Global IndianstoryAbhishek ‘Lucky’ Gupta: Seoul’s most beloved Indian bridging cultures between India and Korea

Abhishek ‘Lucky’ Gupta: Seoul’s most beloved Indian bridging cultures between India and Korea

By: Amrita Priya

(September 20, 2024) Abhishek Gupta, widely known as Lucky, is one of the most famous Indian-born residents of Seoul. He was awarded the honorary citizenship by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in December 2022. For the Indian origin entertainer who has been living in Korea for close to three decades, this recognition came in appreciation of his efforts in promoting the city and for his charitable work for children living in poverty. The honorary citizenship is granted to foreign residents who have lived in Seoul for several years and have made significant contributions to enhancing the city’s global image. The Indian entertainer and actor who gained fame on TV and YouTube for his fluent Korean has promoted Seoul both online and offline.

As a television personality one of Lucky’s most noteworthy appearances has been on the popular South Korean TV show Non-summit (also known as Abnormal Summit), which featured non-Korean men living in South Korea discussing various topics, including Korean culture through the eyes of a foreigner. Besides his career as an entertainer, Abhishek is also a businessman, running Lucky India, an Indian restaurant and IndiAgro a business venture that imports Indian sesame seeds to Korea.

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Recently, Lucky was appointed as the honorary Ambassador for the King Sejong Institute Foundation. It’s an honour he shares with two fellow expats, Italian Alberto Mondi and German Daniel Lindemann. The King Sejong institute operates in 80 countries, with 250 branches and over 80,000 students learning Korean worldwide. “Being chosen as a global ambassador for such a prestigious institution to promote the Korean language feels amazing, as it is the language that has shaped my entire career,” Lucky remarked in an interview with KBS World Radio.

From India to Korea

Born in New Delhi, he graduated from the Delhi University in Economics before moving to South Korea in 1996 to study the Korean language at the Seoul National University’s Language Education Institute.

“Back in the day, many of my friends went to English-speaking countries like the UK, the US or Canada to study. I wondered why my parents sent me to Korea,” Lucky remarked in an interview with The Korea Herald. However, he is thankful to his late father who decided to send him and his elder brother to Korea from India at a time when not many were doing so. “He was forward-thinking and saw the potential long before,” he added.

When Lucky Gupta first landed in Korea as a 19-year-old, he had never imagined that he would become one of the most beloved Indians in the country. “In a report released by the Indian Embassy in Korea in 2000, my elder brother and I were among just 10 Indian students who could speak Korean at the time. It’s remarkable how much has changed since then, as today, people from all over the world are learning the Korean language,” Lucky remarked.

Indian origin | Lucky | Abhishek 'Lucky' Gupta | Bridging Cultures between India and Korea | Global Indian

Settling down in Korea

As a 19-year-old Lucky’s focus was just on adjusting to a new country and overcoming homesickness when he landed in Seoul for the first time.

In the pre-internet era, he arrived with limited knowledge about the country. Rather than experiencing a culture shock, he found the process of discovering its differences from India challenging but at the same time intriguing and interesting.

“I came during the analogue era; things are much more digital now. Back then, there was no Internet, no smartphones, no Google to find the top ten restaurants or things to do. It was a different and more challenging time,” he said.

After a challenging first year in the foreign country, Lucky got acclimated to the food, language, and new experiences, making his life in Korea much more enjoyable.

Since his nickname ‘Lucky,’ used by family and close friends in India, was easier for people in Korea to pronounce compared to ‘Abhishek,’ he began introducing himself by that name. This is why he is more popularly known as Lucky rather than Abhishek Gupta even now.

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A post shared by 럭키 lucky (@luckyinkorea)

One of the few foreign-born TV personalities in Korea

It was in 2000 that his life took an unexpected turn, shortly before South Korea gained international attention by hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup. “They (a television channel) were looking for a foreigner who could speak Korean. They needed someone to travel around Korea, try the food, and speak Korean—they wanted to show how a foreigner experiences life here,” he recalls of his time on Good Morning World, the KBS show that marked his first big break.

Through this experience, Lucky discovered his passion for being in front of the camera, and gradually, his career began to align with the world of entertainment.

In the early 2000s, Lucky became one of the few foreign-born TV personalities, featuring as a supporting character in the popular SBS period drama Rustic Period (2002-2003). Despite his growing presence on screen, he had no plans to stay in Korea long-term or pursue naturalization, a step he would take much later.

“TV programs featuring foreigners were not a major trend at first. Our roles were very limited,” he said.

Lucky with famous expats in Korea during Chuseok, the harvest festival of Korea

Entrepreneurship and TV success

While busy in some acting assignments he also laid the foundation of his sesame import business. While he was expanding his business, Lucky was invited to appear on the local talk show Wednesday Foodtalk to share his insights on curry. This opportunity led him to the opportunity to join the cast of JTBC’s hit show non-summit, where he gained immense popularity among Korean viewers, debating current issues with expats from around the world who had made Korea their home.

