8 months and counting

We have been in India for 8 months now.

Things have settled, but there is so much to do all the time. Whether from office to home or home to wherever, always seems to be something going on.

Tolbert and his four college friends, Tor, Keven and Ibanga got here in June and are spending the summer interning at Satyam.



















Kaundy, son of AS Murthy achieved a major milestone in his life and we all attended his threading ceremony.

Upanayana: The Thread CeremonyA crucial event in the life of the orthodox, upper-caste Hindu male is an initiation (upanayana) ceremony, which takes place for some young males between the ages of six and twelve to mark the transition to awareness and adult religious responsibilities.

At the ceremony itself, the family priest invests the boy with a sacred thread to be worn always over the left shoulder, and the parents instruct him in pronouncing the Gayatri Mantra. The initiation ceremony is seen as a new birth; those groups entitled to wear the sacred thread are called the twice-born.

In the ancient categorization of society associated with the Vedas, only the three highest groups - Brahman, warrior (Kshatriya), and commoner or merchant (Vaishya) - were allowed to wear the thread, to make them distinct from the fourth group of servants (Shudra).

Thailand

We took a trip to Thailand with with Tolbert, his buds and Joshua. We stayed for 4 days, 2 in Bangkok and 2 in Pattaya. We saw some amazing history and experienced the culture and beach.



















MacKenzie Turns 16

On July 15, we invited 200 people to share our celebration of MacKenzie's sixteenth birthday. It was an amazing party with a DJ and full dinner. Everyone had a great time, especially MacKenzie who was the star of the evening.



















When in Rome

For MacKenzie's birthday, we had her select a place to go in Europe and she chose Rome. We spent five days there, say the monuments, ancient Rome and even did side trips to Pisa and Florence. Rome has the best wine, best food, best everything. We loved it.



















We stayed at Hotel Atlante and the staff were so friendly. The hotel is a historical building and a nice place, strategically located near the Vatican.


















Check out a short history of Rome here: http://www.legionxxiv.org/history/