Guru Kaur's Blog

The Inner Circle is the thriving private online community for the Be the Woman... Course which I run.  I usually write to it at least once a day on topical issues and answering questions.  These give a graceful approach, often in stark contrast to what the media at large deliver.  This is what  I've most recently written about:

• Stand for Service - you get treated how you expect you will be
• Be the Woman... Tea Serving Day, Sunday 5th April - the beauty created by Tea
• The Grace of Finding Your Voice - the truth of who you are
• Tenderness and Fire - the Regally Graceful™ qualities of Natasha Richardson
• Help! I'm Becoming My Mother - Your life starts when you choose who you are
• Off Limits - when a woman betrays her power and grace, destruction follows
• Recipe from Club 15CC - Chocolate and Raisin Brownies a la Japonaise
• Educating Women - how society benefits from women's education
• Recipe from Club 15CC: Crepes de la Maison - my delicious pancake recipe
• The Natural Order - how the death of a child creates a legacy
• The Information Age - why Kundalini Yoga is a necessity in daily living
• What's Your Price? - what's the value of a woman and what does she stand for?
• Broad Beans, Birds and Bees - what Sex Education really needs to teach
• Dealing with Pain - How good it feels when we let go of past traumas
• When You're All Full Up - what space is there in your life?
• What Gets in the Way of Relationships - the joy of being open-minded
• What Parents Can Do for You - where do you think self-esteem comes from?
• Recipe from Club 15CC: Rhubarb Fool - pink, delicious and very seasonal
• Films at Club 15CC: Lorenzo's Oil - the power of parental love to change science
• What's a Man's Money Got to Do with IT? - what marriage is really about
• Deny Your Womanhood at Your Peril - clarifying confusing messages on women
• Recipe from Club 15CC: Celeriac and Coconut Soup - ambrosial and delicious
• No is Not Resistance - Why learning to say no gracefully may save your life
• The Responsibility of Leadership - what makes a leader calm in a crisis
• Recipe from Club 15CC: Vegetable Stew a la Moroccaine
• Why Your Bathroom is Sacred - the healing power of your bath and hot water
• The Delights of Garlic - How to feel vitalised and prevent colds
• A Diva Behind Closed Doors - what every man wishes that every woman knows
• My 6 Tips to Stop Snacking at Work - easy when you know how!
• The (Angelic) Power of Loving Individuals - on Mothers and Teachers
• A Woman's Responsibility and Right - on Rachida Dati's return to work
• What on Earth is Happening? - on a bigger view of the current global economy
• Recipe from Club 15CC: Jammy Dodgers - Yum-Yum :)
• Films at Club 15CC: Slumdog Millionaire - Fantastic

Spring brings with it new shoots of green, announcing the potential for the summer ahead.  Asparagus just sums that up so well!  I have just entered this tart in the March Food Joust on the Foodie Blog Roll, the forum for Food Bloggers. It requires that you make a dish using three ingredients. This month they were almonds, asparagus and lemongrass. Here's my entry: Asparagus and Lemongrass Cream Tart.

Last week I was a guest at a Mini-Conference hosted by Concordis International, on how to address breaking the vicious cycle of conflict.  It dealt with real life in its raw and dirty details which no one wants to know about and few could even dream up to make into a Hollywood plot. The starting point was understanding the extremes of victims and the way out through communication.

There's no quicker way to find out what issues people have, in life as well as about food, then to serve them chocolate. Chocolate's been demonised and idolised; it's been the object of denial and obsession; and everyone has an opinion about it. Please don't blame chocolate when you're looking in the mirror and wondering "does my bum look big in this?".  If you ate more than one...

Yesterday we all went off to Waterstone's in Ealing for the book signing of Nidar Singh Nihang and Parmjit Singrh's book In the Master's Presence.  Millie waited so patiently outside like a true groupie and then fell in love with a real gentleman. 

If you thought that the only place to be in Spring, my dear, is Paris, well think again.  This year, Spring has arrived in London with all the warmth of summer's promise, the expansive blue skies of infinite potential, and the fresh vitality that signifies the end of winters' past.  It was time to get out there and check out what the trees are wearing this year, and how this year's rendition of spring's birdsong compares with previous number ones.  There's a rather incongruous melange far beyond what you normally expect from a City.

Today one of my favourite magazines thudded onto the floor through the letterbox. It's another French interiors magazine whose special feature this issue is all about bathrooms and the theme is simplicity.

I know a thing or two about bathing in simplicity so I was intrigued to see what the sumptuously photographed bathrooms would offer.

