ASPIRE — An Entrepreneur & Lifestyle Magazine Jan 2021

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JANUARY — 2021 ISSUE 4 aspiredubai.ae — AED19.25

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Andrew Scanlan

THE ORDER WITHIN THE CHAOS

a Song & a Soul

Give your Resolutions a dose of Vitamin ‘M’

The World in a Teacup

P UN AM V ER M A

What makes Rafih Filli, founder of Filli Café, and his saffron tea so extraordinary

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2021

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THE WORLD IN A TEACUP

What makes Rafih Filli, founder of Filli Café, and the tea that he brews with such love and passion, so extraordinary

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INSIDE 6

Bulletin bytes

Bite sized interesting news from around the world!

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The rise of the digital nomad A new kind of work culture is on the rise as new generation workers decide to work on their terms

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IoT: a world of opportunity Take a look at how organizations in the region have made impressive inroads on the IoT solutions landscape

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THE ORDER WITHIN THE CHAOS

‘Emerging Artist of the Year’ Andrew Scanlan’s unique cellular style paintings compel audiences to hold their gaze, as their minds slowly brings the picture together

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Events

The ‘Operations’ Pillar of Ecommerce

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Know the ‘operations management’ key factors of an eCommerce organizational unit for its smooth functioning

Great upcoming events that you must add to your calendar

What’s the Fuss About Trust?

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Identifying Genetically Inherited Behaviors

How building the foundation of Trust helps businesses and organizations to come to an agreement on any situation

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Fulfill Your Resolutions with a Dose of Vitamin “M” The top five reasons as to why so often resolutions don’t work, along with the recommended dose of vitamin ‘M’ to make it happen

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A Song and A Soul BBC journalist, TV & Radio presenter, singer/songwriter, film producer, metaphysician and soon to be author, Punam Verma explains the path of least resistance

Unlock a way to identify an individual’s genetically inherited behaviors to get an insight into their natural behavior preferences

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Beauty for Good

Lavanya Kokane on offering free luxury pampering services to house-helps across UAE and helping small businesses grow

PUBLISHER

Sumeet Gupta EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Shagufta Patel PRODUCTION

The Purple Stroke EDITORIAL TEAM

Misbaah Mansuri, Ayaat Attar, Rachit Gupta EDITORIAL INTERN

Arundhati Surendran « OUR CONTRIBUTORS »

Rajashree Balaram Journalist/ Scriptwriter

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The Metamorphosis of Deepika Padukone

UAE 2021 Ready

Looking for engineering marvels, exceptional experiences, trailblazing luxury, or trade opportunities? UAE is the place to be

An analysis of Deepika Padukone’s transitional journey from by widely criticized to being warmly acclaimed

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Hold Your Horses!

All you need to know about serving size

One of UAE’s most popular sporting events, Horse-riding as a hobby comes with a host of health benefits too

The serving size of different foods plays a vital role when working out a healthy nutrition or diet plan

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Swimming with Whale Sharks Encounter the ‘gentle giants’ of the sea, then an experience of swimming with Whale Sharks in Kenya beckons you

The World’s Highest Skybridge at The Address The Address Beach Resort with its highest infinity pool is vying for the Guinness World Record

Sunil Nair

Sabeeh Ghugharia Speaker, HR Strategist

Kim Shelar

Digital Marketing & ECommerce strategist

Meditation & Executive Mindset Coach

Dt. Geetika Uppal

Reema Ahuja

Gold-medalist in Nutritional Science

Writer and Educator

Kumar Shankaran Aiyar Genetic Behavior Analyst

1601, Corporate Business Hub, Burj Gate, Dubai, United Arab Emirates T +971 508 498820, +971 565 774075 / W: thepurplestroke.com Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the persmission of The Purple Stroke FZE LLC. All the information carried herein is checked and verified to the best of our knowledge and abilities. In matters of views expressed and opinions held, it is solely that of the authors and contributors themselves. The editorial or publisher or ASPIRE cannot be held responsible for unintended errors and oversights if any.

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Editor's note AGUF T SH

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who brews his cup of tea with saffron warmness, Andrew Scanlan who strokes his canvas with cellular intensity, or Punam Verma who vocalizes melodies and metaphysics with equal verve. Lavanya Kokane, our CSR champion this month, peps up lives too with her beautifying gestures.

Also, in this issue, Tech lays bare the Internet of Opportunity, and Trending highlights the rise of the digital nomad. Pro-talks covers operations for your eCommerce ventures, vitamin ‘M’ to fulfil your New Year resolutions, building the ‘Trust’ factor in your organizations, and getting an insight into our genetically influenced natural behaviors.

Equally stimulating is the metamorphosis of Deepika Padukone, the awaiting thrill of the African adventures, or the royal ride on your steed. Be it the size of your serving spoon to jazz up your health or the excitement that 2021 and Dubai have to offer, let’s live this year with an eagerness and energy to make it the best that we have lived so far.

Seize the day, and I’m also desirous to add, Carpe Annos Singulos... Seize The Year!! J

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nough has been said about the year that went by, enough has been the anticipation of the year that we have just welcomed, and enough have been the surprises (both good and bad) that showed up almost everywhere and for everyone and in every imaginable way possible.

What we can’t get enough of ever though, are the smiles, the giggles, the hugs, the talks, the walks, the laughter, the touch, the pat, the sunshine, the rain, the flowers, the smell, the sights, the joys, and moments when we want time to stand still…

This again is the mockery of time. That it doesn’t ever stand still. Moments that are here now, are gone in a flash… moments that will never be ours to feel again.

So, Carpe Diem!

Latin for ‘seize the day’ is a phrase used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that one should make the most of life while one can. And while what’s gone cannot be brought back, what can be brought here in the now and carried with us into the future is our amaranthine enthusiasm to give it all while it lasts.

The people featured in this issue are ardent devotees to this very frenzy, quite apparent from the devotion they put in their work. Be it Rafih Filli

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THE BREXIT DEAL – A NEW YEAR GIFT FOR MANY The long-awaited Brexit deal allows the UK and European Union (EU) to continue trade without extra taxes being put on goods, ending months of deliberation over future business and trade rules.

The UK had voted to leave the EU in 2016 but left on 31st January 2020, with the percipience that the leaders would get a transition period of 11-months following the exit (until 31st December 2020) to work out a trade deal. Until then, the UK had to follow EU work rules. According to UK government sources, EU is UK’s nearest and most significant trading partner with trades worth almost £668bn in 2019.

The Brexit deal agrees that there will be no taxes levied on goods crossing over on either side. Also, there will be no cap on the quantity of things that can be traded. Without the deal, EU and UK would have to follow the rules set by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Businesses would have to start paying taxes, and there would have been more border checks causing delays in the transportation of goods.

There might be changes ahead, as it still needs to be worked out on how people

between the UK and EU will travel, live, and work. The deal still needs to be made law after approval from both UK and European parliaments. Till that happens, the agreement can still take effect as it has been unanimously approved by all the 27 EU countries and the UK. “There is still hard work ahead. We have a trade deal, but we’re going to be trading in a different way going forward and we have to be prepared,” said one dairy owner in the UK. Even though people don’t get much time to prepare for the changes starting from 1st January 2021, it still brings massive relief for companies already reeling from the impact of coronavirus.

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Aramco and Google get together to answer Saudi Arabia’s booming cloud demand Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, the world has seen rapid development in the number of people adopting tech as their principal medium for business and other ventures. The rapid adoption of tech and the rising demand for it has resulted in Saudi Arabia’s Aramco partnering with Google Cloud to deliver cloud infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Negotiations for the joint venture had reportedly begun in 2018 but talks of collaboration stalled in the face of the rising political tensions. As relations get warmer in the region, it opens up a space for many tech companies looking to expand.

Moving away from a complete oil dependant economy as one of its many aims for 2030, Saudi Arabia has long since announced its plans for

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diversification, of which technology has been integral. The country has been looking to global tech giants to bolster their efforts in this vision, and has already invested heavily in American firms, developing various fields within the tech sector, including AI and medical technology. The collaboration between Google Cloud Services and Aramco will be a pivotal step to further this goal.

While the deal’s financial details were not disclosed, the collaboration is “forecast to reach a market opportunity of up to $10 billion by 2030,” according to a statement from Aramco. Google’s competitors in the Cloud-computing enterprise include Microsoft and Amazon, already present in the region, pushing Google to be a latecomer to the Middle East.

Abu Dhabi’s solar power plant project, the biggest in the world, secures funding Plans for the world’s largest single-site solar power plant aimed to provide electricity for 160,000 homes in the UAE has secured funding - the project is based in Abu Dhabi.

The financing has come from seven international banks, and the project is in the hands of TAQA (Abu Dhabi National Energy Company) who will own 40% of the solar farm. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar, EDF Renewables, and JinkoPower, all of which own 20% of the project each.

Abu Dhabi also held the title for owning the world’s largest solar farm before, with Noor Abu Dhabi - a 1.17 GW solar farm with 3.2 million solar panels - and now holds the same title with higher honors. The Al Dhafra PV (Photovoltaic) facility will have approximately 4 million solar panels and generate around

2 GW. This output will reduce UAE’s carbon emissions by 2.4 million metric tonnes annually which is equivalent to removing 470,000 cars from the roads.

“The financial closing marks the beginning of an important chapter for this IPP (independent power plant) project, for TAQA Group and the UAE as we continue to deliver on our bold clean energy ambitions while demonstrating the commercial and operational viability of utility-scale single-site solar projects,” said Jasim Husain Thabet, Group CEO and Managing Director at TAQA. The plant’s solar panels will employ the latest technology to maximize efficiency, using ‘crystalline, bifacial solar technology’, allowing it to capture solar irradiation from the solar panel’s front and back.

Emirates NBD awarded as the Best Retail Bank in UAE Emirates NBD has won top international honors for leadership in retail banking and digital innovation at the recently held 11th annual Retail Banker International (RBI) Asia Trailblazer Awards 2020.

Named as the Best Retail Bank in the UAE for Excellence in Internet Banking, it provides state-of-the-art features and a frictionless user experience to customers on the portal. It also won the Excellence in Mass Affluent Banking Award for its market-leading Priority Banking proposition delivering best in class investment and financial planning solutions.

Liv., the lifestyle digital bank for millennials, was commended for its Social Media Marketing and continues to be the banking brand of choice among the younger generation.

In addition, Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, was awarded the prestigious RBI Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize his over three-decade’s of business leadership and pioneering vision in driving the bank’s regional and global accomplishments over the years.

Commenting on the wins, Suvo Sarkar said: “We are honored to be once again recognized with multiple prestigious titles at the RBI Asia Trailblazer Awards. In the face of these extraordinary times, the awards are an encouraging testament to our customer-first philosophy and continued commitment to advancing digital banking innovation.”

A regional front-runner in retail banking innovation, Emirates NBD has pioneered several market-leading solutions to enhance and simplify banking. The Retail Banker International Awards are regarded within the industry as a mark of high performance and an exceptional level of achievement. ✪ WAM NEWS 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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THE RISE OF THE DIGITAL NOMAD Thanks to high-speed Wi-Fi, cafes, working spaces, a new kind of work culture is now booming in the region and world over.

As an increasing tribe of new generation workers decides to work on their terms, from places of their own choosing, Misbaah Mansuri delves into how location-independent working is becoming all the rage.

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hile many have been talking about launching ‘remote work’, headlines were made when the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s commercial and largest city, Dubai, recently launched a new one-year remote-work visa. It is a program that permits one to live and work by the beach and enjoy the surf and the sun in one of the world’s most dynamic cities. The escapist deal enables one to come to Dubai, along with family, and work remotely, all this while remaining employed in your home country. With this unique and future-facing law in place, the region has set the scene to build attractive foundations for companies and foreign investors who wish to grow their presence in the region. And that says a thing or two about

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how “location-independent workers” have left the drudgery of cubicles and commutes.

THE GIG ECONOMY

Seeing this trend coming, early in 1997, Electronics Weekly writer David Manners and Hitachi executive Tsugio Makimoto published their book ‘Digital Nomads’, predicting a revolution in how people worked, lived, and traveled. All this, they wrote, will be made possible by new mobile devices and greater internet connectivity using smaller and more powerful computer chips. And fast-forward to today, who knew that this would be a reality,

connecting remote workers from the beach to the boardroom.