During his time on the show, Lucky and his fellow cast members presented a compelling example of global interconnectedness, earning acclaim for the variety of topics and perspectives they brought to the table. While Abhishek has appeared on numerous television programs before and since, he is best remembered for his role on non-summit, where he represented India in 103 of the 144 episodes that were shot before, he left it. He eventually stepped away from the show to focus on his second entrepreneurial venture.

“I’m very thankful to the Korean audience; they’ve loved me, they gave me so much love and support, and whenever I meet them, they always tell me that they actually came to know about many things of India through me, and that India seems a much closer country to them because of me.”

Indian origin | Lucky | Global Indian

Promoting intercultural understanding between India and Korea

Lucky launched his YouTube Channel 354 in 2020, aiming to satisfy the curiosity of travel enthusiasts eager to explore Korea. Through the channel, he highlights lesser-known yet fascinating aspects of the country.

The entrepreneur and well-known TV personality, believes his life in Korea is no longer just about making a living. His focus has shifted towards promoting intercultural understanding between India and Korea.

Having spent more years in Korea than in India, the 45-year-old feels a strong connection with the country, and promotes it in whichever way he can. Deeply proud of his Indian heritage, he also strives to introduce various facets of India to Korean audiences.

Lucky with fellow Koreans during Great guide India shoot

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Published on 20, Sep 2024

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Creating history: Author Priya Satia’s novels narrate the tale of India under the British Raj

(January 11, 2023) For the past several generations, British historians have deconstructed and reimagined world history to suit the Empire's narrative. Their tales of development in various colonies of the empire across the globe - including India, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean - licensed the brutal suppression of the colonial rebellion by imperial governance. While these narratives still echo in world history, author Priya Satia's latest release, Time's Monster: History, Conscience, and Britain's Empire, examines how the British historians not only twisted the fate of colonial politics but also shaped the futures of generations to come. [caption id="attachment_33728" align="aligncenter" width="526"] Priya Satia, author[/caption] "It shaped my family’s history and so much of the world, and I felt I could contribute – and correct influential myths – from the United States," the author shared during an interview while answering why it was important for her to write this book. The award-winning author of Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution and Spies in Arabia - Priya compels her readers to look into the parts of world history that generally are never discussed. The Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History and Professor of British History at

could contribute – and correct influential myths – from the United States," the author shared during an interview while answering why it was important for her to write this book. The award-winning author of Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution and Spies in Arabia - Priya compels her readers to look into the parts of world history that generally are never discussed. The Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History and Professor of British History at Stanford University, the Global Indian regularly writes for various media outlets including Financial Times, The Nation, and Washington Post.

The Arabian conquest

A Ph.D. scholar from the University of California, Berkeley, Priya grew up in Los Gatos, amidst a lot of books. An avid reader, she was always curious to know about the past of the nation to which she belongs - India. And it was this passion which led her to write several books on the British Raj in the country. In 2008, Priya released her first book, Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East, which was well-received not just by the audience, but also by the critics.

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In a recent interview, the author discussed why she chose to write about events in the Middle East. "I had an interest in South Asia before I had an interest in the Middle East. I was looking into the Indian Army, which did most of the fighting in Iraq during World War I, and became distracted by the Indian Army’s British officers. They arrived thinking that they were in the land of the Arabian Nights, that this place was mysterious and unknowable. But they were there to perform very practical tasks. I became curious how their cultural outlook shaped what they did and how they did it."

Uncovering several conspiracy theories, the author shares how off-base the British were and how outlandishly exaggerated their theories. "When I wrote Spies in Arabia, I was so sure that the British were so wrong in what they assumed about native inhabitants that I didn’t pay enough attention to their actual interactions. This dimension comes out more in my current work on global anticolonial networks than it did in Spies. I’m now looking at the conspiracy theory chapter from the other side, in a sense," she said.

The bloody history of India

While it is not talked about or portrayed in world history, that the British were barbaric towards Indians is a truth that needs no further proof. And yet, everyone seems to have turned a blind eye toward the actual events of the time. Priya, however, shares that it was very important for her to uncover this part of history and present it to the world. “In public memory, redemptive myths about colonial upliftment persistently mask the empire’s abysmal history of looting and pillage, policy-driven famines, brutal crushing of the rebellion, torture, concentration camps, aerial policing, and everyday racism and humiliation,” the author explained in the book Empire of Guns, adding, "To be sure, there is a story about the ‘banality of evil’ to be told— about the automatic, conformist ways in which ordinary people become complicit in inhumanity. But in the case of the British Empire, the bigger story is perhaps that of inhumanity perpetrated by individuals deeply concerned with their consciences, indeed actively interrogating their consciences."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHldSyL8ouo

The book earned Priya the 2019 Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies Book Prize, the Wadsworth Prize in Business History, and the AHA's Jerry Bentley Prize in world history. "Empire of Guns told the story of a very important eighteenth-century gunmaker named Samuel Galton. As a Quaker, he was forced to defend his gun-making to fellow Quakers who felt it violated the sect’s pacifist commitments," shared the author, who was also the finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in History and shortlisted for the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.

