Category: Events

Steady Progress – a lifetime of learning

Published on by Seema Rampersad4 Comments

This month I am coming to you LIVE from my homeland of Trinidad and Tobago, the twin islands in the Caribbean.  I don’t visit home very often so I will definitely indulge myself here and share some photos of the country with you.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I am here for my 30th School Anniversary Reunion and a holiday.  Therefore, I have been thinking of my schooling and education in general.  I was fortunate to have my nursery school closeby and my first primary school, Esperanza Presbyterian School, only two houses away from my home.  The motto of this primary school is ‘Knowledge is Power’, and still is today. I was an average achieving child and the teaching focus was on Mathematics. It was fun to go home during breaks, lunchtime and even to use our own toilet.  I remember putting on my mother’s lipstick sometimes in breaks, and doing the privileged things you would do if you live two houses away from your primary school.  I quite liked the school and have fab memories of playing in the school yard at weekends and during the holidays with other children in my neighbourhood.

 

 

My first primary school – Knowledge is Power motto
Presbyterian Church built after I left home

At the age of seven, I changed schools to attend a private school called Sevilla School for the employees of the now defunct sugar producing company Caroni (1975) Limited. I initially had some difficulty adjusting to the new teaching styles, and a curriculum that was focussed on literacy more so than mathematics. Reading out loud in front of classmates was a dread for me, but my Grade Three teacher, Mrs Lalla, recognized that I needed some extra help.  To assist me with my literacy, she allowed me to take home a book from the school library in the head teacher’s office (Mrs L. L. Mike) to read at home with my mother.  It was not all scary as my forte at that time was in mathematics, learnt at my previous school, and I distinctly remembered getting the equations finished and correct before all my classmates in that grade.  I even received an award, which was the book of the story of Heidi, in my first year in this new school for mathematics at the end of year prize giving ceremony.

The next three years at primary school I eventually caught up in my literacy levels. So much so that I received a prize for ‘Steady Progress’ in my last year, which was a book of Girl Stories which I still have.  My sister on the other hand, had adjusted very quickly to her new school and was very academically inclined.  She won prizes every year in our new school including three prizes one year for Mathematics, Good Citizenship and Perfect Attendance.  There is a Caroni (1975) Limited corporate news article on her in a family album, and I am very proud of her even today.

 

Prize for Year End in Grade Six Sevilla School
Steady Progress

My next school was Holy Faith Convent, Couva – a secondary school for girls that has been one of the top performing schools in Trinidad.  I had seven happy and memorable years growing up and learning at this school.  Recently, our 30th anniversary school reunion was suggested and organized after most of the school mates joined a Facebook Group.  A few hardworking, committed and kind schoolmates volunteered to help plan and organize our reunion with meetings internationally via Skype, What’s App, email etc. I personally want to thank the main organisers for a terrific weekend for re-connecting with our ‘sisters’, as we fondly like to call ourselves.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

There are so many wonderful, innocent, brilliant and funny memories we shared at school that it was no surprise that when we all met again after 30 years a couple of weeks ago – we chatted non-stop, and carried on like we haven’t been apart for decades. Some of us have kept in touch over the years, others have fallen off the radar, and three schoolmates sadly have died.  Regardless of time, we share memories and an understanding of a special formative time in our development. Our school song was excellent for transporting us back to those days and reinforcing us with the kind ethos of the school.  Attending an event like this gives you a perspective on where you came from, the journey you made and the road ahead. I was proud to see the girls, now women, and hear about our struggles, the challenges and achievements.  It makes you realise the importance of roots, genuine friends and that basic right…a good education. Learning never really stops.

Thirty years ago our Graduation theme was a ‘Time to Remember’ (my chosen suggestion as it was a song title by Billy Joel).  Our valedictorian then and now is the Honourable Judge Marlene Smith.  Marlene reminded us of her speech and linked it back to us 30 years on to the present with her recital and understanding of T. S. Eliot’s ‘The Four Quartets’ – it all seemed to make sense with time. We are very proud of Marlene and she also came from my village in Trinidad.

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.

…T.S. Eliot

We also had thoughts on the current way of the world, gratitude for and anecdotes on our teachers, the nuns in the school convent, praise and even some heckling for our fellow schoolmates.  There was excellent food, drinks, steel pan band, DJ, photographer, songs by students and teachers, and dancing until 2am. The venue was on the East coast of Trinidad and was great for relaxing as well as seeing each other over two days. It was utter fun and I am so glad I came to Trinidad for the reunion – do watch out as we are planning a school reunion in London and Paris in 2021.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On the Sunday morning after our reunion, one of my schoolmates offered to lead us on a hike in a nearby rain forest near Salybia. It was an offer I could not refuse as I was looking for something exactly like that for my children to experience.  Akeeta Ali, our hike leader, was amazing and clear at giving us instructions from the onset, pointing out risks, tips and the promise of the beautiful Waterfall at the end of the trail. The trail was wild, muddy, wet, humid and you certainly had to watch your step and hold tight at most times – frequently using the roots of ginormous trees to pull you up or their root groves for support.  The sound of the rivers, birds, animals, fishes and the wind were also spectacular.

Like with most things in life – some of the novice hikers went at a slower pace while the more confident and experienced ones went ahead.  Certainly there was teamwork and camaraderie as we formed groups, and it was good to see the novices take the lead at times within the group.  All in all – I loved every moment of it and the experience was worth it for the beautiful waterfall at the end. We then had to make our way back with the whole exercise lasting about three hours. This is a great exercise for team building and I am pleased I had experienced this type of nature exploration as a child growing up in Trinidad.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I am still on holiday in Trinidad and Tobago and there is no place like home!  A place where you have nothing to prove to anyone – you can just be yourself.  I love coming home to Trinidad and Tobago for this reason and it is very nice to spend time with family and friends you haven’t seen for a long time.  The country is also in constant development and it is amazing to see new roads, buildings, shopping malls, foods, musical styles, and reacquaint oneself with the familiar.  It isn’t always a perfect paradise here – there are high levels of crimes for a small island and litter annoys me as much as it does in London – but hopefully this can be changed with some extra pride and public awareness campaigns.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As I literally switch off here, most of the year we are busy with work and our own busy interests – but being on holiday is a dedicated period when we can enjoy going at a slower pace, take it easy and to simply relax. My holiday in Trinidad & Tobago is certainly a time for me to rest, before I get ready, steady and get going again in this wild world.

Magnificent Summer Art: roots to blossoms

Published on by Seema RampersadLeave a comment

The summer days are here and I have been looking forward to June with much anticipation. The reason for this excitement is the biennial E17 Art Trail 2017, which ran this month with a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) theme. In cold January, some of my neighbours and I met in the pub to discuss how were going to participate in the art trail.  After a brainstorming session, we agreed that we would try to begin the process of creating a community garden in a public space that was a little nondescript, and in need of some attention.  Our title art trail submission from this garden was ‘Tree of Life’ which worked with the existing trees already in the green space, and to highlight the environmental benefits of this little oasis on the corner of a residential area and busy high street.

Earth, Wind and Fire

Sun, Rain

Wind, Snow

Hail, Sleet,

Chaos, Calm

Energy, Light

Day, Night

Earth, Sky

Stars, Moon

Out and Open to the Elements

Our Tree of Life.

by Seema.

Fast forward a few months to June and we have now created a community garden with some community funded that was kindly suggested by our local councilor Cllr Saima Mahmoud. We also found out from Cllr Saima that for the long term, we can nominate the space for a council run project call ‘Making Places’. We most certainly will be looking to develop this place further.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In the last few months, I have relished the art elements of helping to create the garden and sourcing STEAM items, such as solar lights, wind chimes, bird nests, paints and other items to showcase the trees. We also got dirty in the process of tidying and clearing the area one weekend, and planted the garden borders another weekend.  Without a doubt – I loved coordinating and decorating the terracotta pots that were distributed to 20 residents too decorate, and then plant them with an outdoor plant.  It was even more pleasurable to get them delivered to my home one by one – it was a privilege to hold them if only temporary in my own garden before the official launch of the E17 Art Trail on 3rd June.

