By: Arush Jagan 

Hi, my name is Arush Jagan and I have been playing the tabla for about 4 years.  First let’s start with the basics. The tabla which is also known as the “indian drums” is a North Indian instrument. One day when I was just 7 years old, I overheard my mom talking about something related to enrolling me into a class. I went to my mom’s room and heard the word tabla.

In the middle of her call, she asked me, “Arush, do you want to be in a tabla class?” I said yes and she said, “The teacher is strict, are you sure?” I still said yes but she said that the more strict teachers you have, the better you learn something. When my mom enrolled me, I thought the teacher would not be that strict.

The next Wednesday, I woke up and saw a large red bag with black outlines in my room. I jumped out of bed and opened the bag and saw 2 big things. The first thing I noticed about the drums is that the bigger drum was lighter than the smaller drum which was very strange. A few seconds later, I heard my mom say, “Arush, come outside.” So I closed the bag and rushed out as if someone was chasing me. My mom said, “You have your first tabla class today, don’t miss it!” As the day went on, my mom said it was time to go. I sat in the car with the bag and went to the place where my class would be hosted. 

After going there, I learned about this instrument and learned all the hand positions of the tabla. I learned that the bigger but lighter one is called the dagga and the smaller but heavier one is called the tabla. I realized that only the smaller but heavier is called the tabla but the entire thing of called the tabla.

Coming back home, I was thinking if I could be the world's first tabla player who had ever been starting to play at such a young age. A few years later, I became a master at it. I practiced and whenever I played smoothly and nicely, I felt in my heart that someday, I would be a teacher who would teach students properly and would courage people who are not passionate about this instrument.

At my very first tabla recital, my teacher told me what to play. When I went on the stage, I was imagining how I would play to make my teacher proud. When I was done, my teacher said that was the best performance he had ever seen from a 7-year-old. Ever since then, I would be thinking of having a career of music and being the most popular tabla player to ever exist.

I was really starting to think that my parents wanted me to have a singing career as well. At approximately 5:30 pm on a Thursday evening, I told my parents what I learned in my first ever singing class. Today, the Indian instrument tabla is fun to play once you get into the mood of playing it. From the day I got my very first kaida to play, I was confident that I would be the most popular tabla player to ever exist on this planet. My mom says I always have a fantastic imagination. 

Also, there are many ways of proving that your skills in music like the tabla can be used to develop your math skills. One way I can prove that music skills can apply to math skills is that if you are in the mood of playing the tabla, you have the confidence to persevere and do incredibly difficult math problems.

Epilogue

Dear ISW parents and kids,

In this article, I wrote about my feelings when I play the tabla very well. If you are an Indian American who plays drums well, I would highly suggest the tabla to play when you are in a good mood, ,because it relaxes you. If you are a beginner tabla player but wanting to play like a master, Choose Amit Kavthekar as your tabla teacher. And again, I feel relaxed, happy, and grateful for the tabla to exist and it to be played when in a good mood. 

Sincerely,

Arush Jagan

by Asha Singh, ISW Cultural and Language School Teacher

मोहक पतझड़ हे प्रकृति ! मैं तुझ पे बलिहारी क्या ख़ूब चलाई पिचकारी , चित्रकार नहीं कोई तुझ जैसा जो दृश्य दिखाये   मनोंहारी । प्रभु नें रहमत बरसाई   है रंगों से करी है कारीगरी , फूलों  के दर्प को चूर  किया पत्तों की बनाई फुलवारी  । राहों के किनारे पेड़ों की मोहक ये छटा  प्यारी -प्यारी , ऑखों से गुज़रते दृश्य लगें ज्यों दुल्हन की चुनरी न्यारी । प्रभु तेरी लीला अजब - गजब अद्भुत लागे ये छवि सारी  , कहनें को मौसम पतझड़ का पर ऋतु की महिमा है  भारी  । मन मोहित है , आनंदित है एक अमिट छाप मन पे न्यारी , कुछ दिन में समय फिर बदलेगा बिछुड़ेंगे सभी बारी बारी  । है धन्य रचयिता हम सब का अनुपम श्रृँगार पे मैं  वारी , मन ! मंत्र -मुग्ध हो  जाता है कर जाता ऐसी जादूगरी  । फिर नई कोपलें आयेंगी होगी   हरियाली सुखकारी परिवर्तित करके रंग -रूप यूँ ही चलती है सृष्टी सारी  ।  आशा

O Amazing Nature! I am indebted to you for this colorful spray. There is no painter like you, Who can show such pleasing scenes. God has showered his blessings, Using colors as his medium. Selecting the best of the flowers, To make leaves into a beautiful garden. The beguiling trees by the roadsides, Look so beautiful. The colorful scenes look like Robes of Indian brides. O God! thanks for your wonderful creation. It is an amazing scene It is called Fall Season BUT, The season’s glory is overwhelming. We get filled with lots of joy, And the effect is unforgettable. Soon the seasons will change, And the leaves will drop one by one. We are thankful to the great Creator, For this Incomparable appearance. One feels hypnotized With such a magical experience. Later new buds and pleasing greenery will sprout. This is how Nature continues With changing shapes and colors. This is LIFE.  Asha

By Ruchi Chauhan

Several ISW members attended the recent Consular Facilitation Camp organized by the Medford Shivalaya Temple that helped provide onsite services like passport renewals, OCI applications, and emergency visas. It was very well organized and kudos to all the volunteers who worked really hard to help the people with free printing/scanning and notary services.  Most of the appointments ran on time, even though it was a little chaotic.  Thanks to efforts like these, it saves New Englanders a trip to New York or from mailing important documents to the Indian Consulate.  Another ISW member remarked that despite everything the volunteers were extremely courteous, and crowd control was amazing! Kudos to the organizers.

