One thing Pondicherry is renowned for is the Sri Aurobindo Ashram which owns most of the buildings in the French Quarter. Sri Aurobindo was born in Calcutta in the late 19th Century. He was sent to school in Britain aged 7 and returned to India 13 years later where he became a leading figure in the Nationalist Party. Convicted for writing articles against British Rule he had several spiritual and mystical experiences whilst in jail. On his release he moved to Pondicherry leaving behind his politics and developing a philosophical and spiritual practice that followed no particular religion known as Integral / Karma Yoga.
In 1914 Mirra Alfassa (The Mother), a French woman of Egyptian and Turkish Jewish heritage, travelled to Pondicherry to become Sri Aurobindo's disciple and eventually his spiritual collaborator. Together they formed a vision of Auroville - a community where people from all over the world could live together in harmony. Its focal point is the Matrimandir - Place of Worship of The (sacred) Mother.
The foundations for this spherical meditation chamber were laid in 1971 and it was completed in 2008. Last time I was in Pondicherry it was specifically to stay at the ashram to finish my diploma as an Integral Yoga teacher and the Matrimandir was a building site. Now it is a space of utter magnificence - really incredible. Auroville and the Ashram continue to grow.
I stayed at the delightful Palais de Mahe, a converted, characterful heritage building located a couple of blocks from the Promenade. Fantastic service, great staff and an incredibly good restaurant too!
From Pondicherry it’s a 3 hour drive to Chennai (Madras) – once the administrative centre for the British in Southern India and now one of the largest economic cities on the subcontinent, mainly due to its car industry. St George’s Fort, originally the barracks of the East India Company, is now a fascinating museum and the Government Museum houses a substantial collection of religious bronzes dating from the 7th Century to modern day - and while the fluidity and elegance of these bronzes were appreciated some muttering regarding the age old objectification of the female form may well have been heard too.....
Sadly my time in Chennai was very limited and I would have happily spent a couple of days there staying at the supremely comfortable Taj Coromandel and perhaps strolling along Marina beach, which at 13km the locals say is the longest beach in Asia and the 2nd longest in the world though I might dispute that. Not a place for a swim though as swimwear is prohibited – full dress only.
Tamil Nadu is now so well connected with flights that journey times to the interior of the State have been reduced considerably and it was a short 1 hour flight to Trichy. From here it’s an easy 1 hour drive to Tanjore (officially Thanjavur but as far as I could tell no-one calls it this). The city is an important centre of South Indian religion, art, and architecture and most of the Chola Temples, which are UNESCO World Heritage Monuments, are located in and around the area, the foremost among these being the Brihadeeswara Temple.
The foundations for this stunning temple complex, situated in the heart of the city, were laid in 1002 by the Tamil Emperor Arulmozhivarman of the mighty Raja Raja Chola dynasty and building was completed in 1009. It is one of the largest temple complexes in India and the main temple tower (dedicated to Shiva) is one of the tallest in the world.
The Raja Raja Chola Empire spread across South India and Sri Lanka to colonies in Vietnam and Cambodia and this complex is said to have influenced the temples of Angkor Wat. It is still very much a living temple with ceremonies happening throughout the day and a steady stream of pilgrims. I was there for elevenses aarti and the complex was relatively quiet so there was plenty of space and time for a full exploration and even a spot of temple offering sales.
From the temple I headed to the backstreets of Tanjore to visit a brass idol making family. The skill and knowledge of this craft is handed down the male side through generations and the delicacy and detail of the finished products is wonderful, though the Risk Assessment aspect of the workshop may have been slightly overlooked with molten hot metal handled by grandpa with only a dhoti for protection. Probably similar to handling nuclear waste with a pair of oven mitts. but the family insisted no-one ever gets burnt.
After a quick refreshment stop where I thoroughly enjoyed a toxic coloured 'top super grade something special 100 synthetic' drink I popped into a veena maker's workshop where the owner kindly invited me in to try out my skills. Having played a sitar in the past (admittedly only a handful of times) I felt I would be a natural and to be honest I thought I created a near celestial sound with an exquisite timbre and incredible beauty - his assistant clearly thought otherwise.
I thought no video or audio of my magnificent maiden performance existed but I was wrong and I am delighted to share what I consider to be the highpoint of my musicality with you.
Later that evening I headed back to the Temple for the Abhishekam of Nandi (the reinvocation of the holiness of Shiva's bull). This lunar festival is held once a year so for it to be happening on the night I was in Tanjore was serendipitous to say the least.
The temple completely changed by night with hundreds of worshippers there sharing food and performing puja. A beautiful and authentic experience with hardly any other tourists to be seen.
