During the profession Mass IHM President, Sr. Mary Fran Gilleran, asked those who have walked with Michele during temporary vows– her Mentor, Sr. Pat Rourke and her Mission Counselor, Sr. Joan Mumaw, to speak of her readiness to make final vows. Then after Michele had pronounced her vows Mary Fran invited her to speak of what this meant to her. Resounding, joyful applause erupted from the community.

Yahoo!  Finally a video (rough as it is) on the IHM blog, ! After unsuccessfully consulting many experts, I discovered the real expert, my twenty-one year old niece, Katie. And her consultation fee couldn’t be beat!

A few weeks ago I wrote about what a great experience it was to have Marygrove students visit the Motherhouse. I didn’t mention the reason for the trip. Marygrove College in Detroit was founded by the IHMs and the school is committed to keeping the IHM heritage alive in the school.  So each year the new students visit for a day.  They learn about IHM history, tour the prize-winning sustainable renovation of the motherhouse and gather in small groups with sisters to ask them questions. They almost always ask, “What made you want to be a nun?” and “Didn’t you ever want to get married and have kids?” As they move to different groups of sisters they get honest and quite varied answers. Hopefully these young men and women leave the our Motherhouse with new understanding and respect for religious life.

For the last few days I’ve been wanting to share with you what Founders Day means to IHMs. On  November 10 we became one hundred sixty-four years old. Traditionally our celebration included retelling the treasured stories, decorating with a miniature version of the first log cabin convent, special prayers and dinner, and much appreciated talking instead of silence at meals!

Today, regardless of whether an IHM’s current geographic location and ministry limit her access to a communal celebration, Founders Day still has a distinct “flavor.” The day evokes deep pride not only in the founding story but in the courage, faith and zeal that characterized our foremothers throughout our history. We remember the quirky facts like the lack of sufficient dishes so that one had a plate and another had a cup. And we treasure as well the image of the three sisters kneeling on the altar steps after Mass as Father Gillet placed his stole on each sister’s shoulder to signify an almost priestly commission for ministry.

This year those who live in the Monroe area gathered for a Founder s Day Mass at which Sr. Joan Mumaw,  IHM Vice President, gave the reflection. She focused on our co-founder Fr. Gillet’s famous words, “I began without thinking of the future of the work, leaving it to God alone to make it prosper if it were pleasing to God and useful for the good of others.”  With daring, Fr. Louis Gillet and Sr. Theresa Maxis relied on the Spirit of God, trusting that the God who inspired them would also empower them to bring about the dream. This Spirit has led the community throughout our history, has blessed and prospered the work of our hands. We too are women of the spirit, open to the God of surprise. Founders day is a day of deep gratitude and hope.

When Candyce  Rekart, IHM, went to Puerto Rico in 1972, she had no idea how long her ministry would last.  She’s still there, 34 years later.  For the last nine years, she’s ministered in a mental health clinic within a small university. Her clients are adults, adolescents and children – all of whom are survivors of sexual abuse.  “I love my work,” Sister Candy says emphatically. “Not the violence that inspires the acts of sexual abuse, but seeing the courage of the survivors is incredible –the courage it took to live on, and also the courage to seek help, to talk about their experiences and to heal from them.”

 The psychological services provided at the clinic are free, thanks to a grant from the Justice Department of Puerto Rico in conjunction with federal funds. The program has trained more than 300 doctoral students in the area of sexual abuse.  “Because we’ve trained so many people, many psychologists know about us.  We get lots of referrals and consultations, and we serve the whole island,” explains Sister Candy. “Many clients are impoverished, but they are willing to travel distances, sometimes on public transportation after work, in order to get the help they need.”  Because of the nature of the trauma experienced by those to whom she ministers, Sister Candy notes that treatment is often long-term – anywhere from months to years.