A number of teams with ISW members participated in the First Lego League Robotics regional tournaments across MA this weekend.  

Shrewsbury Regional Tournament 

Team Shooting stars won the Innovation Project award at the Shrewsbury Regional Tournament. They built a neighborhood community shopping solution that saved time for neighbors, helps reduce the number of driving trips and also helps local businesses. Team shooting stars is based in Shrewsbury and comprised of Pradnya Cowlagi, Diya Shenoy, Nichelle Thinagar, Ravena Arun and Rhea Seth ( grades 6 -8) This team also hosted the ISW LEGO programming summer camp earlier this year and is currently planning remote LEGO camp for kids in India. 

Shrewsbury based  Team Robo Runners  won the first place Core values award for gracious professionalism and Team Resolvers  won the second place core values award in the Shrewsbury regional tournament.  All three teams also won a golden ticket to qualify for the Massachusetts State Tournament later this year. 

Team Robonauts also won an award for their Robot design at the tournament

Worcester Regional Tournament 

Team Trailblazers won the Best Innovation Award in Worcester. The team consisted of Tanvi Badenehal, Abrar Haq, Atharv Mishra, Ari Padovano, Sonakshi Pillai, Ronav Sukhija, and Viraaj Vaddi. Coaches and mentors included Madhavi Vaddi and Ramesh Vaddi as Lead Coach/Mentors, Divya Manchala and Deepa Padmakurup as Mentors and Omkar Vaddi as Youth Mentor.

Robotics at ISW University 

PS - Did you know that ISW has started LEGO programming classes? Keep eye open for the next session on the ISW Website or eSandesh.

Dr. Pratibha Shah is an internationally renowned Ayurveda expert trained in Traditional Health Sciences (Ayurveda, Energy healing) as well as Public Health. She has founded two non-profits, and is a prolific speaker and educator in the community. Before moving to the US, Shah was a Chief Medical Officer with the AYUSH ministry in India.

She will be speaking about Ayurveda at the Diwali at Tower Hill - Festival of Lights being co-hosted by ISW. To attend event do register at ISW for promotional code for discount tickets https://iswonline.org/event-4532389

We interviewed her to find out a bit more about Ayurveda and how one might apply in everyday life living here in the West.

1) What would you say distinguishes Ayurvedic medicine from western medicine that someone here in the US typically is exposed to?

There are many differences between Western medicine and Ayurveda. I will share three key differences here.

• In Western medicine, an individual is being seen more and more as parts of a whole. There is a specialist for every body part. Seldom the person is being looked as a whole, as far as outcomes and long-term effects are concerned. Ayurveda has always looked at an individual as a whole. And here whole denotes not just the physical whole, but the trinity of mind body and spirit.
• In Western medicine, the approach is centered majorly on symptoms management. Whereas in Ayurveda, healing begins with root cause analysis and addressing the root cause as the first step of treatment.
• In Ayurveda, the protocols focus on capacity building. In Western medicine, since the primary aim is to manage the symptoms, the sick individual is likely looking at long term use of chemical drugs with inevitable side effects, and then too no resolution from the illness for which they originally sought treatment. Here I am talking primarily about chronic illnesses as they form the bulk of the disease load on the healthcare system.

To sum it up, Western medicine aims at mitigating disease and symptoms. In Ayurveda, the goal is to impart wholesome and complete health to the client, which is more than mere absence of disease.

2) Most folks think of a doctor when they are ill or hurt. Are there precepts of Ayurveda that one can apply in everyday life beyond treating an ailment?

Yes absolutely. As I often like to say, Ayurveda is the complete user manual of the game of life, where all guidelines and resources to live a wholesome life, reaching one’s full potentials, can be found. If I could define Ayurveda in 3 words, it would be:

• Prevention - tools for primary prevention from diseases, which include daily practices, seasonal practices, practices that help with life transitions, food guidelines and more
• Promotion - building upon the baseline of health and well-being with capacity building herbs, specialized bodywork, and anti-aging protocols
• Personalization - of health and well-being protocols and therapeutic (treatment) protocols

In my opinion, Ayurveda is one of the most complete systems of health and well-being. And that is why I do not like to call Ayurveda a system of medicine. It is a system that guides life itself, health and well-being comprising a big part of it, and of course detailed treatment protocols for diseases as well.

3) There is a newfound interest in natural and organic foods and ingredients. Yet Ayurveda is based on centuries of knowledge. Has the west accepted the findings and knowledge that Ayurveda represents? Do people look for scientific proof or clinical validation?

Ayurveda is one of the world’s most ancient continuously practiced healing science, which has not only stood the test of time, but continues to provide contemporary health solutions even today and will continue to do so till life exists. Because Ayurveda is a system that is organically and intimately connected and aligned with universal rhythms and wisdom. It maps the complexity and dimensions of the human entity quite completely and beautifully.