However, with the economy in recession, layoffs and other cost-cutting measures being rampant, the key difference is in the type of work being taken up by digital nomads. The current scenario has led to an increase in the number of people looking for remote work due to lost jobs. Many people are completely pivoting and are setting up home-based businesses around a skill-set that was previously just a hobby. Firms are also hiring from the newly swelled ranks of digital nomads to get more done at less cost.

After a survey of 3,457 adults conducted this July and August, MBO Partners, which provides services to independent professionals, estimated 10.9 million digital nomads this year versus 7.3 million in 2019, an increase of 49%.

Another 19 million say they want to become digital nomads within the next two years.

THE DIGITAL NOMAD WORK VISA

To apply for the new Dubai remote-working visa, according to the tourism board’s website, workers must earn a minimum of $5,000 a month and submit proof of employment, their last month’s payslip, and the previous three months’ bank statements. Or, in the case of a company owner, then proof of ownership of the company for a year or more, with an average monthly income of US$5,000 per month and three preceding months’ bank statements.

Valid for one year, the virtual working program gets you access to all essential services, including utilities, telecom, banking, and schooling options. Like all others working here, remote workers too won’t have to pay income tax in Dubai.

Million

SAY THEY WANT TO BECOME DIGITAL NOMADS WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS.

Facebook announced work from home until at least July 2021

WORKPLACES PRIME FOR A FLEXIBLE FUTURE

To be sure, even before the pandemic, the digital nomad movement had steadily increased in popularity. However, Covid has still dramatically altered the evolution of this form of employment. Hence more businesses today are fundamentally rethinking their sense of work and home. For one, companies have largely been forced to allow more employees to work from home on a long-term basis.

Some tech firms are even contemplating making it a permanent arrangement. Companies such as Facebook have announced work from home until at least July 2021, and Twitter letting employees work from home ‘forever’ is also groundbreaking.

Furthermore, over the months while UAE telco, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) – also known as Du – revealed a 200 percent increase in its video streaming services, including video communications app Zoom, since the onset of the covid-19 outbreak. Remote-working seems to have worked well for these companies.

For instance, JLT-based grocery delivery app elGrocer operated a “work from anywhere” option for its team – and flourished during Covid-19 movement restrictions. Interestingly, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum recently too announced a series of protocols for government entities, enshrining remote working as a permanent fixture in the labor market.

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Twitter is letting employees work from home ‘forever’ THE OPPORTUNITY

The nomad generation is defined by their freedom to work from anyplace, where the only requirements are talent and connectivity. Add to it that remote-working reduces overheads such as rent and utilities and payroll costs allowing businesses to grow more flexible and competitive. According to a Global Workplace Analytics study, six out of ten employers identify cost savings as a compelling benefit to remote working. Furthermore, it should be noted that the nomad generation is undoubtedly delivering higher productivity. Stanford University research has shown that remote workers are 13% more productive. Another study by Owl Labs reported that remote workers themselves affirmed a 79% increase in productivity without the office’s distractions. That said, the new generation of workers might be all set to usher in an era of responsible innovation for a sustainable future. J

JLT-based grocery delivery app elGrocer operated a “work from anywhere” option for its team

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IOT: A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY IoT, a digital mesh of internet-connected devices, is taking the entrepreneurial world by storm. Misbaah Mansuri weighs its pros and cons and how organizations in the region have made impressive inroads on the IoT solutions landscape

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t’s amazing how the Internet of Things (IoT) which was for years perceived as inviable, has now achieved a hard-won status “as no longer a gimmick.” Thanks to a repertoire of IoT use cases that are providing real business value and contribute to the bottom line of businesses today. For

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the layman – smart houses, wearable devices, smart retail stores, connected cars are some examples of IoT. To be sure, the concept can help entrepreneurial pursuits reach the market faster and interact with their customers in a whole new way. Time to IoT with great thought and vision?

From smart to smartest

The IoT market is becoming increasingly competitive within the Middle East. To be sure, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has one big dream of transforming Dubai into the smartest city in the world.

A defining moment for UAE was when telecom firm Du successfully brought to life a new breed of ‘sensor-friendly’ network to establish the smart-city ecosystem in the country, which paved its way to become the first true IoT network in the Middle East.

The launch of Dubai’s IoT strategy in 2017 was intended to build a platform for smart city development. Moreover, the region organizes an Internet of Things Conference every year, which gathers over 81 countries and attracts over 7000 attendees, 90 speakers, and 120 exhibitors.

That said, robotic process automation, cognitive computing, and cognitive automation will inevitably incur an increase in jobs within the emerging IoT sector is a brownie point. If research by AT Kearney Research is anything to go by, the IoT solutions market in the GCC will touch $11 billion, generating potential value for the economy of nearly $160 billion.

Business Applications

It should be noted that enterprises of all sizes are deploying IoT solutions to improve overall business efficiencies. Real estate companies are leveraging it to provide solutions that work on dynamic allocation of real estate and office resources for their clients.

An exciting startup instance-Derq-an MIT spin-off startup, provides safety solutions for connected cars using artificial intelligence and V2X technology.

In another example, UAE-based iWire Group is driving IoT adoption in over ten countries in GCC, Asia, and Africa, providing two-way, out-of-the-box, energy-efficient, and cost-effective connectivity to IoT devices.

Another instance is InLogic IT Solutions, an organization working on developing process control systems, sensors, security systems, communication solutions, and IoT software.

The organization is advancing its IoT services by assisting customers by developing their existing technologies while keeping in view commitment towards safety, cyber security, and data privacy.

ThingLogix, Inc., yet another provider of cloud-based IoT services, established its regional headquarter in the UAE, a company that is driving the growth of IoT in the

region. Meanwhile, an exciting startup Interel, utilizes IoT to efficiently manage guest room energy consumption to drive optimal room experience in the hospitality space.

It leverages a Bluetooth low energy beacon infrastructure for thousands of its own and third-party sensors to communicate with each other through APIs, as well as an AR mobile app for mobile virtualization of the guest room control.

Capabilities And Opportunities

Factors like high mobile adoption, expanded Internet connectivity, availability of low-cost sensors, and keen interest from private and public sectors seem to have fuelled IoT’s growth story today. PwC estimates that over 11.2 billion Internet of Things devices would be installed globally in the next two years. To be sure, IoT should be treated as a medium through which intelligent customer experiences can be delivered.

Brands like Amazon, Disney, Honeywell, among others, are interesting instances of making sensors perform magic and utilizing the tech in an immersive way.

IoT makes automation easier and how!

Smart offices automate repetitive tasks, thus allowing employees to invest their time in something more challenging. It helps businesses build capabilities to predict and act.

Collected data can be utilized to build historical trends that predict and put businesses in issues before they occur. All this new capability also provides opportunities to increase the level of dialog and interaction with customers.

It helps the marketing and business development partners translate the IoT data procured into models that can improve customer dialog, trust, and retention.

Internet Of “Threats”?

Like most other technology, IoT is like a double-edged weapon. While its advantages are incredible, it does come with its share of downsides. One of the biggest threats that IoT devices face is that they are susceptible to botnet attacks, data eavesdropping, industrial espionage, among others. Apart from the data breach argument, privacy issues also lead to the question of who will control the Internet of Things? Furthermore, the connecting of more and more devices to the Internet is noted to result in loss of jobs. Its automation is said to have a severe impact on the employment prospects of less-educated workers.

The dream always is a future where men and machines work in tandem with each other. J

PWC ESTIMATES THAT OVER

11.2 BILLION

INTERNET OF THINGS DEVICES WOULD BE INSTALLED GLOBALLY IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS.

THE IOT SOLUTIONS MARKET IN THE GCC WILL TOUCH $11 BILLION, GENERATING POTENTIAL VALUE FOR THE ECONOMY OF NEARLY

$160 BILLION

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ABU DHABI SUSTAINABILITY WEEK Lasting from 18th January up till the 21st, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is set to bring people together to brainstorm and put into action ideas that can save the planet. With the enormity of ASDW 2020’s success, hosting over 45000 people from over 170 countries, including international ministers and media representatives, there is no question of the standard ASDW 2021 will have to uphold. And of course, they are expected to deliver - this year’s ASDW being virtual will allow for thousands of more attendees. With over five events, the schedule is packed full of speeches, keynotes, panel discussions, and more.

Of the six events, four are available to the public and can be accessed through registration - this includes the ASDW Summit, which will revolve around how the world can recover from the excessive losses caused by COVID in a sustainable manner. The event will be interesting for any layman - but even more so for those looking to identify business opportunities and network with sustainability leaders.

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THE SIGN AND GRAPHIC IMAGING (SGI) EXPO (MIDDLE EAST) This year the immensely popular SGI Expo goes online as an engaging B2B virtual event. In its 24th edition, the trade fair will host exhibitors from across the globe presenting the latest products and innovations in graphic design, digital display technologies, outdoor media and advertising, screen and digital printing applications, 3D printing and labeling, fabricating, and other related applications.

One of the most important fairs of the industry in the MENA region, the virtual

edition will showcase branded booths for all participating exhibitors via a powerful virtual platform.

Slated to attract a large audience of international, regional, and local visitors, the expo will have several knowledgeable speakers addressing the audience at the SGI Conference held alongside the show.

The expo held on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of January will continue to follow the schedules and format as always. More information available and registrations are open online.

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Events

DUBAI SHOPPING FESTIVAL DRONE LIGHT SHOW What if you could see the lights move, flutter, and create vivid images, dancing through the night sky? Well, that is what the DSF Drone Light Show looks like. Join the rest of the UAE in enjoying this showstopping display of drones that will be performing for 45 straight days! From the 17th of December to the 30th of January, the Beach facing JBR and Bluewaters Island will be the setting for this record in the making. The high-tech production will have two themed shows, one of which will explore Dubai, A City of Adventure, and the other commemorates the evolution of the emirate in Dubai, From the Past to the Present.

This show adds to the already existing beauty of Bluewaters Island and JBR Beach. Enjoy it with delicious meals from the spectacular waterfront restaurants located at the same spot.

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WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY The pursuit and sharing of knowledge with others have been the basis of all human development. Discussions, forums, debates, and presentations are paramount to building stepping-stones for one and all. The World Conference on Science Engineering and Technology, to be held on the 13th and 14th of January, is precisely that opportunity. A community of scholars, researchers, delegates, and students sharing experiences and interacting, building their knowledge in technology

application. Engineering in academia and Engineering in industry rarely have the chance to meet, and this event serves as the bridge for the two to grow together.

Because of safety concerns during the COVID Period, you may even attend the event virtually. You are welcome to submit your research paper, and awards will be given to the best of the research presented. Held at Radisson Blue Hotel on Abu Dhabi Yas Island, if you wish to attend in person. ✪ 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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COVER STORY

Filli’s ‘zaffran kadak’ has a loyal following among scores of Europeans, Indians, and Arabs

the

orW in a ld eatcup

Rafih Filli, founder of Filli Café, is understandably guarded about what goes into the tea that he brews with such love and passion. With his trademark already registered in 48 countries, the young entrepreneur is now planning to take his brand all over the world in more ways than one, and make his sweet secret a global phenomenon.

Rajashree Balaram tries to figure out what makes the man and his chai so extraordinary 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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COVER STORY

Rafihfilli

tends to use an elegant word quite liberally in all his conversations: “Alhamdulillah.”

The Arabic evocation, which means ‘praise be to God’, punctuates most everything that Rafih talks about. But it sneaks in more frequently when he tells you about the many highs that he has scaled in his business in the past 16 years since he started Filli Café, Dubai’s favourite chain of tea shops. For Rafih, the unremitting gratitude towards divine benevolence is one way to stay rooted and real, now that his heady success is so widely discussed in the glitzy power corridors of Emirates as well as the serene countryside of his ancestral village in Kasarkode in Kerala.

At 38, he has been ranked among the top 100 Indian business leaders in the Arab world by Forbes Middle East, his business trajectory laid bare for deconstruction in a Harvard case study. With a massive chain of outlets spanning the UAE, India, and the UK, Rafih’s upward graph has seen no spells of slack yet (last year, Filli Cafe served nearly 10 million cups of tea). Though he has embraced success like a second skin by now and enjoys all the plush status symbols that comes with it, there is that odd moment every now and then when he still finds it hard to reconcile with life’s newfound glory. “I am amazed when youngsters walk up to me on the streets of Dubai and request for a selfie, or when I am called to offer a guest lecture in a management college in Mumbai. Somehow, this fame makes me want to be humbler,” he tells us.