Bob, a local resident, also came up with a brilliant idea to create cogs with the help of the local wood turners, Nichols Brothers, to the STEAM theme.  The cogs were a hit with the garden visitors, and I frequently saw children playing with them as I went past.  I also liked that it reflected the cycle of the life of a tree.  Since then I have paid attention to many by-products from trees – paper, furniture, buildings etc.  I was even inspired to buy a wooden bracelet from a shop off Walthamstow Market that only sold wooden products.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We placed STEAM themed poems on one of the trees to add interest to the garden especially as we are officially known as Poet’s Corner E17. We have already showcased poems and stories a few years ago, and coincidently when I was researching this idea, I saw the Royal Botanical Garden in Scotland also had poems on their trees.  John Hudson, a poet with local connections, had one of his poems displayed in their tree…and ours of course! I was also motivated to write some brief poems (some on here, be kind to me!) as they were tweeted during the art trail.

Tree of Life

Give me a…

T – Towering

R – Rejuvenating

E – Energising

E – Elasticity

o – Oxygen

f – Fibrous

L – Living

I – Indigenous

F – Fruitful

E – Evergreen (sometimes)

Tree of Life.

by Seema.

We also wanted to encourage wildlife, and so we sourced two bird nests for one of the trees. I had the pleasure of painting them with my son.  I made a point of tagging on to 1000 Swifts project to raise awareness of Walthamstow Wetlands (one of the largest urban wetlands in Europe), and Swifts as part of the E17 Art Trail. There were literally fabulous artistic Swifts all over Walthamstow that were displayed everywhere locally!  The magic and serendipity was also apparent on social media with RSPB sharing facts and figures about the importance and habits of this extraordinary bird.  Swifts migrate all the way from Africa to Europe each year, and can fly without stopping for days and months.  They became a metaphor to me – the Swifts in flight were like music to my ears…floating and gliding on their merry way, and so I was inspired to include them in the garden.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We collaborated with another art trail project called the Bird Box Stories (@birdboxstories). There were several artistically decorated Bird Boxes that were distributed around Walthamstow, and in them they contained a notebook and pens for you to continue the collaborative story. You can also draw a little picture if you preferred.  It was a lovely to continue the story written by someone else whilst sitting and taking in the garden view in the sunshine. Some writers used the Bird Box notebook to give us positive feedback on the garden too!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The garden will continue hopefully in the long term as we are going to nominate it in the borough’s Making Places project as mentioned above. Hopefully it will develop into a proper place for the local community, residents and passer-bys near a busy main street with phenomenal amount of regeneration in the area. We really could not leave this spot neglected for much longer.  In our ‘Welcome Hour’ for the opening weekend of the garden, and frequently during the art trail – we had positive feedback from local residents, businesses, strangers and passer-bys on how some simple low-budget items, and plants had transformed the public green space and made it into a ‘place’.  I saw people reading, chatting, reading poems, admiring the space and generally appreciative of what we as residents and volunteers have completed.  It feels very worthwhile!

In the performance art side, we also held a puppet show ‘Vikings and Valkyries’ by E17 Puppets on the road at our new street gallery. The performance was brilliant, funny, interactive and very engaging for children and adults.  Our main concern was that it did not rain on the beautifully handcrafted puppets.  This area of our neighbourhood was recently pedestrianized and it a much more pleasant area than the rat-run it used to be.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In the neighbourhood, we certainly had some serious fun with our 6th annual street party with the New York Block party inspired theme.  We had a live funk brass band called ‘The Cracked’, salsa instruction and dancing, serious grooves with our resident DJs and fun activities on one of the hottest summer days of the year. See more photos on our blog here.  Hopefully 40 years in the future…the children will remember these fun times as I remember growing up similarly in Trinidad.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I also attended a fab concert a St Mary’s Church in the neighbourhood to see Senegalese Kora player, Seckou Keita, who is one of the best Kora players. The instrument is beautiful (partly made out of a Calabash tree fruit) and made mesmerising music. Seckou Keita was great at telling stories whilst playing the Kora and getting us to sing back, such as in a ‘call and respond’ gospel style.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I was so pleased that I was able to see this concert as part of a new initiative call the St Mary’s Art Collective.  The same church also had displays for the art trail which included fab women in STEM by the artist Emma Scutt, a Caribbean Windrush installation and other pieces by young artists.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was funny that week as I went to churches three times for art trailing and social reasons! I also went into Westminster Abbey for a work-related Summer Reception and was impressed with the 1200s era mural, Poets Corner, stained glass windows and other interesting features of the abbey.  It was the first time I went inside the abbey after remembering Prince Andrew’s and Sarah Ferguson’s wedding televised live to Trinidad, as well as other televised state occasions since then.  I also visited St Saviour’s Church in Walthamstow to see Veronique’s, my friend, art trail display.  I even bought one of her pieces and she was raising funds for a local charity she supports called Carefree Kids.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Special thanks to all the neighbours who helped create the community garden and also for the E17 Art Trail team for giving us the opportunity to create art in a place where we live for the whole community and guests.  There is always something creative going on in my neighbourhood, where I work and sometimes at home. So I may seem relentless on social media, as some of you have mentioned to me.  I can only explain that there is some special energy where I am, or it is just me being me.

If you want to see my neighbourhood’s art heritage, the ‘Be Magnificent’ exhibition on the art school influence of Walthamstow School of Art 1957-1967 is currently on at William Morris Gallery. This really is a motivation place to get your creative sparks, heat and inspiration.  Like our ‘Tree of Life’ small community garden in its’ natural living form, and with future plans for development of the place – the roots are there with hope and aspiration for its’ future, and I have an inkling feeling that out of this small art project, the best is yet to come!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Information Superhighway: access all areas

Published on by Seema Rampersad1 Comment

The Information Superhighway was a term used when I started working in the information industry in the early 1990’s. There are also a few books published on the topic at the time and my manager ordered some for our collection in the library where I worked. Recently I was reminiscing with my ex-colleague, Lina Kouzi, about this and we discussed how revolutionary it was at the time. That was about 24 years ago…before “everyone” used the web. I had already attended lectures at university on the “information society” vision that was a precursor to the information superhighway or cyberspace, as we now know it. All of this is history, but there are two aspects of the information and library world that will remain relevant even now: (1) Some people can use web-based sources very easily for their information needs, cruise at their leisure and/or accelerate in the fast lane for such things as the deep web and e-commerce. But (2) there are also parts of society and the developing world that do not have access to this road – much less so to a superhighway. These access barriers get forgotten sometimes.

Librarians and information professionals are always keen to help users to access content regardless of format, and to provide content that is relevant, correct, critically analysed within research frameworks and standards in various fields of interest.

This month, it was such a pleasure to volunteer to represent SLA Europe in Dublin for the inaugural Information Professional Career Expo at the Dublin Business School in Ireland. I was keen to meet professionals and new graduates in the Irish Information Community and to make time to see my ex-colleague and friend Lina at the National Council for the Blind in Ireland (NCBI). I flew into Dublin City Airport early in the morning and Lina took me straight to her office at the NCBI. I have kept track of Lina’s amazing work over the years and I find the library and media services she provides to the blind and partially sighted to users across Ireland awesome and inspiring! There are many features about their services that are unique and tailored for their users, such as a collection of braille resources and various media output in audio recordings of news, magazines (journals), books, etc. Lina showed we around the purpose built office in the Dublin suburbs with traditional library storage, but also with BBC standard built recording studios and booths. It was also very nice to be introduced to her colleagues, and I made sure I told them how amazing their work is to their users.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Lina is also working with the local residents in a deprived community on a programme for up-skilling and training with recording items from the collection to be sent to users. I also saw the postal bags for materials that are sent out across Ireland free of postage charges, and with easy postal bags for users who may find it challenging to return items to the library. Some of her users have access to content on memory USB sticks, which are then returned in these postal bags (see photo). Library users have machines and devices for playing the audio materials that they receive from the NCBI. Obviously, there are younger users who may have smarter technology but some of them still use tradition and antiquated machines, as they are familiar with the machines. Lina created an annual report with some amazing facts and figures of their work and the valuable contribution they provide for their users and the positive impact this service has on users’ quality of life.