It is true that there is an increasing interest in natural wellness products and methods. However it would not be fair to compare the new age supplements with Ayurveda as some of these natural products, are not so natural and can be processed and altered themselves.

Now for the most pertinent question about whether the West has accepted Ayurveda. At a federal level, no. We must remember, it is sickness that generates the big bucks, not wellness. Hence systems like Ayurveda are not yet licensed in this country, even though evidence is building up regarding the efficacy of Ayurvedic interventions. But fortunately, people are waking up and I see an increasing number of people wanting to own and drive their own health for lasting benefits. My clientele has steadily increased over the years and as a senior faculty in two leading Ayurveda schools, I see that trend in the number of students enrolling to learn and study Ayurveda, as well. As someone who has dedicated her life to Ayurveda, my hope is to see Ayurveda licensed and regulated in this country, hopefully in near future.

A poem by Asha Singh, ISW Cultural and Language School Teacher

दीपावली की शुभकामना —————————— झिलमिल तारे नील गगन के धरती पर हैं आए , घर आँगन के साथ साथ मन आलोकित हो जाए। पावन पर्व दिवाली का ये शुभ संदेशा लाए, है प्रकाश का उत्सव ये हम सारे कलुष मिटाएँ। खुशियों की छूटें फुलझड़ियाँ सौभाग्य सुमन खिल जाएँ, शुभ कर्मों से जग में हम सुख शाँति के दीप जलाएँ। लक्ष्मी गणेंश की पूजा कर हम मिल के दीप जलाएँ, सबके जीवन में मंगल हो प्रति वर्ष ये पर्व मनाएँ। पावन पर्व दिवाली का हम धूम धाम से मनाएँ ।         आशा

Best Wishes for Diwali _____________________ The twinkling stars in the deep blue skies Have landed on earth Lighting each house’s courtyard And together enlightening our minds They bring happy tidings Of the holy festival of Diwali These lights of celebration And erase all imperfections The sparklers lit with happiness Open flowers of good luck With good deeds we light around the world The lamps of happiness and peace Together we worship Lakshmi and Ganesha Lighting the Diwali lights Let your life be filled with fortune Every year we celebrate this festival of Diwali Let us celebrate this holy festival spectacularly - Asha

by Dhruv Jagan, 9th Grade, St. Johns High School

Prologue

Once upon a time, there were these 2 parents who had this crazy idea to drive across the country. Well, these 2 parents just happened to be mine! It happened just a few weeks ago, this summer of 2021. At first, I didn’t really want to go because I wanted to hang out with my friends here in my neighborhood. But after my mom told me that the scenery would be nice, and I could see some cool new places and, of course, the added incentive that I could use the pools at the places we would stay, I decided to go.

I looked at the map that my father showed and the trip looked LOONNGG! We were going to take the Oregon Trail that traverses the north of the country starting from Massachusetts all the way to Oregon. We were going beyond Oregon to see my aunt in San Francisco. Basically, we had to cover the full 3,000 miles. To do that we decided we needed to drive around 8 hours every day. We also made sure to be flexible and have an open mind to accommodate my 3-year-old sister, Uruvi’s patience for the ride.

STOP 1: NIAGARA FALLS

Our first stop: Niagara Falls. When we reached Niagara Falls, we were stayed at this hotel called “Aarya Hotel,” which had an outdoor pool. We were excited to go and play in it. We rested, and the next day, we went to see Niagara Falls. I remember looking at it from the Canadian side, but this time, we looked at it from the American side. The first time I saw the falls I was amazed by Mother Nature! Having seen many smaller falls, this fall reminded me of the impact of the power of Mother Nature. We were about to leave, when my mom decided we should experience the Maid of the Mist ride. I was a bit skeptical about going because I had no idea what to expect. The last time I went on it was when I was 7 years old, so I didn’t remember what it was like. But my mom didn’t give us a choice, so we went. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the top deck of the boat. When we were on the boat, I felt a surge of happiness as we went near the falls and got super wet. It was really refreshing on that hot day. Even Uruvi liked it! I had never expected that we would go so close to the falls! We were so close to the falls that the whole boat was engulfed in mist. I couldn’t see anything but mist around me!! There were moments where I felt like I was in a whole different world.

Next stop: The windy city, Chicago!

This article is part of a series that details my experiences on our cross-country road trip across the different states.

STOP 2: CHICAGO

Our last night at Niagara Falls, I did a Google maps search of the distance between Niagara Falls and Chicago. 556 miles, 8.5 hours! The big question; will Uruvi be able to handle going to Chicago as well? She was enjoying the car ride and she was overall comfortable. She was also happy and excited, and she didn’t want to go back home because of the swimming pools. Knowing my mom, I was dead sure that she would say “If we start something, we should finish it”. So as I guessed sitting on that hotel bed, without thinking twice, she decided we are going to continue. We got in the car, ready to head to Chicago. I was mainly excited to go because my elementary school teacher and our former neighbor, who is from Chicago, had recommended an awwesssome place to eat the world-famous Chicago style deep dish pizza!

