Two iconic British brands join forces in a European-wide cultural exploration of fashion, art and architecture to identify future design classics…reports Asian Lite News
Jaguar and Baracuta have joined forces in a celebration of British design and exploration of future trends. Established in Coventry (1935) and Manchester (1937) respectively, the two brands have been responsible for creating some of the most iconic and enduring designs across automotive and fashion. Always relevant and at the forefront of cultural conversations, they are now coming together to curate a guide to future design classics – ‘The New Classic Guide’.
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In a celebration of their respective Brand DNA, a one-of-a-kind Jaguar Baracuta E-PACE and a Jaguar G9 Baracuta jacket have been created. Both will play an integral role in the development of ‘The Next Classic Guide’, which will see a host of respected influencers, bloggers, artists and content creators travel to the cultural heartland of UK and European towns and cities, seeking out the places, fashions, trends, and people that will inspire and shape the next generation.
Starting in London in October 2021 and ending at Milan Fashion Week in February 2022, this ‘cool-hunting’ road trip will visit Germany, Spain, Poland and Austria, exploring the rich and diverse creative sub-cultures which make up the countries’ identity. The ‘The Next Classic Guide’ will be a live and interactive portal, allowing interested observers to follow the four-month journey.
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Kicking off the campaign is British content creator and brand consultant Samutaro – one of the most influential fashion curators of recent years. Samutaro had the opportunity to see the output of the creative collaboration for the first time at Jaguar’s Product Development Centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire. Here he met designer Anna Abell from the Jaguar team which created the bespoke Jaguar E-PACE, inspired by the classic natural G9 jacket.
ANNA ABELL, DESIGNER, JAGUAR: “Design is at the very heart of the Jaguar and Baracuta brands. Both have created design classics that have stood the test of time and remained relevant in the face of ever-changing tastes and cultural trends. It was therefore great to be given the responsibility of bringing these two brands together in this collaboration, after all, they have enjoyed a long association with many of the World’s most iconic figures from stage and screen coveting both.”
The Jaguar x Baracuta E-PACE P300e plug-in hybrid has been created with a bespoke exterior colour, ‘Neutro’. The one-off E-PACE features the same tartan Baracuta uses to line its G9 jacket on both the door trims and boot floor, with the tartan also depicted on the contrast roof. Additionally, the E-PACE features headrests embroidered with the Baracuta crest, Baracuta logo on the rear ¼ window and puddle lamps depicting the Baracuta emblem.
The cotton capital of the erstwhile British Empire Commemorates Mahatma Gandhi’s 152nd Birth Anniversary with an Interfaith Service and UK Book Cover Reveal of ‘Atmasiddhi Shastra’
Mahatma Gandhi’s 152nd birth anniversary was celebrated in Manchester through an interfaith service honouring his teachings of peace, unity, non-violence, compassion and hope.
Celebrations commenced with a flower offering ceremony at Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in front of the prestigious Manchester Cathedral. The impressive 9-foot bronze statue was a gift from the Kamani family to the City of Manchester in 2019 to commemorate Gandhiji’s 150th birth anniversary, organised by Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, and unveiled by the Mission’s founder, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji.
Distinguished guests in attendance included the Lord Mayor for the City, Cllr Tommy Judge, Diane Mary Hawkins JP DL, High Sheriff for Greater Manchester, Amish Tripathi, Director of the Nehru Centre, Esme Ward, Director of the Manchester Museum, The Very Reverend Rogers Govender MBE, Dean of Manchester Cathedral and various other officials from the UK Government, the Government of India and The University of Manchester.
The interfaith service held at the majestic Manchester Cathedral included recitals by the Yvonne Shelton Choir, dance and musical performances, readings by diverse faiths and speeches by prominent dignitaries. The service celebrated the wonderful interfaith cohesion in Manchester by bringing together representatives of Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism and Christianity.
The occasion also marked the UK Book Cover Reveal of “Atmasiddhi Shastra: Six Spiritual Truths of the Soul,” a new book authored by Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji comprising a Commentary in English on Shrimad Rajchandraji’s magnum opus, Atmasiddhi Shastra. Many enthusiastic audience members took this opportunity to place pre-orders for the book, just a few weeks away from its much-awaited global launch across Amazon websites on 21st October.
When Gandhiji had visited London to put forward the plight of the Indians in South Africa, he carried a copy of the original Atmasiddhi Shastra, the 142-verse poetic masterpiece by his spiritual mentor, Shrimad Rajchandraji. Deeply impressed, Gandhiji had even translated the treatise entirely into English, but unfortunately lost the translation on a bus ride in London.
