(Deeper Insights from my Fredonia days & more), With Raymond Doctor in Pune, India, on 2026 June 2 to 13, and more, see below,

[Thirumala Raya Halemane]

(Deeper Insights from my Fredonia days & more), With Raymond Doctor in Pune, India, on 2026 June 2 to 13, and more, see below,

===

With Raymond Doctor (He/Him), Data Analytics and AI on 2026 June 2 to 13

Fwd

With Raymond Doctor (He/Him) 1st degree connection · 1st Data Analytics and AI 

2026 Jun 2 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  7:50 AM 

Hi Raymond, it's great to connect with you. Looking forward to staying in touch.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  7:55 AM 

Likewise  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  8:03 AM 

Excellent  

YES, OUR SONS SUFFERED, WERE TARGETED, YES = PLEASE HELP. THANK YOU. BEST WISHES. AUMMM... 

PLEASE HELP YES, OUR CHILDREN SUFFERED, WERE TARGETED, YES PLEASE HELP, SPREAD theWORD, CHANGE theBUZZ, TRANSFORM TO REALITY. HELP=YESoursons future POTUS sufferedtargeted world dramastage, meFIRED jobsBLOCKED bigshock wife&sons hardwork spread theword DOyourshare DOitNOW Shilpi wedding done, seekingSUITABLE bridefor Kaviraj   

world drama stage, we are actors, everything we do on any day 24x7 is our acting role that day, all days put together it is our life on the world stage, acting is done means life is over, we try to do the best we can with all our pluses and minuses, desires, skills, biases, egos, arrogances, strengths, weaknesses, others helping, others hurting etc all included, not everything in our hands, this "acting" is our life journey, takes us to our destiny, fate, divine will, it is only way, NO CHOICE !  

We are seeking suitable bride for our elder son Kaviraj, we appreciate everybody's help, support, good wishes, good vibes, blessings, spreading the word etc, it is a pleasure to seek and get your help. thanks very much. best wishes.  

Although in severe shock and great stress, we have faced the challenges and moved forward crossing the barriers biases impediments etc that came before us, it was tough, not easy, for my wife and sons and the others also I brought up my two sons Kaviraj and Shilpi as future presidents of usa, with that attitude/ outlook/ mindset, supporting and encouraging the leadership nature already in them. They are born in usa, grew up in usa and consider themselves as Americans. The country, the people and the whole world including India where we parents are originally from will need their leadership and contributions to go forward towards better future vision in true spirit of America. It is the nature of truth, nature of nature, nature of humanity.   

YES, OUR SONS SUFFERED, WERE TARGETED, YES = PLEASE HELP. THANK YOU. BEST WISHES. AUMMM...  

(with family photo)

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  8:04 AM 

Thanks   

(my reaction ❤️) 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  8:19 AM 

Are you visiting Pune, perhaps, normally in Paris ?  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  8:25 AM 

Am 76. Retired. Am resident in Pune   

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  8:27 AM 

Oh, Okay. Nice  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  9:13 AM 

Is AI your new interest then, after a career in IT or so ???  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  11:49 AM 

Was a Google engineer working on AI and Wfst   

(my reaction 🙏)

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  12:02 PM 

Your writing, the newest post here with views towards utilizing AJ are Excellent, happy to read  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  5:42 PM 

and, I see that you have a lot of expertise on Iran, and India also of course.  It can be very valuable for DEEPER understanding (versus the superficial types that is more commonplace) at this time, which, in my opinion, is most important for better future solutions, but of course negative damaging effects or impacts of historical baggage may not be avoidable, not easy anyways.  It would be interesting to hear your thoughts.  

(swnt our old photo)

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  11:02 PM 

Thank you   

2026 Jun 3 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  8:01 AM 

👍  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  5:06 PM 

When I was working aa faculty at Physics Dept, SUNY Fredonia, in western New York state, I had a student from Iran (undergraduate) in my class introductory physics it was i think. May be his name was Mehrdad Faroudi, writing from a bit vague memory. He cheated in the exam, I caught it, yet I was being nice to him, I did not file formal complaint (which could result in severe consequences for him, and I was willing to pardon him, let go, with just apology. I did mention it to my Dept Chairman Prof Myron Luntz. But ...  

