From the Desk of your PCA Team ....
This week we had our monthly PCA Meeting. We talked in particular about going back or going forward to other destinations. We first consider, in sometime the same order, what logistical things do I need to do to make sure that I have everything I need to get my shipment to my destination safely. The later point we consider is how am I going to feel and what are my children feeling as they leave. What can I do for them and me?
Logistics
What are the things we should do or not do when we leave. Did you know that a 1/2 kilo of dhal is what is considered for transport out of the country in your container? Did you know that all liquor needs to be consumed in the state it is bought in India? For finding out more of the things we need to consider so that shipment is not held up at customs, click on this line and go through the March meeting presentation. If you have any questions, you can also ask our guest speaker, Mr. Rajeev Bhargava, from PM Relocations at rajeev@pmrelo.com or call at +91-8754473544.
Social and Emotional
In our meeting we touched on these points to share with our community what our past alumni have experienced and learn from them. If you click on this link, you will see emails that we have put into Google Docs for your to peruse. In this blog though, we want to share with you an article which was written by Stefania and a video by Silvia
From Silvia Ginpero
From Stefania Scardigli
And let’s laugh out loud when we realize we don’t use our left hand anymore to bring that pizza slice to our mouth or to hand out something; or when we are the only ones to take off our shoes when entering our friends’ home.
Signing off for this week.......
Shivaratri is celebrated on the 6th night of the dark Phalgun (Feb or March) every year. On the auspicious day, devotees observe fast and keep vigil all night. Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the ′Tandava′. It is also believed that on this day Lord Shiva was married to Parvati Ma. On this day Shiva devotees observe fast and offer fruits, flowers and bel leaves on Shiva Linga.
Rituals of Maha Shivaratri
Varieties of Marigold for offering to Lord Lingaraj during Shivaratri at Bhubaneswar
Very early morning, Shiva temples are flocked by devotees, young and old, who come to perform the traditional Shivalinga worship (puja) and hence hope for favours from the God. Devotees bathe at sunrise, preferably in the Ganga, or any other holy water source (like the Shiv Sagartank at Khajurao). This is a rite of purification, which is an important part of all Hindu festivals. Wearing clean clothing after the holy bath, worshippers carry pots of water to the temple to bathe the Shivalinga. Women and men both offer prayers to the Sun, Vishnu and Shiva. The temple reverberates with the sound of bells and shouts of "Shankerji ki Jai" meaning 'Hail Shiva'. Devotees circulate the lingam three or seven times, and then pour water over it. Some also pour milk over it.
According to the Shiva Purana, the Mahashivaratri worship must incorporate six items:
Wearing a mala (rosary) made from the rudraksha seeds of the rudraksha tree (said to have sprung from the tears of Lord Shiva) when worshiping Lord Shiva is ideal. A rudraksha seed is mahogany-like color, or could sometimes be black. They might also have traces of sacred sandalwood powder, turmeric, kumkum, or holy ash if the rosary is used in worship ceremonies or annotations.
This year, the day will be 7th March 2016. There will be celebrations throughout town. Do visit the Kapaleshwar Nagar Temple in Mylapore. If you are in the neighborhood you should definitely attend.
Upcoming Events
Board of Directors Town Hall - March 7, 2016 - 8:45- 9:45
Early Dismissal at 1:30 p.m. - March 9, 2016
PCA City Tour - March 16, 2016 - GRT T-Nagar (Jewelry)
Head of School Town Hall Meeting - March 17, 2016 - 8:45 - 9:45
This week we had our monthly PCA Meeting. We talked in particular about going back or going forward to other destinations. We first consider, in sometime the same order, what logistical things do I need to do to make sure that I have everything I need to get my shipment to my destination safely. The later point we consider is how am I going to feel and what are my children feeling as they leave. What can I do for them and me?
Logistics
What are the things we should do or not do when we leave. Did you know that a 1/2 kilo of dhal is what is considered for transport out of the country in your container? Did you know that all liquor needs to be consumed in the state it is bought in India? For finding out more of the things we need to consider so that shipment is not held up at customs, click on this line and go through the March meeting presentation. If you have any questions, you can also ask our guest speaker, Mr. Rajeev Bhargava, from PM Relocations at rajeev@pmrelo.com or call at +91-8754473544.
In our meeting we touched on these points to share with our community what our past alumni have experienced and learn from them. If you click on this link, you will see emails that we have put into Google Docs for your to peruse. In this blog though, we want to share with you an article which was written by Stefania and a video by Silvia
From Silvia Ginpero
From Stefania Scardigli
Home, at last…?
