Heena Modi

Here’s some info about Glaucoma from the 100 Black Men of London newsletter.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the MV Empire Windrush in Britain in 1948, this exhibition tells some of the the personal stories of the Black men and women who were involved in the First and Second World Wars.

Among the exhibits on display are the MBE belonging to Sam King, who returned to Britain on the Windrush after serving in the RAF and subsequently served as the first Black mayor of Southwark, and the telegram announcing the death of Walter Tull, the first Black British Army officer.

The exhibition runs through to March 2009 and will be accompanied by a series of monthly lectures, held in conjunction with the 100BMOL, which will provide the opportunity to explore and discuss various related topics including:

(a) loyalty within the British Empire and what it means to fight for ‘your’ country,

(b) Britain’s use of propaganda in Caribbean recruitment and the anti-Black propaganda employed by the Nazi regime,

(c) the Black victims of Nazi persecution before and during the Second World War, and

(d) an examination of the American presence in the Caribbean and the influence of US segregation policies on Britain.

There are also a series of family events linked to the exhibition. Admission is free.
Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ. For more information see From War to Windrush

This is a quite an odd one for me.

In some ways, those who have died are more important than those who are alive. “Huh” I hear you say. Not ‘anyone’ but for example, those who we look up to in terms of increasing our spiritual awareness. In this case, they are more important (in my view), than us ‘mere mortals’ who need guiding. I do appreciate that this isn’t everyone’s view. For those of you who share this view, I get that we all have different levels of spiritual awareness too.

In another way, those who are alive are important. We may live with them, see them a lot, learn from them, guide them etc. Thus we may need to take their views and needs into account.

In another way you could say we should give importance to those who have died. We should perhaps try to fulfil their wishes as they cannot do so themselves.

I’m not sure where we would draw the line? Would it be when it suited us? Would we try and do as much as possible and end up living for the deceased or as if we were in their presence?

For example, I’ve had a few car accidents and I know that if my dad was alive he probably wouldn’t have wanted me to get in a car again. He may have even tried to chauffeur me around or possibly arrange for cabs to do the same. Who knows? So if I did what suited me I would ignore knowing that he would prefer that.

However, my mum would want me to be independent. To be able to get from A to B. To be able to help others out if need be in terms of getting them where they need to be. To be able to get to work in 10 minutes by car, instead of 1 1/2 hours by London Transport. So when do her wishes supersede what my dad may have wished? And vice versa?

What do I adhere to and why? Because it suits me? Because I believe in that more? Because I get it more?  Why?

My aunt has passed away and she was very anti having a big event for anything. So should her children not have a big wedding for that reason? Does it suit to not do that? Would you ensure you followed it so that she can be remembered during the ’small event’ e.g. “Aunt Shashi would have loved this”

What about her sister who took over the care of aunt Shashi’s children? She is alive and she wants to see them married off with a huge wedding. Do we ignore the wishes of the living? In this case, what makes the deceased more important? What makes the living more important? Or is it not about that at all? Is it about the people in the relationship? This example, of course, could apply to birthday parties, moving home etc. Do you keep it small or do you celebrate in a big way?

What do you do?

I am fortunate in that my mother hasn’t ever said to me your dad would have wanted this or he would have not wanted this. I know I would have got caught up in the guilt, been confused, possibly been cross about the situation, implications and then who knows what conclusion I would have come to. It’s all very difficult isn’t it? In my eyes it’s not clear or easy.

What do you think?

This is quite a personal post. I debated whether to write it or not but something feels right about it so here I go!

Recently my uncle’s mum passed away. I felt blessed to support them. No offence intended but I didn’t know her very well, so when I was thinking about attending the funeral I was only thinking about my role in supporting my family and not about how if could affect me.

The thing is, I got quite wound up before we got there because, in my mind, we were late! I thought of many reasons why this was an issue but I’m not sure they were accurate.

