EXCLUSIVE Interview with The Correspondent Deputy Editor, Gourav Sharma:

Bobby Deol has had a resurrection of sorts with Animal. He has only a 15-minute role in the film and plays the villain and yet, people have taken to his character, Abrar Haque, big time. Even he’s hard-pressed to explain the popularity of his character. The hype is even bigger than what he saw with his debut film Barsaat (1995). It’s like a new generation of fans have rediscovered him and are liking what they’re seeing. Thanks to OTT, he got to act in products like Aashram and Love Hostel, where his dark-hued roles got him a lot of plaudits. Now, Animal has cemented that foundation and looks like Bobby is all set to play another big innings. But the Deols have all been like that. You write them off at your own peril…

Thanks to your role in Animal, you’ve been flooded with compliments over the internet.
I feel like I am dreaming. It was so humbling and overwhelming. It has been an amazing year for all of us. Bhaiya’s film was a blockbuster. Papa’s film did very well, and now Animal has given me so much love and appreciation. When Papa’s film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani got released, the character that Papa played, if somebody else had played it, the magic wouldn’t have happened. And then, when Sunny Bhaiya’s Gadar 2 got released, I was so happy that after 22 years, Bhaiya’s film has been such a big hit. I did have a gut feeling that Animal would be made well, as Sandeep Reddy Vanga was directing it. But I never thought that it would garner such a huge box office collection. God has really been kind and the love of my fans and the audience has just been extremely amazing.

We have seen you teary-eyed after the success of the film.
I am a very emotional person. And there is nothing wrong with that. We Deols are like this only. I am not able to control my excess emotions because I have waited for many years for this day.

Which is the best compliment you’ve received so far for this role?
Many of my colleagues and my juniors have called and wished me well. I have spoken to some of them and have received many messages. The kind of love the industry gave to my brother after Gadar 2 became a hit, I’m getting the same kind of love from them.

  How did your family react to your performance?
When I met my father, he told me that people were going crazy over you. He is very fond of checking social media reactions. He was so happy. I told him, “Haanji papa, main aapka beta hun isliye mujhe itna pyar mil raha hai.” I feel that I have finally achieved something to make my father proud. He feels that I have done something special for him. Bhaiya is also very happy. So every evening, when he comes back from work, we look at each other and wonder about what’s currently been happening in our lives.

Has the definition of success changed for you?
What is success? For me, the biggest achievement is to be understood as an actor. I just want to be loved by people as an actor. I mean, people love me, but I want them to see my work and to achieve that in a role that’s only 15 minutes long. That’s special, indeed. I never imagined this. That’s why I call it a dream. So every actor dreams that they will get that kind of fame and love. I am getting all of it together at once. It’s heady indeed.

When Sandeep Reddy Vanga offered you this film, did you feel that you would be able to play this extremely violent role?
I have done many action films in my life. It was challenging. But when you are okay with being challenged, then everything becomes easy. That’s how I look at it. I want to be thrown into situations as an actor where I really have to find a way to perform and that’s the joy of every actor.

How did you prepare physically and mentally to play Abrar Haque?I didn’t look at Abrar’s character as a villain. I looked at it like a hero. His grandfather committed suicide in front of his eyes, and that shocked him. Because of that shock, he loses his voice. He loves his family so much that he will kill for them. He is a romantic. He has three wives. And he wants to avenge his grandfather’s death. And that’s how I looked at it. I love my family very much, so I imagined that. Physically, I did a lot of gym work. I had to control my diet. In fact, I had to control it so much for two to three months that I stopped feeling hungry. I used to work out thrice a day. But I used to enjoy it because I knew the benefit of that would be something else.

Do these kinds of characters affect you mentally?
Nothing at all. No. I am an actor. I switched off. Nothing affects me. I have done so much before this. I have done Aashram. When I was doing Aashram, the character was way more villainous than the one in Animal.

People loved your negative characters in Aashram and then Love Hostel.
When I was doing a negative role in an Aashram, I felt weird. I would feel disgusted with myself. But I reminded myself that I was only playing a character. In every person, there is something good and bad. You become good only when you can control your bad. In the evening, when I would eat along with other actors, I would feel normal. It doesn’t affect me.

There have been mixed reviews for this film owing to the violence.
Every film gets mixed reviews. There is so much violence in the world. We have made something related to what’s happening in the world. Everybody is ready to create a fuss. We are not promoting violence.

