Holiday greetings from our home to yours - Happy 2019

Hello!

It is that time of the year again when we send you a "selfie" version of our life - airbrushed, filtered, cropped, and present an enhanced image of ourselves for your admiration and applause. So, without missing a beat, here we go....

Taran and Roshan are in 10th grade! They are amazing kids. They take Nidhi's mindfulness lessons (mindful eating, mindful listening, mindful breathing etc) very seriously and have extrapolated it in their own creative way. They practice mindful growling, mindful glaring and mindfully giving monosyllabic responses. 

Ritesh continues to work for TechMahindra, contributing to their Business Process Services and Platforms unit. He takes his work rather seriously. This spring, when he ran the Rutgers Half Marathon without any training, the boys asked him, "Dad, why didn't you train?" He responded, "I outsourced the practice runs to my friend."

Nidhi loves her work as a spiritual healer and is busy with her private practice, iReikiNow. She teaches and offers Reiki, mindfulness, meditation sessions, past life regression, and volunteers Reiki/meditation sessions at hospitals and other institutions. Read more about her spiritual journey here.

We have had an adventurous and fun 2018. Here are the top 10 highlights:

1. Chess Accomplishments: We are so proud that both, Taran and Roshan, earned the title of Chess  National Masters this year. They also won the State Championship and brought back trophies from the Nationals too. They now teach chess lessons during the school year and teach at chess summer camps. They are such good boys - the are saving their earnings to contribute towards their school tuition. This newsletter seemed to be the best place to inform them about their contribution. 
   
   
   
2. Milestone event: Ritesh and Nidhi celebrated their 20th anniversary. Now, back in the day, everyone knew that these two would make a solid couple. 20 years later, the weighing scale proved them right. 

   

   Carrickarede Island, Ireland 

3. Ritesh, the perfectionist: Yet again Ritesh proved that not only does he learn fast, he implements and executes on the ideas he picks up . Those countless hours spent on Twitter inspired him to build a wall. This wall is unique. It is invisible. It requires no funding, no shutdown. It is even soundproof and magically surrounds him every time Nidhi suggests him to complete a household chore. 
4. Harvard: Ritesh and Nidhi had the good fortune of attending an executive education program at Harvard Business School and MIT, this spring. This program was sponsored by The Mahindra Group, Ritesh's employer. Read more about their experience here. Nidhi feels such loyalty towards the group since the program, that whenever Ritesh attempts to take his legendary nap during his work day, Nidhi reminds him gently (or not so) to RISE to work. Pun intended!
5. Past Life Regression: Nidhi got trained and certified in PLR by Dr. Brian Weiss, the leading authority on PLR. She has regressed many people since her training this summer. When she regressed Ritesh, he saw that he was related to her even in his past life. What can we say? Some people have all the luck!

   

   Honored to be trained by Dr. Brian Weiss

6. Ireland and Northern Ireland - a trip with our teenage sons: This summer we did a road trip from Dublin to Belfast to Donegal to Galway and back to Dublin. By the 5th day of our trip, when Nidhi asked Taran and Roshan 116th time during the trip to put their phones away and enjoy the stunning landscape of the emerald island - the various hues of green, the countless sheep and cows grazing on the rolling hills, they quipped, "Mom, we know! It's green!". The other added, "How different can sheep no. 1000 be from sheep no. 1?"
7. Ireland and Northern Ireland - a trip with our soulful and gentle sons: For the record, despite the complaint "Why would we come to an island where we can't laze around under the sun, on a beach?", we had a fabulous time. Exploring Aran Islands by cycle was a fun family experience. The Cliffs of Moher literally and figuratively took our breath away. It was very windy there. Thank you, Taran, for taking that extra walk with me and patiently waiting for me to soak up the beauty. The Giants Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was spectacular. Hiking up the lesser known but jaw-dropping Slieve League was a formidable and memorable experience. The boys were fascinated by the Black Cab Tour in Belfast , where our tour guide showed us the murals, the peace wall and other political vestiges of "the Troubles". Nidhi particularly enjoyed Clonmacnoise, an ancient monastic site. Ritesh claimed that his favorite was a trip to Trinity College and the awe-inspiring Book of Kells, but we have proof to believe that he enjoyed St. Patrick's Cathedral the most.

   

   Ritesh blatantly ignoring Jonathan Swift's instructions. Swift must be turning in his grave

8. Thanksgiving in Southern California: We visited the Universal Studios, the Santa Monica pier, the Griffith Observatory and cruised along Sunset Blvd. But the highlight of the trip was the food we ate. We tried Armenian, Korean, Lebanese, Malayan, Taiwanese and more. We loved every bit and bite of it. Our favorite was the dumplings we ate at Din Tai Fung.

   

   Universal Studios, California
   

   
   

9. Camp counsellors: Taran and Roshan volunteered at their alma mater, The Albrook School, for two weeks as summer camp counsellors. They loved the experience and enjoyed the adulation of pre-schoolers and kindergartners. We are so proud of the boys for giving back to the school which laid their foundation. A special shout-out to Roshan for becoming the favorite counsellor of pre-schoolers. #proudmom May you both do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, and to all the people you can.
   
   
10. Simple joys in life: A first this year was watching a comedy show as a family. It was fun to see Nidhi's cousin, K C Arora, and his group, American Born Desi Comics perform in NY. We fondly recall the peel of laughter while playing Uno at Central Park, while celebrating our 6 year old niece's birthday. Spontaneously racing Ritesh on the steps of UCLA, and losing to him despite his dormant state, left us in giggles. 

We feel blessed to have a wonderful family and friends. It was lovely to host and visit many of them. We created beautiful memories in our trips to Amsterdam, Florida, New Orleans, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. Binge watching shows and playing board games with extended family and friends during the winter break seemed the perfect way to wrap up the year. 

We wrap this letter with a wish for a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2019, for you and your loved ones. May your light shine bright.

Warmly,

Ritesh, Nidhi, Taran and Roshan 

P.S: Please blame the delay in sending out the newsletter to the US government shutdown. We are sincere citizens. We follow our leaders. But lucky you, Idnani family only had a partial shutdown. You did, after all, receive the newsletter.