The author, who is also the curator of several tailored history seminars, wants young people to read and understand history from an unbiased point of view. "To those hoping to enter the world of history, I would suggest coming in with a strong, uncompromising sense of the purpose of that entry, else the academy will instill its own values of personal professional advancement, which are designed to perpetuate institutions as they exist now," the author shared during a class.

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Reading Time: 6 mins

Indian filmmaker Alka Raghuram shines the spotlight on social issues with a unique perspective

(January 13, 2022) As a young girl growing up in the Indore of the 1980s, Indian filmmaker Alka Raghuram watched films on rare occasions. Back then with no home television sets or access to world cinema, her exposure to the world of films was limited. Yet, when the artistically-inclined Alka came across a filmmaking course at a San Francisco community college, the whole idea fascinated her enough to want to study the nuances of filmmaking. Today, the award-winning Indian filmmaker brings to life hitherto overlooked subjects with a fresh perspective. From exploring the lives of Muslim women boxers in Kolkata with her award-winning film Burqa Boxers to highlighting the abuse women face on an everyday basis, and creating video vignettes for dance performances, this Indian-American filmmaker has a finger in every pie. Burqa Boxers premiered at the MAMI Film Festival in 2016 and earned rave reviews. The documentary also screened at the Locarno Film Festival where it received the Best Project Award. [caption id="attachment_18758" align="aligncenter" width="1147"] A still from Burqa Boxers[/caption] From UP to the US Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, Indian filmmaker Alka spent the first eight years of her life in Himachal Pradesh where her mother Saroj Mehrotra worked as a teacher. At age eight, the family moved to Indore where

/> A still from Burqa Boxers[/caption]

From UP to the US

Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, Indian filmmaker Alka spent the first eight years of her life in Himachal Pradesh where her mother Saroj Mehrotra worked as a teacher. At age eight, the family moved to Indore where her father Balraj Mehrotra worked with a company that manufactured welding electrodes. Back in the 80s, Alka says, Indore has its own constraints. “I was always artistically-inclined and wanted to pursue a course in applied arts, for which scope was limited in Indore,” says the eldest of three siblings, who then moved to Mumbai to do her fashion designing from SNDT College.

“Back then, matters like whether one should be allowed to go to a co-educational college or opt for something close to home were major factors,” Alka tells Global Indian. “However, my maternal grandfather was quite liberal and my mother moved out of home as a young woman to study, and at 21 got a job and lived alone in Himachal Pradesh. Which is why we could think of going beyond the norm and expand our horizons,” the Indian filmmaker recalls.

Following her graduation, Alka worked with a garment export firm for a years. It was around this time that she met her husband V Raghuram, an engineer. After they got married, Raghuram got an opportunity to move to the US, and the couple set up home in California’s Bay Area in the early 1990s.

Indian Filmmaker | Alka Raghuram | Burqa Boxers

A bend in the road

“The first couple of years were spent in getting oriented to the new way of life. Everything was so different,” recalls this 53-year-old Indian filmmaker. “I’d watched the film Edward Scissorhands and the whole place was like in the movie. I’d read Vikram Seth’s The Golden Gate and when we drove down the Golden Gate Bridge and had coffee at Caffe Trieste, I couldn’t believe that the books I’d read or the movies I’d watched were coming to life,” she says.

A shift like this, though disorienting, also afforded her the opportunity to re-evaluate her future choices. “I wanted to go back to school. Given my childhood passion for painting and illustration, I thought I’d become a children’s book illustrator. That’s when I came across a filmmaking course at a local college. It seemed so esoteric; growing up filmmaking wasn’t something that I’d even considered. When I took the course, I fell in love with the art,” she says.

Alka went on to undertake several filmmaking related classes before she decided to pursue her masters in filmmaking from San Francisco State University. By that time, she had two young children, but the love for filmmaking spurred her to juggle both worlds. “It was a very hands-on course. I particularly enjoyed Professor Bill Nickels’ classes. They grounded my work in ethics, how to approach people and represent them. It taught me the power dynamics and made me aware of the moral component of filmmaking,” avers Alka, who made her first film after her graduation.