 She tells the story of a six-year old girl she treated several years ago, who often chose to color during play therapy sessions. The child, whose life was very chaotic at the time, became extremely upset if she colored outside the lines.  “I used to just redraw the lines for her and reframe the picture encouraging her to see potential beyond the limits,” recalls Sister Candy.  “I ran into her not long ago. She’s a teenager now, but she told me that those sessions had a profound effect on her.“She said that redrawing the lines of an established picture showed her that one way or another one can look for solutions, even if the solutions are not the ones you expected.

“There is great satisfaction in accompanying people in their journey to find their own inner strengths,” Sister Candy says.

Sondage ?

Sr. Michele taking the plunge then...

Sr. Michele Denton, IHM has taken the plunge. On Saturday, October 10, she professed vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience in a powerfully beautiful Profession Mass.  A packed congregation included family, gobs of IHMs, faculty, parents, students and former students (one who even traveled from Arizona) of Marian High School where Michele teaches, as well as longtime friends and friends from the World Community of Christian Meditation. Many facets of the ceremony were quite remarkable. Father Kevin Maksym, a friend since college,  presided at the liturgy. In an introduction before Mass he spoke of Michele as his best friend and a tremendous support for his vocation to the priesthood. The Marian high school choir directed by Rachel Creech led the music and began with a prelude that Sr. Michele loves. In the Entrance procession Michele walked up the aisle arm in arm with her parents Doug and Rev. Gretchen Denton. Yes, Michele’s mother is a Presbyterian pastor.  It cannot have been easy for either of them when Michele converted to Catholicism — and, of all things, decided to enter religious life.  IHM President Sr. Mary Fran Gilleran mentioned that Michele had made a very serious, well thought out discernment about making final Vows, and I was struck by the emphasis Michele gave to the words “for the rest of my life” as she spoke the words of profession. Her joy radiated through the chapel and was met by spontaneous affirming applause from the congregation. In each Profession we see a different face of God, a unique way that God has spoken in this woman’s heart.  We all left  chapel on Saturday awed at God’s work in Michele and grateful for the gift of vocation. In the next few days I hope to post a video of Sr. Michele’s actual vow ceremony.  Keep posted.

...and now!

Srs. Fran Chirco and Annette Boyle, IHM with their new best friends

Sr. Eileen Semonin, IHM enjoying the students' questions

Last week new students at our college, Marygrove, in Detroit came to the Motherhouse to learn about the IHM sisters who founded their college.  At least half of the students had never met a nun before.  Four students sat in a group with two sisters. They had great questions and we had a lot of fun together.  In a number of  groups the students asked what made us enter the convent. I loved watching the students’  faces as  Sister Eileen told them that she was engaged to be married at the time when she experienced her call from God during a Holy Hour.  Sister said she then had to write a “Dear John” letter to her fiance who was in the service.   They loved it.  Sr. Annette got their attention too when she talked about her years of ministry in Africa.  The students had come to learn about the IHM sisters, but since we IHMs are teachers to the core we managed to focus some time on the students’ plans for their future.  A great opportunity to encourage their dreams.  We can’t help ourselves!

Encore une nouveauté dans le domaine de l’IHM, pas utilisable en l’état, mais un objet de recherche fabuleux !!

Left front: Srs. Mary Alexis Fisher, OSP, Fran Fasolka, IHM Scranton, Clarice Proctor, OSP. Row two: Srs. Rose Yaeger, IHM Immaculata, Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM Monroe, Mary Jo Gallagher, IHM (S), Joan Mumaw, IHM (M), Lorraine Magrew, IHM (I), Mary Persico, IHM (S) Back row: Srs. Mary Ann Bolger (I), Julie Vieira (M)

Just enjoying each other

Taking off for a walking tour

You know what it’s like when the family gets together for a wedding or some other big event? The feeling of excitement and warmth? That’s what it was like in our Motherhouse last weekend when our OSP IHM family gathered, including the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) from Baltimore, and IHM Sisters from Immaculata and Scranton, Pennsylvania and Monroe, Michigan.  Representatives of the four communities gather for a board meeting every year and we in Monroe were excited to host it this year. In an earlier blog post (January 14, 2008) I wrote about the beginnings of the IHM community in Monroe, but there’s so much more to the story. Let me fill in one more little chapter.

