tin 'tiffin' boxes- throughout the city.

The article reads as follows:

Mumbai's World Cup Opener- by Ojas Mehta

When the world dcup kicks off in Germany tomorrow, with the hosts taking on Costa Rica, Mumbai will be treated to its own opening game.

In what will be the biggest mismatch- and hopefully the greatest upset- since Lagaan, mumbais' Dabbahwallahs will take on the Boys of Brazil, an amateur street football team from at the Kamla mills compound in Lower Parel. The match is scheduled for two PM.

Mid Day attended a practice session of the Dabbahwalla XI yesterday and found that they put as much passion into football as they do in their daily dabba rounds.

The team bought a football as soon as they had the green light from Raghunath medge, the presdient of the Dabbahwallah association.

Lassanai Sri Lanka

Ayubowan!

I'm Back from Lassanai ( sinhala for Beautiful) Sri Lanka after a short jaunt over to the teardrop shaped island for a new Visa. Photos of the Temple of the Tooth ( a relic from the Buddha- see above), elephants herds, wild orchids and lotus flowers, male and female buddhist Monks, and bus rides through the jungle soon to be posted.

And I drove a Sri Lankan rikshaw, which they call a tuk tuk!!
hari, I had some help from the driver, but still :)

Mom arrives today for her Indian Adventure!!

here are some more photos

inside the Temple of the Tooth, located in Kandy, Sri Lanka

the beautiful royal gardens at Peridiniya- Spent an hour just wandering around the greenery, got lost in the Orchid house, caught sight of zinging blur kingfishers and stood mesmerized by a large orange butterfly










Sigriya Rock in the cultural triangle, as seen from a hike high above a buddhist monastary on a near by mountain. Perhaps my favorite memory of my Sri Lankan trip was riding a bike ( foot-cycle, as they call it over there) to the nearby monastery and climbing up to see the impressive Sigriya rock.

Childrens Summer Camp

The ladies mug for the camera at kids camp - say paneer!


Our artwork focuesd on Jewish values: Hachnassat Orchim, or welcoming guests with tiles and mats to put snacks on,

and Tzedaka or charity boxes to put in ruppees for the poor.


our youngest camper :) helping out with some of the hefty computer work



Some snaps of the beautiful smiles and artwork from kids camp May 2006.

I got sentimental (even during the camp itself )as this is my last camping experience with these kids! Hard to believe! We had a lot of fun at the camp, getting creative with all sorts of crafts, moving around with too-loud israeli dance, visiting and making Shavuoth greeting cards with the folks at the Bayiti old age home, "cooking" special pani puri, and just in general making maasti. Can't believe its over...