Put a collar on a dog, open the door, and a question faces you: "whose life do you lead?" As a woman this is particularly relevant because many of us were brought up with confusing beliefs about what it is to enjoy life as a woman. Dogs are a great way to learn more about leading and enjoying life, to relax and feel secure as yourself. 

You can tell a lot about a book by its book launch. The gathering in the Jubilee Room at the House of Commons for the launch of In The Master's Presence, a book by our friends Nidar Singh Nihang and Parmjit Singh indeed omens well for its future. The book literally came alive through Nidar Singh who embodies the Way of Life of Sikhs to neither incite fear in others nor do they fear anyone themselves at an event which exuded quality and ease.

Waking up on a morning after a nightfall of snow is different.  The sound of footsteps trudging towards the Underground Station, the echo of the canine "morning all" on the early shift constitutional outing, the distant rumble of the train tracks, the dawn chorus of birdsong, the wake-up routine of ducks on the canal outside; all are silenced.  It is as if a blanket of serenity has enveloped us all: a sense of wonder at nature's ability to blurr the edges of our lives into muffled shapes, the virginal innocence, the invitation to play.

I love making pastry.  Over the last year I have discovered that it's not the arcane art I had imagined at all.  Rather, it's a doorway into a whole new realm of cooking, full of versatility and creative expression. When I saw these little cherry tomatoes, all tender and full of intense promise I just knew that they would marry well with feta into a tart.

Brrr-rr it's cold outside.  We're in the bleak mid-winter, in a monochromatic City-scape of all shades of matt slate and glinting silver. It's Epiphany and time to celebrate the manifestation of prosperity.  Prosperity is a mind-set gained by knowing what you want, what your purpose is, how to relax and sleep well, how to love and feel loved...

This year the Enterprising Women's Summit, held at the Houses of Parliament, grew up.  Gone was the oh-how-soft-how-innocent baby pink of last year.  Now we were dazzled by mature, autumnal shades which suited our discussion about the vital role that women play in the economy at this crucial time, not least as conscious consumers.

Each year we celebrate at the Japanese Tea Room, where I go weekly for my Lessons in the Japanese Way of Tea,  the Opening of the Winter Hearth.  This is a very beautiful, serene experience, where we appreciate the shift in the seasons and come together to share a Cup of Tea.The Winter Hearth is sunk in the floor, whereas the one used in summer is set on the tatami mat in a big ceramic bowl.

As a child growing up in Paris in the 70s my favourite magazine was 100 Idees.  It was filled with the most wonderful creative projects, which conjured up jam-filled kitchens, wearing hand-smocked aprons, appliqued bedspreads and hand painted furniture.  I had an entire set of those magazines, which I loved, but sadly they were washed away when the flat upstairs flooded ours.  Then I found that I was actually in room sets created from the revitalised magazine - what joy!

Earlier this week I attended an event in the House of Lords to celebrate 50 years of Raising Women's Aspirations: it's 50 years since the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme accepted women and 50 years since the first woman sat in the Houses of Parliament.  The theme of Monday's celebration was both the values which are core to the DofE Award Scheme and to recognise that women have equal oppportunities to participate in society. What though will we be celebrating in 50 years' time?  That's what I've been wondering too...

Kundalini Yoga and Meditation are how we start our days here at Club 15CC, and how we end them too.  When Millie-Pup first arrived we weren't really sure how she would settle into it.  Like a duck to water is the answer. She does her own stretching, which looks remarkably like sun salutations, before curling up on the side to meditate.  Meanwhile, we practise Kundalini Yoga Kriyas.

The Houses of Parliament are just so quintessentially English. Sitting there on the Thames, in all that newly cleaned sandstone and dolled up with little windows, never ending wings, annexes and halls, it is dominated one end by Big Ben, making sure we all keep to time. This is no fuddy-duddy tourist attraction; it's alive, breathing order into our society and keeping a rhythm to our democracy.

Earlier this week I had the privilege of being invited to Tea there...

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of being taught how to use watercolours by the artist, John Gustard. I've had many drawing lessons, used lots of crayons, pastels, pens and pencils but brushes and colour had passed me by. It's been over three years since I last picked up any art material and suddenly I felt this longing again to see the world. Watercolour is very different: for a start it's fluid with a life of its own. Magic happens, there's an accidental quality to it. And how to see to paint is not the same as how to see to draw. Drawing is about lines, spaces, dimensions, whereas watercolour is about shapes, shades and shadows.