The Writer’s Flight

Not just the Original Loverboy, Rishi Kapoor was his Original person, who would stand out for his fearless, unabashed and unapologetic views on anything and everything, much unlike the rest of Bollywood that towed a line of political correctness  By Namrata Kohli  He posted a picture of a sale at Zara's ripped jeans and t-shirts with a caption – ‘Buy two get one begging bowl free.’ That’s Rishi Kapoor for you, who will not keep thinking about pleasing brands, lobbies, khandaans and people but do only one thing-  please himself and unapologetically air his views. He later said in an interview,  to be selling torn jeans for Rs 3,000 i s an insult to India where people live in poverty and we should be ashamed as Indians of actually endorsing it. And yet this would never be said with bitterness. On the contrary there was a child-like enthusiasm and a certain abandon in his personality which made him endearing than others. It was a great experience to read his ...

Think out-of-the-box about entering new segments like making villages smart or infrastructure rather than brooding over demand for premium real estate India’s top tier metro cities only: Nitin Gadkari calls for a radical change of approach while addressing the real estate builder fraternity during the Naredco Knowledge Webinar  By Namrata Kohli The Road Transport and Highways Minister shocked everyone at the outset with the statement that he has no dearth of either funds or demand. His ministry has triple the work and the budget runs into several thousand crores. The developers need to work in newer segments where there is real demand and not stick to the old ways. He quoted how automobile maker Mahindra has tweaked its supply to make more tractors rather than ranting about lack of demand for its cars. The corona war we will win but soon after there is an economic war we will have to wage. It can’t be done unless we have the mindset to win and changed ways to business, said Gadkari...

Yale's most popular class ever on Happiness- "The Science Of Well being" got over a million subscribers just in the last four weeks of Covid pandemic. Dr. Laurie Santos is the person behind the blockbuster Happiness course. Her research shows that just as there is post-traumatic stress, there will be post traumatic growth -all this in an exclusive interview with Namrata Kohli In a nutshell, in your own words -what is the science of well being? What is the secret towards unlocking happiness in life? The science of well being is a course on evidence based practices that can help anyone figure out what makes you feel happier. It’s  not usually what we think- money, accolades and success -but it’s taking time for more social connections, changing our habits like including exercise and sleep and even changing our mindset. Being a little more grateful, a little more present are things that really matter for happiness generally, especially so during this time of Covid 19...

Rera Chiefs: “Without much ado, start construction at site except Covid hotspots but be prepared for localised outbreaks” By Namrata Kohli    The issue of starting work at construction sites has been a bone of contention between builders and authorities. In an exclusive webinar with Rera chiefs that took place on Saturday to take stock of real estate and construction industry, developers put forth the main issues they were facing and begun with the stalemate of work at construction sites. “Forget those workers who have left the town, but let us at least start work with those who are at the site,” said Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, National President-NAREDCO, adding that developers have been taking care of "food, medicines, hygiene, and salaries for the month of March and April. But there is a limit to which this can continue. They have been at the site and willing to work but not allowed to. This is ironical." The RERA Chiefs were united in their stance for construction work t...

During the lock down if there is anything that has been unlocked and unleashed it is online learning. The onus to develop and build your career is on you now, says Irwin Anand, MD Udemy India in an exclusive with Namrata Kohli What is most important skill that one needs in order to be successful in today’s job market? The currency, going forward, for people to be successful will be learning and skills. In fact, what we believe is that the key skill for people to be successful in today's job market is the ability to learn and acquire new skills. Do you find an increase in number of registrations at Udemy during lockdown period? Sometimes crisis gets the best out of people. We see doubling of the traffic, users and enrollments not only in India but everywhere in the world. There is three times growth in demand for business skills such as digital media management, stock trading, financial analysis etc and five times surge in hobbies of art, how to play a musical instrument, activitie...

Gem Of An Advice The other day I got a call from a colleague, a publicist, pitching her jewelry brands around the “auspicious festival” of Akshaya Tritiya. Jewelry shopping in times of Covid lockdown? Are you kidding me, I quipped. She said –“Ma’am its Akshaya Tritiya, the most favourable time to invest in precious metals and buy jewelry.” To me, this resonated with that not-so-famous statement made by the queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, who during the French Revolution responded upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread to survive-  “So, let them eat cake”. Luxury today is being able to keep you and your family well fed and looked after. If you manage to find your favourite brand of munchies or sweet savories or lactose free milk, then it’s a celebration. Luxury today is getting to speak with any human being, even if it means a subziwala or a kiryana store shop keeper- the in-person conversation and the face-to-face interaction with ...

A new plasma therapy along with a negative ion therapy claims to have cured Covid 19 patients within a short span of forty-eight hours. How far are we from nailing the solution in India By Namrata Kohli It’s called the Hyperion Plasma Treatment and has been administered successfully to over three thousand patients across China, Germany and UAE. This new treatment is proving to be far more effective than the conventional plasma treatment and is invented by a team of scientists from European Medical Association (EMA), together with Redcliffe Lifesciences and Sapio Analytics. For some time now, doctors have been trying every anti-viral drug and antibiotic combination to treat the Coronavirus infected patients. They then moved towards a non-drug plasma therapy which simply put, uses the serum of plasma from a recovered individual which is then injected into the blood stream of an infected individual. Plasma therapy is nothing new, says Prof. Dr Amina Ather, part of the inventor team- ...