Atmasiddhi Shastra is a practical guidebook that makes universal spiritual wisdom accessible to every modern seeker. It will provide readers a deeply personal experience, igniting the inner quest to discover a higher purpose, reclaim one’s true identity, and experience eternal bliss.
Owing to the massive demand from readers worldwide, a dedicated website for the book – www.atmasiddhishastra.com was also launched.
The interfaith service culminated with Ms. Erinma Bell, Deputy Lieutenant for County of Greater Manchester, Dr Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India, Birmingham, Mr. Vikas Shah, Deputy Lieutenant and CEO of Swiscot Group, Mr. Navendu Mishra M.P. for Stockport and Mr. Alastair Cobley, Head of Kamani Family Office lighting candles for peace, unity, non-violence, compassion and hope in Manchester, a welcome reminder of the enduring nature of Mahatma Gandhi’s life and teachings in our conflict-ridden and polarised modern world.
Through the service, Esme Ward, Director of the Manchester Museum, spoke about Gandhi’s visit to Lancashire in 1931 to speak about the plight of Indian cotton workers. While trouble was expected, Gandhi received a warm welcome in Darwen and it is Gandhi’s stories like this which focused on building understanding and empathy amongst communities and our connectedness to each other that are needed now more than ever.
Professor Erinma Bell MBE DL JP, Deputy Lieutenant for County of Greater Manchester, shared her experience of the occasion, “It was very enlightening, interesting and soothing. I found the event peaceful and hopeful and got a feeling of the way Mahatma Gandhi was level headed, patient and calm. What inspired me the most today was the book cover launch. It is going to be an absolutely fantastic book to read, very insightful and after watching the video about the book, it made me feel like I wanted to buy 5 or 10 copies!”
On revealing the book cover in the UK, Amish Tripathi shared “Atmasiddhi Shastra is universal wisdom for all faiths. All of us want peace and a sense of purpose. The book speaks of the core philosophy in a succinct and simple manner structured as a conversation. There is a disciple asking his master questions and the master answering and clarifying the doubts of his disciple. This makes the book a lot easier and that is where the full genius is.”
Dy Chair , MIP, Jo Ahmed_ Simon Arora , Chairman, MIP and Andy Burnham, Mayor , Greater Manchester at the MIP biz summit
Manchester India Partnership (MIP) new team is geared up to enhance partnerships between India and the UK. Rahul Laud who attended the recently held MIP business summit reports from Manchester
The Manchester India Partnership (MIP) introduced its new team at a business summit held at city centre hosted by Deloitte.
The new team includes Simon Arora, Chair of MIP & CEO, B&M Stores, Jo Ahmed, deputy chair, and Shehla Hasan, Executive Director. The MIP vows to strengthen trade, investment, cultural, and educational ties with India.
The summit was held in the light of the background where the city of Manchester was voted third best city in the world – top for ‘nightlife’, ‘creativity’, ‘community spirit’, ‘friendliness’ and ‘getting to know your neighbours’ said Rob Martin, Time Out Manchester.
The summit was in sync with the national roadmap 2030 drawn up by the government of UK to forge an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which includes the intent of the UK government to negotiate a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.
The shadow of the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Glasgow in November 2021 – COP26 also loomed large especially on Mayor Andy Burnham’s address who reiterated his commitment to strengthen the India-UK partnership on climate change, delivering a substantial contribution to reduced emissions and improved resilience in the context of strong climate action required in the current decade to reach the goals of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Earlier reports have indicated that Burnham has committed £160m for the development of Greater Manchester’s “bee network” of safe routes to walk or cycle, making Greater Manchester “greenest city region in the UK.”
Greater Manchester’s new industrial strategy also talks about reducing car use to no more than half of all daily trips by 2040 – this will mean finding ways to create a radical change in behaviour, with a million more trips each day using public transport, cycling and walking.
Mayor Andy Burnham told the summit that he wants to ensure cultural and community links to be strengthened so there is a deeper relationship cultivated beyond commerce.
“We have the national roadmap with the aim of doubling UK-India trade by 2030, and we think we can play a big part in that. We want to be more than doubling [Manchester-India] trade, “he affirmed with confidence.
Panelists at MIP Biz Summit
The summit observed that Manchester is the UK’s “most liveable city”, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Among 140 cities surveyed across the world, Manchester ranked 38th in the 2021 report and London 48th. Various Great Britain- India tracker reports published by Grant Thornton with the CII and FICCI clearly indicate that India invested in 120 projects and created 5,429 new jobs in the UK to become the second-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) after the US in 2019-20 (DIT inward investment report). Between 2018-19 and 2020-21, the number of jobs grew from 245 to 741 in Manchester, due to investments by Indian companies. Trade between NW and India grew to £ 1 billion in 2019 from £887 million in 2015.
