Posted in Happy New Year 2018, Uncategorized

Celebrating Life: Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year CEHappy New Year to everyone!

As we bid farewell to 2017 and welcome  2018 I wish you a Bright, Blessed and Happy New Year! I hope we can celebrate 2018 together and take it by celebration after celebration!

By no means do I want to make this a long post but I want it to be a true celebration of good things to come for all of us and a celebration of all that we have overcome in 2017! Let’s promise to take it one day at a time and remember that everytime you feel down this is one place you can visit to find something that may cheer you up or inspire you to continue!

cropped-celebrate-your-existence    each day is a blessing

Celebrating Existence Post

All in all this blog comprises of 81 posts. What is my challenge to you for 2018? Find as many posts on my page that can inspire either you or someone you know. Then share them and make someone’s day better! Whether it is one line or one link if it can make a positive difference please share it.

I urge you once again to  please download SGSPosts for positive and uplifting messages if you have not already done this. It is an app which delivers messages by His Holiness Param Pujya Dr Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji that are based on ‘peace, love,  brotherhood and universal co-existence’ across the world. You can download it using any of these links:

  1. https://bnc.lt/sgsposts
  2. https://itunes.apple.com/tt/app/sgs-posts/id1097382754?mt=8 (For iPhone users)
  3. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.sgsragasagara.sgs_posts  (For Android users)

In closing please enjoy these musical treats:

Allow me also to share what ended 2017 for me on a high note. Below is the link to His Holiness Param Pujya Dr Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji’s Healing and Meditation Concert in Taipei, Taiwan yesterday (Dec 31, 2017). Sri Swamiji’s concert was a Nada Gita Raga Sagara and it was viewed by many Datta devotees the world over. Please remember it is a Healing and Meditation Concert so do not open this link if you are driving, going to drive, operating machinery or about to operate machinery.

https://livestream.com/YogaSangeeta3/dec2017/videos/167806092

Once again everyone Happy New Year 2018! Lots of love from me to each of you now and always!

 

 

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Celebrating International Day of Families!

Did you know that today is International Day of Families? Indeed it is!

It’s a day to celebrate not just today but everyday as with all other big occasions! Either way let’s do it now and let’s do it together! Ready, set go, let’s begin!

This is one song we can relate you I am sure you will agree! Have fun with it!

Today I celebrate my family! It is through family we learn so many  things and it’s also the people we spend most of our lives with. We are not all blessed with the same experiences but what would be interesting is the answer you might come up with to this question: What does family mean to you?

Allow me to answer it myself- it’s my immediate family, my extended family, my Coromandel Shiv Mandir family, my Dattatreya family, my COSTAATT family as well as those other special people in my life (my close friends). Family means these special people who I enjoy spending time with, who I laugh with, learn from and people who I value!   Family is laughter, support, being there for each other,  sharing moments, creating memories, encouraging each other. It is love and togetherness! It is knowing I am always there for you as best as I can be! It’s letting you know I’m looking out for you!

Truth be told I don’t think your answer would be one specific thing but I think one thing we can all agree on is that family is everything! We laugh, we cry, we talk, at times we disagree, but we love each other and a lot of times we learn from each other. Then there are times when we all realize how much we care about each other and how much every family member means to us!

family
In honour of International Family Day remember that Family is Strength!

We would all have different stories to tell! This was something I really enjoyed and I am quite happy to share with you! Please have a look at this video which describes the importance of family in life :

It’s very important not to lose sight of the people in our lives that matter! Live without regrets! Time waits on no one!

family1
Embrace our opportunities and forever be thankful for our Blessings!

In closing remember this message: Other things may change but we start and end with the family!

family 2Happy International Day of the Family from me and my family to you and your family!

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Celebrating Existence: Remembering my grandfather- The late Mr. Ramlal Dookie

Today makes it one year since my dear grandfather passed away.  We, his grandchildren, called him Baba!