A good co-actor helps you give your best. Did something similar happen when you shared the screen space with Ranbir Kapoor?
I am a big fan of Ranbir. According to me, he is one of the best actors today. He is just amazing. He and I are both from film families and we have been through the same things, and our families have been through similar things. He is such a big star, yet he gave me so much respect. And such people are few and far between in our industry. So I became even a bigger fan of his as a person.

From chocolate boy to villain, do you give credit for this transformation to OTT?
Obviously. I give complete credit to OTT because it has given opportunities to so many actors and technicians. Every actor wants to play different characters and we don’t get that chance. And OTT gave me that chance. So
I think that’s one of the best things that has happened to me.

You have come out of a dark phase. You overcame alcoholism. How did you gather the strength for this fight?
Self-belief is the most important thing to anyone. If you don’t believe in yourself, then how will you move forward? For that, you need to be focused and disciplined. Discipline is an important thing. And that’s how I have moved forward. There was self-doubt for sure; that’s why people didn’t want to work with me. I used to think, “What is wrong with me?”I started doubting myself.

What has failure taught you?
Stay focussed. If you are focused, you will stay disciplined. You lose discipline, then you get depressed. I have learnt this from my Papa and Sunny Bhaiya. Self-belief is important. Be true to yourself and be a good human being.

Your wife, Tanya, has always been supportive.
She is my backbone. Being married to her is the best thing that has happened to me. She is a simple and strong lady. Only a wife can understand her husband’s difficulties. She understands me very well. She is very talented and a successful entrepreneur.She has three kids and she looks after them. The biggest one is me (laughs). The other two are younger than me.

What kind of relationship do you share with your sons?

When we were growing up, Papa used to be busy with film shoots. So we hardly got a chance to spend time with him. But I can say I was lucky to spend time with him. I used to go with him for outdoor shooting. My father always complains that I don’t open my heart to him. But that’s not been easy for me, as we were brought up differently. That era was different, as there was too much distance between father and son. I’ve tried to negate that and look upon my sons as my friends and be as close to them as possible.

Having seen the extremes of life in showbiz, what advice would you like to share with your sons?
First, be a good human being. Believe in yourself. Be disciplined. Be focused.

Animal Park is coming, so are you going to rise from the dead?
(Laughs) I didn’t even know about it till I saw the film. I wasn’t told the entire story. I was only narrated and given the gist of the entire film. People are forming their own stories about it now and some are very interesting. But I don’t know anything about it.

The post “I just want to be loved by people as an actor,” says Bobby appeared first on The Correspondent.

“I remained enthralled by the story of Bhagat Singh’s fight for freedom. Yet it was a story that was not known at all within the mainstream historical accounts of India’s path to freedom in the way that stories of Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah were,” Juss, a Professor of Law at King’s College London, a practising Barrister and a Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in the UK, told IANS in an interview about his book, “Execution of Bhagat Singh – Legal Heresies Of The Raj” (HarperCollins).

This, Juss said, “was despite the irony that even today, surveys have consistently shown that more than anyone else, it is Bhagat Singh who is the most popular figure in India. An even greater irony is how even today, in both India and Pakistan, it is Bhagat Singh who is seen as the principal figure in any rallying cry for a reformed politics.

“Whenever there is talk of embracing the modern values of diversity, pluralism and tolerance it is the name of Bhagat Singh that is on everyone’s lips. For all these reasons, it seemed to me that Bhagat Singh was a story whose time had come. It was a story that had to be told and re-told,” he added.

Growing up, Juss remained fascinated by the way in which Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru went to their death (in the Lahore Conspiracy Case) and the way that they smilingly kissed the hangman’s noose, and putting it around their necks themselves — all of this is told in the popular stories of Punjab.

“What remained unclear to me was the manner of their death. As a lawyer I remained fascinated by this. I was not the only one. There were those before me who remained frustrated in the knowledge that the main documentary repository of Bhagat Singh lay not in India but in Pakistan,” Juss explained.

The legal proceedings had taken place in Lahore, and Bhagat Singh’s family lived in Banga, which is in Lyallpur District in present-day Pakistan. When he read Kuldip Nayar’s book, “The Martyr”, written in 2000, he noticed his lament at how difficult it was for even him, (who had gone on to serve as Indian High Commissioner in London) to have access to previously unexplored material in Lahore.

