Good Morning, Bangalore with Kay: Recent Episodes
Kay Machado
Wake up to positivity, won't you? Excellent stories that you missed on the radio now on podcasts! This podcast contains stories of human interest, technology, celebrities, sportspersons and so much more that you missed from 'Good Morning, Bangalore' with Kay on 94.3 Radio One.
Karan Machado.. better known as RJ Kay is the host of Good Morning Bangalore that airs every weekday(7a.m.-12noon) on 94.3 Radio One, India's only international Radio network. He is the current youngest radio show host in Bangalore and has done everything right from interviewing Bollywood stars to International stars.
My last ever link on radio.. bitter sweet. How else can I define it? It has been an absolute crazy ride.
I will forever remember 26.09.2022. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry on air.. but I didn't realise how that last link would hit me. It's not saying bye to the team so much.. its the listeners. They've allowed me to be part of their morning every single day! The pure, unfiltered love is what I'm grateful for!
You will hear RJ Prithvi come in in this live link. He's been the person who saw me start my career in radio.. only fitting that he is the last one there to see me through it.
Thank you for the music, Radio One. See you on the other side.
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This is officially my last interview on air. I realised that over 7 and a half years of my career.. I have not introduced you to what my wife does(professionally)! So here we are.. Couldn't be a more fitting way to end a 7 & a half year career in Radio. Crazily enough, she was once a listener who called in. The only listener I ever broke my one rule(to never date a listener) for! Well, proud to say that she's my wife now!
I hope you enjoy listening to it!
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MarioFernandes, Free diver - the first Indian to hold 4 National records across depth and pool disciplines. 35-year-old Indian free diver Mario Fernandes from Goa recently put India on the freediving map by bagging 4 national records at AIDA (International Association for the Development of Apnoea) in Israel. Mario has made our nation proud by breaking 2 previous records in 2 different disciplines: DYNAMIC With Bi-Fins (DYNB) - Previous record was 64m, Mario’s national record now is 86 m, and Static Apnoea (STA) the previous record was 4min 11 sec, Mario’s record for STA is 04 minutes and 29 seconds. He is now all set to break his record on STA with his current breath hold of 7min. He is the first Indian to compete in the depth setting a new record for India in his first attempt for CONSTANT Weight with Bi-Fins (CWTB) with a national record of 45m (150ft) depth with a dive time of 1 min 40 sec and Free Immersion (FIM) with a national record of 40m (131ft) depth with a dive time of 1 min 35 sec. Given this was his first attempt, Mario chose to focus on setting records to put India on the global map first. He is now all set to challenge global rankings in his next attempt, at the end of this year.
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Harsha Tej is on a ission is to plant 1 Lakh trees in the next one year. They've tried up with an NGO to raise companies CSR funds but we are doing a public fund raise to be involve communities to make them stake holders. Their aim is to not only plant trees, but also sustain them for the next couple of years. They have permission from the government to be planting this in their land. The objective is to create a green pocket which will create an biodiversity hotspot for flora and fauna. These mini forests will absorb a lot of pollutants and give back a lot of oxygen. If you want to join him on this mission more details can be found on his Instagram by clicking here.
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Spoke to Anupama Vedachala and here are are some things I learnt:
Bonsai- Is a Japnese art of growing a tree in a tray. It includes careful selection of plant, pruning, training and growing a tree in a pot which resembles a tree in natural condition.
Which plant- Any perennial plant can be choosen with woody stem and branches. Trees, shrubs, seedlings, cuttings etc can be a selected as starting materials.
Pot- Selection of pot is very important, it should always be shallow and match the style of the tree which is grown.
Culture- Unlike many belive bonsai trees are not starved. A very systematic fertigation and irrigation practices jas to be maintained depending on the selected plant to grow a healthy bonsai.
Buying a bonsai- Always buy from a reputed seller, ask the seller the name of the tree, how to take care and follow the advices carefully as bonsai plants are grown in small trays or pots any kind of sudden changes can have a direct effect on the plant's growth.
Once mastered- Once a person becomes a bonsai grower it's a wonderful experience as one can journey with a plant from a small plant to a complete tree in a miniature size.
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Indo-American Hybrid Seeds was established by Dr. Manmohan Attavar at Bangalore, India in 1965. IAHS is a private limited Indian company managed by technocrats. Indo-American Hybrid Seeds (IAHS) is a pioneer and an innovative Indian seed company.
IAHS is at present engaged in the Research and Development ( R & D), production and marketing of hybrid seeds of Vegetables, Field crops, Oil seeds, Flower seeds, and Ornamental and landscape plants. IAHS also undertakes turn key execution of greenhouse and net house construction. Since its inception, the company has made remarkable progress in many spheres of commercial Horticulture & Agriculture.
IAHS has a wide range of products in vegetable crops like Tomato, Hot pepper, Capsicum, Bhendi (Okra), Brinjal (Eggplant), Bittergourd, Bottlegourd, Radish and others, Field crops such as Cotton, Rice and Maize, Oil seed crops (Sunflower) and Flower seeds. The hybrids are characterized by their quality and high degree of tolerance to insect pests and diseases resulting in better quality crop and higher yields.
Spoke with Rashmi Attavar, Joint Managing Director & Dr. Madhusudhan, Manager - Technical at IAHS. Here is how conversation went!
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“Just Another Day” is a modern neo-realist film that draws attention to in-arguably one of the most raging topics of modern times - depression, abuse and the perception of separated/divorced women in society.
Through the happenings of a single day, the story traces the life of a 40-something newly separated woman, Anjali Katekar, as she navigates another 24 hours of her life in the busy city of Mumbai. Her interactions with her colleague at work and a middle-aged lawyer at a cheap restaurant highlight the indifference of a typical patriarchal society to her mental and physical health coupled with their general lack of empathy and understanding. Societal indifference is sometimes one of the biggest reasons for the under-reporting of domestic abuse crimes.
Through Anjali, we can live the agony of hundreds of middle-aged women facing stigma for mistakes that are not even their own.
This film was done in a very independent way under limited resources and has been very successful and well received (especially in the USA & Canada) winning around 10 awards in around 30 film festivals after premiering in New York at the New York Asian Film Festival, last year.
Other festivals include Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Tasveer Film Festival, SAFFA, Jaipur International Film Festival, Oscars & BAFTA Qualifying festivals like RIFF, et al.
It was the only film from India at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2021.
The film was also showcased in the heritage Babylon Theatre in Berlin as per of Indo-German Film Week, powered by the Indian Embassy of Berlin.
Closer home, the film is in the pre-selection of the China Short Film Festival, the only government-recognized Short film festival in China.
At home, the film is in the lineup of the prestigious Jaipur International Film Festival, Goa Short Film Festival, and Ayodhya Film Festival, while winning two awards in Chennai and Pondicherry.
The film was also felicitated by the arts division of Kuthaya Dumlipinar University, Turkey on November 25th, 2021, on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The film was also specially screened by the prestigious Indiana University, USA.
Prataya & Anshulika stopped by the studios! Was a fun chat that I hope you will enjoy!
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Corporate executive Suvigya Bansal and her entrepreneur husband would scour Bengaluru in search of an authentic Delhi-style chole bhature. When they found none, she decided to quit her job and set up a small eatery that would endeavour to dish out the flavours of their favourite chola bhatura from Delhi. And so seasoned cooks were hired from Delhi, a complex 58-spice masala developed to ensure authenticity of taste, the right size of chickpea sourced to convey the flavour of the spices, et al. Barely had this enterprise found its feet early last year when covid struck!
Thanks for swinging by and chatting, Suvigya!
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In 2010, documentary filmmaker Nitin Pamnani and microbiologist Jia Pamnani decided to move back to Gwalior, their hometown, from Delhi.
Wanting to engage in something that promotes sustainability, they began iTokri in 2012. Starting with an investment of Rs 20 lakh, the online store, which sells handcrafted fabrics, jewellery, paintings and other artworks, today works with over 10,000 artisan families across India. Even while clocking revenue of close to Rs 27 crore, the duo remain bootstrapped and have not looked to raise capital yet.
Today, iTokiri’s employee strength is at 130, all of whom work out of Gwalior.
The moment you receive a parcel packaged in an old newspaper along with a handwritten note thanking you for your purchase, you know for sure it’s from iTokri. The go-to online store for Indian handlooms and handicrafts, iTokri always believes in the personal touch, whether with their customers or with their artisans. And that is one of the reasons for their resounding success.
The other reason is that it stocks everything handmade from every corner of the country. From papier mache up north in Kashmir and Ajrakh of Kutch from the west to Bengal Kantha from the east and Coimbatore’s handspun cotton down south—you name it and iTokri has it. You no longer have to travel to these places to procure the local handicrafts, because the e-commerce store sources all this directly from the artisans and bring it right to your doorstep. All the while sitting in Gwalior, its home base.
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Ellie Goulding unveils ‘Easy Lover’ - a stunning slice of pop perfection that heralds a triumphant and long-awaited return - the first release since Ellie’s chart topping 2020 studio album ‘Brightest Blue’. The track, written and produced in collaboration with the legendary Greg Kurstin and Julia Michaels, sees Ellie’s unmistakable vocals paired with pulsating bass, punchy synths, epic key changes and contagious melodies - the perfect combination for a summer pop banger. The new single also features rap royalty Big Sean who adds his signature flow in contrast to Ellie’s breath-taking harmonies. Big Sean is one of the biggest names in rap is known for hits such as ‘I Don’t Fuck With You’ and ‘Dance (Ass) ft Nicki Minaj’ as well as working with the likes of Justin Bieber, 2Chainz, Halsey and Calvin Harris.
Alongside the single, Ellie has released the epic music video for ‘Easy Lover’, which sees her take on an otherworldly creature that takes the form of humans. The haunting visual is a confident and exciting accompaniment to the single and was directed by Sophia Ray (Years & Years, Raye, Mabel) with movement direction from Remi Black and creative direction from Nathan Klein who also styled the video.
Speaking about the track Ellie states, “I wrote Easy lover in LA with Julia Michaels after conversations about the age old tale of being infatuated by someone cool and beautiful knowing that they will never quite feel the same. It’s about going back to the same dangerous person to feel alive when you know they have hurt people again and again before you. Having the legendary Greg Kurstin produce any song of mine is always a dream come true. He always understands the assignment!”
Stay tuned for more news from Ellie Goulding in the coming months.
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Laxmi started out with this endeavor of launching MomPower360 during the pandemic because many mothers like her reached out to her wanting a solution to their problems. Mothers by default juggle many responsibilities and fulfill many roles in a domestic system, having seen a lack for well equipped support groups for moms, Laxmi decided to finally do something about it.
The objective for her was to support and empower mothers like herself and build meaningful networks and relationships that will channel towards solving problems and providing corrective solutions to over burdened mothers.
It was seen to be pertinent by Laxmi to take this concept of Mompower360 countrywide that will be a definitive guide to all mothers in terms of parenting, self care, fitness, nutrition, mental health and many other aspects.
Being a mom herself she has an understanding of this having gone through it herself at a grassroots level and her perspective added with the opinions of other mom’s helps empower this initiative furthermore.
With this initiative her goal is to build mom communities and create a safe space for moms to connect with each other to build a sisterhood of motherhood circle, whether one is a homemaker mom, working mom, an enterprising mom or a single mom. Mompower360 will be hosting online and offline events, workshops, talks to inspire mom achievers and mom entrepreneurs to propel and pave the way for moms to think beyond the horizon. It will also provide a networking platform to entrepreneurs, influencers, content creators to learn and grow from each other's experiences by sharing their journeys with one another.
Besides being a full time mom and entrepreneur Laxmi loves reading, gardening and decorating spaces. She loves planning meals for her kids and spending time with them at home cosying up with a book or a movie.
Lakshmi also runs a charitable project called The Joy Box which redirects surplus from the community to NGOs and those in need. With Mompower360, she aims at uplifting moms to be their best versions with support of experts and other inspirational moms because she believes a happy home begins with a happy mom.
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The idea for CosMix began when Vibha Harish was diagnosed with PCOD. She began researching the market for solutions for the disease, and the weight gain, the acne and everything that came with it. Unfortunately, everywhere she turned, all she saw was toxic messaging and inadequate marketing. Since she was already looking after herself through natural, plant-based, she felt it was only fair to share these with the rest of the world without the toxic language and preying on people’s – especially women’s – insecurities. This led to the birth of Cosmix. Cosmix has been growing steadily at a rate of 30% each month. Cosmix is a thoughtfully put-together range of products that take care of your internal as well as external nourishment. They not only nourish your body but also encourage you to embrace a holistic approach towards health
Vibha and Soorya are the co-founders of the company and are married. Vibha’s parents are the owners of Itsy Bitsy Craft Store here in Bangalore.The company has been mentioned in Vogue, Grazia and Forbes.
Had a chat with Vibha & Soorya! What fun!
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Water hyacinth is one of the most successful colonizers in the plant kingdom. It was distributed as a takeaway gift at a cotton exhibition held in the New Orleans state of the United States in the 18th century.
Soon, it made its way into the state of West Bengal as an ornamental plant. Today it is known as the “Terror of Bengal” and the “blue devil”. The water hyacinth adds colour and freshness to squalid muddy village ponds. But its beauty is only surface deep. With one plant capable of duplicating itself every nine days, it is a parasite which clogs waterways and chokes village ponds.
However, on the occasion of the 50th World Environment Day that was on Sunday, the volunteers of Hulimavu Kere Taranga, a non-profit, decided to give this plant a good name, and sent Hulimavu Lake’s hyacinth to be converted into handmade paper and other eco-friendly products at Bluecat Paper, manufacturers of tree-free paper in Peenya Industrial Area.
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The Green Oak initiative is a community mental health community mental health centre that provides psychiatric and psychological services that are easily accessible and affordable to its local community.
Along with providing individual and group therapies for individuals dealing with mental health related issues, our other not for profit initiatives cater to community at large, and they are as follows:
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A free and confidential helpline providing psychological support exclusively for healthcare workers.
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Samartha- A low fee mental health clinic for underprivileged communities.
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Cogworks- A cognitive enrichment groups for seniors with dementia.
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Khila- Rehabilitation groups for people recovering from severe mental illness.
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COVID rehabilitation services: for people who suffered post COVID psychological, cognitive and physical symptoms.
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Through the Looking Glass (book club) and the Oblique Angle film club- community events to facilitate conversations about mental health in popular media.
Shilpa Nagaraj was on the show to talk about all the above and more. She is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist.
She has been trained in range of evidence-based psychological interventions including Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Cognitive behavioural Therapy, Mentalization Based Treatment and Mindfulness based treatment approaches. Largely driven by curiosity and gratitude, she absolutely enjoys reading books and playing with her furry pals. She’s committed to individual care and working towards inclusion and in providing mental health care of highest standards.
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City-based actor Akhil Iyer whose latest movie, Hit, released on Friday, speaks about his role in the movie and his dream of making it big in Bollywood!
Way before Akhil Iyer even knew the meaning of acting, he was sure of one thing - he wanted to become an actor. "I was a big fan of Akshay Kumar, I wanted to grow up and be Akhil Kumar. I had even named myself after him," recalls the Bengaluru-based actor. Close to three decades later, he is finally living his dream.
While talking about his recent film, HIT: The First Case, the actor says, "We shot the film towards the end of last year. There were a lot of delays because of COVID, but it has finally happened. In the movie, Rajkummar Rao and I are cops, who work for a group called the 'Homicide Intervention Team', and we are investigating a missing person's report."
Akhil was also my senior in school and stopped by the show to have a chat!
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Bengaluru-based Vineeth Vincent wears many hats — that of a beatboxer, musician, emcee, voice artiste and an entrepreneur. "Colour" is a song about the burdens and judgments we carry towards ourselves and others. This is the first track from the Album - "Growing Up and Then Some" by Vineeth Vincent.
He swung by to chat about the track and the song is now live across the country on the entire 94.3 Radio One International Network!
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Hosachiguru was founded with a two fold goal- one, to give back to the environment by growing trees instead of buildings and structures, two, to help individuals grow their own crops, trees and enjoy the benefits of having farmland. Anyone who owns a Hosachiguru farm can remotely monitor their farms through an app with real-time activity updates and alerts, Hosachiguru uses real time real-time IoT sensors that monitor weather, soil moisture, soil temperature, rainfall and humidity.
Crowded cities, polluted air and noisy streets. Given a chance, how many of us would like to get away from the hustle of city life? In the middle of our busy schedules, many of us dream of having that perfect weekend getaway, a farmhouse in the lap of nature, a chance to grow your own food, and experience open blue skies.
Bengaluru based Hosachiguru gives city folks a chance to live a life closer to nature. An agriculture startup, Hosachiguru gives you a chance to own farmland, grow your own trees/crops and spend your weekends at your farm. All this without the hassle of day to day management of the farm. Founded by Srinath Setty, Ashok J and Sriram Chitlur Hosachiguru offers cherry picked farmlands to customers, develops and manages the land and helps them earn income on the produce.
Hosachiguru was founded with a two fold goal- one, to give back to the environment by growing trees instead of buildings/structures, two, to help individuals easily own, manage and reap the benefits of farmland. The idea behind Hosachiguru is to create farmlands that are environmentally and economically sustainable. Hosachiguru picks farmlands based on important parameters such as clear land titles, soil, water availability and connectivity. Once the owner invests in the farmland, Hosachiguru will grow and maintain trees and crops of the land owner’s choice. The owners are free to choose fruits, vegetables and timber trees of their choice. Land owners can earn passive income by selling the produce and are also free to partake in farming activities in the farmland. They can build their own weekend homes in 10% of their farmland.
Owning a Hosachiguru farmland offers an opportunity for land owners to be in sync with nature, enjoy the outdoor life and indulge in community activities. Each Hosachiguru farmland has a farmhouse/guest house for weekend getaways with family and friends. From reading pods to cycling tracks, bonfire to camping, Hosachiguru farmlands offer a lifestyle close to nature.
Buyers can choose from ¼ acre, ½ acre and 1 acre plots. The company has created employment opportunities for 500+ local farmers and helped mitigate rural migration. In addition to the social impact, Hosachiguru is creating a positive environmental impact through its agroforestry model. They are actively involved in converting dry land into arable sustainable lands. Their sustainable and natural farming practices help improve soil health and improve flora and fauna around the farmland.
Co-Founder & Managing Director of Hosachiguru, Sriram Chitlur, dropped by! What a fun bit of conversation!
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Indo-American Hybrid Seeds was established by Dr. Manmohan Attavar at Bangalore, India in 1965. IAHS is a private limited Indian company managed by technocrats. Indo-American Hybrid Seeds (IAHS) is a pioneer and an innovative Indian seed company.
IAHS is at present engaged in the Research and Development ( R & D), production and marketing of hybrid seeds of Vegetables, Field crops, Oil seeds, Flower seeds, and Ornamental and landscape plants. IAHS also undertakes turn key execution of greenhouse and net house construction. Since its inception, the company has made remarkable progress in many spheres of commercial Horticulture & Agriculture.
IAHS has a wide range of products in vegetable crops like Tomato, Hot pepper, Capsicum, Bhendi (Okra), Brinjal (Eggplant), Bittergourd, Bottlegourd, Radish and others, Field crops such as Cotton, Rice and Maize, Oil seed crops (Sunflower) and Flower seeds. The hybrids are characterized by their quality and high degree of tolerance to insect pests and diseases resulting in better quality crop and higher yields.
Achievements:
● IAHS is the first company to launch Hybrid seeds of Vegetables in India(1973)
● IAHS is also the first company to undertake commercial seeds production in Greenhouses
● IAHS has repeatedly won the APEDA (Agricultural & Processed Food Products Development Authority) Export Award
● IAHS is one of the first companies in the country to establish a State-of-Art Commercial Tissue Culture Laboratory
● IAHS has developed protocols for more than 80 different species in Agro-Forestry, Plantation & Ornamental crops
● IAHS is the first company in the private sector in Asia and the seventh in the world to get accreditation from the International Seed Testing Association, Switzerland (ISTA) to issue "Orange" and "Blue" certificates for the export of seeds.