For approximately a hundred years after IHMs were broken off from each other in the 1860s the groups had little contact with each other, but in the late 60’s we realized that we needed to get together and reconnect our stories. Every ten years since then we’ve gathered all the members of the three IHM communities for prayer, faith sharing, storytelling and partying. An electric atmosphere results.  It’s wonderful. In 1995 when we gathered in Monroe for the Sesquicentennial celebration of our IHM communities something new, something powerful and even more wonderful, happened. We invited two representatives of the OSP community, our co-founder Mother Theresa Maxis’s first community, to our gathering.  When they were introduced the whole assembled group rose in a spontaneous standing ovation. A very moving moment that made us realize that without the OSPs we are not whole. We’ve learned a lot about each other since then and pondered our history of racism together. The bonds between us have deepened. From now on we will always be four.

Hamburg ist Kult – eigentlich nichts neues.  Je weiter die geographische Distanz, desto größer scheint die Faszination. Die musikalische Indieszene ist bunt und lebendig, übt schon seit gut 20 Jahren mit dem Aufkeimen der “Hamburger Schule” wichtige Impulse für die deutschspachige Musikszene aus. Musikfestivals wie das Dockville oder das anstehende Reeperbahnspektakel ziehen aus der ganzen Nation Menschenmassen an. Auch Hamburg Accessoires sind hip, Jolly Rogers und das St.Pauli-T-Shirt gehört in jeden gut sortieren Klamottenfundus und das Astra schwappt rauf bis ins Rheinland.
Kluge Leute der Musikwirtschaft Hamburgs haben das nun auch bemerkt und sind auf die Idee gekommen, die Strahlkraft Hamburgs zu stärken. Und Musiker, die aus Hamburg kommen sollen in ihrer Identifikation mit der Stadt mehr gebunden werden.

Um der Strahlkraft also die richtige Politur zu geben ist folgendes geplant: die IHM (Interessengemeinschaft Hamburger Musikindustrie) gründet die “solide und glaubwürdige” HMA (Hamburger Musikakademie, was dann Hamburgs 4. Musikakademie wäre, wenn man Google glauben schenkt) deren wesentliche Funktion darin besteht eine Jury zu bilden, die glücklich Auserkorene mit einem Preis namens HANS belohnen soll. HANSeatisch, HANSestadt, HANS Albers, HAmburg , so die gewünschte Assoziationskette.  Und damit auch recht viele Musikschaffende an diesem Glück teilhaben können, hat man gleich drei Preis-Kategorien gewählt:

• aufregendster und innovativster Künstler des Jahres
• herausragendste Künstlerenwicklung durch ein Team
• herrausragendstes Medienformat zur Unterstützung der Hamburger Musikszene

Relevant für die Beurteilung ist der Zeitraum September 2008 – September 2009. Dotiert ist dieser Jurypreis nicht,  HANS an sich sollte für´s Glück reichen. Unterstützt wird das Projekt von der Hamburger Kultursenatorin Karin von Welck, vom NDR als Medienpartner, natürlich von der IHM (EMI Music, Warner Music et al.), und der Volksbank Hamburg. Immerhin heißt es, Jury-Mitglieder könnten keine Preisträger werden und nicht für eine Institution stimmen, die sie selber vertreten.

(Quelle: Presseinfo Hamburger Musikpreis, 02.09.2009)

Soweit, so gut.

Gespannt sein darf man nun, auf wen die Wahl einer Jury trifft, die sich unter anderem aus marktorientierten Branchenfachleuten zusammensetzt und inwieweit vor allem den unzähligen, unorgansierten Independend-Schaffenden dabei Rechnung getragen wird, denen ja im Wesentlichen die Lebendigkeit der Szene – bzw. die “Strahlkraft” zu verdanken ist.