In a mere 5 night timeframe I’d seen and experienced all of the above and my senses were whirling from the rush of colour, people, smells, tastes, scenery and history and I was only a third of the way into my trip! And this is why I love India and travelling in general – so much to witness and indulge in that takes me out of my usual zone and feeds my brain, imagination and perceptions.
Next stop Chettinad......
To read more about Helena's travels see her blog here.
She has shown you some amazing things in your time. Mothering Sunday is coming up soon - it's Sunday 11 March. If your mum is still around, make a fuss of her!
If things go as nature intends, you will outlive her and then you will look back and wonder if you ever did enough to show her your gratitude and appreciation for everything she's done for you and your family.
I thought that the tradition of Mothering Sunday started in England when girls who worked away from home would get time off to go home to visit their mothers, and usually took a bunch of flowers. I looked online for further history and found this..
'Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate mothers and all mother figures such as grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law and everything that they do. A special effort is made on this day when children or daughters and sons-in-law buy cards, flowers or gifts for their mothers.
The origins of Mother’s Day date back to the ancient Greek times, but the way in which we celebrate it today began in America in 1908. The ancient Greeks dedicated an annual spring festival to maternal goddesses, and ancient Romans also celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria which was for a mother goddess called Cybele.
More recent origins of Mothering Sunday date back to the 1600s in England when it was held on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Some stories say that people would return to their mother church, the church that they were baptized in or attended services in when they were children. and this would bring together communities who hadn’t seen each other for a while. Other stories say that this date was to honour mothers. A prayer service was also held in church for the Virgin Mary and children would bring gifts and flowers to pay tribute to their mothers.
This day had almost died out completely by the 19th century.
After this, in America the idea of an official celebration for all mothers came in 1872 from Julia Ward Howe, an activist, writer and poet. She suggested that June 2 should be annually celebrated as Mother’s Day and should be a day dedicated to peace. Julia also delivered a passionate appeal to women in 1870 in Boston and urged them to rise against war, and she initiated a Mothers’ Peace Day service on the second Sunday in June and annually held the meeting for a couple of years. The writer worked hard to have Mother’s Day declared as an official holiday, but it was later replaced by the holiday now celebrated in May in America.
Anna Jarvis is recognised as the woman who invented Mother’s Day in America after she held a memorial for her mother in West Virginia in 1908. Her mother had previously expressed how much she wanted to have a mother’s day and Anna wanted to fulfil this for her. Anna held the ceremony for her mother and sent carnations to the church service for this as they were her mother’s favourite flower. After this, she and her supporters sent letters to those high up in positions of power and asked for an official holiday to honour mothers.
Eventually in 1911, Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state and on 8 May 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution document that confirmed every second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Today in the UK, Mothering Sunday and Mother’s Day have merged and it is celebrated on the second Sunday of Lent which usually falls in either March or early April.'
So there you go. That's everything I know about Mothering Sunday. Do you call it Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day - and if you call it Mother's Day where do you think the apostrophe should go - is it for mothers in general, or one mother's day?! I think it would be Mothers' Day.
This mini blog was written in sunny Devon, where my 3 school friends and I took some of our kids (the nicest ones) for the half term break. We were lucky enough to borrow a beautiful cottage big enough for all of us to stay in, right on the beach.
Whatsapp Revived Our Relationship
The 4 of us met on the first day of sixth form at Pate's Grammar School in 1986. We clicked immediately and became inseparable. During lessons we constantly wrote notes to each other and when the odd wiley teacher would intercept and read them, we devised a way of getting round this by passing around an innocent school exercise book we called The Blue Book, shortened to just 'Bloob'. We also had a whole code, so that if anything very private did fall into the wrong hands, they wouldn't be able to work out what it said. Over the 2 years of sixth form we got through a few Bloobs, and they contained every detail of our lives, woes and loves and lots of silly stuff, sometimes even actual food such as a splodge of brie (pretty oily and smelly!) or a slice of satsuma.
Anyway over the years, time and distance came between us. We went off to various places and had seperate lives. Karen moved to Hong Kong. Gaby relocated to Devon, Libbi to London and then Surrey, and me to London and then back to Cheltenham. We never lost touch, but speaking, meeting and writing to each became pretty irregular.
People often point out the negatives of social media and technology and yes there are many, however Whatsapp truly revived our relationship with our online 'Bloob'. There is not a day that goes by that the four of us don't write messages to each other. We are all parents with responsibilities, but having the ability to share problems and emotions but mostly just nonsense and hilarity, we are able to experience the fun we had when we were 17 and 18 all over again.
After being seperated from Karen for twenty years we are again reunited and quality time together is back on! Thirty year old relationships are pretty wonderful!
I hope we can take a photo like this every few years now.
