Namaste! I have been thinking about Thanksgiving and giving back. How about we start noticing the people passing by more and give a big genuine smile. A smile doesn’t cost us a dime for sure! To all our desi friend’s out there, let us change the perception that “Indians are way too serious and do not smile”.
I had an interesting conversation a few months ago with a mother I met at the park. She said she is new to Silicon Valley and finds it hard to make new friends. I said well! did you really look around you for friends? I wanted her to clarify if by friends she means only Indians or all American’s, Latino’s and others in the neighborhood as well. She smiled. It is so easy to make new friends if we can smile more and may be share a delicious, mild, channa masala curry to our neighbor and be very open to talk to them before even trying to judge them and rule out that they can’t be our friends. When I moved from New Zealand and ended up in a small northern Californian town there were no Indians anywhere around the proximity. My neighbor Amanda came over and said Radha I have never seen anyone with such dark black hair before. I said of course dear you have not seen an Indian how about we catch up with a cup of coffee and talk some more about it. That was my second day in US and Amanda is still my friend to this day. She tried my spicy channa curry and some more of my cooking. I offered to help watch her baby daughter for her which was such a relief for this young mother and she offered to teach me drive on the wrong side of the road. Just kidding :). Giving gifts of attention, affection, appreciation,care and love is something that comes to us easily and naturally. Here we just have to practice a bit more of Chopra’s wisdom. By the way let us be genuine and sincere about it no faking please.
Each day serve others in some small way and do not tell anyone – Dr Wayne. W. Dyer.
Radhika Bauerle Radhika Puranam 
🙂