Charmant an der Idee  ist die Tatsache, daß die Trophäe von einem Hamburger Künstler und Musiker gestaltet wird, der sowohl musikalisch als auch künstlerisch unbeeinflußt von Meinungen und Trends von je her seinen eigenen Stil verfolgt:   SAM. aka Nils Koppruch. Ihm wurde die ehrenvolle Aufgabe in diesem wie im nächsten Jahr übertragen, für Musikerkollegen einen  HANS  zu schaffen. Wie die Trophäen (es müssen dann ja wohl 3 werden) ausschauen, wird bis zur Preisvergabe geheim gehalten. Der Fokus meiner Neugier liegt also weniger bei den Preisträgern: Was wird Nils, für Unberechenbarkeit gepriesen, den Gewinnern mitgeben: ein Gemälde, eine Skultpur, ein geschälter Apfel …? traditionell hamburgisch oder doch ganz anders?

Einen kleinen Vorgeschmack findet man im Hamburger Abendblatt – zum Stichwort Reeperbahnfestival – mittendrin gibt´s ein paar Bilder von Birgit Reuther aus der Künstlerschmiede.

 

SAM. und der HANS-Dummy

kleidSAM.

v.l.n.r. Uriz von Oertzen, Nils Koppruch, Alexander Maurus, Ole Soul

Fotos: Verwendung mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Birgit Reuter (c), Hamburger Abendblatt

Die Preisvergabe moderiert der Musiker Ole Soul, sie findet jedoch unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit statt. Hoffen wir, daß fleißige Journalisten berichten oder der NDR sogar ein wenig mitschneidet. Gezielt gewählt wurde auch der Zeitpunkt der Preisvergabe, am 24.September im Club Grünspan um 18:00Uhr – denn an diesem Abend startet auch das 4.Reeperbahnfestival.

Mehr Hintergrundinfos unter PRESSE und VIDEOS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

edit 24.09.2009

2.vl. Ruben Jonas Schnell (ByteFM) und Gisbert zu Knyphausen r. mit ihren Hans-Trophäen, (c) Foto Birgit Reuther, abendblatt.de

NDR Hamburg berichtete just live vom Grünspan: ….and the winner is……..
Bester Künstler des Jahres : GISBERT ZU KNYPHAUSEN – Tusch!

Für die herausragende Entwicklung eines Künstlers wurde das Team um Jan Delay gekürt.

Der Preis für das beste Medienformat ging an den Radiosender ByteFM.

Und dies ist der Preis in seiner ganzen schlichten Schöhnheit

Many IHMs have formed reflection groups that meet regularly to share community, fun and prayer.  A dear friend of mine in another community often says, “Your sisters really make time to get together.”  Oh, yes we do! I belong to a reflection group that is very precious to me.  We take turns hosting the gathering, providing the meal and preparing the prayer/reflection.  Last Sunday Sr. Jill Kress, IHM led our prayer and reflection.  She posed wonderful questions like, “What is your name for God? Who is God for you today? Has your image of God shifted during your life?”  Jill handed out the above “wordle”  based on scripture (with the help of google searches!), her prayer and her own imagination to spur our reflection on our own image of God.  After considerable time of quiet,  a rich sharing ensued.  Responses began with words like Mystery, Spirit, Creator, Jesus and then moved into reflections on how God is present to each of us in our lives now.

How about you?  Do Jill’s questions evoke a response in your heart?  I’d love to hear about it.

In case you’re intrigued by wordles, here’s the website: www.wordle.net. Enjoy!