Tea time

The humility that Rafih holds on to so tenaciously co-exists with razor-sharp business acumen. Such fine balance of heart and mind has been his greatest asset, one that also worked to his advantage ever since he moved to Dubai from Kerala, in 2003, to join a skincare company as merchandiser. “Mornings I would work at my job, and evenings I would help with the inventory at my dad’s modest caféteria in Mamzar that sold basic snacks and fresh juices. Every now and then, I would hear customers asking for tea. Those casual queries gave me my big idea.” Back then, he also knew he was bucking the trend. The coffee chain boom in Asia was growing unabated. Urban landscapes, everywhere, were suddenly dotted with coffee shops that had hip names and cool signboards. In city streets and malls, people took to huddling over a mug of cappuccino or espresso or other exotic coffee variants to mull over heartbreak, gossip, blind dates, and business plans. Coffee had risen to become more than a beverage, a social lubricant; the humble tea remained the wallflower at the party.

From nickname to fame

Though the scene was no different in the UAE, Rafih’s

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business idea was clutter-breaking and buoyed by youthful daring. He was only 21 when he asked his father if he could have the chance to run the family’s café at Mamzar.

The handover was smooth but not without its teething troubles. “I decided to renovate the place and spruce it up a bit before relaunching. However, the contractor who was hired for the renovation scooted with the advance, and I was strapped for cash. So, I requested my friend to pay for the renovation using his credit card.”

Such unmitigated friendship has been a recurring theme in his life. Not many people know that the word now standardised as his second name and brand name is actually a nickname given to him by his closest childhood buddies.

“Filli is a mix-up of all the initials of the friends in my group,” he says with a chuckle. When it was time to name

With a massive chain of outlets spanning the UAE, India, and the UK, Rafih’s upward graph has seen no spells of slack yet (last year, Filli Cafe served nearly 10 million cups of tea)

Filli Select at La Mer, Dubai

Filli tea lounge in Oman

Filli Cafe at Kite Beach, Dubai

his fledgling venture, he only found it natural to choose that one word that summed up all those bonds that had persevered in the face of odds.

The golden touch of saffron

Rafih places great emphasis on perseverance—the early days at Filli Café too were mostly about trial and error. He started out by offering customers a free sample of tea with their order, personally brewing each cup and painstakingly adjusting strength and sweetness. “Everyone who walked in the door loved the tea we served and they started getting their friends and business associates over. Within just a few days of our launch, we were serving over 40 chai orders daily, priced at one dirham per cup.” A few months later, during one of his many kitchen experiments, he decided to fuss around with a pinch of saffron while brewing tea. He had no clue then that the game-changing move would evolve into Filli’s signature zaffran chai. The new offering was lapped up by customers, and repeat orders thrived to become the norm. Today, Filli’s ‘zaffran kadak’ has a loyal following among scores of Europeans, Indians, and Arabs. Some tea-loving fanatics have even tried to mimic its making and showcased their earnest efforts in elaborate YouTube videos; many others recommend it as a must-try on travel and food forums online, speculating and arguing over the contents that make it so intriguing.

With 15 new outlets set to launch in 2021, Rafih still refuses to make a big deal of his chain’s growing popularity.

He is busier these days shifting the gears for his 2025 plan, which envisions 110 Filli outlets in the UAE plus another 238 franchise stores all over the world in the next five years. The international expansion will be mainly focused on countries like the UK, the USA, India and Saudi Arabia. His product development team has also shortlisted 16 items unique to the brand, including pre-mix zaffran chai, tea powders and exotic chips, that would soon be available at hypermarkets, supermarkets and other retail platforms.

Plans are also on the anvil for Filli Select (a casual dining restaurant serving signature dishes and beverages), and a vending machine that would dispense 16 varieties of tea.

Chai high

The multifarious, exciting strides are powered by a single succinct slogan, which is as magnificent as it’s simple:

“For chai, think Filli”. The promise of such a generic reach might sound like an over-ambitious dream, yet it’s one that Rafih is bent on accomplishing. “I want Filli tea to be the first choice in tea-drinking cultures everywhere,” he says.

For the past few years, he has been setting time aside for regular road trips through different countries just to gain a closeup of food habits and preferences of people belonging to communities and ethnicities vastly different from his own. Recently, he drove the distance of 1,379 km between Melbourne and Brisbane, and stopped by at cafes along the way to take a good look at the table staples of the average Australian. He also ensures that the menu at all Filli cafes are regularly boosted with exciting new additions from blue cheese bacon burgers to masala paav to a range of quirky fusion food. The threat of predictability and stagnancy is all too real in the food industry, and Rafih dodges both with sheer hard work in the kitchens of every Filli outlet.

However, the ardent workaholic cherishes the predictable safety net of his personal life—his wife, four children, regular catch ups with childhood friends all over the world and with siblings and parents back home in Kerala. “I make sure I find time for all the people and things I love,” he says. Those loves also include cycling and cricket (Filli Cafe was the main sponsor for the first Dubai D20 held by the Emirates Cricket Board). It’s not exactly easy to have a work-life balance when you are working till 2 am every day. Rafih is habituated to hit the bed at six every morning—right after he has done his fajr namaz, the first of the five mandatory Islamic prayers for each day, uttered at dawn. Quite possibly, ‘Alhamdulillah” is the last word to leave his lips before he drifts into slumber. Just like tea, gratitude is a daily habit for Rafih Filli. J 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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INTERVIEW

SONG a & soul a

Punam Verma, the creator of a TV travel and wellbeing show ‘Soul Traveller’; one of the co-founders of the lifestyle channel ‘Dubai ON Demand’; qualified BBC Radio & TV journalist and host from the UK, meets up with Shagufta Patel to share her song and soul journey.

$ Soul traveller shoot in Maldives Out & About shoot at Mall of the Emirates

S

he was all of 14 years when without her conscious knowing, the legendary singer Prince became her silent mentor.

It was by chance (or call it divine intervention) that she watched his critically acclaimed rock musical drama film Purple Rain. Still tranced by it as she recalls the moment, “When I saw the movie, something in my head shifted. My whole life changed after that.”

She would go to his concerts, study all about him and his videos, to the point that her dad would get perturbed, asking her to “stop watching him all the time.” Her adoration for Prince is incontestable as she declares, “He was a pure genius, a true performer who played 23 instruments without anyone training him, and he would sing in a scale that most men could probably never reach.”

A Sikh Punjabi, she spent most of her life in the West Midlands, growing up in Birmingham amidst a close-

knit Indian community of doctors, lawyers, and dentists. “I didn’t feel as though I fitted into any of those boxes,” as what she enjoyed most was painting, playing sports, designing clothes and writing poetry. Though she had a lovely childhood, it still felt strange for her as there was no creative pathway at all for this young girl who enjoyed all things artistic.

The Performer Seeing her love for music, her dad bought her a keyboard and Punam was soon writing lyrics and melodies and singing without any formal training. It was pure passion that flowed through her. “You don’t do media for a living; you do it for entertainment,” was her parent’s logic and they thought it was a passing phase she would grow out of.

Punam loved performing and would take every opportunity in school to get on stage. University didn’t offer much choice, though - it was either journalism or the serious stiff stuff.

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INTERVIEW

" L to R: Kim Kardashian interview at Atlantis Hotel. And Tom Cruise at DIFF. Interview with Lewis Hamilton, AR Rehman and Russell Peters for Out & About Show

Nevertheless, she graduated in Textile Marketing, which seemed promising and creative (it wasn’t so), and later joined her father’s real-estate business.

The love for music never ceased, and every weekend she would find herself at the local recording studio creating music for as long as 12 hours a day.

T

wo hundred songs later, a friend nudged her to enter her music in a local radio competition. Still doubting her abilities, Punam put the cassette tape on the entry pile in the last hour, wishing herself “good luck.” The following week she received a call with news of her selection as one of the top five finalists.

She would now have to perform for the final round. “Calm down, you’ve never performed before, say thank you very much, but you don’t need to do it,” were her mom’s clear instructions.

That made sense to the young girl, and she called the radio station to back out, but they wouldn’t let her.

“I practiced with a hair-brush in my hand, and my sister, brother, and friends were my backing dancers,”

she chuckles. Her dad and friends watched as she won the finals, and the next thing on her plate was a New Year’s performance in a stadium with 70,000 people.

“It was the most amazing feeling to know that I could do it, ‘cause in the back of my mind at that age and in those days (the early 90’s), it was like Indian girls don’t do this,” says the performer as though she was still in the arena amidst the gasps and claps of her audience.

What followed were many meetings with record labels, but she didn’t fit into any category as at the time you were either an English pop star or you did Bhangra and Punjabi, and she was an eclectic mix both – English music mixed with Indian melodies. “If I had the Internet, I would have released my music on YouTube, but I didn’t have the opportunity to do so,” she said, pondering if things would have been any different now if she did have the social media channels back then.

Journalism jitters Punam wasn’t being really creative at her dad’s real-estate firm, and the idea crept in to get a marketing

" Interview with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sharukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan for Out & About Show

role at a radio station, where she could be around music and pursue singing on the side while she worked a ‘proper job’. Fixated with the idea of either being a singer or a marketing executive, she declined the role of a radio presenter, which she finally agreed to with the Production Head’s persistence.

“I was terrible the first month. I was so bad that he called me in the fourth week to fire me but instead gave me another chance as the last report I did was really good,” speak-

The three years at the BBC Morning Show saw her talking and interviewing top celebrities and politicians for what had to be an intellectual, informative, and fun conversations 22

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ing of what led her reporting on different stations, which by now she had started enjoying.

Her confidence got a boost when it dawned upon her that she was naturally funny and witty on-air, and sure enough, BBC came knocking asking her to present ‘The Morning Show’. Quite ecstatic as this was the highest one could get, the three years saw her talking and interviewing top celebrities and politicians for what had to be an intellectual, informative, and fun conversations. “There was a lot of pressure each morning, and this is where I got my real training as a presenter, as my co-host gave me the levy to do and say whatever I wanted,” she candidly admits.

What followed was an intensive postgraduate in journalism that got her to face the depressing side of life, sitting in courts covering murder cases. “I went back to the BBC, this time

as a journalist, and I hated every single minute of the six months, owing to the serious stories I was covering,’’ she recalls.

A

reporter’s job is to get the ‘news’ out there first, and her heart was too sensitive to cope with such matters.

Listening to all the gory details as the murderer replayed the crime to the judge, all she could think of was the sobbing mother who had lost her child. Punam sat numbly in her chair, not wanting to report such inhuman stuff and not caring what her editor might say.

She eventually went back to being a presenter on the breakfast show.

“My pay went down, but at least my wellbeing and mental state were good.” The only time she came alive,

her editor noticed, was when she was doing warm, meaningful, and fun things that fitted in perfectly with her personality.

Out and About Dubai One TV happened out of the blue when she received and responded to a random email from a lawyer that went to her junk folder. “It had to be the universe at work because out of the 30 odd junk emails, I decided to open only that one.”

With her sister moving to Dubai for a short three months, Punam found this a perfect chance for some change.

Dubai One TV offered her to host their first ever English TV show called ‘Out and About’.

Her sister had not moved yet, and there wasn’t anyone in the UAE she knew either. Suddenly she had to decide to leave her job at the BBC, diving into an Arab country she knew 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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INTERVIEW

Out & About shoot at Zhigy Bay in Oman

Out & About shoot in Hong Kong

absolutely nothing about. “I remember hearing a voice in my head- ‘You have to go’. It was so clear that I didn’t need anyone’s permission.” Within two weeks, Punam was in Dubai.

It was June of 2007; it was hot and quite a drag, especially when one is all alone. The filming started in two-three weeks and marked the start of a new adventure. Everyone knew what was happening in Dubai and UAE that week just by watching her show which covered new restaurants, hotels, extreme sports, celebrity interviews, music and film festivals. The

her own travel, wellbeing and spiritual show (as she is also a metaphysician) called ‘Soul Traveller’.

Seychelles, Maldives, Usually accustomed to and Hong Kong. having a whole producFor eight years, she tion team behind her, Punam at four hosted, wrote, and this time she was on her co-produced the lonown doing it all from the gest-running lifestyle/travel show until presenting, filming, organising, and Dubai One TV decided they wanted to editing. It took her a month to edit stop all English local production. her first episode from Thailand, which aired on SKY TV in the UK and on New grounds YouTube.

It was around 2014 when all the Not being creatively challenged English presenters and producers put enough can bring you down, and she together the online lifestyle channel wanted to be around creative people.

‘Dubai ON Demand’. But with the Wisdom trickles in as she says, “If lack of an investor who only underyou’re not doing what you are meant to do, that’s where the depression sets in, because you know it’s a gift and you are not being used to your full capacity in this lifetime.”

“I need to feed my soul; it’s not doing well.” Just as she is thinking this in a quaint café, Reim, the founder of ‘Dubai ON Demand’, texted her to return to Dubai to rebirth the lifestyle channel. Punam’s role is to oversee the video-shoots, and train new timers to face the camera. And stood old-school TV and not much now she also has a crew to assist her about how online mediums worked, with filming ‘Soul Traveller’ where she there was only so much they could features lots of holistic health stories do, and she decided to head back to here in the UAE. the UK. Back home, Punam approached Walking the path of least BBC with an idea that they declined resistance as it was too commercial for their “I’ve had my own spiritual expeliking. Not one to give up, she created riences in life, which led me to do

“If you’re not doing what you are meant to do, that’s where the depression sets in, because you know it’s a gift and you are not being used to your full capacity in this lifetime.” creative side of her was being used to the max and in the best way possible.

“I was jumping off mountains and out of planes, driving speedboats, interviewing Shah Rukh Khan, Kim Kardashian, Lewis Hamilton. Every story was a lot of fun,” she beams.

The crew filmed exclusive resorts in the UAE and across the world, such as

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At home in UK

“Our real purpose is to evolve as spiritual beings, which is why meditation, holistic health, and wellbeing are so prevalent now”

Soul traveller shoot at Seva Cafe Dubai

‘Soul Traveller’. The whole idea is to educate people on healing themselves naturally like our ancestors did, which we have the power to do, but that has been suppressed,” she says as the conversation now changes focus to spirituality and higher consciousness.

Still single, she probably would have settled for someone that fitted her programming and her culture as a 20- or 30-year-old. “Would he have been the right person even now?” she questions. With a deeper understanding and awareness of the self, it sometimes gets difficult to be in alignment with the same person over the years, even friends for that matter.

Feeling fortunate for the friends and colleagues she has here, she adds, “It is like a family away from home.”

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oing in-depth, she explains that we have been told to get a degree, a spouse, have a family, pay the bills, and buy nice things to have a happy life. This she says is a temporary state of our existence.

Whereas our real purpose is to evolve as spiritual beings, which is why meditation, holistic health, and wellbeing are so prevalent now. “Covid, I feel, is part of this grand awakening; we had to change, and Covid made us realise and appreciate our priorities and our blessings,” she says in gratitude.

Soul Traveller stories feed the mind, body, and soul intending to get people out of the materialistic realm and onto the next stage of evolvement. She

points to the hugely popular episode of a pilot who has seen and communicated with UFOs for ten years of his life. “Each story is there to lift you to the next level; after all the tag line for my show is ‘Starve the Ego and Feed the Soul’,” she says categorically.

Punam would be delighted to have another platform for the show, maybe a TV channel, but that doesn’t bother her much as the Internet is anyway so powerful. Presently writing a book on her spiritual awakening, she still wants to make music (Big FM recently played one of her old tracks ZING) and is also planning a music video for it, because according to her “creativity needs to be expressed in a myriad of ways.”

As we wrap up, she gets an inner stirring to add, “As I get older, I realise every day is a blessing. I wake up believing today is a great day, and that’s all that matters. I’ve never been someone who’s planned life; I’ve always been someone who’s felt her way through it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but if I’m feeling something, then I follow it because that’s the path of least resistance!” J 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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INTERVIEW

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INTERVIEW

Oscillating between the personas of a modern-day philosopher and a pop-culture enthusiast, Andrew Scanlan is an artist par excellence. His paintings compel his audiences to hold their gaze on them, as their minds slowly unravel the hauntingly beautiful parallels it draws with human life, discovers Ayaat Attar

M

an is a fascinating creature. He often finds himself trapped within adversity, struggling, and lost. It’s only when he takes a second and zooms out to look at the larger picture of life, does the chaos string together, and a discernible pattern appears. A pattern he can work with and a pattern that he learns to embrace.

Andrew Scanlan, the winner of the World Art Dubai Rove Hotels Emerging Artist of the Year 2019-20, is the creator of the technique he calls ‘cellular style’, a method where thousands of cells of acrylic paint are mixed and placed individually with a brush onto canvas. His work feels abstract at close quarters but delivers startling clarity as the viewer pulls back and views from a distance.

This, however, is by no means his only style, and he paints in an eclectic range of techniques to meet his

mood and how he wishes to express a subject. Much like the strokes of his brush, the artist too has been flowing through the unvarnished portrait of life, going where the big picture takes him, one painting at a time!

Although Andrew comes from humble beginnings, memories from his early life reflect a household alive with sibling banter and a strong familial bond. Intuitive and perceptive, he has always been artistically inclined, and exposure to music and pop culture were early contributors to the palette he today draws from.

Recalling his childhood, Andrew says, “I was privileged to be born at the beginning of the ‘swinging’ 60s when Britain was undergoing a rebirth and expressing itself through music, fashion, style, and art. I remember my elder brother leaving the house to go to a party, wearing a full red tunic like the Beatles Sergeant Pepper Album Cover, sporting the Beatles mop-top hairstyle, drainpipe jeans, 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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INTERVIEW

# Faza - HRH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum " Shush (Bowie in the Matrix) Acrylic on canvas painted in cellular style

and Lennon round-framed glasses. My father would look over the top of his newspaper and shake his head while I was in absolute awe of him.”

Like siblings playfully do, his brother would flick him out of the way when he got too close. But when he was out, Andrew would sneak into his room and play his albums on the small revolving turntable - The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, all brilliant to his inexperienced ears. “I remember loving the Album covers and it was often those stunning artistic designs that first attracted me to listen to the contents,” he recalls.

In the following decade, he became a huge fan of David Bowie, massively influenced by his style. Shortly after the news of the singer-songwriter’s death, the lifetime fan that he was, Andrew created the portrait, ‘Goodbye Major Tom’, where he tried to cut through the celebrity and his various personas to capture David Bowie, the man. “It was my way of saying goodbye,” he adds with a smile.

He may come across as the life-of-the-party, but much like his art, Andrew himself is heavily layered, having a subdued side to himself that lets him plunge into the depths of the craft. “I guess, when I look back, art has always been there, bubbling under the surface. I have always been creative and the one to turn to for an alternative view,” he recalls.

Tracing back to the inception of his love affair with the canvas, the artist says, “I have always found solace and peace in being alone with my thoughts, scribbling or doodling or writing. However, art did not emerge until it was truly ready, and it burst from me just six years ago.

I simply had an urge to paint.” The artist felt a sudden overwhelming need to express himself through color and

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imagery. He bought canvases, paint, and brushes, locked himself in a room, and started playing with paint. It was an epiphany, and he became so self-absorbed with the creation of these pictures that time stood still for him. “So here I am six years later still painting, immensely satisfied creatively. Most evenings, I can be found in my studio, music cranked up, the door firmly shut against the real world.”

The explorer that he is, Andrew describes his equation with the craft as “a wonderful journey of trial and error and experimentation.” He further adds, “With each painting I feel I learn something new.” In much the same way someone cannot pick up an instrument and simply play it, he is wired to look at things from alternative perspectives and loves to experiment with new techniques and styles.

It can be hard to imagine the creator of spectacles like ‘The Saloon Bar Smith’ and ‘Street Fighter’ being anything but a master of colors, but it’s interesting to know that Andrew came to Dubai in 1995 and worked as a manager for an insurance brokerage for several years. These years of self-actualization and evolving with the scape around him have enriched his perceptive soul with experiences, reflecting in his spellbinding craft, that not just resonates but stays with its viewers.

“The UAE was a very different place 25 years ago. I would spend many weekends investigating the oldest parts of Dubai and soaking up the atmosphere and culture.” As he drifts back in time, he vividly remembers the mosque he discovered in a little enclosed square, totally covered with blue and white ceramic tiles with colorful flags blowing in the wind on the top of the minarets. He also fondly recalls his almost weekly visits to a small Iranian restau-

# A Tormented Mind (Joker) — the painter try to capture torment of Joaquin Phoenix in the Joker movie

rant run by a family of a father and three brothers, open since the early 70s, serving just two or three menu options.

“Basic but wonderful!” he reminisces.

He also has memories of another Yemeni restaurant frequented by locals and fishermen that served only one thing - fish baked in a charcoal oven, burned black on the outside, but one could crack open the skin to find beautiful white flesh beneath. “I have no doubts that these experiences contributed greatly to my future art destiny,” he chuckles.

THROUGH THE LENS OF AN ARTIST All heart, Andrew views the world through a surreal lens, drawing inspiration from wherever the soul is stirred -

# Grace — for this portrait Andrew used much smaller cells of color to create the image ! Saloon Bar Smith — the portrait of Hugh Smith who the artist met on Instagram

lived-in experience for them. “Artists do ultimately want to have an impact on people. I love it when someone takes the time for the image of my painting to wash over them and connect on an emotional level. It’s not just about the aesthetics or the technique, but it’s also about expressing the soul and the emotions within the subject,” he says.

David Bowie had been the soundtrack of his life since the early 70s and although he didn’t know him personally, Andrew felt a profound sense of loss when the singer passed away. “I found myself exorcising my grief through two paintings, ‘Goodbye Major Tom’ and ‘Shush’. With the latter, I brought together two iconic images of Bowie’s famous ‘shush’ pose and the movie Matrix.”

“I love faces! If you look closely enough, the whole character of a person is there in their face. I choose subjects and characters that I bump into as I go through life” travel, cultures, people, faces, feelings, loss, happiness, love, anger, music, nature, world events, science, all merge to fuel his creative process. “I have lived through so many experiences that I now have a vast palette of emotions that I can draw upon when creating my art.” He tries not to be influenced by other artists as he enjoys experimenting and discovering his own styles. However, he admits to deeply admiring the work of Tamara De Lempicka. “If I was ever wealthy enough to collect art, it would be her.”

As cathartic as he finds the journey of creating a piece from its inception, he would consider his job well done if it translates straight to his audiences and turns into a

Continuing with his admiration for Bowie, “His lyrics often incorporated science fiction and so the idea sparked to not have Bowie die but instead to merge into the Matrix where his essence lives on. In the painting, he is motioning his desire for us to keep his secret.” The artist has a portfolio of over 40 paintings, each with their own story and motivation.

Andrew is a thinker and philosopher in himself and has devised his own way of looking at things and theories that find their way into his work. He used to have a simple microscope as a kid and loved discovering new things to look at under the lens. “Everything we see is represented by countless small cells of color. The closer we view these 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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INTERVIEW

" Essence of She — Andrew capturing the inner essence of a woman Lockdown — an expression of the moods and emotions many people felt during the isolation of lockdown Andrew Scanlan Gallery at the Avenue at DIFC

“If you ever look at the stars, they seem random, but they are not. The further we see into space, the more we begin to see structure and order” cells, the more random they appear. Then when we pull away, the brain stitches these cells together to generate an image. It is this phenomenon that I use to create many of my paintings,” he explains.

Each painting he creates is a laborious journey, with up to 40,000 individually mixed and painted cells of color, and some paintings taking as long as three months to complete. The technique generates depth or 3D quality to the paintings. He finds the process therapeutic as day-by-day; the subject slowly emerges from the canvas. “I do paint in various styles depending on my mood and what I want to express, but my Cellular style continues to generate the most interest,” he remarks.

Most pieces of his art are portraits. Be it the close-up study of an athlete or his take on the iconic member of the Beetles, what intrigues him most about people, he admits excitedly, are faces!

“I love faces! The whole character of a person is there in their face if you look closely enough. I choose subjects and characters that I bump into as I go through life. I also paint other characters; for example, I was recently inspired to paint Joaquin Phoenix as the character ‘Joker’. His performance in the movie was astounding, and it left me so moved that I turned as always to my art to release the emotion it stirred in me.”

THE PICTURE SO FAR Andrew was enjoying the creative space that he was in, working on one magnificent piece after another when World Art Dubai Rove Hotel’s ‘Emerging Artist of the Year’ happened to him. “My wife came across some information

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about the competition and encouraged me to enter. I felt a little reluctant at the time as some amazing artists were exhibiting at the World Art Dubai Exhibition, but I agreed to enter one of my most popular paintings, ‘Saloon Bar Smith’. Unfortunately, I could not attend the exhibition as my mother was very sick in the UK. It was a massive surprise to get the call from my wife to inform me that my painting had won. It felt like an important endorsement for my work. My prize was a free stand at this year’s World Art Dubai, which proved to be a fabulous event and showcased my art to a vast audience. Rove Hotel’s support for local artists through this prize is terrific, and I know this year’s winner will also enjoy the recognition that this prize brings.” The title has put him on the map along with the rarest in his field of work.

Beneath the layers of a passionate artist, true to his upbringing, Andrew is a grounded family man. Talking about his family, he says, “Between myself and my wife Lyudmila, we have 5 children and one grandchild. As expatriates our families are scattered over the globe which can be distressing at times but it really makes us appreciate the times when we do get to be together.”

The future holds a greater expedition for the artist, because the way he looks at it, he has greater heights to scale.

“I am enjoying my art and will continue to paint and see where it takes me.”, he says. “I love that others appreciate and find a connection with my work. The most exciting thing on the immediate horizon is the opening of my small gallery in the Avenue at DIFC. The gallery will display my original paintings but they are also available as very affordable limited edition prints which makes them available to everyone.”, he gleams.

Having had an exciting, creatively enthralling first innings, Andrew desires a surreal setup post retirement.

His simple desires include a cottage in the South of France, with a studio where he can paint, a river where

he can fish and a vineyard nearby.

SHADES OF SCANLAN When not behind the canvas, Andrew likes to spend his time travelling - discovering new places and meeting new people.

“I have a backlog of destinations that Covid stole from us this year. I also enjoy discovering new restaurants with my wife and despite being here for 25 years, we still manage to discover new ones all the time.”, the artists smiles.

An artist of his calibre, we were curious to know what he considered ‘greatest work of art of all times’. “It’s an almost impossible question to answer because art is so subjective.”, he answered. “It’s something we ingest so differently from person to person and of course our tastes and influences change over time. I would say the last art that moved you is currently the best piece of art in the world. My most enduring favourites, if I had to choose just one right now, it would be John Singer Sargent’s, Madam X. It’s a stunning painting but also a great story. Worth a google.”, he chuckles.

Scanlan is deeply passionate about the work he does, and admits that he can’t imagine a life any different from the one he is living. He jokes, that if he wasn’t painting, he’d slowing be descending into madness.

He lives and operates by the motto, ‘There is order within chaos’. When asked how he would deconstruct the phrase for his readers, he explains, “If you ever look at the stars, they seem random, but they are not. The further we see into space the more we begin to see structure and order. If we look at the smallest particles and atoms they seem to collide and shift randomly but in fact they follow a strange but obvious order. Even something as random as chance can be given order by applying the laws of probability. If you look closely at my cellular paintings the colors seem random, until you pull back and see them merge to form the sum of the whole. And so, I like to play around with the idea that there is an order within chaos.” J 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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PRO TALK

Speaker, Strategist, Goal-Catalyst

Sabeeh Ghugharia

What’s the

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FUSS ABOUT TRUST? Successful businesses and organizations are built on relationships, and the foundation of all relationships is Trust. The Trust factor influences all interactions, and a company that can create a strong sense of trust in the workplace is better able to come to an agreement or consensus on any situation than otherwise.

S

imon Sinek, the great leadership guru, opines that a team is not a group of people who work together; instead, a team is a group of people who trust each other.

Research published by Harvard Business Review points out that companies where trust between teams & members is high report 74% lower stress levels, 76% greater engagement, 106% greater energy in the office, and 50% more productivity than their counterparts in low-trust environments.

Further, Gallup Inc., the leading engagement survey company, confirms that only one in every three employees agree that they trust their organization’s leadership. On the same note, PwC, in its 2016 global CEO survey, reported that as high as 55% of CEOs think that a lack of trust is a threat to their organization’s growth.

It is clear beyond doubt that trust is power-

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ful, and that building a ‘Culture of Trust’ can be good for any business or an organization.

People like to do business and work with people they can trust.

What do we mean when we talk about Trust Trust doesn’t mean that everyone in the office is best of friends or even helpful when others need a hand. Rather, it is the process of building a stronger connection with their work and colleagues, developing the feeling of being a real contributor, consistently leading to higher engagement of the employees and resulting in positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations.

So, while building a ‘Trust Equation’ makes a meaningful difference, how can leaders develop and maintain it effectively? Here, I share a trust-building model applicable to the workplace, personal relationships, or even with the

organization’s customers. When applied at the workplace and used well can result in trusting and stronger workplace relationships with coworkers and teams.

While it is essential first to build the foundation of trust, it is equally important to bear in mind that building trust is an ongoing process and not a one-off activity, and then as equally paramount to retain the trust that has been established.

Trust Starts with Empathy: The first step to building trust is Empathy, which is the ability to relate and experience others’ thoughts, emotions, or reality. Being more than simple sympathy, empathy is understanding and supporting others with compassion or sensitivity and requires three fundamental things - listening, openness, and understanding. By building your relationship with empathy, you have already accomplished half the job.

Now moving on to the remaining half of the trust paradigm, which is retaining the trust.

Once built, following are the attributes that one needs to embody and exemplify for it to stay.

make during these intense moments expose the depth of our character. A good question to ask yourself is: “Do I uphold my honesty and integrity when it’s convenient or when I think others are watching, or do I hold on to these even when no one is noticing?”

Vulnerability: The most ignored component of Trust is Vulnerability. In essence, it means that your coworkers are comfortable being vulnerable with each other. As easy as all of this might sound, team members can begin to

While organisational citizenship behaviour isn’t something every employee will engage in, it can have tremendous benefits for both the workforce and the organisation

Reliability: Reliability is a crucial trait, simply put, people trust you for what you do and how you honor your words and promises.

To be reliable, you need to be dependable. Do what you say you will do, be accountable, and take a stand. Reliability goes hand in hand with authenticity. Be who you say you are, demonstrate in your actions who you truly are as a person.

Competency: Competence is about the ability to deliver. Competence alone cannot make you a good leader or a trusted individual, but lack of competence can indeed undo your standing as a trusted leader. Professional competence is vital to trust. Being competent does not mean you are the Super Man who knows and can do everything. No! It means you know what to do and how to get things done. You need to know your strengths are and build your team with a complementary skill set. To put it in a nutshell, competence engenders confidence in a leader.

Integrity: A healthy relationship stands on the foundation of Integrity and Honesty. Integrity is always doing the right thing. Honesty and integrity cannot be like slip on and slip off like clothing; it is you and the consistency in every action you do. As we all know, Integrity and honesty are most revealed during times of fear, insecurity, and greed. The choices we

function without concern for protecting themselves, only when they are truly comfortable being exposed to one another.

Vulnerability includes weaknesses, skill deficiencies, interpersonal shortcomings, mistakes, and also requests for help. It is the team members’ confidence that their peer intentions are good, and there isn’t any reason to be protective or careful around the group.

To conclude, I’d like to quote Deb Mills– Scofield, an author and strategic planner for organizations helping them achieve actionable and profitable innovative plane, “Trust trumps everything. And everything flows from trust — learning, credibility, accountability, a sense of purpose, and a mission that makes ‘work’ bigger than oneself.” J SABEEH CAN BE REACHED AT drsab.isin@gmail.com 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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Meditation Expert, Energy Healer & Executive Mindset Coach

Kim Shelar

PRO TALK

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Give your Resolutions

A DOSE OF VITAMIN 'M'

Feeling stuck with your resolutions again? Here the top five reasons as to why so often resolutions don’t work, along with a dose of the recommended vitamin to make it happen!

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one of us are new to resolutions and have made at least one or many during our lifetime. We make resolutions mainly at three instances in our lives: • On an enthusiastic New Years’ morning • When faced with deep trauma or heartbreak • Having an insightful awakening And just as quickly as we make these resolutions, what we lack is the firmness to stay staunch in our steadfastness in seeing them through completion. If you find yourself nodding in agreement to what you just read, sighing and feeling glum about not being able to green tick your declarations made, take heart.

Just as vitamin supplements have become common to aid our physical self; likewise, Meditation is the vitamin that aids us in fulfilling our resolutions. Vitamin ‘’M”, you can call it so.

Let us first understand the top five reasons

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as to why so often resolutions don’t work, along with the recommendations to follow that will carry you through accomplishing it.

THE DECISION IS MADE BY THE CONSCIOUS MIND ALONE We function from various layers of consciousness. The conscious mind is the reasonable and the logical one. Whereas the actual work happens from our subconscious programming.

When we make a resolution without a ‘buyin’ from the subconscious, we invariably faileven though the intent, the motivation and the need are high.

Think about this example – a three year old child artist is being considered for a TV commercial. Discussing the concept with the parent and getting them to say yes, is undoubtedly an essential step, akin to the work going on at the conscious level of the mind.

But what really makes the movie or the commercial is the ‘mood’ of that child artist

(our subconscious), and just like the child, the subconscious has to ‘buy-in’ and be dealt with differently.

Recommendation: Meditation is the doorway to the subconscious. It lets us on things we didn’t know impacted us, and it clears fears & traumas we can’t resolve at the conscious level.

IT’S ENCOURAGED BY TRENDS OR PEER PRESSURE We are constantly presented with several versions of a perfect life - an ideal partner, a superb job, a fabulous holiday, and so on, a million times a day through different mediums of media.

The question we often forget to ask is, “Is this good for me?”, “Does this match my values?”

Sometimes, what is right for one, isn’t the best for another, as each one of us has an internal combination of various settings that make us unique, just like our fingerprints.

So before making a resolution, ponder over it for a few days, try out a few different ways of reaching that destination to see which path you would like to walk.

Recommendation: Spend some time reviewing in your mind what brings you the most joy.

For example, if you desire to get fitter, then set a time for a meditation to mentally review what activity experienced or watched intrigues or makes you happy, and then give it a shot.

IT’S NOT ALIGNED WITH YOUR PERSONALITY The uniform of a successful person has often been laid out for us. One should dress in a particular manner, and one should speak a certain way, drive a specific car & so many such pre-defined definitions. Then where is the space for uniqueness?

Have you asked yourself, what is my uniqueness, my exclusive qualities? What can I do to build it? When we make resolutions KNOWING these answers, even if it's 1% of a knowing, our direction is far more precise.

Recommendation: Take time to introspect & be honest with yourself. Then craft & transform into anything you like. We can’t reach a goal, a transformed state without finding the real starting point, & that point is the current self.

THE ‘SPACE’ IS NOT CREATED There is a saying that motivation gets one started, but discipline keeps us going.

Whether it’s as simple as a 20 min jog, 10 mins spent with family, or a life-transforming change, much before starting & getting to a disciplined state, it is creating the space & time for the activity that makes it possible.

Our brain is accustomed to the habits we’ve

created by the actions, thoughts & emotions we feel daily. When we want to create a new routine, we need to start by creating a mindspace first for the change. A space needs to be created that allows this new function to set in, and this usually happens at the subconscious level.

At the conscious level, we need to designate TIME, a fixed time slot initially, so the brain can form new synapses to create this new habit.

Recommendation: Visualize doing this new activity daily, even before starting it. If you have desired to learn a new dance form or play a new sport, visualize yourself doing it.

The Power of Visualization needs no introduction, and if the mind can see it, the body can do it.

GIVING UP TOO SOON There will be struggles, challenges and detours along the way, but what’s important is to keep going, even if keep going simply means – Keep Visualizing.

Our brains are wired to avoid change & often, we have reinforced this through our actions of not pursuing enough while tuning in into our intuition. When it’s just not happening – take a break. Review & come back.

Shift lanes, but come back on the road.

Recommendation: Make a visual reminder of what you like to achieve, and stick it at your desk, your bedside, or even the bathroom mirror. It will visually remind you & pump your energy towards the new actions & thoughts.

Irrespective of the catalyst, when we understand the dynamics of how we transform, we are in better control to ensure its success.

A few years ago, I started bringing in the New Year in new ways to mark the beginning of it in a way that made sense & added value to me. One year, I was on an all-girl trip to Goa to bring in the fun element and some metime, cause that was what I strived for.

The following year I spent it again in travel, this time for work but brought in the New Year in meditation from 23:30 - 00:15. So glad I did that! That process, that practice, that intention & congruent action helped me glide through the lessons & perceived struggles that 2020 presented itself with.

