New Beginnings



Here’s to new beginnings, new hope and new pathways to forge. Happy 2017!


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Mangoes and Memories!

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I had my first plate of curd rice with mangoes in almost two years. Watermelon and mango are two fruits I’ve never purchased after moving to Canada. When a wonderful colleague at a friend gave me a mango I took it home and it sat in my kitchen counter for a week until I could not bear seeing it shrink. I cut it up and sat down to eat it with tears prickling the corner of my eyes. Each bite and morsel brought out an evocative memory of scorching Indian summers and juicy ripe Banganapli mangoes. Memories of a mother who would just eat the tiny amount of flesh around the seed only so we would have enough, a father who would religiously carry bags of mango up three flights of stairs almost every day during mango season, a sister who would sneak mango cubes onto my plate, Sunday family lunches in the sweltering Chennai summer when every meal would end with curd rice with mangoes and piping hot puris with puréed mangoes which my mother would serve me endlessly. Such memories of love. Su...
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What's in a Name?

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'I said, bow ,' Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Harry felt his spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand was bending him ruthlessly forwards...' - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling My parents named my Sharanya after my birth. I’ve always loved my name and have hated it when people butchered it over the years! Anyone who calls me Saranya has been subject to my death stare and immense contempt. But it would take me nearly thirty years to fully realize every syllable of my beautiful name. Years earlier, when I’d discovered the magic of the search engine Google, I remember searching for “Sharanya name meaning”. For the most part Google’s results told me what I already knew. The meaning of the name ‘Sharanya’ was Goddess Durga. But there was one site that mentioned that ‘Sharanya’ also meant ‘surrender’. And I immediately hated it. HATED IT . I’ve been a rebel in my own way and conforming was never my style. And discovering ...
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Maa

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Ruminating on the love of my Mother Goddess...Although I discovered my Mother’s love much later in life, She has been with me forever. After all I was named by my parents after the Goddess. The earliest memories I have of my Dad praying is him singing Aigiri Nandini (Mahishasura Mardini Stotram). From the year we moved to Mylapore in 1994, my mother routinely took me to seek Mother Karpagambal’s blessings at Kapaleeshwarar Temple . One of my closest friends took me to two beautiful Amman temples in Mylapore - Mundagakanni Amman and Kolavizhi Amman. Through all these years though I was seeing Her I was not really seeking Her.  Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy brought Lord Shiva into my life. There is no Shiva without Shakthi, and I discovered my Mother’s love. In 2014 my mother took me to visit Mariamman Temple at Samayapuram . In 2016 in the months before I left to Canada I was blessed to seek Her darshan at Kalighat Kali Mandir , Vishalakshi Temple and Ann...
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