“There were rumours that one reason for this inaccessibility lay in the fear of Pakistani authorities that this would raise the complex question of ‘the Sikh problem’. This rumour, as I myself later discovered, was without any foundation whatsoever,” Juss said.

The catalyst to his writing the book was newspaper article by Prof. Chaman Lal of Jawaharlal Nehru University. He referred to the existence 132 files which lay concealed in the Punjab Archives in Lahore, and it was felt that these would shed new light on the story of Bhagat Singh. He too had been unable to access these files.

“I resolved that I should try. In the event, I found not 135, but more than 160 files in the Lahore Archives,” Juss said.

It was quite a challenging task and the biggest was getting permission as a writer to get access to the Bhagat Singh archive. The noted travel writer, William Dalrymple, once remarked about the Punjab Civil Secretariat that “to get to its gate is a difficult task, leave alone accessing the archives”, given that it is the bureaucratic nerve-centre of the Punjab province.

“After various written applications, I was able to do so and was met with the utmost help and generosity of heart by the officials at the Lahore Punjab Secretariat where the papers on Bhagat Singh are kept in excellent condition, with a proper index,” Juss explained.

There was also the challenge of meeting people who were still connected to the story of Bhagat Singh. In the three-judge Special Tribunal which sentenced Bhagat Singh to death there was one Indian Judge named Justice Agha Haider. He was able to meet and interview his descendant, “a graceful lady, whom I traced living in blissful retirement in Gujranwala in Pakistan”, Juss said.

Agha Haider had objected to the lack of even-handedness in the Trial. For that he was removed from the Bench and replaced by a more compliant judge.

“Had he not been despatched, there would have been a split-verdict of 2 in favour of death by hanging and one against, and Bhagat Singh would have escaped the gallows. Only in the case of a Zulfikar Bhutto, was there a hanging on a split-verdict,” Juss explained.

(Interestingly, it was Kala Masih who pulled the rope in the case of Bhagat Singh, and it was his grandson, Tara Masih, who pulled the rope for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.)

“The challenge before me was how to frame this argument and I have described the legal machinations as a process of ‘coercive colonial legalism’,” Juss said.

To this extent, the book is a wealth of information, containing dozens of documents not previously seen.

“In fact, there are over a 100 images of these documents. I refer to the full four-page ‘challenge to jurisdiction’ of the Tribunal on the very first day of its sitting on 5th May 1930, which states: ‘We believe that freedom is undeniable right of all people, that every man has the inalienable right of enjoying the fruits of his labour and that every nation is indisputably the master of its resources.’ The reference to ‘inalienable rights’ is directly drawn from the English common law, but used by Indian lawyers in Lahore,” Juss explained.

This challenge throws the gauntlet before colonial rule with words that “we believe all such governments, and particularly this British Government, thrust upon the helpless but unwilling Indian nation, to be no better than an organised gang of robbers and a pack of exploiters equipped with all the means of carnage and devastations,” Juss elaborated.

“Kuldip Nayar believed that not only was the Tribunal rigged but the Privy Council in London was rigged, and that one day secret telegrams would reveal that it was under instructions to reject Bhagat Singh’s appeal against the death sentence,” Juss said.

“Documents showing that the President of the Tribunal refused interviews of the accused with their relatives (thus making it difficult for the accused to prepare their defence) have been shown for this first time in this book. The removal of two of the three judges at the same time (one of whom was Agha Haider, who favoured the accused) ‘for reasons of ill-health’ within two weeks of the Tribunal convening, have been shown for the first time. Indeed, a document showing how at the trial of Udham Singh (who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre by shooting dead Michael O’Dwyer in 1940), taking inspiration from Bhagat Singh, justice was denied, is also revealed for the first time,” Juss said.

What next? What’s his next project?

“I am writing a second book on Bhagat Singh, this time focusing not on the Trial, but on Bhagat Singh’s life in revolution, and his wider relationship with violence, which was much more nuanced and sophisticated than is commonly thought. This is because Bhagat Singh’s view was that as revolutionaries, they were ‘lovers of humanity’, and whether they should resort to violence was ultimately dependent on the actions of their oppressors, because they themselves wanted peace,” Juss concluded.