Anyway we went inside and I sat near my family. Various people gave speeches, we prayed etc. and then it was time to press the button for the coffin to be taken to the back where it is cremated. I saw my uncle’s face and I remember what I felt when my father passed away. I had been very tearful but now it was worse! You see it was all in my subconscious. I hadn’t consciously realised that I hadn’t been to Golders Green Crematorium since my father passed away! I’d attended 2/3 other funerals but they were in Hendon, Leicester or Luton so although I was affected by the experience, it wasn’t AS bad.

You see when my dad passed away I spoke to those who came and then I was told to press this button. I didn’t know what it was for! When the coffin started moving all I wanted to do was run and stop it. I had so many thoughts going through my head. I had to be strong for my mum. It would unsettle the audience if I ran over to my dad’s body. Could I stop it in time? I should just remain calm and go through it.

Anyway it disappeared and my mum and her friend said that I should go to where dad’s body will be cremated. Usually it’s the men who go but because I’m the only child, they said I should go. This was the same re when we brought the coffin in. They said I should go and help bring it in. ‘After all you’re the son and daughter.’

Sorry I’ve gone off track. When I was at my uncle’s mum’s funeral I couldn’t stop crying. After it finished I held it together so that I could leave. However, they’d announced that those who travelled far and the immediate family should come to the house and have some food. When I was outside my mum said I could come and it would be OK. In my head I justified not going because they wouldn’t have catered for so many people and they said that only immediate family and those who travelled far should attend. I was neither. So I left but I was so uptight in the car. I just needed to be somewhere safe where I could let go.

Once I did let go I couldn’t stop. Suraj helped me realise that it was because of the venue! He knew I’d been to other funerals since my dad passed away so he asked if I’d been to Golders Green Crematorium. Of course that was it! I hadn’t been there since 2000! Since dad’s funeral.

Isn’t it amazing how subconscious the mind can be? How important a place can be and how if can affect the way you feel! Anyway that’s it! I’m not sure what you’ll get from this but it is what it is.

Take care
Heena

Does it matter whether records show that you’re Hindu, Jain, Muslim or other?

Some members of our community have complained that we cannot obtain grants to help members of the Jain community because the bodies that offer the grants are not convinced that there are many of us in the UK.

When we request for Jainism to be taught on the Religious Education curriculum we are told that it’s not necessary as there are very few of us.

When we ask for a Jain chaplain in hospitals, it seems that we are asking a lot for a miniscule number of the population.

Why do various organisations think there aren’t many Jains in the UK?

If you are Jain do you do the following?

When you fill out a job application form and you are asked to describe your religion do you tick ‘other’ and write Jain there?
When you fill out a form because you are a patient at a hospital and you are asked to describe your religion do you tick ‘other’ and write Jain there?
When you fill join a GP or dental surgery do you tick ‘other’ and write Jain there?
If you complete a benefit form do you describe your religion do you tick ‘other’ and write Jain there?

There are so many opportunities to highlight Jainism. This will help us gather statistics, obtain grants and raise awareness about our needs.

Here’s what I did. I went to the website that allows patients to leave an opinion and I wrote a few words asking why Jainism isn’t listed as a faith. Have a look at what I wrote. Could you do something similar? http://www.patientopinion.org.uk/opinion.aspx?opinionID=13838

I also went to http://www.writetothem.com/ typed in my postcode and clicked on write to all MP’s/Counsellors. I sent one message to all of them asking the same question. Here’s one of the replies that I received.

Dear Heena,

….My office has spoken to the Department of Health regarding your query about Jainism’s inclusion on their list of faith options.  We were informed that due to practical reasons, the list that the Department of Health uses includes only the most common religions in the United Kingdom based on statistical data.  They have informed me that there is a space in which patients can write in their religion if it is not included on the list.  If you are not satisfied with this answer could I suggest that you write to the Secretary of State for Health who is the Rt Hon. Alan Johnson MP. He can be contacted at: Department of Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS.

Regards,
Syed

SYED KAMALL
Conservative MEP for London
www.syedkamall.com
syed.kamall@europarl.europa.eu

We can make a difference.
We can create positive change.

What do you want for YOUR children.

Let us look at the amazing technology that’s been introduced in the last decade. That which has grown and its usage increased so much that the effects on our culture are vast!