2026 Jun 4 

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  12:12 AM 

Kind of you   

(my reaction 👍)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  11:59 AM 

I had given him a low grade, (he was not doing well academically speaking), in my course. I knew that his elder brother was a new faculty member in Computer Science Dept. They had shortage of teaching faculty and I also volunteered to teach a bit there out of my own interest (no extra pay).  And several months later, when I happened to meet his elder brother while walking in the hallway from or to class, and we said hello. Then he thanked me for letting Prof Luntz change the grade for his brother, to B or B+ or so, in my course, because there was some minimum GPA requirement for visa purposes. I kept quiet there, but it was news to me, I did not know anything about, and was SHOCKED, actually, to hear it, and of course HURT that the Chairman Prof Myron Luntz did that, since I had always great relationship with him, he was always very helpful to me, and especially with his support, and work that was needed for  my green card (which was done by that time, despite some difficulties).  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  12:03 PM 

👍   

(my reaction ❤️)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  1:30 PM 

I remembered that Prof Carter Rowland, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, about whom I had high opinion, had told me that if I encountered any problem, I could come to him. It was when we had met each other, in my early months there in the college, in Fall 1981, I think, when I was going to lunch cafeteria, and he was coming back from there, we met on the cement walkway towards there,   

Well, this was the time I could make use of his offer to help, so without wasting much time or over-thinking about it, I walked over to his office high up in Maytum Hall, and mentioned to him what I had heard about the grade change for the student.  

He immediately had his Secretary call the grades-related office and it was confirmed that our Physics Dept Chairman Prof Myron Luntz had requested, signed for the grade change. He assured me that he will handle the matter, no need for me to worry.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  10:51 PM 

👍   

(my reaction 🙏)  

2026 Jun 6 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  7:19 AM 

I guess, it is needless to say that my going to the higher level to VP did not go well with Myron. (I think he must have been called to the VP's office, rebuked, made to change grade back, so some shaming must have taken place, perhaps, and this incident eventually precipitated in his resignation from our Dept Chairman position afterwards, some months later. And this was very likely the reason why he kind of turned against me by giving me a bad review saying that my research papers that were then getting published in journals were from my PhD thesis work, not new research, and therefore my performance was not satisfactory, new research is needed etc., I think this bad review came a few months after that incident perhaps, (?), must be, although at the time I was not thinking like that, because I was also trying to get into some new area of research, and possible collaboration with other universities in which I was not yet successful, so at the time I had felt that although unfairly and too strictly, he was just stating the obvious facts (!!!!)  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  7:25 AM 

Interesting   

(my reaction 👍)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  9:50 AM 

When I had gone to his office next time, like a day or two later maybe, (I used to do that often, several times a week, casually, after pouring a cup of coffee in the office coffee pot next to the Secretary), Myron had mentioned to me, that I did not have to go to the VP, instead I could have come to him, and he would have changed the grade back, that his objective was only to help them for the student's visa .. I did not say anything.   

But I knew that the student's brother computer science faculty member had influenced Myron heavily, that there was some social personal type of connection, maybe they had gone together to Playboy Club in Buffalo NY (the Iranian faculty was a member I think, and Myron as a guest, perhaps the brother faculty member himself mentioned this to me , about the friendship, during his brief thank you chat with me in the hallway.   

Yes, and looking back, with everything that has happened, it is quite possible, and even likely, that other hidden invisible intelligence type forces were involved in the actions of the Iranians, both student and faculty, in trying to make an impact on me or how I was treated there, my relationships, my personality etc. It is very VERY likely, looking back at all the happenings.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  10:29 AM 

Sounds plausible    

(my reaction 🙏)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  1:42 PM 

Myron Luntz also had a bit of a depression type problem, for which he took medication, he had mentioned this to me during our casual talks, in his office. And later on, also mentioned to me by Prof Mike Grasso. Myron was a very mild-mannered person, but, it seems he became Chairman a few years earlier before he, and they, hired me, by kind of "volunteering against" the previous (by then retired) Chairman, he himself had given me that info, but I do not know the details.   