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A token of our love from all family members of the late Ramlal Dookie

We miss him but we know his pain and suffering are over. Our love for him and the love he showed us is something we will never forget. He is gone but will never be forgotten.

Have a look at this video and listen to this bhajan by His Holiness Dr. Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji:

message on life
So very true!

Here are two pictures I am happy to share:

nanny and baba1
This is a picture taken a few months before Baba got more sick and ended up in the hospital. Nanny and Baba had puja and Nanny placed a mala around Baba’s neck and did Aarti for him- October 14, 2014
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My grandparents (Baba- The late Mr Ramlal Dookie and Nanny- Jassodra Celia Dookie) after Puja on 14 October 2014.

I have been thinking of all the things I wanted to share with Baba in this past year- my graduation, my internship, our fishes, our plants etc! He has given us so much memories and now his pain and suffering are no more. That is our comfort and the fact that we have each other!

I called him as often as I could and before marriage he would ask about everyone at home  and after marriage he would always ask, “How the boss?” referring to Shiva. I enjoyed those times when I was able to sing Happy Birthday to him and when I was able to talk to him and spend time with him.

I would always value the time I was able to spend with Baba in his last days at the hospital. Even then we were being taught valuable lessons-every single one of us who was there!

Knowing that when there is birth there is death is a reality we have always been taught but what matters is that we have made the most of the time we had Baba and all our other loved ones in our lives and we keep doing that for all those who are still with us.

pinterest.com bhagavadgita
Guidance from the Holy Scriptures is our comfort!

We were fortunate to have Baba, our grandpa, around for the time he was here. He was able to see us all grow up- children and grandchildren. He  was also able to see some of his great grandchildren and each of us has similar memories but also different memories. Either way there are lots of memories for each of us to remember!

gitaquotes.tumblr.com
Baba was always a great Devotee. He was always prayerful and continued chanting the name of God in his last moments!

This is a post I wrote  last year to celebrate Baba’s life:

https://rachaelathomas.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/celebrating-the-life-of-mr-ramlal-dookie/

This one captures our gratitude to Level 16 Ward 12 Suite 5 of the San Fernando Teaching Hospital for the high level of care and attention they gave to him.

https://rachaelathomas.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/celebrating-san-fernando-teaching-hospital-level-16-ward-12-suite-5-doctors-nurses-support-staff-on-duty-from-feb-23-2015-mar-19-2015/

Maybe you might also remember this next post!  It captures the relationship my grandparents shared. On the day Baba passed away I had a presentation to do for one of my courses, Critical Analysis of Media and TV Coverage with Mr Roddy Batchasingh at COSTAATT. Baba had passed away in the morning and I had class in the evening. My presentation was dedicated to the bond my grandparents shared and my song of choice was “Thinking out Loud” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQLqu-ThMOY  by Ed Sheeran.

Here is the link to that post:

https://rachaelathomas.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/celebrating-my-grandparents-and-the-bond-they-share/

Gone but not forgotten: The late  Ramlal Dookie: November 14, 1933- March 19, 2015

Father of seven (7) children born to Jassodra Celia Dookie- 6 girls and 1 boy- Doris, Dora, Dolcie, Devi, Jaggs, Bena and Rajdaye, my grandma is the mother-in-law of and my grandpa was the father-in-law of Ranjit, Winston, Fyzal, Sharaz, Hosein, Rosemary and Rajesh.

He was the Brother-in-law of Mynee, Bissondaye (Betty), Bharose, Doodnath, Sita,Vinda and the late Sookraj Ramlakhan (my grandma’s siblings). Grandfather of 15 (Rishi, Savita, me, Adesh, Ria, Ricky, Sarah, Imran, Candice, Premnauth, Susan, Joseph, Josiah, Vincent and Leah), he was also a great grandfather of 5, uncle of Dilip among many others and he was a friend of many.

Apart from loving his family, anyone could associate him with riding his bicycle which he did for many years and with fishing with his seine which he enjoyed a lot.