British Telecom predicted that people would start working from home with the aid of fax machines, laptops, access to the internet, email and so on. Nobody knew that the number of people changing the existing working culture would be so great. Alright so all of this incredible technology saves us time, money, time travelling and effort but at what COST?

Lets take the Internet. There are so many pluses. Having encyclopaedias on screen, being able to send messages at the cost of a local call or for a monthly one off fee, being able to do searches on various subjects for school (and work) projects. Fabulous!

So what do we have to lose? A child can type in the word sex and call up all sorts of porn. He or she may MEAN gender but will get porn never the less. He or she may have to do a project on Amsterdam for Geography but if he or she types that in they could get something they didn’t bargain for. Do we want our children being exposed to this sort of thing? I for one know that I don’t want this for my future children. But what can we do to ensure we get what we want. (Assuming that you agree with me).

Do we not want to have the use of the Internet in a way that’s suitable for children WITHOUT the parents having to stand over them and ensure they don’t get a surprise.

Can we not campaign and as a result, gain some control of what goes out on the Internet, be empowered to have things removed from the net if need be?

There has been on and off publicity about the Internet and porn for quite a few years now! Has there been any progress in terms of capping this activity? What do you think? Is it better?

There are also ways of seeing abuse LIVE over the Internet and the so called snuff movies which are supposed to end in the ‘viewer’ seeing a child die. This has been of great concern because the children’s identities are more often than not unknown and bodies haven’t been found, thus the perpetrators of this violence are not being caught. There is the added confusion re whether they’re ‘faked deaths’ or not. What can the Police do?

Why are service providers not stopping this kind of material from go out? It has been argued that it is because a lot of their customers who are interested in porn are the big spenders. They don’t want them to move on to another Internet Server so they keep allowing it.

Are these providers sacrificing the innocence of our children and the children of our future?

Something parents may need to know? I’m sure these terms are out of date now but do you know them?

ASL ~ Age, sex & location
POS ~ parent over shoulder

Did you know that webcams can mean that you or your child are exposed to nude pictures that can be sent via chat rooms & email?

I am NOT advocating banning the internet. However, as adults we need to make sure that we protect children by using safe providers, installing filters & most of all giving children the skill to know what is right and wrong, safe and dangerous and empower them to make decisions that are good for them. What do you think?

Here are some photos of how people reacted all over the globe. Although it is an amazing achievement, not just becuase he is a positive black role model, not just becuase he brings us hope, not just becuase he brings us away from the Bush administration but becuase he is fresh/new and with that, we hope that he will not be stuck in the past or blinded by it. We hope for a new beginning. So much pressure! Can we expect so much? We also need to be realistic don’t we? Perhaps the note to the Editor below can help us maintain a realistic view.

At Obama’s former school in Jakarta , Indonesia

Sydney , Australia

India

Obama , Japan

Jerusalem , Israel

Manila , Philippines

Shanghai

Barack’s step-grandmother Sarah Obama in Kogelo , Kenya

Dear Editor,

We all yearn for and hope for closure, for answers, for solutions to all our problems, yet short of death itself there is seldom any final answer, any action that will solve all our problems. Life is mostly struggle, seldom is it satisfaction. Only God is the Alpha and Omega.

Let me remind us all not to be too carried away with the election of a black man to the office of president of the United States. The problems of America and the world did not start with the previous man, nor will they end with his replacement. We are all contributors to those problems, and we must all in some way participate in their solution.

Let me remind all as well that there are many forces aligned against Barack Obama, to destroy his best hopes and dreams and as such, our hopes and dreams - forces that we must be constantly vigilant against, forces that are both within and without, forces that are as much a part of his enthusiastic followers as his determined enemies.

Therefore, take time to celebrate, but take even more time to rededicate yourselves seriously to being a stronger contributor to the betterment of the world around you. Just as this man’s life and its symbolic promise represent a new time of a renewed hope for change. Let your own lives represent hope for a better day in Jamaica soon, and pray that it be so for us all.

