Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2, 2017 i India Today

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella invited me for an informal chat with him at Davos this year. I was expecting a nerdy CEO with a supercilious air. After all, he was the boss of America’s fourth largest company, its third most valuable, a pioneer of the computer revolution which changed the world. He was none of that. I found a person who was gentle, self-effacing but doggedly committed to his mission. There was a monk-like quality about him, a clarity of thought and zeal. Here is a man who is not only out to transform his company but also the world. He feels he’s in the business of empowerment. He wants to create technology so that others can create more technology. For him, work cannot be transactional, it must have meaning.…

One of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s more striking campaign promises was to bring bullet trains to India—a symbol of an aggressive, technology-forward nation dragging its lagging infrastructure up to world-class standards. During Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit, the bullet train stole the show. Modi and Abe laid the foundation stone for the construction of the line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, a project expected to be completed by August 15, 2022, in time for India’s 75th birthday. To do so, Japan is providing a Rs 80,000 crore loan. Amidst widespread enthusiasm, some critics are questioning priorities when the wider railway network is in such disrepair. $17 billion OR OVER Rs 1 LAKH CRORE. THE ESTIMATED COST IS CLOSE TO THE ENTIRE OUTLAY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS FOR 2017 $27mn/ km…

For a regular reader of india today, journalist-author Prashant Jha’s How the BJP wins—Inside India’s Greatest Election Machine may not be quite the “illuminating” work Pratap Bhanu Mehta says it is on the book cover. Between 2013 and 2017, several stories written by our widely-travelled reporters have explained how the BJP has built its mean election machine—powered by Narendra Modi’s pan-India appeal, support of the RSS cadre and the party’s robust organisational structure and grassroots units. Wherever expedient, the party has played the communal card to telling effect and poached and fielded vote-catching leaders from sundry Opposition parties. What the book succeeds in doing, however, is clubbing together scattered information, and offering a quick understanding of how the BJP has been managing elections since the big triumph in the 2014…

Every year, the non-profit Geneva-based World Economic Forum publishes its Global Human Capital Report , ranking 130 countries on the extent to which they develop their people to take advantage of opportunities and succeed in the world. India ranks towards the bottom of the latest list, released last week, faring worse than its BRICS counterparts and worse even than some of its South Asian neighbours. While the report acknowledges progress, it notes India’s lack of investment in education and the government’s inability to put what talent and skill is at its disposal to good use. 103 INDIA’S RANK OUT OF 130 COUNTRIES INCLUDED IN THE REPORT. NORWAY WAS RANKED 1, USA 4, CHINA 34, SRI LANKA 70 AND PAKISTAN 125 93% OF WORLD’S POPULATION LIVES IN THESE…

V.S. ACHUTHANANDAN, 93 Recently restarted Hindi lessons that he had discontinued in 2014 WHY: Possibly for a nationwide role, after the CPI(M) sidelined him last year for the Kerala CM post on age and health grounds AKHILESH YADAV, 44 Released books of Hindi poets Deen Mohammed Deen and Omveer Singh Tomar on September 14 WHY: Because the state government didn’t celebrate Hindi Divas. He’s also trying to shed his laptop-and-sahib CM image…

INDIA TODAY GROUP: It is brave of you to write a book in the midst of being the CEO—in the fog of war, as you call it. Normally CEOs wait for their successes and years later talk about it. So why did you do it? SATYA NADELLA: The impetus for the book came from not as much trying to recount what has happened or even just talk about the future, but to talk about the process of transformation. Because I realised that so much of what one does as a leader in any context—and also what one does in life as you live it—is deal with change. So, I felt that reflecting on that while you’re going through it is, in fact, cathartic and clarifying, rather than do one of…

1 Challenge Take full-time responsibility of the party What the party expects him to do Become the president What he has done Rahul will contest elections for the post of party president in October; aides claim he will be seen in a different avatar 2 Challenge Strengthen the party in the states What the party expects him to do Nurture the state leadership, stop infighting, empower the block, district and booth committees What he has done A revival plan was drafted in February 2015, but no action taken 3 Challenge Restructuring the party’s top management What the party expects him to do Remove non-performing general secretaries, promote fresh talent What he has done Some reforms have taken effect, more in line after October; Rahul has hinted at creating a team…

