At the end of year it is revealing to review the year gone by. Not so much to gloat over what was achieved, but to feel grateful for everything that came together and also to dream about what might be possible in the year to come. Our lives are driven by wanting to make money, maintain relationships and gain reputation. I cannot claim to feel detached from these. But at the same time the contentment of a commitment kept to keep smiling and bring a smile to others has enriched 2016 in more ways than one.
One of the highlights has been the opportunity to make new friends, each of whom have put a smile on our faces.
The commitment to make service a part of our lives has enriched every other aspect of our lives giving us depth and experience.
It is not because intrinsically I believe I am a very capable person that I push myself to do what I do. It is because I have flaws and the recognition of these flaws drives to me to overcome them, challenge myself and see how much further I can stretch my capabilities, overcome my inhibitions, fears and negative tendencies!
Some glimpses from the year that went by.
Happiness Program Jan 2016 – Back row L-R – Murugabarati, Biren, Varun, Patricia, Udipta, Shailesh, Anu. Front Row L-R Mitu, Sheetal, Shweta, Shubham, Parag, Swaroop
Happiness Program Feb 2016 – Back Row L-R Mahantesh, Martin, Sanjay, Saurabh, Mayuri, Vinay. Front Row L-R Shubham, Shweta, Shen Hui, Amit, Shailesh, Cara, Anupama, Bernice
Happiness Program Mar 2016. Back Row L-R Pallavi, Vidhi, Dominique, Nikhil, Archana, Ashok, Mohit, Ravi Kumar, Shailesh. Front Row L-R Ananya, Lily, Swaroop, Anupama, Iliana
Yes Plus Mar-Apr 2016. Back Row L-R Kavita, Shubham Hari, Qian Hei, Winnie, Payal, Ankit, Ritika, Lea, Shailesh. Middle Row L-R Bhumika, Khushboo, Dilip, Keerthana, Malvika, Akila. Front Row L-R Jun, Ramakrishnan, Agathiyan, Girish, You Liang, TJ, Senthil
Happiness Program May 2016. Back Row L-R Shailesh, Komal, Priya, Sanchit, Thenappan, Vikas, Claudia. Front Row L-R Archana, Anupama, Swaroop, Shantanu, Bala, Vickey
Happiness Program Jun 2016. Back Row L-R Xiang Qi, Yong Chuang, Rakesh, Prakash, Rajee, Partha, Shailesh. Front Row L-R Amit, Swaroop, Khushboo, Anupama, Shubham, Gopal, Prashant
Sri Sri Yoga Jun 2016
Happiness Program July 2016. Back Row L-R Shailesh, Murali, Sapna, Tarun, Swarna, Karu, Senthil, Heidi. Front Row L-R Partha, Swaroop, Sneha, Anupama, Hiral, Shefali, Shubham
Happiness Program Aug 2016. Back Row L-R Shailesh, Shubham, Maggie, Sudhir, Antonio, Anand, Kunal Ritika. Front Row L-R Resa, Rupika, Anupama, Yogita, Mythili
Happiness Program Nov 2016. Back Row L-R EssVee, Aroh, Karthik, Sarang, Sijin, Rajesh, Shailesh. Middle Row L-R Elisa, Shraddha, Anupama, Sara. Front Row L-R Ravi, Shefali, Swaroop
Happiness Program Dec 2016. Back Row L-R Hari, Kasturi, Ankit, Hari, Varadarajan, Anant, Ramesh, Sanjiv, Ailin, Manoj, Raj, Sameer, Alvin. 2nd Row from Back L-R, Swaroop, Manju, Sourov, Abirami, Preeti, Nisha, Anupama Ramkumar, Shubham. 3rd row from back L-R Anant, Rajaram, Vignesh, Shikha, Nancy, Shailesh. Front Row L-R Mary, Sowmya, Aparna, Karen, Sheena
Art Excel (Adam, Neela, Anu)
Art Excel (Anu and Neela)
Yes (Teens)
Loving Hearts Care Centre – Weekly Yoga Sessions for volunteers
I also ran some a couple of 10 Kms and 3 Half Marathons
Many physical activities with Ananya including horse riding, cycling, skating and tennis.
Anu completed her Teacher’s Training for conducting Art of Living workshops for teens and children. Anu and I both got oriented to teach corporate course which we will launch this year.
Anu recovered well from a major surgery.
Post Surgery at Raffles Hospital
Finally a good end to the year with a lovely holiday with family
Dec 2016 with Family
Shailesh Venkatesh 