[caption id="attachment_18759" align="aligncenter" width="1138"] Indian Filmmaker | Alka Raghuram | Burqa Boxers A still from Burqa Boxers[/caption]

Entry into cinema

Panchali, a five-minute short, stemmed from a newspaper article she’d read about a girl being sexually assaulted on a Mumbai local train and how no one stepped forward to help her. The incident left an indelible mark and Panchali was a juxtaposition of this girl and Draupadi’s disrobement from the Mahabharata. “It was an experimental film with a lot of back and forth between the two women,” she says of the film that went on to become a quarter finalist at the Student Oscars.

In 2014, Alka collaborated with dancers Pandit Chitresh Das (Kathak) and Antonio Hidalgo Paz (Flamenco) to create video vignettes for their performance Yatra. Ever since, she has been collaborating with the Chitresh Das Dance Academy and in 2022, she is set to work on their new production Invoking the River that will throw the spotlight on the River Yamuna and its degradation.

Claim to fame

In the mid-2000s Alka also came across several reports in the media about Muslim women boxers in Kolkata. The story fascinated her and led her to reach out to Asit Banerjee, who was at that time associated with the West Bengal Boxing Federation. “When I read about these women, I was fascinated and I also identified with them in a way, given my upbringing in Indore of the 80s. I wondered if these women had a support system and what led them to think of and see a world beyond their social structure,” she says, adding that Asit introduced her to Razia Shabnam, who coaches these women boxers in Kolkata.

“I visited Razia and she ran this coaching centre out of a raggedy gym. She also took me to New Light, an NGO that rehabilitates children of sex workers, whom she taught as well. As Razia worked, I followed her and met several young girls. As I did, many stories and characters emerged,” says the Indian filmmaker, who spent the first year establishing a rapport with her subjects.

In the meanwhile, she received a development grant from ITVS that helped her begin filming with a minimal crew. Four years later when the film was ready, she was invited to the Locarno Film Festival, where she won top honours. She also met a French co-producer 24 Images, which helped her complete the film.

Indian Filmmaker | Alka Raghuram | Burqa Boxers

When the film premiered at MAMI in 2016, it was very well-received. “That a woman like Razia lives and thrives in her community came as a surprise to many. That feminism came from within her made a lot of us, including me, step out of our bubbles,” explains the filmmaker, who also loves dabbling in ceramics and sculpting.

Currently, she is preparing to begin filming her feature film - Ayna. “It is a psychological thriller and I hope to begin filming later this year. I’m also working on a documentary called Blueprint of Love, which explores the kinds of facilities that people with serious mental illnesses require, and how to design them,” says Alka, who loves long walks in her neighbourhood, and reading and painting too.

As she shuttles between India and the US, she says she misses India tremendously. “It is home. Every time I step into the airport here, and the visceral smell of India hits me, I know I am home,” she says.

For budding filmmakers, she advices, “Don’t try to find different stories. It’s quite likely that someone else has the same idea. What will set you apart is your perspective and your vision. It is what I have to keep reminding myself when I’m picking a subject.”

Follow Alka Raghuram on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 10 mins

Indian CEO Tanvi Chowdhri’s scoops see the former hedge fund girl’s Papacream grow 5x during the pandemic

(January 5, 2021) A pani puri sorbet, a nacho cheese ice cream or a sushi ice cream – This is the quirky fusion that this gourmet explorer brings to the table. A cornucopia of nostalgia, fun, and luxury sets homegrown brand Papacream’s founder Tanvi Chowdhri apart from competitors. “We wanted to give customers an experience like never before. When we started Papacream, the idea was to be indigenous and play with inviting and relatable flavours,” says Chowdhri, CEO, Papacream in an exclusive interview with Global Indian. Since Papacream began in 2015, it has seen exponential growth in revenue. Today, the brand is available online, and across many Indian cities. Her passion for the culinary arts saw her quit a well-paying job at Wall Street in the US to follow her dreams of starting a homegrown ice cream brand in India. “There was a burning desire to do something in the food space – that’s how Papacream was born,” adds the young Indian CEO. Born and raised in Kolkata, Chowdhri often traipsed the streets of the City of Joy in search of niche culinary experiences. “You cannot not fall in love with food in Kolkata. It’s a place where people take

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Born and raised in Kolkata, Chowdhri often traipsed the streets of the City of Joy in search of niche culinary experiences. “You cannot not fall in love with food in Kolkata. It’s a place where people take food seriously,” says the recipient of the 2019 Times Women Entrepreneur Awards.

An epicurean awakening

This love for food simmered during her stint in the US. At Wall Street, Chowdhri, an investment banker, loved clocking in hours at Nomura on weekdays, and the weekend saw her explore the dynamic food scene in New York City. “I’d often go around meeting different chefs to understand their style of cooking, or what interesting things they were up to,” she adds. Those weekend food jaunts were the perfect catalyst in helping Chowdhri dive into the F&B industry in India. “It was in NYC that the clouds cleared,” recalls the girl, who won PETA India Food Awards for the best vegan ice cream.