OUTSIDE SIRI FORT AUDITORIUM, the crowd of students was thick enough to require elbowing through. Inside, despite it being just past 10 am, a concert was noisily being cheered on by several hundred of ‘the youth’. The cover band, Rangreza, was a good sample of the audience itself: competent, confident and entirely committed to having a good time. First on stage was Union minister Smriti Irani. Dressed in blue and exuding a maternal vibe, the minister’s bromides on ‘new India’ were calculated crowd pleasers. “The students themselves should be asked what kind of future they imagine for themselves,” she said, to sustained cheering. “That vision is the future of the country. Young India will define new India,” she continued. “It will be a place where the powerful empower the marginalised.”…

With the festive season round the corner, many of you will be planning to buy gold. Gold prices have shot up recently with international prices hitting the psychological mark of $1,300 per troy ounce, gaining close to 15 per cent this year (till September 15). Keeping in step, domestic gold prices have also gone up by around 8 per cent over the same period, touching a high of Rs 30,388 per 10 grams. The difference in international and domestic gold prices is due to currency fluctuations, in this case the rupee-dollar rate. So what is driving this surge? GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS A big reason for the recent spurt is the tensi ons following North Korea’s rogue actions, specifically Kim Jong Un’s ultimatums and the nuclear blast test, and the subsequent US…

Q Do we need a law to enable breastfeeding in public? YES It’s a woman’s right In order to answer this question, first we need to ask why are breasts considered a “sexual” organ. Why is it considered offensive to expose them in public, especially for feeding an infant? Many may consider a breastfeeding law trivial and low on priority, but it’s very important if we need to bring a change. Women should be legally allowed to breastfeed their child in public because it’s a harmless act of a mother providing for her baby, and not some morally degrading, low act. Alternatively, it should be mandatory for public places to designate private rooms for feeding in public, because we all know our legislation takes decades to pass a law. Sukriti…

1 Invest in art It adds beauty to your life, and if you’re smart about it, its value grows. Rana Begum, Neha Choksi, Sarnath Banerjee are good starts. 2 Invest in heirlooms I love the sentimental value of being able to pass down a treasure to generations that follow. 3 Invest in classic versus trendy Trendy is for the season but classic stands the test of time. 4 Invest in property Hot destinations include Spain and Portugal but my great love remains London. 5 Invest in who you can trust Follow people you know and whose opinion you can count on, as the real luxury in life is being able to rely on the brilliance of others.…

RADHA KAPOOR KHANNA 32 MUMBAI AND INDIAN INNOVATION SCHOOL OF DESIGN Founder and CEO, DOIT Creations, Company who brought Maison Longchamp Paris to India For an entrepreneur who has brought in French luxury brand Maison Longchamp Paris to India, launched ISDI (Indian School of Design and Innovation) in collaboration with New York’s Parsons School of Design and introduced urban customers to professional dry cleaning services with the Spanish brand Pressto, luxury is a part of life.“For me, luxury is appreciation of artistry and craftsmanship and the ability of human hands to create things that are special with exquisite design and the highest quality materials,” says Radha Kapoor Khanna. How is the luxury market shaping up The market is not without its challenges—tax structure, limited retail inventory, scarce luxury-ready human resources—but…

Trends are many for the season and everyone has a personal taste, but minimal chic with contemporary and classic touch is what to go for. If classic with the right amount of contemporary is what you want, here are a few tips. Bed settings The secret of a striking bed setting is how you layer the bed. Begin with the sheets; it is worth investing in a higher count cotton which gives a sensuous feel and lasts longer. Colours for a bedcover include grey, turmeric and emerald green. Dress a bed with two pillows, two rectangular cushions, two smaller square cushions and a decorative cushion that provides a highlighter. Handcrafted rugs and carpets These are difficult choices and can be expensive. I prefer the bold, abstract designs of the tribal…

The primary goal of any parent is to bestow upon their children the finest values, virtues and ideals to help them grow as unique individuals. We live in a multicultural global village, and we must teach our children to respect and appreciate, people of different culture, ethnicities and language. Parents should be willing to go an extra mile for their children and should encourage them to mingle with other children of different nationalities, this would help them understand the beauty of other cultures, their beliefs and ethos and embrace them with an open mindset. Establish a solid foundation with your child at home In order to encourage children learn about the nuances of the world and its structure, we should first make sure that our child is comfortable and happy…

