Global IndianstoryPK Mahanandia: The Indian-Swedish artist who cycled from India to Europe for love

PK Mahanandia: The Indian-Swedish artist who cycled from India to Europe for love

Written by: Charu Thakur

(August 28, 2022) It was in the crisp winter of 1975 that PK Mahanandia saw a woman tourist approach him in the inner circle of Delhi’s bustling CP, asking him to draw a portrait of her. The Indian artist, who had by then earned quite a reputation as a sketch artist, was known for making a portrait in ten minutes. But somehow, he wasn’t able to deliver a perfect portrait, which made Charlotte Von Schedvin, the Swedish tourist, return to him the following day. It was a prophecy that kept him distracted – one that was made by a priest when he was a child growing up in a village in Odisha – he would marry a girl from far away who would own a jungle, be musical, and be born under the sign of Taurus. And Charlotte was everything that had been prophesised. “It was an inner voice that said to me that she was the one. During our first meeting, we were drawn to each other like magnets. It was love at first sight,” PK Mahanandia told BBC. This very love made him cycle 6000 km from Delhi to Sweden on a life-changing epic journey. Now an advisor for art and culture for the Swedish government, he inspired the 2013 book by Per J Andersson called The Amazing Story Of The Man Who Cycled From India To Europe For Love.

PK Mahanandia and Charlotte

Born in 1949 in a village that inspired Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, PK’s life as a Dalit was harsh outside his home. It was in school that he first understood the meaning of caste when he came in contact with the Hindus. From being forced to sit outside the class during school, watching his classmates wash themselves after coming in contact with him, to having stones pelted at him for approaching the temple, PK endured the harsh reality of being an untouchable in India. “There I felt I’m not the same as them. It’s like a skyscraper without a lift. You’re born on one floor and you die on the same floor,” the Global Indian told National Geographic.

Despite the hardships, PK knew he was meant for something bigger, at least that’s what the priest had prophesised after his birth – he would be working with colours and art. As a kid, he was pulled to art and was quick in drawing things. So much so that eventually he ended up getting a scholarship from Odisha to attend the College of Art in New Delhi. The initial months were liberating, as for the first time, PK didn’t have to bother about being an untouchable, here, all were equal. But soon the excitement started to fade away as hunger and poverty came knocking on his door. With no money to keep him floating, things started spiralling until he began painting on the streets of Delhi to earn a quick buck. “I was like a vagabond living between hope and despair. But for three years I learned the lessons of life. I started thinking differently after I met these people,” the artist added.

After his schooling, he enrolled in College of Art, Delhi in 1971

He started studying fine arts on a scholarship

It was difficult because most of the time, the scholarship amount didn’t reach him and finding a job was difficult because of the discrimination he’d face as a dalit pic.twitter.com/0GIecjA2QJ

— Sufyan🌹 (@PsyOpValkyrie) July 25, 2020

But things changed for him when he ended up doing 10 portraits of Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova and appeared on television. The stint made him an overnight star in the capital and helped him continue making portraits in the heart of Delhi. But it was in December 1975 that the prophecy came to fruition when the artist met a “woman with long beautiful blonde hair” from a faraway land whose family did own a forest and who played the piano and flute. With a longing for India, she had travelled for 22 days in a minibus along the Hippie Trail to reach India. They hit it off instantly and formed a deep connection, so much so that within a few days, Charlotte was on a train with PK to his village in Odisha to meet his family, where they received the tribe’s blessings. But soon Charlotte’s trip was coming to an end, and she returned to Sweden with a promise from PK that he would follow her soon to Europe.

But that all changed when he was at a procession one day

It was for Valentina Treskova, the first woman cosmonaut from the USSR

He quickly made a sketch of her a presented it to her. The next day all newspapers went ablaze with headlines like “Woman from Space meets Jungleman”. pic.twitter.com/YWAOXfXrA3

— Sufyan🌹 (@PsyOpValkyrie) July 25, 2020

With just $80 in his pocket, he left for Sweden in the chilly winter of January 1977 on two wheels, as “only a Maharaja could afford a plane ticket” in those days. So he took the popular Hippie Trail that stretched from India through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and former Yugoslavia to Europe. Travellers didn’t need a visa at that time as the region was safe and stable. “We were together 2-3 weeks and then she left. For one and a half years we didn’t meet. We kept in touch by letter but eventually, I thought it was time to take the first step. So I sold everything I owned and bought a bicycle,” he told NatGeo. Those four months on the road, he kept himself floating by painting portraits for food and money.

On 17 Dec 1975, he met a girl from Sweden called Charlotte von Schedvin who had driven for 22 days to reach Delhi.

Although their vast class difference (she was from Swedish nobility and he was a dalit), they hit it off almost instantly. pic.twitter.com/rRejClj1mH

— Sufyan🌹 (@PsyOpValkyrie) July 25, 2020

“I did not know geography, of how big Europe was. I didn’t even know the distance in kilometers. If I had known how far it was, I don’t think I would have dared. It’s good that I didn’t know,” he told Hindustan Times in an interview. He would cycle up to 70 km every day, but there were days that he would get lifts, and was once even gifted a train ticket from Istanbul to Vienna. “Sometimes you’d get two or three hitchhiking offers and you’d have to choose. I bicycled for love, but I never loved biking,” he told CNN.

PK calls it a different world of peace and love, and freedom. With many hippie friends made on the way, he was guided and instructed on his first big adventure outside India. “Afghanistan was such a different country. It was calm and beautiful. People loved the arts. And vast parts of the country were not populated,” he told BBC. While he did face communication barriers in Iran, it was art that came to his rescue. “I think love is the universal language and people understand that.” Though the 6000 km journey was exhausting for the artist, it was the excitement of meeting Charlotte and seeing new places that kept nudging him forward.

This cycle on which travelled from India to Europe

It was in May that PK reached Europe – via Istanbul, and Vienna and finally made it to Gothenburg (Sweden) by train. However, stepping into a new continent came with its share of cultural shocks and difficulties. But he was determined to win over Charlotte’s parents, and finally, the two got officially married in Sweden. “I had no idea about European culture. It was all new to me, but she supported me in every step. She is just a special person. I am still in love just as I was in 1975,” he added.

While Charlotte continued her career in music, PK did what he knew best – art. Currently, an adviser on art and culture for the Swedish government, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. In the last few decades together, the couple has dedicated themselves to promoting indigenous arts and offering cultural scholarships to 25,000 Indian tribal children in high school. “Love has given me the power to forgive the people throwing stones at me. They need education. I’m glad that our story is giving people hope,” the artist told CNN.

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Ramkrushna Mohanta

October 28, 2022 10:45 am

I regard the story as a world-rapture.

Published on 28, Aug 2022

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Saurabh Nimsarkar: The designer behind LA’s first Transportation Technology Innovation Zone

(December 22, 2023) It was in 2020 that the Mayor of LA, Eric Garcetti, announced the city's first official Transportation Technology Innovation Zone whose pilot project intended to be a zero emission, last-mile delivery service to aid in connecting residents confined to their homes with food from local businesses during the pandemic. Nagpur-born and California-based design strategist Saurabh Nimsarkar took it upon himself to structure LA's first Transportation Technology Innovation Zone. "The brief given to me was to reduce the car usage in LA and at the same time, improve the connectivity of the people living in LA," he tells Global Indian. Calling it a "work in progress", Saurabh underlines the impact that the transport technology zone created, especially in the middle of the pandemic. "We emphasised optimising last-mile delivery, specifically addressing the challenge of bringing groceries, food, and essential items directly to people's doorsteps. The solution came in the form of autonomous delivery bots, which played a crucial role in ensuring the delivery of food to underserved communities," says the transportation designer, who is currently working on autonomous air taxis. [caption id="attachment_47705" align="aligncenter" width="643"] Saurabh Nimsarkar[/caption] Curiosity led to creativity Having grown up at his grandmother's farm for the

] Saurabh Nimsarkar | Global Indian Saurabh Nimsarkar[/caption]

Curiosity led to creativity

Having grown up at his grandmother's farm for the first six years of his life, Saurabh spent most of his time catching insects, making sand castles, and picking mangoes. "That made me a curious person as I didn't grow up in a traditional education setup where you attend school till 3 pm. Instead, I spent a lot of time playing around the villages. This curiosity translated into the person I have become," says the designer, who picked up sketching landscapes at a very young age. "I would pick up my sketchbook, and graphite pencils and move to the fields where I would sketch small insects and birds. That's when I started gravitating towards my artistic instincts. Slowly, the hobby translated into a passion and I started sketching portraits and became good at it with every drawing."

He had the skillset but didn't know what to do with it. So, like every 90s kid, he took up engineering and enrolled in Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology for Metallurgy and Materials Engineering. "Those years at the engineering college established the groundwork for my journey as a designer." Dissatisfied with his course, which he believed was only relevant to a select group of scientists, he found solace in dedicating time to sketching. Despite initially taking on a role as a software developer at Wipro, this experience broadened his perspective on design. "Even during my tenure as a software developer, my passion for design persisted. I spent time in the company's library, immersing myself in design literature. This exposure fuelled my interest in pursuing design as a career. After thorough research, I decided to take the IIT-Bombay exam and successfully cracked it," he elaborates.

Saurabh Nimsarkar | Global Indian

Saurabh dedicated two years to pursuing his master's degree in mobility and vehicle design at IIT-Bombay, an experience which he says was nothing short of being in an army camp. "We went days without sleep to meet project deadlines. The program demands intense effort because you not only acquire new skills but also have to unlearn the logical thinking ingrained in engineers. As a creative individual, forging your path becomes essential," he explains, emphasising the invaluable lessons learnt at IIT-Bombay, not only in the professional field but also in understanding the cultural aspects of design from professors and experienced designers. "I still try and use that knowledge in my work."

The Global Indian journey

Armed with a new set of knowledge, he worked with Godrej for three years before flying to the US for his second master's. He joined ArtCentre College of Design in California where he specialised in Transportation design. "I initially believed that design education in the US was exceptional, and I expected designers here to be at an unparalleled level. However, my perception changed when I realised that designers in India produce superior work. The disparity lies in our approach to publicising and branding our work; as Indians, we tend to lag in that aspect. Nevertheless, when it comes to skill sets and education, we are on par with our counterparts in the US."

Moving to another country as a designer comes with its own set of parameters - one has to submerge in the culture and think about different social dynamics, before providing a solution. "I even had to learn the history of transportation and how it evolved in LA. The car culture is big in LA, each year they have car rallies. It's a big part of their culture something that I learnt after coming here. It has been a rich experience for me as a designer."

Saurabh Nimsarkar | Global Indian

The project that changed it all

However, it was Los Angeles's first transportation zone that put Saurabh Nimsarkar in the spotlight. He calls it serendipity as the Nagpur lad, who was then working with Honda R&D, found himself at a conference where a chance encounter with individuals from the Mayor's office led to a conversation that eventually resulted in a job offer. Seizing the opportunity, he joined as a design strategist for LA's pioneering transportation innovation zone.

Nimsarkar | Global Indian

"I formulated a design research workshop that brought together participants from LA, local government entities, and technology providers. Uniting them under one roof, I outlined a workshop strategy aimed at devising solutions with a focus on people. I gave them canvases to work on. It enabled the creation of nearly 200 ideas, culminating in the issuance of a Request for Information (RFI). The insights gathered from the RFI process ultimately paved the way for the establishment of LA's inaugural technology innovation zone, inaugurated by Eric Garcetti, the then Mayor of LA."

Shaping the future

Having lived in California for six years now, Saurabh saw the rising number of recreational vans (RVs) on the road, owing to the high rents in the state. This led to the concept of ModLiv, an autonomous RV that will change the way people live in the future. "The RV concept is huge in California as most people cannot afford the steep rents. In San Francisco, the average rent is around $5000 per month while the average salary of a software engineer is $7000. Second-hand RVs, on the other hand, cost $10,000 which is a one-time investment and also provides mobility. This led to the premise of ModLiv as how people will navigate the space with their changing lifestyles and work from home in the future." What sets it apart from other RVs is the novelty of being autonomous. "I plan to use it as a service through government initiatives and not a product, as homelessness is a huge problem in California."

[caption id="attachment_47706" align="aligncenter" width="743"] ModLiv ModLiv[/caption]

In these years in the US, Saurabh has become more open-minded and has learnt to have a beginner's mind in every approach. "Solving the right problem is important to me. Also, do not have a cursory glance at the solution but understand the background and context."

The designer is currently working for Wisk Aero, a company that's making a four-seater autonomous passenger aircraft. "The USP of this is that you can use the third dimension - air - to transport people from point A to B in an efficient way. It's like a passenger air taxi, and it's going to be autonomous and one can roughly travel 50 miles in 20 mins. Autonomous is very specific to our company and that's our USP." He adds that the system is designed to be safer, eliminating the possibility of human error. While not fully autonomous, it incorporates human supervision for added security. "We are working on it, it's a long way as it involves certain levels of regulation."

As a transportation designer, who is into psychogeography, he calls advanced air mobility the future of aviation. "As for transportation, the future should be carless. However, people should be provided with alternate modes of public transportation equitably, of course, economics and sustainability factors to it."

Follow Saurabh Nimsarkar on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 6 min

Aditya Rao: Ramen restaurants in LA to Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

(August 15, 2022) It's nearly midnight in Austin, Texas where Aditya Rao lives, when he and I begin our conversation. He sits in the small recording studio, fashioned out of a closet at home, which doubles as workspace and personal haven. When we speak, Aditya has most recently wrapped up work on Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, where he is the lead vocalist and vocal arranger for nine songs. He has also worked with the multi-Grammy and Oscar-winning music director, A.R. Rahman. In May 2017, his Carnatic remix of Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You', a collaboration with Indian Raga, went viral on the internet, with 11 million views at the time this article was written. "The final versions of Peruvali were recorded on the mic over there," he smiles. "It was also one of the hardest songs I have ever done, not only because it was a difficult song to sing about also because the lyrics were written by Dr Nambi Narayanan himself." It involved several sessions with R. Madhavan and "Nambi sir, going back and forth with the lyrics," he tells Global Indian. In pursuit of belonging His life, Aditya says, pausing to reflect, has always involved straddling two worlds, two

difficult song to sing about also because the lyrics were written by Dr Nambi Narayanan himself." It involved several sessions with R. Madhavan and "Nambi sir, going back and forth with the lyrics," he tells Global Indian.

In pursuit of belonging

His life, Aditya says, pausing to reflect, has always involved straddling two worlds, two versions of himself. “I’m a Gemini,” he chuckles. As a musician, he is in the process of finding his own sound, stepping away from a flourishing career that involves rubbing shoulders with the bigwigs in Bollywood and Hollywood alike, from A.R. Rahman and Madhavan, to Carlos Santana and Billie Ellish, to starting (somewhat) from scratch as an independent musician. Culturally, although he has grown up with the best of two beautiful worlds in India and the United States, he wonders where he fits in – that pathos seeps into his own song writing.

[caption id="attachment_28106" align="aligncenter" width="563"] Aditya Rao[/caption]

One thing has been evident beyond all doubt: a talent for music, which he discovered when he was three years old, in his hometown, Bengaluru. Two years later, his parents introduced him to his first – and only – teacher, the guru who still remains by his side. In 1998, the family moved to Pittsburgh, when Aditya was eight years old. Every summer though, he would return, by himself, to spend the summer with his grandparents, a routine he followed for several years.

Back in the US, his parents offered to find him a new teacher – there was no dearth of established musicians – but he refused. “My guru and I have a special relationship. I could sense he understood my connection with music.” Training involved recording and re-recording on a 90-minute cassette tape that student and teacher mailed back and forth, but it got the job done. “In conventional terms, what should have taken me three or four years to learn took closer to 10,” Aditya says.

Making music his life

Aditya was mid-interview with a major consulting firm, when he realised beyond all doubt that it just wasn’t the life wasn't for him. Advised by his parents to have a backup plan, Aditya had done a degree in finance to understand the business side of music. "I humbly stepped away from the interview, which was in New York, went home and had a heart-to-heart with my parents." He ended up earning a Master's degree in Entertainment Industry Management from Carnegie Mellon, and during grad school, arrived in Los Angeles for the second year of his work/study programme.

He went on to work for one of the world’s largest entertainment PR and marketing firms, remaining there for eight years, happy with his paycheque and the excitement of his job, which involved helping major brands integrate with pop culture.

The Ed Sheeran episode

Music, admittedly, took a backseat during this time but never completely disappeared. In 2017, Aditya was humming Ed Sheeran's runaway hit, 'Shape of You' in the shower and thought, 'Hm, this could be interesting with a Carnatic twist." So he called Indian Raga, with whom he was meant to collaborate anyway, saying, "I have a ridiculous idea. And I sent them a recording. They were interested."

The team also never met through the making of the song. "I shot my part in New York, Vinod shot in Minneapolis and Mahesh made one part in Dubai. The videos were stitched together in Chennai. "

Rendezvous with A.R. Rahman

"Hey, I’m in LA and I'm meeting A.R. Rahman. You should join me." Aditya, understandably, couldn’t fully believe what he was hearing but it was, in fact happening. On a visit to India, Aditya had met with Poonacha Machaiah, co-founder and CEO of the digital music platform Qyuki. “I liked their story and their mission and did market research to help them expand their operations in the US. I felt North America needed a platform like this for South Asian artists.”

When Machaiah came to the US, Aditya received the call that would become a turning point in his life. "I asked him, are you sure I should be there?" Machaiah told Aditya to come to Rahman's studio in LA and then for lunch. "We spent four hours together. And the beauty of the interaction was just how normal it felt. That is the greatness of A.R. sir, he makes you feel so comfortable, regardless of who you are and what you have or have not accomplished."

At the end of their lunch, during which no mention was made of a singing opportunity, Aditya took his leave. "I told myself, this is probably the first and last time you will ever see this man, so just enjoy the moment." The next day, however, he received a call from Rahman's office, asking him to try some vocals on a song. He arrived at the studio, to find the maestro himself sitting there. "It was a Tamil song but I had no idea what it was for or anything. I had my lyrics and I matched them with the tune." They went back and forth for a couple of hours as Rahman worked. "I assumed I was doing scratch vocals for someone else, so I thanked him and left, again, convinced I would never see him again."

A few weeks later, he was called back into the studio to record another song. That tune was Aila Aila, sung by Aditya and Natalie Di Luccio, featured in the Vikram-starrer 'I’.” He went on to sing in two more projects: Achcham Yenbadhu Madamiayada and Pele: Birth of a Legend. "I have also done live concerts with him, one in Chennai and two in Las Vegas."