The drive was uneventful nature-wise as we didn’t see much scenery on this part of the car drive compared to the last one. But it was still fun to see different cars and trucks. We even played a game called the word game, where someone starts with with a random word, and the next person has to say a word that starts with the last letter of the word that the person said before. It was fun, but it got boring after a while. Totally not because I couldn’t find some words….J  Anyhow, I was watching YouTube on the iPad when we had to take a break to eat. We all didn’t know what to eat, so we just got quick subs from Subway. When we arrived at our hotel, we saw that there was this very nice Mexican restaurant just across from our hotel called “La Fogata.” We arrived late, so we ate there.

The next morning, my mom had another 5-hour meeting which she needed to attend undisturbed . My dad saw this natural history museum near us, so we decided to go there. We arrived and it took us a while to find it (somehow) because it was a little bit hidden. We paid for our tickets, and as soon as we entered, it was like a WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD. There were so many dinosaur skeletons, bugs and beetles, and even an underground, ancient Egyptian maze! We first saw all different kinds of bugs and beetles. They were all so creepy and crawly, I would probably get nightmares if one of them came into my bed. After that, we wanted to go see a presentation about history, but you had to pay again to go through it, so we just went through the Egyptian maze. It showed us many things including King Tut’s golden covered tomb, how they built the pyramid, and more! After that, the gem exhibit. This one contained all the different kinds of gems, shiny, and non-shiny. I personally liked the ruby and the blue sapphire the most, since they were my favorite colors. My brother liked the diamond and, well, my sister liked everything! We didn’t want to eat there, so we went to this very big hall, in which many people were taking pictures with dinosaur skeletons that couldn't fit in the normal exhibit. There was a giant brachiosaurus and a T-rex.

When we arrived back, my mom had set us up for a boat ride at the Navy Pier, which was just going to do a big circle in Lake Michigan. I was a bit tired from the museum, but my mom dragged me out. When we arrived there, we got onto the boat and saw an amazing view of Lake Michigan. It didn’t take long before the boat was on its way. When we were about halfway through the sail, the sun was setting, and we saw the amazing skyline of Chicago. At that exact moment, my friends facetimed me!! I answered and told them I was on a boat, and I also showed them the skyline. They told me that it looked sick and told me don’t drop the phone.

At the end of the day, we decided to have some yummy, mouthwatering deep-dish pizza at this place called Gino’s Pizza. It was recommended by my 4th grade teacher and former neighbor, Mrs. Spangenberg, who hails from Chicago. You could actually write your names on the wall, so no one can forget that you were there. My father kept listening to songs from the Blues brothers, an old time Hollywood classic which highlights Chicago with the song “Sweet Home Chicago”. I kinda liked the tune but after a few times I was done! And that, my friends, is what we did, in the amazing city of Chicago.

STOP 3: SIOUX FALLS

Well, we’ve gotten to Chicago, why not just keep going ahead? We are all feeling fine and not overly tired, and so it was decided that we would soldier on. What’s the next stop though was the question? My dad mentioned he had read about a waterfall in South Dakota that was kinda fun stop. At first, I heard it as “So falls”! I was intrigued that a waterfall could be named in that way, but a quick search proved me wrong. The word is Sioux Falls!

Reading through the history of the falls, made me really want to go there. For all you geography and history lovers, the Sioux falls is an important geographical attribute of the Big Sioux River and formed 14,000 years ago! It seems the early settlers had found the land close the falls very appealing. So we embarked on our drive to South Dakota, to see Sioux Falls. Our drive was the same, nothing different except for the amazing sunset I captured from the car. We reached our hotel on the outskirts of Minnesota.

The next morning, we drove to Sioux Falls. At the entrance to the Falls, we found a engraving that said that a time capsule lay there and would be opened in 2064 to mark the 125th anniversary of South Dakota. I really want to come back then to see the opening of the time capsule. I will be 57 years old, HAHA! The Falls also had a nice park to play in, and there were many rocks inside of the ground! The rocks were emerging from the ground and my dad told me the rocks were quartzite. They were bright red in color. It was crazy cool! We wanted to take as many pictures as we could, and we were doing the most unique poses on the rocks. Some nice people offered to help take some of our pictures, and that was very kind of them. Uruvi was showing off my mom's sunglasses to everyone and everyone smiled and loved her.

There was also a small waterfall that was in the middle of it. It was a blistering sight to see a bright waterfall in the hot weather. It was scorching hot that day, so we decided to take some pictures with the waterfall and the geese that floated inside of it as quickly as we could. There was a small bridge over the river that led to the falls, that connected the park and the restaurant. My mom went into “photo frenzy mode” and I lost count of how many pictures she took ON THAT BRIDGE. There was a restaurant just next to it, but we had already eaten before, so we didn’t go there.

Uruvi, of course, didn’t want to go back in the car as she actually wanted to swim in the lake! She is sometimes such a whiny girl. We had to drag her across the park, just for her to get in the car and bawl her eyes out. We gave her the phone, and she immediately stopped crying. It's as if she knows that if she cries a lot, we will go to our last resort and give her the phone. Arush and I were a little annoyed that she was getting everything and anything she wanted.

We still had 4 hours left of our drive, and our arrival time was already an hour late. We couldn’t find a fancy hotel near our next destination, so we had to stay in a simple motel called “Super 8.” Arush and I kind of wanted a fancy hotel, but we were caught by surprise by how comfy the MOTEL was! It had big beds, an even bigger TV, and they had an amazing breakfast! We were happy and had a good night's sleep. The next morning, it was very sunny and hot, so we got up earlier to quickly get ready and on the road to North Dakota. Stay tuned folks!

