letters August 2016 www.womanthismonth.com 8 TALKING TECH • Bindu Titus • Inspirational Women • Great Gadgets Top Tips and Short Breaks TRAVEL Farheen Ahmed From Bookings to Books KIDS Summer Activities Homes Decor to Dine in Style July 2016 | Issue 161 | BD1 / SR10 www.womanthismonth.com BEAUTY | FASHION | HOME | WELLBEING | PARENTING | LOCAL ISSUES Bahrain Edition ISSUE 161 woman this month JULY 2016 ı TALKING TECH ı www.womanthismonth.com LAUNCH NEW BUSINESS & PRODUCTS WITH DREAMMAKERS Write Here Write Now Get in touch by email, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram! Great Gathering I loved seeing the pictures of your Mums’ Meet-up at the K Hotel. I wasn’t able to come to this one but it looks like all the ladies had a great time and I look forward to coming to the next event. I think this is a great initiative to get readers together and I’m pleased Woman This Month wants to hear our thoughts. When’s the next one going to be? Wanda Ed: We’re working on details for the next meet-up so check out our website and social media pages for details, there’s an announcement coming soon. Fashion Forward I always turn first to the fashion forward pages to see what's been going on, I like that you don't just include pages and pages of pictures of clothes but rather give news and bits of quirky information too. I wish you had more pages like this. Ella Ed: Thanks for your kind words. We’re constantly looking for new ideas and will try to incorporate more of the things you love, perhaps online or maybe even with further pages in the magazine. If there's something you'd particularly like to see, please email [email protected]. Go Girl Huge congratulations to Farheen Ahmed on getting her book Beyond The Ordinary published. It must have been hard to carry out all the necessary research and travel to India while also holding down a demanding position with Woman This Month. Miss Ahmed is a great example of what can be achieved when you put your mind to it and I’m glad to see the magazine celebrating her achievement. Mira Travel Tips The travel feature in the July issue came at just the right time for me. I would never have thought of taking a picture of the important pages of my passport but this tip really saved me a great deal of trouble. I visited Germany and managed to lose my passport, as well as various other valuables. Thanks to your advice, I already knew where to find the embassy and was able to give them all the details of my passport, including my Bahrain visa, which I’d also photographed. Well done, keep up the good work. Bina July 2016 www.womanthismonth.com 28 PEOPLE | interview The book is the story of and a tribute to Bhanumathi Narasimhan, who Farheen first met when she visited the ashram of Art of Living (AoL) in Bangalore. She says: “People were telling me ‘it’s a strange place’ but I wanted to see for myself. I went and there was an international women’s conference, which takes place in Bangalore every two years and that’s where I met Bhanu Didi. “I was doing some meditation but I hadn’t done any courses at that stage. The day I reached there, they were teaching sudarshan kriya [a breathing technique]. I was in the plush, green surroundings and I was sitting with Bhanu Didi. I found her to be very simple and down to earth. “She asked me if I had been to the schools which Art of Living runs, that are free for poor children. I made a trip to a school and when I came back to my room I thought to myself ‘everyone is writing about His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar [the official founder and spiritual leader of AoL] but no one has written about her and she’s the director of children’s and women’s welfare’.” Two months later Bhanu Didi was visiting Bahrain and Farheen met her and told her she wanted to write about her. I said: “I want to write about your achievements. I’ve been inspired by you and I want other women to be inspired.” After taking permission for the book from HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Farheen became a regular visitor at the ashram. She says: “In the innumerable times that I’ve met her, there’s something about her values, what she shows about how you go about your life and your challenges. “If you look at books from the likes of Robin Sharma or Brian Weiss, there is always a life lesson. I wanted my book to have life lessons from Bhanu Didi. “She took me through her life journey, going to see people and telling them that girl-child education is important. One of her important messages is that empowerment doesn’t just mean educating those from the lower economic end of society – a person can be one of the most educated but not be enlightened. There are plenty of educated women facing emotional challenges which can even lead to suicide. Thus, it is important to nourish your soul. Meditation can help you to align that. This life we have been given, we have to use it.” She is keen to point out that Art of Living, contrary to popular belief outside India, is not just about yoga. It has schools and also runs programmes for women, particularly widows, in village areas offering training and helping them set up small businesses in things such as cooking, basket weaving and making school uniforms, thus enabling them to