I believe that what we do at the beginning of every era is a seed sown to what we will continue to follow. And so, with these thoughts, I wish each one of you a Year of Radical Transformation with ease & fun. J

When we make a resolution without a ‘buy-in’ from the subconscious, we invariably fail- even though the intent, the motivation and the need are high

KIM SHELAR CAN BE REACHED AT hello@kimshelar.com 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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The ‘Operations’

PILLAR OF ECOMMERCE

PRO TALK

Operations is the central control mechanism for the smooth functioning of any organizational unit, be it HR, finance, supply chain or facilities management, irrespective of the size of a company or the industry. eCommerce too is an organizational unit requiring ‘operations management’ for its smooth functioning

Illustration: Macrovector-Freepik

Digital Marketing Expert & Ecommerce Strategist

Sunil Nair

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n eCommerce organizational unit is the organizational structure with which a company operates its online business.

Regardless of which of the five eCommerce pillars (merchandising, technology, operations, marketing, or warehousing & logistics) are actively being pursued by a company, certain basic rules exist for ensuring high performance in each of these silos.

The third pillar of eCommerce ‘Operations’ is a combination of the ‘Right People’ working with the ‘Right Technology’ placed in the ‘Right Culture’. While there is no one universal rule for organizing people around your eCommerce venture, there is one irrefutable fact: It’s all about the people you hire. It doesn’t matter if your team is co-located, remote, or both; you will continue to save costs as long as you have set the right structure in place.

While considering an organizational structure for your eCommerce enterprise, a lot depends on your operating model. Being a pure eCommerce player, the organizational structure will need to be drawn towards a team that would be reporting to the owner or chief operator of the business. If your eCommerce portal is just one additional distribution channel for your business, then placing the team under marketing or operations would be an ideal hierarchy to follow.

It is also good to note that your organization’s hiring needs will fluctuate with the scale of your business, the goods that you sell, and how you operate. As you develop your eCommerce organizational structure, your business’s needs will dictate who you should hire first.

The minimum hire that you would look at to start with would be: A Fearless Leader Often the Owner/Director is tasked with the

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overall execution of the defined eCommerce strategy. Market SWOT and trend analysis, making tactical and strategic decisions, planning achievable ambitious goals, exploring new business opportunities, bringing together a team that supports all the initiatives taken by the eCommerce venture are some of the tasks that this role focuses on.

A Project Lead A very efficient process-oriented individual with a keen eye for detail, who is not afraid to point out process inefficiencies, team laggards, or bottlenecks in productivity - all the while keeping the project schedules on track, would fit the bill here.

A Content Creator This needs more than one person due to the complexity involved. It includes content makers, designers, copywriters, photo and video editors, etc., who will ideate and execute a brand’s content strategy, producing the right imagery, video, copy, and other product collateral.

A Data and Numbers Person A person qualified to measure performance objectively with an understanding of the go-to metrics and KPIs is the right fit for this job.

This person should be able to transform any set of information and data into actionable insights, creating product performance, suggesting strategic changes.

A Technical Whiz An ideal candidate would be one who can create a digital ecosystem that best fits the brand’s needs. This person will need to manage the technological strategy required for an eCommerce operation, including software

purchases, platform integrations, server management, and general digital support.

Customer Service Representative The candidate should be a people person who would resolve customer complaints via phone, email, mail, or social media, reach out to customers, verify account information and assist sales with the placement of orders, refunds, or exchanges.

Pillar-based operational roles and responsibilities An overall departmental view of the essential skills, roles, and responsibilities of people in each of the pillars that we have identified will help define the talent that one needs to hire to run the eCommerce setup efficiently.

Merchandising • Creating photographs and content for products to be displayed on the eCom-

merce website • Regular auditing of available products online, monitor stock levels, identify best sellers, seasonal trends, liaising with production to ensure proper stock availability • Creating offers and promotions with the goal of increasing sales Technology • Develop site architecture, optimize integration process flows, and support the eCommerce ecosystem • Ensure the smooth day-to-day operations of an eCommerce platform, including data security, software integrations, and server infrastructure • Understand strengths and weaknesses in system architecture, anticipating vulnerabilities, and developing contingency plans

The third pillar of eCommerce ‘Operations’ is a combination of the ‘Right People’ working with the ‘Right Technology’ placed in the ‘Right Culture’

Marketing • Utilizing strong communication skills to 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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PRO TALK

create compelling content, highlighting strong attention to detail and exceptional grammar along with strong alignment to brand guidelines for a variety of mediums, including web, social media, print, and more • Strong analytical skills for ideating, developing, and publishing monthly performance reports on integrated digital marketing campaigns • Experience with content creation software, such as a content management system (CMS), Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects • Up-to-date with eCommerce trends, data analytic tools, and other technological advancements Warehousing & Logistics • Organizing storage, processing orders, and distribution of goods • Keeping accurate records and managing timesheets • Managing returns and damaged inventory Accounting • Accounts receivable, payable, returns reconciliation, etc • Payroll • Financial controls • Financial reporting

Achieving Operational Excellence One can achieve operational excellence across the organization by working on the finer points outlined below: Structure follows strategy It’s imperative to understand that everyone in

If your eCommerce portal is just one additional distribution channel for your business, then placing the team under marketing or operations would be an ideal hierarchy to follow

Culture counts Company culture is the key. Whether it’s done by experimenting or simply instilling a sense of ownership and involvement in every aspect of the business, the leadership must help every team member understand what ownership means for them, have the right incentive structures in place, and know what they can do to impact success. This is very important for an organization of any size or scale.

Dedicated is better than designated As start-ups, many companies assign multitasks to individuals or teams with other core responsibilities. But when work becomes mission-critical and driving performance, appointing someone dedicated to doing it may be justified.

Outsource these eCommerce roles to take back your time In-source and develop expertise where it matters most. Developing expertise internally in areas you view as strategic can yield a competitive advantage.

Some roles that have strategic importance and is best to be handled by an in-house team: • Leadership and decision-makers • Customer support • Listing creation • Photography Some roles that can be outsourced to third-party vendors for execution: • HR • Fulfillment and return management • Returns • Listing optimization and management • Graphic design Attaining operational excellence is a fundamental goal that every eCommerce venture should ideally focus on and incorporate into its culture right from the time of inception.

This not only helps achieve rapid growth; it also is a key element for companies to rise to a market leadership position. ✪

Artwork: Vectorjuice-Freepik

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the company is on the same page regarding the firm’s commitment to its objective and its definition of success. It’s best to define the company’s business strategy and objectives upfront and communicate it internally to all stakeholders. There needs to be a feeling of some level of ownership and involvement from all concerned.

SUNIL NAIR CAN BE REACHED AT sunilsn72@gmail.com ASPIRE — J A N U A R Y — 2 0 2 1

Certified Rockence Genetic Behavior Analyst

Identifying Genetically

INHERITED BEHAVIORS Many of our behaviors are already present at birth and the seeds of our adult abilities are developed from the beginning (in-utero). Now there is a way to identify the genetically inherited behaviors to get an insight about an individual's natural behavior preferences and get to the root cause of all behaviors to interpret how the individual may respond to various external or internal stimulation.

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hy people behave the way they do?” many have asked this question since time immemorial. While searching for an answer through observation, the study evolved into a branch of science, what we call ‘Science of Mind’ or Psychology which further branched out to Neuropsychology, Cognitive Science, Behavioral Science, Psychodynamics, Humanistic Science etc.

While the quest is continuing, have you ever felt disturbed by someone else’s behavior? Or have you ever wondered why can’t I be like others? If your answer is Yes, then you are not alone, as it is often a common question for many from all walks of life.

The ‘Science of Mind’ treads with high complexity. This complexity is evident even in identical twins, and they do not behave in the

Artwork: Sumeet Gupta

Kumar Shankaran Aiyar

PRO TALK

same way. They differ in all forms of intellectual and behavioral aspects.

Behavior is a function of perception × thought formation × belief × conclusions × defense mechanisms. It is an autonomous action potential within the mind, which means, to act in accord with one’s self, feeling free and willing in one’s action.

Research shows that “The mother’s emotional states during gestation impacts the baby’s brain. Excessive fear, anger, or anxiety may produce irritable and hyperactive infants” (Healy, Jane M., PhD. Your Child’s Growing Mind. P 13-15. NY: Doubleday, 1987, 1989.)

Therefore, “Many reactions to the world are already present at birth. The mind is not a blank slate. The brain has many innate predispositions, yet is born unfinished, open to development. The seeds of adult abilities 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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are present from the beginning” (Ornstein, Robert, PhD. The Roots of the Self. P 17, 23, 38. NY: HarperCollins Publishing, 1995.)

to change. The inherent loss is both, to the organization as well as the employee.

Let us look at few examples to understand this a bit better.

SCENARIO 1:

Universally organizations essentially rely on hard skills, missing out majorly the Soft skills.

While the effects of soft skills are intangible, the hard skills are measurable through the certifications, experience etc. There goes a saying “Managers are hired for their hard skills

Mr. A is an Entrepreneur. He is aware his business requires a strategy and the right people on the bus to deliver results. So as the Managing Director he has his top management team in place.

He believes he has carefully handpicked his leadership team for success. He has relied on their ‘Hard skills’ such as education, experience, technical knowledge and business acumen, critically verifying all of those hard skills that are vital.

His Board of Directors have approved a Joint Venture with a Korean major. The concern’s before Mr. A are: is my top team ‘competent’ to work with cross cultures during the execution of the project? How well can my Sr. Vice President direct and delegate?

Mr. A has concerns about Sr. VP’s leadership skills as he finds him spending most of his time in the office while he is required at the project site. Though, Mr. A instructed him to visit the site every day he noticed a reluctance with the Sr. VP who often delegates it to his Dy. Manager, four levels junior in the hierarchy.

Mr. A wonders what was missing during the selection process. What has the HR missed out on, though they did an excellent background check.

SCENARIO 2: The Factory Manager at ABC Technologies often complaints about the Production Executive Peter Nelson who is a few months old in the organization. Peter hasn’t shown any contribution on the shop floor, and his performance has been negative so far.

However, Peter shows great interest in diversifying the sales process and goes around during lunch hours to meet some colleagues from the sales team and offers unsolicited advice. He also made an aborted attempt to present a marketing plan to impress the Marketing Director during his fifth month with the company.

Issues such that of Peter Nelson are common in businesses and organizations.

Many a career have been compromised and talented young men and woman have found themselves in the wrong roles, continuing only because of the paycheck and lack of courage

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BEHAVIOR = HARD SKILLS + SOFT SKILLS

RGB Analyzes is based on the Science of Dactylography (scientific study of fingerprints) and hence require no questions to be answered to know about a person

HERITABLE FACTOR OF BEHAVIOR Genes along with DNA is transferred from Parents

Brain begins to develop in the 3rd week of the pregnancy and completes in 17-19 weeks

From ectoderm the skin and the nerve fibers and neurons are formed

Maternal Stress produce UTERO stress and the neurochemicals influence the Brain during developmental stage Other factors that influence the brain— food habit, medication, health issues, accidents etc.

and fired for the lack of soft skills.”

In both of the above scenarios, people have the requisite qualifications and experience in their respective field. What is lacking is the 1. Approach to people in communication and delegation 2. Approach to performing the task and 3. Approach to proper problem solving Therefore, what we need is a solution, that when applied will undoubtedly tell you everything about a potential recruit.

RGBA REPORT SNAP SHOT • F raming and Processing of Thoughts

• Left • Right

MIND FRAMING

BRAIN CONFIGURATION

PERCEPTION

PERSONALITY

The Solution: Rockence Genetic Behavior Analyzes Rockence Genetic Behavior Analyzes [RGB Analyzes] is a Descriptive Trait Diagnostic study of human behavior. Unlike other behavior assessment instruments, the technique does not employ any Q&A methods or paper-pencil test. This eliminates mood fluctuation, emotional stress, or environmental influence or experience acquired by attempting many such tests.

Behavior is an observable action as determined by the observer, and for the person in action it is an unconscious activity, and therefore his/her actions are right and justified. But for an ‘observer’ it may be counted as either an acceptable or unacceptable behavior. The acceptance or unacceptance is dependent on the mental / emotional state of the observer.

RGB Analyzes focuses on the ‘internal identity’ of an individual, which is genetically formed innate behavioral disposition. In other words, it is the manifestation of electro-neurochemical activities predicated by an external stimulation within the neural cells.

THE PROCESS OF RGB ANALYZES RGB Analyzes is based on the Science of Dactylography (scientific study of fingerprints) and hence require no questions to be answered to know about a person. It takes a Gestalt approach in its analytical comprehension. This means it identifies the observed action as the result of two or more individual TRAITS that cross-modulates each other, to form an Observed Behavior.

