At first look, the Huawei TalkBand B2 gives a feel of consistency in its design. Unlike most traditional watches and modern smartwatches, where a leaner strap would give way to a bulging device in the middle, the width of both the strap as well as the removable watch face is the same, giving the TalkBand 2 a much lighter look and feel.

In addition, unlike most fitness bands such as the predecessor TalkBand B1, the watch face in the TalkBand B2 bulges out in the middle. The protruding face at the centre will let you pass it off as a traditional watch when it is worn around your wrist.

There is a home button on the right panel of the device, which when pressed will light up the face, revealing Bluetooth connectivity, date and time, as well as the battery status of the gadget. These features are evenly placed on the 0.73 inch P-MOLED display with a black background, giving it a simplistic look. The display is touch-sensitive and lets you swipe through functionalities such as steps tracker, calorie counter, sleep monitor and timer-based running tracker, although the touch sensitivity needs to be more fine-tuned.

The display responded just thrice to every five swipes over a period of time. Also, if you decide to go on a run in bright sunshine, the display will not be as sharp as in home conditions. The TalkBand B2 comes in three variants — silver, black and gold. The silver and gold versions come with a brown leather band and look much more stylish and comforting than the all-black device.

Once connected to my Android smartphone via Bluetooth, the TalkBand B2 displayed remarkable sensitivity to feet movements, counting the number of steps taken precisely, be it in small circles, on stairs, or while walking down a straight road. During an activity, all related functionalities such as steps tracking, counting number of calories burnt, and distance covered by cycling work simultaneously. An added feature allows the display to turn itself on by a slight shake of the wrist, but it wouldn’t work until I had to shake my wrist violently at times.

The sleep monitor also works by the book, although sometimes the number of hours displayed by the gadget didn’t exactly match up with my real-time calculations, varying by an hour or two.

The added Bluetooth functionality, which also lets you connect the device with the Huawei Wear app in a smartphone, will let you take calls as well as listen to music, which you can control from your phone. The head of the gadget can be dismounted from the main body and placed on my ear through a rubber connector, which tucks itself smoothly in the ear’s girth.

One brilliant aspect of the TalkBand B2 is that once it is synced with the app on the smartphone, the gadget will continue to display date and time even when the connectivity is turned off.

The battery with a 95 mAh capacity seems miniscule when compared to smartwatches, but, for its purposes, is more than sufficient. On real time usage, the B2 can run for as long as two straight days with constant Bluetooth connectivity. It can also support incoming calls and music play within this period. The charging function is enabled through a micro-USB port at the rear bottom of the device and is surprisingly quick. A full charge from zero to 100 per cent will usually take three hours to complete.

For those who can live without finding directions, playing games and running apps on their miniscule smartwatch displays, the B2 is a fine device that can let one listen to music, answer calls, check on date and times as well as monitor their sleep patterns and fitness regimen at all times.

While the display needs to be worked on in terms of sensitivity to touch, the gadget could be a lot better if modern technologies such as Wi-Fi connectivity and heartbeat monitor could be incorporated as well. However, the existing functionalities can perform admirably, letting the gadget quietly place itself in your life as smoothly as a smartphone does. Compatibility with both iOS and Android platforms is icing on the cake.

Here's a strong case to support comfort over style - even when it comes to the unmentionables

THE BRITISH SUMMER was almost here and, if I didn’t get my act together, it would be gone before I’d had a chance to air my handful of cotton tops. Winter is a good time to ignore all the bulges and sacks that pass muster for your body, but summer is the season of repentance. Some better-fitting inner wear was definitely in order.

Some physical problems had ensured that I had not indulged myself in that department for some time. No, I cannot give you details; anyway, I spent my physics class in school writing poetry, so I wouldn’t know how to explain the ergonomics of a bra or why my shoulders ache when I wear one.

Well, the upshot was that I decided to go the whole hog and begin with a fitting. Google, Google Talk, Cortana, et al., were unusually unhelpful. Evidently, Swansea is not London, not in terms of options for higher-end innerwear fitting services anyway. So, I settled for the ubiquitous Marks & Spencer and sent up a prayer. Baring my boobs before an audience is not my idea of recreation, I’d never be able to earn my living as a stripper, no, not even in a blubber fetish club. I was, therefore, reassured when the fitting lady turned out to be elderly and well stacked in the upper shelf herself.

‘It’s a terrible burden, isn’t it?’ she murmured sympathetically, as I poured out my requirements, problems and woes, not necessarily in that order, into her comforting-looking bosom. “I used to have heavy ‘uns too.” I had to prop up my jaw with my hand. Used to?, Then gathered myself to ask, “So have you lost a lot of weight?” You may think you’ve seen all the possible renderings of obese auntyjis in Delhi, but the UK can take “obese”, in both auntyji and uncleji avatars, to a whole new dimension when it puts its mind to it. And, oh, it does!

“I had to have a mastectomy,” came the reply. Needless to say, that was the conversation stopper of the century. And definitely not the moment to chip in with my ideas about retractable breasts and how they would transform the world forever. I went home with the first bra she offered me and lived to regret it, in between bursts of brooding on the unfairness of it all. For within me lived this sylph of a girl who wanted airy little confections of lace and silk, with straps and without. And underwear that would not pass for decent street-wear on a bright, sunny day in Swansea. Was this too much to ask?

When in India, I had got used to the salesgirl telling me dismissively, “Madam, aapka size to nahin milega, your size is not available.” Also to grapple with innerwear that Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele would have commandeered without a second thought for their S&M boudoir.

