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ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016 24 BAS ‘Art a family affair’ Students, teachers enjoy fun-filled adventure holiday Irish writer O’Connor and strange music of unhappy families British Academy of Sports visits Romania locations. We’ll be doing Story Time at the Yarmouk Culture Centre on set Wednesday afternoons for all the kids in the neighbourhood (and anyone else who wants to come). We’ll also have Story Time at Amricani Cultural Centre on set Saturday afternoons. The schedule for both is shown below. Of course, this means we need 32 volunteer readers. Will you be one of them? Ideally, the book will be read twice, once with minimal interruptions, followed by a more interactive reading. The first reading is designed to help kids get com- fortable listening to stories. The second reading, with questions and prompts like “what happens next?,” “what do you think she sounds like?,” and “why did he do that?,” promotes the development of criti- cal thinking, creativity, and communica- tion skills. Most important, we want both the kids and the reader to have fun. It’s good for children to hear lots of different voices, so if you have an hour to spare one Saturday or Wednesday, please volunteer. You can email info@darmu- seum.org.kw; mailto:info@darmuseum. org.kw and let us know when you can’t do it. You can also let me know if you have a favourite children’s book you want to read. If not, we have a pretty good selec- tion you can choose from in the Reading Room. On behalf of all the children who will enjoy Story Time, thanks for your support. Storytime at YCC 3:30 pm on sched- uled Wednesdays — May 4, May 18. Storytime at ACC 3:30 pm on sched- uled Saturdays — May 7, May 21. General KIFF anti-drugs campaign: As part of the Fraternity fest, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum (KIFF) is conducting Anti-Drugs Campaign among Indians living in Ku- wait. According to the available statistics of Indian Embassy, 60% of the convicted Indians in Kuwaiti Jails are arrested on drug-related cases. The recent cases of death and captives of Indian drug abusers KUWAIT CITY, April 26: The British Academy of Sport (BAS) organized for the second year another successful trip to Transylvania, in Romania. A group of 19 students and 3 teachers enjoyed a fun filled adventure holiday as part of their Spring break. The trip was for 6 days in the Predeal region which is a beautiful mountain resort with an altitude of 1600 meters and located very close to Brasov City in Transylvania. An unexpected snowfall in April added to the thrills of the trip with sledging and snowballing as well as archery in the snow adding to the many sports on offer. These included swimming in the Olympic pool at Aqua Park and at Therme Bucharest, the big- gest thermal wellness center from Eu- rope. Having enjoyed the magnificent swimming in the Galaxy waves pool in Therme the students took part in a range of sporting activities with professional coaches. These included Horse Riding at Maggie’s Ranch; Zip Wire, Tubing, Bowling, Climbing, Laser Tag, Hiking and Archery. BAS students also enjoyed visits to many of Romania’s unique tourist venues such as Dracula’s Castle, Peles Palace, Rasnov Fortress, and they also travelled 2,000 meters to the top of the mountains by Cable Car in Sinaia and Chair Lift in Predeal. The group was invited to the Olym- pic Federation in Brasov to meet with one of the best Romanian Ski Champi- ons, Ioan Achiriloaie, who participated in the Winter Olympics Games at Sochi in 2014. The trip culminated with an Awards Evening where most of the students participated in the “BAS Got Talent Show” and all received medals, certifi- cates and souvenirs of this historic trip to Romania. A special surprise for the students was to visit the International School of Bucharest where they had a school tour, lunch and made new friends during the sports competition with Year 6 students from Romania. Also on the last day the group was invited to visit the Kuwait Embassy in Bucharest where they met with HE the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Romania, Mr Mubarak Al Sheaijan, who gave them a short briefing about the Embassy activi- ties and enjoyed a presentation on the trip from Year 5 student Mohammed Ekrouf. Following the success of the 2015/2016 trips to Spain and Romania BAS is planning two sports trips for 2016/2017, in October to Greece and in April to Italy. For more details about BAS Trips and Activities please call 99458013 or visit www.bas.edu.kw Continued from Page 23 Latest Division O Toastmasters contest: Division O Toastmasters contest will be held at the Australian College of Kuwait on the 29th April 2016. This contest will showcase the Best of the Best winners who have moved from their respective clubs under Area, 17, 19 and 38 to com- pete at the Annual Division “O” contest in Kuwait. Area 17 comprises of Bright Horizons/ Capitol Speaker/Don Bosco/Mace Springs & Thmeen Toastmasters club) Area 19 comprises of Timbre Talkers/ Arifjan Articulators/Bhavans Master- minds/ACK/Kuwait Mentors and Coaches Toastmasters club) Area 38 comprises of South Kuwait Toastmasters club/Bhavans Community/ Rising Star/Kuwait Leader Club/NBTC Toastmasters club) We invite each and every one of you to come with your family and friends to wit- ness this special Treat of Speeches which will not only make you ponder, giggle and think on your feet but