"Address slums first and fast. We are creating communities to be ashamed of. We should be driven by what we can be proud of. Merely pushing a slum outside the city limit to create hi-end housing is not development"- Ratan Tata By Namrata Kohli We need to concern ourselves with the quality of life everywhere and consider urban communities as one- this was the key observation of  Ratan Tata, Chairman, Emeritus, Tata Sons, during CorpGini’s virtual panel discussion on the ‘Future of Design & Construction’. He emphasized on development of the city keeping interests of the poor, as much as the rich. He minced no words in his critical view of city development and urged that there should be a re-examination of what we consider acceptable standards for quality of life. Slum redevelopment must be dealt with and fast. Terming the COVID-19 crisis a wake-up call, Tata urged everyone to consider issues of the poor as being "our" problem and not "their" proble...

People with diabetes are more vulnerable to get the Covid 19 virus over others. Mindful eating and having a simple, nourishing, home-cooked meal is important. C elebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor shares some quick tips and exclusive recipes  with the readers of this blog, TheWriter'sFlight   Diabetics need to plan meals that are rich in protein and complex carbs but low in fat. Include high fibre food like whole wheat, red rice, broken wheat, semolina, oats, ragi, pulses like chana dal and soya bean, leafy veg like methi, spinach and amaranth in your diet. Eat seasonal and fresh food. Replace refined foods in your diet with whole unprocessed foods. I will strongly suggest three ingredients that every diabetic must include in his daily diet: The first is  Fenugreek seeds or methi dana.  They have a high soluble fibre content and an alkaloid called trigonelline which helps keep blood sugar levels in check. Soak a handful of them in water overnight and eat on an empt...

Real estate shows its softer side as good Samaritans. The industry that builds homes is not shying away from building nation and recovering lost ground by handholding stakeholders during the Covid 19 crisis. But there is scope for more By Namrata Kohli No site visits, or booking homes, no one buying or selling homes. On the contrary, the numbers are not looking good, sales are not happening, investor confidence is at all-time low. The Indian real estate, though at its lowest ebb, is acting with responsibility. In projects where people are already living, it is taking care of its residents’ safety and health by following a set of guidelines and safety protocol such as sanitizing lifts, ensuring smooth delivery of grocery and essential commodities for people during lockdown and home quarantine; while developers are also engaging in huge philanthropic exercise, waving off rentals or offering their premises as quarantine facilities. Supertech recently offered a 400 bed space at its U...

There was no legislation on the practice of telemedicine till now in India, but the recent release of guidelines on March 25, 2020 by the Health Ministry plus the Covid 19 pandemic has fast tracked this concept to become reality By Namrata Kohli  India is seeing a new way in which patients seek medical help from doctors and healthcare practitioners. With fear of contracting infections in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic, people are refraining from physically going to the hospitals and are instead consulting their doctors through video, phone and internet-based platforms like web, chat, apps. No wonder then, telemedicine has got a shot in the arm with the likes of Medicity in Gurugram seeing ten times jump in average daily remote consultations while Practo has registered a 100% increase week-on-week, and Portea medical has been receiving 100 COVID-19 related queries a day. Teleconsult is especially popular for lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and chronic endocri...

Covid Crisis is an opportunity to learn and do course correction. We are wiser today than yesterday and we simply can't let these lessons go waste By Namrata Kohli  They say that experience is the best teacher which is always late to school. It is our experience during Covid 19 pandemic, through the "introspective" lockdown phase, that has taught us a thing or two, about what we were doing abysmally wrong. Things we have known forever, but had not committed ourselves too are now threatening our survival in the present and will determine our future. Some of the things that we were forced to implement in our day-to-day life during the lockdown can actually pave the way for a brighter future.  Take the case of Hygiene. Lakhs and crores of money and efforts went into sensitizing Indians towards cleanliness through the Swachchta abhiyan campaign. But the learnings were actualised only with the Covid 19 pandemic. Today we find ourselves spending not minutes, but hours on h...

With home becoming the be-all and end-all of one’s interaction with real estate space during Covid 19 lockdown, one realizes the work-from-home may actually spur a thought movement to work-for-home in the post Covid era By Namrata Kohli  Having a home during Lockdown has been a privilege. As we think of migrant labourers, homeless people on streets, or doctors having to check into hotels, even cars, we can't overemphasize the importance of that space called home. A home lends us identity, preserves dignity and provides shelter and is indeed one of most defining part of our existence.  That part of earth we call our own- home is a haven of peace, privacy, safety where we not just live but this place can perform many other functions too like doubling up as office, school, restaurant, theatre, library, studio. Hence home is no longer restricted to being one's private den only, but an uber dynamic space which is both multidimensional as well as multifunctional. Her...