… Leave for two nights with Kaveri’s mum.
It’s been the usual joy having them here for the week.
There’s one more before they return to school and college.
The T-shirt was left as a gift by a recent guest but nicely sums up the impact Manjula’s Mysore wants from our support to them
Footnote
Chandrika has re-utilised the money I’d given them for the auto ride. No surprise there then.
Manjula ‘s Memory Tree was recreated for August to help commemorate what would have been her 51st Birthday.
Our memories and wishes have now flown back to the Ema, our wishing wall — set up with her help, years before she moved on.
We remember Manjula constantly in many different ways.
Ema is the wishing wall found in Japanese Temples and suggested by an earlier guest.
Here’s two recent terms I’ve used to describe management ‘styles’ that may need more explanation.
Banyan
Meaning a manager who is so strong in imposing his or her will that nothing below can easily grow and flourish.
This style is often seen in command and control structures or in new developments that have difficulty in moving on from the initial pioneering stage.
The end result is limited delegation, people fearful of taking the initiative or making mistakes. It’s centralised control and reliance on one rather than the many in the team and loses the valuable diversity that is achievable through engaging all the brains in the organisation.
Please note I’m not disrespecting the Banyan which is wonderful.
To follow next… management through whim.
Here is the English translation of the Tibetan text , describing the Eight Auspicious Symbols:
The text also mentions a quote from the Mahayana sutra called “The Stacked Auspicious Ones,” which describes how these eight symbols relate to different parts of the Buddha’s body and qualities. It concludes with an aspiration for auspiciousness and well-being through these symbols.
The passage notes that while there are more detailed explanations and interpretations of these symbols available, this brief description should suffice as an introduction to their meanings.
We visited Bylakuppe, the largest Tibetan settlement in India.
Our good friend and monk Dorjee and his sponsor for many years Ina helped us understand more.
We learned so much about the Dalai Lama escaping from the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the subsequent oppression
Thank you to Kaveri, Radhika, Dorjee, Ina, Sowbaghya, John, Maria.
We had a lovely day.
I’m in the park to wish Manjula happy birthday and hang out with billet-Doux, butterflies (messengers from Madam) and too many mosquitoes!
Here’s the lovely video created by Faizan through which many old and new friends have met Manjula.
My ulterior motive on being here was to be security for the flowers and stop people stealing them.
I failed
But it can’t affect our celebration of her wonderfulness.
As I completed a video call to my son Oliver in Vancouver, —and realised I was due back to make breakfast—three sets of neighbours walking in the park saw Manjula’s poster and wanted to know her story. I’d never met them before a mom her son , another young woman and an elder.
We all shared smiles and joy.
Whatever you want.
Reflective space is Our monthly meeting of young adults to discuss anything of interest.
What a wonderful group of people, with a wide range of experience and interests.
Our special guest was Sarvesh visiting from Australia.
We discussed education, medicine, culture and much more.
We ‘d reconvened after a gap of two months due to me being pre-occupied with school summer holiday and my own holiday to Europe.
Next month our special guest is Maria. We want find out about her and what she does so we expect it will cover women’s empowerment and support for children, as she has experience in those fields.
Meetings will now be held each month.
If you want to join a future meeting write to Stephen at tours@mycycle.co
To meet my queens (both sets)
What’s one of the first things they want to do on my return?
Go for a walk
After a lovely time in Italy with Maria
With plenty of lovely food …
They want pizza….
And presents
I’m so lucky to have them in my life…
I’m now in Firenze visiting the incomparable Maria, more later but first to the birds ….
… sharing my second breakfast
It didn’t take too long to attract many new friends
I’ve discovered a riverside cafe: great location, bargain breakfast. It’s a low cost place where the community of all ages (and some foreigners), and especially older people meet, chat, draw, paint, work, support.
No bees were harmed. It was ‘citizen’ research on Greenham Common in south England.
Capturing Drones (male bees no sting) who are looking for queens to mate. We hope to track which hives they are from.
It’s one of many places where Drones congregate, as part of their life’s purpose, to find a queen to mate.
Most are unsuccessful and disappointed.
Of course the odds are stacked against them.
Footnote
Initiated by Stephen Fleming with the help of the Newbury and District Beekeepers’ Association on Greenham Common in South England.
Stephen and Richard, from our team, are editors of the leading U.K. magazine BeeCraft.
Follow the link for more info on beekeeping in the U.K.
Me and MYCycle 