Santosh Attavar (Chairman and Managing Director) & Rashmi Attavar (Joint Managing Director) joined me to chat on the show! Absolute pleasure having them both!
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Dr. Mahesh Sankaran – winner of the Infosys Prize 2021 in the Life Sciences category, who is currently a Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore.
Dr. Sankaran’s area of expertise too is in the community and ecosystems ecology where in his lab looks at interactions and feedbacks between climate, biogeochemistry, fires and herbivory influence of ecosystems. He also studies and deals with the projected changes in climate such as increasing variability of rainfall, frequency of droughts, increasing aridity in the tropics, and rising CO2 and their impact on the ecosystem function, stability and services.
Infosys Science Foundation has beenencouraging and promoting research culture to help foster a more collaborative environment, by giving researchers the chance to share their experiences and their successes. The Foundation’s annual award – Infosys Prize, aims to honor, inspire, and build a culture of science and research amongst young researchers and students. The recognize the outstanding achievements of researchers and scientists across six categories: Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.
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Srikanth Kidambi is an Indian badminton player, who currently attends the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. In 2021, Kidambi emerged as the first-ever Indian to win a silver medal and enter the World Championships final in the men's singles.
In April 2018, he was ranked as world number 1 at the BWF ranking. In the same year, Kidambi was conferred with the Arjuna award in 2015 and the Padma Shri award, India's fourth-highest civilian honour.
He recently captained the Indian team to the legendary Thomas Cup Victory!
Chatted with him with regards to the launch of GPBL and much more!
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What a panel this morning!
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Soma Katiyar is Executive Creative Director at BBC Media Action
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Vasu Dixit is a singer, composer and musician
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Vani Murthy is an environmentalist who is passionate about composting and urban farming
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Shraddha Jain, popularly knowns as AiyyoShraddha, is an actor and comic
Everyday thousands of tons of waste is produced in our city. The waste produced ends up in the landfill, if not treated and recycled, making it a problem. Thousands of waste-pickers go about their daily task of collecting OUR WASTE to earn a meagre income. Not only are they cleaning our neighborhood, they are also saving our environment, health and money. The campaign is set up to reform the image of our waste-pickers into #Invaluables, without whom our city could not function as it is. BBC Media Action will be working on bringing in behavioral change in society towards the #Invaluables by
-Revealing the “Happy Number”, the amount of waste recycled by the #Invaluables
-Educating people about the 3 categories of #Invaluables and their contribution to society at large
-The economic value the #Invaluables add to everyone’s life
-The citizens need to respect and recognize the contribution of the waste pickers and aid them to help improve the lives of the waste pickers as well as contribute for the cause of environmental sustainability.
The happy number comes across as a glaring revelation to the people of Bengaluru and how privileged they are to have a hardworking community of waste pickers who have a direct impact on the well-being of the city.
It also points to the stark reality of the difficult lives of the waste pickers and how the society is oblivious of their invaluable contribution, valued to be about X crores in monetary terms. BBC Media Action and its partners are on a mission to spread awareness among the citizens of Bengaluru about the contributions of the community of waste pickers and to bring about an attitudinal change towards the community among the masses.
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It's finally here!!!
The GPBL, which has the blessing of the Karnataka State Badminton Association, has eight franchises - Bengaluru Lions, Mangalore Sharks, Mandya Bulls, Mysore Panthers, Malnad Falcons, Bandipur Tuskers, KGF Wolves and Kodagu Tigers who will be looking to building their teams by choosing their picks.
Each team comprises of maximum of eight players each and should include one icon player, a minimum of two Tier-1 and Tier-2 players respectively and also a minimum of two female players including icon category. Each team has a star mentor including Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Ashwini Ponappa, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu and Jwala Gutta. Double Olympic medallist Sindhu who is the mentor of the City team Bengaluru Lions said from Kuala Lumpur that she was keen to see how the franchises choose their teams.
I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Prashanth Reddy, CEO Bitsport and GPBL Commissioner. This was such a great conversation! The future of sport is finally here in India!
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PV Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first and only Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of no. 2 in April 2017.
She represented India at the 2016 Summer Olympics (Rio), where she became the first Indian badminton player to reach the Olympic final. She won the silver medal after losing out to Spain's Carolina Marin. She made her second consecutive Olympic appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo) and won a bronze medal, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win two Olympic medals.
With earnings of US$8.5 million, $5.5 million and $7.2 million respectively, Sindhu made the Forbes' list of Highest-Paid Female Athletes in 2018, 2019 and 2021. She is a recipient of the sports honours Arjuna Award and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, as well as India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri. She was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India, in January 2020.
Recent news:
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A plethora of Indian badminton stars including PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa and Chirag Shetty will take part in the launch of the Grand Prix Badminton League, Karnataka’s own version of Premier Badminton League, here on Saturday.
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to participate in Indonesia Masters, from 7-12 June in Jakarta
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won two Super 300 titles at the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open and a bronze at Badminton Asia Championships this season
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Instagram has today announced a new music property, ‘1 Minute Music’, which is a set of music tracks and videos, exclusively available on its platform, for use on Reels and Stories. This includes music from 200 artists across India. It will make Instagram content more entertaining, and inspire other artists to release their one-minute music on the platform as well, said Instagram.
Reels is a growing global stage, where artists and music are being discovered. Since launch, artists have been using it to launch their music and share it with others, which inturn is fueling many trends on the platform. To fuel this further, and to inspire others to unleash their talent as well, Instagram is now releasing the ‘1 Minute Music’ property.
The property will have music representation from artists across India, so it interests everyone in India using Instagram. This includes Hindi artists like Dhvani Bhanushali, Neeti Mohan and Shaan, Punjabi artists like Jassie Gill, Himashi Khurana and Gurnaam Bhullar and Tamil artists like Aniruth, Sivaangi and GV Prakaash Kumar.
Kabir Chandra, Head of Music Partnerships, Meta India chatted with me on the show about the same. Was a super fun chat!
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As a teen, Aryahi Agarwal, a student of Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai, says she found it difficult to source an eco-friendly, organic, and affordable perfume line for teeangers. This, along with brainstorming sessions with her Thapar Entrepreneurs Academy (formerly YEA!) mentors, led her to launch her own brand of perfumes for teenagers, Bella Fragrances.
Aryahi says she was heavily inspired by the biographies of renowned businesspersons like Walt Disney, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and Dhirubhai Ambani, and particularly intrigued by Coco Chanel’s revolutionary ideas that rocked the fashion world.
Aryahi came up with the perfume by herself, after over six months of R&D and constant testing of formulae by mixing essential oils, until she finally got the right quantities with the right oils.
Bella Fragrances is currently being sold on Instagram via the business's handle, for Rs 599 a bottle. The fragrances are handcrafted by her in a facility in Mumbai, with a capacity of 500 bottles a month. It is available in two fragrances: Bella Naturals & Bella Organics
The product is entirely organic, eco-friendly, and handmade. It is made using essential oils and denatured alcohol, derived mainly from roses to give it a floral scent.
Within a month of its launch, the business has already made over Rs 60,000 in revenue and Rs 45,000 in profit, with a gross margin of 65 percent.
You can find them on Instagram here.
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DJ Pierre Ravan. ONE OF THE FIRST SPIRITUAL HOUSE DJS IN THE WORLD.DJ, producer, certified Yoga teacher, Heartfulness Meditation trainer, high-end fashion collaborator and global club-headliner.It’s fair to say Pierre Ravan has done more than most during his three decades in dance music.Impressively, Pierre is one of the first to combine feel-good music, Yoga and Heartfulness meditation into his KaRavan concept. Often billed as the first Spiritual House DJ in the world, his KaRavan concept combines yoga, meditation and open-hearted music into one session, creating true dancefloor unity. And it’s been hugely successful. He’s been head-hunted to work alongside the UAE and Indian Governments to conduct Meditation and Yoga classes for Free to all people in the society. And he’s a big draw at festivals, having taken his KaRavan concept to Defected Croatia, Sunburn in Goa and International Yoga festivals. The KaRavan concept has also been translated into 10 compilation albums that perfectly encapsulate his blend of dancefloor spirituality.
Alongside that, Pierre is one of the most important DJs in the fashion world. It’s almost quicker to list the names he’s not worked with, having created fashion catwalk soundtracks for Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Jean-Paul Gaultier and the first-ever Paco Rabanne nightclub show. During his career, he’s also been the official DJ for Mac/Estee Lauder, DKNY, Galliano and more.
That success has been translated into the club circuit as well. His passport is packed with entry stamps to countries around the world. Some of his most- profile gigs include Space, Privilege and Pacha in Ibiza, Space Miami and 1015 Folsom in San Francisco, Discotheque in Barcelona, Ministry of Sound in London, Cafe Del Mar in Mumbai and dozens more across Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East.
Away from the decks and catwalks, he’s a noted music producer, blending his Persian heritage with his spiritual musical mantra to create a breathtaking array of music spanning chill out plus a darker, late-night deeptek sound. To date, he’s released several artist albums and worked with global labels like EMI/Capitol and Virgin, plus cutting-edge labels including Yoshitoshi, Peppermint Jam, Kingstreet and more. If you only have time to check out one release, make sure it’s his KaRavan triple album. The 24-hour journey starts at dawn and builds through sunset, midnight and sunrise, creating a seamless and timeless dance music journey all about peace, love and unity.
Pierre is in Bangalore for a special performance at RESET in Koramangala on May 26th, 2022.
Note: All tracks played in this recording belong to DJ Pierre Ravan. He has very kindly given us permission to play it here!
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Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh founded Black Ticket Films, a creative agency in 2009.
Black Ticket Films is today a multi-award winning organization that has been recognized in the industry for its commitment to create innovative and engaging film and video content. Our films have been showcased across premier national and international film festivals as well as global television networks and our clients are leading corporate institutions, development sector organizations and national and international Governments.
The nature of projects undertaken at Black Ticket Films varies from short to feature length documentaries, institutional films, photo-essays, promotional videos and campaigns to corporate films and multimedia projects. Based on our expertise, knowledge and insight, we work closely with clients to create impactful visual content that influences and shapes viewer opinion.
Writing with Fire is a 2021 Indian documentary film directed by filmmakers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas about the journalists running the Dalit women led newspaper Khabar Lahariya, as they shift from 14-years of print to digital journalism using smartphones. It is the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Produced under Ghosh and Thomas' Black Ticket Films banner, the film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won two awards: The Audience Award and a Special Jury Award: Impact for Change in the World Cinema Documentary category.[3] It received unanimous acclaim from film festivals and critics, winning 28 international awards and critical acclaim from the press. It was named a "Critics Pick" by The New York Times, where it was reviewed as "Rousing...nothing short of galvanizing".[4] Writing with Fire has also been hailed by Jason Reizaian at The Washington Post as "The most inspiring journalism movie - maybe ever".
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Conservationist and UNEP - Plastic Tide Turner Ambassador, India. Driven by the idea of coexistence and aiming to inspire positive actions towards social and environmental issues. Interested in developing resilience, adaptation policies and integrated strategies for climate change mitigation.
An MA Environmental studies student, Sneha signed up 300 other students from her college and eventually became one among the 18 affiliated members selected from the country for this campaign.
To initiate the campaign, they chose to clean up a drain inside the campus. But later, they realised that it was a natural stream — home to several living organisms. However, it was clogged up with plastic waste.
In a joint effort, students removed over 700 kg of plastic from the urban stream. During the monsoon, Gangetic Flapshell turtles and crocodiles found their way to the stream. Other insects and plants also grew in their surroundings.
The Bhukhi Stream Project nominated Sneha and her team the Youth for Earth Award.
Had a chat with her and this is how it went!
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Born in Kashmir in September 1981 to parents Santosh & Kuldeep and like any ancient culture, food was central to everything he knew growing up a Kashmiri Pandit. With a large family of close uncles and cousins, mealtimes were big affairs.
Sandeep received rave reviews from legendary chefs like Rick Stein and was the first contestant in MasterChef Australia history, to win a Perfect 30 score and an Immunity pin. His Lobster Masala is considered one of the best dishes in the MasterChef Australia’s history and he was given the title of the best Indian cook in the 11 seasons of MasterChef Australia.
Sandeep has been successful in his various food stints after the show, including sold out Pop Ups at restaurants. He also curated a special menu at the iconic Aussie Pub The Cricketers, at Port Melbourne and going beyond curries and curating Indian Bar Dishes called ‘Chakhna’ in a modern Aussie format.
Sandeep curated the MasterChef Australia Dining Experiences across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore along with some of the Best Indian Chefs. He has also help set up authentic South Indian flavours restaurant in London
In 2021 Sandeep, alongside chefs Adam D’Sylva and Helly Raichura launched a new cooking show called India Unplated on SBS. India Unplated celebrates the beauty of Indian food and uncovers the rich secrets of Indian cuisine from all over the country.
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Neerav Ghosh is a film maker with 20+ years of creating content for all screen sizes and continues to be the chief Producer and Director of Oaktree’s content. His previous work includes the 26-part definitive series on the history of Indian Cricket called ‘Midwicket Tales with Naseeruddin Shah’ (2015). His first Feature film as a Writer-Director, Soundtrack, starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Soha Ali Khan, with music by Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale, released to critical acclaim in October 2011. He also has Feature film credits as an Editor, Sound Designer and Writer.
Breakfast with Champions is the flagship offering of Oaktree Sports. At one point, it was India’s first Youtube Original show and is now in its 7th season. It is available on the Youtube channel, ‘Oaktree Sports’ which has 1.6mn subscribers. In previous seasons, the show has featured the who’s who of Indian cricket from Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev to Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, as well as popular International stars like AB De Villiers, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Holding.
The show is back now after nearly 3 years, and is focusing this season on ‘The future of Indian cricket’. The 4 episodes so far have featured KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav. So far, these episodes have collectively yielded 20mn views. The new episode drops at 11am on Tuesday, 26th April and features Harshal Patel of RCB, and winner of the Purple cap at IPL 2021
The company Oaktree Sports was founded in 2016 with Gaurav Kapur and Neerav Ghosh, with the intent to tell compelling stores against the backdrop of Indian sport. Apart from the Youtube Channel where all original content is released, the company also has long term partnerships with leagues and franchises to create short form and long form content.
Neerav stopped by for a fun chat!
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Namit Malhotra, one of the biggest Indian successes in Hollywood, is the founder of Prime Focus. The company had modest beginnings in 1997 before it became a powerhouse of integrated media services. Malhotra is responsible for the strategy, growth and success of the company.
Malhotra is the eldest son of Bollywood film producer Naresh Malhotra and the grandson of cinematographer MN Malhotra. He grew up in Mumbai, where he completed his schooling at Jasudben M L School in Khar. He is a commerce graduate from HR College of Commerce and Economics.
Before Prime Focus got its name, Malhotra had a small editing studio that he operated from his father’s garage. He bagged work for many television shows and serials such as Boogie Woogie for Sony, and Colgate Top 10 for Zee Entertainment. He also bagged work for music videos. In 1997, he merged Video Workshop with Naresh Malhotra's Video Works to create Prime Focus.
Dune bags six awards at the Oscars 2022, thus becoming the highest Oscar-winning movie of the year. The Chairman and CEO of DNEG, Indian-origin Namit Malhotra has created a buzz in the industry with his Oscar win for Best Visual Effects Oscar.
Note: This chat happened before Dune swept the Oscars! Enjoy!
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National-level boxer Jeeth Sanghavi was in her early 20s when it came to her as a surprise that she was appointed as Priyanka Chopra’s trainer for the film on champion boxer and Olympic medalist Mary Kom.
She was training in the national boxing camp when the Indian chief coach suggested her name to train Priyanka for the film because she was more qualified than her peers.
She has done her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education and a few certification courses. In 2019, she opened Boxx Era, her own fitness studio, in Delhi’s Hauz Khas area.
She was passionate about becoming a professional boxer and she gave it her all for nine years training in different state camps of Sports Authority of India. But Jeeth is of the belief that you need a godfather in sports.
She went back to studying and completed a master’s degree in health and fitness from Edith Cowan University, Australia.
She learnt cross-fit training, pilates, and body transformation techniques to get a better perspective in fitness coaching and training. After returning, she joined Snap fitness chain of gyms as a fitness director in 2015, where she was responsible for bringing in a systemic evolution in fitness training.
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The Trichy-born and Haryana-based digital content creator, Ankit Sharma is an early disruptor in the Indian creator economy, breaking into the relatively uncommon automotive space as a photographer and videographer, eventually going on to chart his own destiny.
His brand Man Made Machines has carved its own space and identity — commanding 181,000 (and counting) followers on Instagram.
In this edition of Kays Spotlight Ankit Sharma joins RJ Kay to talk about his journey as a content creator, photographer and his love for machines, bikes and cars. He speaks about his recent experiences and how he started Man Made Machines and built the name to where it is today!
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International Icon Season 2 is ongoing and it's by far the most entertaining for everyone, the viewers, the participants and even the celebrity mentors! We've had popstar Hrvy, Swiss Sensation Veronica Fusaro, International Icon winner of season 01 Joel Jacob and British Singer-Songwriter Calum Scott on board as celebrity mentors for this season! With each episode the season is getting intense and alot of talent is being highlighted! We've had so many entries from around the world which just proves to show that talent is everywhere and this is truly an International talent hunt! The excitement is real on this and this is just getting better by the day!
Amrapali won the entire season and takes home the grand prize and bragging rights! She stopped by the show to hang out for a while.. and we played a prank on her! Listen in!
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Born Dan Griffith, Gryffin got his start in music as a classically trained pianist and guitarist while also playing in several bands. After receiving an electrical engineering degree from the University of Southern California, he pursued a path in music production, drawing equally from his carefully honed musicality and edgy ingenuity. Gryffin made his breakthrough in 2016 with
two singles showcasing his melodic take on dance music: “Heading Home” ft. Josef Salvat (which shot to #1 on Spotify’s US and Global Viral charts) and the Gold-certified Bipolar Sunshine collaboration “Whole Heart. In addition, his 2017 smash single and first Platinum record “Feel Good” — with Illenium and featuring Daya— peaked at #18 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts. Gryffin’s major triumphs also include “Tie Me Down” ft. Elley Duhé (which hit #2 on the Spotify US Viral Chart, #9 on the Global Viral Chart, and was recently Platinum-certified), “Remember” ft. Zohara (which garnered 6.5 million streams in its first few weeks and earned support from Tiesto, who featured the track on an Instagram story), and “All You Need to Know” with SLANDER ft. Calle Lehmann (a Gold-certified smash that’s now surpassed 320 million streams globally). In October 2019, Gryffin’s debut album Gravity quickly climbed to #1 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Now, with multiple heavyweight collaborations under his belt and a US tour underway with stops at major festivals, he’s excited to put out his sophomore effort later this year as he continues to put out pop-dance anthems for the world.
His brand new track, "Alive", is out now with Calle Lehmann and he's on the show to chat about it!
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Bangalore International Airport Ltd., turns 14 today. In that time, it has gone on to become the Gateway to South India and achieved many firsts.
The next 12 months promise to be exciting and historic with Terminal 2 scheduled to open and non-stop passenger services to Australia and US being launched.
Spoke to Satyaki Raghunath on the show! He's the Chief Strategy & Development Officer at BIAL and what a fun chat it was! Listen in!
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Sunit Zadav is a singer songwriter currently living in Mumbai, India. His music can chiefly be classified as acoustic pop with subtle influences from blues, country, jazz and folk. The music, says he, is lyrically inspired by "matters of the heart" and includes predominantly guitar-centric, peppy numbers that will surely get you tapping your feet and singing along. Amongst the popular songwriters, his influences include James Taylor, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, Chris Martin and Justin Timberlake. After having played at numerous venues in Pune: Swig, High Spirits and Doolally, to name a few; he has recently moved to Mumbai to promote his music in this city. He has performed at The Habitat, Khar and has been a part of Sundown Sessions 2.0. He has recently performed at the first VH1 takeover at Bandcamp.in and at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune, 2017. Currently, Sunit is recording his debut EP titled Quarter Life Crisis, under his mentor Mr. Sanjay Divecha. The EP is slated for release in 2018. His debut single ʻMushʼ made it to Apple Music India's Top 25 Indie Singer-songwriter Tracklist. It is available on all global music streaming platforms.