Arora, who is chief executive of FTSE 100 retailer B&M, said: “We are all aware India is a huge market for the Greater Manchester area.’’ He reiterated that many aspects of India’s 2030 vision “are very well aligned with our own focus on infrastructure renewal, improving health, and harnessing the digital revolution. It’s clear to me that there’s a real win-win opportunity here closer cooperation between Manchester and the UK and India, harnessing the respective strengths.”
Jo Ahmed, Dy Chair , MIP
According to Shehla Hasan,’’ Manchester holds greater potential for Indian companies looking to internationalise, than any other city in the UK. The ecosystem, talent, culture, inclusiveness, the spirit of enterprise, lower costs and great return on investments, makes it a natural magnet for Indian companies of all sizes. The Manchester India Partnership stands ready to support trade and investment and also the cultural, leisure and tourism aspects of the living bridge between Manchester and India.’’
At the summit, the 1st panel session moderated by Jo Ahmed who is also the Global Employer Services Partner at Deloitte, threw light on what the UK & India FTA means for Greater Manchester & India relations. Panellists included: Department of International Trade IT, Director UK Regions – Marian Sudbury OBE, Dr Zubair Hanslot, University of Bolton, Pro Vice Chancellor, PBSI, Managing Director, Mr Philip York and Wockhardt UK, Managing Director, Ravi Limaye.
Tim Newns , CEO, MIDAS
Panellists deliberated, pointing out that the Free Trade Agreement will simplify trade between UK and India; there are a wide range of export opportunities for GM businesses particularly in digital, health and low carbon; Indian students are the 2nd largest group of international students in the UK following China.
Zubair stated that there were plans to increase the current total number of international students from 430.050 to 600,000 by 2023. He also shared that the contribution of these students to the UK economy was a staggering 25 bn£. An interesting observation made was that two sectors showed clear merger – applied engineering and healthcare.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham
The Policy Paper of the Roadmap 2030 clearly envisages expanding cooperation between UK universities in light of India’s New Education Policy, including by agreeing mutual recognition of qualifications before the end of 2021, simplification of the education regulatory framework, embracing online courses, integrating vocational training into mainstream education and greater international collaboration.
Tim Newns, CEO, MIDAS UK, moderated another panel, “What opportunities does the UK government levelling up agenda bring to the GM-India corridor?”
Panelists at Biz Summit
Panellists included Founder & CEO IN4.0 Group & Chief HOST at MCUK, Mo Isap, Head of Brand & Digital Europe, L&T Services –Mr Utkarsh Srivastav, Tata Group. Director of Public Affairs, Alexander Ehmann, Associate Vice President, 42 Gears, Kaushik Sidhu, and Head of Research, GM Chamber – Mr Krishnan-Harihara Subramaniam. Tim set the stage pointing out that exports were massive at 30 percent of GDP which is a clear indicator of growth prospects between the two countries.
Sindhu said: “Manchester is a wonderful cost-effective destination for SME high tech companies such as 42 Gears. The handholding by MIDAS was instrumental in our success in the UK.”
Ehmann added, “The UK India FTA will throw up new sectoral opportunities between the two countries. There is a need to set up new collaborative standards around data.”
Shehla Hasan, Executive Director, MIP
Research scholar Subramaniam elaborated that Manchester was a truly resilient city and it has survived all crises and economic depression as seen earlier in June 1996.
The Policy Paper states that both India and the UK are vibrant democracies and leading economies of the world with impressive advances and capabilities in human resources, manufacturing, innovation, science, education, research, fintech, space, defence, emerging and green technologies, and clean energy among others. Both are suitably placed to bring their respective strengths to address global challenges with regard to climate, security, terrorism and pandemics and believe that democratic norms and principles are the mainstay for maintaining a rules based international system and respect for universal human rights, the ambitious Roadmap is expected to elevate the India-UK relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). The Roadmap will guide cooperation for the next ten years covering all aspects of our multifaceted relations.
Simon Arora, Chairman, MIP
The MIP business summit evoked keen interest among various participants from different sectors who attended it. Diversity and inclusivity aspects were touched upon with equal seriousness. Ravi Limaye’s ambition that companies like his will invest more and create more capacities giving rise to more jobs was an encouraging outcome of the summit.
