WEST EUSTON TIME BANK Purple Poets Crypt Centre Munster Square West Euston London NW1 3PL Tel: 0207 383 4922 info@westeustontimebank.org.uk writer-in-residence Kim Morrissey

West Euston Time Bank Purple Poets Founding Member 2005 Bithi Das ........................................................................................................................

Bithi Das I came to England in 1967 at the age of 29. I worked as a computer operator and retired in 1998. Then I had plenty of time at my hand to do things that I like to do. I became a world traveller and saw many countries. In 2002 I came to join Third Age Project where I found lots of opportunities to fulfil myself in every aspect, such as Arts and Crafts, Cookery Club and Poetry Club,  in 2005, where I started to learn to write for the first time in my life. All thanks goes to my teacher, Kim, who encouraged us to write from the bottom of our hearts. Bithi is also a talented member of the TADs (The Third Age Project Drama Group) and was last seen on stage, delighting everyone, as a munchkin in the 2009 TADs Christmas show The Wizard of Oz (directed by Gary Kielty). Bithi is an artist, as well, and has done art projects with the British Museum, including the acclaimed Bengali Community Bicycle Rickshaw (2010), Tent (2008) and Boat (2007). Her poem, 'Ophelia, this Is Your Mother' was part of  Wellcome artist Jo WOnder's bacterial Ophelia art poetry, music project, which was show-cased at the 2009 National Poetry Day Celebrations, Camden Town Hall. This film will be featured in Ophelia 2010, a conference featuring Art and Ophelia, organised by Ayla Lepine, at the Courtauld, in 2010. Bithi and fellow Purple Poet Islam Molla also take time to read for the blind, in Bengali and English. Purple Poet Bithi Das (right hand side) with Councillor Martin Davies (centre) photograph courtesy Rosemary Howes editor, Camden Golden Gazette Project : National Poetry Day 2009 Day Four, with poems, including Ophelia,  This is Your Mother by Purple Poet Bithi Das and Ophelia (the person you are calling) by Kim Morrissey first shown at the Purple Poets' Camden Heroes National Poetry Day Celebration Camden Town Hall October 8th 2009 www.jowonder.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-rEcC04ZCk&feature=player_embedded 'Ophelia' first shown at the Purple Poets' Camden Heroes National Poetry Day Celebration Camden Town Hall October 8th 2009 Bithi Das Poetry-In-Progress AUGUST 6th 2010: AFGHANISTAN (read at the Bamyan Guest House, Afghanastan August 6th - Hiroshima Day- 2010) PEOPLE (read at the 2010 Time Banking AGM, July 24,  2010 Glastonbury introduced by Martin Simon) A NATIONAL TREASURE (written for the 150th Anniversary Celebrations of the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery Benefit, June 26, 2010) FORGETTING JANAN BAGI (written frr the Wellcome artists Prick Your Fingers and West Eustn Time Bank members SNAKES AND LADDERS communal arts project for the Cumberland Market Picnic June 26 2010 read to the Mayor of Camden , Councillor Jonathan Simpson, at the opening of the Poetry Tree. MY GARDEN (written for the 2010 Camden Green Fair) 03.06.2010 MEMORY OF MY GRANDMOTHER COOKING OPHELIA, THIS IS YOUR MOTHER (6 Days Good-bye Poems to Ophelia) JoWOnder's Ophelia bacterial Art project with the Wellcome Trust Click here to hear Bithi read her poem Ophelia, this is your Mother:  the Secret of Love ARIA'S SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT: A Five Minute Ice Cream LOVE FOREVER: A STORY FIVE PENCE SELWA TWO POEMS (INTER-GENERATIONAL POETRY PROJECT 2009) 1. MEMORY OF MY MOST PRECIOUS MOMENT 2. CHILDREN'S POETRY CLASS MY VERY SRI LANKAN DAY THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS ALICIA BENGALI NEW YEAR CELEBRATING: Tony's 60th birthday INTRODUCTION TO DANCE PARADISE STORE DREAM (Written for National Poetry Day 2007) MEMORY FOREVER: PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIR WITH THE MAYOR WHY WE ARE PURPLE POETS STRAWBERRIES STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MONTENEGRO: WILD BEAUTY THE REAL SAINT GEORGE PEOPLE A LOVE POEM REBIRTH REVIVE T-A-P ANTARCTICA - THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM MY JOURNEY TO PAKISTAN THE MYSTERY ODE TO KATHY (HAPPY CHRISTMAS) STORY OF A RED ROSE MY MOTHER SAID FROM MY WINDOW (All poems © Bithi Das. All rights reserved.) Latest Poems: BITHI DAS THE 6th OF AUGUST: Afghanistan My guru Kim asked me to write something for today and read it in front of my fellow travellers. My writing is: Today the 6th of August Hiroshima Day. The World is celebrating Today - the Day of Peace. Today, we are in a war-torn country it is not only our journey to discover Afghanistan but also, in a way, a Peace mission. Our contribution to