I’d had great hopes of the UK. And, yes, well, they did have stuff in my size, whatever that was, since the one offering I’d brought home was already giving me shoulder pain. But lace? No. Froth? Not a wee bit. Silk? Forget it. I gazed at the aisles and aisles of lingerie on display at various stores. Teal, apricot, blueberry, heather, lime, evergreen, sunset — just the names of the hues promised instant glamour. French lace, Jacquard lace, push-up, balcony, plunge, memory foam, okay that’s stretching it now, I definitely did not need padding. But wasn’t there one out there that would fit both me and my dreams?

After one visit to the store, the husband was quick to bring me down to size. “You wear it inside, right?” he demanded, wiping his brow, which was slick with sweat. You could die of heat stroke in a British store in January. It has been known to happen. “How the hell does it matter?” What would he know? He gets me to order his boxers online. Even those that show under his fashionably threadbare jeans.

I had a friend who, when a relative got her her first M&S bra, jumped up and down shrieking, “I wish I could wear it outside my shirt!” But that was India in the 1980s. This was the UK after Victoria had bared all her secrets. Evidently not for the plus sizes though.

It was around this time that Bollywood decided to take on the weight of obesity in a film that, curiously enough, did pretty well at the box office. It had a young man who is forced to abandon his dreams of a slim bride and obey the family and marry an overweight woman. Needless to say, the suhaag raat is a distant shore for that particular bride. But she is evidently made of more ballast than you would think. So she goes to what looked to be the equivalent of the local “cut-piece” store and asks for a filmi nighty. The salesman squirms in embarrassment, but not because he will now have to say, “Aapka size to nahin milega, madam!’ Said bride is successful and goes home with said seductory garment wrapped in brown paper.

I was stunned into silence by this extravagant flight of the imagination. “Howwww?” was all that emerged. In a country where you can barely get a DD bra, how was this woman even daring to think she could get gauzy night apparel that would ensure a happy culmination of her wedding vows? That too in Haridwar, for God’s sake! Well, that’s Bollywood — nobody said it was known for its realism. And this is my story, so we shall return to it now.

It was the husband who finally had the brainwave. “Why don’t you try a sports bra?” he said. “You need more support, right? And those are supposed to do just that?” I was still feeling sulky after his lack of cooperation at our infructuous store visit, so I did not deign to grace his idea with a reply. But it took root in my mind. And, so, I paid the lingerie department another visit, this time ignoring all the temptations that were laid out in my way, making a beeline, instead, for the sports section. Success! I finally had a bra I could wear without every muscle in the region groaning a protest. And my body profile no longer looked as if the mammaries had slipped into the region of my belly.

As for lace? What lace? I’m too mature to want frivolous come-hither stuff like that. Aren’t I?

The benefits of forming private trusts go beyond tax benefits

How do you ensure the wealth you have made in your lifetime is used properly for the benefit of your loved ones in your absence? While making a Will avoids any dispute over the control of the wealth among the legal beneficiaries, creating a private trust is taking a step further to ensure that your wealth not only benefits its rightful owners, but is also taken care of properly. And if in doing so it also minimises tax liabilities of the beneficiaries, nothing like it.

A private trust can be created by an individual with the purpose of managing her assets — moveable and immovable properties —during her lifetime and afterwards.

One can create a trust by identifying the assets/ properties to be managed, specifying the purpose and beneficiaries of the trust and appointing one or more trustees to manage the property.

The purpose of creating a trust can vary from ensuring proper care and maintenance of minor children of the owner of the property after her death, or retirement of a particular debt from theincome of the property transferred, to the trust, to the most significant of all — lowering of tax liabilities.

Private trusts offer flexibility to a person to structure it (with specific clauses) as per her convenience. It can be revocable or irrevocable. In the former, the creator continues to have control over the trust, while in the latter the creator of the trust foregoes the ownership of the property. An irrevocable trust shields the property transferred to the trust from claim of creditors, or any other claims arising out of a legal battle that the creator of the trust has lost.

TAXATION OF PRIVATE TRUSTS

Taxation of trust’s income depends on the structure of the trust. In case of determinate (or specific) trusts, where the quantum of benefit from the trust to each beneficiary is clearly specified, the income is taxable in the hand of each beneficiary. For instance, a man wants the income from his trust to be equally divided among his wife, two sons and a daughter. In case of discretionary trust, where the income of beneficiaries is not specified, the entire income is taxed in the hand of the trustee.

If the trust makes business income, the entire amount is taxed in the hand of trustee at the maximum income tax rate applicable for individuals, that is, 30 per cent +3 per cent education cess, except in case of a trust created through the will of the owner of assets with the sole purpose of maintenance of the dependents of the owner of the trust’s assets, and that the dependents are not the beneficiaries of any other such trusts.

As far as taxability of the creator of trust is concerned, if a trust is revocable, the income from the trust is taxable in her hands. In case of irrevocable trust, she is not liable to pay any tax. However, if due to death of the beneficiary the trust gets annulled, the property under the trust comes back to the creator of the trust and is liable to pay tax on income from the property.

TAX BENEFITS OF TRUSTS

Although the removal of wealth tax and restriction on the application of gift tax has taken the sheen out of trusts as far as their utility for the purpose of tax saving is concerned, they can still be an effective tool for managing incidences of tax. Let’s look at some of the ways in which one can save tax through trusts:

Avoiding clubbing of income: Trusts allow a family to distribute the income earned from trust assets among beneficiaries who are family members. This structure help the family avoid clubbing of income and thus avoiding paying tax at higher a rate. Each beneficiary would pay tax at individual tax rates, which can be lower than that in case of clubbing. For instance, income from assets of a trust during a particular financial year is Rs 40 lakh, which is distributed equally among five beneficiaries, who happen to be family members. Each beneficiary gets Rs eight lakh, and considering this is their only income during the year, the maximum applicable tax rate is 20 per cent.

