Letters

St Christopher’s Cathedral is excited to announce A Celebration of Music presented by the wonderfully gifted members of St Christopher’s School Music Department.

It is the first concert after an extended summer break. In a generous initiative to raise funds for a new piano for the cathedral, which will be more suited to concert performance, the musicians will present a variety of solo and chamber works on Thursday, October 26th at 6pm.

St Christopher’s Cathedral has been arranging concerts for five years. The first concert was by the Manama String Quartet in October 2012 and in the intervening years there have been many performances by both solo artists and groups.

The cathedral, with its wonderful acoustic, is appreciated by both performers and audiences alike and, over the years, two world premieres have been presented.

Ticket prices are deliberately kept low to encourage families and those on lower incomes and accompanied children have always been allowed in for free.

A new piano will enable musicians to share at a higher level of artistic excellence and enable St Christopher’s Cathedral to continue to be an important venue for concerts and a continuing contributor to the music scene in Bahrain.

The cathedral also provides a regular venue for rehearsals of the Manama Singers, who have given so much pleasure to the Bahrain community for many years.

For the concert on Thursday, October 26, the Cathedral looks forward to performances by Olena Nazarova, Katherina Kazi, Andrew Holman, Lis Holman, Richard Marcelo, Nick Smart, Rob Duff, Kirsty Williamson and Paul Bagshaw, who is co-ordinating the concert.

Works will include pieces by Piazolla, Poulenc, Tchaikowsky, and Bolling.

Tickets are priced BD5 for adults and accompanied children are free, but on this occasion there will be the opportunity for the audience to show their appreciation and support in a special retiring collection and all money collected will be directed towards funding a new piano.

Tickets may be purchased from the Cathedral Office (Tel: 17253866), or at the door on the evening of the concert.

To find out more about Concerts at St. Christopher’s Cathedral, please check out our page on Facebook: fb.me/concertsatstchristophers

Dean, The Very Rev Christopher Butt.

Post natal depression is real. As real as the baby pouch that wiggles and jiggles its way through every time I want it concealed. I assumed it was some psychologist’s exaggerated interpretation of hormonal imbalance after pregnancy. Its existence and severity remained doubtful to me till I gave birth to my first baby.

Post natal depression took its time to seep in my mind and heart. After three months of delivery I was completely soaked in it. ‘Leave me alone!’ I cried. I hated the crying of the baby and household chores seemed like a battle I had to fight every single day. I didn’t want to smile. I didn’t want to meet anyone. I just wanted to cry.

The biggest mistake I made during the depression was to try explaining my constant low. I hoped to be understood without stating that I was exhausted, sleep-deprived and over-worked.

I was learning to be a mother. The fact that I was responsible for another human life including his normal mental health and upbringing was taking its time to hit me.

The fact that my family and friends expected me to be the same person I was before was beginning to weigh on my nerves. It was adding to the blackness that engulfed me. Can I be the same person? My womb bled - the metal bed of the hospital, the white light and the chill of the operation theatre during the C-section … all of it tainted the colour of my retina.

Post natal depression can also cause suicidal thoughts. The urge to get away from responsibility and the non-stop ‘mommy-ing’ is so desperate that the mind plays its own games.

To every mother out there - there is hope.

The depression takes around six months to slowly recede. Eventually it does leave you alone. After you step out of this, you are able to move on with little expectations. Smile. Keep your head high and skip on!

It was World Mental Health Day this past week, it is time that we acknowledge post natal depression as a reality and help women deal with it instead of convincing them to just ignore it.

It may pass, of course, but with the love and consideration of those near and dear, mothers will wake up from this nightmare hopefully not in anguish.

Mariam Sarwar, freelance writer, playing mummy since 2012, and winging it as a trustee for the Women’s Empowerment Group.