SanDy’s Videos
Tribute for Sandy Nayak
Sandy was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Belmont, MA for more than 40 years. Pulled into it by our daughter Lakshmi, who liked the singing opportunities in the choir, Sandy stayed to help out in a variety of ways. One was to conduct a series of ad hoc classes on religion and history. But the main avenue was to help with the Fall Children's Musicals, which were just getting started around 1980. she helped with everything, eventually becoming responsible for making costumes for all the children and for backstage management. These were very large tasks, for there were sometimes more than 100 children in the shows, and all the costumes had to be custom-fitted. Backstage management included controlling the "puppy piles", as she called the heaps of children on the floor, and teaching them the historical context of the shows. Parents of the Church put together a "thank you" video, a "Tribute", for Sandy for her work, in 2021. Here it is.
Forty Years of Musicals
One of Sandy's most beloved activities was being in charge of costumes and backstage direction for the Fall musicals at the Unitarian Church in Belmont. One of the legacies of this work was the introduction given to the children of the historical context of the shows. The other was the confidence they gained to stand on stage, face the audience, and speak and sing clearly and loudly and confidently. In 2019, she gave a talk to the members of the Church titled "Forty Years of Musicals" that describes and illustrates this monumental work. Here is the recording.
During the COVID pandemic that started in early 2020, a young friend suggested convening a group roughly once a month to listen to one of its members giving a talk on a subject of their choice. This was modeled on a Salon that Sandy and I ran around 2010-2012 with a group of young people in their 20s and 30s who used to hang out at our home. The new Salon series, run by our friend Heena Mutha, was a great hit. Two of the talks were given by Sandy. One was titled "Religion Across Space and Time", showing what was going on in different parts of the world at the same time, and then tracing changes over time. Another was titled, "Who Were the Magi", and describes Sandy's research on the origins of Christianity. History and Religion were subjects that Sandy enjoyed reading about, and she was a voracious speed reader with an almost perfect recall of what she had read. That is why people used to say, "When Sandy's around, you don't need Google. Just ask Sandy." Here are the recordings of Sandy's two Salon talks.
Who Were the Magi?
A talk by Sandy Nayak
Religion Across Space and Time.
A Talk by Sandy Nayak
AWAKIN’s Forest Call guest with Sandy and Ranganath from Boston! From traveling across India on third-class train tickets, and opening up their homes to generations of strangers-turned-family and serving up countless gourmet meals to helping preserve indigenous cultures around the world and putting on period plays acted by children with special needs- Sandy and Ranganath Nayak are a real force of compassion in the world! Through all this and much more-- they continue to deeply rejoice in supporting other people on their journeys in ways big and small. Learn more.