If not for the trust, the creator of the trust would have to pay a maximum rate of 30 per cent on the total income of Rs 40 lakh. Keeping the income below the threshold level: In case of discretionary trust, where the income of beneficiaries are not clearly mentioned and depends on the discretion of the trustee, the income from the trust can be kept below the threshold level over which income tax is applicable. Transferring property through trusts: Creating a trust for future transfer of wealth and property to minors is a common practice among high net worth individuals. This is more out of tax consideration than anything else.

In case of irrevocable trust, the transfer of property to the beneficiary (who was a minor) upon becoming a major would not taxed for any capital gains.

No additional taxes: Unlike companies, trusts are not liable to pay taxes such as dividend distribution tax or minimum alternate tax. Therefore, any income arising out of the trust and availed by the beneficiaries are not liable to pay these additional taxes.

MISUSE OF TRUSTS

Trusts are an effective tool for minimising tax liabilities, and it is within the realm of law to avail such benefits. However, not all trusts are run in the most legal ways. Trusts are often created in a much complex manner to, at times, confuse the tax department and evade tax.

However, the tax and revenue department is getting smarter, and if one is indulging in excessive misuse of trusts for tax evasion, it is likely that the law would catch her one day. Therefore, make the most of what is provided for by the law and not try to take undue advantages of the loopholes.

Apart from a strong and toned body, aerial silks also gives you a chance to try out something that is new and different

Until sometime ago, we saw aerial acts only in circuses or maybe high-end musicals. Now aerial silk performances have become fairly common in dance shows and competitions on stage.

It’s not just about the beauty and aesthetics of it, however. Aerial silk workouts have also gained popularity and attention for its health benefits. While it seems unusual, looks mystic and challenging, it also gives you an exhilarating experience of flying in the air. This workout also requires us to use muscles that we seldom move in other workouts. For instance, women usually do not focus on upper-body workouts and shy away from push-ups and heavy bench-press. Aerial silk, however, requires good strength of upper body and core. The result: a strong and toned body.

Also known as aerial fabric, aerial tissue, aerial ribbon, aerial curtain, aerial rope, aerial sling, and aerial net, this is an incredibly demanding art form that requires a high degree of strength, power, flexibility, courage, and grace to master. Aerial silk artists climb, twist, spin, drop, and contort themselves on fabric curtain sheets that hang from the ceiling.

The beauty of the silky material wrapping around the aerialists body is matched only by the breathtaking courage it takes to be suspended several feet above the ground.

Aerial work is a highly intense fitness programme. So expect to be sore after class, which could last twothree days, and typically occurs in the fingers, forearms, back, and abs. If it lasts longer than five days, consider taking a break until completely healed. Even if new students are in good shape, as with any new movement practice, they will probably still experience soreness.

Aerial work is a unique fitness programme because it introduces the body to the instability of suspension. The body must strengthen all the tiny stabiliser muscles that don’t usually get used. Expect to experience soreness regularly after class for about four to six weeks. Calluses are also normal on palms and fingers.

Aerial silk workout might appear daunting initially, but a good trainer can make you progress easily and gradually. You do not start climbing from day one. There are excellent exercises to initiate you on silk and help you develop skills and strength.

You don’t need any experience to be able to give aerial silks a go. There are tricks and exercises for people of all levels and teachers structure each session so that you can progress.

Aerial silks works pretty much every muscle in the body. Your arms — wrists, forearms, biceps, triceps and shoulders, all get a workout — legs, quads, adductors and abductors, calves and ankles. Aerial silks is also an amazing workout for your back and your abdominals and it strengthens your core as you work.

It is worth mentioning here that the technology to create synthetic fabrics strong enough to hold the incredible amounts of weight of high impact drops has only been around for less than 50 years. Aerial arts are a potentially dangerous activity involving acrobatic work at various heights. The most common injuries are those from overuse of shoulders and back, pulled muscles, bruises, fabric-burns, and dizziness/ nausea (from upside-down or spinning). Possible risks include, but are not limited to, sprains, broken bones, paralysis or even death. Students agree to participate at their own risk.

Thus, it is crucial students take classes only from professional aerial trainers. Aerial arts involve complex wraps and positions, that if executed incorrectly or slightly off could have major consequences including falling out of the air. Do not try to learn from YouTube or people who are not qualified professionals. Unsafe aerial instruction can result in paralysis or death.

With nearly 1,000 monastic centres and millions of followers worldwide, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1000-year-old Drukpa Order has one aim — to promote universal harmony and inner peace

How do you remain of the world, and yet be untouched by it? Be a monk at heart, yet understand the pressing issues of the current times? How do you understand traditions, yet embrace modern practices like an excited youngster? But maybe when you are an evolved spiritual leader, it all flows easy, just like the mountain air that he breathes in every day.

For His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1000-year-old Drukpa Order based in the Himalayas, with around 1,000 monastic centres and millions of followers worldwide, shows the depth and serenity of the scenic Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh. For not too far from it is the awardwinning Druk White Lotus School, which provides its students with a modern education, while preserving their local culture. And the school does exactly what it shows in the movie 3 Idiots.