Eventually, after some moths of the grade incident, Prof Mike Grasso, became Chairman and he was very friendly, very helpful to me also. There are some interesting details about it, I will write on it tomorrow.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  6:42 PM 

Okay  

2026 June 8

Monday 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  9:26 AM 

Dr Myron Luntz initially said he wanted to resign, I think he was into his second term as Chairman perhaps (?), and perhaps he was hoping that one more senior Prof Paul Davey (PhD nuclear physics, but tenured faculty there did not generally do research, who was well liked by students for his teaching, always very high evaluations, good vibes around about it, and, since Paul was never chairman before), would take over. But Prof Davey was not interested. I was suggesting Prof Michael N Grasso, who was the person that had initiated and was in-charge of the Co-Op Engineering program there, (a 3-2 program with automatic admission to Engg degree program at a few other universities, receiving two Bachelors degrees  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  10:28 AM 

Co-op engg was a very popular program there, and that's why we had a good number of Physics students and majors (even more Physics undergraduate majors than places like Rutgers that have hugely more total student population, because they got an Engg degree also from the other university at the end of 5 years, with first 3 years spent in SUNY College Fredonia (a mostly low-fees local focus type undergraduate only college, a few masters options were there perhaps, no doctorate).  

Prof Michael N Grasso was also popular with students, very hard working too. And, I suggested his name for being next Chairman, and encouraged him also. But, others said "he does not have a PhD". and this was a discouraging factor for him too, can also become a negative point with the Administration.  

Then, I thought about it, and after waiting some more, days or week or so  perhaps, with nobody showing interest, and Myron still hoping to quit, I expressed my interest, I wrote a note to Myron that I am available to be Chair. I think Dr Subra Pendyala another India-origin faculty there, was urging Myron to stay on and continue as Chairman. It assured Subra of good continued support, as the Dean was against granting him tenure, but Myron was strongly supportive of him. Subra, originally from India, like me, was handling the important Electronics courses and labs there, doing research in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Lab etc, a very brilliant and capable person indeed.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  11:54 AM 

Very interesting.,   

(my reaction 🌹)  

2026 June 9

Tuesday 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  7:59 AM 

And finally, Prof Mchael N Grasso, with everything that happened in mind, became more courageous about it, his hesitation for not having PhD was gone, he mentioned to me that I was Chairman material, but it was a bit too early for me then, he received everyone's support and the Dean appointed him as Chairman.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  8:14 AM 

👍   

(my reaction 👍)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  4:45 PM 

Looking back, I am also wondering about the BIG LECTURE INVITATION from our college there in Fredonia NY, to one famous anthropologist, I think it was Dr Richard Leakey,  and its purpose must have been to reinforce those views and values that come out of such theories regarding human beings, evolution, society, race, culture, civilization  etc that has been at the core of our state of affairs in the then prevailing global order and governance, when I was there, in 1983-84 perhaps, in 1981-85 timeframe. I was there, we were there, till May 1985  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  7:25 PM 

👍   

(my reaction ❤️)  

2026 June 10

Wednesday 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  10:38 AM 

I was on a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in Physics Dept, and my performance would be reviewed every year by the Chairman, keeping in mind that teaching was the main thing, and some research was expected, other activities like student-related involvement, advising, etc are somewhat expected of a good faculty member.   

The Chairman made the recommendation for renewal using inputs from the individual (me) and other inputs, like other faculty, recommendation letters if any provided etc Renewal decision made by him needed to be approved by the Dean, and generally this was all done a year or more in advance, so that there is ample time to apply and get other academic jobs in other places if not renewed. and process continued until tenure, that is after being six years there.   