Bharadwaj Krishnan is a Saxophonist, vocalist, electronic music. Currently based in Pune. He's into Experimental music and is a beast on the sax!
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For four decades, Corner House has been adding sweetness to people’s lives in Bangalore. Their signature ‘Hot Chocolate Fudge’ and ‘Death By Chocolate’ are pick-me-ups on days that need some TLC or a delightful treat to accompany a celebration. Established at a time when the city was more trees and lakes than concrete, Corner House has been steadfastly serving Bangalore’s folks since 1982. And this year, it will be 40 happy years since Narayan Rao’s long standing labour of love has brought smiles to many.
Corner House has become a part of families and homes; integral to Bangalore’s spirit. For 40 years now, Rao has offered customers in the city high-quality ice cream desserts at reasonable prices that adhere to the in-house ‘scoop value’ tenet; a guarantee that customers get their money’s worth. Corner House’s recipes are specially crafted and monitored and tested at each stage; from the production line at the factory to the sales counter at every outlet. You can indulge in 16 flavours of ice cream, 17 ice cream sundaes, eight fruit sundaes, 11 milkshakes and three non-ice cream desserts. Plus, their ‘bring your own bowl’ initiative allows the environmentally inclined to reduce plastic.
Narayan stopped by the show and here's how conversation went. Happy listening!
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Charu Sharma is an Indian commentator, compere and quizmaster. He is the director of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Charu Sharma is well known for his television presentations (especially on cricket) along with Mandira Bedi. He is also known as a quizmaster in television programmes and other event. He regularly hosts award shows, corporate events and contributes to teamwork and leadership seminar.
He stopped by for a wonderful little chat and here it is!
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Aman Agarwal is the Executive Editor of Finance India. He is officiating Director at IIF BUSINESS SCHOOL [GGS Indraprastha University], Editorial Board member/Co-Editor of The Empirical Economics Letters, Research in Financial Economics, Global Finance Journal, Les Cahiers de la Recherche ISC, Euro-Mediterranean Economics and Finance Review, Research in Quantitative Finance and Business Management, the Journal of Financial & Risk Management Asia Pacific Journal of Finance and Banking Research, Global Journal of Finance and Banking and the Journal of Entrepreneurship and an invited Financial Expert.
On this edition, he deep dives into Budget 2022 with us!
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For over a decade now, Dr Sunil Kumar Hebbi, a resident of Malleswaram in Bengaluru, has been running a mobile clinic through an NGO called Matru Siri Foundation to treat the poor for free.
A graduate from the Bijapur Medical College, the 37-year-old doctor was born and raised in Vijayapura, and worked at the BGS Hospital in Bengaluru for several years before quitting in 2011 to devote his attention to the mobile clinic.
Dr Sunil has converted his car into a mobile clinic and stacked up emergency medicines and equipment such as an oxygen cylinder and an ECG machine. He also has an assistant doctor and a nurse who volunteer with him
At present, he runs the mobile service both in Bengaluru and in his hometown, Vijayapura, and treats about 80-100 patients every day
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A noted Radiologist from AIIMS, Delhi, Dr.Jaideep Kumar Sharma is the second longest coma survivor in the world. After facing a tragic accident, he battled with death to ‘LIVE’ against all odds. Today, he strongly advocates that organ donation is a bioethical issue from social perspective, as saving life is the most precious and priceless contribution towards humanity. His desire to provide quality treatment to all, laid the foundation of a project called ‘HEAL’- Health Experience at the Speed of Light. It is an effort to create a virtual technological platform to link doctors and patients across the globe and to deliver timely, affordable and quality healthcare to especially those residing in rural areas. Dr. Sharma’s mission is to save lives through the provision of exceptional healthcare. His life is an inspirational story of exemplary leadership in the field of medicine and ‘living by example’.
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Jayati Sinha was nine years old when she realised that she wanted to be in the creative field, courtesy a Disney show she used to watch. She started by designing Barbie dresses and grew up to learn that there are different kinds of creative careers. Soon, she stumbled upon product design. She coped by shuttering herself in her room, drawing things, and it eventually turned into a career.Today, Jayati has grown to be one of the noted visual designers (physical and digital experiences) in the US. She got to be a creator, she “got to be the person who gets paid to ask ‘why’ and ‘how’”.
Prior to moving to the US in 2017, she has interned with many organisations including Viya Home, DeMuro Das and Artecnica. She has also worked as environment designer II in fuseproject, which focused on designing and prototyping experiential environments for retail, and exhibition spaces in addition to involvement in industrial design, and strategy development. After graduating in lifestyle products from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi, Jayati was a part of many projects and various causes.
Soon after, during her master’s in environmental design in the US, she was part of a homeless housing initiative in Los Angeles. Where she got to visualise the future of homeless housing and how she could improve it.
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Pilot Laxmi Joshi, who flew to China in May 2020, as part of Vande Bharat mission, says she feels privileged to be part of such rescue endeavours that are continuing even now. Presently she’s flying people who are stuck in San Francisco, California, New York and Vancouver.
From waiting to see her in uniform before every flight, to making sure that their relatives and friends know all the details about the rescue missions she’s going on, Vande Bharat pilot Laxmi Joshi says her dad ensures all this and more. Joshi is one of the few pilots who flew to China as part of the Vande Bharat mission in May 2020, and says that her parents have been a constant support throughout this phase where she has been serving the nation and humanity.
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She is the Founder President and CEO of AROH Foundation, a national-level NGO set up by her in 2001 to realize her childhood dream of giving back to society.
Her professional journey has taken her through an enriching experience, from being an agricultural scientist to a successful entrepreneur, before venturing into social service and setting up an NGO.
For almost a decade, she ran a printing and publishing business that gave her good financial standing. She also earned a PhD in Agricultural Sciences from Delhi University.
Owing to her experience and learning through research and enterprise, she could inculcate commitment and dedication as hallmarks of the organization and integrated the use of technology to bring transparency through information sharing. Sound policies and governance systems put in place have translated into the success and goodwill that AROH enjoys at present.
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Peekay is back on the show with Andrea!
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Swati is a trained lactation counsellor and sex educator motivated towards normalising conversations around several tabooed issues like, sexuality, body, mental health, relationships, etc. Through Instagram posts, stories as well as workshops on anatomy, sex education and lactation, she is helping young people and parents create a wholesome and progressive generation.
However, a few years ago, the 34-year-old had never imagined she could amass this level of reach and impact. It all started in 2014 when Maya was born. With the good news of motherhood, Swati also suffered the loss of both her parents. A young mother looking for support and guidance, she reached out to several parenting groups on social media and was finally able to connect with a peer-to-peer support network of mothers in Coimbatore where they discussed a myriad of relevant topics from diapers, sleep schedules, baby carriers to breastfeeding and more.
Listen to her story here!
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Meet Yogeshwar and Sushma Bhalla, a couple from Delhi, who are two riding enthusiasts that have travelled the world and more together, enjoying long distances on their Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. yogeshwar and Sushma Bhalla, affectionately known as Yogi and Sushi, have been married for over 40 years. A common thread that binds the couple together, even today, is their shared love for travelling, and willingness to set out on the next big adventure. They have travelled to. “Belgium, Bhutan, Dubai, France, Qatar, Rome, Singapore, England, Scotland, Turkey and Venice overseas.
Now if this couple can keep the love alive through travel.. anyone can! Listen to this inspiring story of love!
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Started in 2004 on the banks of the Nila River (Bharathapuzha), Vayali was initiated by a group of young men to preserve the dying culture of Valluvanadan, a former princely state that presently covers Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur districts. The region is well-known for its folk art culture, folklore and classical dance forms such as Kathakali and Mohiniyattam.
Over 40 members of the band make use of percussion instruments made entirely out of bamboos, such as flute, dan truong, ‘seven holes’, bagu, short drums and peepi.
However, It wasn’t until 2007 that Vayali members started making use of the ‘poor man’s timber’ for its musical compositions. A Japanese artist named Tomoe had met them in Irinjalakuda, eventually inviting them to the Rhythm Festival. “We stayed with Japanese bamboo artists at Mount Fuji and came back with new ideas,” Vinod.
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Charit Jaggi who wasa former journalist, a forever filmmaker, now building we the Young - an impact video content platform that talks about stories and issues at the heart of young Indians. We The Young is pushing conversations around topics like Mental Health, Online Safety, Bullying and Harassment, Feminism and LGBTQIA+ Issues, by bringing out stories of young people. It is their endeavour to build more meaningful online communities for India's youth. Therefore they collaborated with Instagram to bring this new feature to emphasise the importance of taking a break in this mad internet world.
In this edition of Kay's Spotlight, Charit joins RJ Kay for candid conversation where he talks about making social media together a better and safer online space. And shares a remedy for the compelling need in all of us to keep up with the trends. Which is: TAKE A BREAK!!
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Captain Yashika Hatwal Tyagi is a Short service commissioned lady Officer from the initial batches of Women entry into Indian Armed Forces. She passed out with a Silver medal from the prestigious (OTA) Officers Training Academy, Chennai in the year 1994. During her Army tenure, she has served in intense counter insurgency / terrorist infested areas of Assam during “Operation Rhino”. She holds the proud distinction of being the first Lady officer from logistics wing to be posted to Extreme cold climate / High altitude areas of Leh /Kargil .She participated actively during “Operation Vijay” and successfully coordinated the logistics, during the war like scenario.
After hanging her boots, she has successfully raised & executed the model of ECHS, a ministry of defense project .Wherein, she worked towards providing effective healthcare delivery to the veterans of Defense services staying in remote corners of counter-insurgency infested areas of Jorhat, Assam and Srinagar, J&K
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An MBA turned writer, disability rights activist and stand-up comic, Sweta stumbled upon comedy quite accidentally; just like the other things that she stumbles upon while walking with her crutches. Presently, she's having a gala time as she ‘stands up’ to address the understanding of disability and the disability of understanding - one joke at a time! Sweta is a strong voice who has been advocating for the rights of people with disabilities through blogs and features, documentaries, on-ground awareness campaigns, interactive visual platforms, and stand-up comedy. Her maiden concept show ‘With This Ability’ has won her accolades for consistently addressing and breaking the psychological barriers around disability through comedy and conversation. Her mission is to construct accessibility and initiate inclusion in people's buildings, minds, and lives.
Listen to her story here!
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While tattoos might be the mainstay of hipsters and rock stars in today’s world, in India, the tradition extends over hundreds of years. For Mumbai-based tattoo artist Shomil Shah, the affinity for this art form is literally etched in his DNA. His great-grandmother from Kutch, Gujarat, had unique dotted tattoos on her hands and neck known as “trajva”. These markings are commonly found on people belonging to the Mer/Maher or Rabadi tribes of Gujarat or Rajasthan and were used in lieu of jewellery for those who couldn’t afford any. Three generations later, Shah has taken on the onus of creating a “visual archive of the tattoo traditions indigenous to the subcontinent” and celebrating this fading art.
Shah’s journey to reconnect with his culture evolved into a showcase of the history of the country’s ink. He travelled across different states of India like Maharashtra and Gujarat to uncover all the different tattoo traditions prevalent in the region. His first story featured 70-year-old Babli Bai, from Mumbai who got her first tattoo when she was 10 years old. Both her arms are covered with ‘godna’ markings from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and several other states. These godna markings are applied either as a rite of passage or as symbols of natural and spiritual elements that make up the tribe’s cultural identity. Babli Bai’s left arm had banana plants, a snake and a lotus motif while the fingers were dotted with many markings including a scorpion and a crescent moon. The other arm sported motifs of Lord Krishna’s milkmaids and motifs of her and her husband’s names. Her face sported a few dots as a way to ward off the evil eye. Soon enough stories started to roll in at a steady pace and the page kept growing. Alongside, people’s inclination to study their region or tribe’s tattoos increased and curious about these patterns, they even started replicating these motifs on their bodies.
Listen to his story here!
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Mr. Vijay Nirani, an entrepreneur, industrialist, technocrat, investor and philanthropist is a young man who has proved his mettle from a young age and continues to do so. With a strong educational background in business management from world renowned institutes, Vijay Nirani entered the business world at a young age, but with a passionate vision. His laurels at the young age of 28 are a testament to his business prowess.
Mr. Vijay Nirani is currently the Managing Director of the MRN Group, which consists of companies involved in sugar production, ethanol production, CNG/LPG production, education, banking, power generation, cement production, renewable energy, construction and retail products.
With a keen interest and passion of being the driving force of our nation towards a more sustainable future, Mr. Vijay Nirani has been at the forefront of developing cleaner, greener and less harmful energy sources through various innovative and ground breaking techniques. He has led the expansion of the group on various fronts through a series of creative and engaging initiatives.
Mr. Nirani stands tall as an exemplary individual with a brilliant character. His perseverance, vision, diligence and clarity of thought are the driving force to the myriad of his achievements that have catapulted the MRN Group to great heights.
Listen to his story and the story of the MRN Group here!
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Imagine as a child never being on a family holiday. Watching your classmates going for one in summer and winter vacations, and your travels limited to just school picnics or grandparents houses. Planet-Abled provides accessible travel solutions and leisure excursions for people with different disabilities. There are over a billion people with different disabilities in the world, but the percentage of them travelling is miniscule, owing to the lack of accessible travel options available. Planet Abled identified this gap and came forward to give them the freedom to travel no matter what their disability is! Whether they want to experience a small facet of the city they are in or they want to travel across multiple cities of their interest, they have something unique, safe and enjoyable for them. Planet Abled is the only organisation in the world, where we mix people of all disabilities together into one group and travel together.
Listen to the Neha Arora's story here of how she put together Planet Abled.
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Launched in 2020, That Sassy Thing is an all-natural feminine hygiene and sexual wellness startup, which aims to empower women — not just in the boardroom, but also in the bedroom. The startup aims to fill a gaping hole in the femtech space by focusing on women and their bodies — and having a woman leading the charge helps. Beyond empowering women and vulva owners to take charge of their sexual needs, That Sassy Thing has been making a big play for feminine hygiene products, which Sachee says is an exciting space these days.
Their products are specially designed for people with vulvas. In their research, they couldn't find enough India centric data related to women experiencing pain during sex or related to their pleasure.
“It's 2021 and just like skincare, its high time we stay on top of our sexual health too”, adds on their website.
The startup has, to date, launched four products under this umbrella — a hemp-based menstrual cramp care roller, pubic hair oil, underwear detergent, and an intimate wash that doubles up as a body wash.
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One Step Greener started in February 2018 by Vihaan (14 years) and Nav Agarwal (11 years) in New Delhi and works on Waste Management, Recycling and Tree Plantations. It strives towards a zero-waste future and creates employment for Rag Pickers to move to the formal sector ensuring they work safely with dignity and gain financial literacy. Their main goals are; helping change behaviour by educating people on the harm that irresponsible disposal of waste causes, ensuring households/corporates/schools start segregating their waste at source and offering a pickup of their dry waste, recycling different waste streams collected through certified recyclers, motivating children, households and institutions to join the movement and planting mini forests in the city along with the community.
Vihaan and Nav have won the 2021 KidsRights International Children's Peace Prize for tackling pollution from household waste. The brothers also took inspiration from British naturalist David Attenborough and conservationist Jane Goodall, as well as their grandparents. They are also educating people in India about recycling, reaching an estimated 50,000 young people through social media as well as a curriculum in English and Hindi.
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Sufiya Khan is a two-time Guinness World Record Holder. In 2017, after 10 years of working gruelling night shifts in the airline industry, she took up running for fitness. After seeing perceptible changes, she ran her way through marathons and ultra-marathons, but soon, more than running was on her mind.
She recently completed the Himalayan Ultra run expedition in 156 hours, becoming the first female runner in the world to have attempted the 480 km run from Manali to Leh. Earlier, she completed the distance from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and traversed the Golden Quadrilateral – a network of highways that connect the four major metros in four directions, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai.
After her Kashmir to Kanyakumari run, Sufiya teamed up with Under Armour, the American sports equipment company that provided apparel and training. They challenged her to push her limits. Her partner, Vikas, her coach, volunteer runners, and others accompanied on her expeditions.
In 2024, Sufiya aims to run around the world to spread the message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family).
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Jimmy Mistry has always led his incredibly successful business life by ensuring that his projects and deals have a higher purpose: to improve society for all and to make a significant dent in the world at large.
He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Della Group, a forward-thinking Social Entrepreneur, Award Winning Designer, Real Estate Developer, Hotelier and now, Founder of Della Leaders Club (DLC).
DLC is the world’s first business platform for a Global Community of entrepreneurs, professionals and leaders across 15 Chapter Cities.
Had a chat with him and you can listen to it here!
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As we get into the hunt for the next International singing sensation, Season 1's winner of International Icon is on the show to catch up and chat up.
The one and only, Joel Jacob! We chat about the music scene, winning this competition and getting mentored by the best in the industry like Shaggy and Kylie Minogue!
Listen to our chat and check out Joel's Youtube Channel here.
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Sukriti is the founder of Doctor of Happiness. She is an artist who is helping young people with depression and other mental conditions through her art and online platform. Her Instagram account tagline is “A Reservoir of Hope & Encouragement.” She helps youth handle peer pressure, and the burden of being politically correct all the time, feeling it to be the need of the hour.
Hear her story here and check out her page here!
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Bengaluru-based Supertails is an online pet care and supplies startup that offers a unique virtual training service for pet parents to train their pets on their own. Launched in 2021 by Vineet Khanna, Varun Sadana, and Aman Tekriwal, the startup provides veterinary care, pet food and supplies, and offers pet training sessions as well. Supertails stands apart as a fully digital tele-health consultation service with a team of highly experienced in-house veterinarians. Since its inception in July 2021, Supertails has catered to more than 10,000 pet parents, and has completed over 5,000 consultations covering healthcare and online training services.
One of the prominent services that set the startup apart from others in this field is Supertails’ virtual pet training.
A large set of new pet parents are GenZ and they are curious and want more credible information around raising a pet. This is the first generation looking at pet parenthood as a concept in itself and actively moving away from the previously popular idea of ‘pet ownership’. Supertails aims to deliver in such a market consisting of new pet parents.
Chatted with Vineet on the show! Listen to it here!
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Wing Commander Aspari Raghunath was commissioned in 1964 as a navigator and later was trained on Canberra Bomber in 1966 under the command of the-then Sqn. Ldr. P Gautam. As a Flight Lieutenant, he again served under Wing Commander P Gautam during Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971 and carried out bombing missions over West Pakistan as well as East Pakistan. He was awarded Vir Chakra for his role in this war. He served the Indian Air Force as an Instructor, Local Examiner, Systems Test Navigator on various aircraft at ASTE, the premier Test Flying Centre of IAF in addition to operational flying, administrative and counter-intelligence duties. He took premature retirement from Air Force in 1986, and was Senior Vice President of Kirloskar Group of Industries till 2015.
Listen to his amazing story here!
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Why would a foreigner choose a future in India? Ivana Perkovic, known from her YouTube channel Travel.Vlog.Iv explains why a foreigner chooses a future in India. As a Professional YouTube vlogger, Ivana travels the world making videos and taking over 100.000 subscribers with her on her adventures. After stepping foot on Indian soil in 2015 as a foreigner tourist, she knew this country was her future. There are many reasons why a foreigner chooses a future in India. Ivana had the luxury of a location independent career, which allowed her to now be fully based in Bangalore. As a foreigner in India she's building her business by sharing her love for India and exploring. As a Professional YouTube vlogger, Ivana travels the world making videos and taking over 200,000 subscribers with her on her adventures. As a refugee from former Yugoslavia she gained Dutch nationality by growing up and living in Amsterdam. However after stepping foot on Indian soil in 2015, she knew India was her future. Having gained the luxury of a location independent career, she's now fully based in Bangalore. From here she's building her YouTube business by sharing her love for India and exploring.