STOP 4: MOUNT RUSHMORE 

So here’s the thing about road trips, you get involved more and more as the number of days you travel!. Trust me, true fact! and I vouch for it. As the third leg of the journey finished, I was like where to next! So where did we drive to? Our next stop was in North Dakota, living just only one hour away from Mount Rushmore. I had read so much about Mount Rushmore in my History class, that the idea to see it in person made me giddy with excitement! Believe me when I say this, travelling in the back row of a car with my two siblings, anything would seem exciting! Haha. jokes apart, I do like them but spending a major part of the day in the back row is a test of my patience! We started our drive, and our drive an hour shorter than usual. This was due to the time zone changed. As my father explained, as we go west we gain an hour because they are behind us.

For this part of trip, my mom was prepared, and had bought some cards to play inside of the car. I wanted to be on my phone, because I wanted to facetime my friends, but she said, “Stop being a teenager and enjoy time with your family!!” I had to agree, so we played war, which is the simplest card game I know. The game was to split the card evenly between the number of players. All you must do is flip the card that's on top of your deck, and whoever has the biggest one gets all the cards. Last person who has cards wins. We played for a little bit, then it got boring because we were arguing which card was worth more. I then watched Naruto for the rest until we got there.

When we arrived, it was late evening, around 7pm. Our arrival was actually 8 pm, but since we go back an hour, from central time to mountain time, we got an extra hour. My dad checked us in, and me and Arush went to our room, and within A MINUTE, we were ready to go into the pool, oops sorry a WATER PARK! This was the coolest, a waterpark next to our hotel! It was like a dream come true. Dad dropped us at the waterpark, and we quickly got comfortable with all the different kinds of water obstacles. We played around with Uruvi and I raced her for a while. When we got tired, we went back to our room and turned on the TV.

When Dad and Mom came back, we were excited for our Indian dinner. Indian Food in North Dakota, that was surprising for me. But as my father in his professorial tone (yeah, he is a Professor of Neuroscience) said, North Dakota has a huge immigrant population from Nepal, a country which happens to be India’s neighbor. Hence there is no shortage of Indo-Nepalese cuisine.

After dinner, Arush and I went to bed early that day, so we could have full energy for the waterpark tomorrow morning. The next morning, we quickly had our breakfast, and changed so we could go to the waterpark. We wanted to get there and spend as much time as possible, because in the afternoon we had to go to Mount Rushmore. There were a lot of people already there, and we decided to start with the lazy river. The water in the lazy river was warm, so it was relaxing to get in on a chilly day. We found a donut float for two people, and almost slept on that lazy river! We went on the waterslides and the normal pool for so long that we didn’t even realize it was 1pm, and we had to go back to the hotel room to leave for Mount Rushmore! We rushed back, relieved that my parents weren’t there, and we quickly showered and got ready. My parents arrived, happy that we were already done getting ready, and we quickly jumped back into the car, and went on our way to Mount Rushmore.

We had arrived in North Dakota on July 2nd, two days before Independence Day. The whole route was covered with American Flags, and I could hear our National Anthem being played everywhere. It reminded me of school where we would sing it during Morning Assembly. The drive to Mount Rushmore was a short one, but the terrain was hilly and the drive was slow. We arrived at the Gates of Mount Rushmore, which was more than 5000 feet above sea level. When we got there, we had to walk up a few stairs to a walkway that had all the state flags on the side of it.

At the entrance was a wonderful lady, who was asking all passersby to put a pin on a world map, indicating where we come from. I put my pin on Massachusetts and Dad and mom put a pin on India. The lady was so nice and asked me several questions about school and if I am liking it.

As we walked up the stairs, there in the middle was the world-famous Mount Rushmore. It was a sight to behold and I for once was left spell bound. My parents on the other hand, were taking picture after picture after picture. Yes, the repeat is to reiterate the number of pictures they took! I also learnt some more historical facts; that Massachusetts was the 6th state to be inducted into the Union.

When we finally got to the closest location to the monument, we saw how big it was. It was MASSIVE. The faces of the four presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln) looked about 100 feet wide, AND LONG!!! I overheard a tour guide mentioning some very interesting facts about the monument. Don’t ask me to recite what all he said, but a few things I did remember. The whole mountain is made of granite and erodes 1 inch every 10,000 years. The other fun fact that I could recollect was that each of the noses of the Presidents is 240 inches long ! Lastly, the most amazing fact, that if you turn the mountain 90o, you can see another face!! I tried that and did not see any face. If any of you find a face, do let me know.

We took many selfies and pictures, and I even did a vlog there! On our way down the mountain, we enjoyed some ice cream, and started our journey to the next stop, knowing we would be on the road, only for three more days till we reach California! Till Then, Enjoy!

STOP 5: YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

At this point, me, my dad, my brother, and my sister were all getting a little tired of all the driving we had to do every other day. My mom on the other hand, miraculously was full of energy and wanted to continue as if we just started. Of course, we were back on the road at 8:30am that day and were headed to Nevada.

