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JULIE ANDREW'S 69TH BIRTHDAY SONG

Julie Andrew's 69th birthday song To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was " My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie Sound Of Music. Here are the lyrics she used: Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting, Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings, Bundles of magazines tied up in string, These are a few of my favorite things. Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses, Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses, Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings, These are a few of my favorite things. When the pipes leak, When the bones creak, When the knees go bad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad. Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions, No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions, Bathrobes and heating pads and hot ...
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In memory of a very dear friend - SUNITEE SONDHI

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Sunitee, you were a very special and cheerful lady and we were blessed to have known you and be loved by you. You smiled whenever we met you, you smiled even after your home was robbed in 1984, you smiled when you lost your precious jewellery to scamsters and above all you smiled when we met you after you had just been diagnosed with cancer. How did you do this? In my over 40 years of friendship with you I cannot recall a single day when you looked angry and upset, when you raised your voice or when you felt that you had not been dealt a good hand by fate. You smiled even when you gently told us that you were not happy with what we were doing or saying. My last memory of you is when I met you in the ICU, even then you smiled and greeted all of us one by one. You really and truly were a very caring person. Today, everyone remembers your grace and dignity, your ability to light up a room just by walking into it, your ability to talk to anyone and everyone at every party...
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Rituals and Ceremonies

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Do Rituals and Ceremonies really matter? Do they signify anything? Or are their origins lost in the annals of time and we just follow them religiously or as tradition demands without understanding the whys and the wherefores?  While attending a "kriya" ceremony for a cousin's husband, I was wondering about the reasons behind these ancient rituals and whether the next generation or the one after them will slowly let them just die a natural death. Here are some of the ones which I can understand and which to me are important and significant: Rakhi & Tikka - It is much more than the tying of a band and giving and receiving a gift. At my daughter's wedding when she asked the priest why "mamas"- (my brothers) were such an important part of the ceremonies, then he told her that this was an extension of the promise they make to their sisters during Rakhi and Tikka. They tell their nieces and nephews that as we have promised to take care of your mother, ...
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