poor naked people will be to give them love and happiness during our journey. Peace is a very powerful word. When there is a war there will be a peace so our prayer for today is: Peace on earth and every corner God save his children. Amen. Bithi composed and read this poem on August 6th 2010 to fellow travellers Danny (journalist, New York), Peter (Professor, Seattle), Valerie (anthropologist, Winnipeg), Cameron (retired lecturer Eton College, Slough), Kent (businessman, Thailand), Sue (importer/exporter, Balham, London) and Jess, group leader for Hinterland Travel (Yorkshire) at the breakfast table, of  The Bamyan Guest House, Bamyan, Afghanistan. BITHI DAS PEOPLE 24.07.2010 I haven't seen Jesus in heaven But I saw him in this world                      Surrounding us. I saw him the other day                       Driving the bus. I asked him if he could take me to the station It was before 9 a.m. He looked at me with smiling face asked me to get in the bus. I didn't see any angels from heaven But I saw them in this world                      Surrounding us. They are born with the virtue of angels Always giving care and comfort to others Saying - We will miss you and think of you. They are here in this world                       Surrounding us. It is the people who make heaven and hell in this world                      Surrounding us. Bithi Das  was invited to read, on behalf of the Purple Poets, at the Time Banking UK AGM in Glastonbury on July 24, 2010, introduced by the head of Time Banking UK, Martin Simon. (Her reading  of this poem will be sent as part of the 24/7 world video project by Ridley Scott;  this portion was facilitated by Cally Road Time Bank broker Kirsty Burns).First draft written 29.01.2007. BITHI DAS Forgetting Janan Bagi (The Game of Heaven and Hell) 'Snakes and Ladders' Wellcome Indic Sanskrit MS 276,18th Century It was my childhood game lots of screaming and crying! Me and my brother and cousins, who wins or who loses. I know the game but I cannot read the board. It is in Sansrit, which I studied sixty years ago. This square, 68, is the Heaven, Nirvana. And this mouth of the snake is Seduction leading back down to square 2 - Mada. Desire. Heaven. Nirvana. Seduction. Desire. That is all I remember of this very spiritual game. Snake and Ladder. My teacher would be so disappointed. A NATIONAL TREASURE by Bithi Das I know a doctor. You all know him. He is a God Because he was born On Christmas Day. Also, he is a Hindu God - Nandi. Nandi is the bull that God Shiva rides on Always happy to serve. Paul is kind, loving Always there to help others. Heal their pain. Because he never forgets He is not just a God He is a doctor. BITHI DAS MY GARDEN (written for the 2010 Camden Green Fair) first draft 03.06.2010 If you say:                        I am too sick To do my daily duty I must say:                       I will give up everything But I won't neglect my garden. My Garden needs me. All the flowers are blooming                       In multi-colours Attracting wild insects. Honey bees, bumble bees Taking nectar from my flowers And going away to make honey                        In their home. It is spring and I am proud to see So many wild things living in my garden. My Garden is a Garden of Eden Everything Grows There.                        Even me. MEMORY OF MY GRANDMOTHER COOKING by Bithi Das first draft 15.05.2010 I learned this dish from my grandmother. She loved to cook and it came into my mind as a child to test, to eat! The first time I cooked with my grandmother I was ten years old. Even now I am seventy-five Still in my mouth, The taste hasn't been lost. I still close my eyes and remember my grandmother I see her, cooking as I see and taste golden red Ophelia, This is Your Mother: The Secret of Love (for JoWOnder's Six Days Good-Bye Poems to Ophelia: Day Four project) written by Bithi Das 01.10.2009 It just came in my mind: It is just sad to end a life at your young age. There are many young girls who sacrifice who take love so seriously not knowing their life is so short. That they can do so much more in their life. You never can understand the secret of love until you are old. to hear Bithi read Ophelia, this is your Mother: the Secret of Love click here BITHI DAS Aria's Scientific Experiment: A Five Minute Ice Cream (for Aria who is only ten) POETRY ON A PLATE summer inter-generational project   21.08.2009 You scream I Scream It is little Aria's Scientific Dream. A five Minute Ice Cream. In a bag Mix the chocolate, sugar and cream Put the mixture In a salty- ice rim All goes in our purple box. THEN Shake your arm Shake your ass Don't worry It won't smash. Five minutes gone The ice cream is done Now the time to test Oh - Yes It is one of the best! Love Forever: a