In 2013, she was crowned Young Dancer of the Year at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London When Mumbai saw its first full-fledged opera performed at the Royal Opera House, the production was met with packed audiences. Soprano Natasha Agarwal, who played one of the leading roles in Domenico Cimarosa’s II Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage), was as surprised as she was delighted. “There’s nothing like performing in Mumbai. The city has a buzz about it,” said Agarwal. The first scene of the two-act comedy had Agarwal as Carolina sharing the stage with Sandeep Gurrapadi, an Indian American tenor playing the role of Paulino. The duo’s secret marriage must be hidden from Carolina’s strict father and no one must know they have spent the night together. A jumpy Paulino was countered…

The human rights abuses by Myanmar’s authorities have forced tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee the country in the last five years. Given the contiguity of land borders, the majority of them entered Bangladesh. Some also fled to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand in boats. Porous Indian borders were exploited to enter India as well. As per government figures, some 40,000 Rohingya are in India. While about 20,000 have settled down in the Jammu and Ladakh regions, the others have migrated to various parts of the country, including the National Capital Region (NCR). Having been bled for almost three decades by Pakistan-sponsored terror groups, the government has understandably called the Rohingya presence a ‘security threat’. Intelligence agencies say they have credible evidence to prove that efforts are already on…

In March this year, Indian IT professionals were worr ied the US decision to suspend fast-track processing of H1B visa would make it hard to find jobs in the country. IT industry body Nasscom has now said it’s not just the US that’s being protectionist; several other countries are flouting commitments given at the World Trade Organisation or in trade agreements with India. India is seeking a permanent agreement for trade fac ilitation in services and is also pushing for liberal rules in Asean and other countries such as China, Australia and New Zealand. This is under the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement, which will create one of the world’s largest free trade areas, say reports. “The changes in visa policies are in violation of the spirit of the trade…

A series of rice plate photo ops, from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana, have revealed BJP president Amit Shah’s appetite for food diplomacy. There was a scramble among photographers to capture one such meal recently at a BJP worker’s home in North Kolkata’s Cossipore. Realising the asbestos-shed house wouldn’t hold them all, Shah suggested they enter in batches of three or four. Except that Shah had to sit cross-legged and pretend to eat rice and curry, even lick his fingers, till the last photographer had had his photo fill.…

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is putting his money where his mouth is. The Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society he instituted in March last year is creating a Rs 40 crore corpus for its biddas abroad. On September 18, Naidu directed that at least half the amount be made available immediately to NRTs in need, particularly those who have lost their jobs, as well as for an insurance scheme called Pravasandhra Bharosa for accidental death and permanent disabilities.…

OF THE 16,000 ha EARMARKED FOR THE REFINERY, 28% IS NOW UNDER MANGO, CASHEW CULTIVATION On September 9, some 4,000 villagers from the Rajapur and Guhagar talukas of Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district staged angry protests against the government’s plan to build a new petroleum refinery in their midst. They say the project will force the displacement of 3,300 rural households living in the area. A joint venture by Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and the Indian Oil Corporation, the proposed 60 million tonnes (per annum) capacity refinery will cost Rs 2 lakh crore to build. The project will gobble up 16,000 hectares of land, which is at the heart of the villagers’ agitation. The refinery project, spread across 14 villages that have been declared an ‘industrial zone’ under the Maharashtra Industrial Development…

“YOU REALISE THAT YOU HAVE TO COMPETE WITH COMPANIES, AND THEN YOU ALSO HAVE TO COLLABORATE WITH THEM ” BRAD SMITH President “SATYA HAS THE RIGHT KIND OF EMPATHETIC, INSIGHTFUL AND INTUITIVE APPROACH TO A COMPANY” ERIC HORVITZ Managing Director & Technical Fellow, Microsoft Research “THE BIG CHANGE FOR US WAS TO GO FROM BEING A COMPANY THAT MAYBE HAD ALL THE ANSWERS TO FOCUS MORE ON LEARNING ” KATHLEEN HOGAN Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President, HR “THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB FOR A CEO IS UNDERSTANDING THE SOUL OF A COMPANY, ITS MISSION AND ITS PLACE IN THE WORLD ” FRANK SHAW Corporate Vice President, Communications “YOU CAN DRIVE FOR RESULTS, AND LEAVE A WAKE. BUT SATYA WAS ABLE TO DO SO IN A WAY WHERE HE TOOK…