The post ‘Bhagat Singh’s is a story that needs to be told & retold appeared first on The Correspondent.

“It was my way of saying impossible is nothing. I also wanted to highlight the name of Nepalese climbers and focus on climate change and global warming,” said Nimsdai Purja.

Purja, whose book ‘Beyond Possible’ has recently been published by Hodder and Stoughton/Hachette India told IANS that his training as a Special Forces combatant has been instrumental in the achievement.

“Coming from that background, it became second nature to operate effectively in extreme environments. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are — your decision making ability has to be right, everytime,” said Purja, who gave up the job and his pension to climb mountains.

“They mean everything to me — looking at them is inspirational, humbling. It’s a playground I can’t stay away from,” he said.

Believing that everybody has his/her mountains to climb in life, the mountaineer argues that his book conveys that no matter what one wants to achieve — to climb a high mountain or top his academic course, it is paramount there is intense passion for the activity being undertaken. “If you have the right kind of commitment and positive mind-set, you are bound to achieve the target.”

He added, “Through the book, I wanted to give a very clear message — if an underprivileged kid like me born in Nepal can achieve so much — from joining the Gurkhas, the first ever person from Nepal to pass the selection of SBS in 200 years of its history to climbing all the 14 highest mountains in six months and six days, it proves is that you don’t need to have opportunities on a platter or rich parents in order to make it in life. The key is to create your own opportunity and work hard for it. In boarding school, I used to wake up at 2 am to go for a long run while my friends slept.”

Purja, whose photo of the ‘traffic jam’ at Everest was carried by major publications across the world says the media completely misinterpreted the visual. “I have always said – if you are not a serious climber, don’t come for the Mount Everest. It is not a tourist mountain. Last year, we had only two days of good weather, and people had to grab the opportunity. That’s when the picture was taken. I just wish the media did some more research.”

Lamenting that despite the Himalayas being in India and Nepal, the region does not boast of many mountaineering schools, he said, “When you want to touch the extreme, you have to train, no? After all, don’t people learn how to fly an aircraft before they actually do? It makes all the sense to climb after acquiring some fundamental mountaineering skills.”

The post We all have our mountains to climb: Nimsdai Purja appeared first on The Correspondent.

“Back to my ghar ki kheti… Now that LA is in a 3 week lockdown I’m loving getting back to gardening and being one with nature,” she wrote on Instagram along with a video.

“It’s my way of staying positive, appreciating the simpler things in life & connecting with the earth cuz when life gives you lemons it’s time to make lemonade and nimbo ka achaar (lemon pickle) I’m sure mom will be very proud of me when she watches this video cuz she inspired me to get into gardening… Thank you Ma… Love you,” she added.

She shared the post with hashtags #Gharkikheti, #Organic, #organicgardening and #Soproud.

In the video, she shows her lemon plant, and the lemons she plucked saying she is going to make some lemonade.

Yesterday, Preity, who is currently in the city, shared a selfie with husband Gene Goodenough. In the selfie, Preity and Gene wear masks. The empty streets of Los Angeles can be seen in the background, lit up and decorated for Christmas.

“The streets are empty again as LA goes into another 3 week lockdown. I cannot believe this is happening again. Take care everyone. Stay safe everyone and plsss wear your masks,” shared the actress on Instagram advising everyone to stay safe amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The post Preity Zinta is back to ‘ghar ki kheti’ appeared first on The Correspondent.

Forgetting anything? Besides the internal effects of the cold like shivering your butt off, you’re probably suffering through the external effects, like rough, dry hands!

So why is it that so many people go through the winter and don’t alter their skin care routine for the season? We’re here to help you get educated on what exactly the winter months do to your skin, specifically your hands, and how to best prepare for Jack Frost.

What happens to your hands during the winter?

Come winter time you may notice your hands are cracked, hurting and cold as ice. Conditions like dry, flaking skin are a sure sign that the cold is getting to you.

You may also find that dead skin tends to accumulate quicker in the winter and rough patches of skin seem to be all over. This is because in the winter the cell turnover rate is deceased, leading to lizard skin.

Serious water loss can lead to deep cracks and fissures in the skin can be extremely painful and even lead to infection.

Why do your hands get dry?

The dry winter air is the first reason, and the most obvious, but this isn’t the only drying agent you’re facing. 