Story by Bithi Das 13.08.2009 A story … not an ordinary story But an extraordinary Love story. Perhaps Every country Has its own love story. New Zealand is no exception. This love story belongs to a glacier. The Europeans call this glacier Franz Josef Named for Franz Josef the First Emperor of Austria in 1865. This is the history. While travelling, I came across This beautiful glacier The only glacier in Southern Island. At a glance, it looks milky white, So calm and high up, as if it has come down From heaven. The Europeans call it Franz Josef. For the Emperor Franz Joseph the First. but it is the sacred place for Maori people. They call it Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere (The Tears of Hinehukatere). Legend goes that Hinehukatere, a young girl loved climbing the mountain, And persuaded her lover Tawe To climb with her. Tawe was a less experienced But loved to accompany her always. Until, one day, an avalance swept Tawe From the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken-hearted And her many many tears flowed down The mountain and froze to form the glacier called Franz Josef by the Europeans But always, to me, it is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere The Milky Tears of Hinehukatere. 5 Pence By Bithi Das written 20.03.2009 performed at the Story-Telling Session March 21st 2009 H-Pod Today I am going to tell you a story. It’s called 5 Pence. I had to do some shopping so I went to the local Sainsbury’s one Friday afternoon. I got my things and came to till to pay for my foods. A young lad in his 20s was in that section. I noticed he had a badge that said trainee. He checked in my goods and gave me the change back. I was tired and my back was hurting very seriously. I wanted to have a rest by sitting down. There were a few chairs nearby and I sat down. The coins were still in my palm, and I saw that five pence was missing. I went back to the boy and showed him the receipt and the change. The boy said, mum, I gave you the five pence I remember. I said, but that five pence is not there. The boy gave me five pence with an unhappy face. I came back home, took out all my goods from the bag and suddenly I found a little coin of five pence lying in the bottom of my bag. It slipped in my bag without my knowledge. I felt guilty and decided to go back to Sainsbury and give that coin to that boy, because it is only thing he and me knew and nobody else. Next day was Saturday, I w ent back that very morning to search for him but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I went to the information desk and spoke to the supervisor about him, to ask where he is? The supervisor said: ‘ it was his last day yesterday, he has gone back to college and he is no longer with us’. I felt devastated, and told my story to her and I said I have come to apologise to him and I wanted to give back the 5 pence. She looked at me and said I wish more people were like you. She asked me to put the coin in the donation box, which I never noticed before. I put back that 5 pence and came out of Sainsbury with great relief. SELWA for Selwa by Bithi Das 01.04.2009 Selwa Al – Amina Allah sent her To this world With the gift of Knowledge and compassion. A little women with Great heart Compassion for human-being Specially ladies How to be well and fit To survive in this harsh world. Her sweet voice and rhythmic dance Makes her an example How to be an angel In this beautiful world. Selwa Solely Magical. Bithi Das first performed  her poem 'Selwa' at the launch of the Purple Poets' Book Exchange Box for the Surma Centre, Robert Street, West Euston,  at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 (National Book Day). TWO POEMS: by Bithi Das INTER-GENERATIONAL POETRY PROJECT Easter 2009 Memory of My Precious Moment by Bithi Das Easter 2009 I was asked to join a children’s poetry group I was curious to know the children as poets It was after school in the evening I entered the room I sat on the chair There came a little girl called Naomi She already had a poem And she wanted to make a card to put her poem On the front page she put her name and age Asked my age and name Said to me: you are my grandma I was thrilled. Children’s Poetry Class Bithi Das Easter 2009 Second time I went again, after school This time was a little boy Called Didonne also age 7 I helped him to make a card He put his two poems inside the card and decorated it I asked him to write on one side “to my mummy” and other side “to my daddy”. He looked at me and with grief said I have no daddy I saw his sorrowful eyes, sadness all over That sorrow over spilled my heart. I wanted to comfort him But that very moment came Naomi Said to me: you are back I missed you I was touched I felt like a bag of cotton wool