also leave you inspired. They say To bring out the best, you need to cheer a lot … please come to cheer and support and make the time to attend this event. We are also proud to have the British School of Kuwait as our Silver Sponsors. May 4 DAI announces Story Time: We need your help. Over the summer, the DAI started a Story Time programme that was a terrific success. The children, many of whom came every week, loved the stories and so did the parents. (Truth be told, so did the readers!) So, due to popular demand, we’re going to launch CS21 Story Time, held in two TOULOUSE, France, April 26, (AFP): When the Irish novelist Joseph O’Connor reads his books aloud he almost sings them. Like his sister, the singer Sinead O’Connor, he is forever searching for “mu- sicality”. In the fa- mously tumultu- ous O’Connor household, art was a family affair. Joseph, the eldest, began writing at 14 and published his first book at 27. His youngest sister Sinead was a pop sensation at 21, while his other sister Eimear is a well-known painter and art historian. But there was price to pay. “I hate to say it, but when you’re raised in a turbulent home, it teaches you to look at the world (differently) ... you’re looking down into the bare bones of life very quickly.” The family fell apart when Joseph was 11. Divorce was still outlawed in Ireland and despite his mother’s alcoholism, fathers were almost never given custody of their children. His parents married young and “they were very unhappy”, O’Connor said. “It was a very destructive place ... a powerful mix if you want your kids to be creative.” But despite all the shouting and tears, his parents did manage to pass on their profound love of literature and the arts. “We were lucky to have this cultural inheritance,” said O’Connor, who made his breakthrough internationally with the historical bestseller “Star of the Sea” in 2002. “The house was full of books, they loved the theatre, they loved music, Left: This book cover image released by Grand Central Publishing shows, ‘The Last Mile’, by David Baldacci. (Right): This book cover image released by Wil- liam Morrow shows ‘Siddharta’s Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of En- lightenment’ by James Kingsland. (AP) and they opened the door to that world as a source of pleasure.” Literature was not O’Connor’s only consolation. He and Sinead “uncon- sciously encouraged each other”, he told AFP at a books festival in the French city of Toulouse. Her early success helped him per- severe with his writing, he said. “You realise that these sort of things are possible, so (you think) why don’t you give a shot, don’t be scared. “I think it is also a cultural thing,” he argued. Whatever pressure Irish parents apply to their offsprings to get good steady jobs, “they would be secretly quite pleased at a child wanting to be a writer. It’s a nice thing about Ireland, people do value the arts, and see it as something we do quite well.” O’Connor -- who has recently been made a literary ambassador for Ireland by its poet president, Michael D Hig- gins -- also rejoices in the fact that neither writers nor artists pay tax there. With his friend and fellow Dubliner Colum McCann, O’Connor, a former journalist who wrote a hugely popular weekly radio essay, is regarded as one of the leading male Irish writers of his generation. But music is still very much the metronome of his existence. He has a vast musical collection and hardly goes a day without listening to a Patti Smith song. And every time he sits down to write he does so as if he was trying to make music. “If you put yourself in a position of Continued on Page 26 A photo from the trip is a threatening news. To defend and to campaign against such social crisis by protecting individuals as well as the soci- ety has become obligatory. In this current situation, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum is conducting campaign by distributing handouts, conducting counseling, seminars etc. to educate the Indians living in Kuwait informed President Saifudheen Nalakath in a press release. For more details con- tact: 55062071 or email at kiffkuwait@ gmail.com. ❑ ❑ ❑ NYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breathing, medi- tation and reiki classes by a well-experi- enced female yoga teacher for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825. ❑ ❑ ❑ Leadership Excellence Course: The Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of leadership for all mankind. The LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next. The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Understand the purpose of our lives and learn to live that purpose with confidence 3. Understand the importance of connecting to Allah and learn how to do it 4. Understand how to leverage your strengths and overcome weaknesses 5. Understand how to articu- late your life goal and create a road map to achieve it. For more information please visit www.leckuwait.com or call 99514995 / 66363310. ❑ ❑ ❑ AWL registration: If you would like to join the American Women’s League (AWL), please call 99039723 or 94067999 or email: [email protected]. All American women and wives of Americans are welcomed. ❑ ❑ ❑ Ugandans register with UIK: Are you a Ugandan living and working in Kuwait? Would you like to get in touch with other Ugandans in Kuwait both socially and professionally? Then please get in touch with us. We would like to invite you to register with the Ugandans in Kuwait (UIK) association, an informal organiza- tion of Ugandans living and working in Kuwait. The purpose of this exercise is to get together as Ugandans and to consider taking the first steps to establishing a more formal organisation. This association is voluntary. It is designed to create a forum for Ugandans in Kuwait to foster a sense of community, to communicate more ef- fectively with each other and to encourage Ugandans out here to work together. We are also planning a celebration to mark 50 years of Ugandan’s Independence this year. If you have any questions regarding this association or if you are interested in registering, then please send us an email at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you soon. ❑ ❑ ❑ Free drum music classes: Free pro- fessional drum music classes are available at Salmiya for all age groups from begin- ners to advanced by a well experienced drum teacher. For more details: 94974295. ❑ ❑ ❑ Writing for children at DAI: Writing for Children is a programme for 8 - 12 year olds, incorporating many aspects of the successful “Writing to Read” programme. click ‘Siddhartha’s Brain’ smart take on meditation ‘Last Mile’ Baldacci’s latest thriller By Waka Tsunoda ‘T he Last Mile’ (Grand Central Pub- lishing), by David Baldacci After two decades in a Texas prison, Melvin Mars is about to be executed for the murder of his white father and black mother. He hears people ap- proaching his cell and assumes they are his escorts to the death chamber. The door opens, and one of them in- tones: “Your execution has been called off.” A death-row inmate in Alabama has confessed to the crime. So begins “The Last Mile,” David Baldacci’s latest — and utterly ab- sorbing — novel. Amos Decker, a former police de- tective in Ohio who made his debut in Baldacci’s 2015 novel, “Memory Man,” hears this amazing story on the radio and is intrigued. His wife, daughter and brother-in-law were also murdered. And Mars isn’t a to- tal stranger. Decker played college football against him in a nationally televised game. Decker, now a member of the FBI’s new and unconventional investiga- tive team, is in a good position to find out if there was miscarriage of justice in the Mars case. He peels off the layers of deception and uncovers a horrific crime hidden behind the kill- ing of Mars’ parents. In the best Baldacci tradition, the action is fast and furious. But “The Last Mile” is more than a good ac- tion thriller. It sheds light on racism, a father-son relationship and capital punishment. Both Mars and Decker are sub- stantive, solid characters. Although their football dreams were shattered in their youth by their respective trag- edies, they hold their heads high and forge ahead. Entertaining and enlightening, “The Last Mile” is a rich novel that has much to offer. ❑ ❑ ❑ “Siddhartha’s Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlighten- ment” (William Morrow), by James Kingsland It’s a pleasure to read “Siddhar- tha’s Brain” which comes from a sci- ence journalist with long experience of explaining ideas for readers of The Guardian and other publications. James Kingsland even includes guided meditation exercises through- out a book that explores mindfulness and its benefits. “For contemplatives with a tenden- cy to intellectualize — which would probably include people who read books about the science of enlighten- ment — mindfulness of breathing is strongly recommended,” he suggests at one point. Others might focus on compassion, or on the putrefaction of the body if easily distracted by sen- sual desire. Kingsland draws from the life of Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhist philosophy and practice, and from research and personal ex- ploration to show what lies behind the book’s striking first sentence: “‘We are all mentally ill,’ said the smil- ing monk in the wide-brimmed hat, as if this explained everything.” Anyone familiar with meditation will know that it involves not avoiding un- comfortable feelings but focusing on them calmly and with detachment. But Kingsland wants to know how this came to be. “What has gone so wrong during the evolution of the human brain that it needs to be fixed by medi- tation? Curiously, no one I spoke to during my research for this book had given much thought to this question.” This is a smart, accessible balance of philosophical teachings and brain science and how meditation can re- late to everything from addiction to Alzheimer’s disease. Whether you are comfortable with being alone with your wandering mind or avoid it at all costs, you’ll learn something useful from this book. (AP) an alien from Mars arriving here, of all the strange things we do, the weirdest is this thing they do with our voices: making noise,” he said. “It’s the most strange, the most fa- miliar, the most beautiful and the most commonplace of all the art forms,” the jovial writer said. “Everything (in writing) should aspire to the purity of music, which has no borders, which doesn’t need lan- guage ... the laws of physics change, it’s very powerful. I like it when words begin to function at that level, like a piece of music. “I struggle to get that into my own work, I try to really charge every sen- tence with musicality,” he declared. But there is some music he would rather not listen to -- his sister’s. “I don’t listen to it much because I find it painful. I understand the place of pain that it comes from. I don’t want to be reminded.” O’Connor A photo from the trip