Unlike the earlier governments, Chouhan’s schemes do not target specific caste groups. He’s seeking a broader coalition REPORT CARD PLUSES Has implemented a host of welfare schemes Revolutionised agriculture Perceived to be earnest Teflon-coated: no allegation has stuck, be it dumper or Vyapam scam Most popular leader in state, no challenge from party either MINUSES Tardy administration Administrative staff engaged in quasi-political programmes, for which collectors ensure crowds Public perception of rampant corruption in departments that have large dealings with the public Health services in a shambles, quality of education suspect At a seemingly routine meeting of top officials he chaired at Vallabh Bhavan, the state secretariat in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told those present to ensure that revenue documents to farmers be distributed in an…

If you are investing in the market, one bit of advice you’re sure to hear is—‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ Which is another way of saying that you should not risk putting all your money in any one asset class. Ideally, you should spread it across asset classes—equity, debt, real estate etc.—to reduce risk. So this is basically about getting the right asset allocation, depending on your goals and risk appetite. It seems simple, but investors often end up getting it wrong. There are many myths about the merits of diversification. Here are a few common ones: More funds/ stocks equal better diversification: People misunderstand diversification and invest in an unmanageably large number of mutual funds and stocks to ‘diversify’ their portfolios. But they forget that overdiv…

“The magic lies in the imagination; what you can induce the audience to imagine” The seating at the Experimental Theatre at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai is arranged coliseum-style, the stage in the centre demarcated with white duct tape. The unusual setup is for Motley’s “most ambitious project”, a month-long production of The Father, written by French playwright Florian Zeller. With veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah in the titular role of Andre, the play is a peek into the fading mind of an Alzheimer’s patient. “The attempt is to have the audience share Andre’s state of mind, leaving them in the same state of confusion,” says Shah. A few hours before the fourth consecutive production of the play, the actor-director has a hand-rolled cigarette in his hand,…

MAKE IT HAPPEN Tejas Mendonsa mixed this debut album from singersongwriter Tejas Menon. A frequent guest performer at Blackstratblues gigs, Menon is sometimes called the Indian Ed Sheeran. Out now IMPULSIVE DECISIONS Kush Upadhyay Group The 20-year-old prodigy is a self-taught guitarist and composer. His debut album, like his two EPs, has been mixed and mastered by Mendonsa. Out now SOLILOQUY Komorebi Mendonsa makes a guest appearance on the first full-length release by keyboardist and vocalist Komorebi, aka Tarana Marwah. Her layered electronic music compositions have impressed critics since her debut EP in early 2015. Out October 1…

The Chola empire, which once spread across the peninsula, all the way up the eastern coast and over the Indian Ocean, ought to have made it into mass-market historical fiction before. It has won dedicated readers in Ponniyin Selvan and other Tamil classics, and Devi Yesodharan’s Empire is a welcome, though lighter offering in English. The writer has spun an entertaining novel out of a detail from the copious inscriptions of the Cholas. There were many foreigners in the Chola kingdom, which traded far to the east and west, and among them were female bodyguards from Greece employed in the royal palace. They were called yavanis or foreigners. Yesodharan likes history, wears her knowledge of it lightly, gives her characters flesh and sinew and creates a universe. The reader is…

Debut director Sandeep Reddy Vanga and actor Vijay Sai Deverakonda have taken the Telugu film industry by storm with Arjun Reddy—a small-budget black comedy that introduces a new version of the angry young man. Deverakonda, 28, who stars in the title role, is suddenly being hailed as the Emraan Hashmi of Telugu cinema thanks to the countless onscreen kisses he delivers over the three-hour boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back-again story. But that’s missing the point. The character of Arjun Reddy—a brilliant surgeon with a hot temper and utter disregard for everything in the rulebook—is fast becoming a cult figure. His heroic feats include performing successful surgeries while drunk, stuffing chunks of ice into his pants to cool off an erection and losing bladder control after an overdose of morphine. “I actually peed…