One side - sadness of Didonne, other side - joyfulness of Naomi over spilled my heart and body They might not see me any more and will forget me in due time But that very precious moment I became another person – a grandma with genuine love That memory will stay with me forever until I die. Purple Poet Bithi Das (last person on the right) in the 2009 TADs production of Wizard of Oz, directed by Gary Kielty, Dick Collins Hall, West Euston. Purple Poet Jean Watt (first person on left) as The Cowardly Lion, post-wizard. Missing from photograph: Rita (Wicked Witch) Margo (Good Witch) and Martin (Wizard). Photograph: Tony Bloor ............................................................................................................................. .......................................... ONE OF OUR ON-GOING PROJECTS: SHOW US YOUR SHORTS! Glastonbury Time Banking UK Annual Meeting - including a poem by Bithis Das introduced by Martin Simon founder, TimeBanking UK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlBhujTaUdA --  this YouTube  (24.07.2010) was recommended on the webpage   http://wn.com/Michou_7 On 24 July, Timebanking UK held its Annual General Meting in Glastonbury. Timebanking is about give and take: it is a way to measure and value all the different kinds of help and skills we can offer each other. Everyone's time is valued equally whatever they do: we all have 24 hours 7 days a week and each hour you help someone else or the community equals one time credit. The AGM was hosted by Avalon Fairshares, and this film features a walk up Glastonbury Tor and a poem by Bithi Das .---Michou. Participants interviewed for this film came from West Euston, Stroud, Paxton Green (Crystal Palace), Bridgwater, Rushey Green, Peckham HOur Bank, South London & Maudsley, Highbury, Caledonian Road & Hilldrop, Stirling & staff from Timebanking UK. www.timebanking.org Filming by Purple Poets Kim Morrissey & Josie Nakos. The Glastonbury Tor walk 'seven-step time lapse' & film-editing by Callytimecat/Kirsty Burns. Published: 2010-08-01 Uploaded: 2010-08-13 Author: callytimecat more work from WEST EUSTON TIME BANK PURPLE POETS our Purple Poet website is dedicated to the memory of West Euston Time Bank poet Norah Platt Time Banks and Time Banking The Four Core Values. 1. We treat people as assets. We support the positive actions people can and want to do for their community. 2. We are re-defining work Regardless of the task,   everyone's time is valued equally we value whatever it takes to make neighbourhoods safe and vibrant. 3.We reciprocate. We require that everyone gives something back ensuring all in our society have the opportunity to be involved in their community. 4. We support the development of social networks. These require ongoing investments of social capital generated by trust, reciprocity and civic engagement. ..................................................................................... WEST EUSTON PURPLE POETS: Babushka, Bithi Das, Carol Moon, Eileen Francis, Eppie Caredda, Ferdous Rahman, Serajul Islam Molla, Jean Watt, Kathy Randle, Nahar Islam, Norah Platt, Patsy Futatsugi, Shelagh Beale. CONTACT ADDRESSES West Euston Time Bank For more information about any of our projects phone Tony Bloor: +44-(0)20 7383 4922 West Euston Third Age Project http://www.thirdageproject.org.uk/ info@thirdageproject.org.uk The Purple Poets meet almost every Thursday at the Crypt between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (phone to confirm there is a session) (0)20 7383 4922 www.westeustontimebank.org.uk info@westeustontimebank.org.uk Crypt Centre Munster Square West Euston London NW1 3PL 0207 383 4922 H-Pod events Cumberland Market 0207 387 4382 Our Workshop Facilitators: Tony Bloor, Nurjahan Urmi, Josie Nakos Our Time Bank Broker: (as of August 2009, on maternity leave) Shahanara Begum Our Writer-in-Residence Kim Morrissey The West Euston Time Bank Purple Poets Poetry Workshop was founded in 2005  and supported by, amongst others,   The Arts Council, The Carnegie Trust, The Third Age Project, and the new economics foundation. WETB is affiliated with Time Banking UK (Stroud). TBUK Time Banking UK, The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud GL5 1DF Tel: 01453 750952 info@timebanks.co.uk ............................................................ WEST EUSTON TIME BANK Crypt Centre Munster Square West Euston London NW1 3PL Tel: 0207 383 4922 info@westeustontimebank.org.uk ............................................................ THIRD AGE PROJECT Crypt Centre Munster Square West Euston London NW1 3PL Tel: 0207 383 4922 info@thirdageproject.org.uk ............................................................    Search Engine Optimization Scrub the Web updated:05.05.2010