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On May 22, smartly attired in our LMG Europe T-shirts we embarked on our trip to the land of our founder Claude Martin: Lyon, France. Our principal, Lorraine Mirza, had received an invitation from Maurice Clerc, the general executive secretary of the Anciens Martins (Old Martinians Association of Lyon), to visit them, the Claude Martin Foundation and the three French La Martiniere schools.
We were welcomed in Paris by French Martinians. The next three days in Lyon was a whirlwind of activity. The programme included a comprehensive visit to each La Martiniere Lycee (high school) with its different sections — La Martiniere Duchere, with its international trade section and medical laboratories, La Martiniere Monplaisir, with engineering sciences, and La Martiniere Diderot, with applied arts, textiles and design. We were able to get a glimpse of their resources, interact with the principals, staff and students and participate in interesting workshops.
At the Claude Martin Foundation, we were able to see the seal, original testament and numerous photographs of Claude Martin. The education project on silk conducted by Emmanuel Brossard, a professor of applied arts, gave us new insights into silk production. At a creative workshop by Xavier Niyet, we partnered with our French counterparts to create logos blending French and Indian designs. At the La Martiniere Terreaux we were shown a slide show by Isabelle Antoine, professor in visual communication, of projects done by students for the festival of lights in Lyon.
The highlight of the programme was meeting the mayor of Lyon, Nathalie Perrin-Gilbert, who expressed the desire to establish an Indo-French connect with La Martiniere for Girls. She was impressed by the fact that we were able to communicate in French. We also met Ines de Lavernee Piaton, councilor of the second district of Lyon, who was a descendant of the family of Claude Martin, Christiane Degurse Berliet, entrepreneur SDT (silk, textiles and derivations) in Vaulx-en-Velin and a descendant of the last “Lyonnaise silk workers”, Miguel Gonzales associate professor of literature at La Martiniere Diderot, author and director of several plays, historian Jean-Marie Lafont, Carole Brunie, director of the French Alliance Lyon, Laplane Florence, vice-president of the Lyon Association — Accueil des Villes de France.
At a poetry workshop in La Martiniere Duchere we wrote haiku poems in English and French. We also met Gilles Buna, deputy mayor of Lyon.
We enjoyed the cultural evening organised by the Anciens Martins Association and Claude Martin Foundation. We also had the opportunity to taste French cuisine at the school canteens, cooked by members of the Anciens Martins, and at restaurants.
A world heritage centre, Lyon was a great place to see buildings with thematic painted walls, French architecture and design, silk workshops and beautiful cathedrals. We loved the ride by the river Rhone and Saone.
It was with heavy hearts that we waved goodbye to our French friends on the morning of the May 26 as we boarded the train to Paris.
We were accompanied to Paris by D. Martinod and G. Martinod (WHO) where we visited the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame, Montmartre, Louvre, Versailles Palace, and other places of historic interest. We also met the director of the French Heritage in India (FHI) Philippe Toussaint who told us about French history. He showed us a French heritage building which had a tapestry room, a banquet with beautiful chandeliers and woodwork and other rooms full of art.
On May 29 we proceeded to London to complete our International School Award (given by the British Council) activities. We visited the Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, The London Eye, and Madame Tussauds. We were spellbound by the beauty of the Kohinoor diamond and the crown jewels in the Tower of London.
The 12-day trip was a wonderful learning experience and the visit to Lyon — the birth place of our founder, Major General Claude Martin, has enhanced the Martinian spirit within us. Vive La Martiniere!
Text and pictures: Mariam Zaki,
Class XI, La Martiniere for Girls
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Black Forest in Karlsruhe, Germany (photographed by Father Felix Raj, principal of St. Xavier’s College) forms an elongated rectangle between Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Basle and Lake Constance and is a big tourist attraction. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft). The name Schwarzwald (German for “Black Forest”) derives from the Romans who referred to the thickly forested mountains there as Silva Nigra or Silva Carbonara (Latin for “Black Forest”) because the dense growth of conifers in the forest blocked out most of the light inside the forest. The Black Forest cake, consisting of several layers of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer is named after this German forest. Kirschwasser, a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries of the region, is a mandatory ingredient for the cake.
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Somewhere over the rainbow, even sluts walk free.” And if there is a rainbow there had to be rain. SlutWalk Kolkata — Haato Duschoritro, on June 7, began with much-needed rain. It didn’t, however, deter the 100-odd people gathered for the walk at Worldview, Jadavpur University. Participants included students, professors, working professionals as well as tourists from Australia and Belgium, who joined in to lend a voice to the global movement.
Calcutta is the only Indian city till now to have held a second chapter of the SlutWalk, being held all over the world since 2011. Slogans rang out loud against sexual harassment in public spaces, gender discrimination and the patriarchal notions of the term “slut”. Posters, red devil horns and SlutWalk badges sent out the message loud and clear.
“We got to know about the SlutWalk while leaving our guest house and thought it would be great to join in,” said Lila Kennelly from Sydney, Australia, who participated in the walk along with her brother Akael Alias. “One of the most misunderstood words in English is “no”. It doesn’t mean maybe or perhaps or yes, it means NO,” added Lila carrying a poster that read — “My no means a NO”.
The enthusiastic crowd came to know about the walk through friends, Facebook or word of mouth. The walk started at 5.30 and ended at Triangular Park, where the participants paid tribute to filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh with a minute of silence. “He was one of the greatest icons for gender sensitisation,” said the organisers.
“If by marching in a SlutWalk you can change the way one person thinks about the way they dress or how they behave then you have done something good,” said writer and academic Rimi B. Chatterjee, who was also part of the first chapter of SlutWalk Kolkata. “Asche bochhor abar hobe, this protest should not stop,” she added.
SlutWalk Kolkata 2013 put emphasis on the movement being gender inclusive rather than feminist. “We have been sporting the rainbow sash signifying Slut Pride, where each colour symbolises a community or sexuality,” said core-committee member Sulakshana Biswas, pointing to the poster carrying a modified version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz.
Sreyoshi Dey
Pictures: Sayantan Ghosh
What do you think of the SlutWalk movement? Tell t2@abp.in