Our drive wasn’t any different from the others, but we started to observe that the roads had way more desert-type vibes rather than a normal highway with fields on the side. This wasn’t good, because it meant that there would be no service for almost the whole ride. But, yes there's a But, I knew that beforehand, and downloaded a few episodes of our favorite serial so we could watch it offline.

I was chilling watching, and my dad went through and exited, and I wondered why. Well, my stomach answered that question. I had totally forgotten that all I had in the morning was 2 waffles and milk, and I was starving. We stopped at a Subway as a last resort, ate quickly, and jumped back on the road. When we arrived at our hotel, we were all tired, and decided to grab some quick Pizza Hut, and sleep as soon as possible.

The next day we thought that we had come so close to one of the natural wonders of North America, we should not skip the Yellowstone National Park even though it was far from the hotel. Well, the reason for us to stay so far from the park was because of our impromptu nature of going on the road trip. Needless to say, it was going to be the most amazing part of the natural beauty and so all the hotels in the 300-mile radius were all booked. Hence, after a lot of thought we had our lunch and we departed to go see the Yellowstone National Park, which was almost 4 hours away.

Yep, another long drive. We left at 2, which was late, and arrived around 6:00 pm. When we got there, we had to drive slowly though the wavy and curvy road. When we saw Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring, we were AMAZED. It was a cold atmosphere, but the blows from the geyser warmed us up with some warm and moist air. Pretty sure we took around 100 pictures just at Old Faithful. When we saw the Grand Prismatic Spring, it almost looked fake! It was a very shallow pond-like place, with rainbow colors inside of it! This wasn’t a geyser, it was more like a steaming hot pond, which let off warm air every now and then. We were amazed to see all the different colors inside of it and took many more pictures!

We walked around more, looking at the big trees that were there. When we looked at the time, we were suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of distress. It was 8 pm, and we all forgot that it was going to take us 4 hours to get back as well! We had no choice but to drive back, and arrived back at 1 am, ending our second to last part of our onward trip!

STOP 6: CALIFORNIA!!!!

Almost there! Almost there! These were the words my mom kept repeating the morning of our drive. Well, we were all excited to be so close to reaching our destination, so we all jumped into the car as enthusiastically as possible. Leaving Reno Nevada was quite a different feeling. No more hotel stays but the comfort of getting to a home was exhilarating. After six nights in hotels and pools, the comfort of a home and my parents yearning for some chai (Indian tea) was a tempting one.

Our drive was just the opposite as the last drive. Instead of going from greens to desert, we went from desert to greens! This time I was so excited to reach there that I totally forgot I hadn’t eaten, and my stomach was rumbling like a bear! After a quick munch, we drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. Why did this LAST drive feel so eternal?

The temperatures outside were soaring in the low 100s! I was getting tired, and I got even more exhausted after I found out we were only 3 hours in! Of course, as if it was a habit, I went on my phone and chilled while watching some Netflix and Face Timed my friends. They told me they were playing outside and were going to have a sleepover that night. I was a little jealous, but I didn’t say anything. I mean, you would be jealous too if your friends were having a sleepover, and you weren’t, right? I hope so because sleepovers are the best. Anyhow, 1 hour had passed quickly, so that cheered me up! I told them to have fun and ended the call.

We finally arrived in San Jose, CA at my aunt’s house. It was early evening, and our little cousin Vilohit was waiting outside to greet us. The house was big, with a nice backyard we could play some mini-basketball in. We all greeted each other and were excited for all the things we would do there.

Our first day, we had some sausage and eggs for breakfast, and there wasn’t a solid plan of what we were going to do that day, so me and my brother played some basketball with my little sister and went for a walk as well. We went to a beach near our house (Half Moon Bay Beach) as I love water. The water was so warm, compared to the beaches in MA. I did not want to come out of the water.

As the evening was setting, we decided to visit another very interesting spot in CA. It is called the San Andreas Lake Trail. My uncle (Rajesh kaka) told us about how the lake formed from the earth’s crust via a tectonic ridge called the San Andreas Fault. This geological feature extends all across California and as per reports, causes some of the major earthquakes in that region. The name of the fault is derived from the lake. We walked a mile-long stretch of the lake and of course took pictures! By now, you must know that we are a family of picture takers . It was very serene walking along a lake. At times during the walk, me and Arush would do a small sprint just to see who is fitter.

As the day came to an end and we watched the sunset near the lake, it was an amazing sight. It was an amazing beach with the sun in the back and a beautiful view. We took hundreds and hundreds of photos and ended the night with some amazing tacos!

The next day, was nice and sunny weather, (what else can we expect from sunny CA!), so my mom told us to spend as much time as possible playing outside. We got tired after just an hour, so we came in and had some dinner. My aunt is an avid gardener, and we spent time tending her garden that evening. She grows everything from garlic to squash. Having a home garden is so much work but it is fun when you can eat the produce that you are growing. In the evening, we had dinner at a local Indian restaurant. There are many of them there and I found out that CA has the second largest population of Indians outside of India.

The week passed so quickly, and it was time for us to pack up and start the journey home. The whole trip to CA was such an amazing experience. Given my initial inhibitions, I am glad we did this road trip. I have memories that I will cherish all my life. In addition, writing this travelogue was fun. It kinda made me relive the moments with you all. I hope you enjoyed it!

As they say in Spanish, Adios mi amigos!