Ivana stopped by the studio and here's our chat!
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Founded in 2014, Bengaluru-based drone tech startup Skylark Drones provides worksite intelligence to enable accurate business decision-making using drone data. Skylark Drones is involved in building core infrastructure for global drone ecosystems. Skylark Drones claims that it has worked with over 100 enterprises and executed over 20,000 autonomous flights via their platform, processing more than one million images since inception.
The core products are Drone Mission Ops and Spectra. Drone Mission Ops is a full-stack drone flight solution that enables drone service providers, pilots, and enterprises to execute fast, accurate and seamless drone missions. Meanwhile, Spectra is an integrated drone data platform for enterprises to visualize their worksite and get AI-powered analytics for making better business decisions.
Entrepreneurs Mughilan Thiru Ramasamy and Mrinal Pai have known each other since they were pursuing engineering degrees from RV College of Engineering. During their time at college, the duo was also a part of Team Vyoma, an aerodynamics club where they built unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
With a passion for innovations in the drone sector, the duo launched Bengaluru-based Skylark Drones to provide worksite intelligence and enable accurate business decision-making using drone data.
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Soke (Grandmaster) Avinash Subramanyam, who has studied for over five decades under the greatest exponents of Taiji, Dao Yin, Lian Gong, and Qi Gong in China and Japan, is the founder of SEEFAR. His training methods have won acclaim from India's top corporate houses and the top brass of the police and the armed forces. Avinash has been conducting workshops for the armed forces and policemen, equipping them with rare skills of body and mind that prove invaluable in combat situations. Companies that invite him to train their employees in stress management have consistently given him an "exceeded expectations" score.
With over two dozen black belts to his credit, he is India's foremost health, safety, and stress management expert. Awarded the coveted Sokeship and 9th Dan under recommendation of his teacher Soke John Willson, he has the rare privilege of being bestowed the 10th Dan Red Belt. Soke Subramanyam has been awarded 2 Gold medals for broadsword and halberd at the International Taiji Competition held in Chenjiagou, China.
· Avinash is the first Indian to have studied Ninjutsu, the art of invisibility and invincibility, from Canada.
· He is the president of the Indian chapter of the Lian Gong Shi Ba Fa, and is licensed to teach the form at clinics and hospitals to patients recovering from trauma, stress and injury.
· First Indian certified to develop and promote Health Qi Gong (By Dr.Cui) in India in co-operation with The Chinese Health QiGong Association, Beijing.
· He was awarded the high rank of 7th Duan, an honour only a select few have received in the world.
· Dao Yin has 1.5 million practitioners in 30 countries. Only 60 close disciples of the master have so far been decorated with the Rushi Di Zi award, and Avinash is one of them.
· He is the only Indian licensed to set up a Dao Yin academy in India, and he has named it after his mentor and the founder of the art.
· Avinash is the first Indian certified to teach Kubotan.
· Avinash Subramanyam is the first Indian to have studied Hunyuan Taiji at Beijing Center, Beijing and Chang Chun in China and now exclusively represents Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang’s Hunyuan Taiji in India.
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Neeji, founded by Apeksha Ghia, is a mobile application that aims to provide home chefs in Mumbai with opportunities and tools to scale their businesses. The focus of Neeji is building a solid community of home chefs using a user-friendly UI and easy-to-use app. The core team of Neeji comprises women, barring the delivery partners. All functions, from marketing to operations, are managed by an all-women team. So far, it has listed over 100 chefs offering over 25 cuisines in less than three months.
Apeksha has completed her master’s degree in business administration from Mumbai University. She had been contemplating venturing into the food and beverage industry for quite a few years. Witnessing an increase in talented chefs operating from their homes, during the COVID-19 pandemic, gave Apeksha the idea of starting up Neeji which aims to bridge the gap between home chefs and their potential customers.
Had a chat with her and I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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Chef Aarthi Sampath’s foray into the culinary world began with an exploration of flavors found in the diverse kitchens of Taj hotels and interning in different restaurants in Mumbai , New Delhi , Chennai and Hyderabad for 5 years .Her passion for cooking started in her parent’s kitchen as she perused through cookbooks of figures that seemed to be in a place she could never reach.
Her curiosity for learning and exploring global cuisine brought her across the globe to America .
She specialized in Baking and Pastry and Food Service management at the prestigious Johnson & Wales Culinary school in Rhode Island and started on her internship at the Michelin star Junoon in New York City . Rising up the ranks quickly , she was Executive Chef at American Gymkhana , an upscale Indian restaurant in Orlando . She came back as Chef De Cuisine for Junoon . Chef Sampath’s control over her vision and passion for Indian cooking has brought her into a number of unique spaces. In addition to leading the kitchen for one of Junoon’s expansion projects, Aarthi was honoured to work with Chef Vikas Khanna on The “Billionaire’s Club Dinner” hosted by Prime Minister Modi at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. She has also worked with chefs at the James Beard Foundation, events at Huffington Post and a number of exclusive cooking festivals.
Chef Sampath went on to win Chopped , A Food Network based culinary cooking competition , and competed again on Chopped Masters . She Beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay on his Food Network game show, Beat Bobby Flay , the winning dish being the biryani . She also was on Fire Masters , A Canadian based show.
She really pushed the envelope at the iconic Breslin under Chef April Bloomfield who mentored her with a deeper understanding of ingredients and techniques . She also ran a healthy food truck in Seattle that reached massive success .
Sampath is also scheduled to make prominent television appearances globally in the upcoming year. She was also a chef at the prestigious Rainbow Room at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Currently she is Head Chef at Chinese Tuxedo, a modern high profile Asian restaurant in New York City. She is also the consultant chef for Bombay Sandwich Company in Manhattan.
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Vani Murthy, the queen of compost and renowned urban farmer, and passionate citizen leader, is one of the most active campaigners for SWM in the city. She started her SWM journey in 2008 with the Wealth out of Waste program and started making awareness activities for her co-citizens in Malleswaram. Vani has passionately tested every home composting method available. Her knowledge on recycling kitchen waste into compost, and using it to grow herbs, flowers, fruits and vegetables is held in high esteem. She also makes an effort in documentation of the methods. She is a member of solid waste management round table and a campaigns specialist for the same, in that she very meticulously documents her experiences on Facebook and YouTube.
Vani’s organisation also launched a project called the SwachaGraha, which is a one-week composting challenge. She has touched the hearts of many and has opened their eyes to the harsh realities of our environment, waking them up to the necessity of taking action for your own needs. A homemaker who developed a change in her everyday life with a motive to reduce her household waste. She has been active in her mission to help the residents of Bangalore to manage their waste and undertake a more eco-friendly approach in general.
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I've struggled with fitness, finding a balance & eating healthy for years! How do you even keep fit during the festive time? The guys at Liv.Ezy really helped me with that! Vinit Chhabria, my trainer, came in to help everyone out today. He's a fantastic, kind and extremely knowledgeable guy who has really turned my life around! Thanks, Vinit!
Big shoutout to Ralston & the peeps at Liv.Ezy for making this happen! You can get your fitness journey started here: https://www.livezy.com/
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‘LED BY THE LIGHT’ conceptualized in 2017, is an album of traditional Christmas carols; an essay with global musical flavours. The arrangements encompass energetic rhythms, a splash of festive chants, sargams, percussion et al, bringing on new shades and hues in the embellishments. As with any recording production, this too was a work in progress as we explored the suggestions made and even ventured down paths less trod. Musicians came aboard once arrangements were in place, and every one of them gave of their expertise, adding their own special touch to the album that comprises a dozen carols, including a medley.
Yes, it’s different! The bansuri and smooth strings weave into the familiar strains of ‘Silent Night’, sargams decorate the tranquil flow of ‘Away in a Manger’, spirited percussion finds company in ‘God rest ye Merry Gentlemen’ and more. Tradition remains tradition, while it absorbs and integrates the subtleties of the lands it traverses… as the Magi followed the star, as the shepherds heard the angels, as the radiant beams shone from the manger, as that cold, wintry night brings Light to the world, year after year. This Hallowed Season heralds that same Peace, Love and Joy, as the world rises once again… world without end! This record features renowned musicians who have performed and recorded with some of the finest artists in India and around the world. We have had the privilege to share stage with them and are indeed honoured and grateful for their impeccable, magic touch on ‘Led by the Light’.
Dominic D’Cruz is a musician based in Bengaluru, India, who over the last thirty years, has done everything connected with music - performance, composition, songwriting, teaching, and recording… even worked in a music store. His music has received accolades – finalist in the SDG Action Award for ‘My Earth Songs’ – a collaboration with Grammy® Award winning artist Ricky Kej and Lonnie Park, Outstanding Lyricist Award in the Redemptorists’ Music Video Festival, an Akademia Award, and a Global Music Award. He played bass guitar on two Grammy® Nominated albums - ‘Love Language’ by Wouter Kellerman, and ‘Divine Tides’ by Stewart Copeland & Ricky Kej, and continues to work in the studio and on stage in varied roles – bassist, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, choir conductor among others.
Jerusha Lawrence-D’Cruz started singing in church choral groups at a young age and developed a keen interest in harmony. She has been a part of Neecia Majolly’s choirs since 2004 – ‘The Camerata’, ‘The Majolly Music Trust Choir’, ‘Madrigals, Etc.’ and ‘Femusica’ – with notable performances including ‘Carmina Burana’, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, traditional folk music and more. She has been a part of collaborations with musicians from various parts of the world including Maria Forsström, Devissaro, and concerts such as ‘Tales of the Night’ conducted by Françoise Lasserre, and ‘Beethoven’s 9th Symphony’ performed under the baton of Vijay Upadhyaya. Jerusha has also performed with the ‘Ricky Kej World Ensemble’, the ‘Bangalore Broadway Company’, and fronted ‘My Earth Band’ at UB City for the 70th anniversary of UNICEF in India. She is currently working on multiple projects in the studio as well as live.
Had them on the show to chat about the album!
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Aarohi Pandit is an Indian pilot. After completing her schooling at the age of 17, she enrolled at The Bombay Flying, College of Aviation (BFC), and the flying school in Maharashtra. Aarohi's career began at the age of 21 when she was selected for the Women Empowerment Expedition round-the-world portion on a light-sport aircraft.
On October 15, Captain Aarohi Pandit took off from the Bhuj runway that the women of Madhapar rebuilt within 72 hours during the Indo-Pak war, refuelled at Ahmedabad, and landed at India's first civilian airport in Juhu. She was re-enacting the first commercial flight flown by JRD Tata in 1932.
Listen to her story here!
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Today, the 100-acre land in Shoolarji, along the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border is a paradise that’s home to 40,000 trees of 250 varying species, as well as a variety of birds and other biodiversity. Named Vanantara, it is the labour of love of Varun Ravindra and 40-odd others who have brought about such a powerful transformation in a matter of five years.
The 38-year-even during his growing years was making environmentally conscious efforts to reduce the harm on the environment. He graduated in 2009 as a chartered accountant and took a corporate job. Alongside, he was imparting free lessons in Math and English, and taking lessons in organic farming with NGOs. Varun diverted from the professional corporate path to start organic farming.
Initially, Varun planned to take up government-owned land for plantation. But these lands faced threats of ill-maintenance and destruction if left unattended. He then decided to rope in like-minded people through social media and NGOs, who could privately own the land to build a forest and protect the environment. Thus, in 2016, he conceived Vanantara with a few others and collectively bought 100 acres of land.
Varun hopes that creating the green oasis may inspire city dwellers to make a healthier switch and quit the urban lifestyles by following a quieter, environment-friendly life. Varun has also developed three Miyawaki forests by planting 40,000 trees across Bengaluru.
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Amisha Sethi, the winner of Haut Monde Mrs. India Worldwide 2021, is the author of the bestseller book 'It doesn't hurt to be nice'. She is a global marketing and strategy leader, fitness coach, and also a fashion model. She is an alumnus of Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and an MBA in marketing from Amity Business School. Amisha is a multi dimensional person who believes in living life to the fullest. She is a fitness enthusiast who believes in combining the powers of yoga, meditation and mindfulness to those with modern exercises. This award winning marketing leader has worked with organizations like Locus Inc, Air Asia, BlackBerry and Airtel. She is currently leading global marketing for a meditation app startup. She was recognized with the top 50 most talented brand leaders award in 2013 and also the young women rising star award at the world leadership congress. She illustrates her journey at Haut Monde as the most exhilarating, unique, and full of exquisite learning. This glamorous lady also received the subtitle of 'Beauty with brain' at Mrs. India Worldwide 2021.
She is a dancer and a poet too who loves to keep challenging herself. Listen to her story here!
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Let's face it: Online Dating is hard. The pandemic has made things even tougher. I spoke to a guy who helped setup a dating app and you will love this conversation!
The Aisle app was launched in 2016 and Able calls it the right mix of a casual dating app and a matrimonial app. Able says that he started Aisle out of his own exasperation of the interfaces that a lot of matrimonial apps (where his parents forced him to be a member) had back in 2013. Able met his wife through Aisle, the dating app that he founded, half a decade back. Now, after enabling a good few Indians to find love, Able and his team have recently launched the app in three regional languages — Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu — to bring people across strata to the platform. Their target group is mostly people over 24 and that Aisle is not exactly for college students.
Able Joseph is the founder and CEO at the "Aisle" App. He even met his wife on the app! Listen to his story here!
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Arun Prasad (46years) is a practicing Pannapictagraphist (Comic Archivist), history researcher, artist and freelance writer based in Bangalore. He began his career as a journalist and soon enough decided to dedicate his time exclusively to nurturing his lifelong obsession for collecting and preserving comics. His comic collection is a treasure in true sense, consisting of a wide range of Indian and Western comics books/strips with an exhaustive collection of many out of print comic books from various publishers in India. With his zeal for art and alternative genre films, he worked as an associate creative director for an award winning Malayalam feature film 'Pani' (Fever) in 2019. He has curated several exhibitions based on his
comic collection at Comic Cons and other cultural and art forums in India from 2012 onwards.
He was described as "one of India's most serious comic collectors" by the Mid Day Magazine.
Arun's collection has been showcased in the History channel in the programme, ‘The Great India collectors Ride’ in August 2014. He is currently working on a research project tracing the history and evolution of comics in India.
Listen to his story here!
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A lot of games have sexualisation of characters that put women gamers off or they face explicit harassment online. And this extends to racism for Asian, Hispanic and other gamers across borders. While there were companies looking to solve the problem, there was little really being done. How can we solve this?
Gamestacy is a game developer studio that is working towards enhancing gaming experience for all users, regardless of gender, race, or class. In its early days, Bangalore-based Gamestacy was a part of few accelerators, where Danish was asked to focus his business around a particular problem. Digging deep, he felt that new age gamers couldn’t find inclusive games.
The idea behind Gamestacy was how to solve the issues of social communication inside the game, considering that there was just only a little being done by a few companies when it comes to sexualization of characters, online harassment against minority communities, racism, etc. in the gaming sphere.
Gamestacy wants to build millions of users that can play a game and people find a safe space to play and share a game.
Listen to Danish's Story here!
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If you had to pick.. what is a fast food that represents the entire length and breath of India? I think we might have found it.
Bangalore-based startup Samosa Party, founded by Amit Nanwani and Diksha Pande, is building a D2C brand using one of India's most humble snacks – Samosa. They are on a mission to take Samosas to the world. They serve Hot and Crispy samosas in 15 varieties with freshly made condiments and accompaniments. With Samosa Party, the co-founders want to create a differentiated experience for the urban millennial customers who value convenience, hygiene, and quality even if they have to pay extra. What started as a single takeaway store in Bangalore serving eight to nine varieties of samosas is today available across 15 locations in the city, as well as online on food delivery marketplaces and its own website. The D2C brand records 50,000 orders per month and its customers consume close to 50 lakh samosas a year.
Diksha has spent her corporate career in the F & B industry from the Oberoi Group to Pizza Hut to Chai Point, thus she has a deep understanding of the industry. She has always been curious about consumer behaviors and the opportunities they present. She noticed there weren’t any large-scale QSR brands of local snacks, thus came the idea of starting Samosa Party.
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Vidyun R Hebbar is a 10 years old Photographer. He has been clicking photographs since he was 3 years old. He’s passionate about macro photography, but also likes to click all sorts of pictures from birds to onions. He has learnt his photography skills from his father. He usually clicks photos in the beautiful gardens of Bangalore. He along with his father visit nearby parks to capture photographs of insects and bugs. He also likes to photograph in forest-like areas near his grandfather’s place in Sringeri.
Vidyun has won the highly commended award in 10 years and under of Wildlife Photographer of the year 2020, which is often called as the “Oscars of Wildlife Photography”. This award is organized by the Natural history museum, London.
Vidyun is also an avid reader.
Listen to his story here!
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Launched in 2019 by 19-year-old Nakshatra Sanjai, noo-gah! is a gamified social media platform that rewards and encourages users to connect via two-minute opinion-driven videos. The platform aims to be a unified podium where everyone can come and voice their opinion, ushering in change — opinion by opinion. The idea was the outcome of a 22-year loyalty programme run by Nakshatra’s father, Sanjai Velayudhan, with global brands. That mostly included global airlines, premium hotel brands, retail behemoths etc. He has always been a proponent of a dialogue between brands and end-consumers. The opinion aggregator allows seamless sharing of opinions, thoughts, and ideas, helping to start a discourse with a global audience. Available to both Android and iOS users, the app include elements of gamification and innovative loyalty rewards.
Listen to her story here!
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Suyash Keshari is a 25 year old wildlife presenter and filmmaker. Wildlife has fascinated him his entire life. It began at a very tender age of four, under the influence and tutelage of his late grandfather. He spent his childhood in the Central Indian States of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where his affection for wildlife was ignited. What began as disgust for animals kept in captivity slowly transformed into love and thirst for learning about the last remaining wild places on our planet. In the summer of 2019, Suyash quit his Political Advocacy job in Washington D.C., USA, with one goal: to fulfill his childhood dream of having his own wildlife series and influencing people across the globe about the need and urgency to conserve our wild spaces.
Suyash Keshari’s first series is inspired by the very region of the Central Indian States of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, its people and its animals. In December 2019, his series was picked up by WWF International for a web release.
He has graduated from Wake Forest University, North Carolina, and was a Political Science and International Affairs Major with Minors in Journalism and Entrepreneurship. He’s also fond of public speaking.
Listen to his story here!
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Shana Parmeshwar is a pilot, motorcar racer, and an entrepreneur. Shana and her partner Anush Chakravarthi, are on the track to build India’s longest racing track of 5.5 km in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. From circuits in Malaysia to Sweden to England, Shana has driven various race cars, including Volkswagen, Porsche, and Lamborghini. She is a well-known and popular figure in the automotive community, with a large following of her own. She was also an integral part of the K1000 rally between 2005 and 2009 in India. Shana moved to New Zealand for aviation training and has taken up opportunities of flying tourist planes and commercial jetliners in the country. She holds the “fastest woman in a production car” at the Buddh Circuit 2019, and drove the first Indian car to participate in the Modball rally in 2017 (UK/EU).
The construction of the site for India’s longest racetrack is underway with around 3.5 km of track already cut out. The estimated time for the project’s completion is 1.5 – 2 years. The track will host Formula Two, Three, Four, and Lamborghini Super Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Tata Truck Racing series and superbikes.
Listen to her story here!
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Roti Bank Foundation is a non-profit, tech-driven food rescue organization currently operating in 23 cities. One of the founding team members of the organization – Shriya Kumar, has developed the ‘Roti Bank Foundation’ application, which is now helping immensely in identifying hunger pockets and diverting surplus food to where there is none. Shriya Kumar – an investment banker, is a visionary towards adapting technology for solving India’s hunger problem. Her idea of mapping hunger pockets across the country for large-scale operations led to the app’s innovation. The app uses artificial intelligence to find out the hunger pockets. The app assesses the map of a city, and based on the publically available demographic data such as population density, proximity to luxurious services, and the propensity of a particular area to spend, it gauges the level of income and creates a virtual hunger map.