support themselves and their families. The organisation has also been involved in humanitarian relief in areas such as Syria, where it works, in particular, with female victims of abuse. The book was officially launched at the annual AoL celebration for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s birthday, an event attended by around 20,000 people and seen online by more than two million. Farheen says: “My concept, as an author, is that whatever I write should have a moral for others, it should wake people up. My grandmother told me as a child that we’re all born with a lot of wisdom; as you get older it gets dusty with all the things we go through. But some people will return to the light, get beyond the rainbow. My mission is to spread this. Go beyond the ordinary. Go for the road not taken. Be the best version of yourself. “And I’m not done yet ‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep and I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep’.” Farheen Ahmed WTM sales manager Farheen Ahmed has recently become a published author with her book Beyond The Ordinary released to acclaim. She tells us about her inspiration. From Bookings to Books July 2016 www.womanthismonth.com FEATURE | travel 48 l Take a picture of the inside details page of your passport, including the number, and store it in your phone and with someone at home. So, should it get lost or stolen, you will have the details to report to police and the local consulate. l Store credit card details in your phone and make sure you have a note of the emergency numbers to call in case your cards should go astray. l Taking at least some cash in the currency of your destination is a good idea as you may find our Bahraini bank and credit cards don’t work in every ATM. Should you be unable to get currency here at the airport, you might want to consider taking American dollars as these are easily exchanged pretty much anywhere. And it’s also a good plan to download a currency converter on your phone. l Check out your country’s consulate or embassy at your destination. It may not be necessary to register, though this is a good idea if you’re going to be heading off the beaten track, but it’s certainly useful to know where it is and have the contact details handy in case you should need them. l Book travel insurance and make sure it covers not just you and your belongings but also any unscheduled delays. If you’re planning on taking part in any ‘dangerous’ sports or activities, such as skiing, bungee jumping or whitewater rafting, it’s a good idea to check whether these are covered – you may need to pay an additional premium but it’s worth it. l Leave your contact details with someone at home and, if you’re travelling alone, set specific dates and times to check in so they will know you’re safe and all is OK. l Check visa and vaccination requirements well in advance. There can be nothing worse than booking a flight and your visa not coming through in time, so make sure you check before you shell out for plane tickets. Also, some countries will not issue visas on a passport with fewer than six months to run. If you’re in this situation, you may need to get a new passport before your trip. l If you’re going to be arriving in a strange place late at night, make sure you’ve booked transport in advance. This is particularly important for lone female travellers. It may cost a little more than taking a local taxi on arrival but it’s better to be safe than sorry. l Always pack a waterproof. It doesn’t matter where you’re going, a lightweight rain cover weighs virtually nothing and you just never know when you might need it. Top Ten Travel Tips l Wear sunscreen. There’s nothing much else to say on this one except that it’s better to look pale now than to resemble a prune in the future! Follow our essential advice for a safe, stress-free holiday. 16 July 2016 www.womanthismonth.com SOCIAL BUTTERFLY Mums’ Meet-Up Woman This Month organised its first Mums’ Meet-Up which included cooking classes from the chefs at The K Hotel. George & Volker Mums at the cooking table with chef Nitai Muna, Lira, Liz, Bilal, chef Sylvester Rosario, Hussain, Deepa & Pearlyn Farheen & May Dea & Swati Spandana, Farheen, Israr & Nadia Pearlyn, Homa & Kayan Spandana, Heli & Deepty Happy kids and mums at the event Chef Nitai and chef S Gomes at the pastry table Farah, Rowel, Shalu & Samara Mala, Minal, Suparna & Bijal Naz & Sanjita Sudha, Shilpa & Shalu Ratna Follow us on: Instagram: @woman_this_month Twitter: @WomanThisMonthB Facebook: Woman This Month Letter We want to hear your thoughts on Woman This Month. Write to us at [email protected] WTM’s tweet about the winner of Week 3 of the Sheraton contest was the most favourited tweet. “The winner of Week 3 of #wtmcontest @SheratonBahrain is Bint E Khalid, congratulations!” The following #WTM post was favourited and retweeted on Twitter the most. The most liked post on facebook was WTM’s beauty contest to win Pure Gold Collagen. The Most Liked Post on Facebook The most popular picture on Instagram featured the City Centre Traditional Media Ghabga gathering to mark the #MakeADifference #Ramadan #Campaign. The Most talked about Picture on WTM’s Instagram
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