(English version revised by Susan Scales)
I am at the supermarket, standing in front of the yoghurts shelf. All around me, people hurry, they stop just the few seconds necessary to pick up their jars of choice, put them in the shopping cart and move on, concentrating on the next item on their lists. I can’t focus very well, not only on where I am looking at but also on what I am looking for. The number of different brands and the variety of different flavors available in each one brand are blowing my mind: I didn’t even know there was tea flavored yoghurt!I am not in an unknown town, at my first grocery shopping experience. I am at home, in the same supermarket where I have shopped thousands of times before leaving for my expatriation four years ago. Simply, I am not used to this variety: where I have lived for the past four years there were two yogurt brands, maybe four flavors in all. It took me one minute to chose.
Here everything looks different, the simplest actions require my full attention and more time. My autopilot, that should take over in repetitive situations like grocery shopping, is failing me. I feel like a foreigner although I am at home: I am in the middle of Reverse Culture Shock.
Before returning home, I wasn’t really sure that it even existed. I was telling myself: forget it, expatriation has been a parenthesis, I spent the longest part of my life at home, it’s going to be like being back from a holiday.
Yes and no.
We all went through Culture Shock when we moved to a new Country. Experts identify different phases that constitute it, from the highs of the novelty to the lows of homesickness, to the balance reached with difficulties after months or even years. These emotional ups and downs have been graphically represented as a wave or a W.
It is through similar phases and similar emotional ups and downs that Reverse Culture Shock happens when we go back home for good. This is when we cross the line: we are conscious that it is not a vacation, it is not a break, there is no count down to a new departure. Here is where we have to stay and adapt; the fact that it used to be our home years ago doesn’t count much. Actually, one tends to underestimate the effort one needs to put into it.
At first, meeting relatives and friends, being at home, slipping back into old habits is a comfort, known by definition as the “honeymoon stage”. Maybe we can even be a bit harsh in the comparisons we make with what has been our host Country, we breathe easily, we tell ourselves: ah, here I can relax, here everyone understands me, here I can drive/wear/eat whatever I like. Or simply, if we arrive back home at the same time we usually had holidays in the past, we don’t even immediately realize that this time we are home to stay.
Later on, though, when months go by, we become restless: what a nuisance that the car in front of me turns without using the blinkers. Do miniskirts in the summer have to be this short? Colors in the fall are amazing, the bad part is getting used to coats and scarves again. It bothers me that people jump in before I finish talking. Can ginger really be this expensive? Is it really possible that there are so many yoghurt brands that I have to spend half an hour choosing from them?
The time needed to feel back in our shoes may be long: three, six months, sometimes one year: it very much depends on how different is the reality where we lived in expatriation and how long we have been away. A longer period of time abroad results in a bigger number of changes, inside and around us.
I first suspected that something felt weird last summer, when I was crossing the road on the zebra crossing: I lifted my hand and looked sternly into the eyes of the approaching driver, although he was slowing down to let me cross. Within me, I still had the crazy traffic of my host Country.
There are many little habits, hidden everywhere, that we picked up while abroad for a long time. They sneaked into us and built that supplementary software that gave us the skills to survive where we were. But when we are back “home” and they spring up automatically, they can surprise us and make us laugh or reflect. Or they can simply make us see things more complicated than we remembered them.
Sometimes our new habits can make some eyebrows rise among relatives and old friends; they are happy to see us back and don’t quite make sense of our “awkwardness”. It’s when we see surprise and wonder in their eyes that we realize the shift that our behavior has made, compared to the “norm” of the place. It’s inevitable: many things have happened while we were away, both to us and to our friends and relatives at home. And even the most sophisticated social network could not have let us live the daily home life while we were immersed in a parallel daily life far away.
Any event has an influence upon us and can make us change. Therefore, the first step to take is accepting that “home”, in the broad sense of a place of things and people, is not exactly how it was when we left. Also because it’s us, in the first place, who are not the same we used to be.
What’s unsettling is that, when one goes back home, one would not expect to have adaptation problems: it’s, after all, home. But the more time we spent away, the more distant from ours is the culture of the Country where we lived, the more effort we put to get used to the host Country, the more we are going to feel Reverse Culture Shock.
All the women I spoke to, once they went back home after an expatriation, confirmed that they have felt like a fish out of water at some point or another. Relationships and acquaintances at home are more, in number, but not as deep as those among expats, when sharing strong experiences builds strong friendships. There are habits they forgot existed, or others that had changed in the meantime: even just talking about a TV show that it is so popular and that we have never even heard about, living on the other side of the world. Someone said that everything looked the same, while she felt like a new person.
The majority, in order to get back on track, delved into work. Those who went back to their old job needed some time to get the rhythm back. Others started a new professional experience, maybe adding on something they had learned while away. A small number preferred to absorb the change taking some time off to put old issues, family, financial, estate, which had been on hold for so long, back in order. No one said that coming home has been free from obstacles and reflections.
Expat women are used to going from a survival state to a life full of satisfactions at any given latitude, and they have the resources to thrive also during repatriation.