We both loved catching up and it was non-stop chatting on old and new stories. That is the beauty of being with an old friend – you pick up where you left off! We both quietly recalled and congratulated each other on our careers’ progress and how those early days at Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) were foundations skills and learning in the ‘Books’ and ‘Journals’ sections even in a corporate library – the experience is still relevant to the services we provide today in our current roles in terms of the ‘content’, transferable and business skills that we possess.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After a quick lunch at the Temple Bar district of Dublin, I made a quick dash in the Dublin Taxi to the inaugural Information Professionals Career Expo at the Dublin Business School (DBS). Bursting with energy and excitement after seeing my dear friend, I entered the expo in full swing to a warm welcome to meet Irish SLA Europe members and DBS contacts Siobhan McGuinness, Neasa McHale and Marie O’Neill. I was mainly here to network, exalt the benefits of SLA Europe as a global network of information professionals and to give advice to anyone who wanted to chat at our stall.  I had the pleasure of meeting a few new graduates and gave then a few tips on how they can keep in contact with SLA Europe and what we are up to by our social media channels.  I also spoke on some of the more important CPD and social events we host. I gave tips on job seeking and staying on top of their personal development and seeking emerging new roles as well as traditional ones.

Representing SLA Europe
Lovely Neasa, Siobhan and Emma
Philip from the Library Association of Ireland
SLA Europe Nibbles and Networking at Information Professional Expo 2017
Nibbles and Drinks.

In the general career mentoring area, I also met Florence Curley from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).  Florence and I (like many other geographical territories) used to communicate to exchange information and assist each other in finding information or leads for our library users.  It was nice to meet someone in person you have never met before – even if it was 10 years ago that I left PwC!

It was also a pleasure to give a short talk at the start of the SLA Europe hosted networking and nibbles, where I was introduced by Philip of the Library Association in Ireland.  Philip set the tone with any introduction that called for information professionals to be excited to “put information in the hands of their users”, but also to “fight the good fight” with all the changes in the industry. I had prepared for a light-hearted talk on my career and what SLA Europe has meant for me and my own professional development, but I went on to mention thoughts that was hopefully motivational, encouraging and praiseworthy. I also urged the room to be prepared for the fight that we face as information professionals.  There are various roles, industries, subjects and creative cultural aspects of our valuable contribution – and I made sure that point was not missed.  Siobhan has written a fab Information Professional Expo event review here.

Info Professional’s Career Expo
Promoting Professional Organisations
Meet people from industry.

It was really nice to meet many of the group attending the nibbles and networking afterwards for a more personal chat on issues and opportunities that they may face. It was a true pleasure to attend these different venues in Dublin with varied user experiences and professional elements, which personally put the library and information industry into clearer perspective on the roads that lie ahead.

My time in Dublin was not all work and I was able to take a nice walk to my hotel, spend the evening listening to live music in my music-themed hotel and go by train to Galway the next morning.  I have visited Ireland before about 15 years ago for St Patrick’s Day, and definitely, it is a fabulous city that is worth a visit.  The countryside on the way to Galway was beautiful and very cliche green with livestock roaming the fields.  It was such a joy to see the animals resting, playing or grazing in the green grass of Ireland.  Galway was really nice as shown in my photos and I hope to visit Ireland again one day to see more of the countryside.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Not only did I spend time speed networking in Dublin, but I also attended the Business Show as part of the Business & IP Centre team at Excel in May.  It is amazing that information is ubiquitious and accessible night and day in the palm of our hands, but people still want face to face information or pointers for those hard-to-find information needs.  Even if it is to reassure them what they already know.  I assisted with about 15 speed mentoring sessions for the London Growth Hub at the Business Show and most speed mentees wanted information that was practical or confirmation of where they can go to find out what they were looking for. The Information Superhighway may be all well and good but there is still a need for information professionals to provide that face-to-face conversation or provide answers that some people still need…and they may prefer to communicate in person. We still do this everyday in the library where I work.

Fake News and digital literacy are other issues that have come to the forefront in the last year.  This had probably been exasperated by social media and mainstream news being manipulated by the powerful.  This is not a new issue and I have been interesting in the topic for a while but not overly passionate about it.  There is a fabulous article in Information Today May 2017 entitled ‘What’s behind fake news and What you can do about it‘ by Kate Dempsey – which gives some fabulous insight into the role of information professionals and librarians in fact-checking and preventing the spread of misinformation. Tracey end by stating “It is vital to prove your continued value, and this is a timely, powerful way to do it. It’s one thing to repeat the old trope ‘People need libraries now more than ever,’ and that is another thing to get out there to prove it”.

It is vital to prove your continued value, and this is a timely, powerful way to do it. It’s one thing to repeat the old trope ‘People need libraries now more than ever,’ and that is another thing to get out there to prove it” – Information Today, May 2017, ‘What’s behind fake news and What you can do about it‘ by Kate Dempsey.

As with all content, we eventually will manage archives for future scrutiny, analysis and fact-checking. We are here to provide accurate, impartial and unbias information for independent research and for the empowerment of our users. This is not always easy, appreciated or even possible, but we professional won’t have it any other way!  It is our standards. So if you get away with half-truths or disinformation – we will eventually catch up with you in time!  I remember telling the attendees at the networking event in Dublin that I would have changed my career by now if I didn’t like being an information professional. I haven’t always had the “luck of the Irish” in my career…but I do feel lucky to do what I do.  Information works for me.

18582419_10212742283542145_7040794935090751454_n
Emerald – Ireland from the airplane.

Fashion Conscious

Published on by Seema Rampersad8 Comments

I am not an expert, queen or slave to fashion but like most people, I have a keen interest in fashion throughout the ages. Growing up with lots of women and female cousins around me meant that we would chat, admire and pass on hand-me-downs items of clothing. I think that was such a lovely and memorable part of growing up. Again, I repeat that I come from a little island in the Caribbean but we were still in step with fashion trends. Matriarchs in my family have some fabulous photos of classic late 1950’s and 1960’s fashion, and some of these would look just as on trend today! There are two points that I like about this – the sustainability of sharing unwanted clothes with close ones, and the important creative inspiration that fashion archives are for new creations and innovations.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It is so easy to find historic fashion on the web in various fashion archives. I follow Europeana on Twitter @Eurofashion, and I’m warning you that they frequently share real treasure designs and photos that will give you fashion flashbacks! The special thing about fashion is that it can still seem very fresh in the right context and setting. I am lucky because as I work at the British Library…and we have access to archived fashion books, magazines (Vogue archive) and even dress patterns.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I have also met many start-up businesses that are using the current research resources to plan and grow their businesses from designing and selling fashion from childrenswear, women’s plus sizes, womenswear and menswear, lingerie, shoes, handbags etc. The fashion opportunities are endless. I have also blogged about fashion along these same lines here in this link in ‘Fashion has nowhere to go but in Circles’ on the Business & IP Centre’s blog.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

IMG_1308 (1)
Jumpsuit

Customised and seamstress dressmaking was a great aspect of growing up in 1970’s and 1980’s Trinidad. We had fashion shops, markets and shopping malls but it was still special when we would go with our specific designs to seamstresses for these designs to be made uniquely in the fabric, colour and made-to-measure for ourselves. Before the internet, we would get fashion and design ideas from television, film, music videos and American shopping catalogues too – such as JC Penny. I remember a few seamstresses that used their dressmaking skills as a livelihood and business to support their families. Presently, some of my friends are keen dressmakers at home for their own consumption, and have been creating fashion pieces in their spare time to their preferred tastes, which I think is amazing!

One of my favourite customised outfits I remember, and have a photo of, was my first jumpsuit! I was about 7 years old and my lovely grown up neighbour, Radica, took me with her to San Fernando (a city in Southern Trinidad) to get it made. I remember the cotton denim look and the little red berries pattern on the fabric. I loved it! Jumpsuits were initially a world fashion trend in the 1970s (possibly older). However even then, I remember that it was awkward to go to the lavatory in a jumpsuit. Fast forward to the present – and the jumpsuit is back as seen in these Pinterest curated photos. And I am still trying to perfect the art of using a jumpsuit at parties and festivals.

IMG_1307 (1)
Jumpsuit for a boat party – Summer 2016.

Continue reading “Fashion Conscious” →

Pizza – a renaissance on the high street

Published on by Seema Rampersad1 Comment

There is an on-going pizza revolution in my part of the woods. Pizzerias have become ubiquitous with old and new pizza companies on the market. One of our favourite fast foods seem to be going through a renaissance right now with many independent shops on the high streets. This is not hard to believe as you may ask who doesn’t like pizza? No doubt about – it is popular on most of the planet!