Roti Bank looks forward to creating well-fed communities throughout the various nooks and corners of India.
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Slangaluru is a social media page started by Ikyatha Yerasala that’s teaching non-Bengalureans witty Kannada slang. To help her friends and others like them learn the local slang, Ikyatha started the social media pages in 2018. Slangaluru as of now has 9000+ followers on Instagram and 1000+ followers on Twitter. Though Ikyatha herself knows a fair bit of slang, she does not shy away from learning more words from other people. She also collaborates with illustrators to help people understand the meaning of these words through fun illustrations. She believes in clearly differentiating between witty slang and abusive slangs.
Slangaluru is not only a glossary of 350 slang words but it has also launched a merchandise line that sells bookmarkers, pillow covers and magnets printed with these cool words. The Instagram page has also become a platform to engage with old-time Bengalureans. On live sessions, actors Rishi and Hemant Rao have talked about their experiences of growing up in the city and their go-to-slang words. Priya Ganapathy, who was known for her radio show ‘Lingo Leela’ in the 90s, has also come over.
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Pallavi Seth is one of India’s first performers to specialize in this genre (opera). Delhi-bred Pallavi Seth is one of the first young opera singers to come out of the country. She moved to New York for a formal undergraduate degree in Opera and Vocal Performance from the prestigious Mannes School of Music. Her music journey started with learning technicalities of Hindustani classical music, but later on she developed interest in exploring more genres of music. Performances at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall saw Seth transitioning from her passion for music to making it a profession. It was in 2018 and 2019 that she went around Italy and France. Even before they entered the bigger cities, they performed on the outskirts. Seth believes that the operatic tonality will sit well with Bollywood music. Her dream is to perform at the iconic Opera House - Salle Garnier in Monaco.
Listen to her story here!
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Metro lines have been plying in some of the top metro cities in India for some time now, but they are not yet accessible by many. Girish Nagpal and Kaaman Agarwal faced this problem not just in India, but on a global level.
A resident of South Bengaluru, Girish faced this problem when he tried using the Namma Metro service from JP Nagar to reach his office in the CBD area.
Surprisingly, his friend Kaaman Agarwal, who was based in the East Bay in California, also faced a similar issue while using BART (Metro rail in the Bay Area) to travel to San Francisco City. They also spoke to over 300 metro commuters in India and realised this was a recurring issue.
This led them to start MetroRide , an AI-driven electric mobility platform that offers first and last-mile connectivity to high-frequency destinations.
Started in 2019, the Bengaluru and San Francisco-based startup leverages AI, IoT, and data to deliver a hassle-free experience.
Listen to their story here!
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KuKClean is a marketplace for plant-based snacks, foods, and essentials founded in 2021 by Kirti Yadav. It all started, when Kirti wanted to make healthy plant-based and vegan food for her daughter. She and her husband, Akar started working together on this mission. While Akar focuses on Taste, Kirti (who is also a certified holistic nutritionist) focuses on nutrition. Having faced difficulties in sourcing healthy, vegan food products in Bangalore, Kirti started out on this journey of exploring vegan food and snacks and finding the best and healthy sources for them in Bangalore.
To burst the myth of ‘healthy food being boring’ she created a Facebook group in 2019, where she invited people from her friends circle, and started posting pictures of healthy and delicious food she cooked at home. The emphasis was always on plant-based food, and she was soon joined by other ladies who would also share their healthy recipes. One thing led to another and Kirti started getting collaboration offers from small entrepreneurs to launch their vegan brands on her group. With more than five thousand active members in the group, Kirti was on the brink of a business opportunity when the pandemic hit India in 2020.
Kirti has introduced her label with six ready-to-eat products including classic dry fruits granola, premium nuts and seeds trail mix, organic ragi laddu, dry fruit laddoo, baked wheat crackers/mathri and organic peanut butter.
Listen to her story here!
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27-year-old Kalyani Potekar holds the record of being India’s fastest female motorcycle racer. She recently achieved the title with a record 2.08-minute lap on NCR’s Buddh International Circuit. This is the second time Kalyani Potekar has made the record by beating her previous record of 2.16 minutes atop a Ducati Panigale V4 superbike, proving that her only competition is herself. She belongs to a royal family that has always been into adventure sports. They exposed her to several sports, from horse riding to paragliding, skiing, etc. And the racing was technically passed on to her by her dad, who practiced it back then. Mr. Potekar would take his daughter to the track while she was a baby, and she fell in love with what he did.
She has ridden at Raid-de Himalaya, one of the world’s highest rally-raids, and the Indian National Racing Championship, an event backed by the country’s motorsport governing body Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). She has also been recognized in the Outstanding Women in Motorsports category. Kalyani has also represented India internationally, in Thailand and Taiwan.
Listen to her story here!
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Dr. Jayanti Thumsi is one of the very few lady surgeons specializing in Breast Oncology Surgery and women-related surgical problems. She has 21 years of experience in complete breast care with impressive training from some of the most prestigious institutions in India. Dr. Thumsi completed her MBBS and MS (General Surgery) from Grant Medical College and JJ group of Hospitals, Mumbai. She has also received Breast Oncology training from the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai (Breast Unit) and training in Breast Reconstruction Surgery.
Her current area of focus remains in Breast related diseases and has performed over 3500 Breast surgeries till date including procedures like Breast Conservation Surgeries, Mastectomies, Non-palpable Breast Cancers, Microdochectomy, Benign (non cancerous) Breast Diseases, LD Flaps, Implant based and Breast Reconstruction Surgeries, Sentinel Lymph node biopsy, etc.
Listen to her here!
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D2C brand Crave By Leena is one of the first vegan bakeries in Bengaluru, which makes cakes and desserts with gluten and sugar-free ingredients. The brand did a year of R&D to get the taste, aroma, and texture right, using substitutes from locally grown organic and sustainable businesses as much as possible.
Leena Mathai always loved baking, which prompted her to take a professional baking course in Tafe in Sydney, Australia. She continued as a cake decorating artist at the renowned Sydney Baking Institute, Planet Cakes, under Paris Cutler's guidance in 2011. Her vegan cake journey began in transit from Sydney to Bengaluru in 2014. While vegans were on the rise, there was hardly much available. She noticed this gap in the Indian market when she found it impossible to find vegan desserts in Bengaluru. Thus, she started Crave by Leena — a vegan bakery that makes cakes and desserts with gluten and sugar-free ingredients. The D2C brand delivers across Bengaluru through its website, app, and a network of seven in-house delivery staff.
Listen to her story here!
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The biggest hurdle that mental health professionals face while using an online platform: COMMISSION. How can we solve this?
A friend of Shweta Srinivasan, who identifies as queer, could not find a therapist they could talk openly to about their identity and how it may have impacted their mental well-being.
Another woman had told her therapist about going through abortion only to get judged and never open up again.
Shweta, who is also a professional therapist, had come across one too many cases of mental health professionals coming with judgements that do more harm to people than offering collaborative solutions they come to seek.
In 2018, she decided to take matters into her own hands and teamed up with her partner Mani Kumar to found TheMindClan, a platform to access the right mental healthcare resources.
Listen to their story here!
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Sudha Mahalingam is a resident of Bengaluru and currently a full-time professor at a reputed think-tank. She has always believed in real travel, which she has been indulging in, for as far as she can remember. Not any aspect of her personal life or professional life spanning over 35 years, could come in the way of her travels through 66 countries on the map, some multiple times. She believes that her career in fact fueled, funded, and enabled her travel journeys to a great extent. Most of her travels have been solo – but she does company from time to time. For her, she never wanted to turn her passion into a profession, so travel for her is and will always be a pleasurable hobby.
As energy economist, she consults advice, research, and lecture. As member of National Security Advisory Board, she used to be advisor to the Indian Prime Minister on energy security issues; she was also a full-time regulator of India’s petroleum sector. Now, as visiting fellow at reputed international universities and consultant to international energy organizations, she gets ample opportunities to indulge her passion to travel and photograph. She has published over 400 travelogues and more than a thousand photographs in national and international publications on places some of which seldom figure on the popular tourist map.
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Inspiron, India’s first Psychological well-being café transforms the way mental healthcare is accessed and delivered. Their Tech-driven solution model and team of mental health experts address the entire gamut of mental health conditions through scientifically proven methods. Inspiron’s expression- based approach also entails art, dance, music, theatre into therapy. This has been leveraged by more than 2, 00,000 people through individual therapy sessions, educational institutions and corporate enterprises. Their goal is to impact 5 million lives in the next 5 years.
Priyanka believes that unfulfilled childhood memories and dreams are the driving forces that shape our personality. Based on psychodynamic, behavioural, humanitarian and existential theories, her approach is scientific, yet eclectic. She specializes in treating trauma and abuse, clinical conditions like Depression, Anxiety, and OCD. She has worked with numerous industry leaders as a trainer.
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India’s youngest palaeontologist, Aswatha Biju loves to learn new things. For the past four years, the 14-year-old has been teaching palaeontology lessons to school and college students. The youngster has now added another feather to her cap. She has collected 136 fossils and is officially India's Youngest Palaeontologist!
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The Mood Space, isan online counseling platform catering to mental health needs with utmost confidentiality, convenience, and affordability. Founded in 2019 by Vidhi Tamboli and Rhea Sawhney these virtual services enable people to seek help from the comforts of their home via audio, video & text support sessions.
With the help of The Mood Space, Vidhi Tamboli and Rhea Sawhney aim to build a mentally healthy generation that sees no stigma. The brand strives towards adopting a hybrid model where automation and coordinates work hand-in-hand to support the client and therapist's needs.
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The CEO Rally’s mission is to empower young creatives to build powerful personal brands to help create a renowned name for themselves and what they do. We have had engaging talks at NIFT, Wipro, and PESU over the month.
Harshita is a Communication Design Graduate, who graduated in the middle of the 2020 and began freelancing and working with several advertising agencies in New York. During this time, she realized that she wanted to build a brand that she could call her own, and lead creative projects. She currently is a consultant at Estée Lauder alongside running her studio full-time.
Sanjana was in her fourth year of Architecture when she realised that even though she didn’t want to pursue a career in the industry, she was passionate about design and creating brand identities, so she forged a path for herself and has now helped several entrepreneurs with the same.
Over the last year, they have started and scaled their online brands where they define strategic visual identities, helping several start-ups across the world build successful, purpose-filled businesses.
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Sheela Balan is a practising counselling psychologist from Bangalore, India. From a very young age her ambition and goal was to get into the world of psychology and be a therapist. After her bachelor’s degree at Mount Carmel College in Bangalore, she had a short stint in the corporate world before pursuing my Master’s program. Her one to one private counselling sessions focuses on rapport building, effective communication, creating an environment of acceptance & empathy, inculcating self-awareness and multicultural competence, equipping those in question with problem-solving skills while inhabiting a compassionate and approachable space, irrespective of the curve balls a particular situation may bring. A quality of hers that adds to her competence is her attention to detail. Clients warm up to her quickly and she enjoys helping them navigate in a manner that is goal-oriented by fostering the kind of thought that aids to learning new behaviours.
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Ricron Panels is an innovation-driven company from India, that converts low-value plastic waste into quality sustainable materials for furniture, building, and construction applications, The company has received commendable recognition and awards such as the Nestle Creating Shared Value (CSV) Prize.
Ricron Panels has previously also been presented with the prestigious "Climate Solver Award 2019" for Technology and Innovation by The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and "WE SDG Empowerment Award" by the United Nations. Ricron Panels manufactures sustainable building materials for furniture, building, roofing and construction applications, and is becoming a top choice among architects, builders, developers and consumers.
The Gujarat-based company today recycles 500 tons of MLPs each day.
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Niyati Sharma is committed to empowering the youth to make informed decisions and has been working in the domain of sexuality education in India for the past three years.
Recipient of the 2021 Diana, Princess of Wales Award, she has led diverse educational and awareness centric interventions at Pratisandhi Foundation, impacting over 15,000 young minds. She has authored a book, Under The Carpet, that gives us the sex-Ed we all needed growing up. Her work has been featured in Forbes and Femina India among other notable platforms.
Her book, Under The Carpet, is a glimpse into comprehensive sexuality education for young people and answers all their burning questions with ease and zero judgement. She also helps young people make better decisions through non-judgmental access to information that is considered taboo.
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Shrinivas Shinde was waiting for his Uber ride one Friday evening in LA in 2016 and he chanced upon a group of young people with bags full of beverages going to a house party. This brought a sense of nostalgia and the eureka moment for his startup Playace, which aims to be the Airbnb for house parties.
Launched in 2017, the Mumbai-based platform connects people looking to attend house parties with those willing to host one. It has now enabled more than 1000 house parties across major cities in India.
The idea, Shrinivas says, is to create real-time meaningful connections through various themed get-togethers and house parties.
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When a TikTok user who goes by the name "Danny B" hosted an online talent show, he probably wasn't expecting to be blown away by a nine-year-old, but Megan Rakesh, from Bengaluru, managed to do just that. Megan, who has been singing with her father since she was two, took everyone by surprise with her rendition of Fallin' by Alicia Keys. Footage that has gone massively viral online shows the talent show hosts reacting in shock and surprise as the nine-year-old girl began singing, while her father accompanied her on the guitar. Her powerful rendition of the Alicia Keys song reached the American singer herself, who gave her a shout-out on her Instagram Story this weekend.
An Instagram account dedicated to Megan, which is managed by her parents, also shared the video
"Alicia Keys shared it," her parents wrote while sharing the video, adding that their daughter had "dreamt of this moment a million times and the feeling is unreal."
"Thank You so much @ohitsdannyb for posting this on TIKTOK... (1 Million plus views in 24 hrs)," they added.
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Philem Rohan Singh is a 24-year-old social activist who cycles across India to feed the poor amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Through his “Feeding the Hungry” campaign, Philem Rohan Singh cycled from Kolkata to Delhi, covering Chennai and Bengaluru, to feed the poor amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. During his first cycling excursion called “Pollution Free India” in January 2018 from Delhi to Imphal, he spread awareness on how people can contribute towards a cleaner and healthier environment and make a pollution-free society for the next generations. About a year ago, when the pandemic was at its peak, Rohan started a 'Feeding the Hungry’ campaign in Manipur, providing food to 50-60 people each day. In February 2021, he decided to expand this campaign to four major metros —Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Delhi — feeding more than 4000 people in two months. In his two-month-long journey — from February 5 to April 8— Rohan traversed over 5,000 km, starting from Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and finally, ending it in Delhi.
To sustain his energy during the journey, he pedalled according to his convenience and travelled about 90-100 km a day, and focussed more on interacting and feeding people.
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Creative minds often collaborate with others on the same wavelength as them, in order to bring their vision to life. When Hyderabad-based singer Peekay aka Pranati Khanna, planned the release of her new single ‘You Don’t Have To’, she immediately knew she wanted the clothes she adorned for the video, to be from the sustainable, made-from-waste label Cancelled Plans, also based in Hyderabad. The final result is a striking and creative look that makes a strong impression.
Check out conversation with her!
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Juhi Sharma is the founder of Light Up (EMF) and Unbottle Emotions. She is also an entrepreneur and educator. Light Up is one of the first few social ventures that is focusing on harnessing the emotional intelligence (EI) of children, parents and, teachers by developing their social and emotional competencies, and providing them with tools necessary to form a cohesive, collaborative, non-violent, and caring community.
Unbottle Emotions, which is an extension of Light Up (EMF) hosts workshops that are experiential in nature and all about addressing one’s emotional health. Unbottle Emotions focuses on advocacy and awareness of practicing Emotional Intelligence in one’s daily lives that enables one to experience emotional freedom.
Juhi holds degrees in multiple fields - a graduate degree in B Com from Delhi University and a master’s in fashion marketing from Pearl Academy - and has been an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fellow from Stanford Graduate School of Business. She constantly engaged with community work and was involved in doing field work and visiting various communities, local schools, and government offices while working on various development sector projects in the area of Water, Sanitation And Hygiene (WASH), Education, and Health.
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Jay Alani is a renowned Indian full-time paranormal investigator. He has investigated over 100 haunted locations like Bhangarh fort, Kuldhara, Lambi Dehar Mines in Mussoorie, etc. Jay Alani’s podcast ‘Paranormal Reality’ streaming over popular platforms like Gaana, Spotify, iTunes, Wynk etc. has been heard over 12 Million times and counting. He has also created a two-season non-fiction horror web-series ‘Dark Destinations’ streaming on the OTT platform ‘Watcho’. Jay Alani’s book ‘Haunted’ co-authored by Neil D’ Silva and published by Penguin India, talks about his real-life encounters with ghosts and spirits. He has also initiated a paranormal volunteer programme targeting over 1000 volunteers in India to spread awareness about the paranormal reality and the real truth behind the paranormal world to protect people from falling in the trap of black magic, witchcraft and such Babas, Tantrik and Ojha.
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The NGO, Humane World For Animals was founded by Nikitha and co-founded by Bindu Rani, Shivendra Prathap Singh, and Akash Kumar as a rescue and rehabilitation centre for sick, injured, and abused homeless animals. It is working to create a compassionate community by encouraging people to take care of the animals in their surroundings.
The organisation is also working on animal birth control and an anti-rabies vaccination programme for stray dogs. It also started its own veterinary clinic for pets where a basic fee is charged for the services. The profits from this clinic are used for the treatment of the rescued animals.
Apart from all these, the team also regularly conducts awareness programmes about animal welfare in schools and colleges and gives guidance to local bodies to help them with issues related to animals. It also works with the police department to keep a check on animal abusers and those who harass animal caretakers.
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Four Cyclists from Bangalore: Raghu Reddy, Rajaneesh KN, Vaibhav Shinde & Shankar, make up for the only team from Karnataka to have conquered the 3rd edition of The Great Himalayan Ultra Race brought together by Inspire India, which started on the 11th of September, 2021. The Great Himalayan Ultra Race is the World’s highest Ultracycle race - A 600 km road race starting and finishing in Leh, Ladakh. It comprises solo and relay team categories. Solo is a RAAM Qualifier for racers, finishing within the cut-off will qualify for The Race Across America. The Relay team category is RAAM style. The Races are also on the Ultramarathon Cycling (UMCA) calendar. In the 3rd Edition - 2021, a 444 KM Self Supported race was also conducted from Leh-Kargil and back.
Raghu Reddy won the 2nd place at The Great Himalayan Ultra Race with a race time – 32 hrs 39 min and overall time - 35 hrs 39 min (including mandatory 3 hrs rest break) and is RAAM qualified. Rajaneesh KN finished 4th at The Great Himalayan Ultra Race with a race time - 36 hrs 20 min and overall time - 39 hrs 20 min and is RAAM qualified. Vaibhav Shinde became the first finisher of the Self Supported Category of The Great Himalayan Ultra Race, finishing 444 km in 2 stages with a total time of 26 hrs 2 min Race time - Leh to Kargil – 12 hrs 8 min Kargil to Leh – 13 hrs 54 min. Shankar had a race time of 33 hours in the 444 km solo self supported category race.
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Audrey Maben set a record for being the only woman in India to fly solo for 2400 kms in 5 days on a Microlight. In 1993-94 she was adjudged All India Best Glider Pilot at The Republic Day Parade. She went on to qualify as a private pilot. She co-founded aero sports firms, Mysore Aero sports Pvt. Limited and Bangalore Airports Pvt Limited. She is also a mother and an educator. She set a record in the the Air Race 2003 being the only woman flying as Pilot in Command, solo. In 2008, she became India’s first Microlight flying instructor. She logged 1,100 hours of flight time en route helping many others earn their wings along the way. She launched Mysuru’s first Cambridge International school, I can. She is also India’s first Motor Glider Pilot. She also earned a nomination to circumnavigate the globe on a Motor Glider.