We only need to realize we have to treat it a little bit like expatriation. With a sense of humor, the best antidote to any travel inconvenience. It helped us adapt to our host country and will help us overcome the re-entry. With patience, giving us the time we need to get back into the old persona we were or to create a completely new one. With the solidarity of other women who went through the same experience before us and can help compare notes.
Let’s enjoy the big and small pleasures that we missed when we were away. For me, for instance, biting into an apple I have just run under tap water, with no need of further sterilization.
Let’s take the time we need to metabolize our farewell to the host Country. There are going to be times when a smell, a sound, a face will bring it back to us; others when doing something we learned abroad, a recipe, a game, a dance step, will make us feel how enriching the expatriation experience has been.
And let’s laugh out loud when we realize we don’t use our left hand anymore to bring that pizza slice to our mouth or to hand out something; or when we are the only ones to take off our shoes when entering our friends’ home.
Signing off for this week.......
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Local Ongoings
Shivaratri is celebrated on the 6th night of the dark Phalgun (Feb or March) every year. On the auspicious day, devotees observe fast and keep vigil all night. Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the ′Tandava′. It is also believed that on this day Lord Shiva was married to Parvati Ma. On this day Shiva devotees observe fast and offer fruits, flowers and bel leaves on Shiva Linga.
Rituals of Maha Shivaratri
Varieties of Marigold for offering to Lord Lingaraj during Shivaratri at Bhubaneswar
Very early morning, Shiva temples are flocked by devotees, young and old, who come to perform the traditional Shivalinga worship (puja) and hence hope for favours from the God. Devotees bathe at sunrise, preferably in the Ganga, or any other holy water source (like the Shiv Sagartank at Khajurao). This is a rite of purification, which is an important part of all Hindu festivals. Wearing clean clothing after the holy bath, worshippers carry pots of water to the temple to bathe the Shivalinga. Women and men both offer prayers to the Sun, Vishnu and Shiva. The temple reverberates with the sound of bells and shouts of "Shankerji ki Jai" meaning 'Hail Shiva'. Devotees circulate the lingam three or seven times, and then pour water over it. Some also pour milk over it.
According to the Shiva Purana, the Mahashivaratri worship must incorporate six items:
- Bathing the Shiva Linga with water, milk and honey. Woodapple or bel leaves are added to, which represents purification of the soul;
- Vermilion paste is applied to the Shiva Linga after bathing it. This represents virtue;
- Offering of fruits, which is conducive to longevity and gratification of desires;
- Burning incense, yielding wealth;
- The lighting of the lamp which is conducive to the attainment of knowledge;
- And betel leaves marking satisfaction with worldly pleasures.
- Tripundra refers to the three horizontal stripes of holy ash applied to the forehead by worshipers of Lord Shiva. These stripes symbolise spiritual knowledge, purity and penance (spiritual practice of Yoga). They also represent the three eyes of Lord Shiva.
Wearing a mala (rosary) made from the rudraksha seeds of the rudraksha tree (said to have sprung from the tears of Lord Shiva) when worshiping Lord Shiva is ideal. A rudraksha seed is mahogany-like color, or could sometimes be black. They might also have traces of sacred sandalwood powder, turmeric, kumkum, or holy ash if the rosary is used in worship ceremonies or annotations.
This year, the day will be 7th March 2016. There will be celebrations throughout town. Do visit the Kapaleshwar Nagar Temple in Mylapore. If you are in the neighborhood you should definitely attend.
---------------------------
Upcoming Events
Board of Directors Town Hall - March 7, 2016 - 8:45- 9:45
Early Dismissal at 1:30 p.m. - March 9, 2016
PCA City Tour - March 16, 2016 - GRT T-Nagar (Jewelry)
Head of School Town Hall Meeting - March 17, 2016 - 8:45 - 9:45
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Connect Magazine
AISConnect magazine comes out in the month of April this year. It is a magazine created by the parent community for the parent community. If you have an interest in writing, editing, creating layouts for this magazine, please email us at pca@aisch.org.
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PCA Ball Update
WE NEED YOUR VOTE!!
Please click here - Questionnaire II
The first vote that we received was nearly 50/50, which did not help us to make a clear decision which choice to make best for all. Thus, we have to request that you please vote again this week. The voting will take place till Friday, March 4, 2016, till midnight. With this stated, we wanted to give you all MORE information that we have recently received. Thus, we felt it best to forward this onto you to make a better judgement call.
As a business, ITC will not be able to offer both options, ONLY ONE! Thus, please choose one that fits your budgetary constraints.