Psychometric tools are very effective in understanding the symptoms of any behavioral anomalies, on the other hand, RGB gets into the core of such problem by unearthing its causes. The diagnostic study largely utilizes the theories of Psychodynamics, Transactional Approach and Neuropsychology.

The report thus drawn captures and identifies an individual’s unique drives and needs that motivates or excites them. This helps the

• Cognitive • Affective • Reflective • Critical

• Expressive • Methodical • Decisive

organizations objectify workplace behaviors to build stronger teams.

RGBA scores an extremely high edge when compared with any other psychometric instrument, wherein every ‘soft skill’ is measured on a scale of twelve [12] and an exact, accurate grading is measured and placed at the birth stage of the individual.

The benefits of the same are not restricted to executives & corporates alone can also be applied to effectively predict your child’s

The report identifies an individual’s unique drives and needs that motivates or excites them. This helps the organizations objectify workplace behaviors to build stronger teams future career prospects, resolve midlife career conflict and decision making, accepting individual differences leading to healthy relationships, freedom of personal growth, and much more.

RGB Analyzes is the combined effort of brilliant minds drawn across from Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Psychoanalysts, Psychodynamics and Psychiatry. Put forth in one sentence, it is a system that provides ‘Tangible Solutions for Intangible Problems’! J KUMAR SHANKARAN AIYAR can be reached at ksaiyar@successsystems.in 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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COMMUNITY SERVICE

Beauty for good

Lavanya Vikram might have carved a gem-strewn path for herself in the salon industry.

However, her dedication and contribution towards community service, ethical beauty, and helping small businesses grow through tough times like these shines brighter than anything else, illuminating hearts and spreading smiles.

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Lavanya with her husband Vikram holding the Indo Arab Leaders Award for “Best salon & spa adoring chemical free products in Dubai-UAE”

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hen Lavanya Vikram, Founder, Blush N Curls Salon & Spa, decided to offer free luxury pampering services to househelps across UAE, she had quite a task ahead of her. Still, she took on it with conviction to give them some time to recharge. “Many ladies come to the salon with their domestic help, and at times I would see the helpers come in and check on charges for services and silently watch their owners enjoy getting pampered,” Lavanya shares. The initiative allows anyone who has house help to nominate them, send them in with their ID, and they can choose any

one of the four luxury services (Spa mani-pedi, haircut, full-body massage, luxury facial) listed for them.

When she came up with the idea, she checked in with the staff whether they would be game for it. “I’m not the one doing the service, so I wanted to ensure they do it willingly, and they all were too happy to oblige,” Lavanya reminisces. The initiative might have fetched various accolades like the ‘Women Empowerment Award’ and recognition on leading radio channels, but what was most rewarding for her was watching the domestic helps’ savor every moment of the gesture.

“Seeing those smiles is a different feeling altogether,” Lavanya softly

exclaims as tears well up her eyes.

Last year she also conducted a pampering session for the kids at the Special Needs Future Development center in Karama. What’s more, is that hailing from a skin anatomy medical background, she has been pretty bullish about the idea of ethical beauty as she ensures that all the products used in her salon are either organic, vegan, or natural certified and free from chemicals making it safe for the community. “From the time I started this journey, I was very clear that I wanted to do something non-chemical because I had studied about the health hazards like cancer, miscarriage, blood thinning that the chemicals cause. The biological hazard with these chemicals are so bad that people even lose lives,” Lavanya says clearly aghast.

Furthermore, she also devotes her energies towards a campaign for breast cancer each year wherein the salon conducts a Pink October sale and a part of the funds raised goes for the cause.

The tough tussle Lavanya, who lost her parents very early in her life, started working at the age of 13. “Things were really complicated then. Most people just turned their back on my sister and me. Thankfully some family friends helped us sell things off and navigate through the challenging visa procedures. We had no guardian in UAE so we couldn’t stay on, but we did get some assistance in terms of completing our education that year and then we went to India,” the pain still apparent as she speaks.

Times were hard, but Lavanya’s spirit and dedication shone through the storms.

She recollects working as an English tutor, applying henna, doing makeup for brides when she started. “I took whatever work that came to me,” she says. Her career’s turning point was when a company she was later working with opened a branch in the UAE, where she got an opportunity to dabble into

Pampering session for the kids at the Special Needs Future Development center in Karama

IT Sales.

Along with her husband Vikram, she turned to business in 2016 with the launch of her salon and spa ‘Blush and Curls’ and expanded her services with the opening of the second branch in 2020. “He is my pillar of strength, and none of it would have been possible without his support,” she gushes with affection.

Empowering entrepreneurs Through her YouTube channel, Lavanya also does many informative

“The most rewarding for me was watching these domestic helps’ savor every moment of the gesture. Seeing those smiles is a different feeling altogether,” LAVANYA VIKRAM CEO, Blush N Curls Salon & Spa

videos on skincare, haircare, and general wellness. This year she also started an initiative of bringing forth stories of lesser-known entrepreneur women in UAE, their startup journey, and how they are supporting their family, giving them the push through the salon’s official page.

“The first few shows were just giving women and their businesses a shoutout. Then we started empowering these businesses and are glad to see the kind of footfalls they have been receiving post it.”

Doing this, Lavanya also got approached by smaller restaurants, cafes, bakers, and businesses to spread the word around them. “All the reviews done for the places/businesses are done as part of community service and not charged anything. It’s a small initiative to support others during these tough times,” she asserts.

Lavanya was a speaker at the Global Summit of Women Empowerment this year. She wishes to continue motivating people, encouraging them to keep putting in their best for businesses and communities as she shares her journey, inspiring them with her never-say-die attitude and a glow that emanates from within. ✪ 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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CELEB TALK TRAVELS HEALTH EXPLORE HOBBIES

METAthe

morphosis of

DEEPIKA PADUKONE

BY RACHIT GUPTA

Film Critic and Screen Writer The average Bollywood buff will tell you that the three Khans are the last of the true superstars. But one from that triumvirate, had the percipience to crown Deepika with the epithet of ‘superstar’. Well, she deserves that

A critical analysis of the actor’s transition from a wallflower to being the monarch of the marquee

title simply because she has seven 100-crore films in her oeuvre already.

And she’s only 34. She’s also one of the few female actors to have had a 300-crore hit in the form of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat (2018), a film that was build on Deepika’s shoulders. But, the buildup to this crescendo wasn’t really a cakewalk for

this exemplary actor. She might have been badminton legend Prakash Padukone’s daughter and a supermodel, but showbiz extracted its pound of flesh.

Following her big-ticket debut in Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om (2007), she had to bear an onslaught of high expectations and scathing criticism during her initial spate of releases.

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R&R / celeb talk Eventually, she hit it big thanks to her collaborations with Ranveer Singh and Sanjay Bhansali, but until that happened, Deepika had her fair share of admirers and detractors. Before she became numero uno, she was slated to fail. So how did this transformation occur? Did she, like a butterfly, emerge all of a sudden from her cocoon with effervescent colours and new-found powers of attraction? The metamorphosis did happen, but not through a sudden burst of fortune. She persevered, fought her personal battles as well as a war of attrition.

In a 2017 interview with this writer for Filmfare magazine, Deepika said the following about her growth as an actor. “When it comes to my work I have no fear. Which wasn’t the case when I had started off. And that fear or uncertainty came across and it showed on camera. I was conscious and too bothered by the idea of delivering my lines or making gestures in front of the camera. But over the years I’ve changed. The changed occurred

Essentially, their word holds weight because it is unbiased and academic.

JUST A PRETTY FACE

From 2007 to 2010, the establishing years of her career, the persistent take away from most of Deepika’s performance was that she was beautiful, but not really cut out for serious dramatic acting. The reactions to her debut film Om Shanti Om, went like this.

Rajeev Masand wrote, “a dazzling debut by Deepika Padukone who’s packaged like the next big thing,” but Raja Sen was critical when he conveyed, “She is used sparingly and constantly camouflaged, either by a situation which requires acting incompetence, deftly digitalised song sequences or a complete lack of fabric in the second half. I’m not claiming the ‘find of the year’ can’t act; it’s just that this film doesn’t require her to.”

Everyone who saw her exclaimed that she was mesmerizing, but the visual allure was all that was catching on. Nikhat Kazmi, while

“When it comes to my work I have no fear. Which wasn’t the case when I had started off. And that fear or uncertainty came across and it showed on camera. I was conscious and too bothered by the idea of delivering my lines or making gestures in front of the camera. But over the years I’ve changed. The changed occurred because of trust. I began trusting myself, my instincts and the directors I was working with.”

Interview to Filmfare, 2017 because of trust. I began trusting myself, my instincts and the directors I was working with.” It was self-belief that got her through the storm.

To get an idea of the hostility around Deepika’s image as an actor, here’s a look back at what popular film critics in Hindi cinema wrote about her as they reviewed the big releases that featured her performances. Why focus on the words of film critics? Because their assessment of cinema comes from years of observing, studying and learning the intricacies of filmmaking. Unlike fans and followers on social media, critics, even when they’re scathing, are working to pinpoint the flaws of cinema and its proponents (directors, actors, technicians, producers et al).

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ASPIRE — J A N U A R Y — 2 0 2 1

commenting on her role in Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) said, “Deepika who’s delightful too as the uber feminine feminist. Only, you wish there was more of her.” Not just that, critics in the West were equally enchanted with her screen presence and charisma. Reviewing Chandni Chowk to China (2009), American film critic James Berardinelli of Reel Reviews wrote, “Deepika Padukone, a supermodel-turned-actress, is impossibly gorgeous, joining Aishwarya Rai and Freida Pinto as Indian beauties whose screen appearances provide them with worldwide notice.”

Some would say being compared to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a compliment in itself, but the critical reception

wasn’t ready to cut any slack when it came to assessing her performances.

Raja Sen, while appraising her efforts on Love Aaj Kal (2009) wrote, “I would here like to offer Farah Khan a special and awestruck citation for making us believe Deepika Padukone is an actress. She cannily used the undisputably attractive girl as a lovely mannequin in Om Shanti Om, and none of us realised just how plastic this Barbie really is. She has a great smile, dimples and all, but that’s really it. I feel for Imtiaz to see his dialogue butchered by his heroine, heartbreak heightening when she murders a lovely ‘break me’ line. Both Imtiaz’s earlier films featured heroines of tremendous talent, and one wishes this one also had an actual actress.” Similar sentiments were echoed, albeit with subtlety, by Indian Express critic Shubhra Gupta as she wrote, “You wonder if the outcome would have been different if he had paired himself (‘Love Aaj Kal’ is Saif ’s first home production) with another actress. Deepika is far too put together to display naked emotion.”

That was the war of attrition. There were a host of film critics and fans who believed that Deepika’s aphroditic talents were enough to merit her place as an A-list actor. But for every believer there was also a naysayer, who in all fairness, were reacting to the ‘uncertainty’ that Deepika acknowledged in her Filmfare interview. Remarkably, Deepika was keeping a level head and her choices of film and filmmakers were testimony to the fact that she

wanted to do better. Working with Imtiaz Ali, Pradeep Sarkar, Ashutosh Gowariker and Prakash Jha, she was selecting the connoisseurs of meaningful cinema to make her mark. But even when she put an earnest foot forward in Jha’s Aarakshan (2011), she was met with such rhetoric as Baradwaj Rangan’s appraisal that stated, ‘Deepika Padukone, who speaks with the studied earnestness of a little girl in a school play who’s spent a lot of time memorizing her lines and is terrified of forgetting them.’

FIRST WIND OF CHANGE

Come 2012, her resilience paid off, as her second collaboration with Imtiaz Ali, Cocktail received positive reviews not just for director Homi Adajania or co-stars Saif Ali Khan and Diana Penty, but for Deepika, too. Anupama Chopra wrote in her review, “The big surprise here is Deepika, who moves beyond her usual statuesque mannequin pose and gets into the skin of the emotionally raw and needy poor little rich girl. This is easily her best performance to date.” Good things come to those who wait and Deepika’s patience was rewarded with bountiful praise.

The glass ceiling of ‘beautiful actress’ had been shattered and now even her detractors acknowledged that she was making an impact. This writer, while appraising her film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), quipped, “Deepika’s performance is the perfect complement to Ranbir’s acting chops. She excels in the emotional scenes as well as

the romantic ones.” It’s no mean feat, keeping up with the talents of Ranbir Kapoor, but that’s exactly what Deepika managed with YJHD. She did that again two years later with Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha, only this time, she went one step ahead and outshone the Kapoor scion. As Rajeev Masand elaborated in his review, “Deepika does the bulk of her work with those big expressive eyes and conquers challenging scenes with natural ease. She practically steals the film, despite it being Ved’s (Ranbir Kapoor) story essentially.”

