Category: Interview

Categories
Interview Lite Blogs

Enriching Higher Education: A Journey of Academic Transformation and Empowerment

Prof. JR Sharma is a distinguished academic luminary who has left an indelible mark on the development of higher education in India. With a diverse knowledge and expertise he has brought about significant changes in teaching-learning methodologies and academic governance. His profound impact has not only shaped the minds of future administrators but has also empowered faculty and academic leaders across the country.

Having served as a professor at the esteemed National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Prof. Sharma has mentored some of the brightest minds in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), and Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS). His vast experience both in corporate and academics has significantly stood the civil servants in good stead in reflecting their learning to the service of the society. Through his mentorship and guidance, he has transformed the teaching practices of faculty members, enabling them to create remarkable learning experiences for their students.

Prof. Sharma’s deep understanding of both Indian and international education systems has placed him as a thought leader in the field. His work not only celebrates India’s intellectual heritage but also opens up new avenues for cross-cultural learning and collaboration. Here’s the Excerpt of the Interview taken by our special correspondent Khushboo Agrahari.

Can you tell us about your journey and what inspired you to become an academician and education reformer?

I owe it majorly to my childhood grooming by Dr. Ram Chand, my uncle, a medical graduate from Lahore in the pre-partition era. I was barely 9 years young when he began to prepare me for the world. He would write for me a 10-minute daily talk on our ancient culture, values, ethics, current affairs to be delivered during the daily morning prayers slot to nearly 500 students of the school, most of those being my seniors. It was here that a seed of passion was sown to gather knowledge and deliver it with an impact. I had barely stepped into the higher education that the war between India and Pakistan seemed imminent. Overwhelmed by the national fervor and extremely excited to enter the war, I joined the Indian Army as an officer and served the nation in various ranks and as a Commanding Officer in insurgencies, fierce battles and wars with Pakistan. Prior to hanging my boots, I once again changed my focus to scholarly pursuits in academics and subsequently joined a lucrative corporate senior leadership as Chief Executive of a MNC that had higher education as one of its flagship verticals. I later went on to teach some of the brightest minds of India-the senior civil services officers at the prestigious National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM). I soon learnt that a large number of higher education institutes in India were struggling in delivering a top-quality education. The quality of teaching-learning was rudimentary and learning practiced in health sciences institutes in the area of diagnosis was significantly obsolete, discovery of drugs laborious, and resulting treatment and surgery was not digitally fully optimized. I found the world going speedier than India. I stepped in to play my part and contribute to make teachers up-dated with the domain knowledge and contemporary teaching-learning so that they could stay relevant.   

Could you share some specific examples of the transformative changes you have implemented in teaching-learning methodologies and academic governance during your mentoring of higher education institutes.

I was fortunate to have had a fair degree of exposure to the Ivy league and other eminent universities of the world, and learnt about their ‘best practices’ in teaching-learning, research and studied their significant impact on the students’ outcomes, industry and societal benefits. An exposure to the labs at Harvard, MIT and NUS was particularly very useful.  In the wake of paucity of the national funding and dearth in quality faculty, we in India continue to struggle to set up cutting edge technology powered labs and are not adequately advancing our research in most of our universities in India.

I began my transformative efforts by undertaking to assess and reform the ‘Work-integrated Learning Programs’ of BITS Pilani, an institute of eminence in India. A large number of institutes delivering online education in India have since benefitted by the model of reforms developed by me. Briefly put, the reforms point to an enhanced use of technology-powered teaching tools, virtual labs, developing courses on the advanced Learning Management System (LMS), use of simulators, AI, AR and VR, including but not limited to the digital enabled assessment and evaluation of outcome-based education process.

Mentorship plays a crucial role in shaping the future of education. How have you empowered faculty and academic leaders to create remarkable learning experiences for students across various higher education institutes in India?

I believe, there are majorly two types of people one meets routinely; one who are self-driven and the other who need a push. It is the second category of faculty which perhaps require a serious mentoring effort. It is to our dismay that in India, the teaching profession is not quite lucrative and hence doesn’t draw a top talent of India. It constantly throws up a compelling need to develop them into effective teachers. I am glad that it was possible for me to mentor over the past 5 years, a little over 100 universities and colleges’ faculty who received a series of self and professional development training, skilling, and hand-holding in the use of digital teaching tools and mentoring on their research pursuits.

Your talks have shed light on the rich Indian medieval knowledge base and inventions. Could you elaborate on some of the striking features, knowledge, and practices you have shared with the world to foster a global approach to education?

While speaking at the world summit (WOSA-3) attended by over 17 countries and by 1200 delegates, I had been bestowed a rare privilege to provide deep insight to the world delegates on the ancient Indian knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, Veds, Upanishad, Puranas, Ayurveda, Yoga, Meditation, Indian philosophy, lessons on life from Gita, spiritual wisdom, rich culture, traditions, literature, architecture, classical dance forms and how the world can benefit from it. The developed and not so developed world too has so much to give to India in the culture and contemporary digital and scientific advances, teaching-learning and accreditation best practices, research and cutting-edge technology. During my travel overseas, I found that there was a huge curiosity in the world to know so much more about India and its culture.

How do you see the integration of historical Indian knowledge and inventions with contemporary education benefiting students and educators both within India and on a global scale?

Historical Indian knowledge is grounded in wisdom and harmony with oneself and with the rest of the world.  “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. The notion of universal brotherhood is the key thought. The current armed conflicts, terrorism, religious fundamentalism and other upheavals facing the world including but not limited to invading the very sovereignty of a country and resulting in the bloodshed of innocents has a profound solution in the Indian knowledge and value-system. Interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary education system encompassing holistic development of human beings must never be lost sight of, and balance maintained when pushing for technologies and research that could go terribly stray, and develop a potential to harm the humanity and the planet.

 In your opinion, what are the key challenges and opportunities in the Indian education system today, and what steps can be taken to address them effectively?

I have always believed in the potential and abilities of my countrymen. They are already making Indians proud, globally.  We are passing through an exciting era when India is in a big youth-bulge. The next 25 years is the most critical period when India should attain Gross Enrolment Ratio of at least 50% and super-skill 60 % of its youth through vocational and other platforms. This would jettison India to the top three developed economies of the world by 2050. India must therefore enhance its education budget substantially from the current level and create enabling platforms and offer impactful learning experiences for our youth.  India has the world’s largest fragmented system of higher education institutes and most of the small-sized institutes are struggling in quality deliverables. We should quickly merge and re-reorganize them into viable and sustainable quality institutes. The most complex Indian polity, leading to quite a few states not towing the lines of the national policy on education is an all-time big barrier in the line of growth. It is a huge challenge to get all the states on the same page and take the initiatives forward.

How do you envision the future of education in India and what role do you believe academic and governance reforms will play in shaping it?

India is at the cusp of a major surge in education excellence and skilling for the future. It has formulated a highly forward-looking policy and initiated far-reaching education reforms. These are-truly watershed moments for India’s education landscape. All it needs is to triple its budgetary resources for the academics and research from the current level for the next one decade, provide students’ scholarships enabling them to access top quality education, make faculty a lucrative profession, and thus draw intellect. It must develop resilience and sustainability by seeking unwavering participation by all the states in implementing National Education Policy 2020. In addition, it must involve line ministries, industry, foreign universities and forge collaborations in setting up cutting-edge research and innovation labs.

What advice would you give to aspiring educators and academic leaders who are passionate about making a positive impact on the education system?

I for one, won’t prefer to become obsolete, irrelevant, get stale and stinking. In any case, advancements in digital technology are already beginning to disrupt the traditional methodology of teaching-learning. AI and myriad online workspaces are providing access to lectures, information and knowledge as well as training almost free. The campuses could soon go near empty except for a few face-to-face engagements and access to research labs. It may rattle a few minds to know that while seeking feedback from the learners in the ‘online’ learning mode at the BITS Pilani, I found that the online feedback had generated an average of 80% learners’ satisfaction level which self-speaks for its popularity.  I would therefore like to advise the aspiring educators to continuously upgrade their skills and be a degree better than their students. As regards academic leaders, I would recommend them to frequently move out of the comfort of their chairs for most part of the day and be on the ground where research, innovation and ideas are germinating and developing into proto-types. Be in the role of mentors and ‘Karam-Yogi’- the action-driven people, and not merely be seen carrying a baggage of the past, filled with ego and arrogance. They must create an environment of free exchange of views and rely on ‘the best idea wins.’ Last but not the least, all educators and academic leaders must accord top priority to students and do everything possible to hone in the attributes and skills best required in the programs they embrace.    

Finally, what are your current and future projects or initiatives that aim to further enhance teaching-learning methodologies and academic governance in India?

I have a dream to meet and that requires a long and partly-paved path to transverse. I plan to continue contributing in the giant effort of the government of India in implementation of the stated objectives of the National Education Policy 2020, particularly assisting various state governments by providing clarity and invite congruence on various policy initiatives by allaying their apprehensions, if any. In addition, I would continue to mentor and empower the teachers of higher education institutes, across India in continuously developing in meeting the challenges thrown up by an ever-evolving technology, and try and provide solutions to stay relevant.

ALSO READ-Al Jalila Foundation Commits AED 46 Million for Medical Education & Research

Categories
India News Interview Politics

National media coverage on Manipur is weak: BRP Bhaskar

In an interview with Abhish K. Bose, eminent journalist BRP Bhaskar speaks about a number of issues including the national media reporting of the troubles in Manipur; the lack of proactive action from the government side.

Ninety one year old BRP Bhaskar is perhaps the senior most functioning Journalist living in the country. Mr Bhaskar who worked in senior editorial positions at The Hindu, The Patriot, Deccan Herald, The Statesman, United News of India, was also a columnist with the Gulf Today Newspaper published from Sharjah. A voice of sanity and clarity, Mr Bhaskar is an active presence in the socio cultural scene of Kerala and an activist who comes down against human rights violations. He was also an editorial advisor to The Asianet News, and handled Media Watch programme for the channel.  An eminent scholar on the socio political scenario of India Mr Bhaskar is the recipient of the Swadheshabhimani – Kesari media award given by the Kerala government for comprehensive contributions to Journalism.

In an interview with Abhish K. Bose, he discusses a number of issues including the national media reporting of the troubles in Manipur; the lack of proactive action from the government side; the Kerala government registering case against a TV channel reporter; and against online media groups; a comparison with the intolerance against media and political dissent by the Modi government and the LDF government of Kerala.

Excerpts from the interview 

Abhish K. Bose:  The new coalition of  the twenty six opposition parties named INDIA has  recently formed in Bangalore in a bid to challenge the BJP led NDA in the general elections 2024. What do you think will be the prospects of this alliance? Can the alliance break the strangle hold of BJP in the frays?

BRP Bhaskar : I think  It is too early to come to any conclusion regarding the prospects of the new formation. Because we have to see how it functions over a fairly long period. The election is still some time away. How this grouping functions can only be assessed realistically after we have seen its workings over a fairly long period to the extent of cohesion in the alliance and the extent of leadership in the alliance. Regardless of what ever they may say in their documents the impression the public is gathering regarding their stand on the political, economic and social issues should have to be taken into account before we can reach any informed conclusion on its prospects. 

Abhish K. Bose: Though Prime minister Narendra Modi has broken  his silence over the atrocities against the minority tribal communities in Manipur can we take the PMs condemnation of the incidents in Manipur in good sense with little assurance from the government comes in the form of proactive actions to mitigate the crisis. Do you think that under the BJP rule in centre the religious and ethnic minorities of the country will be safe? 

BRP Bhaskar :  The BJP must realistically accept that there are doubts in people’s mind about its position with regard to religious or any other minorities. This is because they have a majoritarian kind of philosophy on which this party has been built. In the course of their first few decades of working, people have formed certain opinion about the political positions of this party.  All this has to be taken into consideration to come to a conclusion on this matter.  

Abhish K. Bose: Do you think that the BJP government at the centre has effectively intervened to mitigate the crisis ongoing in Manipur?  

BRP Bhaskar :  The government actually faces the criticism for being silent on Manipur. The Prime Minister was keeping silence on Manipur. There were reports circulated that the ruling party was also involved in some of the troubles taking place there. This is a very sensitive area, one is a border area, the other is a tribal area where different types of tribes are living and this area has a history of disquiet. Judging by the reports I have seen, I was not able to come to a firm conclusion about the involvement of various political forces in the scene. The reporting of the media is very weak. There are certain regulations with regard to the coverage of sensitive issues of this kind. The media has to be watchful, and should make sure that the situation there should not be worse. By and large the kind of coverage I saw in the media I prefer I will not reach any conclusion. Because of that I do not make any firm categorical statement.  

Abhish K. Bose: You said about the functioning of the media is weak in the reporting of the events ….

BRP Bhaskar : I was not speaking about the Manipur media. Manipur has been going through a crisis for weeks now. What is the kind of information we are getting in the national media? I was pointing to the weakness of the national media coverage. I have no access to Manipur media. I don’t know what the Manipur media is doing. I depend on the national media for getting the information. Let me be honest on this, there are problems. The media has to be careful and there are standing guidelines which prohibits the media from identifying groups which are involved in the conflicts. At this moment I am more interested in knowing how authorities are handling things more than how the media is covering things. The Union Home Minister visited the place. But despite his visit the trouble went on. His intervention seemed ineffective. In many parts of our country there are  situations of different kinds. There are tensions which can broke out into conflicts. So the first duty of the authorities is to handle the system. They have the intelligence machinery. So when the trouble is brewing they have the means of knowing it and they should nip it in the bud. If they are not able to do it things eventually break out into a confrontation. Then of course the authorities have to act speedily. I also suspect whether the governments interventions was effective because the trouble in Manipur went on for several weeks.  The governments intervention is with an announcement especially when it is a law and order situation. I can’t reach any conclusion that they are not acting or the security agencies are not acting. But it is clear that they have not succeeded. So it was primary for them to oversee what steps they have took and why it was not effective so far, and take necessary steps to bring peace to that area.   

Abhish K. Bose: The reigning political dispensation spends a lot of money by way of supporting pro-BJP publications, promoting the dissemination of stories profitable to the BJP. Is there any way the practice of journalism can be made once again free and fair as conducive to the health of Indian democracy? 

BRP Bhaskar : Various people who have been monitoring the state of the Indian media have published  a recent annual report that the situation is getting progressively worse. There are some global agencies which monitor the state of the media all over the world and there recent report shows that the condition has been deteriorating from year to year. So this is a matter of concern to us. This is a matter which should actually be a concern to the government also. Because international agencies are monitoring and publishing reports and their reports of the deteriorating situation brings a bad name to the government. So I think the government should also be watchful to the development and take steps that are in their power to bring back the media freedom. This will improve their own image.     

Abhish K. Bose: Many among the political leaders of the country are exuding the hope that Kerala the sole state which is ruled by the left should carry forward the mantle of leadership in the fight against BJP and it’s fascism. However, the Kerala government led by the left  is also displaying intolerance against political dissent. In what all ways this government is different from the previous governments of the state?   

BRP Bhaskar : There is a kind of contradiction in the way the question is framed. You start with the thing that Kerala is the only left state and then you say that they have to play a proactive role. See one must be very practical about this thing. The party which is in power in only one state can effectively make a difference at the national level? The one state party has a very limited role to play at the national level.   

Abhish K. Bose: I was referring about the ideology of the left which is a global ideology rather than its ruling presence  in a particular state?  

BRP Bhaskar : As a global ideology it has collapsed all over the world and where it survived like in China where they practice is not Marxism. The second part of your question is very broad and is not very easy to answer. The governments have their own logic and their own dynamics. It can be very different from what they profess.  What they profess need not be what they practice.  Today if you look at the totality of the Indian situation, you have a large number of parties in power in different states. There are several national parties, several regional parties and then you know the so called national parties their hold is very limited. So no party today is in a position to say that we have reach across the nation. At the time of independence Congress is the only party which has a national reach. But that is not the situation today. Many of the parties are regional parties and some of them are confined to their state. In the last couple of decades regional parties are also a presence at the national level. But they come to play only at the election time. After the election time they play a very small role in the coalition. There are so many parties in the NDA led by the BJP.  To what extend they have an impact over the BJP government. The situation is extremely amorphous and now everybody is preparing for an election and as far as I can see the chances of the next elections bringing material difference is too dismal.  Regarding the criticism of the government intolerance I would like to make it clear that when we compare two governments one is the UDF government led by the Congress party and the second the present government led by the LDF.

If we examine the political parties which leads these two alliances there is a big difference in the approach of the two political parties leading the two fronts. There is an expressed different in the approaches of the UDF government led by the Congress and the LDF government led by CPM. In these two parties the differences of the two major parties in their approach to the democratic system is apparent. The Left is led  by the fundamental belief that what is happening in the name of democracy is not proper. However,  they are not openly saying it now. The Left front is able to capture power now through elections. However, they reiterate on several occasions regarding their belief on democracy that what is ongoing now is not democracy. That fundamental differences will be reflected in their approaches also. They believe that the right kind of democracy happens as a result of revolution.What they perceive as democracy in India and outside are some games inside capitalism.  However, they are not elucidating it now since they are able to win elections through the present mode. In the initial period they said that they did not believe in this kind of democracy, however, they wanted to give political lessons to the public thereby  participating in this democracy.  However, there occurred a change in their approach once they came to know that they were able to win elections through this mode.  Every government’s which is in power are supposed to function on the guidelines of the constitution. The Left parties are also participating in the democratic processes by taking into account that limitations.     

Abhish K. Bose:  There are criticism from a section that the present government is  perpetuating such a larger than life halo thereby dismissing all manner of dissent and resistance from the Kerala society. The pandemonium for the K Rail project is one such instance cited by them?       

BRP Bhaskar : I  don’t think one should draw any wild conclusion from the  K Rail project. When the K Rail project came there were people who favoured it, people who opposed it. It is not possible to go forward with any major railway projects by any state governments unless the central government is with you. Because the Railways are the central subject.   The criticism you refered here is binding for all governments. The difference between  professing  one thing and practicing. There is a near unanimity among all parties functioning in democracy regarding their speech and what they practice once they come to power.  The difference when what they say while in opposition and when they come to power is apparent.  In a place such as Kerala there are no political party which have the belief that they can come to power on their own. The parties bypassed this limitation through the coalition politics.  When Communist party comes to power in the state initially in the state, there were only individuals in coalition formed by them and no parties in the coalition. Later on they formed coalition. No party in the state has the confidence to capture power by their strength. Two parties leading the two coalition are big parties that is Congress and CPM. This will be explicit if we evaluate the election results of the state closely. 

Abhish K. Bose: It also needs a unanimous support from the people of the state for the projects implementation…

BRP Bhaskar :  I agree. In Kerala, we don’t know where these projects are coming from. There should be a way from which the projects should emerge. A project should emerge through the proper way. We have a long terms of grievances about the railway. The Railways should do a systematic study of the states traffic needs. The state government should set up a body to study Kerala’s traffic needs and evolve an integrated policy regarding what should be the role of the Railways in the state.    I think you should probably think of the development of the waterways aimed at the development of Kerala tourism.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressing the Loka Kerala Sabha regional summit in London

Abhish K. Bose: The peculiarity that no party can single handedly win elections may strengthen democracy to the extent that there are less chances for authoritarianism ideally. But is that the ground situation? 

BRP Bhaskar. : The tendency to behave with authoritarianism is included in the approach of the concerned parties the circumstances may compel them to do so. But ideally in democracies  we consider those parties who respects democratic values to be fit to function in the democracies.  But it is a fact that those who participate in democracy need not believe in  democracy. When such people comes to power there surfaces a contradiction.  Democracy is a belief system that should be assimilated.  When the first participated elections in Kerala, the Communist party said that they are not believing in democracy but they are making use of it. Theoretically they have deviated from the stand they have adopted initially. 

Abhish K. Bose: The media institutions of the state are facing immense pressure in discharging their functions as the watch dog of the society and to be the perpetual critic of the government and the system. It seems they are imbued by intimidation in the wake of the police  registering cases against journalists often reminiscing days of emergency. The case against a TV Channel reporter while reporting an allegation while on  live is a testimony. As a journalist you worked at the time of the emergency. How far the current scenario is qualitatively different from that of the period of emergency?  Or is it an exaggeration to equate it with the emergency period?     

BRP Bhaskar : Emergency has become a kind of benchmark whenever we discusses the interference with the media.  We must make a difference. Because the emergency was a measure which is provided for in our constitution. The constitution specifies on what grounds the emergency can be declared.  So the 1975 was an unjustified emergency, because it was not intended to meet any of those purposes mentioned in the constitution. Now the situation is different. Emergency cannot be used for those purposes. But,  attempts to interfere with the media is what is going on.  Emergency and all happened at a particular situation. Now, various methods are used to suppress critical media and some highhanded actions were taken in Kerala against some online media.  It is totally illegal. 

Abhish K. Bose: You are referring to the actions taken against Marunadan Malayali ? 

BRP Bhaskar : Marunadan Malayali, various other things are happening like that.  If there are any objections against Marunadan Malayali they should be prosecuted.  But what did they do?  The police raided the residences of the employees of Marunadan Malayali from one end of India to the other harassing their family. What is the purpose?  So the intention was not to deal with the illegal actions of Marunadan Malayali but to intimidate the online publication. Is that how things happen in a democratic society. So these are very dangerous tendencies which are raising their ugly hood in Kerala.  

Abhish K. Bose: What are your views on the silence personified by the Kerala civil society over such breaches of the government and the administration. Are they too scared by the menacing posture of the state? 

BRP Bhaskar :  What we have to realise is that civil society in Kerala is very weak. Most of the organizations or movements which should be part of the civil society are actually under the control of some political party or some caste organisations or religious organizations. So they are not really part of the civil society, they have come under the control of some parties or non political organisations.  When we realise this we can understand that a real civil society is not easy to find in Kerala. Civil society organisations should work for certain principles, but that is not happening here.  We have parties or groups which are representing sectarian interests.  But we must also realise that in  the past twenty five or thirty years you will find several programs of the successive governments were opposed by the people and the governments were forced not to go ahead with it. So many projects have to be abandoned due to the opposition from the public.  On the other hand the public has the ability to mobilise and defeat several government schemes which they consider not for the good of the state, despite the weaknesses of the civil society.  But they don’t have the ability to pressurise the government to take up schemes which they think will benefit the society.  

Abhish K. Bose: Is it due to the reason that the intelligentsia of the state, a section of the writers, journalists, and other opinion makers got groomed by the leftist intellectual circles help, which hinders them to defy the government? 

BRP Bhaskar :   There was a time when left was having tremendous influence over the sections you were talking about the so called intellectuals or whatever it is. But I don’t think it is so today. That scenario has been overcome by the Congress by organizing it’s own groups, they also have their bodies and their own intellectuals. So we don’t have that kind of a situation now. But there is one problem in Kerala that the bulk of our society is under the influence of a political or a caste or a religious organization. That is one of our problems. A society remains divided on certain lines then there is no room for any discussion or anything.    

Abhish K. Bose: Though the state government and the LDF are strident critics of the high handedness of the BJP led government at the centre, vis a vis media and other opponents, the state government is executing the same when it comes to the expression of intolerance. What do you think are differences of intolerance of the LDF government compared to the BJP government at the centre?  

BRP Bhaskar : There is absolutely no point in comparing these two governments in this manner. The problem is between the party in power or the government in power in one place and the media which report news which the people in power did not like. The whole issue can be seen in terms of one single statement. When there is a conflict between power and truth this kind of situation develops. Because power tries to suppress truth. 

Abhish K. Bose: Regardless of ideology you mean?

BRP Bhaskar : When it is inconvenient to them power will act against truth. That is the situation.

ALSO READ: MANIPUR CLASHES: Ethnic Divisions, Not Religion, Fuel Violence

Categories
Defence India News Interview

Kukis, Meitis urged to enter talks to end violence

The hidden outside hand is the hand of people living opposite Manipur in Myanmar and second thing is easy availability of weapons from Ruili controlled by the PLA, and there comes in the Chinese interest…Lt. Gen. Shokin Chauhan speaks…

Lt. Gen. Shokin Chauhan (Retd), a perceptive observer of the ongoing crisis in Manipur, asserts that after nearly two months since its eruption on 9 May, the situation shows no signs of improvement. Having previously served as the Chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group in August 2018, Lt. Gen. Chauhan emphasizes that the key to resolving this crisis lies in facilitating direct dialogues between the affected communities, devoid of any external influences.Lt. Gen. Chauhan, a former Major and company commander in 1988-1990, had the opportunity to collaborate with various Kuki tribes. Even today, he believes that the Meiteis versus Kukis conflict at this level is unprecedented. After retiring, Chauhan worked closely with the Nagas as CFMG and witnessed how they meticulously documented incidents of perceived wrongdoings dating back to the 1950s. They even used these records to remind others. Lt. Gen. Chauhan emphasized the sensitivity of these individuals.

As The Sunday Guardian spoke to the former Director General of Assam Rifles, India’s oldest and largest paramilitary force that has been decorated many times for many roles, he said education and economic policy to ensure the tribals remain a part of India are of utmost importance. Excerpts:

Do you see a solution to the Manipur crisis in sight?

There is always a solution when you are dealing with human beings but the issue is that there are deep scars at the moment, … and the schism in the society needs to be removed and among the many things that must happen, there must be peace; secondly, the weapons must be deposited; third, the leaders of the two communities of the two tribal groups must sit down, I feel, …. where they sit down and talk and sort the issues out among themselves…I repeat, the violence must stop… the weapons must be returned and there must be a truce and reconciliation committee so that communities can have a chance to heal.

We know that the Northeast was on the road of development under DoNER; what went wrong on 9 May?

It was not May 9 at all .. May 3/4 was just the spark. It was actually 23 April, when CM Biren was to go to Churachandpur. He was to inaugurate an Open air gym, he did not reach there yet, and the tribal kuki, the tribal students committee burnt down the gym and then started the process for the rest of it.

Do you see external hands in the crisis?

There are 2/3 issues here: One, is the location of Manipur, it is India’s most Northeast state. It is bordered by Myanmar’s Sagaing region which is populated by the Chin people. The Chins are battling the Myanmar army in the recent battle of Tatmadaw against its own people. The Chins are actually the Chinzos, the Mizos and Kukis. The Kukis derive their background from the Chinzo, so they have a very close community connect. with the Mizos of Mizoram and Kukis of Manipur. In Myanmar itself, the Kukis and Meiteis are on opposite sides of the spectrum, the Meiteis are with Tatmadaw, and the Kuki and Ching are against them.

So, the issue of getting weapons is actually superfluous because there are a lot of weapons on sale in Myanmar, the reason being that there is a small region of Myanmar bordering China’s Yunnan province; Ruili is a well-known place for grey market and all insurgent groups buy grey market weapons from Ruili. So that gives China the deniability it seeks—that they are not involved—but actually in reality everything sold in Ruili is controlled by the PLA. So what happens is that if there is already a schism between communities, the PLA are certain in creating erosion, there is absolutely no doubt about it.

The hidden outside hand is the hand of people living opposite Manipur in Myanmar and second thing is easy availability of weapons from Ruili controlled by the PLA, and there comes in the Chinese interest. Any problem in India is automatically used by the Chinese to create more chaos, especially in the NE because of its geostrategic location. This is something that has been used and existed since WWII, when Japanese came through China Myanmar—the Battle of Imphal and Kohima followed. The routes existed in 1944, they exist in 2023, nothing much has changed. The rival problems are the same. There is no doubt in my mind that there is an outside hand. But the greater problem is lack of trust between communities staying on the other side and then bleeding into Manipur.

Is it poppy or religion at the heart of darkness shrouding Manipur?

I would say neither. It is this distrust between the people and their economic situation which has forced them to cultivate poppy. But where does the end product go, who profits from it? Narcotics money is being earned across the communities by various people. It is definitely not religion.

It is intercommunity problem—lack of trust and the fact they have been used by dishonest politicians and are being manipulated.

Are the rifts between the hills and Imphal permanent, because some of the tales of horror that came out showed both older and younger generations saying they will not set foot on the plains ever?

The rift should not be permanent but it is very deep. Actually, before the crisis, the younger generation was experiencing intercommunity bonhomie, the lines were blurred, there was camaraderie. They appear to belong to the state of Manipur rather than any community. They did not identify themselves as Kuki or Meitei.
But this has taken that away. So, they have to forget this, they have to have peace, return the weapons because those weapons are causing problems and then they have to sit down and talk this together. Only the people of the communities should do this, and nobody else should be involved. After all the whites and South Africans have done this, so why can’t these communities talk? They have been there for centuries and they will be there for many more; they cannot just move away or settle somewhere else. So talk they have to, to settle and put it in the past.

As an unidentified school teacher became the latest victim on 6 July, do you feel more tribes / sub tribes / or from neighbouring states joined the Kuki v/s Meitei ethnic clashes?

There is an uncertain uneasy calm between the tribal communities across that region—be it Nagas, Kukis, Meities, … I hope they rise above this and get together. You know you cannot change geography, these ancient lands, ancient ppl. they have been there for several generations and they will be there for several hundred more generations. I do not see them moving to any other part of the world, so they have to get together, communities have to sit down and talk. But the more these unidentified school teachers, the more different tribes get hurt, things will be messier. Community loyalty is huge… how strongly they feel about themselves and how insecure they are can only be explained if you understand that these are tribal people who hold on to their culture, legacy, tradition much more securely than we could ever understand. Their roots run deep into their histories. They are so strongly into their recorded history that they do not allow you or themselves to forget it.
Tribal loyalties, tribal culture–one that is different or even say almost foreign to us, something that we in the mainland might not fathom–is what dictates their lives, so if one attacks the other will retaliate that is normal standard issue, there is no dearth of weapons. Though they have been at peace for 70 to 100 years there is a longer history of violence between them. Arable land is an expensive commodity in the NE. So, this may be a battle for land or commodity, may be an economic problem, manipulated prob or an ancient problem.When you talk to them, there is a lot of pain, cultural, historical problems, there is no one issue here; you can’t put a finger and say this caused it. I have a long association with the area both as an Army man and later and I strongly believe we need policies to deal with these very fragile communities, they are very small in comparison to the mainland and we have to be more careful, definitely more sensitive–what will work in the long run–we must create schools there, jobs there, we must bring education there and we must make ppl of these communities part of the economic growth of India.

They must see their future in India and in the economic growth of India, so that they drown these cultural differences and join the mainstream, and this is my personal opinion. I feel sympathetic towards these communities, I believe in the NE stretch of India, both my father and I have fought insurgencies in the region as armed personnel. I retain a great deal of sensitivity towards these very small fragile communities and I have found them to be wonderful, honourable people, very talented with immense potential. So, I genuinely hope they get over this and continue on their path of economic progress which is of utmost importance. They must have a future in our country.

ALSO READ-Misleading News over Manipur Violence

Categories
Interview Lifestyle Lite Blogs

‘Open communication is key in every relationship’

The film leverages a playful, humourous twist in the end which ultimately shows how kindness is sexy and goes a long way in making meaningful connections…reports Asian Lite News

Kindness is one of the most attractive qualities in a person and 41 percent of Indian Gen Z respondents on the social networking app, Bumble, consider being unkind to strangers as a deal breaker in a relationship. Bumble also found that an overwhelming majority (76 percent) of those surveyed stated that how they define what makes a great partner has changed dramatically over the past five years. 46 percent of Indian respondents say that they are no longer willing to date someone who doesn’t make time for them and 44 percent of respondents say they are no longer willing to put up with toxic behaviours.

The women-first dating app launched a global integrated campaign titled Kindness is Sexy featuring new content with actor Aditya Roy Kapoor. This partnership comes at a time when singles in India are more focused on kindness as a key element of their dating decisions. According to its latest survey, an overwhelming majority (81percent) of respondents in India agree that kindness is sexy now more than ever before and 56 percent of respondents value kindness over physical attributes in a potential partner.

“When we approach dating with kindness, we help create an environment of respect and compassion, and for connections to grow,” said Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble. “Kindness is a core value here at Bumble, and we know it is the driving force behind our mission of creating healthy and equitable relationships. This new content helps redefine the idea of attraction and encourages us to never lose sight of the most valuable traits in a relationship.”

The campaign’s new film embodies this sentiment as it features popular actor, Aditya Roy Kapoor exploring modern online dating as he redefines stereotypical tropes of sexy through the lens of different facets of ‘kindness’ in a relationship—respect, vulnerability to empathy. The film leverages a playful, humourous twist in the end which ultimately shows how kindness is sexy and goes a long way in making meaningful connections.

Speaking on this partnership, actor Aditya Roy Kapoor shares, “At the end of the day, the heart of everything lies at being good to people around you, including your romantic relationships. I think it’s great what Bumble is doing by telling everyone, who is on their platform and whoever wants to join, that what matters is being good to each other, being accountable and responsible on the platform. By showing kindness is sexy, I think they have set the tone very clearly about the kind of interactions and the kind of people they want on the platform – I think more power to Bumble for doing that!”

We caught up with Aditya Roy Kapur to get his opinion and thoughts regarding the campaign and dating:

According to you, what are the simple acts of kindness that can make a positive impact in the dating culture these days?

Aditya: I think open communication is key in every relationship, being open to listening and understanding each other is an act of kindness. So I would say being comfortable with each other is important and expressing gratitude in any kind of relationship goes a long way too!

Any tips for your fans to make kindness a habit?

Aditya: I think whenever you think someone is doing something nice, make them know that you notice and appreciate it.  It feels nice to know that someone has noticed good things that you do and good qualities, if they have been nice to you or checked in with you – let them know that you notice because it matters to them that you see them for the good.

How does it feel to associate with Bumble for Kindness is Sexy Campaign? What message do you hope to communicate through this collaboration?

Aditya: What Bumble is trying to put across is something that resonated with me. I think being kind, asking people how you like to be treated with empathy should be at the core of any healthy relationship, whichever form it may take. So, when I heard of the campaign and what its message was, I looked at it only as something that can be positive, and I felt that Bumble always goes about putting their ideas across in a fun way. I really liked the stuff that they have done for their other campaigns as well. So, it was a really exciting prospect to collaborate with them on something that I felt would be fun, interesting and also a positive message.

ALSO READ-Allu makes history with one million ‘Threads’ followers”

Categories
Interview Lite Blogs

Baichung Bhutia lost his trust in AIFF

Bhaichung also questioned the credibility of the people who have been included in the core committee…reports writes Jagannath Chatterjee

Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia doesn’t seem to be too impressed with the recent formation of a core committee by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), as he feels there is “no trust or coordination” among the current members of the apex body, who have “no idea as to who is doing what”.

The AIFF recently constituted a core committee that will manage certain areas of the game in close collaboration with its Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran.

The areas are: Procurement and tendering; budget and financials; infrastructure, office renovation and new project development; new staff recruitment or old staff release; and NFC and club football organisational decisions.

In a free-flowing chat with IANS, Bhaichung (46), the once poster boy of Indian football, shared his views on the issues concerning the sport in the country, particularly the ‘mess’ in the game’s governing body.

“It’s a free-for-all in AIFF. What the President (Kalyan Chaubey) is doing, what the Secretary General is doing… There is no communication between each other.

“The way AIFF is being run, I would say it is in a complete mess. You have President Kalyan Chaubey bypassing several state associations and holding tournaments without taking them into confidence.

“We saw that happen in Manipur, where the state association wrote to the AIFF Executive Committee saying they were bypassed when a tournament was held.

“Similarly, they also held a tournament in Sikkim without involving the state association. They held a private tournament where Kalyan Chaubey was present as chief guest. The clubs were not recognised in the state league. So, to me, the Federation is in a big mess,” Bhaichung said.

In the first week of May, the President of Andhra Pradesh Football Association, Gopalakrishna Kosaraju, had written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), seeking its direction to the Department of Sports to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged ‘irregularities’ in AIFF.

While the Department of Sports has since closed the matter, Kosaraju has now filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the decision, terming it as ‘erroneous’ and ‘casual’.

When asked if Kosaraju’s letter to PMO against AIFF could be one of the reasons behind the formation of the core committee, Bhaichung said: “I think he (Kosaraju) has written a very valid letter.

“He was very specific about India’s withdrawal from bidding for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup men’s football championship. How can a President or a General Secretary take such a decision?

“Asian Cup is the biggest tournament for any footballer in India. World Cup is the biggest, and the second is Asian Cup. Even Olympics is not as big because it doesn’t involve professional footballers.

“The earlier management had bid, but this new management came and withdrew it and left it for Saudi Arabia. So, this is a very very dodgy deal that has gone through.

To recall, in his letter to the PMO, Kosaraju had said that “India’s withdrawal from bidding creates doubts that the President and General Secretary colluded with the Saudi Arabia Football Federation to benefit them in hosting the AFC Asian Cup”.

Bhaichung continued, “Soon after India withdrew from bidding, Saudi Arabia hosted the knockouts of Santosh Trophy in Riyadh, which was pointless. You see, it is only a favour and I don’t know what favour Saudi Arabia is doing by hosting India’s Santosh Trophy matches in Riyadh.

“It’s just that India withdrawing from bidding has made Saudi Arabia the favourites to win it. This matter should be investigated by the Sports Ministry. And that is what Kosaraju has also written.”

Bhaichung also questioned the credibility of the people who have been included in the core committee.

According to the AIFF letter announcing its formation, the committee comprises N.A. Haris (Chairman), Avijit Paul (Deputy Chairman), Tetea Hmar, Mulrajsinh Chudasama, and Vijay Bali.

“I think the committee itself is very dodgy. See the background of its members… Their contribution to football in India is zero. Even in their own states, it is zero. They have killed football in their states. Now the same guys are in the committee to run Indian football. So how do you expect football to change?

“Avijit Paul (Football Association of Orissa) is not even the president or secretary of his state association. Now, I don’t know how he got to represent Odisha. As far as I know, he is some junior joint secretary who has nothing to do with football.

“In fact, the state association also doesn’t do anything, because the Odisha government does everything. Whatever is being done, is being done by the Odisha government. So what is the football association doing?

“So, I really think AIFF is in a big, big mess,” Bhaichung concluded.

ALSO READ-Celebrating 50 years of first-ever Cricket World Cup

Categories
COVID-19 Interview Lite Blogs

Air Cargo Industry’s Remarkable Boom Amid Pandemic

Pandemic-hit years turned out to be the best years in the history of the air cargo industry, says V.K. Mathews of IBS Software. An Interview by Abhish K. Bose.

VK Mathews is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the IBS Software (www.ibsplc.com), one of the leading travel technology companies in the world. Mr Mathews founded IBS Software 25 years ago, in Trivandrum, India, with a vision to redefine the future of travel through technology innovation. Today, IBS is a global corporation, serving over 200 clients worldwide, which include some of the best and biggest airlines, busiest airports, leading cruise lines, top oil & gas companies and renowned hotel groups in the world. IBS’ business operation spreads across all geographies, employing over 3,500 professionals from 30 nationalities.

Unlike the IT services company that make up an overwhelming majority of the Indian IT landscape, an IT product SaaS company like IBS Software is at the higher end of the value chain, where they are the architects, designers and builders of technology products which typically address the needs of the industry 10-20 years ahead. IBS Software employs a platform-based, SaaS service model to comprehensively address the technology needs of the travel and transportation industry. Its innovative software solutions are used by industry leading corporations; 10 of the 15 largest airlines, 4 of the 5 largest oil and gas companies and over 80 of the largest hotel chains in the world use IBS’ software platforms for managing their mission critical operations.

In one of the largest PE investments in an Indian IT product company, Apax Partners LLP invested USD 450 million in IBS Software in May 2023 for a minority shareholding, valuing the company at USD 1.50 billion. 

VK Mathews is a thought leader in the global aviation industry and is a speaker at various international travel events and seminars. He was the Executive Council member of NASSCOM, past Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industries (Kerala State) and the current Chairman of the Group of Technology Companies (GTech), Kerala. He has received several awards from the government, media and trade associations including Management Leadership Award, Businessman of the Year Award, IT Man of the Year Award, Millennium Leadership Award and Enterprise Excellence Award. 

VK Mathews holds a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and had executive management education from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.  Asian Lite’s Abhish K. Bose meets VK Mathews and discusses on his experiences as an entrepreneur.

Excerpts from the interview:

Abhish K. Bose: Could you shed some light on your early days, both as a student and as an employee? 

VK Mathews: I was born into a traditional, middle class family in Kizhakkambalam, near Kochi in central Kerala. I had my schooling and pre-university education in private institutions in the district. I liked science and math, so it was no surprise that I enrolled for engineeringstudies. When I graduated, good engineers were at a premium and jobs were available, but I wanted to pursue higher studies and thus enrolled for M Tech in Aeronautical Engineering in IIT, Kanpur, where I had taken computer science courses and also had to do a lot of computer programming work as part of my thesis work.

I started my professional career as a computer science faculty in the Indian Army. Later, I joined the IT division of Air India, and was part of the team that first implemented Air-India’s computerised passenger reservations systems world-wide. Two plus years later, I joined the Emirates Group in 1984 in Dubai, and remained with the group for about a decade and half. It was a defining period of my career, when I had the opportunity toformulate and implement IT strategies for the airlines’ global operations and support its ambitious growth plans. At the time of leaving, I was the General Manager-IT for the airline. 

Abhish K. Bose: You launched an IT firm in 1997 by abandoning a lucrative job. Could you explain the travails you faced initially?

VK Mathews: As with any entrepreneurial venture, the initial days were tough, both for securing contracts from airline customers and for equipping the team to be technically and culturally ready for serving a global clientele. Investing the entire life savings to start an IT company, and that too in Kerala, had inherent risks. The risk was higher because IBS was specializing in modern technology, when most of the demand was for legacy technology work, especially because of the booming Y2K demand. IBS was treading a lonely track as a product company, when all of the Indian industry was in IT services – it was narrated by competitors as similar to an attempt to selling Ambassador cars in competition with the Mercedes and BMWs. In a product business, we have to invest heavily in R&D to build products without any guarantee of market success. The major challenges for a product company are product fitness for market acceptance, domain expertise to build next-gen products and funding for R&D and global sales and marketing. 

IBS was also confronted with a host of external challenges; the internet bubble burst of 2000, Swissair Group, which was our biggest customer and a JV partner going bankrupt in 2002, the airline industry slowing down due to 9/11, spread of SAARS virus in 2004 and the global financial crisis in 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic now. 

Abhish K. Bose: The IBS started off as a software solutions provider in the aviation sector. Could you elaborate a bit on the services being provided to this sector?     

 Abhish K. Bose: Apart from the aviation, do you serve other sectors too? 

VK Mathews: Yes, our portfolio of products covers the entire travel industry. On the non-aviation side, our software platforms are used for managing certain mission critical operations of oil and gas majors, cruise lines, hotels and tour operators. On the consulting and digital transformation side, we help our travel industry customers system integration and implementation services, apart from business process consulting and change management services. 

VK Mathews: IBS Software is an enterprise SaaS company for the travel industry, providing end-to-end technology support – that are reliable, scalable, functionally superior, easy to use and cost-effective – across all process areas – airline passenger services, cargo and logistics operations, flight and crew operations, airport operations and aircraft maintenance engineering. No other company in the world offers this range of IT products and such a broad portfolio of solutions to the aviation industry as IBS Software.

Abhish K. Bose:  How do you assess the individualistic software services demands of your clients and how do you design the software? Is it based on the specific needs of the clients? Could you explain a little?

VK Mathews: We are a vertical SaaS Company for the travel industry and our platforms are built for the customer community at large. We don’t customize our products for addressing the specific requirements of customers. We encourage customers to use the platform and take advantage of the best in class processes that the system supports. The individualistic requirements of customers, if any, are addressed by configuring the product (than customizing it) to support differentiated business processes that will give the expected competitive advantage to the customer in question. Customization is expensive and difficult to maintain. Customization will move the customer away from the core product and thus will not be able to benefit from the huge R&D efforts that go into the product.

IBS is more than a technology vendor; we are a trusted partner to our customers. We help our customers achieve their business goals by facilitating business innovation and supporting such innovative business processes using next generation systems. This way IBS helps and facilitates their business transformation. We invest in developing the product continuously to be at the innovative forefront, with the help of our own domain specialists, industry experts and taking inputs from our customers. 

Abhish K. Bose: The Covid 19 pandemic had paralyzed business in an unprecedented manner. How did it affect your company? 

VK Mathews:  The travel industry was one of the worst hit by the pandemic. For almost a year passenger airlines were grounded as international travel was halted. This meant that the belly capacity of passenger planes became unavailable for cargo transportionm, resulting in increased freight rates. In fact, the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 turned out to be the best ever years in the history for the air cargo industry. The full annual revenue was achieved within six months, not on account of increased cargo volumes, but on account of increased pricing and yield. 

(ANI Photo)

This came as a blessing for a lot of airlines which were otherwise bleeding. It helped us shore up our revenue as we are the leading suppliers of air cargo management platform globally. Since, our systems are mission critical for airlines to operate, and since companies were relying heavily on technologies to survive during the pandemic, we were able to recover much faster than our target segment. 

Abhish K. Bose: The pandemic has brought about the work from home culture. There has been a unanimity among the IT firms in adhering to this practice post pandemic. How is this going to transform the employer employee relations, and the financial investments in the sector?

VK Mathews: Indian IT companies were one of the early adopters of the remote work model to tide through the pandemic and some of the companies continue to function in that manner even today. While Work from Home (WFH) does have its advantages – especially in giving flexibility for employees – it has several challenges as well. Inducting new employees, especially freshers, developing and maintaining the organizational culture, brainstorming, innovation and cocreation, creating the sense of community and culture are all important aspects of our business life. A combination of WFH and WFO as a hybrid model should be the way forward. It will however be a fundamental requirement for employees to stay accessible to the office and be able to attend to office as needed on short notice. This will become a norm and may cause a round of inevitable churn and realignment, considering that a lot of employees relocated to their native places during the pandemic and some of them still continue to stay remotely, out of reach from their offices. I don’t think there should be and there will be any significant transformation in the employer-employee relationship nor the extent of financial investments merely on account of the new work model adopted.

Abhish K. Bose: How are you maintaining your relationship with your employees in the firm? The IT sector is a high work pressure sector and what are the facilities that you provide to the employees so as to relieve their mental pressure?

VK Mathews: IBS is an equal opportunity employer. The company aims to attract, develop and retain the best talent by offering unique work experiences, world class facilities, industry indexed compensation benefits and excellent welfare schemes. Employees enjoy facilities like paid holidays, working from home option, flexi timing, and personal day off. Concierge services are provided to relieve employees of personal errands and payments. An in-house recreation team “Reflections”, takes care of fun, frolic and games at workplace all year round.

With the right mix of fresher’s, experienced professionals, technical and non-technical cadres, IBS has a diverse workforce from different backgrounds with varying levels of expertise and skill sets. On IBS rolls are people belonging to 30 different nationalities bringing in a potpourri of culture, tradition and customs. Employees are encouraged to respect geographical sensitivities, venerate religious sentiments, revere local conventions and embrace diversity in all forms. By appreciating differences amongst themselves, IBS employees quickly imbibe a global perspective, become well rounded and ultimately develop into better human beings.  9. The IBS has acquired eight IT companies from various countries including the U.S, Europe, Canada and India. Is there any further expansion in the offing? We look at both organic and inorganic options for pursuing growth. If we see synergy in acquiring firms or businesses, we will certainly consider it.

Abhish K. Bose: Apax funds will acquire Blackstone’s minority stake in IBS Software for about $450 million. What are your views on this acquisition?

VK Mathews: Apax is a leading global private equity firm that has worked to inspire growth and transform businesses. With a heritage of over 50 years, Apax has more than $65 billion of assets under its management. They have vast experience in partnering with best-in-class SaaS companies and I believe, Apax is the right partner for us in our next phase of growth. 

This investment is an endorsement of our business strategy and a testament to our commitment and contribution to the industry. We have a shared vision with Apax for the future of our business.

Abhish K. Bose: The IT field is of stiff competition. What is your approach towards your rivals? Is there a place for camaraderie?

VK Mathews: Of course there is room for camaraderie, mutual respect and friendship between competing IT companies. In India, NASSCOM is a testimony of this. We come together on industry issues, policy advocacy and hold retreats and networking meetings exchanging insights, even while bidding for the same global contracts. The competition is healthy and professional. That is the beauty of the IT industry in India.

Abhish K. Bose: From a humble beginning in 1997, you have come of age in 25 years. What is your vision over the course of the next two decades?

VK Mathews: Today, we are a leading vertical SaaS software company for the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations airlines, airports, tour & cruise, hospitality and energy resources industries. We will continue to invest significantly in R&D not only to maintain functional and technical superiority of our products, but also to facilitate business process innovation continuously.

In a world of disruptive innovations and new business models, the boundaries of business and technology are fast fading and we believe that we have a defining role to play in it. We have created highly valuable software assets, earned the trust of the industry by fulfilling our promises and, more importantly, nurtured a world class team that can deliver transformational solutions to the industry.

It is our vision to redefine the future of travel through technology innovation. We remain  prepared, passionate and deeply committed to realizing this vision.

ALSO READ: Covid-19 and Beyond: India’s Rise Amidst Geopolitical Challenges

Categories
Bollywood Interview Lite Blogs

Dimple believes ‘each one plays such an important part’

Saas Bahu aur Flamingo.

The crime drama streaming television series also stars Radhika Madan, Isha Talwar, Angira Dhar, Deepak Dobriyal, Monica Dogra and Naseeruddin Shah…reports Asian Lite News

Veteran actress Dimple Kapadia has been in the industry for five decades and has given unforgettable power-packed performances. Be it her maiden film ‘Bobby’, which released in 1973 or her latest series ‘Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo’, her on screen game is top-notch.

However, the 65-year-old actress says one cannot have a decent performance if not given the meat.

Her latest release ‘Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo’ has redefined the relationship between the women of the family, where often it is shown that “aurat hi aurat ki dushman hoti hai”.

Asked how she feels the show and the relationship of the women in the show has changed the perspective, Dimple told: “I haven’t broken the barrier. It was the character that’s broken the barrier. And that’s important. At the end of the day, it’s the written material, it’s the role, it’s the character, that really works and people often mistake by saying – Oh, what a great performance.”

“You can’t do a decent performance if you’re not given the meat. If the character is not good enough, if the lines are not good enough – it’s an effort by the entire team.”

Dimple Kapadia.

The actress firmly believes that “each one plays such an important part”.

Dimple added: “It’s unbelievable where it can get you. In the sense that even a hug or a dress person or your makeup artist, even that matters and it translates, so it’s a complete team effort. You can’t stand there alone and do anything.”

In ‘Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo’, Dimple plays a strong-headed matriarch and a drug lord. It is the women in her family who take care of the business. The crime drama streaming television series also stars Radhika Madan, Isha Talwar, Angira Dhar, Deepak Dobriyal, Monica Dogra and Naseeruddin Shah.

Talking about how much of herself did she see in her character of Rani Baa, Dimple said: “It would be a lie to say that in every character that you do, there has to be 30 per cent of yourself, otherwise, where do you dig from? Where do you get your experiences from? Where do you get your emotions from? So yes, 30 per cent of it is you.”

Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo.

She added: “And the other thing is that I’m silly, but I don’t think I have done any work – I have this thing where some part of my jewellery has to be on me, I don’t know why, it’s been like that always from the beginning, so that there is always some part of me and I take it from there.”

Directed by Homi Adajania, ‘Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo’ is available on Disney+ Hotstar.

ALSO READ-Stylish bollywood celebs at dior fall/winter 2023 show

Categories
Interview Kerala Politics

‘Church-BJP alliance may create communal polarisation in Kerala’

In an interview with Asian Lite’s Abhish K. Bose, Prof Nissim discusses the overtures of the Catholic church to BJP and the diverse dimensions of the alliance once materialised.

Nissim Mannathukkaren is a Professor in the International Development Studies Department at Dalhousie University, Canada. His main research interests are focused on nationalism, post-truth, Left/communist movements, development and democracy, modernity, Marxism, and the politics of popular culture, with a geographical focus on India. He is the author of two books, Communism, Subaltern Studies, and Postcolonial Theory: The Left in South India (Routledge, 2021) and The Rupture with Memory: Derrida and the Specters that Haunt Marxism (Navayana, 2006). His research has been published in journals such as the Modern Asian Studies, Citizenship Studies, Journal of Peasant Studies, Third World Quarterly, Journal of Critical Realism, International Journal of the History of Sport, Economic and Political Weekly, Dialectical Anthropology, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, and Sikh Formations. He is a regular writer in the popular press and his op-eds have appeared in The Hindu, The Wire, Indian Express, The Telegraph, Frontline, Deccan Herald, Deccan Chronicle, Asian Age, Outlook, Tehelka, Citizen, Kafila, Open Democracy, Polis Project, The Wall Street Journal, Kochi Post in English and Mathrubhumi, Kalakaumudi, Samakalika Malayalam Varikha, and Navamalayali in Malayalam.  In an interview with Asian Lite’s Abhish K. Bose, Prof Nissim discusses the overtures of the Catholic church to BJP and the political calculations BJP nurtures on the basis of its alliance with the Church.  

Excerpts from the interview:

Abhish K. Bose : The Catholic Church in Kerala seems to have resolved to support BJP, provided the saffron party ensures Rs.300/kg as the minimum support price of rubber. The two prominent Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church have openly advocated the Christian community allying itself with the BJP. This is clearly based on the desperate keenness of the BJP to secure a parliamentary toehold in Kerala. What does this augur for the politics of the state?

Nissim Mannathukkaren : This does not augur well at all for the state. Indeed, it is quite tragic. Kerala is, justifiably, known across the world for its human development “model”. But what is less known globally is the remarkable religious pluralism that characterizes the state. Kerala is the most religiously diverse major state in India with substantial presence of three major world religions. This is a feature that is rare in societies across the world. The uniqueness is not just the numbers but the impact that this has had in creating the intermeshed social fabric of Kerala, in which festivals like Onam, and culinary practices like eating beef are cultural mores of all religions. What this has, again, remarkably, resulted in is the prevention of inter-communal violence, a bane of many other regions, both inside and outside India. Malappuram district, the most reviled place in the Hindutva discourse, since it has 70% Muslims, for instance, has not had communal violence since 1921. The call of the Bishops to ally with the BJP is to imperil the famed pluralism of Kerala with an Hindu supremacist ideology that believes, at the core, in Hindu-Hindi-Hindustan, and that seeks to supplant a vast multicultural, multilingual and multi religious country into a homogeneous Hindu majoritarian state. It will unfortunately take the state down the road of importing anxieties, fears, and hatreds that are peculiar to the north of India, where even teaching the Mughal period in Indian history is akin to blasphemy in the Hindutva discourse.

Abhish K. Bose  : There has been a near-total unanimity among the church elite, especially of the Catholic Church, to be hospitable to the saffron party. Church leaders have been floating the trial balloons in this regard at different junctures. This is at odds with the grievance that they express, otherwise, about the atrocities against churches and  Christian missionaries in north India and Karnataka. Ideologically, the Sangh  Parivar does not recognize the Christian community as eligible for citizenship in India a Hindu Rashtra. Why do the church leaders, notwithstanding this, fawn on the BJP? Does it symptomatize fear, common sense, or affinity to the glamour of power? Or, what else?

Nissim Mannathukkaren  : The reason for the Church’s accommodation of the BJP is merely instrumental and self-interestedness, especially in protecting its vast power and resources. It is not moral or ideological. This is not new. The first Christian MP who was elected on a NDA ticket to the Lok Sabha in Kerala was P. C. Thomas, the leader who broke away from the regional Kerala Congress party. And this was in 2004, very close to the 2002 Gujaratpogrom against Muslims. At the time, the Church or the Christian community had nomoral compunction in voting for Thomas, despite Gujarat 2002 or events before that like the burning to death of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children by Bajrang Dal militants. The geographical distance it seems becomes the façade for amoral distance from the plight of minorities elsewhere, or even Christians themselves, especially the poorer amongst them, outside Kerala. The affinity also stems from the fact that the Christian community, that is the dominant Syrian Christian community, is the most wealthy community in Kerala and sections of it are the ruling class/elite in Kerala. So, accommodation with power of any sort, especially like with the most powerful entity in India, the ruling party that governs it, is not surprising. This is what has led it to even seek the mediation of Narendra Modi in solving intra-Church disputes between Syrian Christian denominations. It also has parallels elsewhere, like the Catholic Church’s accommodation with the Nazis during Hitler’s rule, and its shocking failure to condemn the Holocaust despite its alleged knowledge of the genocide of Jews. That is a particularly egregious chapter of the history of the Catholic Church. The same kind of complicity was also alleged during the military junta’s rule in Argentina when the Catholic Church backed it, and even remained silent on the killing of some dissident priests. So, this is not particularly a Kerala phenomenon. Finally, even when the Sangh Parivar defines India as a Hindu Rashtra, where non-Hindus are essentially second class citizens, there is also a crucial ideological and structural dimension that makes the Syrian Christian churches and community amenable to Hindutva overtures, even if this does not translate electorally. And that is caste. In a more fundamental sense, there is an affinity with Hindutva’s “ghar wapsi” worldview that, after all, even Christians are originally Hindus. This stems from the highly casteist, patriarchal and endogamous nature of the Syrian Christian churches in Kerala, with claims to purity and which revel in family histories of supposed conversion to Christianity from the Brahmin Namboodiris.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic Church on the occasion of Easter,in New Delhi.

Abhish K. Bose  : Is this tectonic shift in the political outlook of church leaders induced by the perceived increase in the numerical and economic growth of the Muslim community as well as the declining political clout of bishops with the LDF and the UDF? Does the church feel that the left front is gravitating towards Muslim community? Is their anxiety intensified by the electoral disarray of the Congress, locally and nationally?

Nissim Mannathukkaren  :  Yes, some of the fears of the Church leaders and the community are based in real facts like the growing demographic and economic weight of the Muslim community. The Muslim community is projected to be double that of the Christians by 2050. The declining population of the Christians is thus a major cause of worry to them. Yet, this population advantage, which has given extra Assembly seats in Muslim-dominated areas, will peter out as all communities converge on the fertility rates in about twenty years. And despite the general upliftment of the Muslim community, post-Gulf migration, it still brings up the last in terms of economic and social indicators. With modernization, religion has definitely not declined in a linear fashion, but has transformed into new forms, including new versions of fundamentalism. Yet, the Church itself has lost the kind of authority it had on the laity in the 1950s and 60s and which could mobilize it against, say, the spectre of an atheistic communism, and so on. This was what brought the first Communist government down in 1959. Of course, those social and political conditions do not exist anymore. Therefore, the Church leadership cannot deliver votes to parties, especially in a state with heightened political consciousness. The Church, by and large, has also been a very conservative force, standing against progressive political change and the struggles of the working classes. One also has to emphasize the fact that there are no homogeneous, monolithic religious communities. And any discussion on religious community voting patterns has to come with the caveat that it is marked by gender, caste, class, and other distinctions. The declining fortunes of the Congress is a major factor as well; more importantly, it does not seem that the party can come back to power at the centre in the immediate future. So, strategically it makes sense for the Church to make accommodations with the ruling party, even if it is a party of the far right. Regarding the Muslims, the embattled community under the onslaught of Hindutva, has sought to give increased support to the Left, which is powerful in the state, to counter majoritarianism. This is seen in the voting percentages from post-poll surveys as well. Around 39% of Muslims voted for the Left in 2021 showing the weaknesses of the Congress in confronting Hindutva. At the same time, 39% of Christians also voted for the Left, and this has been the highest support for the Left from both these communities. The Left also has been wooing the Muslim League, which is an integral part of the Congress-led front, and without it which it will be severely weakened. In fact, the growing clout of the Muslim League within the weakening Congress front and its supposed cornering of ministerial posts beyond its strength (in the last Congress government) are some of the grouses some sections of the Christians harboured making them amenable to the overtures of the BJP. Another factor is the weakening, unlike the Muslim League, of the Christian-backed Kerala Congress party, which has splintered to numerous and ineffective personality-based factions, hardly able to wield the clout or secure the vote share a united party could in the past.

Abhish K. Bose : To what extent will a possible alliance with the church benefit the BJP? With large scale migration from its members, and evident signs of rebellion against the authority of bishops by the laity, can the Catholic Church provide a stable vote-bank to the BJP?   

Nissim Mannathukkaren  : The BJP needs the Church and the Christian community desperately, as it cannot come to power without some sections of the Christians voting for it in a state in which the Hindu population is only 55%. BJP-NDA has secured only the maximum of around 15%votes in Kerala in Assembly Elections. This is a post-Modi phenomenon for earlier the vote share was in the range of 6%. While 15% seems small, it is not exactly so in the evenly matched bi-polar political formations in Kerala where elections are decided by small margins. Yet one cannot come to power with 15% votes. And this is where the small Christian parties like the Kerala Congress factions, with around 7% of votes, and Christian votes from the Congress Party and the Left become crucial. As of the latest Assembly Elections, the BJP came second in nine constituencies. So, the biggest impediment to BJP’s prospects in Kerala is the demographic gridlock. This cannot be overcome without an alliance with the Christians. Hence, the recent efforts and overtures. The BJP seeks to replicate the North-East model by making it an acceptable party. For that reason, it had made a lot of accommodations in that region like giving up its antipathy to beef, giving up its insistence on Hindi and homogenisation, reviving tribal culture and so on. Some of these accommodations will be made in Kerala also, like BJP leaders recently trekking the path of a Christian pilgrimage, making visits to Christian homes, avoiding issues like beef, etc. Yet, one has to understand that this is transactional, not a fundamental change in ideology. In the North-East, the BJP by itself has secured only 18% vote in Nagaland, and 10% in Meghalaya, which is not too high. But it has governments of its own in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, where Christian 4populations are present. (The recent Manipur riots also show the perils of the Christian support for the BJP). The Goa experiment is also valid for Kerala. There the BJP fielded12 Catholic candidates. But it has to be stressed that it still only won 13% of Christian votes in the latest election (and 19% in the last). The Christian community is not a stable vote bank in Kerala for the BJP. The share of the community vote for the BJP was abysmal until 2016 Elections, when it secured the maximum of 10% of the votes. Now, it is back to 2% (despite the BJP doubling the seats given to Christian candidates). So, there is immense potential for the BJP to exploit. The question is whether it can succeed.

BJP has 11 Christian MLAs in Goa; all but one are Cong turncoats.

Abhish K. Bose  : Will the church’s decision create communal polarisation in the Kerala society as the Muslim community is severely opposed to the BJP, with the equation between Catholics and Muslims having touched an all-time low? 

Nissim Mannathukkaren  : Yes, it will create communal polarisation. As adherence to any extreme ideology, irrespective of religions, will create deep fissures in society. And the effects of religious polarizations can be seen even in places like Kerala in the last couple of decades. In the post-Babri Masjid demolition era, the rising Hindutva supremacism has also spawned extremist ideologies in the Muslim community, of course ostensibly projected to counter Muslim victimization by Hindutva, and even, in some cases to counter majoritarian violence with violence and provide self-defence. This can only be counterproductive because violent resistance, rather than democratic mass mobilization in conjunction with other marginalized groups across religions, can only further marginalization of the Muslim. The linkages with the Islamic nations in the Gulf through migration, and rising income levels in Muslim community have also given rise to new imaginations which include religious conservatisms and hardening religious identities. The central government banned the radical Muslim group Popular Front of India (PFI) alleging terror links, which have not yet been proved. But it has been involved in isolated violent incidents like the chopping off the hands of a Christian professor twelve years ago for committing blasphemy against the Prophet. This has been used and demonized by the Christian clergy to target the entire Muslim community and to climb the Hindutva bandwagon of issues like Love Jihad, Narcotic Jihad, Hijab, Halal, and so on. There are small Christian groups who have been vocal on these and aligned with the Sangh Parivar agenda. That is why the term ‘Chrisanghi’ and Christian Sanghi became prevalent. Some of these attitudes are also shaped by global Islamophobia, especially emanating from the West. The perils of affiliating with the Hindutva discourse are seen in the vicious propaganda, of Nazi Goebbelsian dimensions, unleashed against Kerala, and Muslims in particular in the last 10 years. Kerala is the only state in India, which has all the three main enemies of Hindutva identified by Golwalkar: Muslims, Christians, and Communists! The latest illustration of propaganda is the film Kerala Story, endorsed by the Prime Minister and the Sangh Parivar, which is based on the gargantuan lie that 32,000 Hindu and Christian women from Kerala were converted to Islam and recruited to the Islamic State. The communal polarization, especially in the cultural sphere, that has resulted is a break in, what I have called before, as the Kerala model of non-antagonistic communalism, in which religious communities peacefully compete with each other to gain secular and material goods in accordance with their proportion. Here, the other communities are not considered as the “other” but a legitimate competitor. Despite these severe challenges, the core of the political consensus on the non-antagonistic model holds. This, as mentioned, is seen in the votes for the BJP and the Christian vote for the BJP. It is also seen in the votes for the SDPI, the political front of the PFI in the last Assembly Elections. It got 0.4% votes. Of course, social formations are not just about electoral votes, but even culturally, despite the incursion of religiosity, especially of a majoritarian kind, there are significant resistances to keep pluralism intact. Earlier, many denominations of the Christian Church, including Syrian Christian ones, condemned the bishop’s statement on Narcotic Jihad.