1) Food + drinks unlimited - Ticket price will be Rs.6000/person which contains the following:
Elaborate Menu
9 different countries represented
15 Non-Veg items, of which 10 are main-courses
23 Veg items
11 different desserts
Drinks Included, not ending till 15 minutes before closing
Soledoro Sangiovese
Soledoro Trebbiano
Absolut Vodka
Kingfisher 330 mL
British empire 330 mL
JW Black Label
Chivas Regal 12 Year
** We are trying to get Bombay Sapphire too
Inclusive of mocktails
2) Food only + drinks are to be purchased A-La-carte - Ticket price is Rs.3800/person
Elaborate Menu
9 different countries represented
15 Non-Veg items, of which 10 are main-courses
23 Veg items
11 different desserts
Drinks to be purchased A-La-Carte
Wines are: Red/White : (Jacobs Creek Shiraz / Jacobs Creek Chardonnay)
1 Bottle Wine – Rs. 2661 (Net)
2 Bottles Wine – Rs. 5322 (Net)
Beer package – 3 King Fisher Bottles (1 pint= 473 mL) – Rs.645
Any other cocktails or mocktails
Please choose which is the best based on the information provided.
Please click here - Questionnaire II
The first vote that we received was nearly 50/50, which did not help us to make a clear decision which choice to make best for all. Thus, we have to request that you please vote again this week. The voting will take place till Friday, March 4, 2016, till midnight. With this stated, we wanted to give you all MORE information that we have recently received. Thus, we felt it best to forward this onto you to make a better judgement call.
As a business, ITC will not be able to offer both options, ONLY ONE! Thus, please choose one that fits your budgetary constraints.
1) Food + drinks unlimited - Ticket price will be Rs.6000/person which contains the following:
Elaborate Menu
9 different countries represented
15 Non-Veg items, of which 10 are main-courses
23 Veg items
11 different desserts
Drinks Included, not ending till 15 minutes before closing
Soledoro Sangiovese
Soledoro Trebbiano
Absolut Vodka
Kingfisher 330 mL
British empire 330 mL
JW Black Label
Chivas Regal 12 Year
** We are trying to get Bombay Sapphire too
Inclusive of mocktails
2) Food only + drinks are to be purchased A-La-carte - Ticket price is Rs.3800/person
Elaborate Menu
9 different countries represented
15 Non-Veg items, of which 10 are main-courses
23 Veg items
11 different desserts
Drinks to be purchased A-La-Carte
Wines are: Red/White : (Jacobs Creek Shiraz / Jacobs Creek Chardonnay)
1 Bottle Wine – Rs. 2661 (Net)
2 Bottles Wine – Rs. 5322 (Net)
Beer package – 3 King Fisher Bottles (1 pint= 473 mL) – Rs.645
Any other cocktails or mocktails
Please choose which is the best based on the information provided.
We look for you all to join us for the PCA BALL on May 7, 2016.
---------------------------
"There is no wi-fi in the forest but you will find a better connection." A visit to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala, part of the magnificent Western Ghats, will connect you with Nature and its curious inhabitants. A boat ride through the reservoir offers a chance to watch Elephant herds and other wildlife. Guided treks by tribals, who now work as forest guides, will help understand and appreciate the role played by forest ecosystems and the need to protect them. While spotting Sher Khan's (of Jungle Book fame) Malayali cousin is a matter of luck, which is true of all wildlife sightings, you never know when the two of you may cross paths! It is an experience that you and your family will not forget in a hurry. Kerala and Tamil Nadu have a host of such special interest experiences on offer. Experience the best of both these destinations with The Traveling Gecko. For more details, write to mail@thetravelinggecko.com or call us on +91 9940458435.
Follow us on Facebook for travel ideas and stories- facebook.com/TheTravelingGecko.
+91 9940458435/+91 9995561519 | mail@thetravelinggecko.com | facebook.com/TheTravelingGecko
References
1) http://www.mahashivratri.org/
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maha_Shivaratri
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyotirlinga
---------------------------
For Your Easter Holiday
"There is no wi-fi in the forest but you will find a better connection." A visit to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala, part of the magnificent Western Ghats, will connect you with Nature and its curious inhabitants. A boat ride through the reservoir offers a chance to watch Elephant herds and other wildlife. Guided treks by tribals, who now work as forest guides, will help understand and appreciate the role played by forest ecosystems and the need to protect them. While spotting Sher Khan's (of Jungle Book fame) Malayali cousin is a matter of luck, which is true of all wildlife sightings, you never know when the two of you may cross paths! It is an experience that you and your family will not forget in a hurry. Kerala and Tamil Nadu have a host of such special interest experiences on offer. Experience the best of both these destinations with The Traveling Gecko. For more details, write to mail@thetravelinggecko.com or call us on +91 9940458435. Follow us on Facebook for travel ideas and stories- facebook.com/TheTravelingGecko.
+91 9940458435/+91 9995561519 | mail@thetravelinggecko.com | facebook.com/TheTravelingGecko
References
1) http://www.mahashivratri.org/
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maha_Shivaratri
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyotirlinga
