27.01.

2023

More
IN THE UAE
Individuals
than a
making the
world a better
pretty
place to live in
picture
From Geishas
to modern-
era slaves,
award-winning
photographer
Jodi Cobb talks
of capturing
the real world’s
grittiness
 CO N T E N TS 27 / 01 / 2023

gulfnews.com/friday

Coordinating Editor, Special Features

Mrinal Shekar
16
Email mshekar@gulfnews.com

E D I TO R I A L
Editor
Anand Raj OK
araj@gulfnews.com

D ES I G N

34
Nasir Khan,
Muhammed Nahas

P H OTO G RA P H Y
Senior Visual Journalist
Anas Thacharpadikkal
VIEWPOINT 4 HEALTH 30
A page for your thoughts and stories. Poor metabolism might not be the only
P R E P R ESS reason for middle age spread.
Pre-press Superintendent STARGAZING 6
Shaji G. Varughese Shelley von Strunckel reveals what’s in FOOD 32
Pre-press Operators store for your zodiac sign. Enjoy this spread of Korean dishes.
Atul Paradkar, Harish Chakkottil,
Yousaf Naeem
GALLERY 8 AUTHORSPEAK 34
A page to showcase your best clicks. Shrabani Basu's book Victoria & Abdul
offers a fascinating insight into a lesser
A DV E RT I S I N G WEEKEND GUIDE 10 known chapter of British and Indian
Head of Sales ROP A round up of some must-attend events history.
Priya Nair in the country.
Email pnair@gulfnews.com PUZZLES 37
Brand Manager IN THE UAE 12 Crossword and sudoku brainteasers.
Taruna Sajnani Two top photographers who will be
Tel 04 4067454
among a bevy of top photography ON THAT NOTE 38
experts at the Xposure event in Sharjah Suresh Menon has found out when the
Email tsajnani@gulfnews.com
reveal what they keep in mind when right time is to have a coffee.
Ad Control Tamanna Y. Khan framing a shot.
Tel 04 406 7175
Advertising email MAKING A DIFFERENCE 16
fridayadsales@gulfnews.com Meet a few individuals who are making
the world a better place for everyone.
27.01.2023

GN MEDIA
CEO & Editor-In-Chief WELL-BEING 20
Tips to improve your physical and
Abdul Hamid Ahmad
mental well-being. More
than a
Director, Sales & Publishing IN THE UAE
Individuals
making the
world a better
pretty

DESIGN 24
place to live in
picture
Anshuman Joshi From Geishas
to modern-
era slaves,

Design Director S.M. Arshad Why you should introduce some award-winning
photographer
Jodi Cobb talks
ON THE COVER
Japandi elements into your home.
of capturing
Director, Circulation Sales & the real world’s
grittiness Photograph by
Distribution Potru Raju JODI COBB

Production Editor ISSUES 26

Floyd Gonsalves Eating more diverse foods can help you @friday_magazine
– and the planet.
@Friday_Magazine
ASK THE EXPERTS 29 friday@gulfnews.com
Get in touch with us at friday@gulfnews.com Advice from the best in the field. facebook.com/FridayMagazine
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3
VIEWPOINT Each week, we’d like you to share
your thoughts, anecdotes, views
or stories.

If you had a chance to I would relax and play video games all
day.

do something for a day

Naethan

I'll try and find really good, sincere

people, such as former Indian President
Abdul Kalam, and give them the power
to govern India for the next 20 years.
Ria Bist

I’d like to do some interior designing so I

get to see my creativity level and improve
upon it.
Mannat

I would go out with my friends to

amusement parks, go on a lot of rides
and play games, do some shopping,
watch a movie and have some good
food.
Lakshmi Vinod

I would love to scour all the best

bookstores in the world and pick up
books that I have always wanted to own.
Annie Mathew

I have always wanted to spend time

I would like to spend a day exploring
the great outdoors, specifically hiking
through a national park, enjoying
the sights and sounds of nature, and
having a picnic by a lake. I believe being
surrounded by nature brings peace and
tranquility, and that the fresh air and
exercise would be beneficial for their
body and soul.
Anka
I would like to meet the Prime Minister
of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern. I have
always adored how wittily she manages
issues, and I would try to convince her to
at least finish this current session.
Areej
Living a hectic life I sometimes feel like
being deprived of good sleep. So if I
were given a chance to do something
for a day I will switch off my phone and
spend my day resting in bed.
I would be a footballer who would
play for the world’s top clubs against
players like Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe and
Neymar. I would play the job of coach-
player in this club.
Lavitra
Considering the pressure that I am
currently going through, given a day, I
would prefer to go to a hill station, sit,
relax and enjoy 3 great meals and savour
some good coffee.
Sunanda Mohan
I would listen to my YouTube mix and
read my favourite books all day on my
reading couch.
Myra Wason
IN NEXT WEEK’S
Tell us: What hobby or hobbies did you have when
more with my dad. He has such amazing
stories to share of his experiences. It
would be lovely to have some good food
and hear him talking all day.
Lakshmi Nair
Without doubt I would spend it with
my bestie. We can spend days and weeks
just talking to each other on so many
different topics.
Usha Menon
I have always wanted to spend a day
with my grand parents listening to their
stories. They are such lovely people and
are so kind. I would love to help them in
some way.
Parvathi S
PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK

Afshan Rizwan
you were younger that you have now given up?
I would choose to be in a chocolate
house! With bubble chocolate decoration.
Vyapti Email your replies to friday@gulfnews.com, or comment on facebook.com/FridayMagazine.
Please limit the word count to 50 words. Answers may be edited for clarity and/or length.

4
GA L L E RY Life through your lens, our pick of your best pictures #fridaypix

A street in Porto
in Portugal,
photographed by
Trisha Mehta

Bilal Amin
snapped this SEE YOUR PIX IN OUR GALLERY…
while on a visit to Would you like to have your pictures featured in Friday? Email us high-res
Georgia’s Martvili (300dpi) copies of your best photographs to friday@gulfnews.com along
Canyon with your Instagram handle. Please include a short caption indicating where and when
you took the picture and your thoughts about the image.

Seema Shivadas
pictured the Mamzar
Beach on a warm,
cloudy day

8
THE WEEKEND GUIDE
THE SHOWROOM- TWO-DAY SUMMER EDIT POP-UP
The Showroom 3.0 by DIPR is back. An exclusively curated two-day summer edit pop-up, it
is scheduled for February 3 and 4, at Shangri- La, Sheikh Zayed Road. Look out for designers
from India including Loka by Veerali, Prints by Radhika, Saaksha & Kinni, Sonam Luthria, and
Chamee & Palak, among others, who will be showcasing their latest and best sellers. This pop-
up is the perfect platform to personally meet established as well as new and upcoming talents
and designers from India. This edition brings to you a Budget curation of stunning ensembles,
with everything under Dh2,000, best suited for all your upcoming occasions.
Venue: Shangri-La, Sheikh Zayed Rd, Near Financial Metro Station, Dubai. Time: 10am - 8pm
DINO MANIA
Calling Dinosaur enthusiasts! Dubai Parks and
Resorts, ‘Dino Mania’ is a brand-new dinosaur
parade launching for the winter season.
This free interactive experience brings the
prehistoric world to life with a series of life-like
animatronic dinosaurs including the mighty
T-Rex, triceratops, playful raptors and many
more. From Friday to Sunday at 8pm, guests
can experience this amazing encounter as
they roam around Riverland. For more details,
visit dubaiparksandresorts.com.
VR MAKEUP
Liht Organics, an organic makeup brand has the region's first Virtual Reality Makeup podium at
Mall of the Emirates until January 29 that is free for all to explore and experience. The podium
allows consumers to try makeup products on a VR avatar to experiment with looks and gauge
outcomes without physically trying them. For details, lihtorganics.ae.
PAINT IN THE DARK
To celebrate ‘Inspire Your Heart with Art
Day’ on January 31, Infinity des Lumieres,
has partnered with We Love Art to launch
the first 5D painting experience in the UAE
to feature glow-in-the-dark paint. Priced at
Dh390 per person, including hot and soft
drinks, and available only to those 16 years
and above, the experience will take place
between 7pm-10pm on the mezzanine floor.
For details, infinitylumieres.com.
10
Your guide
to the UAE’s
best events
QUICK STYLE LIVE
City Walk, is set to host an exciting
line-up of artists as part of Dubai
Shopping Festival’s closing weekend
from January 27 to 29 at City Walk’s
fountain area. Headlining the weekend is
viral hip-hop dance group, Quick Style.
Led by Norwegian-Pakistani twins,
Suleman and Bilal Malik and their
Norwegian-Thai best friend, Nasir
Sirikhan, the trio propelled to fame when
their Famous Wedding Show 2022
performance went viral, recording over
80 million views on YouTube. Fans will
be able to catch some of the group’s
performances on, January 28 with 2 sets
scheduled for 6:30pm and 8:15pm at the
fountain area in City Walk. Fans also
have a chance to meet the Quick Style
crew after their performances at the
fountain area.
WORDS BY VARSHA JAYAPRASAD PHOTOS SUPPLIED
HANS ZIMMER LIVE
With tickets to the first day of the concert
already sold out, make sure you book your
ticket for the second on January 28 for the
Hans Zimmer Live show at Dubai’s Coca-
Cola Arena. The multiple Academy Award
winning composer will be performing
music from blockbuster movies such as
The Lion King, Inception, Gladiator, Pirates
of the Caribbean and Dune among many
others. Tickets are from Dh295 and can
be purchased at coca-cola-arena.com or
hanszimmerlive.com.