Dr Subra Pendyala was also in such tenure-track position but joined there two years before me. He was 15 or more years older to me, in his 40s then, I was 28 when I joined in Fall 1981,   

So, doing research, publishing papers was important for our tenure, while four others there were already more senior full tenured Professors, one other senior Professor retired soon after I was there perhaps (?), if I remember correctly, and, maybe I was hired keeping that in mind. Another retirement (Prof Connelly?), happened when I was there, like in my third year perhaps.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  11:49 AM 

Thanks   

(my reaction 😊)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  7:41 PM 

I was, naturally interested in doing research and to have a decently okay well-paying good job. like upper middle class economic level, and did like the college teaching field, (other teaching-oriented people in family also). While there at the college, in the first-year summer, I realized that it is much better if the place has a research-type atmosphere, else much harder to sit and try to do research by yourself, I could not focus and do anything like that. I had to do things differently if I wanted to do research. So, I was trying to get into some type of collaboration with another university, I made some enquiries, but not successful. Then my good friend and classmate from IIT Madras then doing PhD at the Materials Research Laboratory suggested I apply there, he gave a strong recommendation about me to Prof L E Cross, his thesis advisor there, and I was hired for the summer in 1984 as Visiting Assistant Professor. And, it went very well for me as well as them. They were very happy with my research work and papers, collaboration to continue, ... (and it meant my tenure-track position will go ahead fine. My green card visa was done in 1983 January, after running into some serious unexpected problems. But, before that ..   

(React with 👍)  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  9:08 PM 

Sometime not long after I received the summer research visiting position offer from Penn State University, my PhD thesis advisor Prof J B French at University of Rochester called me and offered that I could come there for the summer if I wanted, but I told him I already had the other offer, he said okay. It was very nice of him to call and ask, I felt good about his gesture, about having that fallback position. I was not in touch with him, we had a bit of a strained relationship due to a few happenings during and after my PhD, although they were more or less amicably resolved. Most importantly, I did not want to continue in the same area of research that I had worked for my thesis, liked to do, wanted to do something different in physics or in another related field. of course, looking back, it is possible that there was a bit more to it, even perhaps indicating the presence of behind-the-scenes observers and forces, perhaps with some sympathetic eyes also (!!!), okay, perhaps understanding that i needed a supportive place ... cannot all be negative ... actually, if nothing worked, i am likely to change fields, type of work, I had already started studying Computer Science at SUNY Buffalo with part-time evening courses, doing well in them, that job market then was considered good. I was not against doing that, but had decided to stick with what i had for the time being, explore a bit into industry later perhaps. But it is still very interesting to me that Prof J B French had called on his own, to enquire, and to make that summer research position offer. More respect and admiration to him, of course.  

2026 June 12

Friday 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  7:29 AM 

In Fall 1981 when we joined SUNY College at Fredonia as faculty (me in Physics, wife Usha in Business), we were both given H-1 visas, independently. based on our jobs, it is renewable, vaid for one year. On learning about the visa requirements etc, at the end of the academic year, in summer 1982, Prof Myron Luntz, my Chairman, agreed and volunteered to start the work for sponsoring us for the permanent resident visa green card based on my tenure-track job, My wife's job was not tenure-track, but she would be included in my application, automatically, by just adding the paperwork for her also. I helped him with the forms etc, and with our parents in India helping to get the needed papers from there, birth certificates mainly (some slight complications there straightened out). Thus my green card application was sponsored by the college, and filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service in their Buffalo NY office.  

Once the green card application is made, no further visa action is necessary until it is acted on, and until then we cannot leave the country. If we did, the application gets nullified, and also we may not be able to come back. At that time, there was not too long a wait or delay for our category of green card. And we got the reply fairly quickly, a few months later, like in two months or so (?), perhaps, by registered post.   

And it was like a shock. It contained the green card visa denial info letter, and the deportation order, to leave the country within 30 days or so.   

