IA takes beauty expertise to Bombay
International
Aestheticiennes Chairman, Mrs Lillian Maund, is no stranger, either to
world travel, or lecturing, but her jet-set lifestyle took a new turn
in October when she made a flying visit to Bombay, to act as guest speaker
in a one-day seminar organised by Bombay University’s History Department.
Mrs Maund explained how the unusual appointment came about, "I was invited to speak at a seminar organised by Professor Jyoti Marwah, for the Icles Motilal Jhunjhunwala College of Arts Science and Commerce of Bombay University. I have known Professor Marwah for many years and first met this impressive lady many years ago, on one of our early Indian lecture tours. She is well known within India as an expert in both beauty and academic circles and when she organised the event, I was invited as guest speaker."
"There are plans afoot to establish courses based on cosmetology within the university, which is very unusual, a tremendous advance," Mrs Maund continued. "This seminar was one stage along the road leading towards this. I couldn’t believe how many people attended, but there was a very interesting programme of speakers across the academic range, including the Dean — who is a lovely man."
Icles College’s Principal Dr S N Shetti, expressed his gratitude towards Mrs Maund, "It is a matter of pride that a person with international repute like Mrs. Maund has accepted our invitation to profile cosmetology as a challenging career option," he said, whilst opening the proceedings.
"My role was to talk about career paths in Beauty therapy, which have expanded quite dramatically over the years," Mrs. Maund explained. "As well as opportunities on cruise chips and in salons all round the world, we are finding that people are using their knowledge base to go into a number of medical specialisms. I know therapists who have gone into physiotherapy and some have become radiologists. The attendees were very interested to learn about how our former students have developed their careers, in such diverse ways. I told the delegates about Natasha Tuffley. She is a real globetrotter and proved to be an ideal illustration of the career opportunities the beauty profession offers, as she has just swapped Istanbul, the gateway to Asia, for South America!"
"One part of our work, which has become very big business and is providing therapists with a considerable amount of work are Spas. If people go into spa work, they are training for the future, and are not leaving college with a qualification which leads down a blanked off career path. I.A. has just developed a Spa Module, to deal with this demand and there was a lot of interest in this.
"Jyoti introduced me, talking about how motivation is so important, then said ‘ and you won’t believe this lady is 65 years old’ and I thought ‘Oh my God, they will all be looking for the Polyfilla,’ Mrs Maund laughed. "The Dean said that he wished I would go and work for him — he said that had never met a lecturer who was equally able with the theoretical and practical work, on her feet non-stop. ‘We do one presentation a day and that is it,’ he told me I replied that we work in the real world, where courses can’t be dragged out to fit a certain term length. Today’s students want to receive their training, then get out into the world of work to put their new skills into practice."
Mrs Maund’s contribution to the day was backed up by lecturers from the university’s staff . Professor Marwah spoke on the science and art of Cosmetology and Professor G K Monga of the University’s History Department, examined the history of the craft from the days if the Indus Civilisation through to modern times. "There were people from a number of other universities attending, a number of whom came up to me asking if I could lecture at their colleges. It was a little embarrassing as I was there under Jyoti’s wing — she was my host, ‘ said Mrs. Maund.
As readers will know, over the last thirty years, Mrs Maund has kept up the sort of schedule that would have many youngsters flagging, travelling the world as chairman of IA, whilst lecturing and running her successful Beauty Training Centre in Bolton. I asked if she was thinking about slowing down and taking a back seat.
"I have been asked to two lots of teaching in India within the next month, but I can’t see one, never mind two gaps in my diary big enough to do this. When you get to the stage that you can’t fit in all the work people demand of you, something has to be trimmed down," she admitted