For centuries the daily lives of monastic women and men revolved around praying the “Office.”   In Latin it was called “Opus Dei,” meaning the work of God. Priests refer to it as the Breviary that they are required to pray each day. Today we usually refer to this prayer as the Liturgy of the Hours.  Early in our IHM history we had prayed structured  devotional prayers in the morning, before supper and at the end of the day.  After Vatican Council II as we discovered the richness of the Scriptures we relished learning to pray the Scripture-based Liturgy of the Hours.  Some groups of IHMs living together today take time once a day to pray the Office, often using The People’s Companion to the Breviary, appreciating its inclusive language and wonderful variety of readings from Scriptures, writings of the saints and other spiritual leaders. Other sisters use this resource for their private prayer.  In case you’re unfamiliar with it,  in broad strokes the Office includes three psalms, a reading, quiet reflection, intercessions, and a closing prayer.  Is this “Work of God” part of IHM prayer? Yes.  Our sisters at the Motherhouse pray the Evening Prayer from the Office every day. From the rich ground of Scripture some sisters  have moved to concentrating on  just one  psalm or using a favorite short prayer  to lead into contemplation.  Others focus on the scripture of God’s movement in their lives. All is rooted in the word of God.  It is all the work of God.

At the end of July during IHM community days we were invited to share in groups of two or three about our personal prayer, how it nourishes and challenges us.  Sisters Sandra Schneiders and Julie Vieira composed my threesome. Sandra shared that she begins each day with a prolonged contemplative time, including quiet prayer, reading, journaling  and, of course, reflection on the Scriptures of the day. This time is sacrosanct for her. Julie said her daily prayer too included quiet and reflection on the Mass readings, adding that she is noticing often being drawn to prayer in her encounters with people and in the little glimpses of nature that capture her attention.  I shared that I too always begin with letting the day’s Mass readings touch my experience.  In addition my prayer includes a practice of Ignatian Examen. Looking back at the last day I notice times of deep freedom and openness when I was obviously moving in the flow of God and I sit in gratitude.  In the replaying of the day, times of unfreedom, scatteredness, resistance surface as well, prompting me to reflect on what God is inviting me to.

Sharing with Julie and Sandra touched me deeply. What a treasure it is to share faith with my sisters.  This is part of IHM prayer.  In addition I had this image of all of us IHMs sitting quietly with the day’s Scripture in chairs in many different states and a few different countries, but united in IHM prayer.

As I mentioned the other day I’m enjoying the wealth and depth of my IHM sisters’ spirituality as I engage them in the question “What is IHM prayer like.”  Of course there is no one answer, but I’m finding striking common threads.  A few days ago I asked Sr. Roberta Richmond, IHM, an insightful woman just a few years my senior.  She responded, “I guess I ‘d say contemplation and justice.”

Sr. Lucy Abbey, IHM working with needy children

Contemplation affirmed my conviction about the core of IHM prayer, but “justice” surprised me, so I pressed further, “Justice?”  Roberta explained that for her justice comes down to right relationship with God and ourselves, with others both near and far and with all of creation. As a community we have taken Vatican Council II’s call to listen to God’s call in the needs of our times very seriously. Over the years we have prayed and discerned both personally and communally about where God is calling us.

Sr. Joyce, IHM working for Habitat

Inveterate learners, as we have realized our relationship to all creation our sphere of relationship has broadened exponentially to include not just the joys and struggles in our immediate sphere, but also the needs of the poor, those suffering violence and utter poverty and our scarred planet. We know we are all related. However, we are no politicians. We are IHM women of prayer committed to living the Liberating Mission of Jesus (Luke 4:17 ff) in our world. So our personal and communal contemplation always embraces justice. We move back and forth between a place of contemplation and action on behalf of justice.

Prayer suffuses mission.

I’ve included a link to the section on our website on justice peace and sustainability. I’ve also included a few pictures. As you may have noticed, I believe the power of images surpasses words.

Sr. Jill, IHM, member of the Michigan Peace Team at the Bethlehem checkpoint

http://www.ihmsisters.org/www/Justice_Peace_and_Sustainability/The_IHM_Commitment/history.asp