I have always liked pizza even when I lived in Trinidad. We had our own pizza companies such as Mario’s Pizza, Pizza Boys and the familiar global brand Pizza Hut. Going out for pizzas was always something to look forward to when I went to the malls with my friend. I remember also trying to make pizza with roti (Indian flatbread) dough as a teenager. On a memorable school trip to Venezuela, we went to a Pizzeria where our tour guide suggested the ‘house special’. It was a delicious pizza with my first taste of one with anchovies and copious amount of other toppings as compared to those I had known in Trinidad at the time. I also remember a very amorous Venezuelan couple in the restaurant who had us giggling throughout the meal.  I have had my share of pineapple and ham pizzas too, and recently heard that the President of Iceland had to clarify his position on these toppings after a social media storm as mentioned in this Guardian article.

10426852_10204229404165481_6720400936209253549_n
Pizza in a Restaurant in Caserta, Italy.

Fast Forward to London where I have sampled British high street pizzas, and various other independent ones along my way. My husband is Italian and obviously my relatives make fabulous homemade pizzas. My brother-in-law also has an outdoor pizza oven at home and a pop-up pizza business as a ‘hobby’. Our friends own one of the first pizzeria’s in Bedford where they are made in wood-fried ovens, which adds some authenticity to the flavour.

Being married to an Italian, I began to hear and understand the origins of pizza in Italy. Here is a fabulous link on the history of pizza, and it explains the many innovations over the centuries from plain focaccia-like breads to the current form of pizza as we know it. Pizza Margarita was the favourite baked by Raffaele Esposito for Queen Margarita of Savoy as it evoked the colours of the Italian flag – which is topped with seasoned fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil. Buffalo mozzarella is originally from the Campania region of Italy and is the best you will taste anywhere in the world! The buffalo mozzarella is so good…it is served whole as a delicacy, and even the local Italians enjoy and savour it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Over the years, I try to make unfussy pizza at home which is simply made with fresh ingredients. I usually plan in advance to get fresh yeast from the supermarket bakery counter. I don’t have a wood-fired oven, but my pizzas are good and usually get positive feedback from family and friends who have tried it. Steady on though…I am not sure I am ready for large-scale pizza making! So I have no ambitions to open my own pizzeria.

13886447_10209955593356632_4287653539853754933_n
One of my pizzas.

There are pop-ups, restaurants and take-away pizzerias all over the world. The market for pizza is thriving, and there are so many ways that it can become a viable business.  I found that there are several market research reports on this, where in the UK alone – sales for pizza has revenues of £2.7Billion and there was a predictive 9.5% growth in dining-in restaurants. According to Mintel Research figures for 2016, the long term forecasts expects the industry to grow by 34% from 2016 to 2021. It is no wonder that it seems to be one of the most popular types of businesses in the food market,  and in our high streets. This insight from one of Mintel’s analysts states…

“Digital innovation and authentic dishes made from simple and fresh ingredients are transforming pizza and pasta into a destination business, helped by the expansive store presence of leading players. Independent players may be hit by competition from the swelling multitude of new entrants and deli-and-dining formats that are driving more customers into store.” – Trish Caddy, Foodservice Analyst. Mintel.

 

My teenage son’s pizza learnt at school.
One of my own pizzas.
Stuffed Crust in Italy.

In the last four years, there has been regeneration of the high street in my neighbourhood, which also introduced some new independent Pizzeria players such as:

Nuovo Mondragone – a local independent Italian restaurant who make fabulous pizzas and also great calzones. Their main restaurant is situated in the scenic village area of Walthamstow.

Sodo Pizza Café – a London independent pizza chain who took over the building previously used for a local café (where I used to go dancing sometimes!). The pizzas are good, and I particularly like their use of social media to remind us that they have specials on during throughout the week.

Peppe’s Pop-up – Peppe has been the longest running pizzeria on our high road situated outside the local community CAMRA award winning Rose and Crown Pub. Their pizzas are amazing, and Peppe’s pizza spinning is mindboggling.

Yard Sale Pizza – And the newest pizzeria on the block is this chain in London. I haven’t had time to try it as yet but going by tweets in the neighbourhood…the pizzas look amazing and everyone is excited!

Calzone with Proscuito and Rocket Salad, Italy.

One of my best experiences of pizza dining was at the Pizza Express Jazz Club last year. It was first opened in 1969 by company founder Peter Boizot, and is still grooving strong today. As you would expect, some new and exceptional artists and musicians have played there over the years. I went to see a Motown special (yes I hear you, I know that it was not traditional Jazz!) which was upbeat and fun. The dining is intimate and cosy with dimmed lights, and the ambience as good as a traditional Jazz club.  The added bonus is that they do pizza (which I didn’t have) and the service excellent too. It might be an ideal setting if you are looking for a jazz club experience after the hugely popular film of the moment…La La Land.

Motown Tribute Band.
Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho.
Sorry…not pizza but Risotto.
Jazz Memorabilia.

I am not the only one excited about pizzas. Earlier this month, National Pizza Day was celebrated highlighting all the new independent restaurants in town, and there is also National Pizza Month celebrated all throughout the month in October in the USA. The pizza vending machine also exists! Seriously, everyone has personal pizza favourites and it really is food fit for us all to enjoy. Pizza sells itself. It will always be around for hundreds of years to come…I hope.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Beat the January Blues – starting the year with a Bang!

Published on by Seema Rampersad1 Comment
robert-burns
Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear

For auld lang syne

We’ll tale a cop o’ kindness yer

For auld lang syne

Auld Lyne Ayne by Robert Burns.

 

It has been a few weeks since we sang those words by the Scottish poet Robert Burns, but it is an appropriate reminder for how we want to carry on in the New Year. Christmas and the festive cheer are finally over but its’ excess can make us feel down and a bit underwhelmed in January. The weather is still cold, but like a lot of us – you may want to get going and set some self-imposed resolutions you want to try. Some of these recur every year and personally I always hope to get fitter, read more, eat less, save more, spend less, be kind, more volunteering, etc. I am not sure about you, but I am still trying to stick to these at the end of January! Stacia Pierce @StaciaPierce, a life coach to women entrepreneurs, is one of my Twitter followers and shared this motivational new year goals picture below and blog post on ‘Focus: the key to reaching our goals’. I quite like it as a visual reminder.

resolutions
Photo: Stacia Pierce’s Blog

However in January, there are still a few celebrations that are great for beating the well-known ‘January Blues’ that I am going to mention on here. Firstly in my neighbourhood, we had our second all-day soul disco party around my corner on new years day! It is a great way to start the new year in a local family friendly environment. I popped in the last two years for a boogie, and it was so nice to see people in the community dancing away the beginning of a new year. This is usually arrange by local deejays and community organisers in the Walthamstow Trades Hall.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Next, I started celebrating Epiphany after over a decade ago when my French friend, Veronique, introduced us to La Fetes Des Rois with the cake Gallette Des Rois (King’s Cake). It is a national celebration in France and some continental European countries have a public holiday on the 6th January for Epiphany. It is a delicious cake and represents the arrival of the Three Wise Men who brought presents for baby Jesus on the 12th Day of Christmas.  The Gallete Des Rois is a fairly simple cake to make and you can find the recipe easily on the web. The best tradition of the cake is sharing it with close ones over a cup of tea or coffee. We play a fun game of getting the youngest child go under the table to randomly choose who should get the next slice of the cake. This is good fun as (1) it normally holds a token of good luck for the year ahead, and (2) you get to wear a crown for that day. It is a sweet tradition, and I am so grateful for my friend for introducing it to my family and I. It is not dissimilar to ‘Twelfth Day‘ which is another tradition that used to be practiced in the United Kingdom with coins in puddings.