Ask His holiness about the school and his love for it reflects on his face. “Modern education is very important to equip children with necessary skills to live in the modern world. However, this must be rooted in their own culture and tradition, which have a specific connection with spirituality, a respect to nature as well as a positive attitude towards their families and other beings — education on interdependence of all things and all beings,” he says adding how this kind of education on the interdependence seems to be lacking in modern education. According to him, this may prove to be dangerous later on as children grow up. “Selfish attitude is normally the result of failure of understanding such interdependence,” he says.

such interdependence,” he says. But the school is just one of the many things that he puts his energies into.

Eight years back, His Holiness found a call that he felt had to be answered. And that was the birth of international NGO Live to Love. Ask him what motivated him to start it and he explains gently, “It was initially an in-house concept for me to motivate myself and my followers to come out of their comfortable meditation rooms and ashrams so that we can interact with others.”

The idea of Live to Love, he adds, is simply compassion in action. “I decided to call it Live to Love because it is easy to remember and understand. ‘Live’ is a continuous progress of living and ‘love’ is a positive way to interact with others. Live to Love basically carries the message of a continuous positive way to interact with others”.

The work that began in 2007 with schools and communities gradually expanded to include involvement of general public. For instance, Live to Love’s annual month-long Eco Pad Yatra, where members pick up non-biodegradable garbage on the way, has become an international event. The oranisation’s education programme, which includes schools and talks about gender equality, too, has caught the attention of the public through students’ academic and extracurricular achievements. In the past years, Live to Love has organised medical camps, a million-tree planting initiative, relief aid in disaster-struck areas and supporting museums in the Himalayas.

Today, the NGO works in five different areas (education, environmental sustainability, medical, relief aid, and heritage preservation) and has brand ambassadors such as Aamir Khan, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Reis. They not just participate in the NGO’s work but also help to promote and raise funds and awareness, besides donating to the different projects.

And although Live to Love works in several areas, environmental sustainability is the closest to His Holiness’ heart. “Natural disasters are taking place not because they are ‘natural’; they are results of manmade carelessness and unending greed. We have been abusing our environment for far too long,” he says. His Holiness feels it is time for us to heal the environment through reducing our reliance on non-biodegradable products so that such wastage is minimized; through planting trees; using green energy; and being vegetarians, amongst others.

What is also fascinating is his clarity of thought on how he wants to see positive changes in things around him.

That said, however, he has had his share of struggles. Take, for instance, the fact that he was taken away from his parents and sent to Darjeeling when he was all of four, when it was found that he was a reincarnate child.

The life of a reincarnate teacher, he says, is quite challenging.

Not only because of the responsibilities of taking care of monasteries, monks, nuns and lay devotees, but also because of the need to go under strict training at a young age, away from parents, almost alone. “There was no childhood. I can even say that you become an instant adult with responsibilities from centuries or lifetimes the minute you are recognised.”

The difficult training started when he was between five and 13 years. The Holiness had eight tutors who were extremely strict and demanding and he had to learn alone, without any company. “I remember being beaten so much once that I fainted. There are high standards for a reincarnate child to abide by, including mannerisms and studies,” he shares.

What is interesting is that His Holiness’ parents did all they could to keep him under wraps. “They were so worried that I would be recognised as a reincarnate guru that they never stayed long at one place. So apprehensive were they of my being recognised that they dressed me in grey or dark coloured clothes and never allowed me to wear any red or yellow dress,” he shares. The couple was able to carry on the evasive act for over three years. But like they say, a vessel can hold water but no vessel can hold gossip.

The young boy showed special signs from early on. “I remember wherever there was a table, I liked to climb on it and sit cross-legged on it. As they say, ‘The goat and guru like high places’. At that time I didn’t have the title of a guru but it seems I had the mind of a guru. I also liked to place my hand on the head of people and pretend to bless them. Some humble people would act like they were receiving blessing and when others did not do so I would wonder why they didn’t take blessing. When I think back, it seems I had an inborn faith in something called blessing. I also remember having a small inherent thought of helping others,” he says.

Years rolled by and the little boy grew into a young teacher with a clear mind. Today His Holiness travels extensively to many parts of the world to conduct spiritual discourses and retreats. Ask him about the turning point in his life and he says, “There have been many, but the most significant one is the realisation that compassion, loving-kindness and all these beautiful concepts should be transformed into actions, instead of leaving them as just beautiful thoughts and intentions.”

To balance the emotional, spiritual and practical, he has a simple formula. “Living in the present helps to balance everything in life. I try not to think about the past, nor worry about the future.”

Talking of the present, His Holiness firmly believes that the world needs to see the interconnectivity of everything. For instance, if we realise that by polluting the air, we will all end up having no fresh air and eventually getting sick, what use would be earning lots of money through such pollution? “Peace, harmony, happiness, and joy — all these come from a genuine understanding of interconnectivity and practice of respect and appreciation,” he feels.

When he travels the world, interacts with different people, he has one important message to share, “Be happy about what you have, don’t complain about what you don’t have. Be understanding, kind and appreciative of everything, including the difficult experiences, because the process of life is learning and a great chance to enrich oneself.”

You can’t speak to a spiritual guru and not ask him the secret to happiness. “Real happiness comes from enjoying and appreciating the process of life. Happiness is not a goal to be achieved, if you look for happiness as a goal, you are looking at the wrong place. Happiness is a process,” he says.

Food for thought, we say!

In the international arena, only pursuing one's vital interests will eventually matter

PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi’s much publicised visit to the Peoples Republic of China in May 2015 was termed “more in style but less in content”. The description, perhaps, underplayed the level of unhappiness amongst the cognoscenti. It couched the rising distrust of China.