Artificial heaters are in almost constant use during the winter, and they definitely don’t help with the dryness situation. 

Dish washing and other daily scenarios where your hands are exposed to moisture and rapidly dries and it ends up being a knockout combination for your skin, in a bad way.

How can you prevent your hands from getting dry?

• Use an intense hand cream and gloves when going outside.
• When doing chores like washing dishes, be sure to use rubber gloves in the winter months and retain the moisture you already have.
• Limit exposure to high heat.

These steps combined with daily moisturizing, especially after you wash your hands will get you through the season without looking as ashy as a blizzard.

What ingredients help dry hands?

Stave off the dry feeling and rough texture with a hand moisturizer containing moisture drawing ingredients such as Laminaria Digitata Seaweed and Shea Butter. Green Tea, Vitamins C & E are very soothing ingredients, as well as  Lavender and Chamomile. All create a winning combination to get through the winter smoothly.

What else can help treat dry hands?

There are several steps you can take to make sure your hands are in pristine condition.  

Visit your local spa for a seaweed-based hand mask to hydrate rough skin and moisturize cuticles. Your hands can also benefit for professional hand treatments to exfoliate your skin. Specifically, gentle peels that use glycolic, lactic, or marine based acids will help improve the appearance of your skin tone and will complement your other skin care products.

The post How to Take Care of Your Hands in the Winter appeared first on The Correspondent.

In a chat with IANSlife, the co-founder of the denim brand THERE!, Ankita speaks about entrepreneurship at length.

How would you define true entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship can be cultivated at any age and at any time. It is essential to stay focused on delivering value and becoming consistent. You have to stay true to your vision, remain aware of the market scenario, and agile to cater to the needs of your customer.

How did you start your journey as an entrepreneur? What inspired you to do so?

I have always had a drive for entrepreneurship! Since we were little, my sister, Gayatri, and I were fascinated by the way our mother would experiment with fabric. Although neither of us are formally trained in design, we are immensely passionate and have a knack for spotting trends. Using our fashion instincts and industrial learnings from business school, we created our label There! in 2018. Our designs are focused on celebrating the people and our individual personalities. Towards catering to these individual personalities, our brand offers the option of customised measurements with every order. We decided to go online to capture a larger market. Shopify eased the process of going online and set up our website in no time.

How has your association with Shopify helped you successfully establish and promote your business?

Running a business can be time-consuming and satisfying at the same time. With the right guidance and support, you can turn your idea into a successful and thriving business entity. When we started out, we registered ourselves on Shopify in order to create a strong foundation for our online business and establish a direct-to-consumer channel. Since our launch, Shopify has been our one-stop destination aiding us with end-to-end solutions for all our key requirements with technical assistance. Their support has helped us to rely on them for these requirements while we could channelize our energies on our core product and scaling of our business.

How did you manage to cope from the impact of the lockdown?

I feel the impact of the lockdown has hit every sector, every company & every individual at a personal level too. A lot of small business owners have had to shut operations because of the pandemic. We too had to temporarily put operations on hold in our store as the whole country was in a lockdown phase. As the lockdown restrictions began easing out, we used our store to kickstart online selling. While we had consumer demand/curiosity which was amplified post Indian Matchmaking, having a store online was a blessing in disguise. with Shopify as our only online we were able to together address & ensure business continuity.

What changes did you note in your business after your appearance in Indian Matchmaking?

We had never anticipated that Indian Matchmaking could actually impact our business. However, following the show, customers all around the world got to know about our brand and what we offer. Our online sales grew 700% overnight from the day the show first aired. We had to figure out international shipping within four days of the show’s launch. At first, customers were excited and stunned to learn they were speaking directly with a contributor from Indian Matchmaking. After two minutes or so, they got over it and started sharing their stories which continue to inspire us as we design new collections.

Gayatri & me both, have been so grateful to this experience and all the love that has come through our way.

Any expansion plans?

Being present on Shopify has given us the advantage to expand internationally. Presently we are focusing on expanding our business in India. Towards extending our support to Indian craftsmen and weavers who have been hit by the unprecedented crisis, we are exploring the idea of using their expertise in creating designs. We recently launched our new collection – ‘Hauwa’ in Arabic means ‘first woman’ as a token of gratitude for all the women who have supported us. All the products in this collection have been named after the women who have purchased from us.

What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs?

