| Presidential Message – V. Balaraman Namaste. It has been a busy and eventful first half of November. U.S. completed an historic Presidential election process with the highest electoral engagement of modern times with close to 150 million people voting in the elections. Even as we try to move forward it is important for us to acknowledge that we live amongst people who have very diverse opinions and ideals. We need to live with respect for other’s opinion but move forward in a meaningful way rather than the stagnation that has plagued us for the past several years. As a people we need to work together to make this happen. Make meaningful compromises to move forward. Hawaii and the nation are still struggling to understand and live with the challenges of the Pandemic which continues relatively unabated. The next stage in this fight is coming up around the corner. In the next six months we could meaningfully anticipate the availability of vaccines and potentially some treatment options which may minimize the impact of the disease. These new advances have a chance to impact of success only if 80% or more of the population partake in these additional avenues. Though this is left up to individual decision making think of the impact you can make for the community if you go along with the recommendations of smart public health personnel. I wish our community a safe holiday season. This is also a season of giving, so please do support many of your favorite charities and non-profits with donations and service within your means. Until December …. |
| Youth Corner – Devin Panalal shares his thoughts about Diwali and his experiences as an Emcee during the LOTUS virtual Diwali event on November 14, 2020 As the pandemic continues to alter our everyday lives, many are continually finding more time to devote to spirituality. Whether it may be in the form of silent prayer, undisturbed meditation, or cultural festiveness, spirituality ties two ends of a string which otherwise would never be tied. For decades, the LOTUS organization has embodied numerous aspects of spirituality, but in a difficult and worrisome environment today, celebration is a must. Nowadays, there is not much to celebrate, with countless hours spent at home and little time to celebrate events like birthdays. With the admirable ingenuity and compassionate minds LOTUS volunteers bestow, they did not let go the decades long celebration of Diwali. Instead, they adapted to the situation and created a virtual program, to both maintain safety and tradition, two vastly different, but crucial aspects. With hundreds watching, including former Hawaiʻi residents and LOTUS members, the event united sensational performance with an informative cultural background. From the days I was a toddler until now, I have attended the annual Diwali program with a profound eagerness. This year, upon being offered, I decided to take upon the role of being an emcee. As an emcee, my job was to introduce and conclude various performances which include adding words to make every piece unique. Whether a performance was divine, blissful, energetic, elegant, or beautiful, each possessed its own traits which contributed to the overall message and theme of Diwali. In addition to just the speaking, the decorations were an indispensable necessity. With the help of friends and family, I was able to have vivid colors glowing on and behind me, enhancing the effect of my narration. In the end, this first-ever virtual program culminated the unforgettable aspects of Diwali: vivacity, camaraderie, enthusiasm, and sanctity–all in an unforgettable year. |
| LOTUS DIWALI CELEBRATIONS – Virtual event on November 14th, 2020 We successfully held this virtual event. We had over 93 families in attendance to view the program which was broadcast on the Zoom Platform with support of Information Technology Services of the University of Hawaii. LOTUS also organized for food prepared by Komala Curry House available to interested participants of the event and we had over 300 individual Bento boxes distributed. The Board appreciates the participation of the community in this event and is heartened by all the positive feedback it has received about the overall organization and the actual staging of the event. There are many individuals who worked tirelessly in this effort and deserve a shout out. Mrs. Mira Savara and Mrs. Sundari Balaraman guided the participants and their families in the development of the individual performance which resulted in an absolutely gripping event lasting 75 minutes. The whole experience was enhanced by the editing and embellishment of the Video by the collective working of Mrs. Devi Sudhakar and Mrs. Nagasundaravalli Ramakrishnan. Adding a touch of historic perspective were the vignettes created by Mrs. Sakthi Karthik. Mr. Maiju Kutty, Secretary of LOTUS managed the challenging task of food delivery and worked tireless that day with distribution and coordination aided by a group of volunteers who stepped up to distribute to individuals and families who were unable to come to pick up the food from downtown personally. LOTUS is immensely grateful to Mrs. Indru Watumull and the Watumull family for supporting the cost of the Bento Box in memory of late Mr. Gulab Watumull. LOTUS plans to share the video of the event shortly through our website. If people are interested in providing additional feedback so that we can have an even better event for next year, we welcome their suggestions through our website. |
 | Temple Activities – November 15th, 2020Dr. Bhawuk continues with performing the monthly pooja on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Based on comfort of individual families, we would like to invite small groups who would like special pooja to consider attending the temple or reaching out to LOTUS leadership to organize the pooja and get the prasad over to them. In general the number of people at the temple has been 8 or less and we have ample space to physically distance. This month we a total of 9 devotees in attendance and also did a special pooja to celebrate the birthday of one of our octogenarians – Aravind Patel (a former Board Member at large) who was celebrating his 84th Birthday on the 15th. We will also in earnest start the process of getting bids to do some renovation work at the Temple as there is significant maintenance needs. The last time we did major renovations was over eight years ago. Please do not hesitate to provide ideas for this project and certainly we welcome volunteers interested in working on this. |
| November December Calendar November 26 – Thanksgiving November 27 – Black Friday (shopping) November 30 – Guru Nanak Jayanti December 1 – World AIDs Day December 1 – Giving Tuesday December20 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day December 21 – Shortest Day of the year December 25 – Christmas |
