Newsletter – October 2023
| We have entered the last quarter of 2023 and at least on Oahu are now seeing some cooler evenings. Just having returned from the mainland, some places are just beginning to see early changes to the foliage and emergence of fall colors, a clear reflection of prolonged summer months. Many in our community also attended the Gandhi Day celebrations hosted by the Gandhi International Institute for Peace (non-violence) on October 1 in Waikiki. In addition to many remembrances of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophies and path of “Ahimsa”, we also got to see performance by several groups including many talented children. You can see some pictorial representation of these highlights on their website. As the cooler months come up on us, we should anticipate many viral infections in our midst especially in the vulnerable population of the very young and the very old in addition to persons with long term ailments. The Department of the State of Hawaii and the Center for Disease Control highly recommend three effective vaccines for the vulnerable population to provide protection against Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Covid-19. Please heed their guidance and practice strict personal hygiene to stay healthy in the coming months. Within the next 30 days we will be doing our monthly pooja at the Wahiawa Shiva Temple and our Annual Diwali function and I hope to see many of you at one or both of these events. Warm aloha and stay healthy. V. Balaraman President |
| LOTUS UPCOMING EVENTS Diwali Dhamaka 2023 Date: Saturday, November 4, 2023 Time: 5.00 – 9.30 PM (Gates open at 4.30 PM) Venue: Burns Hall, Ke’ehi Lagoon Memorial Park, 2685 N. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu, HI 96819 Ticket (online): https://lotushawaii.org (You can pay using PayPal, or using your credit or debit card) Program: Cultural Program By Volunteers in the Community highlighting local talent – 90 minutes Dinner: Vegetarian Dinner Open Floor for Dancing to close the night out |
| OUR IMPACT IN THE COMMUNITY Lotus Supports Kokua Kalihi Valley Clinic Pediatrics – Support sent in 2021 I just wanted to reach out to thank you and the Lotus Foundation again for the amazing donation. I have been slowly spending it down and it has saved my patients in such a varied number of situations. It has also created a little buffer around my heart that has allowed me to help families in tough situations, allowing me a little less stress and to be a more resilient provider. It is not easy being a pediatrician working with impoverished children! I just wanted to share one recent story that exemplifies how wonderful having this money has been. I had a family return from 10 months at Stanford where their baby received life-saving surgery. While mom and dad were there, they obviously could not work and so were returning to Hawaii with their three children with very little money. The medical insurance and HUGS were able to cover the airfare, but only on Hawaiian airlines, which does not cover baggage fees. Since your donation had no strings attached, I was actually able to venmo the mom $200 to cover her baggage fees and then get reimbursed from KKV. I could not figure out any other way (believe me I was calling around!) to get the baggage fees covered. The mom was so appreciative to have this one final piece of their return journey settled. I have been able to purchase such a variety of items— a hot pot that a father said would help his son on hospice eat more vegetables, a blender for a kid with a broken jaw, a scale for a child with autism so we could do telehealth visits and monitor her weight in a less stressful way, oven and fridge locks for another child with autism…the list goes on! Sorry this is so long, but I’ve been meaning to send this for awhile. I hope the Lotus Foundation received our formal letter, but I just wanted to provide an update because I truly from the bottom of my heart appreciate this gift so much and I wanted to share that with you. Alicia Turlington, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, John A. Burns School of Medicine Medical Director, Medical Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaii Pediatrician, Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Services |
| Temple Activities – October 15th, 2023 Our monthly pooja will start promptly at noon on the 15th. Our pooja will be officiated by Prof. Bhawuk and he will be assisted by Arup and Shankar. We will have the zoom link open for the duration of the pooja between noon and 2.30 pm. This month abhishekam for the pooja and the lunch will be sponsored by Rashmi Agrahari. Please do try and join us for the pooja in person if possible. We continue to solicit volunteers to help us keep the temple premises clean. Please talk to one of Board leadership (V. Balaraman, Saguna Verma, Maiju Kutty or Shailesh Mehta) on how you can help.  |
| October and November 2023: October 15 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day October 15 – Navaratri Begins: Colors of Navaratri 2023 October 24 – Dusshera November 1 – Karwa Chauth November 4 – LOTUS Diwali Dhamaka 2023 November 12 – Diwali November 14 – Children’s Day November 19 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day November 23 – Thanksgiving November 27 – Guru Nanak Jayanthi |