Picture
perfect
With the Xposure International Photography Festival
taking place in Sharjah next month, two photographers
reveal what led them to pick up the camera and what
photography means to them. By Pranitha Menon
Daniel Cheong
Born in Mauritius, originally of
Chinese descent, and French by
nationality, Daniel aims to perfect the
technique of Digital Blending.
Photographer Daniel Cheong says he
enjoyed taking pictures ever since her was a
child. A former resident of the UAE,
‘Dubai,’ he says, ‘is an ideal city to shoot
cityscapes.’ He specialises in capturing
stunning landscapes, cityscapes, and
architectural images and has won
numerous awards for his work and is
widely recognized as one of the leading
photographers in his field.
Daniel will be showcasing his latest
collection of photographs at the Xposure
International Photography Festival from
February 9 – 15, where he creates digital
composites featuring futuristic and
“cyberpunk” aesthetics which he hopes
will inspire directors of photography and
enthral creative professionals. He will also
12
be giving talks and workshops on his
approach to photography and his creative
process as well as having a book signing for
his work ‘Dubai Ambition and Inspiration’.
Excerpts from an interview:
What inspired you to take up
photography?
I have enjoyed taking photos ever since I
was a child. When I bought my first DSLR
in 2006, my simple hobby became a
passion and I started taking it more
seriously. I have always been interested in
architecture, so cityscapes were my
favourite subject to shoot. I moved to
Dubai in 2008 – an ideal city to shoot
architecture and cityscapes. After losing my
job as a software engineer in 2015 I
decided to pursue photography full time,
and ended up doing a lot of commercial
work. In 2018, I decided to become a
“nomadic photographer” and started to
travel the world. I recently relocated to
China.
How has your career in software
engineering influenced your work as a
Early morning
in a traditional
Indonesian kitchen
photographer?
Software Engineering has influenced my
work a lot. Since I am passionate about
technology, the post processing of my
photos is a major part of my photography
workflow. I am always interested in using
the latest software for post processing, and
recently I have started creating a lot of
futuristic image composites using my own
cityscape images.
What makes shooting in Dubai unique?
The variety and beauty of its eclectic
architecture, the amazing skyscrapers, and
the beauty of this futuristic city in the fog,
which happens a few times per year. Also
something quite important is to always feel
The Crying Rift, Reunion
Island. La Réunion is
located in the Mascarene
Islands in the Indian Ocean,
east of Madagascar
Part of Dubai
enveloped by fog
IN THE UAE
Cyberpunk composite
with street/buildings
from Hong Kong shot at
different locations
safe carrying expensive equipment at any
time of the day and night, which is not the
case in many big cities I have shot.
What are the challenges when shooting
landscapes?
First, finding the best location is crucial. As
for shooting landscapes, you always have to
plan carefully in advance to get the best
location and light. The weather is another
major challenge. Sometimes you have to
return to the same location a few times
before you get the perfect shot.
One picture you consider your best.
A shot of Dubai in the fog, shot at the
‘morning blue hour’. It has a science fiction
feel, like a city from another planet. It was
one of my first shots in the fog and was
published on many platforms worldwide.
5 tips for aspiring photographers.
Shoot what you like, and not what you
think your audience will like; don’t try to
shoot too many genres, focus on a genre
you prefer the most and put all your
energy/skills into developing and
improving it; find your own style which
can then be easily recognized when
someone sees your photo; get inspired by
other photographers without trying to
copy them; and, always keep learning.
What themes are you excited to explore?
I was invited to Xposure 2023 to present
my ‘cyberpunk’ image composites, which
are inspired by sci-fi movies. So for the
past 2 years I have been creating those
futuristic imaginary cityscapes using images
I took in many cities, including Dubai,
Hong Kong, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur.
13
 IN THE UAE

Jodi Cobb
An explorer who has worked in more
than 65 countries, Jodi was the first
woman to be named White House
Photographer of the Year. One of her
photographs is on the Voyager
Spacecraft, out in the universe forever

J
odi Cobb was one of the first
photographers to enter China when it
reopened to the outside world after
decades of isolation, traveling 7000 miles
from Beijing to the borders of Burma and
Vietnam.
She was also the first photographer
given permission to photograph the Geisha Backstage, Tokyo.
women of Saudi Arabia, and the first to be A geisha waits in the
welcomed into the secret and exclusive wings during a dance
performance in Tokyo
society of Japan’s iconic geisha for a
ground-breaking book on their beautiful
but often difficult lives, showing for the Venice Carnival. Participants at
first time the reality behind their perfect the annual carnival live out their
fantasies in the Café Florian in
white makeup. Piazza San Marco.
Jodi will be showcasing her latest
collection of photographs at the Xposure
International Photography Festival where
she’ll be exhibiting the documented
vanishing culture of the fabled female
consorts. She will be having a book signing
session for her book, Geisha: The Life, the
Voices, the Art, which was nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize.
Excerpts from an interview:

What inspired you to choose

photography as a career?
My father was an executive for an
American oil company, and we travelled
extensively for his career. By the time I
was 12, I’d been around the world twice
and visited 15 countries, including living in
Iran for five years, and I loved every
minute of it.
I wanted a career that would keep me
out in that world where I felt most at
home. Journalism became my passport,
and then photography became my
language.
I then saw the role that photography
played in affecting world events, like ending
the war in Vietnam, and somewhere along
I’d been around the
world twice. I wanted
a career that would
keep me out in that world
where I felt most at home.
Journalism became my
passport, and photography
became my language
14
the line decided I wanted to change the
world. That turned out to be a little harder
than I thought it would be.
How did being the first female field
photographer at The National
Geographic help you grow in your career?
I felt I had to constantly prove that I could
do all the things the men could do, and that
expanded my interests and skills – pushing
me far beyond my comfort zones – and
often made me painfully aware of the
things I didn’t want to do. It took a while to
find my own voice and specialize in the
things I loved to explore and was uniquely
qualified for– the lives of women and the
issues they faced in their own cultures– not
just landscapes, wildlife and adventure.
A geisha is made What are some challenges you faced as a
up for her dance photographer?
performance in Tokyo
Everyday is a challenge on assignment.
There are the usual dangers and
Children working on carpet
and silk looms in India
discomforts (I’ve been shot at, lost at
sea...), but the biggest problem is that being
told “no” is usually the default starting
point in trying to photograph the things
that interest me the most. Recalcitrant
government officials, restrictions on
photography, a bias against women, gaining
access to remote cultures... all require a
huge amount of research, planning and
persuasion to convince others to let you
into their lives.
What are the essential skills aspiring
photographers must work upon to get
the perfect picture?
Knowing what the story is that you want to
tell. Whether portraits, landscapes, cultural
explorations or conflict and crisis– it’s still a
journalistic process. What is the narrative?
What is your point of view? How can you
do it differently from other photographers?
What can you bring to the story?
Your favourite photograph?
The year-long project on human trafficking
around the world (21st Century Slaves). It
was dangerous, heartbreaking, and
impossible to photograph. It challenged
everything I thought I knew. However, it
was an under-reported story when I did it,
and I felt I was helping – maybe in a small
way, but 40 million people saw the work
and it got the biggest response in National
Geographic’s history until then. So many
people responded in so many ways, and I
felt I had made a difference somehow –
something that I got into photography to
try to do.
5 tips for aspiring photographers.
Besides learning the obvious technical
skills, learn how to run a business, and how
to promote it. There are no staff jobs for
photographers anymore. You will be on
your own and you should be able to
manage it well– or find the people who
will. Create a team.
Study the history of photography as
well as the work of your contemporaries.
Not to imitate other photographers, but to
be inspired and know what came before.
Find – or create – your own vision, your
own voice. What you love, what you hate,
what you want to change and what you
want to celebrate. The things that will
sustain you through your whole career.
Find a mentor and a community. Find
the people who will take a personal interest
in your work. Workshops and photography
festivals like Xposure are a great way to
meet those people.
Be nice. People like to work with people
who make life easier for them somehow,
not more difficult.
Jodi Cobb will be featuring her exhibition ‘An
Intimate Vision’, a book signing for Geisha: The
Life, the Voices, the Art at Xposure International
Photography Festival February 9-15
15
Lending
When one person reaches
out to another in a gesture of
support, the connection creates
a synergy that can empower
and nurture a community. With
a new year here, Suchitra
Bajpai Chaudhary meets a few

a helping hand
individuals and groups who are
doing their bit to help make the
world a better place

M
aking a difference in the
community need not be
time consuming or
expensive. If anything,
extending your hand in
help, adding an extra dollop of love,
togetherness and giving is possible often
without even having to step out of your
home.
At the start of 2023, if there is perhaps
one endearing lesson that we have learned
it is to be there for others, reach out,
extend your arms virtually or otherwise, to
16
hand hold and have the back of your
community.
Friday met with a few individuals and
groups who have been running unique
initiatives in the UAE that have brought
joy and helped infuse the power of
feel-good in the community.
ADOPT A
GRANDPARENT
When old age and infirmity strike, it is
loneliness and neglect that often take away
the joie de vivre in the elderly. However,
imagine scores of students in their
respective homes talking and sharing views
and stories with an elderly person. Over a
video call that is monitored by a mentor,
students ranging from the age of 6-18
introduce themselves and get a granddad
or grandmum to relax, share small and
sundry conversations such as a joke, or a
favourite recipe, a life lesson they learnt or
a memorable incident that happened in
their day.
Within minutes one can quite literally
see the digital thaw take place. For the