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In 2019, a year before the pandemic, entrepreneurs Amit Singal and Amit Vyashad started working on the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. Nexus Healthtech — popularly known by its product name Maatri — is a digital health platform to help mothers track the health of their children along with other family members. It provides health-related update information, health monitoring, teleconsultation, and maintains health records, among others.
Maatri is divided into several segments. The CEO explains that it helps mothers with children less than five years to track their growth as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. It acts as a personal paediatrician, where mothers can keep a tab on their child’s vaccinations, developmental aspects, generate health cards, and connect with doctors online, among others. The product also helps parents recognise any early signs of developmental conditions among their children via a screening test. Besides, women can use Maatri during their pregnancy period to track their and their child’s health.
In fact, the product is not limited to just children. Women can also use Maatri to track the health of other family members. Not only human members, but Maatri also enables the user to add medical details about their pets.
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The Dark Is Beautiful campaign was started in 2009, by Women Of Worth, a non-profit based in India, as an awareness and advocacy campaign to fight colourism.
It seeks to draw attention to the unjust effects of skin colour bias, shaped by societal attitudes and reinforced by media messages that are corroding the self-worth of countless people, young and old.
In the 10 years since its inception, the Dark Is Beautiful campaign has gained international recognition and garnered support from celebrities and recognition and mention in various major media publications in India and around the world.
Kavitha Emmanuel launched the DISB campaign on 2009 with a passion to address the issue of colourism in India . She was challenged by the lack of voice for those traumatized by skin colour discrimination. She recognised the need for a platform for people to connect, express and challenge this toxic belief that was stripping people of their true sense of worth.
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Manan Kathuria is a Golden Youth for Child Rights Award 2018 winner for his short film 'Chiraiya Chaahe Aasmaan' at the Jharkhand Children Film Festival 2018, presented by UNICEF and Prabhat Khabar. His Second Short film, 'Kon Shudh, Kon Ashudh?' has bagged two International Selections at the Lift-Off Network, 2019.
Manan is a 100% Scholarship holder, as a B.A. (Journalism and Mass Communication) student at Amity University, Noida with an experience of over 5 years in the field of Film Production, Photography and Writing. He is always travelling in different directions of life. The journey includes some artistic and aesthetic roads, creative mountains to climb and beautiful memories to write and document. He find stories when he is lost in this phase, which comes in terms of films, photographs and poetry.
He has also worked on 3 other film projects, which are yet to be released.
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In this era of technological advancements where there is an app for almost everything, managing everyday tasks and communication within student housing facilities or hostels should be a seamless process. However, most hostels and student housing communities follow archaic methods of data management, reporting, maintenance of paper records, and other standard practices. These old school methods result in ineffective and chaotic operations and communication between educators, students, parents and hostel administrators. In addition to this, due to these manual processes, key decision makers at educational institutions do not have the required data driven insights for forward planning, leading to very costly errors and wastage.
SpaceBasic is an AI enabled digital data platform to automate everyday tasks and simplify communication within educational institutions and their student housing communities. SpaceBasic was started with a two fold goal in mind - One, to do away with redundant and time- consuming management processes by automating daily repetitive tasks for educators, administrators and students in student housing communities and hostels. Secondly, to provide educational institutions a mechanism to analyse meaningful data sources to gain actionable insights, leading to cost reductions and streamlined operations.
SpaceBasic was founded in 2017 by Madhavi Shankar and Silicon valley based serial entrepreneur Indu Navar to help educational institutions to automate everyday tasks and communication within their hostels and student housing communities. Headquartered in Los Altos, California, and with an office in Bangalore, SpaceBasic has a highly accomplished founding team with over 60 years of global experience in building and scaling SaaS based enterprises with successful exits. Prior to co-founding SpaceBasic, Indu was the Founder and CEO of Serus Corporation, USA. She has previously worked at NASA in Moffett Field California. On the other hand, Madhavi was named as one of the top 30 women transforming India by Niti Ayog and the United Nations. She was among the top young entrepreneurs of the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 List chosen in the category of enterprise technology. An active advocate of women employment and equal opportunities, Madhavi was also one among the 8 youth leaders chosen for the launch event of UN’s One million Youth leaders event that was held at United Nations Office in Geneva.
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For 50-year-old Sangeetha Jairam, yoga instructor and motorcyclist, life’s lessons have always been through motorcycle metaphors. She got her adventure streak while growing up in the hills of Kodagu (formerly Coorg) and the motorcycle bug from her motorcyclist father, who, by the way, rode his BMW R25 all the way from Munich to India in the 1960s. Following in his footsteps, she learned to ride on the classic bike while she was still in her teens. Sangeetha lives in Udhagamandalam (formerly Ooty) and teaches yoga to young children at The Lawrence School, Lovedale, the same school she went to. It’s here that she learned the most valuable lessons of life, especially about the wonder of nature and to have the courage to live up to the school’s motto: “never give in”. In fact, the biking enthusiast is also seen practising yoga asanas (postures) in all the exotic locales that she has been to. Often spotted doing headstands on the motorcycle as well.
She has dirt biked in Cambodia, been a Race Official for the MotoGP in Australia, ridden with wildebeests in Africa, through the dreaded ‘Tunnel of Death’ in Tajikistan, and along the length of the Pamir Highway (the world’s second highest altitude international highway), and accomplished more awe-inspiring motorcycling feats than one can imagine. Sangeetha has had no dearth of motorcycling adventures. Her passion has taken her to Bhutan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kenya, Australia, Finland, and Norway and to Ladakh, Nagaland and Meghalaya amongst other states, in India.
I hope her story inspires you!
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Many women across India hesitate to seek help when it comes to their menstrual, reproductive and sexual health. For some, it’s the absence of a trusted physician but for many, it’s the uneasy and judgmental questions on marital status, pregnancy termination and pre-marital sex that they are asked. From puberty to menopause, women are exposed to a number of health risks during their lifetime. The stigma attached to seeking help has stopped many women from being proactive in managing their menstrual, sexual and reproductive health issues.
Proactive For Her was founded with an aim to empower women to learn about their sexual and reproductive health in a holistic manner. The early stage health tech startup offers accessible, confidential and personalized healthcare solutions. It’s a one-stop platform for women to access handpicked doctors and medical experts who can offer holistic care. These experts not only offer tele-consultations but they also interact with each other to develop a holistic care plan for the patient. In addition to this, the patients are provided with regular follow ups and access to concierge services.
Proactive For Her was founded in August 2020 by Achitha Jacob who dropped out of Harvard Business School with a vision to build a healthcare brand exclusively for women by women. An alumnus of IIT Bombay, Achitha has previously worked with Fortune 500 healthcare and healthcare startups. The team at Proactive For Her has 70+ years of cumulative healthcare experience, including 15+ years of global healthcare experience.
Chatted with Achitha and I hope you enjoy conversation!
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Nitin D.C. is a professional coach certified by the ICF and is a leadership development expert at Samsung. He is a post-graduate in Human Resources Management, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering with a post-graduate certificate in Advanced Software Engineering. He has been working for 15 years at Samsung Research in Bangalore. Recently, he was interviewed on America Tonight with the Emmy-award-winning journalist, Kate Delaney.
His book is called "Human Connect Through Emotional Intelligence". This book is for any reader irrespective of the field of work or background they come from. It is a book written straight from the heart, relating to every bit of experience I could gather, in the course of my work and personal life The book has a simple tone to it, to understand and realize the concepts without any difficulty. It is all about bringing to attention those subtle aspects, which often may hit our blind spots, thereby creating awareness that can help our mind maintain peace.
Spoke with him on the show and I hope you enjoy conversation!
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The Greater Chennai Corporation on Saturday started using drones, on an experimental basis, to spray larvicide along the waterbodies to control the mosquito menace.
The civic body was collaborating with Dr. Kalam Advanced UAV Research Centre on the MIT campus of Anna University for this activity.
Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi and other senior officials monitored the spraying through drones along the Cooum near Langs Garden Road on Saturday. With the help of drones, he said that spraying of the anti-larval oil can be done in a faster and safer manner.
K. Senthil Kumar, Director, Dr. Kalam Advanced UAV Research Centre, said such drones were first used by Agriculture Department for spraying pesticides, when Mr. Bedi was the secretary.
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Bangalored explores the fledgling romance between the protagonists in the backdrop of Bangalore.
Radha Iyer is battling to make her mark in the male-dominated world of the IT industry as she straddles the two worlds of traditional and modern India. She is fiercely independent and has strong views on things she cares about. When she works on a big sales deal for the sake of a friend, she encounters James Rutherford, devilishly handsome, infuriatingly superior and blatantly flirtatious.
James Rutherford is visiting India from England on work. Circumstances throw him together with Radha Iyer, a vexing and opinionated girl in the partner company he is visiting. She is engaging, and her world-view is refreshing. An inexplicable attraction develops as they form a strange friendship based on their mutual love for literature.
The romance blossoms amidst the age-old charm of meals together, but also in the brave new world of WhatsApp. Along the way, friendship, family and heartbreak are entwined into the lives of Radha and James in a slice-of-life narrative that warms the heart.
Spoke with Gayatri Chandrasekharan about her fictional novel and enjoyed conversation! Book is available everywhere! Do pick it up!
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Six directors have come together to roll out a new Netflix series,Feels Like Ishq, to show us what love feels like with relatable and heartwarming episodes. The anthology series streamed on Netflix on July 23. I caught up with Saba to chat about it all!
Saba Azad is an Indian actress, theatre director and musician. She is one half of Mumbai-based electro funk duo Madboy/Mink. Saba is known for her leading role in the romantic comedy film Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge (2011). The film was a sleeper hit in India, gaining a cult following among college students all over the country. She also played the role of Dingo in the Y-Films web series, Ladies Room in the year 2016. She made her Bollywood debut as one of the leads Raaga in the indie film Dil Kabaddi (2008). She has featured in commercials for Cadbury, Pond's, Maggi, Tata Sky, Google, Kit Kat, Vodafone, Sunsilk, Nescafe, Airtel as well as print campaigns for Clean & Clear, Westside and Amway and many more.
She's super sweet and down to earth and I enjoyed every bit of this conversation!
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India is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, and the Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies over 50 percent of global demand for various vaccines. Globally, India ranks third in terms of pharmaceutical production by volume and 14th by value.
However, despite this, the pharmaceutical supply chain in the country has been underutilised and scattered, according to 23-year-old Anshuman Sahoo.
To solve this problem, Anshuman, along with his friend Ashish Rawat, started Impact Health in 2020. The startup aims to connect end-to-end points in the public healthcare system and make it affordable and accessible for everyone, especially for Tier II, III, and rural India.
The Bhubaneswar-based healthcare logistics and technology startup has created a platform for end-to-end health journey. It has services providers, doctors, pharma companies, and diagnostic labs on its platform. Through its flagship Patient Support Program (PSP), the startup ensures the patient gets diagnosed with a problem and ensures they get follow-up check-ups, medicines, tests, and even injection directly at their doorstep.
The founders aim to make healthcare accessible, especially for Tier II, III, and rural India, and at the same time make it affordable with quality making it inclusive for everyone.
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Quixy is a cloud-based no-code application development platform that allows business users with no coding skills to automate workflows & processes, and build enterprise-grade applications, using simple drag and drop design, ten times faster compared to the traditional approach. Quixy provides dozens of pre-built solutions for various sector from education to finance and FMGC to Tech. Quixy, an industry and department agnostic, no-code platform is a tool that can be used to build and develop software applications without the need for coding or having to hire a software developer. While digital transformation doesn’t happen overnight, no-code platforms can help financial organisations to achieve scalable digital transformation that allows businesses to seize opportunities while meeting customer demand.
Quixy was established by Mr. Gautam Nimmagadda, Founder & CEO who has 13+ years of technology experience. He was last working as the CEO of Navayuga Infotech. In a short journey, Quixy has achieved quite a few recognitions being named in Gartner Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer” Report for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms (LCAP), rated ‘Leader for Asia Pacific for No-Code Application Development’ in G2's Fall 2020 report; named as one of the ‘Top 10 Best B2B Software Companies’ in Hyderabad by G2, apart from earning various community review badges, including Best Est. RoI, Easiest To Use, Easiest Setup, Best Support, and Best Results.
Enjoyed having him on the show and I hope this conversation brings value to your life!
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Mayank Agarwal was just 29 when he breathed his last at one of Bengaluru's hospitals last month. He had been put on a ventilator as his condition deteriorated after he tested positive for COVID-19. After battling the virus for 20 days, he passed away on April 26. An enterprising young man, Mayank had a beautiful life with a flourishing career, a loving family, and countless friends. Always ready to extend a helping hand, he was the go-to person in a crisis. When he contracted the disease, his family had to bear witness to the trials and tribulations, making headlines, of people burning the midnight oil to save their loved ones from the deadly virus. To honour his memories, his family decided to start an initiative to raise funds to help low-income families avail medical treatment. In a span of 24-48 hours, they were able to raise nearly ₹ 33 lakh and help as many as 50 families.Mayank loved Bengaluru and was extremely passionate about the culture. His family started a fundraising initiative under 'Mayank Agarwal Memorial Fund' and decided to engage with Varun's followers on Instagram to raise the funds.
Chatted with Varun & his mum, Purnima, on the show! Listen in!
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Indian Golfer Aditi Ashok mesmerized the nation with a brilliant show at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Holding the position of World No. 200, she entered the top 5 in the women's individual stroke play on Saturday and missed a medal by a whisker to finish 4th.
Aditi Ashok narrowly missed out on being the first Indian golfer to win an Olympic medal in the women's individual stroke play of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Saturday. When the fourth and final round got underway on Saturday morning, the Bangalore golfer had maintained her second position and was just behind USA's Nelly Korda. As the play continued, she slipped down to the third and further to the fourth.
After a 9-minute rain delay, the 23-year-old remained under-15, which meant that she needed a birdie to remain in the medal contention, and eventually, it all came down to the 72nd hole of the tournament as Aditi's podium finish depended on it. Sadly, she could not get the job done and was out of the medal race.
Spoke with Tarun Sardesai who runs the Tarun Sardesai Golf Academy about her performance(being her former coach). We also spoke about the future of golf for India. The future is so bright.. we need to wear shades!
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With the theatres being closed, over the top platforms have seen a boom in content, be it regional or mainstream. With the constrain of earning big at the box office gone, and the audience being more accepting of actors who are not popular stars, it has given filmmakers the push to experiment with brave stories. Stories that would otherwise have been unfeasible to show on the big screen. And the production of anthology series has taken this whole process of telling risky stories a step further. So here we have collated a list of such features from within some of the recent anthology series, that have dealt with themes commonly missing in the mainstream.
Queer representation in most Bollywood films has always been in the extremes. Either it is over the top with its portrayal of characters or there are depressing stories about their survival (which is not inaccurate). However, what these kinds of films generally miss is a proper and ‘normal’ representation of these characters, which do not alienate them further. One of the shorts of Netflix’s recent anthology series She Loves Me She Loves Me Not written and directed by Sulagna Chatterjee and Danish Aslam respectively does a commendable job in normalising queer stories and making the story about their journey and not their sexuality. Starring Sanjeeta Bhattacharya and Saba Azad, the short is something whose extended version would be a great thing to watch on the big screen.
Spoke to Sanjeeta on the show and I highly recommend a binge-watch for 'Feels Like Ishq' on Netflix!
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Para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan has been granted a bi-partite quota for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics, the national governing body said on Tuesday. The International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) decision to offer a quota place to Mukundan would mean that India will have two para swimmers in its 54-member contingent, the largest ever.
Niranjan Mukundan is an award-winning professional para-swimmer who was born with Spina Bifida, a neural tube defect which affects the spine, leaving him paralyzed below the hips. In 2018 Mukundan won a bronze medal in men's 50m butterfly at the Berlin World Series, and created an Asian record in the men's 200m backstroke at the same event. Over the course of his career he has won numerous gold medals, with particular success at the 2017 IWAS Junior World Games in Prague and the World Junior Games in 2015.
I'm thrilled to call him a friend and so happy about his achievements!
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Prerna Wadikar, a student who hails from Bengaluru, has won the Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact Award at the University of Oxford. The recognition was for her work in making portable energy access more affordable by developing a technological model using a lithium-ion battery.
The technology developed by her resembles a power bank that can be charged using either a solar panel or an electric grid, both embedded in the device itself. She also highlighted that the device was less than 500 grams heavy and that a daisy chain of 10 such units could even generate power to run a small refrigerator. Wadikar, who began her career as a distribution marketing professional in the Karnataka capital, has worked in different sectors within and outside the country, expanding the outreach of her background in technology and public policy. Wadikar hopes to scale up her product and her social enterprise named Jeeva Global to offer support to micro and nano entrepreneurs, mostly deprived of government support, to help them better their livelihoods in the days to come.
Spoke to her on the show and I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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As we enjoy all the Olympic action.. Hakim joins me on the show to talk about his experience at the Olympics when he represented India years ago.
Hakimuddin Shabbir Habibulla (born 25 September 1979) is an Indian former swimmer, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events. He represented India at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and later became a co-founder of GoSports India Pvt. Ltd., a sports management company based in Bangalore. He was also the Founder Trustee of the GoSports Foundation. Habibulla competed only in the men's 200 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He received a Universality place from FINA in an entry time of 1:56.11. He challenged four other swimmers in heat one, including Uzbekistan's two-time Olympian Oleg Tsvetkovskiy. Coming from third at the first turn, Habibulla finished the race to a fourth seed in a time of 1:58.35, finishing behind the leader Tsvetskovskiy by 3.42 seconds. Habibulla failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed 50th overall in the prelims. Habibulla is currently the founder and principal consultant for sports performance at Winning Matters Consulting Pvt. Ltd., a sports consulting firm.
I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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Ever since the internet came into existence, digital privacy has been a battle. Whether it is securing companies from cyber threats or protecting individual’s information from data breaches and data leaks, the fight has been hard.
It becomes all the more critical when collecting sensitive data on surveys like mental health, sexual health, activism, and others. Although there are platforms like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, and TypeForm, among others, the data here is stored in an unencrypted manner in a centralised database, increasing the vulnerability.
Bengaluru-based startup BlockSurvey looks to make a disruption here. Launched in January 2020 by Wilson Bright and Raja Ilayaperumal, BlockSurvey is a decentralised blockchain-powered data collection platform.
The Bengaluru-based startup enables businesses and individuals to create no-code online forms and surveys and collect data based on anonymity.
Spoke to Wilson Bright, the co-founder of Block Survey! I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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Although the original Cheesecake Day was conceived and first celebrated in 1985, it didn’t really take off until 2001 when the power of the internet helped its cause. It then gained traction and became a sensation that is now celebrated all over the world. Dating back to its invention by the Ancient Greeks, probably around 200 A.D., cheesecake was believed to have been one of the first “sweet” desserts in the world. Or at least, it was one of the first to be written down. In its earlier time, this dish was originally made from a soft cheese but was probably very different from what we now know as cheesecake.
Today on the show, we answer the burning question: IS CHEESECAKE OVERRATED? To help me out, home-baker Khushboo Gupta joins me! She runs 'Ganached by Khushboo' and we're going to get to the bottom of this. Oh, by the way, try her dessert tubs! They're amazing!
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Nisha Millet (Head Coach & Founder) is one of the most recognized names in Indian swimming with a career spanning 15 years and more than 600 gold medals to her credit. A brief summary of her achievements are as follows:
-First Indian swimmer to qualify for the Olympics in 200 mtrs freestyle and represented India at the 2000 Sydney Olympics
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Awards won - Arjuna Award (2000), Rajyotsava Award (2001), Ekalavya Award (2002),
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Represented India at the World Swimming Championships(1998 & 2004), Asian Games (1998), SAF games (1999), Australian Nationals (2003 & 2004)
With the Olympics at hand, I spoke with her and what a fun chat that was! Enjoy listening!