Switching from the world of hedge funds to food and beverage was exploratory. For someone who studied mechanical engineering with a minor in business administration, Chowdhri took a risk by starting with hedge fund trading. “I have always been a risk-taker, and I think this comes from my dad who is a businessman. He always encouraged me to explore and go beyond the known. That's what took me to hedge fund and later, the same intent nudged me towards Papacream,” says the mostly self-taught girl, who did an online ice cream course from Carpigiani Gelato University, Italy. Incidentally, her businessman husband also added depth to her venture.

Indian CEO | Tanvi Chowdhri | Papacream | Global Indian

At just 22, she took a leap of faith with hedge funds. Then a few years later, she moved to Mumbai (2015) to kickstart her artisanal ice cream brand. It was a smooth transition. “Trading gave me the confidence as I was making decisions about millions of dollars in my hedge fund job. It’s the same confidence which helped me spread my wings and start up,” adds the Indian CEO, who self-funded her maiden venture (ice-cream parlour) with her NYC savings and had parlours in 10 cities. In 2018, they diversified into fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and started selling online packaged ice cream on Nature’s Basket, Foodhall, Swiggy, etc. The ice creams are priced between Rs 395 to Rs 495 for a half litre tub.

Why ice cream you might ask? “During my last Physics lab class at Carnegie Mellon University, we were asked to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen. It was quite a cool idea, and it stuck. I had to do something with ice cream,” enthuses the 33-year-old mother of a two-year-old boy.

Indian CEO | Tanvi Chowdhri | Papacream | Global Indian

When dollops of ice-cream, scream slurp

With varied classic flavours already available, Chowdhri wanted to up the game by creating exciting new tastes on the menu. “I wanted our brand to connect with the audience and give flavours and concepts that other brands hadn’t tapped into. Our ice cream cake was an instant hit as it’s a combination of two things that people love. I think it’s important to get the formula right,” the Indian CEO beams.

Such has been the impact of the flavour that even Bollywood producer Rhea Kapoor collaborated with Papacream during the pandemic with a customised sundae. “She loved the ice cream. Rhea said that we should do something together and that's how Rhea X Papacream was born. It was a sundae-in-a-tub concept based on Rhea's childhood memories. We had fun and it boosted our sales," says Chowdhri. "

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In a world of Haagen-Dazs and Baskin Robbins, Papacream has found its footing as an indigenous brand. “When we were planning to start, Indian ice cream brands were eyeing European names and pitching them. We wanted to give the customers the feel of ice cream that felt homemade and indigenous. My father-in-law during a discussion at home suggested, ‘Why don’t I become the brand ambassador? You can call it Papacream.’ The comment was made in jest but it rang a bell, and we got the name of our brand,” reveals the Indian CEO.

A learning process

There were the odd teething troubles starting up yet Chowdhri was most taken aback by the gender stereotypes. “I was young when I started Papacream, and saw that older men were uncomfortable with the idea of working with a woman boss. They would respect an instruction coming from a male colleague rather than a female boss. Those initial hiccups aside, one builds credibility with their work. Launching the product is a honeymoon phase, the real struggle begins when the operation starts,” she recalls.

An avid travel junkie and fitness freak, Chowdhri loves the outdoors. However, during the pandemic, she has been spending most of her time with her two-year-old son. “That’s the only way I unwind,” says the working mom. While the pandemic pushed many businesses to the brink, Papacream, fortunately, expanded in the past two years. “Our business took off then. The team was working throughout, of course with safety precautions. Our online sales were high as ice cream is an impulse product. The lockdown gave our brand a huge boost,” says Chowdhri who plans to expand to new cities, and export too.

Indian CEO | Tanvi Chowdhri | Papacream | Global Indian

For budding young entrepreneurs, the Indian CEO advices, “No matter what, keep pushing. You might come across challenges but remember, there is always a silver lining. If you feel you need to shut down, know that it’s the right path. Patience and perseverance is key, and passion is the salt.”

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Reading Time: 6 min

Ruskin Bond: The British descent author whom India loves too much

(October 12, 2022) The eminent contemporary Indian author of British descent, Ruskin Bond is one of India’s most-loved authors. The 88-year-old has been prolific for decades, writing mainly for children but also for adults. For his illustrious work in literature, he has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi award (1992), Padma Shri (1999) and Padma Bhushan (2014). Many of this celebrated author’s works are part of Indian school curriculum. Generations have grown up reading his books. [caption id="attachment_30483" align="alignnone" width="1057"] Ruskin Bond, one of the most loved authors of India[/caption] In his latest work, A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 years of Independence, the acclaimed author pays homage to the country that has been his home. In the books introduction, he writes: I have dwelt on the highlights of the last 75 years of India’s progress to maturity as a nation. It is a record of some of my memories and impressions of this unique land — of its rivers and forests, literature and culture, sights, sounds and colours — an amalgamation of the physical and spiritual. Born in 1934, in Kasauli, British India, Ruskin Bond is the son of an Anglo-Indian mother, Aubrey Bond, and British father, Edith

e dwelt on the highlights of the last 75 years of India’s progress to maturity as a nation. It is a record of some of my memories and impressions of this unique land — of its rivers and forests, literature and culture, sights, sounds and colours — an amalgamation of the physical and spiritual.