This year, I made my first Gallette Des Rois to celebrate at home with Veronique. It will probably be a tradition I will continue after celebrating it for more than a decade. If you would like to try the Gallette Des Rois – you can order the gallette in advance from the French Patisserie Paul. I also saw this month that there are a few restaurants in London that were celebrating it – so you can give this feast a try next year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another January celebration that I now look forward to is Burns Night, which is held in honour of the Scottish Poet Robert Burns on or around the 25th January. Robert Burns is Scotland’s most revered and famous poet – he is the same poet of ‘Auld Lyne’s Ayne’ as mentioned above. In the year 2001, I had my first experienced of a magnificent Burns Night party at the Waldrof Hotel. The venue was stunning with a live Ceilidh Band for some ‘Highland Fling’ dancing. Some of the men were dressed in Kilts and it will remain a memorable and fun experience for my colleagues and I at the time. Coincidently, on New Years Day this year, we stumbled upon the Winter Festival at the Southbank Centre with the Ceilidh Liberation Front band and dancing en masse in the foyer (see main header photo).

More recently, my Scottish friends invite us over for Burns Night and usually make the national dish – Haggis, mashed swede, mashed potatoes and cranachan with some of their own lovely traditions. Haggis tastes like spicy mince and it deservedly gets all the attention on this auspicious night! Robert Burns wrote many literary greats including his ‘Address to a Haggis’,  whereby the haggis usually is brought into the room by the chief, lead by a piper followed by toasts, poems and song, ending in the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

If you would like to celebrate this next year at home – Delia Smith has some tips on her website, and you can buy haggis from some supermarkets. There were also a few Burns Night celebrations in London, such as at Kerb Street Market. There is no excuse for you to join in the Scottish fun!

Haggis, Swede and Mash Potatoes.
Cranachan
Haggis.
Scottish Football Fans at King’s Cross Station.
Scotsman in Kilts.

Burns Night is also a night when you can get in the spirit to partake of a “wee dram” of Whisky – the great Scottish export reliant and successful in international trade. The Scotch whisky industry has a “reputation as a global powerhouse, accounting for the largest volume of exports in the Scottish Manufacturing sector”. The current revenue is £5.1 Billion with 151 businesses whereby the spirits industry expects to grow by 2% in the current year as the depreciating pound lifts exports, according to the report ‘Spirits Production in the UK’ 2016 by IBIS World. Let’s toast to that!

Whisky – the great Scottish export reliant and successful in international trade. The Scotch whisky industry has a “reputation as a global powerhouse, accounting for the largest volume of exports in the Scottish Manufacturing sector”. Spirits Production in the UK – IBIS World 2016.

And my final January celebration is the annual Winter Warmer SLA Europe Quiz. It is a great time to meet friends, guests and fellow information professionals with a lot of fun, food and drink in an informal networking event. An excellent and funny quizmaster called AskTony runs this quiz. The general knowledge questions are hard (some are easy), random and themed with video and music clips – a librarian’s dream. I always come away with learning all those useless facts I didn’t know before! The connections quiz round is the one that make your brain cells frizz with excitement or dread! I have been lucky to be in the winning team for a few years, and win or lose…it is a brilliant night that I can recommend to you for your friends or colleagues.

So, I have had a lot of ‘January’ fun and I seem to be celebrating non-stop this year already. However, it is a time when I also think of serious goals for myself such as those mentioned in my opening paragraph. They are resolutions that I recycle each year and I am forever trying to adhere to them – but honestly it is difficult. Last year I made a resolution to myself to start my own blog. Evidently on here, I am pleased that this is my first full year of blogging. I am grateful for your comments, feedback and positive encouragement. I am happy and will continue to share a bit of my world with you, and together we can keep those ‘blues’ at bay.

This Christmas…Christmas is Love.

Published on by Seema RampersadLeave a comment

It’s December and most of the world is celebrating the festive Christmas season. It truly is a magical time of year and we all will have special memories, whether it be at home, school, work and in our neighbourhoods. There is so much to enjoy, indulge and be thankful, and it is great to have time in the year ideally spent with family and friends.

I grew up in a tropical island in the Caribbean but although we did not have cold snowy weather, it was just as festive and special as in colder countries. We would look forward to choosing or asking for toys that were advertised on Television, in local shops and shopping malls.  My parents actually dedicated a day for looking at the shops downtown in the capital Port-of-Spain. Schools prepared us to sing carols weeks in advance, hosted Christmas parties and performance shows that were high-points both for children and parents. In secondary school, we had a fabulous variety show at Christmas, which was a great opportunity to showcase young talent. I still remember some of the dances by students and it forms our collective memories of a time gone by.

10359918_10205015611780180_8121421033338200622_n
Homely Scene at a Christmas Show – Business Design Centre, Islington.

We had fun and special celebrations with neighbours as children too. We would go from home to home to partake of food and drink until it was too late at night – and then the next evening, we would carry on from where we left off. As teenagers in the 1980s, we also had fabulous trendy disco parties that were very popular at our house. All the teenagers would pull together to organise the Christmas party with the approval of our parents.  It was very trusting of my parents to allow us to host this and my mother would again help with the cooking en masse. Everyone would work towards decorating the back yard with coconut branches for a boogie, and set up of the DJ sound system. It was very exciting. We did this for a number of years with about a hundred people attending by invitation only, and so had hired police security too.  Quiet time spent with family was very special and some of my most treasured memories.

Trinidad is still very much into Christmas traditions religiously, spiritually and culturally. We have a large proportion of the population who are Christians but regardless of religious background –  most of the country celebrates Christmas with home cleaning, decorations, food, drink, music and song. One unique aspect of a ‘Trini Christmas’ is Parang Music.  Originally from Venezuela, it is folk music that was brought to Trinidad by migrants who were primarily of Amerindian, Spanish and African heritage. It is mainly sung in Spanish and I read that it developed from musicians and singers going from door to door and street to streets for ‘fetes’ spreading the Christmas story in song. The villagers would offer food and drink to the serenading Paranderos. This genre of music is truly amazing, upbeat and even better to hear live! I haven’t heard any live Parang since I came to London, but I still like using You Tube to listen to music (you may have noticed!). The Latin fusion beats give the music a rhythm that even though the message and lyrics may be religious – the contagious beats and joy may make you want to move your feet! The music has evolved into what is now called Soca Parang.

singingfrancine
Classic Soca Parang Album ‘Christmas is Love’ by Singing Francine.

One of my favourite Vinyl albums is ‘Christmas is Love’ by Singing Francine which was bought by my father. Apparently the music is still played today as it contains the classics songs ‘Parang Parang’, ‘Hurray Hurrah’ and ‘Ay Ay Maria’. I heard recently in this article that vinyls have superseded downloads in the UK, and this LP would definitely be on my Christmas wish list should I go back to playing records.

Christmas in my neighbourhood in London is buoyant with activity and community spirit. For many years, the annual Lloyd Park Children’s Charity Winter Fayre was a great way to start the Christmas celebrations with Santa’s Grotto, Games, Food, and Children’s activity and market stalls. It was always festive fun but also a good fundraising initiative for local families and the community.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This year in my neighbourhood known as the Poets’ Corner E17 area of Walthamstow, we hosted our first Christmas Market in a newly pedestrainised road layout. The stalls included products such as local honey and wax, graphic designers and artists crafts, charity groups such as La Leche League, and a community table with the funds going to a local charity called Haven House. We also had a programme of local talent such as Irish Dancers, Vestry School of Dance, Greenleaf School Choir and our own eager Poets’ Corner E17 Choir which was accompanied by the Salvation Army Band as shown our blog.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Both of these winter events are not held in churches but they are great examples of market stalls, local businesses and community groups coming together to celebrate the wonder that is Christmas.

Christmas is obviously a time for selling, giving and gifting. On a commercial note, I briefly researched what businesses should expect at this time of year and there are a few prices on Euromonitor’s blog ‘Christmas Shopping Trends 2016’.  This is informative for consumer spending patterns with the top five goods shopped for in order are: (1) Clothing and Footwear (2) Toiletries and Perfume (3) Food and Drink (4) Toys and Games (5) Books.   It is also interesting to know that 86% of those persons surveyed also bought in store, and 76% shopped online. If you use the ‘Click and Collect’ shop services – you know how convenient it can be! It is nice to see there are both business cases for supporting the high street, and online businesses. My neighbourhood is also making a concerted effort to support local businesses with a free courier delivery service and shop local campaign.

Mintel market research ‘Christmas Shopping Habits 2016’ reports that November’s Black Friday, which is a predominantly American shopping day, has had an impact on UK spending and retail patterns in recent years with some shops taking part. Some shops prefer to still focus on the December sales period. Even I bought something on promotion this year for Black Friday as I got 20% of a jacket I had my eyes on.