FAIZA SETH 39 LONDON CASA FORMA CEO and Founder, Luxury interiors and architecture firm Despite having majored in economics from Northwestern University, US, with an MBA from Stanford, Faiza Seth founded Casa Forma in 2007, initially as a property development firm. With the Great Recession in 2008, she took a more conservative approach and started offering interior design and architectural services to clients which is what Casa Forma has evolved to today. Tell us about Casa Forma’s projects? We are currently working on a very high-end office project in Mayfair, London, and have also been approached to design a 13,000 sq ft country house, where we will be involved in the interior design as well as architectural details of the project. What does luxury mean to you? Luxury is time,…

ANVITA MEHRA 26 DELHI CONFIDENTIAL COUTURE Pre-owned luxury goods buying and selling website Anvita Mehra stumbled upon the idea of starting Confidential Couture during her student days at the Nottingham University, UK, when she decided to sell her designer handbag to fund a budget holiday to Barcelona, with a friend. It made her think how she could sell her pre-owned items to make money and buy anything. That’s how her website that deals in selling and buying pre-owned stuff got launched in 2014, with an investment of 20 lakh, self-funded by her and the family. Today, the platform has six to seven categories of luxury buys ranging from handbags, shoes, watches, and other accessories. Starting from Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Michael Kors, the online marketplace is trying to bridge…

Leadership is still a nebulous phenomenon, it’s ever-changing in the face of new circumstances. What made a leader successful 50 years ago may not hold true in today’s changing geo-economic environment. From personal experience of being in the executive search business for decades, what I do believe is that men and women bring different aspects of leadership to the fore. Most women, especially in Asia, get a head start in life when it comes to organisation skills as they master multitasking and collaborative working while they balance managing homes and full-time jobs. With marriage, maternity and motherhood, these skills only get accentuated, especially if the woman is also the primary caregiver in the family. So, what is highest common factor and the lowest common denominator when it comes to women…

As a woman in my early twenties, I’ve done it all; plastered my face with make-up, coloured my hair a ridiculous number of times, ate inconsistent and unhealthy meals, and did not care for my skin much. I had nothing to complain about until the quality of my skin started deteriorating, my hair falling off of my head and acne becoming a common occurrence. We don’t always attribute these things to what goes into our gut and ignore the fact that our skin is a living, breathing organ that absorbs everything we put on it. It so happened that my curiosity on the subject led me to stumble upon some harsh facts about the beauty industry that has, until now, been masked with celebrity endorsements and glorious branding. It’s hard…

Our Love, Our Choice The Ladakh Buddhist Association wrote to Mehbooba Mufti, J&K chief minister, to demand that the marriage of Stanzin Saldon, who also goes by the name Shifah, and Syed Murtaza Aga be annulled. The couple married last year. Saldon converted to Islam in Karnataka five years ago, before she even met Aga. Why does a 30-year-old woman have to write an editorial in a national newspaper to remind people that marriage and religion are personal matters? Nobody, Saldon wrote, “has taken me or stolen me... I have made my choices out of my free will.” Judging by the responses to her article in the comments section and on social media, the conversation on religious conversion is so vitiated that it is akin to public shaming. A lynch…

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh joined the force in 1938, when the IAF was only six years old. His demise on September 16, at 98, marked the end of an era for more than one reason. He was also the last of only three five-star officers India has ever had. Early in his career, Marshal Arjan Singh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. This was for his exploits as a combat pilot in World War II. But it was during the 1965 war that the air chief made his mark, leading the IAF to repel Pakistan’s better equipped air force. He was ‘quietly efficient and firm; unexcitable but a very efficient leader’ as defence minister Y.B. Chavan noted…

Who better than son of the soil Subodh Gupta to build an installation for a new Bihar mus eum? At least that’s what chief minister Nitish Kumar thought when he commissioned the artist for it. Gupta got down to work, assimilating a microwave oven, fridge and washing machine into his piéce de résistance. But it’s taking longer than Nitish had hoped and the CM is keen to keep to the Gandhi Jayanti date for the museum’s inauguration. So October 2 it shall be for the inauguration; Gupta can take his time finishing his work.…