senior citizen living in an assisted home far
from their loved ones, this conversation is
often a much looked forward to part of
their existence; something they wait for the
entire week.
Welcome to the ongoing ‘Adopt a
grandparent’ initiative.
Started as a small gesture to make an
elderly abandoned gentleman living at
seniors’ home feel loved, it has become a
movement for students of Gems Modern
Academy and has been running for two
years even as the senior students who
started it moved on to college and handed
over the baton to the next batch.
It started when Asmi Choudhary, a
grade 11 student of GMA, read about a
man who had been abandoned by his son
in India. Moved to do her bit, she did
some research and helped the gentleman
find a home at Earth Survivors
Foundation, a home run by the social
activist Ravi Kalra.
Asmi, her friend Siddhant Punamiya
and some classmates then started ‘Adopt a
Grandparent’ an initiative that was actively
supported by the school and went on to
become a perpetual value-based initiative
for students of successive generations.
Nargish Khambatta, the principal of
GMA, whole heartedly supported this
initiative. ‘One of our mission statements
that has recently been adopted is to inspire
children to be positive changemakers.
This initiative perfectly aligned with this
vision.
‘The students did everything – from
drawing up a list of volunteers every week,
PHOTOS SUPPLIED
arranging zoom calls with senior citizens
to even overseeing their comfort, etc. In
one instance, they came to know that it
was very cold in Delhi and the elderly were
in discomfort. Some of them then rallied
Students on video calls with
senior citizens as part of the
Adopt a Grandparent initiative
around to organise heaters for the homes;
it was so touching. I am glad this initiative
is now a permanent feature and is getting
passed down to future generations of our
students.’
INSPIRING ORTHO
PATIENTS TO CLIMB
MOUNTAINS
Imagine suffering from crippling
osteoarthritis for over a decade and then
being inspired by your doctor to trek to
Everest Base Camp.
Dr Azam Badr Khan, consultant
orthopaedic surgeon at Prime Hospital,
loves pushing the limits of his patients all
around the globe with his new initiative,
‘Let’s walk again’, that he started few years
ago. In 2020, he inspired his osteoarthritis
Dr Azam Badr Khan with his
team of doctors helping a
patient with knee issues
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
patient, Rajesh to trek to Everest Base
Camp.
Dr Azam’s main concern has been to
raise worldwide awareness about knee
health, knee conservation wherever
possible, and where unavoidable to
provide complementary knee replacement
for the underprivileged residents of third
world countries. Today, the ‘Let’s walk
again’ team comprises multinational
volunteer doctors from Syria, Pakistan,
Lebanon who travel to Somalia, Nigeria,
Mauritius, and Kargil in India to conduct
free knee replacements for villagers.
Dr Azam, who is a vociferous
supporter of saving the original knee has
made it a point to embark on a minimum
of two unpaid leaves of a fortnight each,
with his team to visit these camps.
‘I want people to have greater
awareness on knee conservation. Knee
replacement can be avoided if patients
reduce weight, eat healthily, take proper
Vitamin D and multivitamin supplements,
and work out core muscles that strengthen
the musculoskeletal system. It is largely
possible to avert damage and continue
with your original knees if one pays
attention to the conservation protocol,’
explains Dr Azam.
He liaises with the local, on-ground
hospital teams in the place he chooses to
hold camps. ‘The knee is the most
important weight bearing part of the body
and its improper use can cripple a patient
and restrict movement. It is my mission
not to let this happen.’ In the last six years
of free camps, Dr Azam and his team
conducted over 200 knee replacements
‘With better awareness and care we can
avoid a large number of knee
17
replacements and it is my mission to
educate people about their knee health,’
says Dr Khan who has dedicated his life to
this mission so much so that his patients
now call him, ‘Dr Knee’.
ROOTING FOR
WOMEN’S HEALTH
When Seema Gupta, an Indian expatriate
in Dubai began experiencing
gynaecological issues after using sanitary
napkins that had harmful chemicals in
them, she decided to source organic, 100
per cent cotton and biodegradable napkins
that would not only prevent allergies but
also leave the organs infection-free.
Her venture Orgabliss that was initiated
during the pandemic manufactures
sanitary napkins that are eco-friendly.
However, not satisfied by that she
launched an initiative to educate schoolgirls
on menstrual health and personal hygiene,
contacted schools to provide free packs
for teenage girls and reached out to the
Dubai Foundation of Abused Women
(DFAW) and provided them with as many
packs as are required. In addition, she
provides free packs for underprivileged
women.
‘Socially, we are taught that
menstruation is a ‘women’s burden’ and
she must suffer in silence. I want to change
that. To that end, my team visits schools to
educate teenage girls about personal
hygiene and because I want them to
experience the difference of organic
sanitary napkins, I distribute it free of cost
to schools, shelters and anyone who
contacts me.
‘Women need to shed their inhibitions,
prioritize their health, and take the
conversation about their personal health
Seema Gupta’s initiative
helps spread awareness
about menstrual health
18
and hygiene to the next level. That is why I
started my website on this where we
answer all questions related to menstrual
hygiene,’ says Seema.
THE CONNECT
PROJECT
Maria Conceicao, a Portuguese expatriate
in Dubai and former flight attendant is a
familiar name working tirelessly for over a
decade to improve the lives of vulnerable
underprivileged children. She established
the Maria Cristina Foundation to help
neglected kids from third world countries
break the cycle of poverty and bring new
opportunities for their rehabilitation.
During the last three years of the
pandemic, Maria worked on a unique
project she called “Connect” to take her
work in marginalized communities to the
next level. ‘Since Covid, I started a
business in the UAE selling books of
inspirational or motivational stories. These
are mostly about individuals who came
from poverty or similar adverse difficulties
and fought to improve themselves or their
lives.
‘The writers, photographers, and
contributors from these marginalized
communities are of course paid for their
work, but I wanted to do much more than
that – to give more back to these
communities. I realized that many of the
young adults, even with a good education
received through charities or other means,
remained cut off from good job
opportunities and university places.
Therefore, I assisted in bringing these
young adults, mostly young women, to
Dubai to work as interns.’
Connect has helped these young adults
disconnected from opportunities due to
Maria Conceicao with
some of the children she
has been helping through
her initiative Connect
financial barriers find the best internships
and possible placements in the UAE
market suited to them.
Connect turned into a novel
opportunity for people and businesses to
step in to help, by providing training and
coaching for interviews and give these
aspirants the best possible chance of
success. Many of them found jobs and
were able to save money for university.
While some received sponsorship for
university education from their employers,
others found full time work and not only
support families in their home country but
have also helped some of their family
members find a job in the UAE, explains
Maria.
‘There are two things that I wish were
different – first we should give, or help
others regularly and not just occasionally.
Of course every little bit helps but it takes
persistence and a continuous effort to
really help someone, and change
someone’s life or situation.
‘Second, don’t expect anything in
return, at least not immediately. Just enjoy
the feeling you get from being generous or
helping another. Often those you are
helping don’t understand how much of a
difference you are making in their life.’
FUN LEARNING
THROUGH PLAY
ACTIVITY
Indian entrepreneur Suzanna Varghese felt
deeply about the kind of values being
inculcated by young toddlers. Instead of
only discussing and debating about it, she
got together some like-minded people to
start a collective ‘Nudge for Better’, an
organisation for social good.
Suzanna decided to inculcate the values

of compassion and
empathy in kids with a fun learning and
activity box set that she designed for
children between the ages of 6 and 10
years. The box was based on an
inspirational theme ‘World without
Hunger’. Suzanna and her team visit
schools and hand over the boxes free of
cost to children in this age group to make
them understand how not to waste food,
and help them learn how to work towards
a world without hunger.
Elaborating on her fun activity, Suzanna
says, ‘This box set contains flashcards with
compelling facts and interactive exercises
for our little future makers. It is meant to
probe, inspire and shape them to be the
change makers of tomorrow. Effective
learning happens when children are
encouraged to actively
participate in doing
things.’
The box has
been popular
with kids who
find it stimulating
and engaging.
Suzanna Varghese ‘Children can do a
number of activities
The activity box created
by Suzanna Varghese and
her team helps nurture
positive values in children
– become a food detective, play the
leftover chef, draw their food superhero,
organise a food drive, gift a tree, grow
organi
some tomatoes and so much more. The
flash
fl ash cards also carry links to entertaining,
educative videos that children will love. It
also comes with a jigsaw puzzle featuring
custom artwork made for the cause and an
eco-friendly trophy celebrating each child
as a Champion of Change.’
The activity set is carefully designed to
nurture creativity and imagination, build
awareness on important matters, foster a
sense of responsibility and help cognitive
growth, while providing hours of
fun.
BECAUSE WE
CARE
INITIATIVE
During the last two years
when borders dissolved and
people came together in the VP Menon
aftermath of a pandemic, many
faced tough meltdown issues such as
bereavement, job loss, long isolation or
illness and faced emotional, mental and
economic crisis. It was then that the
Dubai-based UV consultant founder, VP
Menon, an internationally trained and
certified life coach, decided to pool the
talent of his trained and certified coaches
to offer entirely complimentary life
coaching sessions for anyone in the world,
who required it.
‘We (about 45 life coaches) launched the
‘Because we care initiative’ and decided to
be available in the virtual world and reach
out to the community to help them sort
out their relationship issues, financial crisis,
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
coming to terms with loss of a loved one
or a loss of job and chart out the
challenges. It has been a deeply satisfying
two years for our coaches,’ says Menon.
Menon is not alone. Firaas Saab from
Lebanon, Thuraya Surcar
from Palestine and
Kristine Sumo
from the
Philippines are
all trained life
coaches from
UV who have in
the last two years
Firaas Saab
with patience and
forbearance lent their
heart, soul, ears and their time to anyone
who needed it, free of charge.
Saab who certified in 2016 and
specialises in physical and emotional fitness
helped 24 people in a year. ‘These people
enrolled from around the world, and I had
group and one-on-one interactive classes
where each session stretched easily to two
hours. Many a time, people just want
someone to listen to them. I was that
person, helping them make sense of their
crises, using the principles of NLP and
other life coaching to help them navigate
difficult relationship and financial issues,
holding their hand through several delicate
moments and helping them reset their life
goals,’ he explains.
Kristine and Thuraya second that.
Kristine shares her experience: ‘I started
providing free coaching to people in the
UAE and the Philippines as I saw how the
pandemic resulted in such a drastic change
in their lives. I felt the need to provide a
safe space to those who felt lost and
did not have access to people who
could guide them and provide
clarity.
‘This initiative helped
reduced the stigma on mental
health and gave them a chance
to air their vulnerabilities
without any fear of judgement.
‘No matter how successful
people are in their lives, there is always
one thing pulling them down and it felt
comforting to be an instrument to their
life changing discoveries.’
To tens of
hundreds of people
who benefited
from these
complimentary
sessions hosted
by over 45 life
coaches, it
Kristine Sumo
felt like the world
had metaphorically
extended its arms through virtual reality to
touch and impact each one’s life.
19
 How to move forward
with optimism
Whatever setbacks you’ve faced, it’s still possible to look ahead with a positive
mindset. Fiona Cowood asks the experts for their top tips

N
ew year, new you. There
was a time when walking
into a newsagent’s at this
time of year would mean
being confronted with these
four words. Plastered across glossy
magazine covers, they shrieked promises
of a January reinvention - a few quick, easy
steps to an all-new, healthier, happier you.
Seductive? Yes, especially if you’d suffered
that year and were desperate to turn the
page and start a new chapter. Realistic?
Sadly not.
20
‘Thankfully, we’ve moved past this idea
that the dawning of a new year will see us
switch off from the difficulties of the past
like robots,’ says Julia Samuel,
psychotherapist and host of the Therapy
Works podcast. ‘But that’s not to say that
we shouldn’t seize the opportunity to
transition to a more hopeful year ahead.
Hope is the alchemy that can turn a life
around and the new year is an opportunity
to reorient your attention. For anyone
who’s struggling, this time of year is
bittersweet, because in order to move
forward, you need to acknowledge and
name the losses and disappointments, and
the way they’ve made you feel. If you push
them away, they just come back stronger.’
So, whether you’re feeling lost, panicked
about work or mourning the end of a
special relationship, take solace in the
advice of our experts and pat yourself on
the back for having made it this far.
... if you’re dealing with job insecurity
There’s never a more panic-inducing time
than to find yourself being made

redundant. If you’ve recently lost your job
or been told to prepare for redundancy, it’s
easy to feel like you’re in end-of-year
freefall. So, what can be done?
Samuel says that when things beyond
your control are playing out badly, the trick
is to focus on the four ‘pillars of stability’
you do have charge of.
‘People in this situation tend to
doomscroll, eat rubbish and avoid people
- those things send you into a heightened
state of fear. Instead, resolve to do the
things that will help calibrate and regulate
your system,’ she says. ‘So, ensure that you
sleep well, exercise every day, eat properly
and connect with other people. If you
really keep an eye on these four core
stabilisers, you’ll build resilience and
robustness to weather the winds of your
work situation.’
And while nobody would want to
diminish the difficulty of finding yourself
without work, it can be useful to
acknowledge all those things you still have
- and all the ‘wins’ you’ve had in other areas
of your life.
Samuel suggests going for ‘a walk and
talk’. ‘Carve out some time to walk with a
friend and reflect on the past year. Move
your attention to the things you’re grateful
for, as well as the difficulties - talk it out.
Then hole up somewhere cosy for a coffee
and listen to one another - that’s a really
supportive, affirming way of marking the
end of a difficult year and getting some
clarity in place for your next steps.’
With the first month of the year almost
up, taking on some voluntary work is a
tested way of lifting your mood. ‘All the
research shows that altruism and helping
others boosts your immune system and
your dopamine levels, which can protect
you from the panic about your job
situation. Start small - it could be just an
hour a week visiting an elderly neighbour.
Or look for opportunities online, such as
mentoring.’
Do Focus on the basics - they will help you
weather the storm.
WORDS BY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK
Don’t Let this one setback contaminate
your view of the entire year; talk to others
to help you gain perspective.
... if your relationship has broken down
New Year can feel daunting if you aren’t
happy about your newly single status.
‘The key is to be self-compassionate,’
says Samuel. ‘Processing the ending of a
relationship takes much longer than the
physical event - you need to give yourself
time and recognise this is a painful process.
We’re human beings, not robots - we can’t
switch off and switch on again. We need to
take time to just ‘be’ and to inhabit this
in-between liminal state.
‘You might think, ‘Right, I’ve got to get
out there’, but go slow. Allow yourself to
first learn what it’s like to be on your own
- recognise what’s difficult, but also notice
the relief that often comes with being
alone after a fraught time. Perhaps you
broke up after having lots of fights, so
recognise the peace. Acknowledge that
whatever caused the breakup is now out of
your life. And, gradually, by trying new
things and doing things differently, your
new landscape will become familiar.’
And if you are in a rut, finding it hard to
turn the page, Samuel has a strategy that
will help: ‘In your mind, freeze-frame the
worst moment of the breakup - perhaps it
was his face as you told him to leave...
Next, imagine putting that picture on a
television screen, and then change the
channel. Replace that image with a picture
of you at your most calm - perhaps you on
the beach, feeling warm and safe. Take a
moment to breathe and then continue with
whatever you were doing. This works
because our brains are habit-forming - by
doing this, you’re rewiring from a negative
to a positive loop. And over time, you’ll
start to do it automatically.’
Do Nourish yourself: eat, sleep, exercise
and connect with other people. Prioritise
these when you’re in pain.
Don’t Focus on finding a new
relationship too quickly. You’re
grieving, so giving yourself time is
crucial.
... if you’ve got money problems
The cost of living crisis, unpaid
credit card bills, inflation...
these could be taking a very
real toll on many people’s bank
balances. Being in a tough spot
WELL-BEING
financially early in the year itself can leave
you feeling very conflicted, says
psychologist and financial wellbeing coach
Pradnya Surana. ‘Part of you wants to
avoid the subject and distract yourself with
something, anything, the other part of you
might have this palpable fear of what lies
ahead,’ she says.
If Christmas has left you feeling as
though you need to reset your relationship
with spending, Surana says you should start
by examining your motivations.
‘Money decisions are not logical, they
are mostly psychological,’ explains Surana
(linkedin.com/in/pradnya-surana). ‘Start
keeping a money diary, but focus more on
what motivated the transactions, rather
than the transactions themselves. What
feeling did you get when you bought that
item? As your awareness of that grows,
you might realise that you’re spending way
too much on one kind of feeling. Perhaps
you’re spending money to boost your
self-esteem. Once you know that, you can
work on that emotion and get it sorted,
rather than keep spending.’
Of course, there’s wisdom in setting
yourself a financial plan for the year ahead,
but Surana says that as well
as fixing the economics
of your current situation
- your
21
WELL-BEING
debt, your wage, your savings - you need
also to fix what is broken psychologically.
Rather than write yourself a set of goals
that can feel like a list of failures waiting to
happen, she suggests journalling. ‘Sit down
in an isolated space for 20 minutes and
scribble down everything that comes to
mind on the topic of money. Let it all out.
This is a private way of getting out all your
anxieties and fears. After seven days, you’ll
start to see a shift in the narrative you’ve
created around money.’ These narratives
can keep us in negative behaviour loops - I
can’t save, I’m always broke - so emptying
space for better thoughts is vital.
Do Envisage yourself in a better financial
situation a year from now - this can help
alleviate anxiety.
Don’t Bottle it all up. Being more open
with your family and friends about money
and the troubles you’re having is hugely
helpful, and it also normalises what is a
very common concern.
... if you’re in the midst of grief
The transition from one year to the next
is understandably hard for anyone who has
been bereaved. Realising that the person
who’s missing will not be with you in the
year 2023 can feel very difficult, as it
consigns them to the past when, of course,
you want them beside you, inhabiting your
present and your future, too.
‘Simply saying, ‘I miss my [spouse]. I
find the thought of a whole year without
him/her scary’, is important,’ says Samuel.
‘By naming the person, you acknowledge
them and that can free you emotionally to
turn your attention to the year ahead. And
while it might be difficult and painful, you
can then list some hopes for the next 11
months.
‘These needn’t be big hopes - don’t
expect you’re going to have an amazing
year. But rather think about specific ways
you could bring some moments of joy,
calm and connection to your day. It could
be lighting a candle, making a nice meal,
watching a movie, getting some fresh air.
22
Write down a list of them so that you
have something to come back to on
the days when you’re struggling.
Doing something that enriches you -
however small - will shift your mood,
and when your mood shifts, your
attitude shifts.’
Samuel says you should resist any
suggestion that the new year means
you should be ‘moving on’, or that
your grief has a lifespan. ‘Grief can’t
be fixed,’ she says. ‘Pain is an agent of
change. By that I mean that we’re all
wired to adapt and change -and grief
is an adaptive, natural process. So,
when you allow yourself to feel the
pain, it incrementally enables you to adjust
to this new reality that you didn’t want and
didn’t choose.’
The thing that’s crucial while going
through this pain is having connection and
support around you. Samuel says joining a
group can be helpful. It could be knitting,
gardening, bridge - anything that gives you
a regular way of connecting with people
that doesn’t involve obligation from friends
or loved ones. And, if you can, she advises
going in person, because of the added
physiological benefits of leaving the house
and coming home in an altered, better
state.
Do Acknowledge that a new year without
someone you love is painful. Speak about
it, or write it down if you can’t.
Don’t Look too far into the future. Think
about today and tomorrow - projecting too
far ahead can hype up our feelings of fear.
... if you’re feeling lost
Many of us might not have suffered a
life-defining event in 2022 and yet,
nonetheless, we feel as if we’re drifting,
unsure of our purpose or whether we’re on
the right track. One route out of this is to
conduct what clinical psychologist Dr Julie
Smith calls ‘a values check-in’.
‘The new year is a really good time to do
this,’ says Dr Smith, author of Why Has
Nobody Told Me This Before (Michael Joseph).
‘Go through the different aspects of your
life - family/work/friends/health, etc - and
rate them out of 10 in terms of
importance. Then go through the list again
and score them according to how much
time and attention you’re paying to each
one. Seeing the gaps is a good way of
working out if you’re really living in line
with your values - it’s something that I do
every few months.
‘This isn’t about being self-critical, but,
instead, realising that life can easily pull you
away from the things that matter to you
most. For example, you might really value
your health but be so involved in your
career progression that you haven’t made it
to the gym in six months. That’s OK, but
it’s helpful to realise it, so that you can
make adjustments. Think of it as checking
your internal compass and resetting your
course. If you don’t look up and check
where you are, it’s easy to keep drifting.’
And if doing this exercise leaves you
feeling inspired to make changes, Dr Smith
suggests starting small. ‘The key to not
feeling overwhelmed is to focus on
consistency over intensity. Aim for small
victories - those small things will become
habitual to the point where they’re part of
your life and you’re then free to focus on
the next thing. That’s how therapy works
- small changes that people can sustain,
rather than big, grand gestures.
‘Wanting to be you at your best is very
different from setting yourself the
challenge of being ‘new’ or ‘different’. The
idea of reinvention presupposes that you’re
not OK as you are. Instead, think: I am
enough as I am and I’m going to grow/
develop this year.’
Do Explore how you’ve reached this point.
Make a list of what helped you and what
had been been hard last year.
Don’t Threaten or sabotage yourself with
unrealistic expectations.
THE POWER OF
MICRO-HABITS
‘Micro-habits can have amazingly
powerful outcomes,’ says Julia Samuel.
‘Mini rituals are essentially habits with
soul, and developing them can make a
huge difference to anyone who’s having
a tough time. For example, instead of just
making your morning coffee in a rush, get
out your favourite mug, use really good
coffee, and take a few deep breaths while
you’re doing it. Savour the moments -
whether that’s having a bath or finishing
work for the day. Research shows that by
slowing down and enjoying these rituals,
we allow our brains to feel calm and
safe and our level of cortisol, the stress
hormone, reduces.’
 How Japandi can make
your house a home When done well, the style embraces Japanese and Danish
concepts for small spaces, says Alisha Roy
I
grew up in a family of minimalists.
Come to think of it, maybe
minimalism wasn’t my family’s
artistic expression but a necessity, as
economic recession always made
headlines in the 2000s. That’s why, less is
more finds relevance in my home even
today, as I often choose aesthetics that
have a practical use.
Minimalistic values are so hard-wired in
my brain that the voice in my head makes
that ahem sound when I want to buy
furniture. Sometimes, I give in. Like the
time I ordered an (extra)-just-in-case night
lamp. On such occasions, when I bring
furniture home, my family constantly
complains about the clutter it creates.
In order to keep the peace, I decided to
introduce Japandi decor into my home.
Since it is “similar to minimalism”, as Diala
Al Moussawi, partner and head of design
at Collide, a design and furniture store in
Dubai, describes it.
However, the reason why I fell in love
with the concept of Japandi is because it
gets its values from a mix of Japanese and
24
Dutch designs. The harmony in the that promise a liberation from clutter and
contrasting relationship between Japan and upholds a sense of contentment and
Scandinavia resonated with me deeply belonging.
because I grew up in a family of inter-faith Craftsmanship is at the core of Japandi
marriages, who had contrasting world designs with some crediting early Danish
views and yet were compatible. designers, who travelled to Japan for the
The Japandi style is not obvious concept of Japandi. However, the 1950s
in my home, however, some saw some prominent works of Japandi
elements of the décor haveve designs. Especially by Japanese-
disarmed my fussy American artist Isamu Noguchi
housemates. These who introduced Japandi elements
include home furnishings to 20th century styles.
in neutral colours, The bamboo basket chair is
bamboo table mats, a low one such example, which is a
table made from natural creation by Noguchi and Japanese
wood. Such are the Diala Al Moussawi designer Isamu Kenmochi.
elements of Japandi, which If you want Japandi to be
speak to my family in a simple prominent in your home then there are a
language where clutter is forbidden. few things you need to keep in mind.
According to Al Moussawi, the first is
What is Japandi natural materials: wood, stone, glass and
According to Al Moussawi, Japandi is a ceramics. You must use materials that have
calm, simple interior that uses the elements a natural feel in order for the space to have
of the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi that character.
seeks beauty in imperfection. The ‘di’ Furniture made from natural wood that
represents Scandinavian values of hygge come in rounded shapes are an important
 DESIGN

