Papa Drives a Tuk-Tuk

Dear Daughter,

It was good to talk to you yesterday and hear about your good Halloween experience. Here in Indian they don't celebrate Halloween much, but it has been Diwali for the past week and that is a very special holiday in India, filled with colors, lights, and fireworks and many costumes as well.

Today, Papa went to see where the Buddha began his teachings in a place called the Mirgadava, which means the Deer Park, because there used to be many deer here when the Buddha was alive.

On the way back, Hapiz, my Tuk-Tuk driver (the call the rickshaws that here, remember Tak-Tak in Madurai?), asked if I wanted to drive the Tuk-Tuk! Of course, you know Papa, and I said yes. So, on one of the back roads, he let me drive, though he kept his foot on the brake pedal, just in case. It was quite fun and many people were staring at me, but we just smiled back at them.

I Love You,

Papa

What I Learned in School Today

Dear Daughter,

Today at the school assembly, Papa had to speak in front of the entire school and there are about 2,000 students here, so it was a really big auditorium!

I talked about four important words in the school song, and they are Sanskrit: satya, karuna, dharma, chintana. I talked about how if you can learn lessons from these four words, then your education has been worth the while.

Satya means Truth, both looking for the truth and to be honest.
Karuna means Compassion, which means to care for all living beings as much as we are able to do so. It was something that was very important for the Buddha.
Dharma means our Duty, or those things that we need to do to be part of a community that helps each other.
Chintana means being Mindful of what you do and to not be careless.

Papa thought that these were very important words and was happy to see that they were in the School Song. If we can learn those four things, and adults can learn them to, then our world will be a better place.

I Love You,
Papa