A poem by Asha Singh, ISW Cultural and Language School Teacher

रूप रस की चाँदनी बरसा करे हरदम, सौभाग्य की बिंदिया यूँही दमका करे हरदम, माधुर्य जीवन में सजे विश्वास हो हरदम , मनमीत से ये प्रीत तो निभती रहे हरदम । करवा चौथ की विशेष मंगलकामनाएँ !           आशा

May beauty and charm Always bathe you like the moon rays. May the bindi’s goodluck Always shine on you May you always have faith in the sweetness of life May your love for each other Always continue forever Our special good wishes on the auspicious occasion of "Karwa Chauth"  Asha

This is an English interpretation of popular Marathi Poem by B. R. Tambe. Interpretation by Suresh Dike & Sarita Deshpande.

घन  तमी  शुक्र बघ राज्य करी घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई रे खिन्न मना बघ जरा आ आ आ तरी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई ये बाहेरी अंडे फोडुनि ये बाहेरी अंडे फोडुनि शुद्ध मोकळ्या आ आ आ वातावरणीं का गुदमरशी आतच कुढुनी ई ई रे मार भरारी जरा आ आ आ वरी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई रे खिन्न मना बघ जरा आ आ आ तरी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई फूल गळे फळ गोड जाहले फूल गळे फळ गोड जाहले बीज नुरे डौलात तरु डुले तेल जळे बघ ज्योत पाजळे का मरणिं अमरता ही ई ई न खरी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई रे खिन्न मना बघ जरा आ आ आ तरी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई मना वृथा का भीशी मरणा दार सुखाचे ते हरि करुणा मना वृथा का भीशी मरणा दार सुखाचे ते हरि करुणा आई पाही वाट रे मना आ आ आ पसरोनी बाहु कवळण्या उरीं ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई रे खिन्न मना बघ जरा आ आ आ तरी ई ई घन तमीं शुक्र बघ राज्य करी ई ई

Look up 'O' despondent soul, Behold how 'Shukra' Star; Rules in the midst of dark night; Smiles in the sky to ignite. ||1|| Break your shell and burgeon. Let your spirit soar, Why you smother inside, All gloomy and dour? |2|| The moonless night yields to a gleaming golden Sun, The crack of dawn gives the birth to fathomless rays of the Sun. ||3|| Lenient offerings by God; and merciful life, Why conjure up so much A boogeyman rife? ||4|| Flower withers but. Fruit gets sweeter. Seed disappears as the tree extends higher. ||5|| Oil burns out but. the bright flame illuminates. In everlasting life, Death! it truly ends? ||6|| Look at the flowers smiling amongst the thorns. Bright rays shining through dark forlorn. ||7|| Why are you afraid of death? in vain? It is the door to God's mercy, not the pain. ||8|| To embrace and hold you close to her Heart, The mother awaits with wide open Heart ||9||

Hello everyone! My name is Ayan Mishra. Here is the story of how I adopted my first dog, Muffin, along with some tips on how you can adopt yours!

I’ve always been an animal lover, ever since my childhood. I was in love with TV shows like “Dinosaur Train”, where I learned about ….well dinosaurs. I went on to read more about them and even bought a few encyclopedias. As a kid, I always wanted to have a pet animal. Since I couldn’t get a velociraptor, I settled on a dog! I started pestering my parents for a pet dog since I was 6 years old. My mom always said no because she thought I wasn’t old enough to take care of it. She would always say I could get one when I turned 10. Since she never had a dog before, she felt she needed to get mentally prepared for all the licking and getting used to having another family member. But mind you, my dad had two dogs (German Shepherds) when he was growing up as a kid. I had the majority on my side. It was only about convincing my mom, which took me some time. And when I say some time, it actually took me 4 full years to convince her! Well, as they say, slow and steady wins the race. So did I!

When I turned 9, I immediately started searching for dogs; I looked up popular dogs that are good for beginners. Most of the websites listed Labrador Retrievers as the number one dog! I researched about them, what they looked like, what they ate, how big they were and what colors they were available in. After all the research, I settled on adopting a yellow lab puppy. To continue the process, I created a Google document and listed all the breeders all over the East Coast and started calling them for availability. To my surprise, none of the breeders had any available lab pups left. Zero! Zilch! Nothing! Except for one breeder in New Hampshire. I called them up and we got in 11^th in line to adopt one. I was excited when I heard this, but also a little disappointed to be so late in the line. I kept looking, and realized some other breeders that I contacted were scammers and puppy mills. Puppy mills are mass breeders that keep their puppies in horrible conditions; most of them are also sick and develop issues later on. Since Labradors were the number 1 dog breed, there were a lot of puppy mills for them. I tried staying away from breeders like those.

In April this year when I got the call from the breeder, they told me we did not make it in line to adopt the puppy. I was very disappointed and started my search all over again. Most of the breeders for labs were booked until 2022. That was when I realized we had to choose a different breed.