Born in 1934, in Kasauli, British India, Ruskin Bond is the son of an Anglo-Indian mother, Aubrey Bond, and British father, Edith Clarke, who taught English to the princesses of Jamnagar Palace. Ruskin and his sister Ellen lived there till he was six. Later, his father joined the Royal Air Force, and little Ruskin got an opportunity to travel to different places soaking in the diversity of people and their behaviours.

[caption id="attachment_30508" align="aligncenter" width="773"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Ruskin Bond calls the dictionary his favourite book[/caption]

Huge impact of personal experiences

Unhappy experiences at an early age had a deep impact on the author. He was just eight when his parents separated and his mother left him to marry someone else. In the absence of love from his mother, he became emotionally distant from her and this resulted in a very complex mother-son relationship. However, his father’s undivided attention helped him grow as a mindful child.

[caption id="attachment_30484" align="aligncenter" width="850"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Little Ruskin Bond[/caption]

Little Ruskin faced another tragedy with the untimely demise of his father in a war. Heartbroken, the 10-year-old moved to Dehradun to be with his mother, step father and grandmother. He was sent to Bishop Cotton School, Shimla from where he passed out in 1951. That year, he wrote one of his first short stories, ‘Untouchable’. Ruskin won several writing competitions in school, including the Hailey Literature Prize and the Irwin Divinity Prize. In 1952, he moved to England and stayed with his aunt for four years.

[caption id="attachment_30491" align="aligncenter" width="770"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Busy at work[/caption]

Ruskin learned to cope with his difficult childhood by expressing himself on paper. He was also a voracious reader, a habit inculcated in him by his father. However, despite a lonely childhood, he grew up to be an optimistic human being, which is evident in all his works. Since writing came naturally to him, he became an earnest writer just as his father had hoped.

Life in London

It was in London that Ruskin began writing his first novel, ‘The Room on the Roof’. It is about the life of Rusty, an orphaned Anglo-Indian teenager, a character inspired by his own life. He poured his heart out in the novel, portraying distinct experiences of his life, like living in a small rented room on the roof in a house in Dehradun. It was published in 1956. It fetched Ruskin the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial prize (meant for British Commonwealth writers under 30) in 1957. Basking in his newfound success, he wrote its sequel, ‘Vagrants in the Valley’. Apart from writing he did several other odd jobs to make a living in London.

[caption id="attachment_30486" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Ruskin Bond in his youth[/caption]

Back to where heart belonged

The yearning for India was too strong. At the end of his four-year stay, Ruskin returned to India and worked as a journalist in Delhi and Dehradun for some years. Later, he relocated to Mussoorie in 1963, a town in the foothills of Himalayas, working as a freelance writer for The Pioneer, The Leader, The Tribune and The Telegraph. Gradually he shifted his focus to short stories, essays, novels, memoirs and poems.

[caption id="attachment_30488" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Ruskin Bond with his cat Cleopatra[/caption]

In the 1980s Penguin established its operations in India and approached him to write books. There was no looking back for the author after that, who became known for stories that were simple but immensely powerful.

Such is the best-selling author’s love for writing that in one of his interviews he said:

If I were not a professional writer who was getting published, I would still write.

Connection between India and Ruskin Bond

In his essay, "Scenes from a Writer's Life", Ruskin has emphasized his Indian identity, "Race did not make me one (an Indian). Religion did not make me one. But history did. And in the long run, it's history that counts.”

[caption id="attachment_30480" align="aligncenter" width="526"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Ruskin Bond in his childhood with his sister Elle[/caption]

Since 1963 Ruskin Bond has been staying in Mussoorie with his adopted family. His sister Elle who lived in Ludhiana is no more. Life and works of Ruskin Bond are deeply revered by people of the country.

The Global Indian said in an interview:

I do not know what happens when one dies. I will want to be reborn in India and nowhere else and be a writer.

Rich body of work

Ruskin Bond has written more than five hundred short stories, essays and novels and over 64 children’s books. He has also penned autobiographical books like Scenes from a Writer’s Life that encompasses his formative years in India, The Lamp is Lit and Leaves from a Journal that consists of journal entries, essay collection and experiences of his years trying to make it as a freelance writer. The autobiography, Lone Fox Dancing is a magnificent biographical sketch of Ruskin Bond full of anecdotes and photographs.

