14
ART & CULTURE
Asian Voice - Saturday 14th July 2012
Meet Bhangra Beauty Nindy Kaur By Anjali Patel Shreya Datta
Young Asian Social Enterprise (YASE) off to a flying start Wednesday 4th July 2012 marked the first successful milestone for YASE. Fifteen students participated in the first phase of the scheme and raised in excess of £5,300 through undertaking creative fundraising projects. The students presented their fundraising experiences at the event, hosted at the Accenture head office by Sushil Saluja, (Senior Executive at Accenture). In reward for their fundraising efforts, the students were awarded Jemini Gova (YASE student) receiving a certificate from Kevin McCole (UKIBC) the YASE prize. This consists of mentoring support tively address such challenges”. for the students and an opportunity to Additionally Aekta and Divya reingain first hand insight at a range of top forced the importance of developing a city firms that have partnered with social conscious. They wanted to YASE, including Accenture, develop a model which not only PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shell and addressed the aforementioned chalReed Smith. lenges but also encouraged the youth to Kevin McCole (Chief Operating give back. Officer at the UK India Business The funds raised through the Council) presented the YASE certifischeme will go directly towards carefulcates at the event and noted that the ly selected grassroots projects in develstudent presentations were “inspiring oping countries such as India. Akshaya and far more engaging than most prePatra, a foundation which promotes sentations he sees at boardroom meeteducation through running a school ings”. meals programme will benefit from the The scheme was developed as a funds raised through the first phase. result of the challenges experienced by They feed over the Founders, Aekta 1.3 million Mahajan and Divya underprivileged Talwar themselves. children daily Speaking at the in more than event, Divya 8,260 schools Talwar (Reporter across India. for the BBC) Speaking at noted that the event, “Britain is facD i p i k a ing unpreceKhaitan dented chal(UK presilenges, with dent of the Ashaya Patra) said “YASE is almost one in five 16 to 24 years olds an excellent scheme to help students in jobless. Competition for graduate placethese tough times. We are proud to be ments is higher than ever before so acaassociated with the scheme as it makes demic achievements alone no longer a win-win situation in both sides of the serve as their passport to land top gradworld. The funds raised will be matched uate positions – they have to do far by the Indian government, which more in order to stand out.” means that over 1,000 children will be Aekta Mahajan (Senior Manager at fed for an entire year through YASE”. the Cabinet Office) added that “for ethYASE will be launched at a larger nic minority communities, the chalscale this autumn. If you are a profeslenges are multiplied several fold. A sional and keen to sign up as mentor or lack of visible role models within the a student aged between 18-25 and community and the absence of mentorwould like to participate in the next ing support are just some of the conintake, email info@yase-uk.com or visit tributory factors. However, with the www.yase-uk.com for further informasupport of our mentors and corporate tion. partners, we hope that YASE will effec-
Front: Kamel Hothi (LTSB), Aekta Mahajan (YASE founder), Dipika Khaitan (Akshaya Patra), Divya Talwar (YASE founder) Kevin McCole (UKIBC) Back: Priyanka Singh, Sonica Mendiratta, Sabina Ranger, Jemini Gova, Chanal Griffiths, Veronica Ruddle, Mamta Ramgi, Vrunda Patel, Gorav Pallan, Raveena Nagaria, Thivjah Yoganathon, Jaskiran Kaur Sidhu, Janvi Shah, Nishil Shah, Uday Dattani
Nindy Kaur, more popularly known as the Bhangra Beauty, is not only a household name in the UK but also India. She was born and raised in the UK, and grew up listening to Bhangra music. She later moved to Canada and her singing career took off, after marrying Manjeet Ral, member of popular Bhangra band; RDB. Nindy began performing with the band, and soon hit the stage with Bollywood actor, Akshay Kumar, at the Toronto International Film Festival. She has since then found herself occupying the number one spot in the charts, after the release of her first two singles in India. When asked if she had any other ambitions before becoming involved in the music industry, she explained; “My parents used to always encourage me to be a doctor or have a career of that sort, but I enjoyed working with computers, and chose to study computing programming in college. My parents at the time didn't realise how much technology would take over.” Her musical talent was first recognised by her husband, Manj. “I used to be a huge fan of RDB; I bought their album in Canada and could not stop listening to their songs. One day I thought I'd drop them an email on their fan site to show my
appreciation, and luckily received an email back!” She added; “I went along to one of the RDB shows when they came over to Canada to perform, I was introduced and everything just started from there for me and Manj.”
Nindy Kaur
Nindy spoke about being involved in Bollywood; “At the tie Akshay actually got in contact with me while I was working in Canada and offered me the opportunity to be involved in his new film!” Nindy's new album is titled 'Nindypendent', and Nindy has stated that the album will consist of “nothing but dance tunes”. Nindy added that she wanted a “different flavour”, and so the album contains new collaborations. With all of the touring and releasing Nindy does, we asked her how she balanced her working life, and family life, with her hectic schedule. To this Nindy agreed, and explained; “If we have a show in India on Saturday , we fly out on friday and come back on Sunday. While we're away, Anoop (son) stays with my in
laws, so when the touring is finished all I want to do is just get home and see my son and relax!” Even with the very little leisure time Nindy has, she explains that her favourite thing to do in her spare time is using the Gym. She added; “In the morning before doing anything else I have to go gym. I also have gym equipment at home so when I don't get a chance to go out to the gym, I do it at home.” As to who Nindy's inspiration is, she replied “It would have to be Shazia Manzoor. I used to listen to all of her songs, and when I went to Pakistan I bought all of her CD's.” She continued, enthusiastically saying that she would love to work with Rihanna. “I love all of her songs and productions. She comes out with hit after hit.” A growing percentage of the younger generation are now aspiring to become a musical sensation, like Nindy. Nindy's advice to youngsters who dream of becoming like her some day is to “Come forward, and show your talent.” Along with her new album 'Nindypendent', the singer added, “I do have a few Bollywood songs lined up for upcoming movies but I cannot say as of yet!” Nindy reminded her fans to keep their eyes peeled for her upcoming projects.
KK showBIZ makes contribution to The British Epilepsy Association
Epilepsy is currently defined as a tendency to have recurrent seizures (sometimes called fits). A seizure is caused by a sudden burst of excess electrical activity in the brain, causing a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. This disruption results in the brain’s messages becoming halted or mixed up. The brain is responsible for all the functions of your body, so what you experience during a seizure will depend on where in your brain the epileptic activity begins and how widely and rapidly it spreads. For this rea-
son, there are many different types of seizure and each person will experience epilepsy in a way that is unique to them. During the last twelve months KK showBIZ media and with the support of Lloyds Banking Group plus media promoters & International/UK artist have amazingly generated a total of £1'828.00 for 'The British Epilepsy Association'. The funds will be part of the Sunflower fund to celebrate the life of Daxa Solanki who sadly passed away on the 3rd June 2011 due to a epilepsy
seizure at her home in Leicester. Every penny donated to the Sunflower Fund will help 'The British Epilepsy Association' to provide crucial support to those who are recently diagnosed, are concerned about medication or who just need to talk to someone through the freephone and e-mail Helpline service. KK showBIZ media are proud supporters of 'The British Epilepsy Association.' You can also show your support by contacting 'The British Epilepsy Association' on 0113 210 8800 or 0808 800 5050.