Video displaying scenes from The Terraces at Los Altos, a HumanGood Life Plan Community in Los Altos, California

Gulu & Indra

Indra has been instrumental in creating cultural institutions serving the burgeoning Silicon Valley Asian Indian community, including a quarterly Hindu journal; a cultural school with language, religion and music classes; and the Indian Community Center. She also ran a small book business spotlighting titles on Indian history and mythology.

Gulu was raised in New Delhi and developed a passion for books and music at a very young age because his father had a book and record business.

“I was surrounded by wonderful literature growing up,” he says.

After completing a degree in physics, Gulu received a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which brought him to the U.S. He came to California in 1962, where he worked in semiconductor research and development. He retired after 26 years at Hewlett-Packard.

 “After our children left for college, we began researching options for a move,” Gulu says. “We wanted to find a place we could call home for the rest of our lives, and thankfully, we did with The Terraces at Los Altos. It was a no-brainer for us.”

Gulu and Indra stay active in their temple and participate in the weekly spiritual worship service at The Terraces.

“This service gives us an opportunity to learn about other religions and see how others worship, which is a real blessing for us,” Indra says.

Indra also participates in weekly exercise classes and is an avid walker. In addition to walking with Indra, Gulu volunteers on the dining committee, which he helped to launch at the community.

“I owned a five-star restaurant at one time, so food is very important to me,” Gulu says. 

They both take advantage of the organized excursions and dine out at the variety of ethnic restaurants in Los Altos. Indra and Gulu are delighted that, even though they changed their physical street address, they didn’t have to change the city they lived in or their lifestyle.

 “The community is so warm and welcoming, and we have made many great friends here,” Indra says. “We also don’t have to worry about home maintenance or cooking for ourselves, which is a wonderful benefit!”

Rosel

Rosel, along with her late husband, Irv, raised their two daughters in Los Altos, and she was very active in volunteering for her daughters’ Girl Scout troops. She was vice president of the local Hadassah chapter and president of Junior Civic Leaders.

Irv was a successful engineer who worked in Silicon Valley and was also an amateur magician and musician. With Rosel’s assistance, Irv would visit patients at the local veterans hospitals and patrons at restaurants, entertaining them with the wonder of music and magic.

“Volunteering was in our blood and remains in mine,” she says. “We loved giving of our time, and I am so happy I can continue to do so by volunteering at The Terraces at Los Altos and in the greater Los Altos community.”

Rosel has a long list of giving back. For the past 22 years, she has volunteered with the Los Altos branch of the American Cancer Discovery Shop, which raises money for the American Cancer Society. As a volunteer, she organizes and prices items donated to the shop, including furniture, clothing, books and paintings. She also serves as a liaison between the organization and residents of The Terraces who would like to make donations. 

Through her work with the greater Los Altos community, she was also introduced to an organization called One Warm Scarf. As a volunteer, Rosel knits scarves, mittens and hats, which are given to missions and shelters in the area.

Rosel also has a passion for reading and the English language. She volunteers at the local senior center, teaching English to older Asian adults visiting their children in Silicon Valley. And most recently, she shared her interest in volunteering at the local grade school by reading to students.

When Rosel isn’t volunteering in the greater Los Altos community, she works with the welcoming committee at The Terraces, greeting new residents, inviting them to dinner and making sure they know the ins and outs of the community when they move in.

 “I love making people feel at home here,” she says. “It’s so nice to give back to the place I call home.”

Tony

His mother was the community music teacher, instructing him and his six siblings, as well as other local children, on how to play a variety of instruments, including piano, violin and clarinet.

“If someone wanted to play a particular instrument, she took it on,” Tony explains.

When Tony was 18 years old, he was granted a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and played violin for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for six years. He later received a fellowship to earn his master’s degree in music from the University of Iowa and received his doctorate in music from Stanford University. 

He later moved back to Australia to become a senior lecturer in music at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane. In 2006, he moved to California and took a job teaching violin to undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford University.

Tony continues to share his gift of music by teaching violin to middle school children at the Community Music and Arts program in Mountain View, the largest nonprofit provider of art and music education programs in both Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. He also enjoys playing music for the residents at The Terraces at Los Altos.

“Here at The Terraces, the spiritual director and I work together to plan music for the weekly faith and music worship service, which has been a real blessing for me. The service is an opportunity to embrace all types of religions, and through these teachings, I have realized the commonalities that we all share. It’s truly been a moment of growth for me.”

Tony also plays music for the residents living in the assisted living and memory support neighborhoods.

“A gift was given to me — a God-given gift — and I am grateful to share this with my community.” 

Sara

Sara works full-time 1.5 miles away from The Terraces at Los Altos as founder and president of Hartcom, a communications firm helping individuals and organizations change, grow and realize their best potential.

Her latest projects include writing a book, Prime Spark: Women Over 55, It’s Our Time! She also launched a podcast, Prime Spark with Sara Hart, and started a greeting card line that includes encouraging and uplifting words for women.

“I believe we are on the cusp of major social change, and it’s very exciting,” Sara says. “We are about to see the ascendency of women over 55 standing up and saying, ‘OK, it’s time for a change. We are dynamic, involved, contributing, powerful, desirable and vital to our communities.’ I wrote this book for older women who want to thrive, change the way our culture depicts us, and make the best choices during our prime years.”

In 2017, Sara moved to The Terraces, but before that, she endured an emotional journey of downsizing.

“I had to go through the painful and, frankly, sad process of leaving my large home and getting rid of my things, but I knew this was what I wanted to do,” she says. “After going through this process, I wanted to share my journey with others, so I wrote a book, The Upside of Downsizing: Getting to Enough. It’s not a book about how to sell, sort and donate your things; it’s about the feelings you experience while doing all of that and knowing when you have enough. It’s amazing how many heartwarming emails I receive from my readers thanking me for recognizing these real emotions.”

Since she moved to The Terraces, she has felt empowered by her decision and has never looked back. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment with her beloved cat, Mr. Bu, and enjoys the freedom of going to work every day and not having to worry about home maintenance.

“I finally found my enough,” she says, “and I am extremely happy.”