Manchester Market
Selfridges
Oxford Street
Regents Street
Carnaby Street
E17 Art House, Walthamstow

And Christmas would not be Christmas without food and drink. I love baking at this time of year and there is something so comforting, reassuring and nostalgic about the scent of Christmas. My mother, aunties and neighbours got us into baking as children. We would help with breaking organic eggs (at the time we all had our own chickens) and then taking turns in mixing the cake ingredients. This was before my mother got a food processor which made baking easier but less of a communal fun ritual. There was something special about those cakes – not sure of it was the eggs, sugar or Trinidadian rum! I now do my own baking such as mince pies and Trinidadian Christmas Cake, but there are also Panettone around given by Italian relatives.

One of my Trinidadian Christmas Cakes
Panettone & Port
My Mince Pies
My cake for Poets’ Corner’s Christmas Fair

Christmas dishes are unique to each countries of the world but the English Christmas dishes are probably one of its’ best culinary traditions. I look forward each year to Roast Turkey, Pigs in Blanket (Sausages wrapped in Bacon), Stuffing, Yorkshire Puddings, Vegetables and Gravy with Cranberry Sauce and Bread Sauce (which I am not so keen on). Christmas Crackers are also good fun around the table! I have grown to like Christmas pudding and it is similar to Trinidadian Christmas Cake. I love spending time with family and friends at this time of year like everyone up until the New Year Celebrations. I do miss Trinidad but I hope I can spend Christmas there one day again in the future.

English Christmas Dinner
Christmas Pudding
Background Music Perhaps
Trinidadian Sorrel Drink in Local Shop

There has been so much going on in our troubled world and we are still nowhere near that elusive world peace. But still…Christmas has many and the best peaceful, thoughtful and universal human aspects to it for which we can keep hope. In these reflective lines, I have given you a flavour of my own seasonal experiences. You would have your own to share I am sure. This Christmas, my sincerest wish is for you to have a jolly time, spread the joy and peace of the season. And for the coming new year – sending another wish for a Happy 2017.

 

Creche at Italian Church in Bedford
Wish on Naturally Decorated Winter Tree
Christmas Wishes to You.

Diwali – Celebrating the Festival of Lights

Published on by Seema Rampersad2 Comments

In the United Kingdom, you can see the onset of the changing season with the changes in the environment – colours of leaves on shrubs and trees, falling leaves, perennial shrubs with winter berries, and the drying and withering of the summer blooms and greenery. As those autumnal weather and winds come in October, it signals the end of summer but there are a few celebrations that I like that make me optimistic for the new colder and darker seasons. It is the time of year that I can look forward to celebrating Diwali at home, in my small way.

Diwali may be spelt in English differently as Divali or Deepawali, but in essence it is the Festival of Lights that has been celebrated in India for thousand of years. As a child in Trinidad, Diwali was one of the highlights of the year and usually occurs in late October or early November. It is one of Indian Hindu traditional festivals that is still practised to this day in Trinidad by East Indian migrants.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, there was a slow build up to Diwali by local community groups, businesses and other official celebrations in temples and fairs. In our village, the villagers used to plan weeks in advance to cut bamboo rods from local forests. The giant bamboo rods were split for their natural groves, which were then used to rest and decorated lit deeyas (clay pots). The bamboos were cut and shaped in various artistic ways, and in arches that ran along the streets. The deeyas were light with oil and cotton wicks, then set alight at approximately 18:00 hours when the sun was setting at this time of year. It is also believed that the Goddess Lakshmi enters homes at that time with her light.

ravi_varma-lakshmi
Goddess Lakshmi

Diwali is allegedly a traditional held on one of the “darkest night of the year”. Growing up in Trinidad – our streets would be cleaned, swept, weeded, pavement white-washed and homemade paper buntings would be placed from one end of the street to the other. Our street also had a musical stage and entertainment at one end including prizes sponsored by local business for various categories such as a Diwali Queen. I am not sure if our street started the Diwali ‘streets’ celebration (I guess it was as we were the hip ones!) – however it was a tradition that was influential. Eventually most of the village’s streets were decorated with bamboo arches with lit deeyas. It was truly amazing to see and experience the beauty of the lights! There was immense energy with people in thousands walking along the streets. Seriously…there used to be traffic jams on our street with the sheer quantity of people walking and cars on the streets to see the Diwali lights. As a child, I used to love walking around the streets and meeting other neighbours, family and friends. They were extra-special times and the memories are for us to cherish!

Eventually most of the village’s streets were decorated with bamboo arches with lit deeyas. It was a truly amazing to see and experience the beauty of the lights! There was immense energy with people in thousands walking along the streets. Seriously…there used to be traffic jams on our street with the sheer quantity of people walking and cars on the streets to see the Diwali lights.  …on Diwali.

Diwali Bamboo displays in Trinidad.
Diwali Deeyas.

There would be visitors from neighbouring villages and towns, including my own relatives from Port-of-Spain would come to see the lights, as well as the lovely delicious vegetarian food that was prepared at home that day. It was also a time to invite friends who don’t normally celebrate Diwali. My parents would intentionally invite non-Hindus to partake of our hospitality. Personally, it is also a time for remembering and being grateful for what it means to have a home and a loving family. Probably the same warm feeling we have at Christmas, Eid or other religious or cultural occasions. This tradition continued for about 10 years in my village, and sadly I don’t think it happens now. I do know that there is a Diwali Nagar village at this time of year, which started decades ago just before I left Trinidad.

Diwali in the home usually meant a time to ‘spring clean’ the house, vegetables and sweets were prepared in advance, and any precious time was used to prepare for the activities for the day…and night. When I initially came to England, I missed home a lot due to this lifestyle, traditions and the many multicultural festivals we celebrated. It is a time that I remember family, especially my father and his unique Diwali traditions. They were extra special to me, and his way of doing things was one of the best examples of family values and homeliness.

There were parks and fields that also celebrated the festivals as fairs with displays of lights and entertainment with song, music and Indian dance. The radio frequently played Diwali songs. Companies and local communities used to host Diwali with live entertainment and food stalls with the beautifully designed bamboos in their various styles and shapes. Celebrations also included sparklers, firecrackers, fireworks and Bursting Bamboo (making loud noises with petrol, fire and bamboos which comes with a health and safety warning). These were usually held in fields and open spaces as they are too nowadays.

At a corporate Diwali celebration one year, I was unwillingly judged to be the Diwali Queen to my horror for the Caroni 1975 Ltd at Brechin Castle Diwali Celebrations! But on the positive side, I won a lovely sari and some money. I still like wearing a sari and Indian wear when possible – and Diwali is an ideal time to do so.

I was really pleased when the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to London, The Right Honourable Garvin Nicholas, held a Diwali Celebration at his official Residence in London a few years ago. The deeyas were from Trinidad and it was really delightful to see them lit around his official residence and for him to invite ex-patriots to his home. It was great to hear the religious ceremony, as well as to partake of the Diwali food and sweets.

Deeyas at the High Commissioner’s Residence – London.
Lighting Deeyas in London.
Vegetarian Food & Sweets for Diwali.
Deeyas.

 

Generally in India, Diwali is still celebrated as a grateful close to the financial year, and signals the aspirations and blessings for the coming year. When I joined the British Library, it was also the start of the Mughal Exhibition. I honestly did not know much about the Mughal Empire, as our education of India in Trinidad tends to rightly focus on Indentureship of Indians to the Caribbean.

Mughal Diwali Scene with Deeyas
Mughal Diwali Celebrations.
Firecrackers for Diwali.
Deeyas and Diwali Celebrations.

Since the exhibition, I am certainly more aware of the Mughal Empire and life in that time. It was amazing to see their artwork in manuscripts and there are several pictures with Diwali, Holi and other celebrations depicted. The opening party for the Mughal Exhibition was also a memorable experience of Indian culture that reminded me of Trinidad.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

For these reasons, Diwali is one autumnal celebration that I look forward to at this time of year. I like when contacts share current photos on social media of Diwali in Trinidad, as I still see how it is celebrated and how it has developed over the years since I left. I usually have to ask Trinidadian relatives what is the date for Diwali so that I celebrate it in unison with them. It is a public holiday in Trinidad and I usually try to ‘fast’ for a few days by eating vegetarian food. I also prepare vegetarian dishes and sweets for Diwali night. I usually make Prasad as an offering – which is a sweet delicacy. I also light candles, sometimes in decorated jams jars as I can’t find deeyas here.  It is a time for me to give thanks for what I have and yes…even say a little prayer. This is my small way of continuing that tradition, rituals and hope for light to triumph darkness for the earth and my loved ones, but also for everyone all over the world.