[caption id="attachment_30494" align="aligncenter" width="883"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Amidst the books[/caption]

Many of his works are inspired by his life in the hills. Some notable works include Rain in the Mountains, Blue Umbrella, Roads to Mussoorie, Angry River, Till the Clouds Roll by, The Cherry Tree, and more. “Men can come and go; the mountains remain,” he writes, in his latest book.

Film and television adaptations of Ruskin Bond’s works

His works have been adapted for television and film. The 1978 Bollywood film, Junoon directed by Shyam Benegal and produced by Shashi Kapoor is based on his novel, A Flight of Pigeons, that encompasses an episode of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

[caption id="attachment_30500" align="aligncenter" width="611"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Playfully pretending to be a flower[/caption]

Stories of Rusty, the character that bears resemblance to him have been adapted into a Doordarshan TV series called Ek Tha Rusty.

His short story, Susanna’s Seven Husbands, has been adapted into a BBC TV-series and also into a film, 7 Khoon Maaf, by Vishal Bhardwaaj in 2011. Ruskin Bond made his maiden silver screen appearance in it as a Bishop. Earlier Bhardwaaj collaborated with him for adaption of his popular children’s novel, The Blue Umbrella which won the National Film Award for best children's film.

[caption id="attachment_30511" align="aligncenter" width="691"] Indian Author | Ruskin Bond | Global Indian Busy at work[/caption]

Ruskin Bond’s memoirs that shouldn’t be missed:

A Song of India
All the roads lead to Ganga
Scenes from a Writer's Life
With Love from The Hills
Looking For the Rainbow: My Years with Daddy

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Reading Time: 5 mins

Sophia Duleep Singh: The Indian-origin princess who fought for women’s rights in the UK

(July 27, 2021; 6.30 pm) Did you know that less than 3% of all public statues in the UK are of non-royal women? Ethnic minorities representation is even more sparse. Which is why lawyer Zehra Zaidi of We Too Built Britain launched the Hidden Heroes campaign. The campaign calls on British MPs to nominate people who deserve to be remembered with a statue. And one name that's come to the fore is Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (1876-1948) - daughter of the last king of Punjab, Queen Victoria’s goddaughter, and a prominent suffragette in 20th century UK. Britain’s first Sikh woman parliamentarian Preet Kaur Gill nominated the late princess for a new memorial to represent the diversity of the UK. “I am backing the Hidden Heroes campaign because we have so many of our achievements to celebrate and the stories of more under-represented groups can help build pride and a shared narrative of what Britain is today,” said Gill in a statement. [embed]http://twitter.com/SinghLions/status/873008620761264128?s=20[/embed] Princess Sophia was among the leading suffragettes who campaigned for women’s rights and most famously fought for women’s right to vote in Britain in the early 1900s. Daughter of deposed Maharaja Duleep Singh, she used her fame,

a statement.

[embed]http://twitter.com/SinghLions/status/873008620761264128?s=20[/embed]

Princess Sophia was among the leading suffragettes who campaigned for women’s rights and most famously fought for women’s right to vote in Britain in the early 1900s. Daughter of deposed Maharaja Duleep Singh, she used her fame, position and tenacity to fight for gender equality in the early 20th Century. Her campaigns attracted the attention of the British government and press as she organized activities that ranged from selling The Suffragette newspaper outside Hampton Court Palace and participating in the landmark Black Friday. She is best remembered for her leading role in the Women’s Tax Resistance League, though she participated in other women’s suffrage groups such as the Women’s Social and Political Union too.

Complicated heritage

Born in 1876 at Belgravia to Maharaja Duleep Singh and his first wife Bamba Müller (of German and Abyssinian heritage). Her father Duleep Singh had been chosen to rule Punjab at the age of 5 after the death of his father Ranjit Singh, while his mother Jindan Kaur acted as Regent. However, during the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849 the kingdom of Punjab suffered a crushing defeat and the 11-year-old king was forced to abdicate. He had to hand over his kingdom and the famed Kohinoor diamond to the British and was sent to England where he was placed under the care of Dr John Login. His mother, Jindan, was exiled. During his years in England, Duleep Singh converted to Christianity and was befriended by Queen Victoria, who was very fond of the “Black Prince of Perthshire”.

[caption id="attachment_6130" align="aligncenter" width="584"] One name that's come to the fore for the Hidden Heroes project is Princess Sophia Duleep Singh - daughter of the last king of Punjab. Maharaja Duleep Singh[/caption]

Thirteen years passed before the Crown permitted him to reunite with his mother, whom he took back to England with him. As Jindan struggled to adjust to her new life in an alien country amongst people she deeply distrusted, Duleep reconnected with his roots and reconverted to Sikhism. He learnt just how much he had lost by abdicating all those years ago. It would be years before his children learnt the same.

