Shopping and Enjoying

After waking up pretty late we had a delicious breakfast prepared by Lene and pondered over what we could do in the rain. We took a relaxed approach to things and during a brief dry period we headed to Chatswood to buy some jumpers and shoes. We found a few lovely wool sweaters for us both, enjoyed a very chocolaty ice cream. After a beautiful collective meditation Freya started her dance practice. Kamal and Lene were meanwhile in the kitchen cooking dinner to the familiar sound of the Nattuvangam.

The next day we went to see an art show at Killara High School – it was very impressive and we were surprised to see how similar an Aussie school is to an English school. In the evening Freya’s friend Nisha came over to start learning dance, Freya gave a mini performance of a few select items and Kamal remembered how good she actually is! We all sat down for some tasty veg lasagne and sweet butterscotch pudding and after a lovely long chat we retired to bed.

When we woke up the next morning Guy had already prepared idly, samber and chutney for breakfast. Kamal started her second Mangal Gowri Puja as a newly married woman, she and Lene collected flowers from all around the garden and we sat down collectively with Grandma, Radha and Arjun. Mangal Gowri (Shri Mahalaxshmi Puja) was originally done by the Goddess Parvati for the long life of her husband, the God Shiva. It was really simple yet beautiful.

Arjun, Lene and Guy’s 2 year old nephew, was our live little Ganesha – he was sitting there with a big box of dried fruit; with three pieces in his mouth, he was reaching for more! He looked very content ☺. Guy took me to the Northshore gym after the puja while Lene and Kamal sat down for breakfast. The gym was great and I was happy to get my membership card. It was a very nice gym. My personal coach Mr. Guy Jeffrey was very supportive and helped me to go in the right direction. It was a very good experience, especially as I stretched my body after such a long time. I think I am going to get in to my dance shape perfectly in four weeks with the help of my personal coach. Later in the evening I gave a dance class to Freya and then her friend, my new student, Nisha started learning dance. Nisha’s mum was very happy and full of joy that her daughter is enjoying her dance class and wants to put her other activities on pause. Then it was time for pizzas. Myself and Kamal went to the super market at the end of Lene’s home street. We bought fresh basil, bread, apple juice… and was very surprised to hear about myself and my wife from a working employee at the supermarket Mr. Kumar. He is Lene’s “family friend” but not really!!!