Raghu's Rama Naumi

Last month I had the unique opportunity to go with my friend, Raghu, to his village to celebrate Ramu Naumi, a festival celebrating the birthday of Lord Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to Hindu legend, Rama, the legendary King of Ayodhya, is considered to be the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu while his wife, Sita, was believed to be the incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi. This celebration, usually held in the spring, not only honors Rama's birthday, but also the marriage of Rama and Sita by re-enacting their wedding vows and celebrating with food, music, and song.

I met Raghu earlier this winter at one of the Bangalore Expat Club mixers that many of us expats attend at the Taj Residency on Friday nights, and he's been a great friend--taking me to visit Indian temples, historical landmarks, and other local sites--teaching me more about his culture and his world. When I first moved here I was hoping to make some Indian friends so I could see the many facets of Indian life, and I got exactly what I wished for! Don't you love it when that happens? (Which, honestly, happens all the time whether you realize it or not--just be careful what you wish for :o)

When we arrived at the festival, I was quite the attraction. Being the only Caucasian person amongst a crowd of over 600 people was quite overwhelming at first, but after about 15 minutes I couldn't remember the difference. Granted, I couldn't speak their language, but there's nothing that a smile, head nod, or handshake doesn't say--communication is easy when it's from the heart. Soon I was surrounded by all sorts of people, mostly children, who all wanted to meet me... or just touch my skin to see if I was, indeed, "real". Imagine seeing a live version of something you may have only seen in a magazine or on TV--or, for many of these children, never seen before. Their eyes were wide with wonder--and it was amazing.

I had my camera (of course), and they all learned to love having their picture taken--in fact, many of the photos in my "Children of India" gallery came from that day. I had the most wonderful time. We ate, listened to music, watched people dance, and walked all over the village meeting people and enjoying the festival. I got to meet all of his best friends--guys who he had grown up with since he was a toddler--and we hung out in the graveyard for part of the afternoon (this is what men do when they want to have their "alone time"--it's very cool). Then I got to meet Raghu's family, who all live together in a small simple home of three tiny rooms. Amazing. They fed me and made me feel so welcome--a guest, indeed. I'd never felt so blessed :o)

After Raghu dropped me off and I returned to my apartment at the end of the day I couldn't quite describe the feelings I had... just being absorbed in the culture of the people, food, music, colors, sights, sounds, and smells of incense and curry, was overwhelming. My heart swelled with peace and acceptance--India felt to so good to me. It was all good... yes, it was very good, indeed.

Thank you, Raghu--or should I say, "Shukriya" (thank you in Hindi). You have given me the opportunity to see your life, your home, your family and friends, but most of all you've given me a priceless gift--the gift of your friendship.

Namaste.

Target India Grows!

Recently we opened our newest branch of Target India operations in Manyata, a region of northern Bangalore. The opening of the Manyata facility was greeted with the usual Indian customs--cutting the ribbon, lighting the oil lamp, cutting the cake, and touring the facility. For many of us this was our first taste of witnessing the traditional India customs involved when "blessing" a new facility, so it proved to be a very interesting and enlightening day.

The detail and preparation for the ceremony was quite evident in the elaborate floral displays (check out the floral patterns on the floors! And those are fresh flower petals, btw...) and the prepared speeches from many of the leaders at Target. To think that we are continuing to grow and expand into the international market is very exciting, and especially in this time of tremendous globalization for business and technology. I am very proud to be a part of this global expansion and to be selected to represent our U.S. corporate offices--it almost feels like being a foreign exchange student all over again! However, this time I'm older and wiser... aren't I... aren't I... (crickets)

Anyhoo--I am very happy to be representing Target Corporation in India for this next 11 months. It's definitely an adventure, and I'm always meeting new people and learning something new. It's actually quite amazing. I think that after you get settled and start "living your life", you can truly be happy anywhere. After all, don't you really carry your happiness within you? If you don't, you should try it--makes things much easier :o)

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Connecting With Home

Since this was my last weekend in Minnesota I drove up to Bemidji to spend time with my family before I embark on my journey to India. My Mom & Dad (Tom and Yvonne) still live in Bemidji after 41 years (in our new house since our original home burned in 2002), and my sister, Becky; my brother-in-law, Jim; and my nieces Nicki and Natalie drove over from Erhard, Minnesota (a cozy little town over towards Fargo) so we could all be together.
It was a typical family weekend--we just hung out, ate Mom's great cooking, ordered Dave's Pizza (mmmmm...), watched football (wow-the Vikes actually WON!), played 2500 (our latest card game craze), and just visited with each other. I love going home! We are all such good friends and really enjoy one anothers' company. What a gift family truly is...
Since I am going to miss our family Christmas together this year we even set up the Christmas tree and did a little "early celebration". Nicki, Natalie, Louie (the dog), and I played with my new camera-- total blast. Check out his tongue in this shot.
Since I've been in the routine of driving up to Bemidji every month I am going to miss my visits... but I bought M&D a webcam, loaded up Skype, and showed them how we can do video conference calls with VOIP. Excellent :o) I'm in no mood to pay $2.00/minute for AT&T service--yeah, I think not!

Okay--time to finish final packing. Off and flying in no time. India--ready or not, here I come.