The reason given for denial was illegal-status working while previously at Rutgers postdoc position, when in 1980-81 timeframe, although the renewal or transfer to new H-1 visa was applied for, in proper way, it had not come through until several months later, i had continued in my postdoc position while waiting for the application approval, as was considered normal and okay. But now for the green card application, that was being considered as illegal work. As advised by our close friends Prof Moti Sharma there, with the help of a local lawyer, and without disrupting our college teaching work, the semester ws on, we were able to work it out. We had to file an appeal, get an extension, agree to use overseas U.S. Consular services and go there for interview and visa, so we did that, eventually done in Madras, India during the Christmas break college vacation of Dec 1982 - Jan 1983, It turned out to be a good opportunity to travel back to India, visit our parents, families, relatives there. By then, I had not visited for five and a half years, and my father and family there were not happy about it, My wife had visited twice, not as bad, we can say.   

(React with 👍)  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  7:55 AM 

What next   

(my reaction 🙏)

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  10:07 PM 

Then, in that visit for the green card visa, I began to feel that some things may not have gone as well as I had expected, and perhaps I needed to pay a bit more attention there to things at home, especially two younger sisters Jahnavi & Sudha, who were considered as not doing well, below normal IQ and health, slow-and-dull, family and relatives having lost hope regarding their improvement, given up on them. So, I needed to go back, spend more time there, and see things for myself. And, on our next trip (as in below), I did try to do it, and we did some things, medical consultation etc., with the help of others in the family, a little bit more about it, trying to help the two sisters. So the trip was very meaningful for me from a family point of view. We tried harder, and did our very best, then and later, we can say. And also, I wanted to look a little bit into what job opportunities may be possible in India, get some feelings or insights about it, since at the time we were not sure if we would permanently stay in the USA. Further, I still needed to continue doing research if I intended to stay in the Physics field, in the USA or in India.   

So, putting everything together, I decided we would make good use of our 1983 summer months' vacation from teaching work at the college, by going to India, and my wife also would enjoy spending some time with her parents and siblings, although we had just visited a few months earlier in connection with the green card. And, in preparation for the professional part of it, I had written to Mangalore University Physics Dept and Physical Research Lab PRL in Ahmedabad and received helpful replies. Prof Jitendra C Parikh at PRL kindly sent me an invitation with a two months paid appointment as a Visiting Scientist (two or three or more of the scientists there were connected with my thesis advisor Prof French and University of Rochester many years back, including the Director Dr Pandya (?), my friend and contemporary research-groupmate-collaborator Dr Kamales Kar was also there). Mangalore University also appreciated my visit, they were nice, I visited several times, gave lectures, talked to faculty and students etc, but I did not press for any formal appointment, keeping it as a cordial good-will type connection in my hometown.   

My wife wrote to the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad for a visiting research role or position, and she did receive a reply inviting her to work with a professor there (no pay). She met him twice or so after we reached Ahmedabad. We were staying at the PRL Guest House in Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, which is just across the street from IIMA. However, after that, she decided she did not want to do that research work there, and I did not press her, respecting her decision, as is usually my style.   

We met or came across many people, visitors from India and abroad (like USA, UK etc.), at the Guest House, and at the PRL., We also watched the famous cricket test in England I think) that India won on the common room TV there.at the Guest House. For various reasons and deciding to spend more time with her parents, my wife flew back to Mangalore two weeks or so earlier than me. I traveled back by train to Mumbai and then from there to Mangalore by bus after a total of about six weeks or so. Going from Mangalore, we both had traveled by bus to Mumbai and then by train to Ahmedabad at the end of May. We were back in Fredonia towards the end of August.   

After we returned to Fredonia in 1983 Fall, since I still had no research done, I wrote up a small paper from something I had done during my student days in Rochester, but had not published or perhaps not even written down in thesis also (not very sure about this), and sent it to one (or two?) journals for publication. The paper was rejected (by both?), I remember that one of the journals was Canadian. I think it was perhaps the Canadian Journal of Physics. I chose not to appeal the rejections, although it can be done. But then a surprise letter, from the editor I think, said that I could re-submit it and get it published if I thought it was needed or something like that. Looking back. maybe it was the offer of the editor to over-rule the referee. To me, then, it sounded vaguely like saying if I needed their publication help for my tenure at Fredonia, they are willing to help me a bit. That is my interpretation of it, of that unexpected letter from the journal after rejection. But anyways, I did not do so, just left it there, did not reply to it, I think. I was more interested in pursuing other options for my career, I felt at the time.   