My lit jam jars for Diwali at home – London.
My vegetarian dishes 2016.
Kurma – my first attempt.

Festivals and the Living is Easy

Published on by Seema Rampersad2 Comments

I have just returned from the International Festival of Business 2016 in Liverpool. This was an amazing opportunity for the Business and IP Centre to coordinate business advice clinics with regional Business & IP Centres in the network in the ‘Business Advisor Lounge’ at the newly opened National Exhibition Centre. The centre officially opened the same day as my visit by Queen Elizabeth II HRH, and I was told by colleagues that there was a lot of excitement having such a high profile respected world leader visit earlier that same day.

I was quite happy to go back to Liverpool again after visiting Anfield Football Stadium on the outskirts of Liverpool for a Euro 2000 football qualifier with Wales against Italy in 1998, as the Welsh Millennium Stadium was under construction. I didn’t see much of the city then, but I recently went back to for work for the day to Liverpool Centre Library to meet their staff at the Business & IP Centre Liverpool.  As a city, Liverpool has benefited in regeneration from a lot of investment in the public realm, and it looks shiny and fabulous on the two sunny days I was there. There is old architecture mixed with the new, Beatles tributes everywhere, the Mersey River, Albert Docks and attractive pedestrianised shopping areas. It is definitely a city worth visiting!

Liverpool

 

The International Festival of Business had a few highlights for me:

  • The Business & IP Centre held an Inspiring Entrepreneurs event on ‘Going Global’ with an excellent panel of entrepreneurs with some practical insight and tips for taking your business global.
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers had a stall at the festival to the theme ‘The Next Chapter’ as it was in my full view all day – and kept reminding me of my time working for them. When I worked at PwC, there was a good-hearted joke that you can go anywhere in the world and still encounter a PwC experience or meet someone with a connection with them!
  • The UK Trade and Investment and HSBC both had massive presence in the exhibition space for attracting inward investment, advice for exporting and creating business connections. Whilst I was there, the theme for the festival last week was ‘Energy and Environment’.  It was interesting to see the innovative productions on display and the eco-friendly and green initiatives.

As I was working in the Business Advice Lounge to give information to businesses – I was unable to attend other events on simultaneously. However, it was a brilliant opportunity to collaborate with our partners in Business & IP Centre Sheffield and with The Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

I have just told you a brief review on a serious business festival, but I am going to use this opportunity to write about the Summer music and arts festivals bloom in the United Kingdom. My childhood friends would remember that I love music, dancing, listening to the radio, going to live concerts and shows. It was this very same vice that was one of the attractions for me coming to London in the first place to study. Think of the heady 1980’s with Live Aid and MTV that were broadcast across the globe – Trinidad & Tobago never missed a thing! And so I was seduced by this global pop culture.

Walthamstow Garden Party.

Festivals are big business and ubiquitous in the last 12 years. This summer, I saw many festival articles, poster advertisements in the London Underground and promoted on the radio. There are a few articles on the industry that have caught my eyes. The Guardian Newspaper informs that the industry attracts foreign visitors and that overseas visitors spent £852 a visit.  The article also refers to an industry report ‘The Real Cost of Festivals’ by Parcelhero and states that 40% of British went to one festival and we collectively spent £2.1 Billion Pounds.

There is always excitement in who is going to headline the main stage at Glastonbury to rock out the crowd, and it seems that the line up of artistes is crucial in this competitive market. The line-up and offerings must be attractive to sustain its clientele.

Coachella, the biggest festival in the world, sells 198,000 tickets and pulls in $84 million for the Californian event. The UK’s largest festival – Glastonbury – has a turnover of £37m but sees profits of just £86,000: less than 50p per ticket.

Source: ‘The Real Cost of Festivals’ by Parcelhero.

At work, I also have access to the Mintel market intelligence reports that I used to research the industry. Mintel’s ‘Music Festivals’ which states that festivals and concerts have been the fastest growing area of leisure spending over the last five years to 2015.  There is also a fun and informative article by a member of staff on The IPO’s blog on Festivals.

Locally, I have participated in the Walthamstow Garden Party, a community festival which is hosted by the Barbican Centre in London. The Barbican with the local council and community groups ( arts, artists, craft-makers and businesses) coordinate the festival. They all have been successful  in delivering a fine show with headliners such as Tiken Jah Fakoly, Femi Kuti, The Brand New Heavies and The Asian Dub Foundation (due July 2016).

As the Fundraising and Events Chair at The Lloyd Park Centre – we have hosted the Mini-Garden Party offering as a family friendly space. The garden party is great for showcasing the newly award winning park redevelopments (including the skate park and William Morris Gallery), ‘Useful and Beautiful’ creative local arts and crafts, fitness groups, real food market, poetry, music, DJs, disco and many other businesses. Personally, I think it has been successful with visitor numbers at 30000 per annum. The organisers have given the opportunity for the Barbican, Waltham Forest Council and local groups to collaborate, and get to know each other better to put on a fantastic community festival which is open and free for all. Yes…I said free!

Jazz FM’s Love Supreme Festival.

Love Supreme Festival is held in Glynde and is hosted by Jazz FM.  The name is inspired by John Coltrane’s ‘Love Supreme’. Glynde is not to be confused with Glyndebourne that is famous for opera but you do have to pass through there to get to the festival.  This festival is aimed at the family friendly market and is in a very scenic field in Sussex. I have been a fan of Jazz FM for a while, as my ex-colleagues will tell you. Three years ago I tried the station’s competition for festival tickets for fun …and I actually won two free camping tickets!! There was no way I couldn’t go! I ended up going with two friends and our children.

For Love Supreme, I normally pitch a tent (glamping is too expensive for me!) with the help of my dear friends. This is my third year there and I am looking forward to the Funky Sensation Party on the Friday night. It is nice to be there in the inaugural night when campers are settling in before the busyness of the next two days. It is pure pleasure to see people filling in the Arena tent and dancing to Jazz, Soul and Hip Hop (correct me if I am wrong please). People dancing, the energy and movement remind me of Trinidadian Fetes or Parties where everyone just want to dance!

People dancing, the energy and movement remind me of Trinidadian Fetes or Parties where everyone just want to dance! …on Love Supreme Festival

I have been listening to Jazz for a few years before the digital age. Listening to radio stations on apps and digital broadcasting will enlighten jazz lovers to the biographies of the artistes, history of the song and allows you to share your (impulsive) experiences on social media. This is a very powerful immersive experience, so I am constantly trying to resist sharing songs – but have little control as you may noticed. I am sure you have experienced this too. I have written about this user experience in a blog post for work ‘Rock Stars to Classical Orchestras’ at the British Library. I think this must make me a fan, groupie or in this case – a ‘Jazzhead’. I am already trying to coordinate and organise which acts I am looking forward to seeing at which stage in the festival and at what time, so that I can see and not miss them! 

Feel it in your heart and feel it in your soul
Let the music take control
We’re going to party, limin’, fiesta, forever…

‘All Night Long’ by Lionel Ritchie.

One point that I would like to make is that festivals are fabulous outlets for businesses. I love all the various international food stalls being a foodie, fashion stalls, bookshops, coffee shops, bars etc. I understand there is going to be a new beauty salon and banquet style dining on offer this year. This must be a great opportunity for businesses with so many festivals in the United Kingdom. I would like to try another festival another time such as Glastonbury, Latitude and Womad. Womad is extra special to me as The British Library has recorded it for over 30 years.

Soon I will be there, lost in the music and experience with good friends (especially in the chaotic times of Brexit!). I hope you will forgive me for this self-indulgence.  It is one of my guiltiest pleasures and so I must try to behave. My only wish is that we’ll have some sunshine there.

On the beat with Community Action

Published on by Seema Rampersad2 Comments

It takes a Village to raise a Child – African Proverb

I was born and grew up in a village in Trinidad but I was certainly no country bumpkin! The village, Dow Village, was smallish in size but mighty in activity and life.