Annunciation in IHM Motherhouse, Immaculata, PA

One of the most interesting and challenging questions discerners have asked me is “How do IHM sisters pray?  Of course since there are hundreds of us there are a lot of answers.  However, let me tell you about a prayer that was part of IHM history even before the actual founding in 1845.  Fr. Gillet, our co-founder met a young woman while he was preaching a mission in Grosse Point, Michigan.  Therese Renauld confided that she felt drawn to religious life. Fr. Gillet, sensing her sincere desire,  asked her to ring the Angelus bell at the church every day while saying the prayer. Her faithfulness would would root her in Mary’s experience at the Annunciation and help prepare her to enter the new community he was founding in Monroe, Michigan. Therese rang the bell faithfully and became one of the first three sisters in the community.  In the community the Angelus always began our morning prayer,  and concluded our vespers prayer.  Though our ministries have taken us far and wide and necessitated very different schedules this prayer of openness to God has always been at our core.  Here at the Motherhouse sisters rise and  pray in solitude early in the morning, but at noon and 6:00 PM when the bell rings you see sisters stop to pray the Angelus.  I offer it to discerners as a way to stay close to Mary who knew how to respond to God. When the Angelus is prayed in a group one person prays the first line and all respond with the second line. 

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

             Hail Mary…

Behold the handmaid of the L:ord

Be it sone unto me according to your word.

           Hail Mary…

And the Word was made flesh

And dwelled among us.

      Hail Mary…

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God

That we may become worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

Pour forth we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ your son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

http://www.answers.com/topic/angelus

Nyár van

Az el-el dobott kő

A much loved message is framed inside the entrance of our IHM Motherhouse which we have always referred to as “home.”  The short statement  says, “Home is where each one lives for the other and all live for God.”  One of the most touching expressons of this for me is the welcome a sister receives as her body is brought home for the remembering service and funeral.  Everyone knows that the homecoming occurs about 2:00 PM, so by about 1:40 PM sisters, family and staff begin to arrive.  When the casket is rolled into the lobby we all gather around to sing our community hymn, “Lift Up Your Hearts, O Daughters of St. Mary’s” and join in prayer:  “O God, we gather as a community of faith to welcome home our dear friend and sister.  In this life you embraced her with tender love and now we believe that you have received her with great joy…”

At the end of the prayer we all raise our hands to bless her, “May God continue to bless you and care for you. May God’s face shine on you.  May our gracious God give you peace forever. Amen.” A touching and beautiful community event, sign of our shared faith and commitment to each other.

Welcome home

Sandra Schneiders, IHM

As I have been sharing thoughts about our IHM community days I just realized that I never shared a significant piece of our preparation for those days that took place on June 14.  To say there was an electric passion for religious life  felt in the IHM community room that day is no exaggeration.  Sandra Schneiders, IHM  spoke to a large crowd of  IHM sisters and associates in a presentation entitled “God So Loved the World:  Ministerial Religious Life in 2009.” If you’ve been hanging out in nun circles for a while you may have heard about Sr. Sandra.  Besides being an internationally known biblical scholar, she has published two volumes, Finding the Treasure and Selling All of a three volume series on religious life and is one of  the most respected scholars on religious life today. I’m attaching a link to her paper at the end of this post and I encourage you to plunge into the material yourself.  Be prepared.  As is her wont Sandra first lays out a thorough historical and canonical background for understanding her topic.  It is well worth your time to work through this material though. She shows that  ministerial religious life in 2009 which may look very different from its pre-Vatican forms actually flows in direct continuity with the centuries-old tradition of consecrated life. If you’ve ever wondered how and why religious women have grown into a new form since Vatican Council II I encourage you to read Sr. Sandra’s paper.

http://www.ihmsisters.org/www/media/about_us_autogen/SSchneidersLecture2009.pdf

Sr. Simone Campbell

Last week’s IHM Community days began with challenging presentations by Sr. Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service and Executive Director of Network, a national social justice lobby.  Simone focused much of her work with us on a recent encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, a powerful document  on what it means to live in this world as a person of faith. Throughout our history and especially since the early 70’s we IHMs have been grasped  ever more powerfully by the needs of the poorest and most abandoned, so the Pope’s and Simone’s message resonated with us. I suggest googling the encyclical yourself but let me give you a few teasers, guiding principals in the encyclical:

• Charity is at the heart of Church’s mission.
• To love someone is to desire good for the person and work for it.
• The same is true of society.   Love requires justice for the whole human family.

