The Writer’s Flight

You needn't be a qualified designer or an audio or video editor in order to create top-class content across media. All you need is some savvy technology apps to help you do the job Namrata Kohli   |   New Delhi You can create several static and dynamic graphics and dip into a range of templates to personalise your promos, Instagram post or invitation using certain tech apps. Picture Courtesy: InVideo A Zumba instructor uses Canva to design attractive flyers about her dance events, while a jewellery designer creates enticing visual content of her latest rose gold collection using Snappa. Somewhere else, a restaurateur uses Easil to rustle up a brand new Covid-compliant food menu and a teacher uses Adobe Photoshop to cull out video excerpts of her classes as her personal branding tool. Oh yes, even a housewife launches her cookery show using an app called Desygner to make her logo. None of these people is a qualified designer, or audio or video editor, but all were still ab...

Telemedicine in covid-19 times: You can get to the doctor almost anytime, anywhere, be it on your screen, via voice or plain text for a lower price than in-person consult Namrata Kohli   |   New Delhi Telehealth is bridging the gap between patient and physicians. The physician can now virtually visit the stay-at-home patient and heal from a distance Telemedicine in covid-19 times:  When 37-year-old Priyanka was down with fever and dry cough, she decided to consult a doctor over a WhatsApp call before giving her blood sample for an RT-PCR test. Based on her symptoms, the physician alerted her that it wasn't a mild Covid infection but a moderate one. His diagnosis was confirmed when the test report showed a viral load count of 20. “The massive benefits of telemedicine became evident during the pandemic,” says Priyanka’s doctor, New Delhi-based consultant physician Dr Arvind Kumar. “Everything is about time and if my patients have complications late at ni...

This book is by one of my favourite people of all times, Anupam Kher, inarguably, one of the finest actors of the Indian film industry. At the age of 28, he played the role of 65-year-old man in Saaransh- that too in his debut film. Even today he stands out for his unusual choices of roles, words, thoughts and even his forthrightness and frankness in the crowd of Bollywood where everyone is politically correct . Anupam Kher starts his book with an ode to his mother and gives the reason why he chose this title. A line which his mother Dulari repeated every morning to him when dropping him to school- “Your Best Day is Today.” Needless to say, the positivity stems from his upbringing. He gives voice to everything that we are feeling or have felt and feared during the pandemic. For instance the uncertainty looming large over our lives - “I wasn’t paranoid. I was afraid of the unknown. I wasn’t pondering over how will my tomorrow be rather I was thinking about this unseen, unknown enemy.” ...

The uber rich and corporate exec are buying holiday homes by the hillside, seaside, or retreats closer to their city houses, where they can live and work peacefully amid less noise and pollution Namrata Kohli   |   New Delhi A DLF Samavana house surrounded by pine trees in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. Every plot here is located on a hilltop within the valley. Picture courtesy: DLF N. Santhanam has a pretty stressful job as CEO of Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital. So stressful in fact, that he wasn't quite willing to spend his cherished weekends in maximum city and was exploring pristine properties in areas not too far from Mumbai, where he could unwind and spend quality time with his family. That's when he came across a villa at Kalpataru Amoda Reserve in Lonavala, which he eventually bought. He says, “I was clear I didn’t want to travel 5-6 hours and was keen only on a gated community as it takes care of maintenance, housekeeping and security. One set of keys always remains ...

Corona has slowly but surely changed the conversation from I, me, myself to we, us and ourselves, at least in our headspace after seeing the collateral damage that mankind has had to face. We should now know that only #TogetherWeCan By Namrata Kohli Who cares? I am good, so everything’s good. I give a damn to what others say, feel or act.. this self-indulgence, the self-absorbed attitude that we have harbored for the longest time about 'my home', 'my family', 'my salary', 'my assets', 'my car', 'my bank balance'.. has been turned upon its head.  As you know, it’s no longer about your own food, your own clothes and your own house. It’s about us. Unless we feel for each other, fear for each other, our heart beats for each other- no one can save us.  The pandemic period has illustrated how we are all connected to each other, and now we understand the meaning of collateral damage- how we all have had to pay the price of mistakes of mankind. ...