• Space-saving furniture like ironing

boards that are small and can be hung in
the wardrobes, sofa-cum-beds or bunk
beds are useful and appealing to children
co-sharing a room.

If you love plants

A quick search on Pinterest will show you
how the Japandi technique makes use of
plants and water too, says Jamshid.
However, as with many who love gardens,
apartments, especially studio flats, never
really have enough space in which we can
create a garden of our own.
Too many plants in a small space will
make the house look cluttered, says Al
Moussawi. To stick to the Japandi theme,
place bamboo sticks on the table or
choose a healthy medium size plant as a
corner piece to introduce some greenery
in your home.

Have enough negative space

In any space, proportion is key, says Becki
Willis, founder of Studio Van Oliver in
Too many plants in a small space will make the house Dubai. “Choose furniture that is in
look cluttered, says Al Moussawi. To stick to the Japandi proportion to the space you have available.
If you’re designing a small living room, for
theme, place bamboo sticks on the table or choose a example, opt for one two or three-seater
healthy medium size plant as a corner piece sofa with an open-framed accent chair,
rather than one over-sized corner sofa.”
element in Japandi décor as it will help you form of minimalistic design, you will need Using visually lighter furniture and
achieve “…a sense of relaxed living and to introduce some dual functionality pieces raised off the floor
floor will
simplicity,” says Al Moussawi. “When in your home like: also enhance the feeling of
done well, Japandi embraces comfort, • Wardrobes that come down as space in smaller rooms.
coziness and wellbeing.” beds “The key to creating a
• Tables you can fold or calming space in any
How to create tranquility through expand home is to make sure you
Japandi • Kitchen counters that expand leave enough negative
Look for furnishing that come in simple to accommodate four to six (empty) space around your
lines to redefine how your home should seats Becki Willis room. Don’t feel the need to
look like, says Neha Jamshid, an interior • Double-decker beds that don’t fill
fill every wall with art, or every
design intern at Interior Design Associates, have a bed below and instead have a inch of shelf with accessories. It’s
Dubai. Rattan furniture, rugs made from table. about balance.”
natural fibres and woven place mats in
natural colours create a sense of openness
and space in small homes.
“Avoid bold, contrasting colours and
furniture that vary in texture and palette.
Flashy accents create a sense of
restlessness and excite the mind, which is
the opposite of what a Japandi style
evokes. Choose your furnishing in creams,
beige, soft, cool toned browns.”

Japandi in small homes

Having lots of space is considered as one
of the prerequisites for an ideal interior.
However, you can introduce Japandi even
in smaller spaces. Al Moussawi says that
PHOTOS SUPPLIED

sofas with under storage space, or beds

with storage mechanism will help you
organise your home better. As long as they
belong to a neutral colour palette.
According to Jamshid, since Japandi is a
25

Eat more - not less - to
improve your health
I
’ve always thought I eat a varied
diet. I kick off the day with a
coffee, then a few hours later have
an apple or banana (an orange if
I’m feeling adventurous). At lunch
there’s usually bread, eggs or meat, and
dinner might be pasta with tomato sauce, a
stew, or a curry packed with vegetables. So
far so diverse, right?
Wrong. An estimated two billion cups
of coffee are consumed per day across the
globe, but only two species of coffee bean
are used (arabica and robusta), despite the
existence of at least a hundred others. The
Cavendish banana accounts for 95 per
26
cent of all exported bananas in the world.
Ancient orange-growing traditions in Sicily
are dying out due to cheaper monocultures
being produced elsewhere.
The eight billion humans on this planet
increasingly eat the same diet. Of the
6,000 plant species eaten throughout
history, only nine now make up the vast
majority of our collective caloric intake.
Just three (rice, wheat and maize), provide
a whopping half of all our calories.
Diversity within these crops is also
diminishing; there are thousands of types
of wheat, but just a handful are used on a
large scale. My morning coffee and
bananas are both under threat, less resilient
now because of a lack of genetic diversity.
‘We’re living through an experiment of
farming and food production that are so
novel that we don’t really know what the
impact will be,’ says Dan Saladino, a
presenter of the BBC’s The Food
Programme and author of Eating to
Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why
We Need to Save Them.
Dwindling crop diversity has
consequences for our health, the planet,
biodiversity, local economies and traditions
- yet we barely take notice. When an
animal becomes endangered or extinct, it
Our narrow diets are
having a catastrophic
effect on food
diversity. It’s time to
be better eaters By
Tome Morrissy-Swan
makes front-page news, but the plight of
edible crops is less well known. It’s why
Saladino is launching Food Diversity Day
on January 13, to raise awareness of the
damaging effect of dwindling diversity.
A series of free online talks from
scientists, chefs (among them Michael
Caines and Mitch Tonks), historians, and
farmers including Riverford founder Guy
Singh-Watson will highlight the need to
broaden the food chain. The campaign’s
citizen food project hopes to encourage the
public to eat a wider range of foods and
engage with the debate.
To understand how our diets have
Scientists including Tim Spector, who is involved in
Food Diversity Day, argue that eating a wider range
of foods, especially plants, is the key to good health.
There’s an environmental benefit as well
become so narrow, we must look back to
the Second World War. Ramping up food
production after it ended was essential.
Scientific and technological advances
enabled food to be grown more quickly
and with higher yields, and vast
monocultures spread across the globe.
Economies were globalised and liberalised,
allowing a relatively small number of crops
from a few breadbasket regions to
dominate. Staple crops such as wheat
became cheaper and more plentiful than
ever but, nutritionally and environmentally,
they are increasingly being seen as far from
ideal.
Scientists including Tim Spector, who is
involved in Food Diversity Day, argue that
eating a wider range of foods, especially
plants, is the key to good health. But there’s
an environmental benefit: vast swathes of
rainforest are being chopped down to grow
soy and palm, while monocultures are
more susceptible to disease and pests.
Animal and insect biodiversity is taking a
battering, too.
Higher yields of a narrower range of
crops has helped feed the world, and can
continue to do so, but according to Prof
Tim Benton, head of the Environment
and Society Programme at Chatham
House, there is already a huge surplus of
food. ‘Such a large amount of food is
misused in the sense that it doesn’t feed
people in a healthy and sustainable way,’
says Benton. ‘Growing more food is not
going to solve the problem of starving
people in the world. We’re flooded with
food. Over 60 per cent of all the grains
ISSUES
grown in Europe get fed to cattle.’
Benton argues that a more sustainable
and healthier food system would see higher
consumption (and a greater variety) of fruit
and vegetables. ‘It would be better from a
farming perspective, because you’ll have
more diversity, which is better for resilience,
because if one crop gets hit you’ve got a
multitude of other crops,’ says Benton.
‘It makes sense from a sustainability and
health perspective, but from a driving the
economy perspective it’s frightening for
many of the constituencies of decision
makers. We’ve got layers upon layers of
incentives to not grow a different range of
goods in a way that is more sustainable for
people and the planet.’
At last year’s Cop 15 and 27
conferences, Benton says he witnessed
political pushback against the idea of
making food systems ‘fit for purpose’.
Though Cop 15 pledged to ‘maintain and
restore the genetic diversity within and
between populations of native, wild and
domesticated species,’ the Crop Trust has
since argued that crop diversity should not
be forgotten.
T H E N I N E C R O P S T H AT
MAKE UP 75% OF THE
G L O B A L C A L O R I E I N TA K E
Rice, Wheat, Maize, Potato, Barley,
Palm oil, Soy, Sugar (beet and cane)
Taken from Eating to Extinction: The World’s
Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save
Them, by Dan Saladino
27
ISSUES

