SVL 1.5: A weekend in Michigan

 Posted on August 11, 2015  |  3 minutes  |  464 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

<p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.3&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcavj23_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> <p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.6&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcavdy2_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> <p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcav8a1_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> This was between meeting a group of Santosh&#8217;s friends for Philz coffee and a walk around the Infinite Loop and meeting more of his friends in Zenny, an Ethiopian restaurant in San Jose. [Read More]
ABCD  advaitam  ann arbor  apple headquarters  Apple's Mothership  avatar: the last airbender  bhakti  Bharatnatyam  boating  california  canoe  chinmaya mission  culture  devotion  dvaitam  english  Ethiopian restaurant  faith  Germany  kayak  language  Michigan  Phoenix  raft  regional language  storm  USA  zenny 

SVL 1.4: The Great Outdoors and Indoors

 Posted on July 29, 2015  |  3 minutes  |  626 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

After I wrote to you the previous time, we went out and went to DeeDees, a Gujarati restaurant for dinner. Just near where we parked, I took these pictures. [Read More]
Amici's pizza  Chaathouse  deedees  food  halfmoon bay  learning to drive  lemos farm  Merit Vegetarian Chinese restaurant  minigolf  mountainview  Nirvanah Icecreams  skyline boulevard  swimming  Wholefoods Japanese rolls and Buritos  writing 

The refreshing effect of Om Chanting in Yoga

 Posted on July 28, 2015  |  5 minutes  |  874 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Om is a syllable, not a word. And though it has a lot of mythical and symbolic importance in the Hindu tradition, it has no single meaning to be pinned down to. [Read More]
acoustics  AUM  breath  chanting  class  cross legged  Deep relaxation technique  DRT  energy  frequency  fresh  lotus posture  lung  meditation  mudra  Om  Padmasana  relaxation  Shavasana  singer  singing  sound  Sukhasana  teacher  tone  vibration  voice  yoga 

SVL 1.3: Independence

 Posted on July 18, 2015  |  8 minutes  |  1576 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

18th July 2014 Dear family and friends 🙂 How are you? I’ve been happy to hear from more of you recently. Life has taken on more of a normal rhythm now that it’s been ~a month since I landed. [Read More]
4th july  american independence  BART  buddha  Buddhist Monastery  carrom  Embarcadero  fireworks  fremont  Germany  hanuman temple  indian food  library  lombard  mount madonna  pav bhaji  pier 39  public transport  san francisco  vietnamese monastery  world cup 

The Relevance of Culture

 Posted on July 5, 2015  |  16 minutes  |  3291 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

A conversation with an old friend of mine revealed to me that the word culture is too often associated only with religion and ritualism and dismissed as irrelevant. [Read More]
art  avatar: the last airbender  ayurveda  clothing  cuisine  culture  customs  dance  dean ornish  devdutt patnaik  diet  diseases  food  good and evil  herbal remedies  home remedies  language  lord of the rings  mc donald's  medicinal plants  medicine  meditation  music  mythology  myths that mystify  philosophy  preventive medicine research institute  Religion  ritualism  stories  translation  values  western science  yoga 

SVL 1.2: Two weeks in the USA

 Posted on July 2, 2015  |  4 minutes  |  836 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

2nd July 2014 Hello everyone, Today I took the drivers’ written test and passed with flying colours. I got all answers correct! I studied hard for the last couple of days although I was preparing using videos even sometime last week. [Read More]
cabrillo highway  california  drivers rules  drivers test  language  letters  letters home  license  rules  sunnyvale  USA 

Sunnyvale Letters (SVL) 1: Wedding and After

 Posted on June 21, 2015  |  18 minutes  |  3816 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

June 21st 2014 Happy Summer Solstice everyone! 🙂 I woke up at 5am because of jetlag and my husband, Santosh, is still sleeping. I’ve been wanting to write every day of the last month but things have been so busy. [Read More]
bangalore  birds  bison  california  chennai  coimbatore  cousins  elephant  emu  family  friends  honeymoon  kalahasti  langoor  letters  masinagudi  ooty  peacock  sunnyvale  tirumala  tirupati  travel  US visa  wedding 

LOG 4.4: Defense on Monday

 Posted on April 11, 2015  |  3 minutes  |  445 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

11th April 2014 Hello, I submitted my thesis on the 7th of March and my defense is on 14th April, the coming Monday at 11am. I present my studies for half an hour and then face questions from the committee and audience for the next half an hour or so. [Read More]
cat  Germany  Oldenburg  PhD  thesis  travel  wedding