Let me say that the Indian wariness of the Chinese attitudes had taken root during the six decades before the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India in September 2014. Xi became the first Chinese leader since Zhou Enlai to be feted at a civic reception. The relations, which “nosedived after the 1962 war”, had apparently improved in later years but not to extent where an Indian leader would make a public show of engagement with an antagonistic or perhaps a recalcitrant and intimidating neighbour.

But the public display of warmth and the chemistry between the two leaders looked quite evident even as they chatted continuously and looked relaxed in each other’s company during the visit to the Gandhi Ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati, and later reveled in a walk down the beautifully decorated riverfront. With “Gujarati culture and cuisine” it was bonhomie at its optimum. It was, perhaps, in keeping with the calculus of the new government at the Centre.

However, it was here that an explosion of sorts had erupted at the borders when the Chinese troops tried to force their way in, and the Indian troops confronted them. That was the infamous Chumar incident. The Chinese had allowed the incident to take its course whilst the Chinese head of state was in India and the belligerent posturing seemed to culminate with his departure. A well-known strategic affairs analyst commenting on the incident in his own high TRP media channel had tried to minimise the negative import of the incident by bringing out that after returning to Bejing, Xi, in his capacity as the chairman of the Chinese Military Commission had seemingly berated his army brass and even sacked the local army commander responsible for the incident. Incredulously, however, one could not obtain a corroboration of this news from other reliable sources, including the Chinese news agencies, leaving us no option but to conclude that the channel was doing the Indian government's bidding to play down the event. But China’s subtle message was not lost on India.

Within eight months, the Indian prime minister had trooped down to Beijing on a reciprocal visit. He first reached Xian, Xi’s hometown, the famous tourist town that showcases the terracotta warriors and where the famous Buddhist monk Hiuen Tsang spent his last years after his return from India some 2,000 years ago. This was essentially a suave demonstration by the Chinese visit planners to regenerate “bonhomie”.

Beyond this, the Indian PM’s visit reeked of a trade and commerce excursion and it was claimed that business was the main focus, with some emphasis on balance of payments. To summarise, the two countries signed an omnibus of 24 agreements covering: setting up new consulates; promoting skill development and entrepreneurship with setting up the Mahatma Gandhi Skill Institute in Ahmedabad; a mechanism for trade agreement; cooperation between India’s external affairs ministry and the Chinese Communist Party; cooperation between the railways of two countries; education exchange programme; cooperation in mining and mineral sectors; cooperation in matters of space; protocol on health and safety in rapeseed meal; relationship between Doorsarshan and its Chinese counterpart; agreement between tourism department of two countries; MoU on establishing India- China thinktank forum; MoU between India’s Niti Aayog and China’s Development Research Centre; cooperation in the field of earthquake sciences and engineering — oceans studies and climate change, geological surveys; establishment of state provincial leader’s forum; agreements on sister city relations between Chennai and Chongking-Hyderabad and Quingdao Aurangabad and Dunhuan; and MoUs for establishing Gandhian and Yoga studies in Chinese universities at Fudan and Yunnan Minzu, respectively.

Over and above , an Indian business delegation that had accompanied the PM signed deals with Chinese firms on renewable energy, solar cell and module manufacturing, offshore delivery centre in Dalian, telecom equipment, credit facility with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, integrated industrial park in SEZs, financing of power plant, sister port relationship, development of potential steel projects, solar power, industrial park in Kakinanda SEZ for high-end Chinese equipment manufacture, China-India Information Service Corridor Design Group and at least 10 more deals on equipment and technology.

But the biggest paradox of the visit from the Indian delegation was it shutting eyes to the severely problematic border issue, the construction of China-Pakistan express highway on Indian territory ceded by Pakistan to China, the issue of stapled visas to Indian nationals in Jammu and Kashmir, and lately, maritime forays into the Indian Ocean. The Chinese actions are, on a large number of issues, patently hostile in addition to border issues, the latest being a stern advice to Indian government received days after Indian PM’s return to India, to obtain Chinese concurrence before setting up offshore drilling facilities in Vietnamese waters off the South China Sea.

There was no indication in the public domain whether any or some of these nationally vital issues of Indian sovereignty were taken up by the Indian delegation, except for the PM sounding conciliatory in his speech during which he chose to remind the Chinese leadership of mutually-beneficial logic in resolving issues. In the overall assessment, we seemed as traders wanting to benefit from the Chinese progress. But this kind of support was possible from several Indian friends in the US, Europe and Russia for that matter, and which we did not take up in the past.

India, it appears, is reveling in an atmosphere of conniving bonhomie and using that as the tool for international relationships. Unless there is a strong belief that if India and China were to build stakes within each other, then there are greater prospects of resolving existing issues. But what seems to have been lost sight of is that in international relations, only pursuing one’s vital interests will eventually matter and they must be given primacy.

Discovery of high amounts of lead led to the ban of India’s favourite noodles, Maggi. Will it bring about a lifestyle change in consumers? Is Maggi the only evil in the market?

ajay ahluWalia// I have personally never liked Maggi — and although I’ve worked on the brand as well as others in the Nestle portfolio, I’ve never endorsed it to anyone.

Yet strangely enough, much as I personally dislike the product and what it stands for, I’m ending up sort of defending both the brand, as well as the company. The problem with the Maggi controversy is that it rakes up too many issues across too many levels.

I mean, one fine day the government wakes up, says it’s found lead in the product, and proceeds to ban it and threatens to sue the company, citing (really?) common good. Everybody jumps on, and suddenly Maggi is a bad word.