Vaisakhi 2021 is a free virtual celebration of the first day of Vaisakh. The cultural programme includes music, dance, cookery demonstrations, and a digital exhibition of images of arts and crafts work by members of Indian community, a report by Arundhati Mukherjee
Greater Manchester Bengali Hindu Cultural Association (GMBHCA), a registered charity, has organised a gala event marking the Vaisakhi festival this year. This mega virtual event will be streamed directly from the mcrvaisakhi website and Digital Vaisakhi 2021 Facebook page on 15th May 2021 from 1 pm BST onwards. GMBHCA has been working with communities across Greater Manchester for the last 28 years.
Vaisakhi 2021 is a free virtual celebration of the first day of Vaisakh. The cultural programme includes music, dance, cookery demonstrations, and a digital exhibition of images of arts and crafts work by members of Indian community. This event can be watched via the link: https://mcrvaisakhi.co.uk/
Asst. General Secretary of GMBHCA Alok Bhattacharjee says, “ Our main focus is to include all organisations in Manchester, who represent different states across India. We can overcome this hard time only by being together, staying strong, holding each other’s arms.”
Alok Bhattacharjee
General Secretary of GMBHCA, Dr Bharati Kar has been spearheading this entire mega project and is taking particular care in strictly following all Covid safety protocols during professional studio recording of performances.
Dr Bharati Kar
One of the Entertainment Secretaries of GMBHCA Soma Ghosh says, “Echoing one of Rabindranath Tagore’s songs, we should all welcome this new year with renewed hopes and positivity. May the tragedies of last year be washed away, this Vaisakhi”.
Soma Ghosh
She also says, “Historically speaking, human beings tend to find solace in culture and literature during dark times like this. I believe, this kind of community events have deep rooted positive impact in society at large.”
Successful poet and editor Soma can be seen performing in a unique piece, ‘The face of my Motherland’ along with Rabindrasangeet singer Rishi Banerjee and renowned International dancer Subham Mukherjee in this event.
Subham Mukherjee
Rishi Banerjee
The 5 hour long event will have many such exclusive performances to behold.
Sharmista Bhattacharjee, disciple of Saimak Davar will be performing.
Maitreyee Paul
Tanushree Bhattacharjee
Manchester Vaisakhi event is also going to showcase various traditional art forms.
Vaisakhi (also known as Baisakhi) is a popular festival in Hinduism. It is usually celebrated on 13 or 14 April every year.
The first day of the month of Vaisakh marks the New Year’s Day for Hindus in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other parts of India.
It is regionally known by many names amongst the Hindus, though the festivities and their significance are similar. Vaisakhi coincides with the festival of ‘Vishu’ celebrated in Kerala a day after Vaisakhi. Vaisakhi is marked as Bohag (Rongali) Bihu in Assam and as Pohela Boishakh in Bengal.
In the Punjab, Vaisakhi marks the ripening of the rabi harvest. Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus celebrate it as the harvest festival to rejoice and to thank God for the abundant harvest, and to pray for future prosperity. Sikhism has religious significance. It marks the birth of the Sikh order ‘the Khalsa’ in 1699.
The folk dance, Bhangra, also characterises the harvest festival. Fairs or Melas are held in Punjab, North India, to mark the New Year and the harvesting season.
The event has been sponsored by Awards for All, Lottery Fund, Greater Manchester Guardian Society and Cooperative (Co Op).
TMV 3rd XI (Club – Trafford Metrovics Cricket Club) formerly called the Royals playing in the Cheshire County Cricket League are set to win matches. Rahul Laud tracks their story.
TMV 3rd XI Sunday Division 3 West 2021 comprised of all players of Indian origin has won their First formal Match of 2021 season on 9th May 2021. Parvez Mirza was declared Man of the Match who took 5 wickets against the Widnes Cricket Club and forged his team (TMV) ahead with a 4 wicket win. MMV had got their opponents out earlier at 78 runs. ‘’The current victory has pushed the morale of the team, boosted its confidence and moved the team up the league ladder,’’ said Chanukya Rajagopala, co-founder of the TMV team.’’
The uniqueness of the TMV 3rd XI is that all the players in the team are Indians and all-rounders which is perhaps the only kind of team in the UK. The team comprises of 21 players who are working professionals from IT, Medical and Civil Engineering & Accounting backgrounds. Despite a considerable gap in playing, and although age not on the side of many players the team put in all the required hard work and are match fit. The Pre-Season friendlies gave the team immense confidence and the team has attracted attention of cricket enthusiasts and players
Excited and happy Chanukya who also plays in the team tracks the history of his team. Asked about the launch of his team, he said TMV was first launched as – Trafford Royals in 2018 and later renamed to The Royals in 2019. Co-Founded by him, Kalyan Chukkapalli joined him as the Captain of the team.
