This year the International Women’s Day coincided with our weekly get-together. The lunch was an all-male show as women got a well-deserved reprieve from kitchen duties! Usha Gautam spoke to us about the importance of women’s role in a family. Since it was also the World Kidney Day, our resident doctor Dr. Kotecha gave an insightful presentation on Kidneys. He spoke about the role played by this organ, its diseases and its appalling statistics in the US and world over and disparity of kidney health between men and women. He highlighted the fact that kidney diseases would remain undetected until it is too late, unless one is checked regularly. Even in the US, 90% of the 26 million cases of kidney diseases are detected in later stages. He recommended regular exercise, lower body weight, improved diet, drinking adequate water and treatment of diabetes and hypertension to prevent kidney diseases. He noted that smoking and excessive over the counter medication could damage one’s kidneys.
We concluded the day by extending warm greetings to Bhagubhai on his birthday.
Early in March, the seniors celebrated Holi after the scheduled bhajans at the Ekta Mandir. Usha presented the significance of Holi and the members rejoiced by applying Gulal on each other’s cheeks and joining the Garba to the melodies by Vallabh Bhai and others.
The monthly Anthakshari was also a day of celebrations! We had white table cloth and flower vases on each table and a beautiful cake to celebrate the birthdays of Dr. Narendra Shah, Ramanik and Sulakshna Hansalia, John Banks and Rajni Bajpai. It was also the wedding a
iversary of Dr. Narendra and Alka Shah. The following week we celebrated the birthday of Pushpa Deshmukh with a lovely cake and birthday song.
Our scheduled activities, like stretching/ yoga, card games, table te
is are popular as ever. Last week, the women were also dancing Garba as it is the spring Navaratri leading up to Ram Navami.
Many seniors volunteered for and enjoyed the IACRF picnic on Sat, Mar 10 at the Eldorado Park in Scottsdale. We had charcoal grilled co
, pakodas, dal vadas, idlis prepared on site along with rice dishes, curries and dessert. Steve Hartman took photos and videos of the enjoyable event.
Donations: Vasu Atluri’s generosity knows no bounds! He donated a 75 inch QLED TV to the senior center that should show richer color pictures and make it easier to see from a distance. Dr. Kotecha educated the seniors on the difference between the mundane LED and Samsung’s latest QLED technology. Digital committee will be formed and ensure the best utilization of this mode
TV. Suggestions are invited from the members for the same.
New Volunteers: Bhadrikbhai has taken over more responsibilities and be our next treasurer.
New Members and retu
ing members: It was pleasant to see several of our members who were away for significant length of time retu
ing to the weekly get-together. Another Rasikbhai became a new member in March.
Lunch: Lunches were sponsored by Ramesh/Nina Zhaveri and Ratilal Javia; Dinesh Patel filled a vacancy at the last minute and saved us from ordering the dreaded pizza! Other sponsors included Dr. Narendra/Alka Shah, Ramanik/ Sulakshana Hansalia, Pushpa/ Prakash Deshmukh and Mani/ Kaly Paramanandam. We had Sheera, Mohan Thaal, Patisa, Shrikand, coconut burfi and cake for dessert. To top it all, Dineshbhai brought mangoes for everyone at one of the gathering.