Firstly, as an entrepreneur in a highly competitive world of startups, one has to take risks but on the other hand also needs to have a backup plan to ensure sustainability if the risk backfires. This is especially important in case of financial challenges. Having a clear business plan in place on the basis of your objectives is key to ensure that you stay focused throughout. Secondly, don’t hesitate to ask for help when required. Most successful start-ups are results of the guidance and assistance from many people including family, friends and mentors. Lastly, in an organisation, big or small, you are only as strong as your team. Hence make sure that you invest in only the best people who share your vision.

The post Entrepreneurship can be cultivated at any age, any time: Ankita Bansal appeared first on The Correspondent.

In an interview with The Correspondent, Todd who owns the restaurant Antares, in Goa, talks about her experiences in India, her journey in through the Indian food industry. Read excerpts:

What attracts you to the culinary culture of India?

From the moment you step onto a street, whether it’s bustling Mumbai or a village out of the city, you are immersed in its colours, sounds, aromas, and energy. It is exhilarating. From homes to the street food hawkers and family restaurants, food is an integral part of India’s culture. Recipes are a family’s legacy handed down from one generation to another.

Some of my fondest memories are cooking with local families in Goa, Assam, and Rajasthan as they prepare these meals with love and technical perfection. It is awe- inspiring and I try to replicate this dedication to craft in my own recipes. India inspires me in many ways, from the warmth of the locals, the culture, the community spirit, and their propensity to enjoy themselves. If you’ve ever been to Antares, you’ll know what I mean!

This is what brings me back to India. I feel comfortable here which is why I call India my second home.

Can you describe the moment you knew you wanted to quit your modelling career and venture into the culinary world?

I have always been creative and even while modelling I worked in other fields which kept me busy. In hindsight, I suppose I was always searching for a career that satisfied that creativity. It wasn’t until I had my son Phoenix, that I developed a passion for cooking.

Healthy food was always a focus, but I soon realised that, if I was going to get him to eat it, it also had to be tasty.

It was while I was modelling in London that I decided to enrol in the Diploma de Cuisine program at Le Cordon Bleu. I’d given myself a year to make it in the culinary world. I figured I was still young enough to go back to modelling if it didn’t work. I topped my class and after applying to MasterChef, I was accepted into the top 50.

How do you manage to curate exotic Indian cuisine keeping in mind the sensitivities of the diverse population here?

I have travelled to many parts of India and its diversity never ceases to amaze me. Cuisine changes, not only from state to state, but village by village. I love exploring and drawing inspiration from relatively unknown regions of India. I get my greatest inspiration from eating with local families who generously invite me into their homes. It is these intimate affairs and stories that truly embody Indian food. I am also a street food junkie and India’s street food is second to none.

How do you think we can uplift the food producers in India as well as Australia?

The provenance of food in Australia is becoming a trend. Many of us want to know where the food comes from, how it is produced, and delivered to us. Schools are now cultivating their own veggie gardens. Students understand how much hard work is needed to get the food onto the plate.

Australia is one of the most food secure nations in the world and exports 70 percent of our agricultural production. However, I think we take our farmers for granted and much needs to be done to support them.

Most restaurants now include the provenance of ingredients on the menu which creates a connection to the products and the producers. Buying local and seasonal produce is also a great way to support farmers. I follow this philosophy for my menus in India.

Your experience at the Australian Open Chef Series ‘The Perfect Serve’?

‘The Perfect Serve’ is a five-part documentary series that follows me, Analiese Gregory and Bo Songvsava as we undertake the daunting task of serving a five-course menu at the Australian Open. Viewers get an insight into the behind-the-scenes preparations and follow the journey across different countries, cultures, and cuisines.

It was an honour to be invited to be part of the first all-female AO Chefs Series which is one of Australia’s most prestigious culinary events. Australians know me from my time on MasterChef and the My Restaurant in India documentaries. However, my cooking style has changed dramatically since MasterChef. Because of my time in India, I developed a unique Indian Australian cooking style, and this would be the first time Australians would have the opportunity to try it. To be honest, I was a little nervous. I began to relax though when the plates came back to the kitchen empty. The response was amazing. Diners were treated to the best Australian produce with flavours of India that some had never heard of before.

Being a single mother, what would you like to tell the ‘mompreneurs’ out there?