In many ways, the current food system

works well much of the time: food is
abundant and cheap. Yet when Russia
invaded Ukraine, wheat and vegetable oil
prices shot up, as both are key global
producers of those staples. ‘Every time a
big crisis arrives, the potential fragility of
the (in some ways) highly efficient food
system we created is revealed to us,’ says
Saladino. ‘Going forward, we need the
options that food diversity can provide.’
There are signs things are changing.
Saladino takes inspiration from
southeastern Turkey, where ancient emmer
wheat is still grown. The grain fed those
who built the pyramids and erected
Stonehenge, and is still widely used in the
region. Chefs in Istanbul are increasingly
cooking with it, while crop-breeding
programmes are using it to introduce
disease resistance into modern wheat
varieties - proof, Saladino argues, of ‘why
an obscure, almost-extinct food actually
does matter to all of our futures’.
Take the case of the humble Swabian
lentil. The southern German pulse became
extinct in the 1960s but was revived by a ‘Every time a big crisis arrives, the potential fragility
German farmer who acquired seeds from a of the (in some ways) highly efficient food system we
Russian seed bank. Now hundreds of
farmers in the region are growing it and the created is revealed to us,’ says Saladino. ‘Going forward,
story has inspired the likes of Hodmedod’s, we need the options that food diversity can provide.’
which works with British farmers to
produce ‘lost’ local pulses. ‘There are local There have even been murmurs from biotech, one thing is definitely true,’ says
economies that are thriving because of this global food corporations: Emmanuel Saladino. ‘Both systems depend on
return to diversity,’ says Saladino. Faber, the former CEO of Danone, one diversity.’
At the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew of the world’s largest dairy companies, The public must also be willing to
Gardens, scientists hold over 2.4 billion admitted that restoring biodiversity is change its habits. Eating a wider range of
seeds from around the world, preserving fundamental. fruit, vegetables and animal products
them for the future. Meanwhile, at the The answer, both Benton and Saladino doesn’t have to be costly, but it often is.
National Institute of Agricultural Botany claim, isn’t simply a return to regenerative Diets will have to incorporate more pulses,
in Cambridge, a wheat-breeding project is agriculture that aims to restore biodiversity. and we’ll need to seek out different
aimed at boosting the genetic diversity of That has a significant role to play, but so do varieties.
the grain. modern, technology-driven forms of Apples, bananas and oranges may still
‘We’re seeing efforts by a new farming. be a virtuous start to the day, but seeking
generation of scientists, crop scientists and ‘Whether you envisage a more out different varieties may just help save
animal breeders to bring diversity back into regenerative agriculture, or one focused on the planet.
the system,’ says Saladino. ‘Because of
climate change, less predictable seasons, the HOW TO DIVERSIFY YOUR DIET
spread of certain types of crop diseases
WORDS BY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH PHOTOS SHUTTERSTOCK

and pests, scientists are finding resilience
and genetic traits in the crop diversity that
can be found in different parts of the
world.’
There is an increasing consensus that
planting and eating a wider range of
foods is key, whether it’s to benefit our
health, the environment or biodiversity.
Sounds good on paper, but how does it
look in practice?
Boosting your general intake of fruit and
veg intake is a good place to start. Jake
Finn, chef-owner of Cinder in London,
recommends adding grilled tomatoes to
your fry-up, or toasted seeds to a salad.
‘Herbs can be used on top of or in most
dishes, from pies and roasts to salads and
pasta dishes,’ says Finn.
Blending a wider range of vegetables
into common dishes is another good
tip. ‘Adding carrots, courgettes and
celery into a bolognese is a great way of
padding it out with extra nutrients,’ says
Tom de Keyser, head chef of the two-
Michelin-starred Hand and Flowers in
Marlow. Try using pureed swede instead
of, or mixed into, mashed potato to top a
shepherd’s pie.
Next, seek out different varieties of your
favourite fruit and veg, often found in
farmers’ markets - or grow yourself, if you
have the space.
Don’t overlook meat. If you can afford it,
look for native breeds at your local store.

28
E X P E RTS Got a problem? Our fantastic panel of renowned experts is available
to answer all your questions related to fashion, well-being, nutrition,
finance and hypnotherapy. Email your queries to friday@gulfnews.com

VANDANA GANDHI | CEO AND FOUNDER OF BRITISH ORCHARD NURSERY

SUPPORTING A CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT
Could you tell us a bit about speech
support and the tools used in
preschools to support a child’s
development?
One of the sweetest sounds a parent
ever hears is the first word from their
child. While most of the young
children develop normal speech and language as
they grow, some may have difficulties in this area
of early years development.
Research has found that children with any
form of communication difficulties and/or
delays in their language development can benefit
from interventions between birth and age five.
Good preschools offer extensive programs for
children that include a language-rich
environment, customized learning plans to meet
their individual needs, multi-sensorial play
opportunities, and special attention from a
qualified SENCO leader. The teachers are trained
and well-qualified to observe the presence of
common baby sounds, patterns of movements
of the baby’s lips and tongue, the timing of the
child’s first sounds and words, cognitive delays,
hearing difficulties, acquisition of vocabulary,
difficulties in pronunciation, thumb-sucking,
extended use of pacifiers, and delay in weaning
the child from bottle-feeding, and so on.
This information is tracked using the relevant
age strand of the EYFS Development Matters
of the UK which helps early learning centers
identify any concerns in the child’s speech and
language development.
Once a developmental delay is identified, a set
of tools is used during daily activities by qualified
nurseries to support such children. These
include:
1. Imitation games where children learn to
copy sounds, words, or phrases.
2. Storytime in classrooms for children to
learn how to correctly form sentences.
3. Group discussions feature picture cards
to learn associated vocabulary and object
identification.
4. Good educational settings have
multi-lingual teachers who have skills to
support children with EAL/ESL.
5. Emphasis is also given to building
positive relationships with parents to support
them in coping with needs of their child.
Despite the best efforts, some children may still
need targeted interventions by trained
professionals and the inclusion teams at
preschools coordinate this to achieve the best
possible outcomes for each child. Certified
preschools help every child learn and develop in
a holistic environment and attain great success.

DR TANVEER AHMED | MEDICAL DIRECTOR AT NEW IVORY DENTAL & IMPLANT CLINIC
MY DAUGHTER HAS CROWDED TEETH
My daughter needs to get her crowded
teeth straightened out. What would be
the best age to have her start out on
her smile correction journey?
This is a question that is a bit difficult
to answer without a checkup because
there are just too many variables.
Regardless I will try to issue some
general guidelines that might help you to make
your decision.
Crowded teeth or any teeth alignment issue
can be due to multiple causes: a discrepancy
between jaw size and tooth size - for example,
large teeth on small jaws will cause crowding
(and small teeth on large jaws will cause spacing).
Sometimes it could be because of the milk teeth
not falling off and sometimes it could be due to
having extra teeth. Narrow palates are also a
cause of crowding on the upper teeth. Certain
habits such as mouth breathing and finger or
thumb sucking can also make crowding worse
and cause flaring of the teeth.
The timing of the treatment depends on the
cause of the crowding in the first place and your
daughter’s age. Certain conditions that should be
treated as early as possible include milk teeth
which don’t fall out in time, narrow palates, a
crossbite– used to describe the overlap of the
lower teeth by the upper– and mouth breathing
and thumb sucking because they can adversely
affect the growth and development of the jaws.
If none of these conditions are present, it
might be advisable to wait until all the
permanent teeth have erupted around the age of
13 years.
Once again, it would be advisable to check
with your dentist or orthodontist the existing
dental situation and take professional advice
from them as it pertains specifically to your
daughter’s case and use all the information above
as general advice.
29
 5 ways
to shift
waistline
weight gain
We may no longer be able to blame
middle-aged spread on our metabolism,
but other issues may be at play, finds
Claire Coleman
‘
Middle-aged spread is a myth!’
screamed headlines last year, after a
study by an international team of
researchers revealed that the body’s
metabolism doesn’t actually slow down
until we reach our 60s.
But millions of people in their 40s and
50s contemplating their own widening
waistlines would argue otherwise. For men,
a thicker waist is thought to be because
men are more predisposed to visceral fat
– fat wrapped around the organs – which
pushes the abdomen outwards and feels
hard to the touch. Women tend towards
all-round thickening, thanks to
subcutaneous fat that sits directly under the
skin and feels softer.
Either way, as a high waist measurement
is correlated with an increased risk of type
2 diabetes and heart disease, it’s something
we should all worry about. (Quick tip: if
the circumference of your waist is more
than half your height, that counts as high.)
But if our rate of metabolism – how
fast the body burns calories – can’t be held
responsible for a widening waist as we age,
what can? And, crucially, is there anything
we can do about it?
Here are five reasons your stomach
30
might be less svelte now than in your youth
– and what you can do to regain your waist.
The problem: You’ve hit the
menopause
For women, all of the above is
compounded by the hormonal shift that
happens in middle age. ‘In menopause,
women are dealing with side effects such as
poor sleep, bladder weakness and low
self-esteem, which can affect appetite and
the motivation to exercise,’ says women’s
health specialist Emma Bardwell. ‘That’s
because insomnia raises levels of ghrelin
and lowers leptin, meaning we’re hungrier
and find it harder to feel satiated.’
The decline in oestrogen levels means
that women tend to shift from a traditional
‘pear’ shape (nipped in waist and fat stored
on the bottom, thighs and breasts) to more
of an ‘apple’ shape (rounder through the
middle). And, says Bardwell, this drop in
oestrogen can also make it hard to shift the
kilos. ‘Fat cells produce a little oestrogen
and as your body wants to hold onto as
much oestrogen as it can at this time, it can
feel much harder to lose weight.’
The solution: For many women, HRT,
which replaces the hormones that are
naturally lost, is a great solution. And when
it comes to weight and where fat is stored,
it’s certainly effective. One study found
BMI was significantly higher in peri- and
postmenopausal women than in those yet
to reach menopause, but also discovered
that women taking HRT had similar levels
of fat and fat distribution to
premenopausal women.
While the balance of oestrogen and
progesterone is often the focus when
dealing with menopause, the balance of
another hormone, insulin, is often
overlooked, points out Dr Estrelita van
Rensburg, founder of health company
WellnessEQ (wellnesseq.net) and author of
Eat Well or Die Slowly.
‘Carbohydrate-rich diets that are typical
in the Western world can lead to high levels
of insulin and subsequently insulin
resistance. And there’s evidence that insulin
resistance can exacerbate menopause
symptoms, such as fatigue, headaches,
brain fog and muscle weakness.’
The problem: You have less diversity in
your gut bacteria
The role and effect of the bacteria in our