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Prakash Nanjappa (born 29 February 1976) is an Indian shooter who competes in the 10 metre air pistol and 50 metre pistol events. He was the only Indian to win a medal in the 2013 ISSF World Cup, when he won bronze with a very minor difference between the second place in 10 metre air pistol event in Changwon, South Korea. In the same event, he won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Nanjappa won a bronze medal in the 2013 ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, in the 10 metre air pistol event having scored 180.2 points in the final. In the same year, he suffered from a paralytic attack in the right side of his face, during the World Cup in Granada. Following his recovery, in October 2013, Nanjappa won the silver medal in the 50 metre pistol event in the Asian air gun championship in Tehran.
In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Nanjappa won the silver medal in the 10 m air pistol event, having scored 198.2 points in the final. Earlier, he had topped the qualification round by scoring 580 points.
Nanjappa qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Men's 50 metres Pistol event, where he finished 25th in the qualification round.
Had a chat with him on the show! Enjoy!
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The team of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar will aim to create history when they take part in the 49er event. The duo had also qualified at the Oman event. They had made it to the Tokyo Games after topping their field. The team of Ganapathy and Thakkar had won a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2018 in the 49er event.
Spoke to them on the show and what a fun bit of conversation!
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How can tech really be used for good? How do we build more meaningful conversations online? All this and more is answered in my conversation with Charit Jaggi on the show!
Charit Jaggi’s middle school years were hard for him. He recalls days of skipping classes just to avoid the bullies at school who made fun of his appearance.
But things turned around when he discovered playwrights such as Shakespeare and Ibsen, which began his tryst with theatre. Soon, he was a performer, transforming from someone who used to hide around his peers to one who was comfortable receiving adulation for his on-stage performances.
Founded in 2019, We The Young is a content website that gives voice to several social issues — mental health, gender inequality, bullying, harassment, free speech, LGBTQIA+ issues, sexuality, and much more — that young Indians want to talk about.
Slowly, he started to build his thesis for We The Young, and used the power of social media to harness interest and traction. He also decided to be conscientious of the fact that people needed to hear stories of others like them to be able to relate — and so, he based the platform around the lives of real, regular, ‘aam’ people, instead of celebrities and influencers.
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Dr. Poonam Kaur Adarsh is treating COVID-19 patients at Adarsh clinic, Pune, a clinic she herself runs. Every day after returning home, she would narrate the difficulty faced by her and other frontline workers, who have to wear PPE suits and get themselves drenched in sweat, to her son, 19-year-old Nihaal Singh Adarsh. Nihal, who is a second-year engineering student at Mumbai’s K J Somaiya College of Engineering, wanted to do something to help his mother and many other doctors and nurses fighting COVID-19 like her.
With this aim and inspiration, Nihaal developed a ‘cool PPE kit’ which is a compact, belt-like ventilation system for PPE kits. The design of the ventilation system ensures a complete air seal from the PPE kit. It provides a breeze of fresh air to the user in a gap of just 100 seconds, he added. The PPE kit comes with a lithium-ion battery that lasts for 6 to 8 hours.
With his innovation, Nihaal went on to participate in a design challenge for COVID-related equipment, organised by Technological Business Incubator, Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory.
When he started working on the prototype, he developed the first model within 20 days. The initial prototype was neck-mounted, sucking in air through U-shaped air inlets, and had pillow-like structures which could be worn around the neck. Dr Vinayak Mane from Pune helped Nihaal by testing the equipment.
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With the aim to provide access to the best and India’s first fully functional Bionic Hand to upper limb amputations from a quantum of over 40 million people in need of prosthetics at an affordable price keeping the economic challenges from the developing world in mind. Driven by a vision - To cater the needs and resume the daily routine of Indian & Global disabled population with an Indian alternative to serve and democratize the assistive-technology industry, a team of 23 social and tech enthusiasts came together to form Makers Hive. The HOW? - Inspired by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, whose motifs helped direct our acumen towards building cutting-edge assistive technologies to solve contemporary social problems of the populace in the developing nations like India. The WHY? - Makers Hive is born to leverage the gap in the assistive-tech industry, especially Prosthetics, and build health-tech devices to turn the people with amputations from disabled to futuristically abled and from being a thing of pity to a source of envy. The WHAT? - Makers Hive has made it possible to bring the people with amputations together by developing a fully functional, customizable, and mobile app enabled Bionic Hand - KalArm®, named after Dr. Kalam as a homage, to address the problems of 40 million people globally, of which India alone holds about 6 million in need of prosthetic assistance.
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Extra-curricular activities are unheard of in pandemic times. Kids are behind screens most of the time so how do they even indulge in extra curricular activities at all?
Spark Studio was founded in October 2020 by Anushree Goenka, ex-AVP, Business Strategy, Swiggy , and an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus; along with Kaustubh Khade, ex-AVP Product, BYJU'S and IIT Delhi alumnus; and Namita Goel, ex-Director of Curriculum Development, LEAD School. The founding team has over 15 years of experience in education and in the edtech space.
Spark Studio claims to have over 15 extracurricular courses in three categories - music, communications, and visual arts. Hundreds of children across India, Middle East, South-East Asia, and the UK are currently learning with them. The company said it has developed a levelled curricula with leading artists as well as pedagogy experts. These courses are delivered online in live classes by experienced educators and award-winning artists, in the convenience of home. Small batch sizes ensure personal attention and interactive learning. This is followed by content for revision and self-paced learning outside class. Their curriculum is interspersed with elements that make it age-relevant and exciting for children. The startup is currently scaling its teacher network.
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The concept of observing July 15 as National Plastic Surgery Day in India has been adopted by the leaders of top bodies in the speciality across the globe as World Plastic Surgery Day. The concept was discussed in a meeting of the presidents of plastic surgery associations of various countries organised by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons recently.
Dr. Karishma Kagodu is a Recognized & Leading name in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery in India. Spoke to her on the show!
Dr. Karishma Kagodu, MBBS, MS, M CH, is a globally famed plastic cosmetic surgeon who is one of the most sought after aesthetic surgery practitioners in Bangalore. Her skill and passion for cosmetic and aesthetic surgery draw patients from all over the world.
DR. Karishma Kagodu started her Plastic & Cosmetic surgery journey at the Columbia Asia group of hospitals, Bangalore. She then moved to Kolar and worked as an Assistant Professor at Devaraj Urs Medical College. Now she becomes efficient with her profound skills and expertise to run solo faculty of plastic surgery and perfectly did it by adding intense specialties at Aster Hospital Hebbal, Bangalore, India; where she has contributed for 2 years, thereafter she launched a State-of-the-art Cosmetic Clinic in the heart city Indiranagar, Bangalore, India.
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How can companies help remove stigma around non-binary people? I spoke to Akshay Tyagi who manages the Keshav Suri Foundation, lead of DEI at The Lalit.
The Keshav Suri Foundation was launched on 13th October 2018 by Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, in the presence of thought leaders from various fields, at the First National Dialogue, Queering the Pitch – Agents of Change.
After the prodigious success of #PureLove Campaign, hotelier Keshav Suri, introduced the Keshav Suri Foundation to highlight the issues faced by the deeply marginalised LGBTQIA+ community. The Foundation ties up with It gets Better Project – a global platform to uplift, empower, and connect the LGBTQIA+ community. The objective of the foundation is to bring forth the unheard voices of people from the community to the fore. These are voices that have been shut and ignored, but need to be heard. Their stories and struggles are real and heart wrenching. The foundation aims to create a platform that will enable people from the community to share their stories with pride, sans judgement. This will, in turn, create awareness about the issues faced by them. With a feeling of acceptance and belonging, the foundation aims to skill people from the community and help them live a life of dignity.
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Are we empathetic to people who identify as 'Non-Binary'? Let's talk stigma from an India Perspective! International Non-Binary People's Day is observed each year on 14 July and is aimed at raising awareness and organising around the issues faced by non-binary people around the world. The day was first celebrated in 2012.
Sasha is a 21 year old queer, non-binary artist and writer from Bangalore. They use the pronouns he/him and they/them. He started out as a spoken word poet in his teens, and has developed as a writer across fields over the years. They started dabbling in art in late 2020 and now sell original/commissioned work. He is very open about his queer identity on social media, and shares honest content that captures his true self. Such a unique story that I was so happy to hear! I hope you listen and share this wonderful story!
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Are taking supplements bad for you? Are you aware of the long-term effects of taking supplements? Spoke to these wonderful people on the show to break it all down!
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught people one important lesson, i.e., to take care of their health. A healthy lifestyle, nutritious food, and regular exercise are a must for staying fit and healthy.
New Delhi-based Wellowise aims to help people live a healthy life by realising the potential health risks and diseases. Founded in 2018 by Dr Saher Mehdi and Manish Kumar, wellOwise is a precision health startup aimed at preventing lifestyle diseases and delivering a precision diagnosis.
They are trying to help people optimise their health by translating health insights into personalised and dietary supplement recommendations. We all have unique genetics, different family histories, environment, and lifestyle. They test and analyse all these factors and understand the risk of lifestyle diseases among people. For example, with their insights, one can understand if they are prone to diabetes and can then take appropriate measures to avoid the disease.
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BBC Media Action has launched a campaign to improve social acceptance and draw recognition to the work done by Bengaluru’s waste pickers in an effort to improve their social standing. The campaign has been launched by BBC Media Action India, which is part of a larger collective called Saamuhika Shakti, funded by H&M Foundation, with the objective of improving the lives of informal waste pickers in Bengaluru. Partners of this collaborative include, CARE India, Hasiru Dala, LabourNet, Save the Children, Social Alpha and WaterAid along with The Nudge Foundation, serving as the backbone organisation for the intervention.
BBC Media Action’s campaign focuses on invisibles or waste pickers, as people of Bengaluru don’t recognise the ‘humans behind waste’. And over the course of the project, turn them into #Invaluables. The overall objective of #Invaluables, which is an online community of Bengalureans, is to reveal categories of waste pickers and lift the shroud of invisibility surrounding them. With this initiative, Bengaluru will come closer to the waste picker community through content that will unpack the value and interconnectedness between the two.
Radharani Mitra is Global Creative Advisor at BBC Media Action, the BBC’s international NGO that uses media and communication for development. She mines insights, shapes strategies and tells stories using new and legacy media to bring about social and behaviour change – from 30 second adverts to social media campaigns, from graphic novels to mobile games, from radio shows to rural outreach activities. She has masterminded several short format ‘fast fiction’ radio drama series in different parts of the world - on Ebola in West Africa, on sanitation in India and on Covid in Afghanistan and Somalia. She has also coneptualised two full-fledged TV dramas – AdhaFULL, a whodunit series on gender and Navrangi Re! on urban sanitation. Radharani has played a key role in designing BBC Media Action’s mHealth innovations – Mobile Kunji, Mobile Academy and Kilkari, of which the latter two have been scaled up nationally by the Government of India. She has worked extensively across Asia and Africa country programmes on a variety of themes. Her work has won several Indian and international awards.
Ragini Pasricha is the Director for Content Strategy at BBC Media Action.Combine domain knowledge of adolescent health, maternal and child health, family planning, HIV/STI prevention and nutrition with an understanding of behaviour change communication and communications research. Experience in advocacy with government to scale up RMNCH+A best practices and social and behaviour change communication. Skilled in capacity building and systems strengthening, working with both the public and private health sector. Expertise in implementing performance-based learning and training, Strong analytical and writing skills, belief in rigor and a commitment to excellence.
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HRVY is set to drop his brand new and highly infectious single that's undeniably Summer 2021-soundtrack worthy. “1 Day 2 Nights” feels like an automatic club-banger and takes inspiration from the DJs HRVY has worked with previously, alongside a motivation to create a track for us all to sing, dance, and celebrate to. Out this Friday via BMG, this is HRVY’s first release since signing with BMG.
Speaking on the new track, HRVY says: “I wanted to make a song that sounded different to what I’d made before – I feel like everyone needs those big beats and sounds to get back out to.”
“1 Day 2 Nights” is a sinuous, throbbing dance tune, charged with brass. The song was written by HRVY alongside Kylie Minogue and Sigala collaborator Danny Shah in London during lockdown, inspired by late Summer nights during pre-covid days. The track also calls upon Niamh Murphy (Little Mix, Melanie C) and is mixed by Will Reeves (Bree Runway, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Migos, Rico Nasty).
At only 22 years old, HRVY fosters an incredibly mighty online following spanning the globe, over 800 million Spotify streams, and a string of sold out headline shows in North America, Asia and Australia. His live performances in the UK already include sold-out headline shows at Hammersmith Apollo and appearances at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, plus Capital FM’s Jingle Bell and Summertime Ball. His postponed live dates, including an extra night at London's iconic Palladium, are currently rescheduled to take place in October this year.
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Greenstone Lobo is a modern, scientific astrologer. He doesn't promise to wave a magic wand and ward off all your troubles. He provides amazing, deep insight into YOU and shows you why and how you are... what you are.
He doesn't believe in prescribing you remedies, nor will he ask you to wear precious stones or change the spelling of your name to change your fortune. But he will show you a mirror; he will show you exactly what you are, what you can be and guide you to be the best of what you potentially can be.
He has a unique, refreshing and modern approach to astrology not muddied by religious or superstitious bias. His methodology is scientific and is based on 25 years of intense research in astrology.
I spoke with him and asked him to predict the winner of the Euro Finals 2021. Question is: Do you think his prediction will come true?
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When will the Third Wave of Covid hit India and how bad will it be? Spoke to Dr. Varsha Sridhar and she broke it all down so beautifully.
This evening(8.07.2021).. NCBS is holding a webinar on predicting and mitigating the possible third wave of COVID at macro and micro levelss. This becomes critical as we re-invent public health training and structures for the future. Dr. Varsha Sridhar, a Bangalore-based molecular virologist will discuss ongoing and emerging COVID surveillance strategies and challenges. Prof. Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist and global health expert will discuss institutional structures and potential rewiring of public health programs. Prof. Ramanan Laxminarayan, a disease dynamics expert, will engage with the role of models, dealing with complex trade-offs in decision making in pandemics and beyond.
The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Sudhir Krishna (NCBS-TIFR and IIT-Goa), the Covid-Gyan webinar series is hosted by Prof. Uma Ramakrishnan, NCBS-TIFR.
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Indian Music Composer and Grammy® Winner Ricky Kej is all set to release his 21st studio album in collaboration with five time Grammy® award winning artist and living legend, Stewart Copeland. This brand new album is called ‘Divine Tides’ and it will be launched on the 22nd of June 2021.The album also features many acclaimed artists from around the world. Sat down to chat with Ricky and he's always filled with such fun stories!
A tribute to the magnificence of our natural world and the resilience of our species, ‘Divine Tides’ illustrates these musings through its diverse musical canvas of soundscapes, melodies, pulsating rhythms and lush ambient textures that are weaved together by two master craftsmen Ricky Kej and Stewart Copeland.
This album features 9 songs and 8 music videos that were filmed around the world from the exquisite beauty of the Indian Himalayas to the Icy forests of Spain. The album will have a unique launch format. Every song in ‘Divine Tides’ will feature an accompanying music video that will be released from July 7th 2021 until September 28th 2021 as Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej feel that all of the tracks deserve their moment in the sun. The complete album will be made available on all audio streaming platforms on the 21st of July 2021.
Grammy® Award Winner & US Billboard #1 artist, GQ Hero 2020, Ricky Kej is an internationally renowned Indian Music Composer and Environmentalist. He has performed at prestigious venues in over 30 countries, including at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and Geneva. Ricky has won more than 100 music awards in over 20 countries. He has been Awarded "United Nations Global Humanitarian Artist" and is also the “Youth Icon of India". Ricky has been named as one of the 100 Real Leaders who 'Inspire the Future'. He is the UNESCO mgiep “Global Ambassador for Kindness”, UNCCD “Land Ambassador”, UNICEF “Celebrity Supporter” & Ambassador for “Earth Day Network”.
Stewart Copeland is a 5 time Grammy® Award-winning American musician and composer. He is the founder and drummer of the British rock group ‘The Police’ who have sold over 75 million albums worldwide. According to MusicRadar, "Copeland's distinctive drum sound and unique style make him one of the most famous drummers ever behind the drum set". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Police in 2003, the Modern Drummer's Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Classic Drummer's Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2016, Copeland was ranked 10th on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time." He is also known for composing the soundtrack for the video game series Spyro.
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Even as the entire government machinery was deployed to handle the second wave of COVID, we have seen many gaps in how it was managed. Workers have been struggling without income, and thereby, food. Oxygen shortage left several patients dead and their families helpless. The city’s crematoriums, at the peak of the second wave, were unable to handle the increasing body count. In almost every aspect of COVID management in the city, voluntary initiatives played a crucial role in identifying shortcomings in the official response and bolstering it with a hands-on approach.
Spoke to Dr. Anthony regarding the same. Dr Anthony is 67 years old, fit as a fiddle is the Divisional Warden for the Karnataka Civil Defence Division 43 Banaswadi, Bangalore and he is in Civil Defence for 10+ years now. He has participated in 4 Asian Masters Athletic Meet and 2 World Masters Athletic Championship. He has participated in 100mts & 200mts long jump & relay and he has won 8 International Medals.
He is also an excellent football player and played for Karnataka State Football Team and is also a Guinness World Record holder for being the Music Director for a Konkani song, Konkani Nirantari where the team sang nonstop for 40 Hours. He holds a Doctorate In Spiritual Music from Academy Of Universal Global Peace. He has received Chief Ministers Gold medal in the year 2015 & Presidents medal in the year 2020 for his meritorious service.
If you need inspiration to do good in these times.. here it is!
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Every day after he wraps up the online classes he teaches at a Bengaluru college, Akshay Mandlik puts on his mask, gloves and overalls and heads out to help bury the COVID dead.
The 37-year-old professor of social work is one of many citizen volunteers across India who have stepped up to help families affected by the country's devastating second wave, often risking their own personal safety.
Mandlik helps grieving relatives find burial spaces, carry the dead and even dig graves when no gravedigger is available.
Volunteers say they have been moved to act by desperate pleas for help on social media and in their local communities.
Spoke to him about the amazing things he and his team have been doing. Just a little inspiration and hope for you in these trying times!
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What is the right way for kids to be taught math and coding? In these 'virtual learning' times, what is the best way to engage children? Spoke to Manan Khurma, CEO and Founder at Cuemath, to break it all down!
Cuemath’s first teacher, Manan has been teaching mathematics since his days as a student at IIT Delhi. Before starting Cuemath, Manan taught and trained over 15,000 students preparing for the IIT-JEE entrance exams.
Cuemath is aimed at KG-10th grade students across all school boards, spread over 10+ countries (UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and more). The Cuemath Program has been designed to build a strong math and coding foundation in children by sharpening their knowledge of concepts, aptitude and reasoning skills. Students in the Cuemath program are taught by world class teachers from India's premier institutions, in tailor-made sessions, created to focus on the individual needs of the students. Cuemath’s mission is to lead the way in building mathematical thinking in children to enable them to become the problem solvers and creative thinkers of the future.
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Goseeko aims to make higher education accessible and convenient across Tier 2-4 cities and towns thereby helping students transition from academics to career. It was founded by Chandrabhanu Pattajoshi and Sonam Choudhary in 2015. The company operates on a subscription-based model and the study materials are available at the most affordable rates across courses. This includes notes, presentations, lecture, and reference videos, MCQs, and question banks with answers for graduate and post graduate courses. In April 2021, the startup raised funding from Digital Futurists Angels Network.
Had a chat with Chandrabhanu Pattajoshi and Sonam Choudhary on the show! So many insights into the education space! Always a fun conversation! Listen & enjoy!
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Triple Whammy has just released on Neestream.com. It was shot in 2019 and written, directed, produced, shot, and edited by Anish Chacko. Urvashi Goverdhan, Sanjay Manaktala and Tarak Ponnappa play pivotal roles in the film. It's an English language feature film and it is a thriller! It revolves around a woman in her late 20s who goes looking for her missing husband.
What is it like to make a film in the pandemic? Why is this a film you should catch? All these questions answered and more when I sat down with Anish & Urvashi!