Ed McCOY
Florida, USA
mmhobo48@juno.com

I remember being told that ‘your thoughts, words, actions, habits and character can influence your life positively and negatively’

I went to an event in which we learned about the power of the mind. The power of our thoughts. To put it simply, which is the extent to which I understand it….if you think ‘I don’t want to be robbed’; the energy ‘out there’ doesn’t understand the ‘I don’t want’ part so you ‘attract’ the robbing part. Thus rather than thinking about what you DON’T want, think about what you DO want. The forces around you will make it happen. Here’s a poem that explain this further.

Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create conditions in your life.

What you speak about, you can bring about.

If you keep saying you can’t stand your job, you might lose your job.

If you keep saying you can’t stand your body, your body can become sick.

If you keep saying you can’t stand your car, your car could be stolen or just stop operating.

If you keep saying you’re broke, guess what? You’ll always be broke.

If you keep saying you can’t trust a man or trust a woman, you will always find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.

If you keep saying you can’t find a job, you will remain unemployed.

If you keep saying you can’t find someone to love you or believe in you, your very thoughts will attract more experiences to confirm your beliefs.

If you keep talking about a divorce or break up in a relationship, then you might end up with it.

Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive and power packed with faith, hope, love and action.

Don’t be afraid to believe that you can have what you want and deserve.

Watch your Thoughts, they become words.
Watch your Words, they become actions.
Watch your Actions, they become habits.
Watch your Habits, they become character.
Watch your Character, for it becomes your destiny.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settle for.

Watch how your circumstances and situations begin to change when you change the way you speak.

‘Life is like melted butter. . .once things cool down, it can be reshaped!’

Something scary happened to me less than a week ago. I came home after being away for the weekend. I unlatched the kitchen door, put my things on the table and saw the lid of a container on the floor. Then I saw a pint glass on the floor. Water on the floor. There was pile of post thrown face down on the floor too.

I stopped and realised that my basil plant had been yanked out; there was soil everywhere and so on!
So I looked at the windows. Everything was fine. Nothing was broken. The door as I entered my flat, was locked so that means that if someone had been in my flat they were courteous enough to lock the door when they left?

I rang the Police and told them what I could see, the fact that the door was locked etc. Oh and also that my cat wouldn’t and couldn’t have done it due to the latch on the kitchen door.

Here are some photos to show you what state my kitchen and utility room were in.

The Police said they should come and check either way. The officer who came had a good look around outside and in and then said he thought it was rats. They scurry around edges, are strong and would eat a banana the way one of my bananas was left.

So after a few hours of cleaning up, I shut the door to utility room. Suraj suggested this in the hope that the damage would be limited to the kitchen OR the utility room and then I’d know where the animals were.

The following day I came home to: -

The kitchen was fine! Thank goodness!

So cleaned up again and made sure the door was kept closed. Thankfully ‘they’ were only able to access the utility room so it was kind of contained.

The following day we found a dead squirrel. There was a smell the day before which became awful on the following day. I thought it was from their waste but it was because there was a dead squirrel. It was upsetting yet kind of relieving. The death wasn’t a relief but knowing what I was dealing with was helpful. The council said they’d only help if it was rats. They don’t handle squirrel infestations. So I could not ask them for support.

So I’m now monitoring it. I don’t know if there’s more. I don’t want to trap them or kill them. But of course I don’t want them to carry on invading my flat either.

Any ideas?

This was sent to me by a friend of mine called Helena. It’s so nice. I had to share it with you! The best bit is at the end. In my opinion anyway!

A Keeper

When my mother died, in the warmth of her hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away…never to return. So… While we have it… it’s best we love it… And care for it…. And fix it when it’s broken…. And heal it when it’s sick.

This is true… For marriage…. And old cars…. And children with bad report cards….. Dogs and cats with bad hips…. And aging parents…. And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special…. And so, we keep them close!

Good friends are like stars…. You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there

People are made to be loved and things are made to be used.

There is so much confusion in this world because people are being used and things are being loved.

Suraj sent me a link to a website that makes it really easy for consumers to know if Nestle products contain egg, meat or dairy products. I have recently posted info about Asda products too.

Do you know if anyone else provides a similar list?

Here’s the site anyway - http://www.isitveggie.com/nestle/index.html