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

This story begins four years ago, with an Instagram post. Madhavan was in LA and asked, on Instagram, if anybody could recommend a good vegan or vegetarian restaurant. Aditya's wife responded, naming a ramen place on Third Street. Madhavan replied, asking if she was Aditya Rao's fiance. "He had been meaning to connect with me for a long time. So my wife called me, saying we were going to eat dinner at the Ramen place and that we would be having a guest, Madhavan. My response was 'Madhavan who'? I didn't connect the dots. So she told me it was the actor."

That evening over dinner, Madhavan told Aditya the story of Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. The film had no music in place and Aditya was brought on board to helm the vocal arrangements. He put the vocals together in five languages – Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telegu and Malayalam. “

"I ended up singing nine songs, two in five different languages. It was a ridiculously amazing experience, working to get the tracks mixed and re-mastered."

New beginnings

"I have been lucky to see glimpses of the top already but choose to make my own way up the ladder once more," Aditya says. "It's really, really difficult being an independent musician, especially when I'm doing so in the US." He's "adamant," he says, about not returning to India and being a playback singer. It's just not who he is as a person. "I want to represent who I am, an Indian American who can relate wholeheartedly to both cultures."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW8TeQcpPUg

He has accepted the fact that his journey will be a long one. “My Carnatic journey also took longer, so I know this will too. It’s hard though, because I’m not 18 anymore.” His wife and family however, are a constant source of support – ““I’m one of the lucky ones there too. What’s really awesome is that my wife and co-write together, so you’ll hear flavors of both of us in all of the original work,” Aditya explains.

His music reflects his inner struggles, “but not always,” he says. “There are some songs we’ve written that are genuinely about the joys of life, which were that are just so much fun to write.”

Follow Aditya Rao on Spotify, YouTube and Instagram

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Celebrating 50 years: Madhur Jaffrey’s culinary legacy

(January 16, 2024) Renowned for securing the best actress award at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival for her portrayal of a pompous Bollywood star in Merchant Ivory's film 'Shakespeare Wallah', Madhur Jaffrey is a trailblazer in the culinary world. She has brought the delights of Indian cuisine, along with its diverse regional nuances, to successive generations of Western cooks. Recently, the 50th anniversary edition of her debut cookbook 'An Invitation to Indian Cooking' got released by the publishing group, Knopf. With its original edition 50 years back, the book had announced the arrival of a culinary star. 2023 also saw the release of the 40th anniversary edition of Madhur's another popular cookbook, 'Indian Cookery', updated with 11 new recipes. The first edition of the book was groundbreaking, coinciding with a BBC series of the same name featuring Madhur, and it went on to sell lakhs of copies. Madhur has authored more than 30 cookbooks in her illustrious career. At 90, the workaholic is far from slowing down. One of the biggest living authorities on Indian cuisine, Madhur keeps herself busy by educating Gen Z and Gen Alpha through her Masterclass on digital media. “Nobody knows spices like we do, we

ducating Gen Z and Gen Alpha through her Masterclass on digital media. “Nobody knows spices like we do, we are masters,” she announced proudly in its trailer.

[caption id="attachment_32665" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Indian Cuisine | Madhur Jaffrey | Global Indian Madhur's debut cookbook is celebrating its 50th anniversary edition[/caption]

“When my programme came on air, there weren’t any Indian cookery shows, it was an immediate hit,” Madhur Jaffrey told the BBC, talking about her ground breaking cookery programme that premiered in the United Kingdom 40 years ago.

The Padma Bhushan 2022 awardee grew up in Delhi and left for London in her 20s to study at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She became an actress and later, turned to writing cookery books and presenting cookery shows. Little did she know that this career transition would turn out to be a significant step towards introducing India’s soft power to the western world.

[caption id="attachment_32663" align="aligncenter" width="544"] Indian Cuisine Madhur Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey[/caption]

Indian food is a magical world where the art of using spices is so advanced that we’ve created a cuisine that exists nowhere else in the world!

Her debut cookbook, an Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973) introduced Indian food to western hemisphere for the first time. It was later inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006.

When she was hired by BBC to present her cookery show - Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery, it was meant to be an educational programme. The aim was to make people learn about Indian culture by introducing them to authentic food cooked in different regions of India. The show mesmerised people so much that Madhur soon became known as ‘spice girl’, thanks to the plethora of South Asian spices she introduced to the western homes. She was popularly called ‘the actress who can cook.’

Building respectful image of South Asians

“Until then, the South Asians were not represented the way they would have loved to see themselves on the television and cinema,” she said, in the interview with BBC.