But hang on. Let’s pause for a few questions first. Have Maggi and Nestle been systemically poisoning the Indian population for the many, many years they’ve been around? Are they doing so, and have been doing so, across products? Or — if at all high levels of lead were found — was it a mistake? A lapse of systems and quality checks? Negligence, perhaps?If what will be a first then, Maggi and Nestle are part of an evil international conspiracy, and they deserve to be burnt at the stake/ crucified/ fed Maggi to death and so on.

If it’s the second, then they’re guilty — not of being evil, but of being daft.

For instance, let’s say I have a cook who has been with me for years, and one day I find the rotis taste of insect spray. A few questions arise: Has she been filling us with insecticide for years?

Have I been asleep that I didn’t bother checking all this while?

Or was she just careless when she cooked over an area she’d sprayed without cleaning properly? Should I just shoot her first and ask questions later, if at all? Or should I first figure out what happened, why it happened, and then take appropriate steps to deal with it — and ensure it doesn’t happen again, either by her or by anyone else (institute best practices)?

And even if I respond like a fool, should other people in the house start condemning her and brand her a villain — or should one or all of them try to get to the bottom of it and help me back to the shores of sanity?

The actors in the narrative above are: the maid in place of Maggi; the government in place of me; and the media in place of “others in the house”.

Why has the media not taken samples of Maggi, packed it off to high-end labs across the world, and got their own reports? Why have they not dug out old, expired packs from some distributor and done the same with them? I can’t do that — I don’t have the resources — but the media can. At one shot, we’d have figured whether this was a one-off, isolated incident due to a process failure, or a systemic malpractice.

Are the media mere reporters of gossip? What happened to investigative journalism?

And what happened to the theory of innocent-untilproven- guilty?

Most important is the role of the government. It cannot act in a knee-jerk manner; it has a fiduciary duty to the people and needs to behave in a sensible, consistent, thought-through manner.

Has the government not been monitoring the quality of Nestle’s products until now? If they haven’t, they’re as guilty of negligence as Nestle would be if they’ve failed quality processes.

Does the government monitor ALL other products? What about the cups and saucers and plates you use? Have they been tested for lead content? Or melamine? What about the sweets you eat? The ice creams? What about toxic chemicals in your day-to-day food?

Why isn’t the government monitoring those, banning those, making a huge hue and cry about them? Why is the media silent?

If Nestle is guilty, then they should be punished — appropriately — depending upon the nature of guilt.

But then, so should everyone else — including the vendors and manufacturers selling local, low-quality ice cream and products to poor children outside their schools.

The law has to apply, yes. But equally. Anything else smacks of subterfuge, intrigue, or just plain stupidity and double standards.

Sonia bajaj// I completely support the recent ban on Maggi and feel it was high time it happened, especially after the revelations about the product. The noodles, arguably the nation’s favourite quick and easy-to-make snack, are plain unhealthy. This ban will enable and encourage healthy food choices among people and will make them pay attention to what they put into their bodies.

I personally feel the nationwide phenomenon that is Maggi had slowly turned into an addiction for kids over time. The more they ate it, the more they wanted it. As a mother, I too faced a situation where my two sons would coax me to let them have Maggi instead of proper wholesome food. I obviously could not make them stop eating it altogether but I made sure it doesn’t replace their meals. Food products such as Maggi are a treat, and should not be part of your everyday diet.

In our fast lives, we tend to depend hugely on packaged food to gain time. But we are missing the point here. Quick food isn’t always healthy food.

Packaged foods such as the 2-minute noodles contain huge amounts of preservatives. The nutrition tables on the back of these packets, according to me, are marketing gimmicks. Just statistics decorated to sell. Once you see that the list of ingredients on the packet includes preservatives, be sure the nutritional values it claims to have has no value. The nutrients are pretty much killed by the added MSG and preservatives. What stays back are the calories and fats that hardly do you any good.

Consumers of packaged foods must understand the ways in which these edibles are harming our body. The preservatives not only eliminate nutritional values, they affect our brain. Too much intake leads to depression among adults and turns children into hyperactive freaks. They also clog our arteries and may cause many different cancers. Also, the fact that the base ingredient in these noodle cakes is maida (wheat flour) seems to slip people’s attention. Maida makes you obese, and all major bodily disorders and joint problems are caused by obesity. Arthritis, osteoporosis and depression are all results of heavy and uncontrolled intake of the ingredient.

What really sets me off about the issue is that celebrities endorse products such as these without full knowledge of what they are endorsing. As role models to the society, isn’t it their moral responsibility to at least know what it is that they are going to endorse? Before encouraging people to consume a certain product, isn’t it necessary to find out everything there is to know about it? I personally feel these celebrities are cheating on the consumer.

While on one hand we say consumption of products such as tobacco is harmful and causes cancer, on the other hand we have celebrities endorsing all kinds of pan masala brands. How are we supposed to police people on their food preferences when personalities who they look up to lead them down such lanes?

As humans, we are attracted to anything and everything. And it is alright to be. Enjoyment is our right, no matter how we do it. Alcohol, cigarettes or Maggi, you will consume what you want, and no one can stop you. When we were children, we were taught that anything in excess is bad. But as grownups, we seem to be forgetting that and give in to temptation, one time too many. Having products such as Maggi, which contain certain amount of harmful ingredients, once a while, is fine, but let us try and not make it part of our lifestyle. Let us try and live healthier and longer lives. And that will start with a choice, which won’t be Maggi.