I realized that I should search for smaller dogs because they need less exercise, attention and are easier to train. I found 2 breeds that I liked - the Maltese and the Shih Tzu. As I started researching about them, I fell in love with these small puppies! After all the deliberation, I chose the (drum roll please) Shi Tzu! The name Shih Tzu means little lion in Mandarin. I found Shih Tzu puppies on greenfieldpuppies.com; a great website where you can find dogs from the African Boerboel to the Yorkshire terrier. My mom researched while I was at school and I researched after I finished my homework. We found a litter of 5 from one of the Shih Tzu breeders in Pennsylvania. When we called them, we found out only one puppy was left and the breeder named her Muffin. We also saw a Maltese puppy and his name was Ollie. I showed both the puppies to my dad and he recommended calling both the breeders. When my mom called both the breeders, we found out that Muffin was available for adoption but Ollie’s breeder didn’t answer.

We checked when we could go and get Muffin and it was Memorial Day weekend the following week. We had the time to take the long trip. Woo hoo! Then the Maltese breeder answered, but it was unfortunately too late. We had already made up our minds and were going for Muffin. I was in disbelief that was actually going to get a dog after all these years!!! We had to drive all the way to Pennsylvania and I was ready for it! The day before we left, we got all the important dog stuff such as toys, food, bed, crate, etc. from Petco. I was so excited when we were at the breeder’s doorstep. When we called the breeder she came outside holding Muffin. She was the cutest furball! My parents were looking at the papers and asking questions while I was playing with her. She was running super fast. Then I put her on a leash. She hated it and began chewing on it; running around to get it off. Then she walked up to the breeder’s pet cat because she wanted to play. The cat ignored her and walked away. Then we got her to the car along with her leash, collar, food, toy and papers. We took her outside to go to the bathroom before the long drive home. As it was raining, we had to take a wet dog home in the car. At the beginning, she was a little scared because she had never been in the car before, especially with total strangers. She slept within 30 minutes into the drive but woke up a lot because of the bumps. Then she threw up! We got worried and called the breeder; she said that Muffin was just carsick. She slept again and we gave her some toys to chew on. When we got home, Muffin looked around and got settled. We gave her some more toys and fed her. The first few days, she woke up 1 to 2 times in the middle of the night.

Now Muffin is fully adjusted at home and sleeps through the night. She loves to meet new people, chew on her leash, my flip-flops and everything else. And she loves to play all the time.

Before we wrap up my story about adopting my first dog, let me give you a few important tips as you consider your own.

1.    Start by getting permission from your parents.

2.    Research a breed you like. Get a few backup breeds just in case.

3.    Find a breeder on greenfieldpuppies.com website that has litters. Someone you can trust.

4.    Expand the radius of your search if you cannot find something nearby.

5.    Talk to them and confirm the litter availability and pay the deposit.

6.    Get your essentials ready like food and water, bowls, toys, bed, crate, poop bags, pee pads (need those), a collar, leash and id tags.

7.    Pick your puppy and take it home.

8.    Have fun!

What you need for a Shih Tzu

Continuing the story about my puppy who is growing up fast….Muffin has now turned 6 months old! She has grown much bigger and learned a lot more commands. She has learnt to follow - sit, come, go get your toy, drop it, leave it and down. She has stayed home alone for 3 hours already! Now that I have had her for a few months and our entire family revolves around her needs, I thought I should talk about what you need for a Shih Tzu Puppy.

EXERSISE

Shih Tzu’s don’t need much exercise, so a short walk every day is good enough. Shih Tzu’s are not outdoor dogs so getting a doghouse isn’t ideal. Muffin loves walks and likes to play on the deck; we do not leave her outside though. They need to be watched outside because eagles and hawks can pick them up, along with small coyotes.

FOOD

Shih Tzu’s are very picky eaters; you need to pick a food they like. Muffin did not like three foods, so we got her a Shih Tzu Plan food which she loves very much. Some dog food companies such as Purina and Royal Canine specialize in Shih Tzu food. When you switch foods you have to gradually switch to the new foods. On the first day of a new food you need to mix 25% new food and 75% old food. Then on the second day 50% new food and 50% old food, and so on until it is 100% new food. I think we have finally settled down on the type of food she likes!

LIVING ENVIORMENT

Shih Tzu’s are very adaptable dogs who are great at living in apartments and big houses. They barely shed, and don’t have to go to the bathroom very often. They often have separation anxiety, so as puppies they should not be kept alone for a long time. They are not yippy like other small dogs and rarely bark unless hurt, hungry, have to go to the bathroom or frustrated. They are great for all ages and bond especially well with older kids (10 - 18) and with the elderly.

BEHAVIOR

Shih Tzu’s are great companions; in fact they were actually bred to be companions! Some people even refer to them as ‘therapy dogs’. They are loyal, clever, playful, alert, happy, gentle, friendly and outgoing. Muffin has all of these traits. The only cons of their behavior are that they can be difficult to housetrain. They can also be a bit grumpy sometimes. They are definitely attention seeking dogs and love being around you. Muffin hardly used her play pen, and is usually around the chairs near the kitchen island, or below the dining area chairs. I would say that’s her favorite spot. They can be left alone for 8 hours maximum. They also love being around humans and other dogs.

Before I wrap up here is the simplified version!

• Shih Tzu’s do not need much exercise, they will get all of it from a short walk
• They are picky eaters, I recommend a Shih Tzu diet
• They can live in all environments, they barely shed and they don’t bark
• They are great companions

Ayan Mishra is 10 years old and lives in Shrewsbury with his mom and dad. He is going to the 6th grade and is an avid swimmer and likes to play basketball and tennis.