The engagement ceremony is an important pre-wedding ritual in Indian cultures where the would-be-bride and the groom-to-be come face to face and are formally betrothed to each other by their families. The couple exchanges rings with each other and......Read More
Every thanksgiving my mom makes my family create a gratitude tree for thanksgiving. This involves sticking some particularly branchy sticks into a bowl of rocks and then writing what we are thankful for on paper leaves which we then hang from the......Read More
A few days ago Sophie and I went to a silk store. The door was tiny and you had to go down a couple of stairs to get inside. From that first impression I never would’ve guessed the beauty held behind those old walls. We hunched down to go through......Read More
Spot your kid having fun with me! Me and my many friends. I can even count them! Ceci, JJ, Callie, Dani, Rach and Sophie!!!! 6 friends!!!...Read More
last night dani and I went to our batik teachers house for dinner. Her name is jasmindar and she is wonderful. She makes incredible beautiful tye dyes of nature and women. we cooked together with the help of choti who studies under her st the......Read More
What a beautiful day it is to steal away from the bustling Banaras! The vibes of the countryside was calm and peaceful. Just what our group needed. We toured the village Saurabhji grew up in and had an experiential lesson on the caste topic that we......Read More
I always wonder what other people are thinking and this has never been more true than during our time at Root Institute. Sitting in the gompa during meditation, when my legs began to tingle and my back started to complain, my mind would invariably......Read More
The Venerable Namgyel wanted us to create a play based on healing disturbing emotions. The majority of the dragons group did not want to create a play. Many of the other retreat participants did not want to create a play. Unfortunately my discussion......Read More
What’s better than one person smiling? More than one person smiling!...Read More
Jacky likes to take pictures. Jacky takes some pretty good pictures. But you know what’s better than Jacky’s pictures? Pictures of Jacky taking pictures....Read More
In the emails home and phone calls with our families, we get caught up in narrating the tasks we accomplished or challenges we overcame, the big events or experiences we perceive as significant, the food we crave and things we miss. But often, it is......Read More
Having just returned to Banaras, I am struck, once again, by the proliferation of cows on the street. Some of theses sacred creatures are emaciated, others munch on garbage. The ones in the street are shouted and honked at. Most are neglected. Only......Read More
Twitting live on our way back to Varanasi where the students are all looking forward to the warm embrace of their homestay families. Although our Buddhist retreat in Bodh Gaya was eventful, we gained new understandings about our mind thanks to the......Read More
Ah those magnificent mountains! Here are some photos from our memorable trek in the Makha Valley of Ladakh....Read More
We recently reached the official half-way point of the semester. What. To mark this milestone we spent the night at the Krishnamurthy Centre on what I would like to call the outskirts of Banaras- though I’m really not sure that is appropriate. We......Read More