The duo had brought together players of Indian origin who have the passion for the game. To kindle the fire in their belly for the game over the last 2 years, Royals Cricket Team have played all forms of cricket; 7 a side Indoor Tennis Ball Cricket to playing competitive cricket with other teams in North West of the UK.
Chanukya elaborates, ‘’the team progressed through various tournaments and their desire to play formal cricket in a professional format increased. The options of launching a new club were considered in 2020, but due to the lengthy process as well as a short season due to pandemic led to second consideration of taking over ailing clubs that require financial investments.’’
It is reported that during the 2020 season, TMV CC invited The Royals for a 3-match series of friendlies. ‘’During these friendly matches, the discussions led to TMV offering Royals to play as the 3rd XI team for TMV from 2021 season, thus heralding Royals team into a formally structured club cricket club as a fully-fledged team, explained Chanukya as to how Royals was transformed into a formal cricketing playing team.
The first season 2021 Fixtures have been released and the recent victory has made the team confident of doing well in the season. The team is confident to progress up the league ladder and end the season 2021 on a winning note.
Team includes:
Dr. Aravind Komuravelli; Dr. Brahma Peram; Mr. Chanukya Rajagopala; Dr. Chetan Upadhyaya Belle; Mr. Kalyan Chukkapalli; Dr. Kiran Chandra; Dr. Kishan Sharma; Dr. Mahesh D Kumar; Mr. Malleswara Reddy; Mr. Naveen Kumar Alwala; Dr. Nishan Bhandary; Mr. Parvez Mirza; Mr. Pradeep Sathyanarayan; Mr. Praveen Pattisapu; Mr. Praveen Tyagi; Mr. Ramakrishna Maddi; Mr. Shailesh Kumar; Dr. Shashi Chandrashekaraiah; Mr. Shivaji Rao Janasalay; Mr. Sreeshylam Pogaku; Mr. Vara Vantapati
Mallika Kumar (17 years) and Nithya Kumar (15 years) from Withington girl’s school, Manchester narrate to Rahul Laud from Asian Lite their plan to provide relief to children in India
A first-person account and sharing by Manchester located students – Mallika Kumar and Nithya – the dynamic sister duo children of Ravi Kumar and Padma is inspiring and encouraging. In a warm tete a tete they say,‘’ In the first phase we aim to collect £10,000 to support the activities of the COVID ChildCare Taskforce. “ COVID ChildCare TaskForce is on an urgent mission to create awareness and provide resources to 10,000 families within 2 months in and around Chennai, the sisters explain. ‘’We are working with over 200 volunteers from Chennai Tricolor Initiative and their task forces to ensure that we are able to assist children and their families in this time of need,’ they add.
As regards the current donation drive, the girls modestly stated, ‘’Funds will be donated to Chennai Tricolor Initiative’s COVID ChildCare Taskforce. The TaskForce aims to provide children and families affected by COVID the resources they require to deal with the pandemic (eg: masks, sanitisers, activity kits to help the child’s mental well-being, etc).
Sisters Nithya and Mallika raise fund
Their fundraiser as on date has raised over £1700. ‘’We hope to reach our goal of £10,000 within the next 2 months to provide for these families, ‘’ the sisters assured. The link to their fund raiser is: COVID CHILDCARE TASKFORCE FUNDRAISER. More information about the fundraiser is also on this page, including a link to the TaskForce website.
Asked as to how did this thought and idea arise? Mallika and Nithya explained, ‘’Being of Indian origin we were devastated by the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on people, specifically children. We’ve experienced a situation within our own family, where we struggled to find hospital beds. We ended up searching the entire city for a hospital bed and were denied access to healthcare by all of them. We are a well-connected family, and despite this, we struggled. That made us think about the millions of people who do not have as many connections, and what their plight is.” Contemplating further they added, ‘’If this is the situation for adults, for whom facilities are inadequately developed over the past year then imagine the case for children. Until now, children were seen as immune to the virus, which led to the system being underprepared in handling this crisis. ‘’
Nithya, Padma, Ravi Kumar and Mallika
Both the sisters have been engaged actively to serve Indian community. ‘’A few years ago, when we lived in India, we set up an organisation called KidsForKids to enable children to help other children in need,‘’ they pointed out. Sharing details of their work, they said, ‘’One of the projects we worked on involved us collecting and selling second hand books. We used the profits generated to fund the PE kits for an underprivileged school. Now that we are remote, we thought the best way to help is to raise funds.’’
The global pandemic has aroused humanitarian values among young and old. Indians deserve help and lives need to be saved is an indisputable fact. Sisters Mallika and Nithya deserve appreciation, support and encouragement.