[caption id="attachment_32664" align="aligncenter" width="574"] Madhur Jaffrey[/caption]

Madhur’s career transition had filled in the much-desired space with elan. Her show was the first mainstream series about Indian food to be broadcast in the UK and also the first one to be presented by an Indian.

Characteristically dressed in a crisp cotton saree, Madhur Jaffrey became the face of the South Asian diaspora in the UK. She knew this, tailoring her image to that of an attractive Indian who is modern, yes, but remains tied to her roots. That was the pre-internet era, so Madhur used to get flooded with letters of appreciation from her fans.

Ruling the supermarkets

If Madhur was exotic, the food she cooked seemed even more so to the uninitiated Western audiences. In fact, her recipes became so popular that Indian food was "tried by everybody all over England and beyond’. “The day I cooked chicken with green coriander, they ran out of green coriander in Manchester,” laughs the food expert.

The demand for Indian spices and ingredients grew so much that supermarkets started overstocking the ingredients that the Global Indian used in her cookery show.

[caption id="attachment_32666" align="aligncenter" width="598"] Indian Cuisine Madhur Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey presenting her cookery show on BBC in 1980s[/caption]

The spice girl from India

In the introduction to her cookbook, At Home with Madhur Jaffrey, she writes, “The techniques used in Indian cooking are not any different from those used the world over: roasting, grilling, steaming, frying, stewing, braising and so on.” Yet it is distinct she emphasises.

What gives Indian cuisine its uniqueness, its tingling excitement, and its health-giving properties is the knowledgeable use of spices and seasonings, ancient in its provenance.

The food expert has authored close to thirty bestselling cookbooks on Indian, Asian and world vegetarian cuisine, and has appeared in several related television programmes. Apart from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery that premiered in 1982, she presented Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery (1989) and Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India (1995).

[caption id="attachment_48280" align="aligncenter" width="456"] Indian Cuisine | Madhur Jaffrey | Global Indian Madhur Jaffrey[/caption]

What made her shows and books relevant for decades was the fact that she adapted to the time constraints of her fans. In one of her book introductions, Madhur shared, “My own cooking has changed over the years. I am often as rushed for time as perhaps you are. I am often asking myself is there an easier way to do this?”

Madhur made sure, therefore, to simplify her cooking to match with the times.

I now try to reach real Indian tastes by using simpler methods and fewer steps

The seven times winner of James Beard award wrote in one of her books.

As she made a huge name for herself in the traditional yet novel segment, Madhur went on to associate herself as food consultant of one of the most popular Indian restaurants in New York City - Dawat.

Madhur has also written three children’s books and two memoirs – Sweet Memories (2002) and Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India (2006).

Strengthening cultural relations between continents

Before becoming a television personality and delving into the domains of food and travel writing, Madhur had made a mark for herself as an Indian-British-American actress, starting with minor acting roles on BBC television and radio. One of her notable works is the film, Shakespeare Wallah (1965) for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival.

[caption id="attachment_32667" align="aligncenter" width="714"] Madhur Jaffrey Global Indian Madhur Jaffrey in one of her television shows[/caption]

During the course of her acting career, she enthralled audiences with her performances in television, films, radio and theatre. Perhaps this background contributes to her eloquence as a food presenter.

Her cookery shows have always been lively with powerful punchlines like:

Each grain of rice should be like brothers, close to each other but not stuck together.

After a divorce from Sayeed Jaffery, the notable actor who is father to her three daughters, Madhur married an American violinist. The couple have now been together for 56 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2GKfjaZQZE

In recognition of her contribution to cultural relations between the UK, India and the United States, through film, television and cookery, Madhur was named the honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004. Padma Bhushan 2022, the third highest civilian award from the Government of India, is a testament of her service to Indian culinary art.

Follow Madhur Jaffrey on Twitter

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Peace of mind at a click: Dr Amit Malik’s mental health app clocks 3 million downloads

(March 1, 2022) In February 2021, mental health platform InnerHour raised $5.2 million led by Lightbox. The app, a digital self-help platform gives users access to a range of services - methods to manage stress, anxiety, consultations with licensed therapists, etc. Life has come full circle for its Mumbai-based co-founder and mental health expert Dr Amit Malik, who had returned to India with the intention of bringing mental healthcare to a society where the very idea of seeking external help remains taboo. The app is now clocking three million downloads highlighting the need for calm amidst the storm – pandemic or otherwise. [caption id="attachment_20499" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Dr. Amit Malik, founder and CEO, InnerHour[/caption] In Mumbai, as he navigated one of the most high-stress environments in the world, he only realised the growing need for adequate mental health services. India accounts for a third of the global burden of depression, addictions and suicides, while access to treatment remains either difficult, scarce or is outright shunned. Back in India, the mental health expert Dr Amit Malik took his two-decade-long career in psychiatry forward to tackle India’s mental health. Having worked with the NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, and serving as a

ck in India, the mental health expert Dr Amit Malik took his two-decade-long career in psychiatry forward to tackle India’s mental health. Having worked with the NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, and serving as a member of the Council of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the European Board of Psychiatry, and the standing committees of the European Psychiatric Association, he had the tools to move forward. A prolific writer, Dr Malik has also co-authored six textbooks, been published in several international academic journals, and even done a stint as a member of the editorial board for two reputed publications - International Psychiatry and International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