Women possess unbelievable inner strength, but it is inevitable that we have a sense of guilt when work takes us away from loved ones, particularly our children. Overcoming this guilt has been my biggest challenge, especially in the early days. It is important to master the art of work/life balance. I am still working on this but when I am with my son, he has all my attention. Now that he is a little older, he understands I must be away sometimes, and technology allows us to talk face-to-face.

As Mompreneurs our blood, sweat, tears, heart, and soul go into making our business a success, but we must also take time out for ourselves. If we are happy and healthy, that will have a positive effect on our personal and business relationships.

Which food has taken you the longest preparation time till date? Was it worth the effort?

My dessert for the Australian Open Chefs Series in 2020 took three days to prepare. In keeping with the Indian theme, I created a dessert with serious character, inspired by the refreshing sol kadhi. It consisted of a layered dome paired with lychee and rose gelato. To add drama and personality I served it with a shattered rose.

The post India is my second home: Chef Sarah Todd appeared first on The Correspondent.

The Ultimate Goal, published by HarperCollins, will shake you out of your naivete in believing that watching television news and movies, reading books, memorising general knowledge and consuming content on the Internet, makes you a fully-informed person.

The book takes you through a geopolitical journey that will lift the veil from your eyes, and confirm the long-held suspicion that modern powerful states make you believe what they want you to believe by manufacturing narratives.

But what it does additionally is that it shows you how the biggest secrets of our geopolitical world are hidden in plain sight using the narratives spun by powerful states of the world.

What is a narrative, though? Sood answers this question at length and eloquently defines it as alteration or tweaking of historical facts and ideas for a political agenda.

His 350-page book then dwells into unmasking the process of narrative-building, its main drivers, tools and vehicles used by the superpowers to shape and influence collective thinking for political outcomes favourable to them, at least since the onset of the US-Soviet Cold War. It is a logical second to his first book ‘The Unending Game’ which had provided a broad overview of the profession of espionage that aids to secure a country’s strategic interests.

In The Ultimate Goal, Sood essentially explains how the West, particularly the US, post-WWII, used ingenious ways and means to peddle a favourable narrative about itself to pursue its ‘imperialistic’ goals around the world, without facing any revolt or defiance. The vehicles it used to build a suitable narrative are the Church, intelligence agencies, news media, television, cinema and the Internet.

The former spy chief, meticulously decodes behind-the-scenes mechanism of how all such institutions are used to weave a credible story to influence political outcomes. It is the narrative-setting, using all these tools to create corresponding ecosystems which then in a self-fulfilling prophecy sustain similar ideas and arguments. It is the US narrative, in the post-WWII era, that made Islamic theocracies or military dictatorships or Communist totalitarian states appear benign.

The book enables us to understand why and how the Indians failed to draw support of the West, for example in Kashmir even as Indians have been the victims of Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism. Well, it was New Delhi’s failure to counter the anti-India narrative manufactured by powerful players inimical to India! Sood however warns that non-democratic states cannot build credible and long-lasting narratives because it is harder for them to defend or justify their actions at home and abroad as well.

Had this book been written two decades ago, one would have escaped the trap of believing some of the constructed narratives which were not based in reality at all. In India’s case, many of the narratives fabricated by the mainstream media, for example, caused extreme self-doubt, self-loathing, suppression of self-esteem and lack of confidence. Its only after the advent of social media, which empowered the common man, some of the false narratives, faced resistance and questioning.

Sood’s Ultimate Goal, therefore, will serve as ‘The Truman Show’ to India’s academia, media, cinema, artists, activists and youth, with an insight on how our world is a large set populated by performers for a show controlled by invisible and powerful directors. From that perspective, it is one of the most important books of our times. It divests the geopolitical reality of all the ornaments and brings us face to face with the crude nature of the geopolitical world where nations, communities and civilisations compete for their respective interests.

In the end, the revelations in the book make you question whether political free will exists if the geopolitical future is predetermined by the states and deep states. But more than that, it leaves you with the question whether the human mind will continue to be a Guinea pig.

The former intelligence chief’s writing style is cogent and substantive, with one sub-theme seamlessly and effortlessly connecting with other.

Compared to all the books written by former R&AW chiefs, this stands out because of its in-depth analysis, covering a wide-ranging of topics that elucidate how the world has come to be geopolitically, the way it is. Though it is loaded with information and acuity, Sood’s ability to provide all of it with a dollop of intrigue, as if it were a suspense thriller, is exceptional.