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif answers the prime minister’s call for a cleaner nation

Best remembered for his never-say-die attitude, amazing commitment and desire to be the best, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif is an inspiration to the current crop of youngsters, who strive to replicate his efforts on the pitch. His assault on the England bowlers at Lord’s in the 2002 Natwest Trophy Final, when the bulk of Indian cricket fans had switched off their TV sets, has long since been embedded into cricketing folklore and was the reason why the skipper Sourav Ganguly shed his famed shirt on the balcony of Lord’s waving it wildly in celebration.

Before India’s recent World Cup triumphs in both T20 and 50-over formats, that match at Lord’s was perennially the benchmark of what India could achieve on the cricketing field, if only we put our faith in ourselves and refuse to quit.

It is character traits such as these that Kaif is looking to bring to his new profession, and while this cricketer-turned-politician might have struggled in his first innings in Indian politics, losing heavily in his attempt to be elected to Parliament in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it is unlikely it will be his last.

SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN

On October 2, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Clean India Mission, or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, at Rajghat, with the aim to make India a cleaner nation in time for Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, in 2019.

An ambitious project, the prime minister knows that no one man can champion such a cause in a nation of more than a billion people. So, he has used his travels to different states as an opportunity to nominate local champions who can take forward the cause in their own domains of influence.

In November 2014, on his visit to Uttar Pradesh, Modi nominated eight celebrities to lead the way for the state, including Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, actor Manoj Tiwari, singer Kailash Kher, and cricketers Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina, amongst others.

THE CALL TO SERVE

Kaif was delighted to answer the prime minister’s call to arms and shared that it was an honour for him to be nominated for such a service. The 34- year-old added that fitness, which has been his mantra for success over the years, hygiene and cleanliness go hand in hand, and it was indeed a pleasure for him to be selected to do something to improve conditions in his home state of Uttar Pradesh.

In May this year, Kaif put his plan into action, teaming up with more than 300 school children from Hoshiyarpur village to lead a local cleanliness drive. The children, belonging to a school for the underprivileged run by Om Foundation, worked tirelessly to clean the adjoining areas around their school and to spread awareness to ensure open spaces are no longer used as dumping grounds for garbage and mulva. Kaif shared he feels a responsibility towards members of all strata of society, and that rural areas need just as much attention as the rest of the country when it comes to cleanliness.

In addition to being hands-on during the cleanliness drive, Kaif also conducted a workshop for the children where he spoke about the importance of personal hygiene and stressed on the principles of WASH — water, sanitation and hygiene.

Kaif knows that India’s youth is our most valuable asset and the success or failure of any venture needs to start with them. While many hands can come together to achieve success in a cleanliness drive, maintaining a clean and healthy environment must be the responsibility of each individual, and the more individuals who pledge themselves to such a cause, the greater likelihood we will have of achieving a Clean India by 2019. With this in mind, Kaif sought a commitment from the students he interacted with towards making cleanliness a way of life, and not just a one-time activity.

PAY IT FORWARD

Kaif also took his cue from the prime minister’s approach to nominate people across domains to do their bit to champion the Clean India Mission. He picked some of his fellow cricketers to pitch in, namely Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra, in addition to Indian hockey superstar Danish Mujtaba, wrestler Geeta Phogat, singer Sunidhi Chauhan and actress Parineeti Chopra.

Kaif also chose to nominate an organisation he has long been associated with, Responsenet, which specifically works towards poverty alleviation through food security, in the NCR region.

THE ROAD AHEAD

For Kaif, this is just the beginning with regards to the Clean India Mission. With fitness a core element of his life’s work post-retirement, the cricketer hopes to leverage the opportunity he gets to interact with people across the country to take his specific brand of Clean India, national. Kaif also encourages everyone he meets to push themselves to be physically fit, for which it is imperative they keep their surroundings clean and hygienic. Kaif added, “As an athlete, fitness is pivotal to my success and I believe cleanliness and basic hygiene plays a crucial role. I would like to help spread the message of cleanliness and hygiene for all and urge everyone to keep their surroundings clean for a fit and healthy life.”

He added it was important to keep the early momentum gained by the Clean India Mission going, and with the help of the government, concerned individuals and youth champions, it is definitely possible to achieve a Clean India by 2019.

Seema Kohli’s art is a journey into self-discovery with the artist undertaking a journey that is motivating, relevant and communicative

We are in the middle of our conversation when Seema Kohli, one of India’s best known contemporary artists, narrates a story. It was at a time when she was in Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery where she once encountered a lady who spent hours looking at the artworks in the gallery. Kohli, out of curiosity, went to her and asked pointblank: “Do you understand any of the works on display?” The woman, eyes blinking, replied nonchalantly, “Maybe not. But I like the colours. I come here every day before taking my bus to work. Somehow, looking at these different artworks on display makes my day, leaves me feeling refreshed.”

The episode opened Kohli’s eyes to a brand new perspective — how different viewers choose to engage with artworks on display by artists in their own unique ways. For an artist who, through her rich repertoire, has always tried to explore a journey of “self”, this encounter with a simple, middle-class Mumbaikar showed Kohli how visual art had the ability and power to touch the lives of people deeply.

So what exactly is self-exploration for Kohli and when did this journey into the world of art begin? She knows it started early. “My family,” says Kohli, who has her forthcoming show in London in the next three months, “gave me a context to discover myself.” Her father, in particular, encouraged her.