Diwali
Diwali Street Scene in Trinidad

We were very busy with several multi-cultural, multi-religious, traditional and modern activities, events and celebrations. As I look back at those early childhood years of village life on a Caribbean Island, I realise that we had a special community energy and participation in many aspects. We had bazaars and raffles to raise funds for various initiatives towards sports days, construction of buildings, treatment for unwell villagers, the Temple’s fund, local schools, re-enactment of Ramlila, Diwali Celebrations, Christmas, Eid-al-Fitr, Holi (Phagwah), street and house parties, and other events (please let me know if I forgot any!).  Some of the activities we held would entail selling fresh food, tea parties, Bar-B-Ques, Curry-Qs, playing games, and various entertainment ranging from sound systems to live music (such as tassa drums, Indian Orchestral to local Rock Bands). The village then was busy with life – it never felt boring or backwards.

Residents left their doors unlocked and gates open with low crime levels. Everybody knew everybody and it was used to our advantage – to build our community, to watch out for each other, to have pride in our neighbourhood.   There were bad points occasionally with fallouts but generally my village has stood the test of time. Up to now, I love my neighbours in Dow Village and I am sure that they love me too. We experienced everything from life to death and we can still touch base with each other wherever we are in the world with modern technology. Some of us may have left our villages for the wider world but David Rudder and Carl Jacobs sing in the Calypso ‘Trini to De Bone’:

“There’s no place like home some people say
Though some have to leave to make their way
But in their hearts I know their destiny
To come home and big up dey country” – Trini to De Bone.

I came to study in London over twenty-five years ago and lived in Hornsey and Tottenham initially. I used to hang out in Holloway, Highbury, Stoke Newington and Islington. It was interesting from the offset to experience so many cultures, tribes, languages and communities in North London. These ranged from North Londoners, Cockneys, Post-Punks, Irish, Greek Cypriots, Turkish, Kurdish, Nigerians, West Indians and lots more other ethnicities. It was a new melting pot for me to take in.

I eventually ended up in Walthamstow and was sceptical to move to East London as I had grown used to North and North East London. However, the timing was right again. Walthamstow still had affordable family homes, green spaces, and convenient travel links and a community feel about it. Moving to live here was a very good decision in the long term, and so the community story continues.

Walthamstow was recorded c. 1075 as Wilcumestowe (“the Place of Welcome”) and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wilcumestou. It does lie geographically on the edges of London and was a route between London and Waltham Abbey. Today that welcoming community spirit is still alive and kicking in Walthamstow. There are many remarkable things about the town and a few of them include:

  • The famous Walthamstow Market which is renowned for being the longest street market in Europe. I understand it has changed over the years but you can still get great bargains.
  • William Morris Gallery in gorgeous Lloyd Park, which was once the home of William Morris, world renowned designer, craftsman, poet, writer and socialist. His creations, ethos and influence are still relevant and inspiring today.
  • The Village area has old buildings and quaint houses which make you wonder about the past and the people who lived there. There lies too the Vestry House Museum which has permanent and temporary exhibitions, a community room and beautiful garden. I have been on guided walks with Joanne Moncrieff‘s Westminster Walks, who tells you all the facts about the buildings and area to bring them alive.
WGP-LPC2015
Storytelling by Mike at the Walthamstow Garden Party, The Lloyd Park Centre.

There are two community initiatives that I actively contribute to: The Lloyd Park Centre charity and the Poets’ Corner Residents Associations. Since 2004 at The Lloyd Park Centre, I have been a Management Committee and Fundraising and Events Group member. After many years thinking of helping in a local charity, the timing was right to start. I was inspired to get involved when I heard that this organisation was formed by volunteers in the 1980’s and still depended on community participation in its constitution, operation and strategic direction. It is also the lifetime commitment of inspiring Pauline Thomas MBE. The organisation’s history and commitment over the years is very admirable. In my time there, it has moved from portable cabins to an environmentally purpose-built designed building, and its financial turnover has doubled. I have seen it grow from strength to strength in offering children and family services such as day care, holiday clubs, baby clinics, Dad’s Club, Twins Club, Grandparents support, Autism support, outreach and a franchise of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Mobile Library to a deprived community.

I have volunteered consistently for all these years and have been very ‘hands on’ in attending regular meetings, helping when and where I can with my skills, knowledge and most of all…my time. Committee meetings are not so daunting as you are briefed and guided by the other committee members who are already there. As time goes by, I have learnt from the organisation and challenged myself to activities that I wasn’t aware I could do – for example, I cooked for 200 people in their kitchen for a fundraiser! Generally I plan, organise and run events in my own time and all other activities that a local busy charity requires. I have to hone in on my organisational skills as this is not my day job and from my use of social media – you can see what I get up too! As with everything, nothing stays the same and the organisation is constantly evolving, improving and taking on new challenges.

I am proud that when I worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers I won a financial award for volunteering as part of their Community Affairs programme (Hello David!). They have a long history of Corporate Social Responsibility. I also have won the charity’s Volunteer and Fundraiser award a few times. However, it means a lot more than that to me. Over the years, my volunteering was a team effort to raise money and my goals really were to give support, help as much as I can and to be engaged in an organisation that has made a huge contribution to the local community and families for over 30 years. The last 12 years have been fun, satisfying and helped me developed outside of my day job and profession. It has relit that community flame that I had as a child in Trinidad.

Child is the Father of Man – William Wordsworth

I was made redundant about four years ago when I needed to re-focus my energies and give back to the place where I live once again. Luckily I had the time to volunteer in my neighbourhood residents associations when we were planning our London 2012 ‘Milimpics’ street party. We have our own Poets’ Corner blog and social media channels that have been going since 2012. We have since rebranded to Poets’ Corner E17, as there are streets named after Poets and we are on a corner. We have been constantly engaged in transformational regeneration initiatives that are happening on our doorsteps!

We are also very keen to support local businesses and love our high street. I have seen derelict shops being taken over as pop-up shops to permanent retail outlets. In the last few months – there are several new high street shops emerging such as coffee shops, art shop, craft beer, chocolate shop, giftware, Italian deli and hairdressers. Local venues Ye Olde Rose and Crown, The Bell Pub and Mirth Marvel Maud are used as meeting social places and also are at the heart of the nightlife. The last five years have been amazing, heart-warming, social and definitely local.

 

10369605_10203719881467732_1345985400225628703_n
Little Free Library Project – in Poets’ Corner.

We have continued the spirit of London 2012 Olympics with many activities including an annual street party simultaneous as the national Big Lunch celebrations, spring cleaning (which has made me obsessive about dumped rubbish and litter!), crime-watching, Halloween Party, Puppet Show and fabulous Christmas Carolling on the street. We have also taken part in the magnificent E17 Art Trail which has made us work collaboratively to display Estate Agents boards as ‘Poets for Sale’ with poems in our front gardens. For the 2015 project, we created ‘I want to tell you a story…’ stories on places on Walthamstow. Residents Barry and Lesley Coidan have been the driving force for a lot of these initiatives and deserve special recognition and appreciation. Before I forget to mention – we also have two Little Free Libraries in the neighbourhood, which started in Walthamstow for the United Kingdom (original idea is from the USA).

poets-for-sale

 

Why am I telling you this? I enjoy taking part in community events. I also think there is a special energy that I have been lucky to experience in my homeland of Trinidad many years ago, and here now in Walthamstow. It is very fulfilling and reassuring that we have neighbours and people in the community that we can rely on, pull together and to contribute to our society on wider urban issues, such as crime prevention, sustainability, environment, economy, culture, festivities and general awesomeness.  You just have to remember the terrible London riots of 2011 to recall what it is like when neighbourhoods fall apart and communities are at threat when you take your eyes of the ball.

I don’t have my own business but if I did – it would be based on the arts, crafts or food in the community. Volunteering has made me certain about that and myself. With Utopian and socially ethical views, I would feel compelled to consider where I live, the people it is going to affect, how we can work together to make our part of the world better for ourselves but also for my immediate neighbours.

Anyway, I really love taking part in the fun, and all the exciting energy and buzz of Walthamstow. We are celebrating our next Brazilian theme street party soon in tuned to the Brazil 2016 Olympics. And so the beat goes on, and on.