Give it a watch NOW!
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Between 2017 and 2019, India lost crops grown on nearly 8.5 percent (or 18.16 million hectares) of its total arable land due to floods and excessive rains, according to data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha in February. This resulted in monetary losses to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees for farmers.
Crop loss, and, by extension, financial loss, is the leading cause of farmer suicides in India.
And, with the world hurtling towards climate change, crop losses are only going to keep getting worse. In fact, environmental scientists have predicted that climate change can lead to a 1.5 percent decline in India’s GDP in the next nearly 10 years — and the farmer community will be the worst hit of all.
Facts like these troubled Jatin Singh, a resident of Delhi who comes from a long line of problem-solvers, aka entrepreneurs. Entering the business world at 25, Jatin founded his first company, Skymet, an agricultural weather risk manager and data company, which became the stepping stone to his next venture when he realised, upon analysing heaps of data, how weather and climate affected Indian agriculture.
Spoke to Jatin about all this on the show and I hope this gives you some great insights into the Agri and Agri-Tech Sector!
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Last year, Aslam took on a challenge with the Bali Hope team to raise funds for the Bali Children’s Foundation by cycling 397 km around Bali. He initially set out to raise $2500 and ended up raising $5800 that went towards the education of 45 underprivileged kids. As we all know, the second wave of the pandemic has hit our country really hard and his team of volunteers at Cause is Life have been doing everything in their capacity to help fellow citizens fight the deadly virus. His aim is to walk from Kasargod to Kanyakumari covering 600+ km over 21 days. All funds raised will be donated to Najath educational and charitable society which is a local organization in Kerala.
This chat aims to be a story of inspiration and I hope you can support him in his endeavour!
Contribute here!
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I spoke to Cyrus Broacha on account of Father's Day.. but I'm in awe of where the conversation went. Trust me when I say this: one of the most fun chats I've ever had! Our main focus was fatherhood and his journey as a parent. We, however, skirt everything from chess to Nikhil Kamath to television to dog walking and what not!
Cyrus Broacha is a TV anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author. He is also a prankster, best known for his show Bakra on MTV and his show The Week That Wasn't on CNN News18. He also provided the voiceover as Angada in the cartoon film Ramayana.
I've barely edited any of this episode because I wanted this to be a raw and unfiltered chat and I really hope you enjoy it!
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Shynee Narang is a certified yoga instructor and founder of YooYogic, a digital platform for holistic health & wellness. She launched her YooYogic app in June 2019. Together with her dedicated team of experts, Narang has helped many individuals and organizations attain balance – by teaching yoga, meditation and other alternative therapies.
Her passion for yoga has touched and healed more than 80,000 lives, be it through her app, Instagram and other social media accounts. Her students and followers from more than 15 countries have benefitted beyond measure from her live online yoga classes, Q&A sessions and pre-recorded tutorials.
Chatted up with her on International Yoga Day and I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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Unnikrishnan Kurup (Unni) stays approximately 6,100 kilometres away from India, in Finland, a country known to be the happiest country in the world.
Keeping this attribute in mind, and having spent more than a decade in Finland, Unni has decided to export some of the country’s good practices to Kerala, his hometown. For this, in February 2019, he launched Venture Village to incorporate and implement Finnish ways of learning with children back home in India. Having impacted the lives of 3,700 students across 25 schools in Kerala, the programmes developed by Venture Village have helped these kids understand the environment, as well as waste management systems, better.
Kurup co-founded the company with Dr Anup and has reportedly designed the venture to be a not-for-profit-social enterprise. It has been successful so far. Kuruk says that the teaching techniques in Finland, which is considered to be the happiest country in the world, are very comprehensive.
Spoke to the both of them on the show and I hope you enjoy the chat!
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With a spikein electric vehicle owners in India, there is a dire need to establish a vast infrastructure of electric charging points across the country. Now, it takes an average of 5-6 hours to charge the vehicle. If the number of charging points available are not adequate, the time needed to recharge the battery further increases. Battery swapping is an alternate and feasible solution to this problem.
Delhi-based Charge-up offers this service to electric rickshaw drivers. This is not only increasing the incomes of the drivers, but also saving tonnes of carbon footprint. With 320 electric rickshaws in Delhi-NCR swapping batteries every day, the EV startup claims to have saved around 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions in one year.
Founded by Varun Goenka and Akshay Kashyap in 2019, the venture offers a battery swapping model called ‘Battery As A Service (BAAS)’ to e-rickshaws. This is a subscription-based model wherein drivers sign up for a battery rental plan, minus any upfront costs. Every swap costs Rs 150, and the driver can avail of the service 2-3 times a day. In other words, the driving cost per kilometre is only Rs 1.3, thus allowing the driver to cover more distance without worrying about the hassle of recharging the drained battery.
Spoke to them on the show to better understand the market and current times!
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After getting his song, 'Vainko', featured on Family Man S2(the new series on Amazon Prime).. Brodha V was sweet enough to hang out and chat with me on the show this morning! We spoke about a wide variety of things and about how it has been for him personally through the pandemic! He also tells me what is on his playlist these days- something you don't want to miss! Make sure you listen to the entire episode!
Oh, fun fact: You can now hear Brodha V's music on the entire 94.3 Radio One International Network across the country!
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Imagine if you could raise money for a charity you feel passionately for in exchange for a conversation with someone.. Well, its possible thanks to these two girls!
There's uncertainty in the air along with the virus, which is wreaking havoc across the country. In these times we lean on family, friends and sometimes strangers -- just for a comforting conversation. Which is exactly what this new initiative by classmates-turned-friends Riddhi Khanna and Rhea Karuturi, attempts to do.
The instructors in a free online Stanford coding class were having conversations revolving around the pandemic, which is what sparked the idea of giving back and creating an impact. They built on the conversation and went on to create PitchIn. Club, a platform that helps raise money more effectively, and also brightens one’s day through one-onone conversations. The workings are quite simple: anyone can get onto their platform to book a conversation with someone who also wishes to have a chat.
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Through her brand ‘Nayshaas Siyahi Sa Vastra’, Gurmeen Shrivastav, a Mumbai-based fashion designer, has been helping about 30 underprivileged women in the city earn a regular livelihood during the pandemic alongside Srujna, a Mumbai-based NGO.
Listen to find out how!
https://www.instagram.com/nayshaas_siyahi_sa_vastra/
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In the times that we are living in.. how do we leverage 'immersive learning' for kids especially when it comes to STEM learning. I sat down with Charu Noheria (Co-Founder & COO of Practically) to discuss the same.
In 2018, she co-founded Practically, an experiential learning app for STEM and has been working to revolutionize the education landscape for the last seven years. Practically’s constant innovation to improve the rate of retention of concepts among students has helped the platform raise $9M so far.Charu has a bachelor’s degree in engineering (Computer Science) from R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, and an MBA from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. She has over 12 years of corporate experience in operations, technology, strategy and managing global teams. She began her career as a software engineer at Samsung where she developed mobile applications. Later, she joined Lumeris Inc. - one of the largest value-based healthcare IT firms in the United States, as a Strategic Leadership Development Associate and quickly moved up the ranks to become Director-Technology Partnerships. Most recently, she was chosen to be part of Entrepreneur India’s 35 under 35 class of 2021. She was also featured in the coveted ORF-GP report on Women in Technology, 2020. Charu shuttles between Hyderabad and San Francisco Bay Area. She enjoys stargazing, hiking, cooking among other things.
Practically uses next-generation interactive methods, such as Augmented Reality (AR), Simulations and 3D videos for an enhanced learning experience.
Practically is an intelligent, interactive and immersive learning app for students of classes 6 to 12 with a focus on STEM learning. Practically is the only such product in the world that combines game engine, immersive learning assets, and AI assisted study buddy all in one compact cross platform app.
So far, Practically has raised over $9M from Siana Capital, Exfinity Ventures, YourNest Venture Capital, IDFC Parampara, and angel investors.
Recently, Practically was awarded the EdTech Startup of the Year at Startup Awards 2021 by Franchise India & Entrepreneur India magazine. Practically was also adjudged the Most Innovative STEM Solution by Elets Digital Learning magazine at the World Education Summit 2021.
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How are cyclists making a difference in Bengaluru in the second wave of Covid-19? Well, they're trying to save lives in their own way! I sat down with Sathya Sankaran, the 'Bicycle Mayor of Bengaluru', to discuss the same!
A group of cyclists in the city, Relief Riders, have come to the rescue of senior citizens who are forced to stay indoors during the lockdown to curb the second wave of Covid-19.As Karnataka tackles the second wave of coronavirus, many are finding it difficult to get access to medicines and other essentials. That has inspired a group of cyclists in the city, Relief Riders to come to the rescue of many, especially the senior citizens. And in return, the citizens have been sending out messages of gratitude such as: ‘I have received my medicines, thank you very much. I am extremely grateful to you for your help, you’ve saved my life.’ The initiative has now been extended to cycling communities in seven other cities across India including Chennai, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Hubballi.
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Fresh out of college, Ankur Indoria from Bengaluru started OH-Ho, a food stall that sells delectable sandwiches, but with a unique twist. If you pass through Church Street in Bengaluru, it is unlikely that you’d miss the person in a monkey mask next to a small kiosk, playing music. But don’t mistake him for a roadside busker playing music for your entertainment. Behind the mask is a 21-year-old graduate whose actual business entails running a unique food stall with only one item on the menu — a sandwich.
Ankur Indoria, a business administration graduate from East West College of Management in the city, started the venture straight out of college instead of looking for a job or taking part in campus placements. It is even more interesting to know that the business idea was conceived from a casual conversation with his brother, and materialised in 12 days.
Had a fun chat with this 'monkey-ing' viral sensation on the internet and I hope you enjoy the conversation!
Find him on Instagram! Also, here is one article about him in The Hindu and here is one article of him on The Better India.
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Bengaluru has been reported to be one of the top water-scarce cities in India. With a population of 120 lakh, the city uses 200 crore litres of water every day. The usage is at the household level, commercial levels such as for construction, and in educational and office spaces. I spoke to Ganesh Shanbhag & Dr. Hariharan Chandrashekar on the show to speak about the problems and real solutions to the same.
To help the city save water, replenish water sources, and reduce the money spent on purchasing resources, Dr. Hariharan has launched a collective citizen initiative called the World Of Water (WOW) Mission. It comprises a group of over 70 citizens who work towards a common goal — raising awareness about water conservation, and putting solutions into action. The team hopes to save 1,000 crore litres of water by the end of 2021 in Bengaluru. For the future, they hope to invite more participants, expand the action groups, and set up other such initiatives across all cities in India.
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A story of how 3 brothers(Zeeshan, Zufishan, Shehzar) got together to do something beautiful in Bangalore.
An initiative taken by the youth of Bangalore, to provide underprivileged children with the most basic source of nutrition that we have all grown up with as Indian kids, MILK!
Why Milk?
It all started with an effort to deliver the basic rations and during one such visit we realised at a single settlement of about 50 families, there is an average of 4 children per family aged between 10 months to 10 years.
While discussing the needs of similar underprivileged families we understood that although most of the adults' needs were being met through the rations kits being provided, the children still needed MILK!
https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-shehzarsheriff
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Should you abandon smoking especially in the pandemic? Can smokers recover from Covid-19? What are some of the precautions a smoker needs to take during and after Covid? Well, all these nightmare questions and more all clarified thanks to Dr. Chaitanya Harita!
Smoking killed almost 8 million people in 2019 and the number of smokers rose as the habit was picked up by young people around the world, according to new research. A study published in the Lancet on Thursday said efforts to curb the habit had been outstripped by population growth with 150 million more people smoking in the nine years from 1990, reaching an all-time high of 1.1 billion.
Is this the next pandemic? Listen NOW!
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This is a very personal story of Bobby Khurana's journey with the butt. On World No-Tobacco Day, I want to introduce you to a person who shares a super powerful story- HIS story! Bobby is currently the Creative Director of Stills and Story. This episode will make you thankful for life and will also teach you how to help someone dealing with a cigarette addiction. Enough talk! Hit that PLAY button and enjoy!
'How does one stop smoking?' , 'How does it all start?' , 'Where do you realise you have to stop?' , 'Is it too late?' All these questions and more all answered here! Jump right in!
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Shaggy's Christmas album came out and like I say in the interview, "It's like a rum hot chocolate"! I had the pleasure of chatting with a guy whose music I listened to growing up! Songs like "Angel", "It Wasn't Me", "Hope" and so many more! Shaggy changed and continues to change music for us all! He is, by far, one of the most humble and down to earth celebrities I've ever spoken to you! Much love, Shaggy! Thank you for the chat!
The album we speak about: https://open.spotify.com/album/1uX61AjRpnIqeGGBQ3aAij?si=G2gSTYHGR-KwZ-vMH0RzXA
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Had the pleasure of chatting with Jason Derulo when he put out his song, "Lifestyle", that featured Adam Levine. Was a fun little chat and he was a real gentleman! Some video footage is on my Instagram that you can check out as well. For now, what is Jason Derulo's lifestyle like? Smash that play button!
The song we talk about: https://open.spotify.com/track/0osvOdeD3YXZiWkT8MKolJ?si=8494b6c1fea74c54
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Can a 14 year old inspire you to live better? I think this little kid just inspired me and I hope he inspires you! This young author made it into the Asia Book of Records for being the youngest non-fiction self-published author!
Meet Prabhsimrat Gill, a Class VIII student from Oakridge International School, Mohali, whose first self-published non-fiction book – Explore the New YOU — has set a world record. He made it into the Asia Book of Records for being the youngest non-fiction self-published author. Earlier, he broke the national record for the same in OMG Book of Records. This book is also an international best-seller on Amazon USA and Canada.
‘Explore the New YOU’ is a book that portrays the quadrant of purpose, goals, beliefs and habits to help people achieve success and live with joy and happiness. The 14-year-old author explains finding the meaning and purpose one wants to fulfill in life in the first part of his book. Later, he touches upon ways to set the right goals to have a clear direction, preparing the mental foundation by overcoming fears and building confidence and some key behaviours that accelerate the path to success.
https://prabhsimratgill.com/
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What inspires an entrepreneur to follow their dream? Is it all about solving one simple problem? Meeting the Mommy-Lawyer turning heads in the healthy snacking space! Mumbai-based Rukmini Banerji started The Growing Giraffe in 2018 to make healthy, nutritious snacks for children but adults don’t shy away from their cookies and health bars either. In this day and age of social media marketing, Rukmini has so far managed to stay away from spending money on marketing.
What amazed me about this story is that her entrepreneurial journey began from a place of total honesty- her son. I hope you enjoy listening to this chat as much as I enjoyed hosting it.
https://thegrowinggiraffe.com/
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Have you struggled in making money in the lockdown? Using WhatsApp, this woman has been selling sarees over three years and slowly built a band of more than 2,000 resellers. Social media is a double-edged sword. Use it right and it can cut the crap and reward you. That is what Shanmuga Priya found when she started using Whatsapp to sell sarees online. In three years, she has sold sarees worth $400,000, says a study by WhatsApp. Not only has she brought prosperity to her life, but she has also empowered many women struggling to make ends meet by making them resellers.
Spoke to her and heard her story and I hope this inspires you!
https://www.utsarees.com/
https://www.instagram.com/unique_threads_sarees/?hl=en
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What should we be doing to conserve or biological diversity? Is there any point in doing it? Are we too late? Why should we bring kids into it? On International Day for Biological Diversity, I sat down with Dr Krithi K Karanth, Chief Conservation Scientist at Bengaluru-based Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), to understand all this.
She has been chosen as the first Indian and Asian woman for the 2021 'WILD Innovator Award'. This award given by the 'WILD ELEMENTS Foundation' brings together a coalition of innovators, advocates and partners to "disrupt the status quo and identify solutions to global sustainability and conservation," a CWS statement said on Tuesday.
We can leave this world a better place for our children. I do hope you listen to this and enjoy it!
Find Dr. Krithi Karanth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krithi.karanth/
Find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offairwithkay/
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"We were a group of eight friends celebrating one of our friend’s birthday and.."
That's how it all started. Varsha Talreja Kansara recalls what it was like on the fateful day of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. She was very close to the the Taj while it happened and was sweet enough to share her story with me on account of National Anti-Terrorism Day. Her voice was breaking at points and she was extremely nervous as she recalled the entire thing. I truly admire her for sharing her story so openly with me.
When we think of terrorist attacks in India, we think of 26/11. We shall never forget. I hope you can listen and empathize with Varsha's story. Here's hoping that we never go through something like that ever again.
Thanks for being on the show, Varsha!
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Shreyas M Reddy is an amazing human from Bangalore you have to hear about! He's 26 years old and is out everyday on the streets of Bangalore feeding the homeless as India buckles under the pressures of the second wave of Covid-19. Why does he do it? Where did it all begin? How can you be a part of it! Well, listen to find out!
Make his story known to more people! Share it! "Project Seva" is what Shreyas calls it and with the help of more people, he feels we can strongly achieve #BeyondZeroHunger.
Contact Shreyas on Instagram: @shreyasmreddy ; Email: shreyasmreddy@gmail.com
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Chatted up with Vivek Bajaj, Co-founder of StockEdge and Elearnmarket. Is the future of finance here? How should you grow your money in the pandemic? SO many questions about finance and once place to answer them all!
2020 was a unique year in itself ― a lot of technology-based start-ups saw a surge in business ― while those that did not take the leverage of technology saw a fall too. A major reason behind it was the pandemic that made people sit at home, eventually forcing them to go digital. This resulted in a spike in the fintech and edtech sector as a lot of people started trading and learning new skills/ tools.
Entrepreneurs who knew what the pandemic was bringing to the table didn’t fail to take advantage of both the industries ― fintech and edtech ― eventually tapping on to a whole new set of opportunities.
One such trio from the city of joy, Kolkata, did exactly the same. When the whole world was locked down, their ventures StockEdge and Elearnmarkets, were exploring the new ‘normal’!
'Tech For Change' is where I speak to people in the technology space using tech for some form of social good!
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Brother sister duo from the SaPa Academy, Bindu & Ambi Subramaniam joined me on the show and I hope you love the conversation!
In 2017, SaPa started the 10,000 deeds campaign with UNICEF partner organisations. The idea was to take small steps to achieve the bigger Sustainable Development Goals (for instance, if the SDG is eliminating poverty, some smaller steps you can take are donating clothes in good condition regularly).
In 2020, the team from MUN Impact scaled this project to the 100,000 deeds challenge open to kids across the world. This summer, they are working with schoolkids in India, and encouraging them to do at least one deed a day (for 30 days) and sprint towards the 100,000 deeds goal.
They kicked this off with a virtual open house on April 15th, 2021. It had opening remarks by Bindu and Ambi, representatives from the MUN team in New York, and student representatives from MUN India. At the end of the 30-day summer challenge, there's another online live event with a musical performance, and a recap of the deeds done.
More information about the upcoming virtual open house on April 15th is here: https://sapaindia.com/100k-deeds
By the way, Kay's Spotlight is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things!
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This World Environment Day, I caught up with Sandeep Roy Choudhury, a professional with a keen ambition to leave the world a better place. Sandeep has been at the forefront of working with climate change and livelihoods for the last 14 years or so, with over 17 years of Industrial experience, his work impacting 6 million rural households across 1-2 million hectares of land. His endeavour over the years has been to work with communities most affected by climate change while also ensuring that new growth in emerging countries is achieved through sustainable means. Sandeep is a co-founder at VNV Advisory Services, responsible for the initiation and development of the climate change expertise. He is also a director at “Carbon Initiative forum “, a non-profit working on climate change awareness and knowledge building.
This episode explores various thematic areas around climate change and the crucial need to emphasize its impact on us all, in all landscapes and across populations. Being on the board and acting as an advisory to 100 odd organizations and nonprofits, Sandeep shares industry insights on the evolution of dialogue around climate resilience, the involvement of the young and upcoming generations and what's kept him spearheading the movement through his experience and efforts.
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