Research shows an association between increased
gut diversity and eating at least 30 different types of
plant foods a week – not just fruit and veg; it includes
wholegrains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices
gut is at the cutting edge of diet science at
the moment, and research is now pointing
to the fact that our gut microbiome
changes as we get older, says Emma
Bardwell, a registered nutritionist and
women’s health specialist.
‘Diversity of certain species and strains
depletes with age, and having low levels of
bacteria such as Akkermansia muciniphila
has been associated with obesity, diabetes,
inflammation and metabolic disorders.
The solution: ‘Focus on diversifying your
microflora,’ says Bardwell. ‘Forget
expensive probiotic supplements: I’d advise
starting to increase the amount of plant
fibre in your diet. Research shows an
association between increased gut diversity
WORDS BY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK
and eating at least 30 different types of
plant foods a week – not just fruit and veg;
it includes wholegrains, nuts, seeds, herbs
and spices. Don’t fret too much over
numbers, though: aim for a plant-focused
diet (it doesn’t have to be vegan, by any
stretch) and just try to add in some variety,
so you’re not eating the same plant foods
each day.’
The problem: You have less muscle
mass than you used to
‘While last year’s study showed that
metabolism doesn’t slow until after the age
of 60, what the study didn’t account for is
loss of muscle mass,’ says nutritionist
Emma Bardwell. ‘We lose 1-2 per cent a
year from our 30s onwards. It’s
imperceptible perhaps at 35, but by 50
we’re starting to really notice it, especially
around the waistline.
‘Muscle is metabolically active [meaning
it uses up calories], so it plays a role in
keeping us in shape; muscle loss –
sarcopenia – means a small reduction in
metabolism, possibly 100-200 calories a
day. This might not sound like a lot, but
overconsuming, day in, day out, will lead to
weight gain. ‘Couple that with the fact that
we tend to move less as we get older and
you can see the problem.’
The solution: Keep an eye on your
portion sizes and avoid snacking. Yes, your
general diet is more important than the fact
that the amount of calories going in needs
to be equal to, or fewer than, the amount
of calories going out to avoid gaining
weight. But, as Bardwell explains, ‘If you
eat proper, filling, satiating meals, you’ll
keep blood-glucose levels steady and avoid
crashes and dips in energy that inevitably
leave us reaching for ultra-processed quick
energy fixes.’
Just as importantly, try to integrate
calorie-burning activity into your day that
isn’t organised exercise: take the stairs
instead of the lift, walk to the shops, do
gardening and housework. And when you
do work out, choose exercises that will help
build muscle.
Do at least two muscle-strengthening
HEALTH
sessions every week. The more muscle
mass you have, the more calories it will
burn, but gaining it doesn’t have to mean
pumping iron: sit-ups, push-ups, lunges
and squats all strengthen muscles, as do
yoga, pilates and tai-chi.
The problem: You’re stressed
Of course, we’re all stressed but whether
it’s a job, raising children or dealing with
elderly parents, stress tends to hit a peak in
our middle years.
Chronic levels of stress send the
hormone cortisol – associated with fat
deposition around the middle – into
overdrive, and that can be compounded by
self-medication through comfort eating.
The solution: It’s not a revolutionary
approach, but it works: if you cannot avoid
stress, instead find ways to mitigate its
effects.
That means making sure you are getting
enough sleep, and trying anything else that
helps to get your brain back in balance,
such as mindfulness, meditation or yoga.
The problem: Your diet is catching up
with you
‘Food consists of carbohydrates, proteins
and fats, and the body’s hormonal
response, specifically the way insulin
responds, to each of these is different,’ says
Dr van Rensburg. ‘Insulin’s role is to take
glucose out of our bloodstream and
effectively open the door to our cells so
that the glucose can be used to generate
energy. And carbohydrates raise insulin
levels much more than proteins or fats.’
The issue is that if you’ve been eating a
relatively high-carb diet throughout your
life, your body will have been running on
high levels of insulin and, over time, the
cells stop responding: a process known as
insulin resistance. But that glucose has to
go somewhere, so if the cells won’t take it,
the body stores it as fat - generally in and
around the abdominal area.
The solution: Overhaul your diet. It is
possible to reverse insulin resistance
through a combination of diet, exercise
and weight loss - and there are no quick
and easy fixes. It’s the same dietary advice
you will have heard before: cut out
processed foods and avoid simple sugars
and starchy carbs.
But don’t worry that you’re going to feel
hungry. ‘Once you start eating good
protein and fat, you’ll find it’s very
satiating,’ says van Rensburg. ‘It doesn’t
drive you to eat more in the way sugar and
starch keeps you feeling hungry [because
sugar and starch cause blood-sugar peaks
and troughs].’
31
BULGOGI

INGREDIENTS

Go Korean
30 gms brown sugar
15 gms corn syrup
20 gms minced garlic
50 gms soy sauce
Pepper (to taste - from a
pinch to 1 tsp)
20 gms sesame seed oil
Other ingredients:
500 gms sliced beef, rib-eye
or sirloin How about a taro root beef soup, a sizzling bbq or a Kabocha pound
150 to 200 gms onion cake? On the heels of the Korean New Year, here’s a selection of
50 gms mushroom
80 gms spring onion
typical Korean dishes
1 tsp sesame seeds

METHOD
Thinly slice the beef into bite
sized pieces and place them
in a large bowl.
Add brown sugar first to the
beef and mix it thoroughly to
let the sweetness get to the
beef as the sugar particles
are larger than the other
ingredients. Then add the
corn syrup and minced garlic
to the beef and mix.
Marinate for 10 to 20 minutes.
Slice mushroom very thinly,
into pieces of approximately
0.5 cm thickness.
Chop green onions and finely
slice onion into long pieces, of
around 0.5 cm thickness.
Add the rich soy sauce to
the marinated beef and mix
gently so as to not to tear the
meat. Now, if you are looking
to store it in the fridge for
cooking the next day, add
only the green onion and
keep it. If cooking on the
same day, add onion, green
onion and mushroom, along
with the black pepper and
sesame oil and mix.
Pre-heat the pan on high heat
and add the beef bulgogi.
Stir gently with tongs or
chopsticks to separate the
meat, and cook on medium
heat for around 20 minutes.
Once completely cooked,
arrange the beef bulgogi
on a plate and garnish by
sprinkling some sesame seeds
for a steaming, savoury and
juicy beef dish.

Recipe: Annie Chung, owner of

Hyu Restaurant at Jumeirah Lakes
Towers in Dubai

32
 FOOD

KOREAN TARO ROOT BEEF SOUP

INGREDIENTS
300 gms taro root
150 gms white radish
10 sheets of dried kelp (optional)
150 gms beef brisket
1 to 2 green onion bulbs
2 garlic cloves
5 cups beef stock
5 cups rice water
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce

METHOD
Peel the taro and slice it. Bring the rice
water to a boil and boil the taro root for 10
minutes, after adding salt. Discard the rice
water.
Slice the beef brisket and boil the beef stock
and add the beef brisket and kelp into it.
Add the boiled taro root, sliced radish,
sliced green onions, and minced garlic.
Add the soy sauce and salt to taste in the
end. Serve the soup warm.

Recipe: Ewha Kim, a public relations and

media manager at Korean Cultural Center
in the UAE.

KOREAN KABOCHA POUND Peel the kabocha squash

CAKE Steam at 95 degree Celsius for
30 minutes until soft. Use a food
INGREDIENTS processor to blend until smooth. Once
246g all-purpose flour blended strain with a fine mesh sieve.
4.5g baking soda To make miso ice cream:
1g salt Using a blender, combine ingredients
2.5g cinnamon powder and blend until smooth. Strain through
121g sugar a fine mesh sieve. Add mixture to
80g brown sugar an ice cream machine and mix until
300g kabocha puree ( or canned mixture becomes ice cream. Remove
pumpkin puree) and store in freezer.
144g apple sauce To make maple cream:
140g corn oil Combine ingredients in a bowl and
40g dried cranberry mix until well incorporated. Add to a
35g pumpkin seed siphon and charge with 2 chargers.
For miso Ice cream cinnamon powder, sugar and brown Store in the refrigerator.
198g coconut cream sugar in a stand mixture. Using the To make cranberry compote:
55g maple syrup paddle attachment mix at a low setting In a sauce pan add all ingredients and
19g miso paste for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and cook over medium heat constantly
For maple cream add the kabocha puree, apple sauce, stirring until mixture starts to boil.
150g coconut cream dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. Lower the heat to low and simmer until
33g maple syrup Mix on low speed until all ingredients cranberries soften. Remove from heat
PHOTO S SHUTTERSTOCK, SUPPLIED

For cranberry compote
235g dried cranberry
225g cranberry juice
68g sugar
Juice and zest from 1 orange
13g cornstarch
METHOD
Combine flour, baking soda, salt,
are combined. While the mixer is
running slowly add the corn oil until
it is all mixed in. Add the batter to an
oiled pound cake pan and bake at 162
degrees Celsius for 50 min. Check the
inside with a wooden stick to see if it is
done. Let the cake cool and unmould
once it reaches room temperature.
To make the kabocha puree:
and cool to room temperature then
store in refrigerator until ready to use.
To plate: Place 1 slice of kabocha cake,
cranberry compote, maple cream, miso
ice cream.
Recipe: Chef Akira Back, Michelin-
starred chef and owner of Akira Back
chain of restaurants, worldwide.

33
 Author and historian
Shrabani Basu will be
speaking at the Emirates
Airline Festival of Literature,
in Dubai in February

‘There are many

hidden histories from
the Raj period’
Author Shrabani Basu talks about her books sharing fascinating insights into Queen Victoria’s
relationship with her Indian attendant, how Arthur Conan Doyle investigated a case for an Indian
lawyer, and why curry is such a popular dish in the UK. By Anand Raj OK

I
t was a curry, says Shrabani Basu. ‘In
a way, the book started with a curry.’
The book she is referring to is
Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of
the Queen’s Closest Confidant which
explores the strong bond Queen Victoria
shared with her personal attendant, a
young Indian named Abdul Karim. (For
the record, it was also made into a film
34
starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal. But
about that, later.)
Few things fascinate Shrabani, a
UK-based Indian journalist, author and
historian, more than bringing to light little
known historical incidents that occurred in
Britain and India during the colonial rule.
And the good news is that she will be
sharing some of them during the
upcoming Emirates Airline Festival of
Literature in Dubai.
‘My work revolves around the
relationship of India and Britain over the
Raj years, and there are many hidden
histories from that period that I have
uncovered and will be talking about,’ she
says, in an exclusive interview with Friday.
Shrabani will surely be discussing her