(Photo: R Parthibhan/IANS)

Abhish K. Bose  :  The stand of the Bishops extending their willingness to support the BJP is the end result of dogged end eavours from the hindutva brigade to entice a dominant communityinto an alliance with the party. The BJP leadership acceeded the fact that so as shatteran existing left/ Congress dominated terrain prevailed for a long time needs the support of a major community and were on the lookout for a right moment especially when the BJP – BDJS alliance failed. When was the beginning of the BJP moves to lure the church and how was the Muslim- Christian communal harmony a hindrance in their path to extract Christian community to their alliance? 

Nissim Mannathukkaren  : The BJP alliance with the Ezhava BDJS failed because of caste, and the upper-caste dominated BJP’s failure to accommodate the historically marginalized/oppressed castes like Ezhavas/Thiyyas and Dalits in the new narrative of a unified Hindu society, something which it has managed to do relatively better, at least in electoral terms, elsewhere. These are the fissures of the narrative of Hindutva. The highest percentage of votes for the BJP in Kerala comes, unsurprisingly, from upper castes. Because of the demographic gridlock mentioned above, mere upper caste vote from Hindus is not enough. So, the Christian vote is not a substitute for the loss of the Ezhava vote. BJP needs both and more. The BJP was never a serious electoral player until Narendra Modi’s arrival on the national stage. Its role in Kerala was mostly about preventing the Left, its main enemy, coming to power. So, there were instances of the small BJP vote shifting to those standing against the Left, which is what led to bizarre conjunctures like the BJP informally supporting the Congress and the Muslim League! Otherwise, the ensconcing of the Christian and Muslim vote within the Congress-led front and the lower caste Hindu vote within the Left meant the BJP had no place in electoral contests. Under Vajpayee, the NDA got its first Christian MP from Kerala which the BJP used to moderate its image in an era when political parties were not willing to align with it because of its extremism. It is only with Modi and Amit Shah, and with the BJP plan to expand to its traditional weak areas like Kerala that Christians began to enter the Hindutva electoral discourse in a serious manner. The appointment of K. J. Alphons as a minister in the first Modi Cabinet was a part of these attempts by Modi to bring the Christian community to the BJP. This has not yet succeeded to any extent until now.

ALSO READ: People of Karnataka defeated money power of BJP: Rahul Gandhi

Categories
Interview Lite Blogs

‘Idea is always to do something new each time’

Actor Saif Ali Khan

Believing that making movies is an art, and not just about money, the actor feels it is about putting the right people together, marketing, and creative packaging…writes Sukant Deepak

One of the few mainstream Hindi film actors of his generation to constantly plunge himself into uncharted territory, and opt for unconventional roles — like in ‘Omkara’, ‘Go Goa Gone’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Sacred Games’ and ‘Laal Kaptaan’ among others, Saif Ali Khan says while at one point, he wanted to play it safe and survive, but soon realised the importance of trying new things and offering something novel to the audience.

“If you are having fun playing such roles, chances are the audience will enjoy watching you too. In the case of ‘Omkara’ and ‘Go Goa Gone’, I agreed to essay the roles which many people did not want to. For me, the idea is always to do something new each time,” he tells.

Stressing that the OTT allows for much space to experiment, Khan opines that when it comes to making content for the digital medium, it is important to be completely honest about contemporary realities and human conditions, and then dramatise the situations. “Only then will you be able to move people. Let us not forget that whatever we make for this medium is immediately compared to international work.”

Even as he agrees with the evolution of content and treatment with the advent of OTT, the actor maintains that it would not really have an impact on how mainstream cinema in terms of storytelling. “Though mindsets are bound to change, I am unsure of the actual impact as it depends on how much of a chance mainstream is willing to take in terms of evolving scripts and not playing it very safe.”

He may have worked with a diverse set of directors, but now he does not really think on terms of script or the person behind the camera. “I now approach work as a producer. My thought process is — what kind of movies I would like to make?”

When it comes to signing the dotted line, it is about how he feels at that moment in time. “It has to be instinctive. Your gut tells you if it is worth the time and energy. Now, I prefer the comfort of home, so, if the project is going to take me away to a hotel room for weeks, it has to be worthwhile in every way, otherwise, I might not want to do it. It has to be something that I would want to be part of my history.”

Believing that making movies is an art, and not just about money, the actor feels it is about putting the right people together, marketing, and creative packaging.

The actor, who is the first-ever brand ambassador for Lay’s Gourmet and was associated with the brand for several years, says he is thrilled to rejoin the Lay’s family. “I am a firm believer in freedom of choice and believe all things in moderation are fine. And if it’s legal and I am fond of it too, I will endorse it,” says the actor who is currently working on a romantic comedy titled ‘No Kids’.

“I am also shooting for a big action-packed South Indian movie. Besides that, a film for Siddharth Anand’s production which is a Netflix original. So, there are a lot of things in the pipeline,” he concludes.

ALSO READ-Kareena has many adorable qualities: Saif Ali Khan

Categories
Interview Lite Blogs

Sejal Gupta: My goal in life keeps me going

I believe there are various things I had to shape up to prepare well for the pageant. I believed in myself and kept on practising. I firmly believe that practice makes the man perfect…Sejal Gupta speaks with Lothungbeni Humtsoe

Miss Teen Diva 2022, India’s largest teen pageant and a national qualifier for the world’s most prestigious pageants, such as Miss Teen International, Miss Teen Universe, Miss Teen Earth, and Miss Teen Multinational had its grand finale at Zee Studios in Jaipur, where 35 contestants battled for India’s most prestigious teen pageant.

During the grand finale of Miss Teen Diva 2022, 13-year-old Sejal Gupta of Chandigarh was crowned Miss Teen International India, Trishna Ray of Orrisa was crowned Miss Teen Universe India, Karemma Khan of Mumbai was crowned Miss Teen World India, and Kashish Goswami of Vadodara was crowned Miss Teen Grand India. They will compete for India at Miss Teen International, Miss Teen Universe, Miss Teen World, and Miss Teen Grand.

Sejal Gupta, a 13-year-old from Chandigarh who recently won Miss Teen International India 2022, will be representing India at the world’s largest adolescent pageant Miss Teen International in the Philippines in 2024, speaks to IANSlife about her life-changing experience as Miss Teen Diva 2022.

The unwavering focus and sheer will to work hard for victory really got her closer to the crown and she believes that the values of discipline and passion to achieve her goal helped her accomplish her dreams. Read Excerpt:

Can you speak about your experience at the Miss Teen Diva?

SG: My experience at the Miss Teen Diva pageant has been filled with lots of great memories. It is an experience that I’ll cherish forever my life! The journey has been quite thrilling and full of new learning. There were happy days. And then there were days when I didn’t feel good about my performance. But I had faith in myself and knew that I can overcome the challenges and perform well on the stage.

Also, being the youngest beauty pageant winner, I feel really happy, excited, and proud. This pageant helped me to showcase my talent and come out as a confident girl and also made me believe that age is just a number.

Three memories from the pageant that you will always cherish?

SG:  Three memories that I will always cherish would be my early morning practice sessions, the launch party, and sleeping on the couch during our breaks. 

You are just 13 and have already been part of TV commercials and ads, commercials, done a television show ‘Kya Haal Mr. Panchal’, and played the younger Kirti Kulhari in ‘Mission Mangal.’ You will soon be seen in ‘Tiwari’ as Urmila Matondkar’s daughter. What keeps you going and taking up so many things at this age

SG:  I believe my goal in life keeps me going. I am very eager to achieve what I desire in life and will definitely achieve it. So far, my journey which has just begun, has been really fruitful.

What were your thoughts while getting crowned as the Miss Teen International event

SG:  I feel extremely blessed and grateful to God and all the people behind my journey and success. I myself couldn’t believe that I was being crowned as Miss Teen International India.  

How did you prepare for the pageant?

SG:  I believe there are various things I had to shape up to prepare well for the pageant. I believed in myself and kept on practising. I firmly believe that practice makes the man perfect. 

For those unversed, could you explain what Miss Teen Diva is all about?

SG:  Miss Teen Diva is a platform that allows the teenagers of our country to showcase their talent and make their country proud. It is one of the most esteemed and honest organisations I’ve ever come across. I’ll forever be grateful to this organisation. 

You advocated for spreading awareness about the importance of Mental and Physical health at the event. How do you plan to take the conversation ahead now that you have won the title?

SG: I believe social media is the best way to deliver something to the world. I believe I’ll take the conversation ahead by uploading health-related videos on social media apps. I also believe that communication plays a major role in making people aware of something. So I’ll communicate more and more and tell them the importance of mental and physical health among youth.

What persuaded you to get into pageantry?

SG:  Getting me into pageantry has been my mom’s dream. She was the one who persuaded me to get into pageantry. And I look forward to fulfilling her as well as my dream! 

Can you share some tips for those considering a career in pageantry?

SG:  The most important tip people need to keep in mind is to believe in yourself. Until and unless you don’t believe that you’re capable of winning and achieving what you’re here for, no one can make you win. Practise makes a man perfect, so keep practising and working hard. Always, know your competition because it allows you to prepare well for the pageant.

ALSO READ-INTERVIEW: V. ADIMURTHY

READ MORE-INTERVIEW: PROF. SUBIR SINHA