True, our rivers are in dire straits. But planting trees won’t save them, taking hard decisions against entrenched interests will As Jaggi Vasudev’s Rally for Rivers rolls northward toward Delhi, accompanied by encomia from his followers, cor porate sponsors, assorted celebrities, the chief ministers of five states and politicians from Sonia Gandhi (Congress) to Pravin Togadia (Vishva Hindu Parishad), warning bells start ringing in my head. The catholicism of this motley crew is a clue to the apparent naiveté of the rally’s aim: save our rivers by creating awareness and planting trees on riverbanks. With such admirable, anodyne goals, everyone’s pleased to jump on the green Mercedes-led bandwagon. It’s true that our rivers are in dire straits. Worshipped yet wantonly abused and sullied, saving them does call for urgent and…

Originally, I thought of this book as a collection of meditations from a CEO in the midst of transformation. As someone both navigating a corporate transformation and creating transformational technologies, my aim was to share these experiences in real time rather than look back on them years later. The Microsoft transformation, of course, is ongoing. In the face of global economic and technological uncertainty, we reset our mission, reprioritised our culture, and built or rebuilt strategic partnerships in order to solidify the foundation of our business. We also needed to hasten our innovative spirit and place new, bold bets. This is what has made Microsoft a trusted tech brand for more than 40 years. We looked beyond the PC and the server to drive success in the cloud. But we…

Aptlytitled Light Works,aremarkableexhibition of photographs by the late master Jitendra Arya traces both his evolution as an artist and the changes India underwent after Partition. Curated by photo-historian Sabeena Gadihoke, the exhibition—which runs through October 8 at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Mumbai—comprises vintage prints from the 1950s to the turn of the millennium. Gadihoke first met Arya in 2010 at his Colaba flat when she was working on a dissertation on Indian photography. “He was very happy that somebody had come to look at his work and showed me piles and piles of scrapbooks containing allthecovers of Femina, Filmfare, Hindiwomen’s magazines Madhuri and Sarika that hehadtaken,” she says. Arya’s photos have been featured on 330 Femina covers and he played a pivotal role in conferring stardom…

THE NOVEL IS A CORPULENT AND SELF- SATISFIED RECYCLING OF FAMILIAR TICS Early in his new novel, The Golden House, Salman Rushdie describes one of his characters as “glittering-eyed and babbling like a brook”. “He talked and drank without stopping, and all of us who were there would carry fragments of that talk in our memories,” he writes, in what might be a description of his own dazzling tumult of words, allusions, and jokes. “What crazy, extraordinary talk it was!” The Golden House has been compared to The Great Gatsby, an examination of the shopsoiled American dream. For Jay Gatz, the dream was Daisy, the girl born to America’s riches, the elusive prize, the symbol of belonging. Nero Golden is the mysterious immigrant at the centre of Rushdie’s novel. Like…

Q. You were on set for the first time in over three years. What was the first day of shooting Bhoomi like? A. There were some nerves, a few tears and a lot of happiness. It was an easy shoot, as we were not shooting an intense scene. It was good to be back with the crew though there were a lot of new young faces. Q. Has there been a change in Bollywood? A. There is a lot more professionalism which is great. Everything is on schedule which is damn good. Q. Were you apprehensive about playing a father in your comeback? A. I play a single parent who goes through trauma and seeks revenge. I can’t be playing [the roles] Varun Dhawan plays. I have to consider my…

Hillary Rodham Clinton What Happened Some good old-fashioned carping and some pointed barbs at the Orange Man in the White House. Published by Simon & Schuster India 464 pages; 699 Letters from Kargil Diksha Dwivedi It began as a search for a father who died in the Kargil war. It ends as moving tributes to the men who fight in the Indian Army. Published by Juggernaut 168 pages; 250 Empire Devi Yesodharan N R Narayana Murthy’s former speechwriter reimagines the 11th century empire of Rajendra Chola, with a Greek slave, the haughty Aremis. Published by Juggernaut 328 pages, 599…