Spoilt Generation
As the parent of a soon to be teenager, I'm reading a few books to help be better equipped to cope! I've read 'Get Out of My Life, But First Take Me and Alex Into Town', which has been quite reassuring to know that some behaviour is not unusual. Now I have moved onto 'The Spoilt Generation' and hope that too helps me deal with some challenges. The battle of wills is in full flow.
We are are part of a 'blended' family and working through the extra teething problems that brings. My partner prefers less internet for kids and more activity, and he's totally right, but I'm too soft on my son so it leads to a lot of 'good cop, bad cop' scenarios which are not fair on anyone concerned.
We are all committed to make more effort, to learn to compromise where necessary. It's time for me to absorb lots of well-researched advice from expert authors (as well as my Bloobs!) and put it into practise. If you have views on this subject and would like to discuss online, you're welcome to join my Facebook group ' iwork4u lifestyle & wellbeing group ' and have your say.
So, my overview below comes with an appropriate caveat that a) it’s more focused on GDPR for employers and b) be warned that of course it’s not a substitute for seeking specialist legal advice.
Right; let’s start at the beginning. GDPR stands for the General Data Protection Regulation. If you’ve not yet heard of it then you have either been going about your day with your head in the sand, or somewhere else… anyway, long story short is that it replaces the current Data Protection Act (DPA) and it’s a BIG deal. It’s EU law that will come into force automatically on 25 May 2018 and when we leave the EU, it will be incorporated into UK law, supplemented by the Data Protection Bill which will be published by the Government. It applies to all personal data, so if any data identifies a living person, that data will be governed by the GDPR. This could be someone’s name or email address, their bank details or their medical records.
When can you process personal data?
Having an employee’s consent is unlikely to be an adequate legal basis for processing their data. One of the reasons employers can use is for the ‘proper performance of a contract’. For example, processing personal data is often essential for an employment contract, (to pay their salary). In most cases, this will be sufficient. Other reasons are:
As an employer, you will need to consider what information you collect for employees, job applicants (successful and unsuccessful) and contractors (if applicable). How you collect it, where’s it kept, how long you retain it for – and then how you delete this data after the retention period.
Therefore, one of the first things you’ll need to do is conduct a HR personal data audit, determining the legal grounds for processing each category of employee personal data. If you process special categories of personal data or criminal records data, then you’ll need to do the same exercise for this data.
Then review your privacy notice and update in line with the GDPR:
Here's an example of a privacy notice – what do you think of it? What about the boxes at the bottom, would they comply with GDPR? The answer is NO, they wouldn’t! They’re opt out, and remember that under the GDPR you can only use opt-in.
A nut roast is of course the default for a vegan or vegetarian Christmas dinner. Does it really have to be that somewhat dried up slab of something like softened chip board? No, of course it doesn’t. This set of Christmas dinner suggestions are bursting with colour, vibrancy, protein and nutritional punch. At the same time, you will not be asking for seconds, I guarantee it. Neither will you be reaching for the mince pies by the time the Queen has said her Christmas day piece. You will be, to be frank, stuffed!
So, there’s a few ingredients in here you probably won’t have in stock everyday, but hey it’s Christmas right?
To serve 4-6 people
For the nut loaf:
Method
1. Cook the red lentils in plenty of boiling water for 15 minutes until soft, drain with a mesh sieve.
2. Heat the reserved oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a sauté pan and cook the onions for 5 minutes until they just brown. Add all the other ingredients except the dried herbs and spices and stir well to combine. Add the dried herbs, spices and salt and pepper.
3. Line a large loaf tin (approximately20cm x 10cm) with baking paper. Spoon the mixture into the tin and spread evenly with the back of a fork. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees, gas mark 4 for around 55 minutes. Test by inserting sharp knife or skewer, which should come out clean when the loaf is cooked. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before turning the loaf out and slicing.
Loaf topping:
This can be prepared in advance, reheated and added to the top of the loaf after baking.
Method
1. Pop the sweet potato in the oven with the nut roast and bake for 30-35 minutes in its skin until soft.
2. Sauté the mushrooms in a cooking oil of your choice for around 5 minutes until they brown, turn of the heat and toss in the spinach until it wilts staring together with the mushrooms at the same time. Scape the cooked potato into the pan, mashing with the spatula as you go. Add the lemon juice, black pepper and nutmeg and stir to combine. Spread the mixture in a thick layer onto the nut loaf and decorate with the cranberries, walnuts pomegranate and half the roughly chopped parsley.
3. Arrange the topped nut loaf on a warmed serving platter and surround with roasted vegetables (carrots, parsnips, squashes, potatoes, celeriac, swede even a few cherry tomatoes etc.) and your winter greens – broccoli, purple sprout tops, sprouts, black kale (cavalo nero), fine green beans etc. and serve with a jug of rich onion and red wine gravy. Toss the remains parsley over the vegetables.
Bon appetit!