Why do we need a village - Here is one more reason - to be healthy

Why do you keep adding people in your life? Do they motivate you? Make you happy ? I am sure you all have your own reasons but here are these 30 moms who have a very phenomenal reason - to be healthy.

Today I am so proud of be part of this “Desi Moms Wellness Village”

It all started with one voice, one wish to support one another. Many joined  and all they did was to  push each other to be fit and healthy. The WhatsApp group was filled with pictures of Apple Watch screen shots, miles walked and exercise and motivation videos and quotes. Everyone felt accountable and tried to do better than yesterday, started walking with half a mile to 5-6 miles. Some walked in sub zero temperatures , yours truly was one of them. I couldn’t have walked but this group of moms motivated me to get out of the house. I could connect to so many moms over phone calls because I was walking and I needed the conversation to keep me going.

Today as the month of January ends, we wrapped up our month long journey with a stellar Zumba class. One of the moms found a Zumba instructor friend who spent an hour making us dance. These women made me proud all over again. Nothing is going away from our life but we all are better together.

So believe me when I say this- Dream and keep dreaming, you never know who will follow you. And  you will have your tribe cheering for you.  A Kunbi saree to celebrate my village, a friend came for a cup of tea, laughter and sarees and pictures.

Imagine seeing these pics everyday, Motivation at its best 

Our Phenomenal dance teacher.  

Param Roychoudhury - an absolute pleasure. She teaches Zumba with Bollywood dance music with so many other things she does. Her passion for dance, fitness and giving back to community brought her to our world. Reach out to her if you want to know more. She lives in Newton and teaches Zumba. And offered a community class on Sunday for everyone.

Empty Nesters Saga - How do you come to terms with the emptiness.

It’s been 4 days and it is still sinking in. The house is quiet and there isn’t much to do. The cleaning ladies changed the direction of the bed so Anand’s room looks different. The curtains are up so it is full of light too and I am leaving the doors open.

When we dropped him off and came to hotel 10 minutes away I didn’t have any plans . We checked in and I took a nap, a much needed break.  We stayed in Great Barrington and after waking up we left for Simon’s Rock and Lake Mansfield. So many young kids were playing in the water while the parents were watching, reading, snacking and chatting. It  was a soul soothing sight. The evening sun was kind. After that we walked around downtown GB. Barrington Brewery was our next stop, the first drinks of officially empty nesters.  Then we drove to the nearby town of Lenox, a quiet historical downtown and I enjoyed walking around. One thing about the Berkshires , most of the shops are closed on Monday. Also somehow we didn’t see too many youngsters.

The dinner was back in GB at a Mediterranean restaurant called “Aegean Breeze” in an outdoor setting with beautiful weather, that’s all I needed that night.

Next morning was all about a fabulous breakfast overlooking the mountains followed by a hike on Melville Trail. Mr and I are not hikers so you can imagine but how can you NOT hike in the Berkshires so we did try. We went up for about 40 minutes or so and then decided to come back down. The river walk was my favorite part not the hiking. We drove to Pittsfield and I was amazed to see the city. It is one of the biggest downtowns , a 2 mile loop. An outdoor Mexican lunch in downtown was very well deserved. 

Later in the afternoon we decided to head back home. So many people had talked about the ice cream farm in Lee so had to stop there. The hardest part was driving away from that town. Anand will call home now. I didn’t stop at his apartment on the way home and that was an achievement.

The icecream was a treat and I loved every bit of it. A drizzle made sure we get back home and not roam around any more. 

The empty nester saga continues, stay tuned.

A silk saree from a friend's closet - Pic is taken by a girl who was in diaper when we moved next door, She was wearing a saree yesterday for her mom's Varlakshmi Pooja. Such a feeling

Celebration continues - the beginner's luck - Encore in Boston

The Bday celebration continues

We have many milestone years during Pandemic Ashish and I turned 50, celebrated our 25th and now Anand turned 21.

All of us have our own idea of celebration. Mr husband treats everyday the same where I could celebrate anything and everything. Food and friends and a get together makes everything worth celebrating. People who love me did whatever they could given the time. I had many small lunches, get together and gifts for my celebration. Anand didn’t want to do anything publically but somehow we did celebrate in various ways. “Gambling” became one of those :(

One day when we were driving to Ajey’s we passed the Casino “The Encore” in Everett. I loved the outdoor area when Mr and I were there last and mentioned it to the boys and surprisingly both the brothers agreed right away and the plan was decided to spend Saturday early afternoon to avoid the crowd.

That Saturday when we picked up Ajey we realized we never took him to a casino, so in a way it was a “first” for both of them.

Ajey got bored really quickly but Anand’s day was another story. Anand made money in the casino over slot machine. Here are some picture to tell you the story. I was there for fun, food and the Pandey men.

 Anand was so happy to show off his id - "21" 

Ashish taught many things to the boys, this could be one of those :) 

Podcast - Chai and chat with Aditi and Natasha

 I am Jaya Pandey and I live in Boston. Married to my best friend for 25 yrs and have two wonderful boys Ajey (23) and Anand (20). Anand was diagnosed with Autism when he was almost 8. I have been through ups and downs of motherhood. But soon understood we didn’t deserve the negativity of life. I started writing about our life and soon decided I needed to do something for Indian Mom with special need kids. in 2017 I started building a community for Indian Moms here in Boston. Connected over 200 mothers to each other.

I am very proud of each and everyone of them who believed in my vision, trusted and shared their life with me. 
It has been a journey of life time. I am happy, proud and excited for these moms who found support and friendship through this group. We have done many meets, dinners, family picnic, family photoshoots and zoom meets in this pandemic.

I was invited for a podcast about my love for Sarees, Music (specially Jagjit Singh’s ghazals) and Autism awareness.

I am honored and very grateful beyond words.

If you know someone who has kids with needs, please be kind to them, support them and please please connect them to each other. Have them reach out to me if I could be of any help. ( blog links in the comment)

My podcast link here , please spend 30 mins and listen to yours truly talk about “loves” of her life

https://anchor.fm/chaiandchat/episodes/A-Boston-Chai-Party-with-Jaya-Pandey-epqbip

Amazing hosts - Natasha and Aditi

A fabulous saree from another friend :) That story here.

https://momlovesanand.blogspot.com/2020/12/name-story.html

Saree last summer