Looking back, this unexpected offer with the publication help feels a bit intriguing to me, somehow, the hidden invisible forces behind the scenes were concerned about me where I will go, how I will do there etc., and perhaps they had their own agenda and preferences regarding it...(???)  Oh, Well ... OKAY ..   

Other interesting things happening in Ahmedabad, Mangalore etc, .. Yes, most of which I have mentioned here and there, ...  

2026 June 13

Saturday 

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  2:02 PM 

It was perhaps after he became Chairman, Prof Mike Grasso suggested that we go together to Toronto, Canada,for attending an IBM conference, not sure what exactly the theme was, bit something connected with the IBM company. We start early in the morning, drive there in a college-provided car, about three hours away, and return in the evening, on a Saturday it was, I think. So we did that, just like that. He quipped that they (the IBM employees there) are all very tall people, Mike and I being about the same height, much shorter 5ft 3in. While chatting in the car I understood that the Italian American (and his) view of the Italian Mafia in America is somewhat different, and not as a totally evil force, unlike what I saw in movies etc, and it gave me another perspective, something to learn about or in it. Looking back, I find it somewhat intriguing that he wanted to take me there, an IBM event, and in Canada.   

And very likely, some kind of "observation" of me, connected with hidden invisible deep state intelligence globally connected forces, was involved. At the time I was beginning to apply for industrial positions, wanting to get some experience and feel for it by being there for a while, and IBM was also one of the companies I applied to by then or maybe later. I didn't get any interviews with IBM. In response to my job application to IBM, I remember getting a call from some IBM manager in Buffalo NY, who basically said or implied that I needed some friends helping me strongly to get into jobs.   

I finally got the job offer from AT&T Bell labs in Holmdel NJ when my elder brother Dr Keshava Prasad Halemane working there encouraged me to apply there again (no reply from them when I had first applied there by myself earlier), and he tracked it within the company, making sure the right attention was given to it. With full supportive help from Prof Mike Grasso, and others there not objecting, I was able to get a one year leave of absence from the college teaching job. I joined the AT&T Bell Labs job in June 1985, after returning from an emergency type India visit for 3 weeks, with wife & son, as my father H Shama Bhat had suddenly fallen ill with a stroke (?) or so. He recovered well, coming home from the hospital a few days after we arrived there, seeing our son Kaviraj Shama Bhat Halemane, his grandson, for the first time.  

Thirumala Raya Halemane (He/Him)  2:29 PM 

Before I left Fredonia, during my last semester there, I had filed a research grant proposal with the National Science Foundation for establishing an undergraduate focussed Materials Science research and study oriented laboratory with research participation from students. And they called me, months later, when in Bell Labs, and wanted to know if I was going back to my college job after one year, looked like they would support me with grant money if I did go back, but at the time, I was not sure, although not well settled in Bell Labs (which never happened). Towards the end of the year, I requested for an extension of the leave, but that was not okay with them, so I resigned from there. New Jersey offered better job prospects also for my wife, who was staying home then doing MA in Statistics studying part-time with evening courses at Rutgers University and our second baby was on the way.  

Thanks for listening Sir.  

Raymond Doctor (He/Him)  9:30 PM 

Sounds interesting    

(my reaction ❤️)

===+++===

   

in the two old photos here, from 1989 must be, we see our sons Kaviraj and Shilpi playing with Shubha daughter of Bheem Bhat Madeyala & Sharada Pailoor, on their pool table at their then home basement in Philadelphia suburb region. Photo taken when we visited them with my mother Thirumaleshwari & sister Jahnavi visiting us from India. My mother and Kavi are seen standing on the floor next to the pool table with Shilpi and Shubha sitting on the pool table looking at or playing with the balls in one photo, while all the three little kids are having fun jumping together on the pool table (having put all the balls away, into the slot-holes (?)) in the second photo. That was a special moment for them, and a happy experience for us all, to see. 

[Thirumala Raya Halemane]