According to Historic Royal Palaces, Princess Sophia's name (Sophia Jindan Alexandrovna Duleep Singh) shows a truly international and remarkable family history: Sophia after her enslaved Ethiopian maternal grandmother, Jindan after her paternal grandmother Maharani Jindan Kaur, and Alexandrovna after her godmother Queen Victoria.

She was part of a large family and had five siblings and two half siblings. When she was 10, her father attempted to return with the family to India. However, they were met with arrest warrants in Aden (Yemen) and were forced to return. In 1887, when Sophia became ill with Typhoid, Queen Victoria sent her own physician to care for her goddaughter. Sophia’s mother who had been caring for her fell ill instead and succumbed. Sophia survived.

[caption id="attachment_6132" align="aligncenter" width="392"] One name that's come to the fore for the Hidden Heroes project is Princess Sophia Duleep Singh - daughter of the last king of Punjab. Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (right) with her sisters Catherine (middle), and Bamba (left)[/caption]

By the time her father died in 1893, Princess Sophia had grown into a young woman fully immersed into studies and proud of her musical abilities. After her education, Sophia and her sisters traveled to Europe, which left her with an appetite for more adventures. When she returned to England, she was given a residence at Faraday House in Hampton Court. However, during her official debut into society, Sophia was disappointed that she and her sisters (despite being born princesses) were relegated to entering behind Duchesses.

Tryst with British activism and Indian nationalism

[caption id="attachment_6117" align="aligncenter" width="453"] Princess Sophia Duleep Singh the Suffragette Princess Sophia Duleep Singh selling The Suffragette Newspaper[/caption]

In 1895, she bought herself a bicycle, which became a symbol for the emancipation of women. She soon became the poster girl for the bicycle movement. Sophia traveled to India in 1903 where she stayed for nine months. The visit exposed her to the extreme poverty in the country and she returned to England as a more thoughtful person; she felt a profound need to be useful. When she returned to Indian once again in 1906, the country was in political turmoil and the Princess was caught up by Indian nationalism much to the chagrin of the Crown. During a 1907 trip to India, she visited Amritsar and Lahore; it was then she realized just how much her family had lost by choosing to surrender to the British. She hosted a “purdah party” at Shalimar Bagh in Lahore (shadowed by British agents). Here she encountered Indian freedom fighters such as Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Lala Lajpat Rai and sympathized with their cause. She slowly began turning against the Raj.

Back in the UK, in 1908 she met marriage reformer Una Dugdale, a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and the princess pledged her commitment to women’s rights. By 1909, she was involved in the women’s movement and signed up as a tax resister.

Transformation into a suffragette

Soon Princess Sophia joined other suffragettes as they descended upon the House of Commons hoping to meet the Prime Minister. However, they were thwarted by brute police force of such nature that even Winston Churchill (who was no admirer of suffragettes) was taken aback. During her years as a suffragette, Princess Sophia was arrested as well. One such incident occurred in 1911 when she hurled herself at the Prime Minister’s car with a banner that read “Give women the vote!” In the meanwhile, the suffragettes began to realize that the Princess could help their cause and requested her to take on a more high-profile role; Sophia preferred to stay low key. She began selling The Suffragette Newspaper outside Hampton Court Palace and by 1914 was donating 10% of her annual income to the cause.

[caption id="attachment_6136" align="aligncenter" width="407"] Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (right) with her sisters Catherine (middle), and Bamba (left) Princess Sophia Duleep Singh registered as a Red Cross nurse during World War I[/caption]

When World War I broke out, she signed up as a Red Cross nurse and tended to wounded soldiers; many of them Indians. In 1928 The Representation of the People Bill was passed in parliament; it enabled women over the age of 21 to vote on par with men. The following years Sophia spent a relatively quiet life at Hampton Court Palace. After the Second World War, it was discovered that Sophia had a tumor in her eye that needed surgery. She refused the treatment and passed away in her sleep in 1948 at the age of 71. Though raised a Christian, she requested that her body be cremated in keeping in line with her Sikh heritage and her ashes be scattered in India.

Editor’s Take

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh may have been born and brought up in a country other than her own. But she adopted it to the best of her ability and fought to make women’s lives better at a time when it was unheard of. As she grew older, she discovered her love for her Indian and Sikh heritage and embraced them wholeheartedly. When she discovered just how much her family had lost to the Crown and how her country was suffering, a history-defining journey of self-transformation began. She then dedicated her life to the cause of women’s rights and saw several changes made in her lifetime. Let’s commend Preet Kaur Gill for taking the initiative of bringing Sophia’s contributions to the fore by nominating her for the Hidden Heroes campaign.

Reading Time: 10 mins