SAMYUKTA NAIR 32 LONDON JAMAVAR Head, Design and Operations, The Leela; Founder and CEO, Dandelion, Co-founder, Jamavar restaurant A splendid, but inconspicuous structure in the compound of The Leela’s oldest outpost in Mumbai, which opened its ornate doors in 1986, is the Leela bungalow, with its well-manicured lawns and regal, yet understated interiors. Equally intriguing and filled with paradoxes, is its youngest resident, Samyukta Nair, 32, the daughter of Dinesh Nair. The latter currently serves as Co-chairman and Managing Director of Hotel Leelaventure, the listed holding company of the hospitality group, which generated revenues of over $100 million in 2016, as reported by Forbes. But Samyukta is more than your average inheritor. “I wish I could feed into the stereotype of a hotel heiress but nothing could be farther from…

PEARL JIMMY MISTRY 21 MUMBAI AND LONDON DELLA GROUP Product Development General Manager, Adventure Park & Resorts Company For three years while she pursued her undergraduate studies, Pearl Jimmy Mistry, overlooked the marketing activities, digital presence and online sales for the Della group’s latest venture D.A.T. A. (Della Adventure Training Academy), a military-style training academy with luxury amenities for civilians to go ‘glamping’, as well as Della Adventure Park and Resorts. The first-of-its-kind Lonavala-based resort has been the brainchild of Pearl’s father, architect and designer Jimmy Mistry. “Shadowing my father and being a helping hand, irrespective of the department, has been part of my role at Della,” says Pearl. Jimmy Mistry’s passion has been contagious for his children, and Pearl developed a fondness for design at an early age. “I…

“AS AN ARTIST PUTTING STUFF OUT INTO THE WORLD, YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO BE ENOUGH” Rupi Kaur, 24, is known to propel herself into spaces that weren’t conventionally designed for her. And dominate them. It’s not every day, for example, that a 22-year-old college student posts a picture of menstrual stains, only to have to wage war against the social media site which takes it down (“I will not apologise for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society,” she wrote back then. Her follower count grew sevenfold). It’s not every day, that a girl from a pind in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, finds herself on a New York Times Bestsellers List, selling 1.4 million copies of her first book. And it’s not every day that a young, powerful voice of…

A healthy person loses and replaces about two hundred to three hundred billion cells, everyday. This is the body’s way of renewal, to maintain the highest level of energy, and over-worked cells are replaced by young, vital cells. The one exercise that destroys cells daily, at a much faster rate than what the body can replace, is eating. The way we are eating today—‘hurry-worry-curry’— destroys, drains and depletes cells. This means our body is losing its vitality, energy, capacity to build, protect and eliminate. Cellular satisfaction, that is harmonious metabolic functioning, occurs with lifestyle changes and maintaining holistic wellness through food. Eating prana (energy) rich food, or wellness food, is the way forward to enhance our health. Let’s do the thumb rule for selecting what to consume, how, and why…

One of Mumbai’s most notable contemporary artists, Jaideep Mehrotra is exhibiting his collection of abstract art titled ‘Reflections in Mercury’ starting September 23. The artist has used a combination of metal, paint and other materials on canvas for the unique collection which will be displayed for a month at the Tao Art Gallery. He talks to us about this special collection of abstract art, which marks a first for the artist. I believe the technique you have used took seven years of experimentation and research. Yes. After many attempts and trials, I was finally satisfied with the outcome, which led to this current body of work. To get this liquid metal effect, I’ve used a combination of metal, paint and mixed media on canvas. The elements come together to forge…

1 Eating Clean KITCHEN GARDEN Ever since they set up Suzette six years ago, Antonia Achache, Jeremie Sabbagh and Pierre Labail, dreamed of setting up a restaurant that would serve purely organic food. It was a long wait before their main source of produce, Offering Farms near Pune, could cater to their demands but last October they were finally able to set up Kitchen Garden, where the menu is 90 per cent organic (which excludes avocados and meats). The menu includes gluten-free soups, small pots, salads, juices and desserts. Even their delicious breads are made in-house with imported organic wheat. Open all day, the café has been so popular that they are setting up a new space in BKC in October. Organic 90 per cent Vegan look for the rabbit…