Hello from the US

[Kiran]

Hi! My name is Kiran, and I am a half Indian (Punjabi), half American, Hindu. I am originally from NY, Manhattan, but lost my husband 12 years ago (also Punjabi, although he was adopted by Americans), and left NY after his death. I have a wonderful 16 year old son, Ishaan, whom I homeschool.

We recently moved to a small town in Ohio, and I believe we are the only Indians, and Hindus, around. I am very happy to find people of my culture and religion with whom I can converse and share :). I look forward to meeting you on the forum.

[Viraja]

Welcome, Kiran! There is actually so few women in this forum that I am excited to hear from one! :) Hope you participate a lot and enrich us with your knowledge while gaining the same experience back from HDF!

Regards.

[Believer]

Namaste Kiran,

Welcome to the forum.

Being the only Hindus in a small town in Ohio would present lot of challenges in passing on the religious/spiritual values to Ishaan. Regular at home puja/chanting and observing the Hindu religious holidays will go a long way in keeping Ishaan in the fold and help him to have a happier adult life. Coming Saturday is the Ram Navmi festival. You might read up on that on the net and discuss it with Ishaan and also conduct a special prayer to Bhagwan Ramji.

Regards.

Pranam.

[smaranam]

Welcome Kiranji. Nice to hear that you homeschool your son all the way into high school years, You will find satsanga here.

[Kiran]

Thank you all for your welcome :). Very happy to have found this forum! Believer, we do practice on a regular basis, always have. Ishaan and I are, as I mentioned, Hindu, and quite religious. We do celebrate all of the major Hindu holidays, and quite a few minor ones--I am quite familiar with Ram Navmi, and we are even considering traveling to a temple for a celebration :). I've practiced all my life, as has Ishaan, we are very strict vegetarians, and I've lived in India for different periods of my life, a year at a time. Just raised in the US :). Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

Unfortunately, though I spoke Punjabi, and some Hindi, when I was young, I have pretty much lost them. My father was killed when I was 19, and I found it rather painful to speak them afterwards, and stopped. But my son and I both very much want to learn, and are trying to figure out the best way now. It seems almost impossible to find anything to teach you Punjabi, but there seem to be several very useful options for learning Hindi. We are planning on starting that very soon.

And yes, we love homeschooling--it has been a pure joy!

[deafAncient]

Namaste Kiran,

I admire your courage in going to Ohio. Is is southern Ohio? I am familiar with it in that I have family living there, and the region is largely Catholic, of which most of my isolated family is. In fact, I was surprised to find that some of them are Lutherans that are catholics (little "C"). I only found this out when I went to a service with them after arriving promptly before that time. I was shocked, really.

If you have to move elsewhere, I would suggest looking for a region that is more Hindu-friendly, as southern Ohio is not one of them. After having visited there 3 years in a row, I did not find it particularly open to other religions. You would have to look for it closely.

[Aanandinii]

Namaskar Kiran Ji,

It's nice to meet you. Depending on where in Ohio you are, you may find there are some good resources, even if there are few in your town. For instance there is a large Temple and a good community in Cincinnati, if you aren't too far from there, and I believe at least one smaller one around Dayton.

Ohio can be a lovely state with a lot of friendly and welcoming people. The landscape is stunning in some areas. I hope you enjoy it there, and if there's any way any of us can help you to try and locate things, people here do love to try so please always feel free to ask! Welcome, I hope to see you in the Forums.

~Pranam