“When I drew a bird,” she says, “it was already flying in my head.” It was, as she quips, her first encounter with The Moving Picture. The cosmic connections, the path of spirituality, the entire universe and the interconnectedness of everyone and everything, these issues were throbbing in Kohli’s mind and getting translated on canvas. “Through art, the more I thought about things, the more I was able to capture,” says the artist, a student of philosophy from Delhi University who would later finish her diploma in fine arts from South Delhi Polytechnic for Women, Delhi.

Concerned about the grim realities of life — the patriarchal society we live in, the attitude towards women being seen as weaker beings even today, the terribly unsafe environment — Seema’s leitmotif, the golden womb (Hiranyagarbha) — thus, began with the vision to celebrate the female form, its energy and the balance of both, the male and the female form that unifies the entire universe. Well-known curator Alka Pande, describing Kohli’s work, once wrote: “The Golden Womb is a celebration through which the supremacy of a female is established and how she procreates and keeps the journey of life, forever on. Her (Seema Kohli’s) work is symbolic of the progress and recycling of thought processes in the human mind, which is being seen as calmer, more mature and more serene, both in terms of palette and form. All her works are a gesture of the divine, a prayer to the eternal self, a way of mediation.”

“Ideologically,” says the artist who engages with art for a philosophical enquiry of life, “we are all in a womb… This conversation between you and me,” says Kohli who, through the visual language of art, tries to grasp the metaphysical truth of existence, “is also happening in a womb. From what you and I share in this moment of time, which is ensconced in a cosmic energy, there will be an idea that will emerge. There will be an exchange of an idea between us, through this conversation and from this idea, this talk, there will be something larger that will eventually emerge.”

Be it her paintings, sculptures, installations or videos, the aspect of continuity, awareness and public involvement is critical. A contemporary chronicler of the ancient myths and mythological figures of India, Kohli explores various themes, particularly spirituality and feminism, even though she finds it hard to be categorised or slotted in genres. “Art,” she says, “after all, is art.”

Deeply meditative, Kohli’s works, at first glance, burst with colour and sensuous compositions — a contemporary take on the fantastical world of stories, myths and legends. Employing the fundamental tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism and Greek mythology, Kohli’s works need to be meditated upon. A visual storyteller, she weaves stories that are deeply personal but have a universal appeal at the same time.

One look at Kohli’s bronze work, The Rise of the Kundalini and you know what she means. In yogic theory, “rising kundalini” is the ultimate balance of chakras, which leads to enlightenment, bliss and awakening; think of a serpent lying coiled at the base of the spine, as this yogic theory explains, waiting to be awakened.

“My images grow with me, they converse and communicate, they are beings,” Kohli explains. Is there a way she defines her work? She ponders: “My work is uniquely my own… with expressions that are global. I am purely an artist — nothing more or less, neither woman nor man, neither ancient nor contemporary, inhabiting a universal consciousness and geography. For me, the process of art is about shedding all known prejudices, or labels.”

Invaluable lessons from women who changed the rules of the game at workplace

THE PROVERBIAL glass ceiling has already been broken in India — be it banking, law, media, advertising, government services, healthcare and what have you. But as the pioneers of this movement would like to tell you, nothing comes easy. From institutionalised gender discrimination, to walking the extra mile, from struggling to maintain work-life balance, to dealing with their male subordinates, all of them had to work much harder than men to succeed.

Roopa Kudva, the former CEO of CRISIL, describes her visits to the sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh and the prejudices she’d confront against women in finance. Kaku Nakhate, president and country head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, speaks of how difficult it was to get clients in the stock-broking sector to listen to her, since they weren’t used to receiving investment advice from women. Meher Pudumjee, the chairperson and director of Thermax Ltd, describes instances when on answering the telephone, callers would repeat their request to be connected to a salesperson — presuming that an engineering manufacturing company would have a male salesman.

And Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, as a woman entrepreneur in pre-liberalisation India, would constantly face the glass ceiling as no one would loan her money or work with her.

These inimitable voices of Indian women who have been sentinels in their respective domains and led large organizations, form a part of a new book, 30 Women in Power: Their Voices, Their Stories, edited by Naina Lal Kidwai, executive director on the board of HSBC Asia-Pacific, and chairman of HSBC India. Through honest and contemplative revelations, these leading ladies answer questions that confront all working women — from how best to balance the personal and professional to how to dismantle gender biases. Equally, the essayists consider seminal issues that concern every committed professional, man or woman: What are the qualities that define a leader? Where does one find a mentor? What ingredients make for the perfect success recipe?

In these narratives — told up, close and personal — the women achievers speak of the guiding principles that have held them in good stead, the role models who have anchored them, .them, childhood influences that have shaped their values, and the interests outside the world of work that have revitalised them. Coming from all walks of life, these empowered women discuss their many successes and their dreams for the future. Yet, they also venture to disclose the setbacks that have preceded hard-won conquests, the barriers, psychological or otherwise, which may have held them back at certain points and the compromises they’ve had to make to reach the top.

Through the essays, Kidwai tries to point out six keys to success. While passion is essential, Kidwai highlights that ambition is not necessarily bad. Humility is a hallmark of success and every woman in this book has admitted to being humbled by accomplishment.

The fourth “key” to success, as per Kidwai, is integrity. Most of the women in this book highlight integrity in the list of values they cherish; for them, there are no shortcuts or quick fixes, no stopgap arrangements on the road to success. ICICI Bank MDCEO Chanda Kochhar begins her essay by recounting her father’s refusal to make concessions for her brother, despite being the principal of the college her brother wished to apply to. There are no shortcuts in life, and none can prove it better than some of these women leaders. Lastly, Kidwai quotes Robert Kennedy by writing that “only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly”.