These are some issues deserve the attention of people of faith:

• Immigration
• Poverty
• Access for all to food and potable waterrespect for all life
• Trade policies that include the needs of the poor and most vulnerable

Simone ended the day giving us time to reflect and share on these questions.  I invite you to reflect with us.

• How do we as a community live justice?
• How can we embrace the pain of the world when we are so distant from it?
• What breaks our heart? What is the pain of the world that touches us deeply?

http://www.networklobby.org/connection/Connection09JanFeb.pdf

 By the very nature of tourism as a service industry, its efficient management and successful operation depend largely on the quality of manpower. In India, the shortage of skilled manpower poses a major threat to the overall development of tourism.

In particular, the rapid expansion of hotels of an international standard in India is creating a high level of demand for skilled and experienced staff. The nature of the decisions facing hotel management is continually expanding. For their business to remain competitive, managers must be skilful in many diverse areas. Tourism statistics reveal that both domestic and foreign tourism are on a robust growth path. This growth will need to be serviced by a substantial increase in infrastructure, including air-road, rail connectivity as well as hotels and restaurants

The availability of skilled and trained manpower is a crucial element in the successful long-term development and sustainability of a tourist destination. Skilled and trained human resources will ensure the delivery of efficient, high-quality service to visitors, which is a direct and visible element of a successful tourism product. High standards of service are particularly important in sustaining long-term growth, since success as a tourist destination is determined not only by price competitiveness or the range of attractions available, but also by the quality of the services provided, there by the qualified human capital. 

The hotel sector is labor-intensive with an average employee-to-room ratio of 1.8: 1 in India, compared to 1.5: 1 globally. However there exist a huge gap in manpower availability, especially so with the budget hotel segment.

Currently there are 26 Institutes of Hotel Management with 180 other Institutes providing Degree/ Diploma courses in F&B service, F&B production, Housekeeping. These training facilities produce around 10,500 graduates in various courses every year. However this doesn’t solve the crisis faced by the budget hotel segment, given the preference of graduates for the 5 star segments.

One option now is to look at opening more quality Hotel Management institutes and ensure that the country is geared up for the kind of targets that are being made and aimed in terms of tourism in the country which includes not only inbound foreign tourist but also the domestic tourism that is slowly picking up the pace.

The above seems to be a genuine option that needs to see the light of the day.

However, I am shocked and surprised by what is happening in the country – thanks to some eagerness of the Ministry of Tourism. Kind of reminds me the latest DMRC metro rail accidents in Delhi where in the quality has been sacrificed in our eagerness to complete the projects within the CWG 2010 deadlines.

I passed out of IHM Bhopal in 1998. At that time the institute was decent enough to accommodate the kind of numbers are batch possessed though we still felt that things were overcrowded at times. We were a batch of around 100 students and the numbers had actually gone up from 50-60 that our previous batches used to be. I was at IHM Goa recently and had a chance to meet the faculty there. Somewhat similar story in terms of the numbers in 1998. However, the new batch that was joining now had 275 students and add on to that another 25 failures from the last years batch. That gives you 300 students to manage in the Ist Year course of B.Sc. in Hotel Management by National Council and degree being awarded by IGNOU.

And Mind It!! There has been no change in the infrastructure. The professors are expected to pull up their socks (with the age) and ensure that they have full control on 300 students. So from a time when there used to be one person on a range making to learn a Mayonnaise Sauce or making Chicken Chettinad, there are now 6-7 students trying to learn from the act. It might remind you of Munnabhai MBBS wherein our man claims to provide him a separate dead body at the medical college so that he could learn something considering there were so many students pounding on to get a look at how the professor was trying to cut open the stomach.

And things are not over here, in fact the problems start much earlier. The entrance test to IHM colleges in India comes now with an option to write the exam in English & Hindi. While I have complete respect for the national language and with no offence meant to the BJP & RSS political leaders, I am wondering how a student who writes in Hindi, gets selected and joins, is expected to understand the course content which is totally in English. Let’s face it, we are preparing the manpower to take care of the foreigners coming in to the country, if I go by the numbers targeted. Domestic Tourism is yet to get into shape and even if it does Hindi still can’t be taken as the common language for communication.

