Write to the editor

We would like to show our gratitude and appreciation for the fruitful media coverage you have given our society’s events by presenting you with a boxed plaque. We would also like to thank your readers for supporting our recent charity sale held at Country Mall in Budaiya, as well as the many volunteers who helped make it happen.

Khalil Al Daylami, chairman, The Tree of Life Charity Society.

Thank you for the great eye-opener in last week’s cover story headlined Plant Danger. After reading the article, I made my own research, given that we housed the same plant in our garden.
 
The Euphorbia tirucalli causes temporary blindness if it gets in eyes (even just rubbing your eyes is dangerous, if sap has dripped on your hands) and some people blister and burn from skin contact too, though usually the skin irritation takes a day or so to show up.

Not content just to cause pain and blindness, the plant has long-term ideas as well: it contains phorbol esters, which are not only skin irritants but actually promote cancer development, suppress the immune system and activate dormant Epstein-Barr virus.

I am happy that Dave is recuperating and I wish him a speedy recovery. By sharing his ordeal he helped us avoid similar mishaps. For us, one less plant to worry about in our garden.

Karen El Zein, by email.

Yes ... ’tis a plaintiff cry from the heart of the Manama Singers. All is going well for our upcoming Fete de la Musique concert at the Sofitel on June 21 but we have hit one small hitch – and that is we have a double-bass player willing and able to play with us but he has no instrument.

So, if any of you can help us spare said double-bass player the indignity of standing on stage playing ‘air’ double-bass – or if you maybe know someone who might be able to help but who isn’t on our Manama Singers mailing list – we will be so grateful!

And if you’re not singing, playing, or involved in some planet-saving expedition to the North Pole on the day, we very much hope to see you in the audience!

Please respond to my email address: annathompsonhall@aol.com

Anna, Manama Singers.

In light of the recent passing away of Mr Shashi we would like to take this opportunity to honour his memory and thank him for all that he has done for our school in his time with us.
For those of you who don’t know who he was, here’s a bit about him.

Shashikant Narayan Nagvenkar, pictured right, or as we knew him, Mr Shashi, was the British School of Bahrain’s caretaker, who lived on site since the BSB opened its doors in November 1994, and stayed with us loyally even after we moved to the new campus, until 2011 when he had to unexpectedly leave.

He was an institution to the BSB and is known for diligently ringing the bell every day and played a massive part in keeping our school in tip-top shape.

Especially for people who have been with the BSB for an extended period of time, like me, this news is quite saddening.

We can remember going to Mr Shashi during the day to run errands, like to bring our teacher boxes of tissues or even batteries. He did everything back when our school was much smaller than it is today.

And, when the end of break came we, as young children, would gather around him, waiting in anticipation for him to begin ringing that bell in his special way that no one but him could recreate.

To this day we use the same bell that Mr Shashi rang, and until recently the BSB still ran on ‘Shashi time’.

Mr Shashi was a very vital part of our school back when he was still with us and for that we thank him. We at the BSB will never forget his contribution to life at our school and he will be truly missed. Mr Shashi thanks for everything!

Kevin Orme,
Year 10 Student,
British School of Bahrain.