first book, Curry, and Victoria & Abdul, the
book that came about thanks to her
research into the history of curry in
Britain.
Peppered with plenty of fascinating
details, Victoria & Abdul, republished in
2017, has plenty of intriguing and
absorbing insights into a chapter of history
that few know about in detail.
So how did the book come about? I ask.
‘I learnt that Queen Victoria loved curry
and that she had two servants who cooked
it for her,’ says the writer, warming up to
the subject.
Then one day a few years later, while on
a tour of the former royal holiday
residence of Osborne House, Shrabani
chanced upon a portrait of Abdul Karim,
one of the men who supposedly cooked
curries in the royal palace. ‘He was painted
in red and gold, and was holding a book,
looking more like a nawab than a servant,’
she recalls.
The writer would soon discover more
portraits of Abdul at Osborne and a bust.
‘He seemed to be everywhere,’ she says.
‘The final trigger for me [to write the
book] was a photograph of Abdul Karim
in the Queen’s bedroom, which has been
left exactly as it was when she died. That
really aroused my curiosity and I wanted to
know more about him.’
Her desire to uncover the story would
take her on a four-year journey across three
countries – India, Pakistan and the UK –
unearthing details about Abdul and his
relationship with the queen.
‘It was fascinating. There
were times even I could not
believe what I was reading
in letters, journals and
private diaries,’ says the
author who was born in
Kolkata and raised in Dhaka,
Kathmandu and Delhi.
ON ABDUL’S TRAIL
An assistant clerk at Agra central
Jail, Abdul was barely 24 years old
when he left Agra in India for England to
wait at tables during Queen Victoria’s
Golden Jubilee in the 1880s
Within a year of his arrival in the palace,
he earned the Queen’s trust to become her
PHOTOS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, SUPPLIED
personal attendant and her teacher (or
munshi (meaning, teacher) as she is said to
have addressed him), giving her lessons in
Urdu and Indian affairs. However, it was a
relationship that would lead to a near revolt
in the royal family.
‘I realised that Queen Victoria’s
relationship with Abdul Karim was very
controversial and had caused a storm in
court,’ says Shrabani. The more she began
researching this part of the Queen’s life
A still from the film Victoria
and Abdul starring Judi
Dench and Ali Fazal
The fact that she had a young Indian man at the heart
of her Royal household showed she was ahead of her
time in many ways. That all this drama was happening
when the Empire was at its height made it more fascinating
that was largely unknown, the more
engrossing it was turning out to be.
‘The impression we have of Queen
Victoria was that of a woman dressed in
black, whose most famous line was “We
are not amused”. But there was a whole
undiscovered human side to her.
‘The fact that she had a young Indian
man at the heart of her Royal household
showed she was ahead of her time in
many ways. That all this drama was
happening when the Empire was at its
height made it even more fascinating.’
Keen to uncover more of the
lesser-known chapter in British and
Indian history, the graduate in
history from St Stephen’s College,
Delhi, began to meticulously
research documents and letters
from the era, after gaining
access to the private papers of the
Queen’s household, official letters the
Queen wrote to viceroys, and documents
by her personal physician, among others.
She was also granted permission to
access several volumes of the Queen’s
journals in which Victoria practiced Urdu.
In many of them, the Queen would sign
off notes to Abdul Karim with ‘dearest
mother’ or ‘your loving mother’.
Was it easy finding material for the
book? I ask.
Not at all, she makes it clear. ‘It was four
years of hard work. I was following letters,
journals and piecing together the story
from several sources.’
Part of her research involved sifting
through the archives at Windsor Castle,
AUTHORSPEAK
reading the correspondence on Karim
between the Viceroy and the Royal
Household, and looking through the
diaries of Victoria’s personal physician, Sir
James Reid.
‘I read the newspaper reports of the
time and the gossip columns. I travelled to
all the royal palaces where they would go
and followed on their trail.’
However, to make Shrabani’s research
more difficult, she discovered that many of
the letters the two exchanged had been
destroyed after the Queen’s death.
Keen to find out more about Abdul
Karim, Shrabani travelled to his home
town of Agra and then to Karachi where
she struck pay dirt. ‘His descendants who
were in Karachi showed me his diary,’ she
says, adding the family told her they had
Abdul’s original journals which had been
assumed destroyed.
That was the turning point; one that
would help her in completing the book.
‘There’s a line in one [of Abdul’s
journals] that says, ‘whoever’s hand this
falls into, I hope they like this story’. After
more than a hundred years, it had fallen
into my hands,’ says Shrabani.
‘It gave me goosebumps just reading
those lines... like he was communicating to
me from the past. I now knew that I would
be able to tell his story to the world.’
And what was the bond the Queen
shared with Abdul Karim?
‘It was a real companionship,’ says the
author. ‘That is evident in the language of
the letters and diaries. Sometimes she
signed off her letters with xxx for kisses.
35
AUTHORSPEAK
Some of the letters show a certain level of
intimacy that only two people who were
very close could share.’
DETAILS TELL THE STORY
A lover of including even the most minute,
but interesting, details in her works,
Shrabani believes ‘little details make a
story’. For Victoria and Abdul, for instance,
she recalls scanning the archives of
Osborne House to see their menus. ‘I
learnt that Victoria’s favourites were
chicken curry and dal. I read her
Hindustani Journals from cover to cover
and picked up little nuggets, like her
learning to say: “You will miss the Munshi
very much” and “Hold me tight” in Urdu.
‘I learnt that she longed to taste
mangoes, but she could never do that, as
they would spoil on the long sea journey
[from India].
‘I learnt from newspaper reports that
Abdul Karim would go to pray at the
Woking Mosque during Ramadan, and
Muslims around the country would go to
see him, as he had become quite famous.’
All of these details are included in the
book and more in the 2017 movie, Victoria
and Abdul, starring Judi Dench as the
Queen and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim. Judi,
incidentally, was nominated for a Golden
Globe for her role.
Shrabani’s book too received rave
reviews. While The Washington Times
underscored that the author had ‘done
solid homework’, the BBC History Magazine
felt it was a ‘story [that] should have been
told before’.
STOKING HER INTEREST
I rewind a bit to ask the author what got
her interested in British and Indian history.
‘I think it happened naturally,’ she says.
‘As a London correspondent [for the
Kolkata-based newspaper Anandabazar
Patrika and The Telegraph], I was always
looking for unusual stories.’
When not covering British politics, she
also wrote about Indians in Britain. ‘My
love of history took me naturally towards
stories on pre-Independence India and the
Raj years. I find the 19th century and the
early 20th century fascinating. I am drawn
to personal stories and in all my subjects
whether it was the First and Second World
Wars, Royalty or Empire, it was the people
that I was interested in.’
It was this fascination for interesting
stories about people of Indian origin that
led her to write another book – this one
about a Parsee lawyer who was wrongly
accused of killing horses.
Titled The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer, it
tells the story of a young Indian lawyer
named George Edalji who hires none
36
Judi Dench was
nominated for a Golden
Globe for her role
other than the famed Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle to prove his innocence!
Again, finding material for this book
was a challenge, says the author. ‘I accessed
libraries and archives in Portsmouth,
London, Staffordshire and Birmingham,’
says Shrabani. ‘I visited George’s house in
Great Wyrley and saw the church and
vicarage which are still there [George’s
father, Shahpur Edalji, a Parsi convert to
Christianity, was vicar of Great Wyrley]. I
went to find his grave in Welwyn Garden
City outside London where he died.
‘I also did a lot of research on the
journey of his father, who came from
Mumbai to Britain and became a vicar.
That bit of the story was also important to
me.’
During the course of her research,
Shrabani discovered several fascinating
facets to the case. ‘I learnt that the police
were trying to trip up Arthur Conan Doyle
as he began investigating the Edalji case.
They even planted false trails for him.
These were nuggets of information that
have never been published. Even Arthur
Conan Doyle did not know that the head
of the local Staffordshire police was
actually trying to discredit him in the eyes
of the Home Office,’ she says.
FASCINATION FOR CURRY
As we come to the end of the interview I
ask her about her first book on curries
titled, Curry.
‘Curry was my first book published in
1999,’ she says. ‘As a journalist coming to
UK in the eighties, I was intrigued to find
that curry was the most popular dish, that
it was everywhere – from sandwich fillings
to pizza toppings. Also, it wasn’t anything
like what we ate in India.’
It was also a revelation for her to see
that almost all Indian restaurants were run
by Bangladeshis. ‘It was an important bit
of social history. I traced the love of curry
back to the time the British first went to
India in search of spices and how they
were seduced by Indian food. It was
interesting to see how the cuisine
developed over the 19th century and then
the wave of immigrants after
Independence made it a different dish
altogether, catering to the British palate and
recreating Raj nostalgia.’
So, what can readers expect from her at
the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature?
‘I look forward to discussing history and
Empire with fellow authors and
exchanging ideas and stories,’ she says. ‘My
work revolves around the relationship of
India and Britain over the Raj years and
there are many hidden histories from that
period that I have uncovered and will be
talking about. My sessions cover a wide
range from Royalty to crime, racism and
miscarriage of justice.’
It promises to offer plenty of food for
thought.
Shrabani Basu will be speaking at
Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai
on Friday 3 February 2023. For details,
emirateslitfest.com
ON THAT NOTE
Suresh Menon is a writer based in India. In his youth he set
out to change the world but later decided to leave it as it is.
Any time is coffee
time, especially
1.27 PM
I
was once writing a book on ‘Working From
Home’. I had been doing this for years and was
considered something of an expert. Then
Covid struck, everyone was working from
home, and the publishers didn’t see anything
special in my story.
I wrote about the importance of a coffee break at
work. A genuine coffee break, that is, where you drank
genuine coffee and not just a break to catch up with
friends.
Now the magazine Psychology Today tells us when
to take that coffee break. According to research, the
ideal time is 1.27 PM. As the clock strikes 1.27 (no
clock strikes 1.27, but you know what I mean), get up
and coffee (which sounds like the title for a song).
That simple act will banish sluggishness, sleep,
thoughts of murdering the boss, ideas of quitting and
going to the mountains, starting an affair behind your
wife’s back and other impure thoughts the average
office-worker is subject to.
Tell us what you think? Email us at friday@gulfnews.com
38
I remember 1.27 PM well from my days of working
in an office. That is the precise time I sat down to
work, or at least sat down at my desk, having come
into the office at around 8.30 AM. Why did I take so
long, you ask? Well, no one, not even Napoleon who
was legendary for getting down to it straightaway, does
actually get down to it straightaway.
The office more than the local community centre is
the fount of gossip where you discuss not only why
your colleague’s marriage broke down and who is
currently seeing (to put it mildly) whom, but also the
latest football scores and television serials. Most
conversations begin with, “Did you see that _
yesterday?” The blank can stand from anything from
the CNN broadcast to yet another re-run of MASH.
To miss all this and go straight to the desk upon
entering an office is not just impossible, it is impolite.
Anyone who does that earns a reputation as a suck-up
who is more interested in his career than on sharing his
thoughts with colleagues.
The coffee tricks your body into
thinking you have more energy
than you do. Work tends to
ILLUSTRATION BY SIMON MYERS PRETTYFUNKY.COM
trick you into thinking you have less
Especially since (according to the same article), an
office-worker is at his peak, creatively and productively
at 10.22 AM. Why would you waste all that creativity
and productivity on work when you could be
channelising them to comment on the previous night’s
highlights?
The coffee tricks your body into thinking you have
more energy than you do. Work tends to trick you into
thinking you have less. At 1.27 the two forces meet,
and you have just enough energy to have a cup of
coffee. Now it’s up to you. With the extra energy you
can either go back to work or have more cups of
coffee.