Returning to his roots

“It was the urge to go to the grassroots, and solve mental health problems that brought me back to India,” says mental health expert Dr Malik, in an interview with Global Indian. “It's not just that India is close to my heart, it’s also a country where the problem is very large. Some 190 million Indians suffer from mental health ailments and around 90 to 95 percent of these never get help,” he explains.

Dr Amit arrived in the UK in 2001 for postgraduate training in psychiatry at the University of Nottingham. He then went on to become a member at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Raised into a family of engineers, Dr Amit was born in NCR, and did MBBS at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. “My mother’s sister was a doctor, and we were very close. Looking back, I have wanted to be a doctor as far back as I can remember, and she was an inspiration,” recalls the mental health expert. After medicine, he went on to do a master's in business administration from the London Business School, and also holds a diploma in geriatric medicine from the Royal College of Physicians in London.

‘Tech that’

“The situation in India intrigued me - I wanted to solve difficult problems in healthcare, working with issues like providing early access to people with mental health difficulties, how to break the stigma, and poor awareness barriers, and how to build large scale standardised services that could provide good quality treatment,” mental health expert Dr Malik explains.

[caption id="attachment_20500" align="aligncenter" width="707"] Mental Health Expert | Dr. Amit Malik | Global Indian Dr. Amit Malik[/caption]

Technology provided just the breakthrough and the idea for InnerHour. The startup aimed at leveraging technology in combination with high quality scientific clinical practices to provide awareness and timely access. “We created a model that would cater to an entire spectrum of needs, from access to receiving help, support in difficult times and providing ongoing support as well.” says the mental health expert.

A changing landscape

Despite the taboos and challenges that India faces, InnerHour has been received with enthusiasm from clients and investors alike. What started out as an 18-member team grew to over 100 in the past year alone, Dr Malik says. “We do five times as many therapy sessions now than we did before. Our app is also nearing three million downloads, which is a threefold increase. We're also generating six to seven times the revenue compared with 2021. In 2021, we have been able to help more people than we did in the four years before that,” smiles the mental health expert.

[caption id="attachment_20497" align="aligncenter" width="808"] Mental Health Expert | Dr. Amit Malik | Global Indian InnerHour Team[/caption]

Awareness has grown tremendously. Explaining the exponential growth of his company, the mental health expert adds, “Celebrities like Deepika Padukone and Virat Kohli talking about mental health in public has worked, and the recent mental healthcare act has also gone a long way. I am happy to see that these problems are being given the spotlight. People are finally shunning the stigma, and accepting that mental health is as important as physical health. More than 60 percent of our clientele are from tier 2 and sub-tier 2 cities. We have a long way to go but the gap has narrowed,” says the founder-psychiatrist.

Looking to the future

Online counselling, revolutionary though it has been, cannot compensate for offline treatment. People between the ages of 18 and 45 are very tech-savvy but need to be reached out to in person. "Those with severe and acute needs cannot be addressed with online, so we are in the process of opening offline centres in Delhi and Bengaluru, in the next three months,” says the mental health expert.

The doctor’s wife works in the financial services sector. He enjoys playing basketball and table tennis with his son. The psychiatrist turned entrepreneur is a voracious reader devouring at least a couple of books every fortnight. With family and friends all living nearby, his social calendar, he says, is rarely empty!

Follow Dr. Amit Malik on LinkedIn

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For the love of chocolate: La Folie by Sanjana Patel brings haute patisserie to Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda

(February 18, 2024) For a decade now, Chef Sanjana Patel's La Folie has elevated the French haute pâtisserie and chocolatery scene and continues to forge new paths. As a 14 year old, Sanjana Patel would love seeing her grandmother, a baker, work in her kitchen. It inspired her to start baking with her. As her grandmother loved gardening, she has fond memories of summer holidays spent making carrot halwa cake from carrots picked from her garden. “I was always excited about making everything with chocolate. Even today, I carry with me a lot of things I learned from her, you will find these practices in my kitchen even today. One significant thing that I learned from here is localisation and sustainability, which you will find intertwined with La Folie’s philosophy and practices,” Chef Sanjana tells Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_49183" align="aligncenter" width="513"] Chef Sanjana Patel, founder, La Folie[/caption] Starting out Patel did her early education at Maneckji Cooper and JB Petit and finished high school at St Hilda's in Ooty. In 2005, she moved to the UK and started at Le Cordon Bleu, College of Culinary Arts in London, followed by Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi in Paris, where she earned a master’s