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Imagine everyone in the world wearing only one colour shirt or eating the same food or listening to the same music! While asking you to imagine the world without tolerance, Suparna Sinha pitches in for a more tolerant world.                        

Tolerance is a very important virtue one should possess, but sadly today it seems to be missing in most of us – thanks to the headphone lifestyle of ours. But how is the headphone, and its slicker cousin, earphone, related to tolerance, you would ask.

If any particular song, podcast or mantra which we don’t want to listen is played, we quickly cover our ears with our earphones and shut the ‘noise’ out. Family members have different devices and their own earphones. Each one is busy listening or watching his or her own choice of ‘music’. What is entertainment for one is boredom to the other.

Right from school, we are told to have our own choice and to not follow the herd. We should have the freedom to ‘listen to our own stuff’. All that is very fine, my friend!

Where we go wrong is zero tolerance for the choice of others. If we desire to buy a blue shirt and wear it to office and our colleague wears a red one, we mentally tick him on his horrid choice of colour. You ought not to do that, right!

This world is such a beautiful place because of its diversity. Just imagine a world where everyone is wearing the same shade of colour as yours, wearing the same perfume, eating the same food, drinking the same beverage, or yes, listening to the same music. I bet you would want to jump off the nearest cliff out of ennui and monotone. Uniformity is lethal. Diversity is life. We are nature’s beings, full of multifariousness. So acceptance should be our second nature.

We can build up our dipping levels of tolerance by, say, watching a movie together. It could be any movie – a fairy tale or a classic. Get the family together, watch it and make it fun. Order some food, or fry some snacks. And sit with a mindset that you ARE going to enjoy it. Keep away your mobile phones for those two or three hours. And let it roll.

And yes, every member of the family should get a chance to play a movie. And then repeat the exercise. And if you have a full-time servant, ask him or her too. If you wish to get adventurous hit the theatres (not happening in these times). Whatever! The place doesn’t matter, the bonhomie does.  It will work wonders to raise your tolerance levels.

Then transform the movie to music, food or politics and religion. This way, if you wish your young niece to listen to some motivational speaker, you could do that. Let all the members of the family listen to the guru. Let all learn in their own special ways. Maybe, grandma could also get some insight. Anyways, you are never too old to learn. And then take tolerance from your immediate family to the universal family.

Easier said than done though! The challenges along the way…

At first you could make faces, be fidgety, ferret out your cellphone for a quick peek. Let it be that way. But slowly and slowly build on it.

Tolerance like all virtues is like a muscle; it needs to be exercised. Once you become more tolerant, you will be surprised to see the change in you. You will be calm, cool, and petty matters would not irk you anymore. You would start loving your job more, be friendlier with your colleague whom you first found to be irritable, and so on. And it pays rich dividends.

And teach your children when they need it most. This virtue is also needed to be taught at school. If the child is taught to be tolerant at an early age, he would somehow make himself ready for the world he grows into.

Life would be so much more vibrant and positive if we build up our tolerance muscle slowly and steadily. We can manage our emotions in a better manner, and keep away from thinking about trivial issues. Give more of your time and mental space to creative pursuits and all things good. So friends, start today. Be more accommodating and see the change. Just do it! Suparna’s blog is https://everpositive.blogspot.com/

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Why couldn’t National Security Advisor Ajit Doval greet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T Esper with the traditional Namaste rather than going for more theatrical elbow bumps?

Doval exchanged elbow bumps, skipping the conventional handshake or more favoured Namaste, with Pompeo and Esper, following social distancing norms amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Namaste has emerged as popular forms of greeting among world leaders in an effort to reduce the risk of a virus spread. World leaders have taken up Namaste. It is an almost universally recognized gesture of polite salutation. Namaste, or formally also known as the Anjali mudra. In Thailand it is called wai, in Cambodia, sampeah, and in Japanese Zen Buddhism, gassho. Even Fist bumps and elbow bumps are popular with the youth. Commando Doval just missed scoring a brownie point with the Hindu culture brigade.

Pompeo and Esper were in New Delhi to discuss strategies and enhancing cooperation basically aimed at counter-checking China. Before leaving for Colombo, said US “stands with India to deal with any threat”.

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