Newsletter – January 2025
| Happy New Year. Wishing all of our LOTUS ohana, a safe and productive year to follow. The year has started for many on a somber note with many a tragedies and challenges in these short 10 day period. But let us embrace President Carter’s motto of “Love thy neighbor” and make it a meaningful year for all of us. This newsletter is longer than usual with two inspiring stories penned by our community members – a teenager and a seasoned veteran. Indians will be shortly celebrating harvest festivals, Pongal for the Tamilians in the next few days and later this month they will also be nostalgic on the the Indian Republic Day. Let us take the opportunity of these events to partake in community service and aloha. We are discussing the possibility of a monthly “Langar” to feed the needy in our community and would welcome both volunteers and sponsors for this event. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with your ideas for meaningful community events for us to host or participate. In support of our arts, please mark your calendars to attend the performance by Aloha Natyam at the Ala Moana Center stage on January 18th. They are also looking for sponsors to support defray their expenses for this program. Please feel free to reach out to them at alohanatyam@gmail.com for more information and options. On the same day the Indian Consulate General from San Francisco are hosting a Open House and Consular Camp at the ISKCON temple. See the details below. The community is under the grip of significant respiratory illness and so please maintain good personal hygiene and self wellness strategies to keep yourself and others healthy. Warm aloha, Balaraman |
| Community Corner – Janani Sunkara Namaste everyone,  My name is Janani Sunkara, and I turned 14 on 11/11. I have a naughty younger sister named Paavani. I love to travel, crochet, read, play volleyball, and ride horses. My family (Dad Sunil and Mom Anupama) and I moved here two years ago. I’d rather say we were on an adventure. I like to think of myself as a “half-glass-full” kind of person, and a lot of my family would probably agree (I hope). A lot of people ask me the big question: “Why did you move to Hawaii?” Well, there is no simple answer to that, but let me give you some background. When I was just nine months old, my parents took me to Maui, and they LOVED it. Since then, my dad couldn’t stop thinking about how amazing it was. He managed to get a job here in 2019 and tried to convince us to move, but that didn’t work. We weren’t ready for such a big change, so he quit. Then, when COVID hit, we went back to our Seattle routine.  Summer 2022- port where we shipped our car and stuff to Hawaii. Three years later, in the summer of 2022, my mom suddenly decided we should give it a try. With no plan or clue on how it would work, we shipped 10 boxes and a car to Honolulu and set off on a road trip to Texas, leaving our forever home in Bothell, WA. My family is CRAZY about road trips, yet they still chose to move to an island where just 4-6 hrs. would cover the Island. I hate road trips because I get car sick, but I love them because I meet so many amazing people and see so many incredible places along the way. We stayed with our cousins for a few days and then flew to Hawaii. Sounds easy, right? WRONG.  First day of School in Hawaii Moving was a challenge and came with many surprises. First, we had to get rid of one of our cars, and we didn’t pack everything because we initially thought we would move back in a year. It was very hard for us to find a house. We stayed in a hotel in Waikiki and then an Airbnb right by the beach in Waimanalo—it was so amazing! And that was just the start. But I will say we enjoyed the whole process. We finally settled in Hawaii Kai. Within a few weeks, we met some wonderful people, and now they are our best friends. They told us about the Lotus community. My mom and sister even performed at the Lotus Diwali 2022. We learned about the 3rd Sunday pooja, which is amazing. I love going to the temple because I get to meet new people and also see my friends. I love hearing everyone sing—it reminds me of Washington because we went to the temple a lot there. I also enjoy eating delicious prasadam!  Two years later, with so many good friends at school and within the Indian community, Hawaii started feeling like home. I miss WA so much, but I’m glad I have two homes now. I can honestly say that moving to Hawaii was 100% worth it, but my sister still doesn’t think so. I must thank you all for being kind and amazing friends! I wish you all a Happy New Year. 2025 will be amazing, and please don’t forget to say “Aloha” when you see my family somewhere on the island! Mahalo, Janani |
COMMUNITY EVENT |
| CRICKET MATCH IN MEMORY OF DR P. VINOO GANAPATHY – Submitted by Mina Ganapathy On December 1, 2024 , the Honolulu Cricket Club held it’s annual Cricket Tournament in memory of Dr P. Vinoo Ganapathy who we lost so suddenly in September 2020. Since September 2021, when the first Memorial match was held, the members and players of the Honolulu Cricket Club have gathered in his memory to celebrate Vinoo’s passion for cricket and the Cricket Club. The Ganapathy family thanks the Club for keeping Dr Vinoo Ganapathy’s memory and love for cricket alive.  Dr Vinoo Ganapathy had a lifelong passion for cricket. He was part of the State of Karnataka Cricket team in High school and the cricket captain in High school at Lawrence School in Ooty , India. He joined the Honolulu Cricket Club soon after arriving in Hawaii and was at his happiest on the cricket field at Kapiolani Park , where he was usually the opening batsman for his team. On December 1, 2024 the 2 teams and players were- Doc’s 11 team – Rahu, Hari, Vishan, Daryl, Lyle, Sachin, Clarance, Lazar, Tahir, Owen, Chetan,Vikas, Saravanan. HCC 11 team — Prateek, Amit P, Helton, Navaneeth, Prajwal, Jatin, Vijay, Sudhakar, Gowtham, Sharan Chintala, Amit S , Germaine. HCC 11 won the tournament – congratulations to all the players! Congratulations to the MVP( Most valuable Player) – Helton.  |
| Wahiawa Shiva Temple Activities – January 19th, 2025 Our monthly pooja will start promptly at noon on the 19th with Prof. Bhawuk officiating assisted by Arup Halder. Following the Pooja arathi, we will have a community sponsored pot luck lunch around 2.15 pm. Hope to see you all there for the first pooja of the year. |
| January/February 2025: Jan 13 – Makara Sankaranti and Pongal Jan 18 – Indian Counselor-General at ISKON Temple (10.30 AM – 3.00 PM) Jan 18 – “Samam” AlohaNatyam performs at Ala Moana Center Stage (3.00 PM – 4.00 PM) Jan 19 – Wahiawa Shiva Temple Pooja Day Jan 26 – Republic Day Celebrations in India Feb 14 – Valentine’s Day Feb 16 – Wahiawa Shiva Temple Pooja Day Feb 17 – President’s Day – Also the day for Great Aloha Run/Walk Feb 25 – Maha Shivaratri (Proposed Wahiawa Shiva Temple Pooja Day) |