Patel did her early education at Maneckji Cooper and JB Petit and finished high school at St Hilda's in Ooty. In 2005, she moved to the UK and started at Le Cordon Bleu, College of Culinary Arts in London, followed by Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi in Paris, where she earned a master’s in baking and Patisserie. Then, she moved to the University of Surrey for an M.Sc. in Food Science Management with honours in Chocolate Technology and did an M.Sc. in Marketing and Strategy at the University of Warwick (Warwick Business School). In 2008, she finished her master’s diploma C.A.P in bakery and patisserie with distinction at Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi in Paris. She then stayed in Europe for seven years and worked with chefs like Pierre Hermé, Jean-Charles Rochoux, Patrick Roger, Camille Lesecq, and Olivier Bajard. She also worked at award-winning restaurants like Hotel Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athénée in the Dorchester Collection under chefs like Christophe Michalak and Chef Alain Ducasse, among others.

The La Folie journey

In 2013, she decided to return to India and began her journey with La Folie as she opened the first outlet in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai a decade ago in January 2014. “My love for chocolate partially stemmed from Chocolaterie Jean-Charles Rochoux, where I served as a Chocolatier Intern. This experience has been the grounding stone of my journey into the world of chocolate,” she says. At La Folie she has introduced unique French haute creations. “Those things were very new, and people were not subjected to these kinds of tastes. So, a lot of education went in to help people understand what we were doing. However, over the years, I feel that with experimental cuisines expanding in India, people are now more open to trying out new flavours and foods,” she adds.

For someone who always wanted to offer something different, she started La Folie with a focus on natural flavours and says that now people appreciate their philosophy of using natural ingredients and the unique taste they bring. “My affair with chocolate began as a passionate hobby and soon cascaded into a magical journey of discovering myself through craft chocolate, a journey that led me on an adventurous road trip to numerous cacao farms across the world, to its native origins! The deeper I go, the more intrigued I am. Even chocolate tasting for me is not just biting into that heavenly piece but it is about setting on the journey of Emotions, Conversations, and Nostalgia. The more you taste, the more you indulge and build experiences with yourself and with others,” she adds.

'Chocolate tech'

In 2017, after a leg injury, Patel revisited the concept of making her own craft chocolate as she wanted to offer a different sensorial journey and taste to the Indian consumer and ultimately it had to be tied to the very source of chocolate, cacao. “I take an instinctive approach towards what I do, and not bounding myself by flavours, moulds, or recipes, but find my inspiration in trends, my journey, and experiences that have influenced me. I have always strived to explore ingredients and chocolates at the core, experimenting with ways to create an experience for the patrons. Also, as a Chocolate Technologist, I have not bound myself just to taste profiles, but have also collaborated with product designers to create customised chocolate moulds that elevate the chocolate experience to an art form,” she says. Incidentally, in 2016, she introduced a heartfelt journey ‘Down the Memory Lane’ with the creation of ‘Grandma’s Carrot Cake’ and this nostalgic masterpiece served as a heartfelt tribute to her grandmother.

Gender bender

For someone who has not seen gender biases, and in fact has never seen herself as being different as a female, Patel believes in making an impact and creating sustainable growth and a future for one’s vision and one’s passion. “I feel blessed having to do that slowly and steadily and changing chefs' and global culinary enthusiasts' approach to chocolate. It’s a happy place for me to see my customer's appreciation for our products and indirectly how it impacts at the farm level. I wish to continue doing that and building a stronger sustainable network across this field,” she avers. In her journey she has learnt many life lessons and one of them being the most important is to follow your vision and not get entangled in the vicious world of competition. “Staying and believing true to your identity will always take you forward strongly in a long way and yes always be willing to share knowledge and learn from others - there is nothing in withholding and being conservative about how your knowledge will be used,” she advises.

Looking ahead

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Now, one of the most important tasks for her is to work towards creating farmer co-operative programmes that can benefit the farmers to raise funds and improve crop fertility. “We also want to work towards government support through grants, funds and sponsorships for the post-harvesting process and crop yields. We want to create a supply chain system for the farmers where they can liaise with other chocolate makers with pre-order systems. This will empower the farmers to have economic support and eradicate uncertainty,” she says. And she is looking at making La Folie products available across tier one and tier two cities, as well as export orders for European and Middle Eastern countries. As someone who straddles the tightrope of nostalgia with global inspirations, Patel is making the case for craft chocolate in her own unique way.

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