November 12th - 16th, 2007

Week 7 came upon me as if it was day 7. Time is on a steam train and it’s leaving me behind. So much to do, but so little time to do it in. Oh well… I guess I have to get on with it. It raises the issue of organisation. The more organised a person is, the more effectively a person would spend his or her time.

I came into the office with a renewed feeling of interest and vigour and a will to make the most of my time here. I checked the day’s mail hoping to find that elusive conference abroad or any chance of going abroad actually, but unsurprisingly it hasn’t arrived yet. Hope is a wonderful thing when you have it abundantly. I did have a lot of hope, but now it seems I may not get a trip abroad… I guess there is still time.

On Tuesday I got my first research project. I was told to research on Asian women into politics and draf a 5 minute speech for the Baroness to look at or use when speaking an event later in the week. I started on it immediately by calling the library research team in the House of Lords. This is a fantastic and comprehensive resource, put together by well experienced researchers. There was a lot to read and I couldn’t see myself going through it page by page. I realised that I had a lot to do for this assignment. The purpose of the speech is to highlight the reality of Asian women within politics. It should deal with the questions of why there are so few Asian women within the public and political arena and the barriers they face in gaining entry. Further what cultural and institutional boundaries if any are hindering their progress. The organisers also require the Baroness to be constructive in suggesting way forward

On Wednesday and Thursday I carried on with my project ideas and finalising proposals for a few community based initiatives. I feel that there is a huge need for schemes and projects that will assist the young as well as the old in learning more about health and well- being. Therefore, I have been working on ideas such as mentoring for young people, well- being and awareness projects to help people become more comfortable in the area that they live in.

After a long session of brain storming, I and Maria carried on with the never ending administrative duties and updated the calendar.

Friday came by like the swift November breeze. I had to go to Elba to get another dose of Business English, which I enjoy a lot. We learnt new and more efficient methods of communication as well as writing formal business letters minus the waffle that you get in some letters that try to sound “posh”.

It was a productive end to a productive week. Another week has come, stayed, entertained… and left swiftly.

November 5th - 9th, 2007

Week 6 started as usual with sorting out the invitations and updating the Baroness’s calendar. I had to write a thank you letter to the Lord Mayor of the City of London, for inviting the Baroness to the Lord Mayor’s Annual Event. After that was done, I got on with writing apology letters to invitations which the Baroness is unable to attend.

After Lunch I got on with writing up my blogs and discussed some ideas with Maria for the updating of the Baroness’s website, this took us to the end of the day.

Tuesday was the big day for Parliament. It was the Annual day of Pageantry and Ceremony, day for the State Opening of Parliament. I really wanted to attend the ceremony, but tickets are rare for this prestigious event. I had to make do with a very cold standing space outside the office which overlooked the Palace of Westminster. I watched the initial parts of the ceremony on sky TV. Her Majesty the Queen got in her golden carriage accompanied by HRH Prince Philip. The carriage was lead by a group of her Majesty’s personal guards, I think, followed by another group of horsemen and women. It was a very dazzling site, with all the shining armour and polished steel on show. Just before they arrived at Westminster, I got down on the street and waited and shivered to catch a glimpse of the Queen and her entourage. The road outside Parliament was blocked from both sides by executive cars (which drove in the Judges as well as Parliamentarians, Ambassadors and of course Members of the House of Lords) and security vehicles. It looked like an action scene from a film.

The clickety clikety sound of horses coming got louder very slowly, I knew they were coming. Then, in the distance I saw gold helmets and res feathers appearing, the horses have arrived. Then the Queen’s carriage came rolling towards the Palace. The gold body of the carriage together with its exquisite architecture dazzled the audience jam packed on the side walk. The carriage went straight in to the Palace through the Sovereign’s Entrance, I presume. I hopped back upstairs and into the office to watch the rest of the procession on TV. It was quite a unique event and hopefully I can get Baroness Uddin to invite me to see the ceremony from inside the Palace next year.

On Wednesday I met the business manager of Barclays for E1. I previously met him at the launch event of the Mosaic Project, initiated by the Princes’ Trust and supported by HRH Prince of Wales, to inspire professional Muslims working in London to help and mentor young Muslims in schools.

We discussed how local businesses in East London may be able to benefit from Barclays’ free business services. We spoke about the challenges that businesses face in East London and how these can be overcome. He also advised on a business proposition that I put forward to him and also gave me some informative literature. It was a good meeting and a good contact that might come in very handy.

In the afternoon we had a good discussion, almost like a training session which took place between the three members of our team in the office. Rohema Miah who occasionally works to support the Baroness worked with us to raise our understanding about the way in which staff can provide effective support for Parliamentarians. Rohema Miah is an experienced professional having worked over the years with a number of senior politicians. The meeting discussed ways in which we could be more efficient in the office and how we could and should be more transparent as a team. She handed out some information on how to write press releases, briefs, do research and presentations. Overall, it was a good meeting although there were some new ideas introduced with which I was not quite comfortable. Work is work and you have to get on with them. The rest of the week was spent in implementing the new practices in the office and completing all the outstanding admin tasks, such as going through all the mail with the Baroness and updating the calendar.

It was a relatively quiet end to the week which started off quite dramatically. The State opening was easily the biggest event I’ve witnessed since starting work here.