6 students per table, English Language, Poor Infrastructure, Disgusting Campus Placement success rate – Where do you expect this 3rd year pass out student to stand in the industry?

And add to that the fact that over 43.5% seats (15% SC + 7.5% ST + 18% OBC + 3% Physically Handicapped + 1 Kashmiri Migrant Seat) are reserved for SC/ST/OBC. I feel reservations in such kind of professional courses should be a strict no. A student who gets over 15000 rank, still gets admitted if he is part of the quota seat. I wonder, what will he/she go through during the 3 years at college and a bleak campus recruitment scenario.

The fact that there are 26 institutes is good to read. However, while the established institutes like Bhopal, Delhi, Gwalior, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc go overbooked, the institutes in Sikkim, Patna and other remote locations go half full.

The Government could constitute a steering committee to review the demand and supply of the human resources in the hospitality industry and prepare plans for developing qualitative human resources which are require for the present day global industry. They should concentrate on the following issues mainly:

• Create a policy on Industry institute interaction

• Establish an apex body to coordinate all the hospitality management institutes in the country

• For conducting Common entrance test for all Govt. University/AICTE/Private institutes in the country

• Curriculum development from time to time as per industry requirement which is very important.

• Fees structure for different courses in different institutes

• Appoint a committee to identify the requirements of qualified manpower for International Hotels and also identify the ways to develop.

 And going back to college if required to impart some training or share your own experiences is something we all can start at our end and I am sure our faculty at colleges will be more than happy to have us there.

List of Top 10 Hotel Management Colleges / Universities  in India

1. Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development, Delhi

2. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Mumbai

3. Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA), Manipal

4. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Delhi

5. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Aurangabad

6. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Bangalore

7. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Chennai

8. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Calcutta

9. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Ahmedabad

10. Christ College, Bangalore

for more information of Indian Hotel Management Colleges, India Hotel Management Universities / Colleges search, Top Hotel Management Colleges of India, best Indian Hotel Management Institutes, Top Hotel Management institutes in India, Indian Top Hotel Management Colleges, Top 10 Hotel Management Universities, 10 best Hotel Management schools India list from Hotel Management Universities Information of India.

a cím elmondja. A zene a lényeg

Mother’s Day today. It is not a huge deal at my place. My mum used to tell me, “do you need a mother’s day to remember / love your mum?” or that it is a western concept or commercialising love and the likes. 

Though, I just thought that it might be an ideal day to do a tag about motherhood by IHM!

What do I not like about being a mother? There are days when I wonder why I had A. Look at him as a complication or a liability. Would I give up on him? No, never! He is the one who brings a smile (a genuine one) in everyone’s face here at home. A source of joy.

So onto the tag… what do I no like about being  a mother?

• Worrying about how A would turn out. (Especially with a mum like me and no one else)
• Worrying about what the impact of this divorce is going to be on him.
• Terrified about whether I would be able to provide for him (anything and everything that he needs and knowing what he would!)
• Being blamed for disciplining him.
• Worrying about spoiling him rotten if I did not discipline him (Where is that line?)
• Making him eat right being such a chore (Why can’t he just know what and how much to eat?! )
• Seeing him being so sensitive at this tender age, wishing he would not grow up too soon.

A is young. I guess I have a lot more to go through. This is probably just the beginning. The list might grow longer. It might lose a few points. This is a love -hate kind of thing. I love being a mother, having A in my life. I also hate it. It is difficult to pin point how, why and all that. The balance keeps shifting. Don’t know when it would settle or if it would. All said and done, I love my son and think that people who have decided to stay away from a gem like him are the biggest fools on earth!!

There you go IHM. I don’t know if I have done justice to your tag but I just wrote what came to my mind as usual. It might be a little too blunt but it is just how I feel!