Not just that, in 2013, she also starred in SRK’s and Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express. With this movie, she garnered the rare honour of acing comedy. As Anupama Chopra exclaimed in her rather critical review, “I enjoyed watching Deepika Padukone as Meena, the don’s daughter with the thick accent, who meets Rahul on Chennai Express and turns his life upside down. Padukone’s spirited performance — she even makes that accent attractive — helps to lift the film.” In 2015, she also starred in Shoojit Sircar’s Piku along with Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan. That she managed to walk away with hosannas trumping her illustrious co-stars was nothing short of superlative.

DESTINED FOR SUCCESS

As fate would have it, Deepika’s life detoured towards instant superstardom when she joined forces with Ranveer Singh and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Their first project together,

Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela (2015) changed the course of history and future. Not only did the film earn in excess of 100 crores, it made everyone stand up and take notice of Deepika’s irrefutable dramatic talents.

One of her most vocal critics, Raja Sen conceded in his assessment, “She sells some of the dialogue impressively, but stumbles over the tu-tadaak overfamiliarity thrust onto her by the script and performs the way SLB likes his ladies to: when she’s happy, she’s too happy; horny, too horny; sad, too pouty. She looks like a million bucks, however, and so resplendent is Padukone with screen presence that it feels like watching Angelina Jolie in a bad film - ie, it’s all pointless, but there is something worth staring at. Her hero might carry a water pistol, but this Leela packs the guns.” The tide had turned and you could say, it was destined to happen.

Ranveer and Deepika ended up tying the knot in the near future, while the trio of Padukone-Singh-Bhansali worked wonders in two more films, Bajirao Mastani (2017) and Padmaavat (2018). Examining the latter film, Anupama Chopra noted, “Her incredible eyes, brimming with tears, register every emotion.”

THE TAKEAWAY!

While it’s no rags to riches story, Deepika’s slow and steady transformation is certainly meaningful.

She debuted in 2007 and the first real spark of positive reinforcement arrived only in 2012. That’s five years of persistent scrutiny, criticism, selfdoubt, motivation, grit, gumption, hope and perseverance. No wonder, she’s had her tryst with depression and has since become an advocate of mental health. Reading scathing opinion and demotivating words for your passion and craft can break even the most resilient minds. But here, we are, regaled by this turn-around story of a tall, elegant and most radiant woman who decided to endure. The metamorphosis of Deepika Padukone reminds us that change is the only constant in our universe and for those who are ready to tide over time, the future is only bright. J 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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R&R / health

All you need to know about

Serving size

A central part of healthy wholesome eating includes choosing appropriate amounts of different foods. When it comes to working out a nutrition or diet plan, the Serving size is used to quantify recommended amounts of foods that can be included to make up the total daily intake.

Dt. Geetika Uppal Gold-medalist in Nutritional Science and the founder of ‘Foodmatters by Dt.Geetika Uppal’

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I

s there anyone who would not want to have a healthy, fit, sleek, toned body? We all do; we all want to look good and feel great (some secretly and some quite unabashedly). New Year is the time when gyms’ make a field day with the memberships and signups. And don’t we know the story that follows?

Not even a quarter of those reach half-way.

Well, your willpower and determination aside, weight loss is one thing, and healthy weight loss is quite another. There is a simple calculation of how this works. When the calories consumed are more than the calories used up, the result is weight gain. And while physical activity is one way of burning the extra calories taken in (25 mins of walk, or a 10 min jog, or 13 mins of

ASPIRE — J A N U A R Y — 2 0 2 1

moderate cycling or swimming to burn off 100 calories); the other way is to mind what you eat to live a healthy and fit life (mind you, I did not say ‘get a fab body’).

The two crucial aspects for getting off those extra pounds are Physical Activity and Diet.

The other important thing to bear in mind is that ‘Diet’ does not mean the fad food regimes or starving oneself, which many people indulge in without proper professional guidance. Diet is how you keep your body nourished with the right balanced foods and an understanding of the serving sizes required daily for each of those categories of foods.

Always remember, to lose weight, one must take in fewer calories than one burns off each day.

Recipe Sedentary individuals and older people who are less active may burn fewer calories per day, while active men and women burn more. If one is trying to shed some kgs but cannot notice any changes with only physical activity, reducing servings and portions will undoubtedly help.

One should always start a diet plan taking expert advice before making any diet modifications. Especially pregnant women, individuals with medical conditions, and children under 18 years should strictly seek professional advice to check if the reduced calories are appropriate for their health and well-being.

For a normal adult, the following are the recommended portion sizes: » 0-3 servings of fats, oil or sweets » 2-3 servings of protein (meats or legumes) » 2- 3 serving of dairy products » 2-4 servings of fruits » 3-5 servings of vegetables » 5- 10 servings of cereals (breads/ rice/ starchy food)

What is a serving size?

The serving size is usually taken as a common household measure that is appropriate to the food (such as cup, tablespoon, piece, slice, or jar). Different serving sizes are recommended as per the calories recommended. The calorie intake recommendation is based on age, height, weight, medical conditions, BMR (basal metabolic rate). Find below some of the serving sizes for different food groups, having the same calories per serving in the particular food group.

» 1 cup watermelon » 1 cup chopped, cooked, or canned » » » » » » »

fruit(no sugar syrup) Apple, 1 small 1 small Banana or ½ big banana 1 large Orange Strawberries (8 large) 8-10 small grapes 1 Pear or Guava 1/8 Avocado

Dairy Products (per serving equals)

have a difference in calories, protein remaining the same) 1 cup yogurt 2 cups cottage cheese ∏ cup ricotta 2 slice low fat cheese (cheddar) ¼ cup mozzarella or parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese shredded ¼ cup

» » » » »

Protein (Meat and Legumes, per serving equals)

» ¼ - ∏ cup cooked lean meat, poultry,

or fish » 1 to 1∏ cup of cooked beans » 1 tablespoon of peanut butter or a

handful of nuts » 2 small eggs or 1 large egg » Fats and oils (per serving equals) » 1 teaspoon oil, butter, margarine, or mayonnaise » 1 tablespoon salad dressing, cream cheese All the portion sizes mentioned above are taken as one serving, so if we eat one slice of bread or one chapatti or ½ cup cooked rice, the calorie count remains the same.

grain) » ∏ small bagel or ∏ English muffin or ∏ pita (1 ounce) » 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal (wheat flakes/cornflakes) » ∏ cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta

» » » »

» 2 cups of raw leafy vegetables (used as

salads) » 1 cup of other vegetables, cooked (cau-

liflower, eggplant, ladyfinger, etc.) » 1 cup of vegetable juice

Fruits (per serving equals) » 1 cup berries

1 small to medium-sized cauliflower (2 to 3 cups once grated) Parmesan cheese shredded ¼ cup

The recommended portion for a 1200 Calorie Diet plan:

Vegetables (per serving equals)

--- Ingredients for base ---

» 1 cup milk (full cream and low fat will

Cereals (per serving equals)

» 1 slice of bread (white/brown/multi-

HEALTHY PIZZA

» ¾ cup lean meat or protein foods » 5 servings bread or starchy food like

potatoes 3 servings fruits 4 or more servings of vegetables 2 servings dairy (milk/cheese/yogurt) 3 servings fat (including nuts)

A word of caution here, some substances we take in (sugar, canned & bottled drinks) have calories but no nutritional value. So you will be taking in the Kcal minus any benefits. These are best avoided for healthy living. Bear in mind; it is always health and wellness over ‘slimming down’.

Wishing you the best year served ever!

Egg

1

Teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon

Teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon

Basil or rosemary

½ teaspoon

Oregano

½ teaspoon

--- For toppings --Pizza sauce

1 cup

Bell peppers, mushrooms, Sliced olives, onions Mozzarella cheese

½ cup

--- Me t hod - - • Preheat oven to 250 c. Removing the stems, cut the cauliflower into small flowers. Put the cauliflower into a food processor and grind until it resembles the texture of rice. Or can be grated with a grater.

• Saute the processed cauliflower for 8 to 10 minutes till it becomes soft.

Or Microwave the cauliflower uncovered for approximately 4-5 minutes on high.

Remove it from the microwave or heat and allow it to cool for at least 4-5 minutes.

• After it is slightly cooled, squeeze all the liquid out of it. Be sure to squeeze as much liquid as possible.

• Combine the cooked cauliflower, garlic, egg, cheese, and seasonings. Mix till a dough structure is formed. Spread the cauliflower mixture onto a pizza pan or a lightly greased parchment paper in the shape of a pizza crust.

• Bake it for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until the crust, is golden and crispy. After the crust is golden, remove it and add pizza sauce, veggies, olives, mozzarella cheese.

• Place the pizza back in the oven, bake for about 2-5 minutes until the cheese melts. Keep checking to avoid burning.

• Recommended two small slices or one big slice per serving (130-150 calories per serving) J 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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R&R / tr avels

AFRICAN GETAWAYS:

Swimming with Whale Sharks Kenya Uganda

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The Coronavirus pandemic has made people re-think globetrotting holidays, and while UAE still remains a popular tourist destination for people of other countries; the citizens and residents here are on the lookout for adventures beyond the UAE.

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Tourists can look forward to memorable holidays in a 1920s-era colonial lodge in the stunning crater region of Western Uganda with views over the dramatic Rwenzori Mountains at the Ndali Lodge located on the rim of an extinct volcano.

R

eza Kalamadeen, Director of a Dubai-based company promoting travel destinations, says: “Given the market conditions that have affected the travel and tourism sector, we provide relief by introducing novel destinations to the UAE citizens and residents looking to travel overseas.

We believe we can create a long-term positive impact in raising awareness to the smaller, but equally aspirational destinations and experiences.”

Kenya and Uganda awaits

Eco-tourists can swim alongside the behemoth creatures, natives to the temperate oceans.

Beautifully patterned with white spots and stripes, up to 60-feetlong, the Whale Shark is a protected species like that of the tiger, lion and elephant.

If you wish to encounter the ‘gentle giants’ of the sea, then an experience of swimming with Whale Sharks in Kenya beckons you. You can now swim alongside the largest fish in the sea - the beautifully patterned behemoth with white spots and stripes measuring up to 60-feet and weighing 20 tonnes that have roamed the oceans for more than 70 million years.

A protected species like the tiger, lion, and elephant, the Whale Shark is a slow-moving harmless docile filter-feeder mammal. The species is vulnerable to extinction due to poor fishing habits; hence, Whale Shark Adventure’s overall aim is to raise awareness so that the level of protection afforded to Whale Sharks is increased.

The peak Whale Shark season runs until mid-March.

Whale Shark Adventures, Kenya’s top dive operator for Whale Shark encounters, also offers Humpback Whale expeditions in Diani, Africa’s premier beach destination. Tourists from the UAE and several other Gulf countries can travel to Kenya for quarantine-free stays. All they need to present is a Covid-19 negative test certificate, taken within 96 hours, and fill out a travel health form for contact tracing.

If chimpanzees are your thing, then you can spend a memorable holiday in a 1920s-era colonial lodge in the stunning crater region of western Uganda with views over the dramatic Rwenzori Mountains and the opportunity to track chimpanzees of Kibale Forest, home to the largest concentration of chimpanzees in Africa. The Ndali Lodge, located on the rim of an extinct volcano, is lighted by candles and storm lanterns for an old-world feel.

For the first time since the pandemic, Uganda has opened its borders for international tourists under new guidelines that include a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure but no mandatory quarantine.

With Emirates, Etihad, and African Express Airways operating flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the two African destinations are undeniably among the unexplored newer places for people, especially from the UAE, to get away for a fun-filled winter holiday. ✪ 2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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R&R / tr avel

UAE 2021 Ready

A

Whether you are looking for engineering marvels, exceptional experiences, trailblazing luxury, or trade opportunities, Reema Ahuja vouches for UAE to be the country that promises it all

s the world is all set to usher in 2021 and bid adieu to a whirlwind of the year gone by, the UAE has left no stone unturned and has received accolades from the rest of the world in its feat to curb the spread of COVID-19. We all have high hopes and can see a speck of light at the end of the tunnel as this tumultuous year heads towards a close.

The UAE has set its intentions for the year ahead and is all geared up to welcome the people across the globe with enthusing energy, inspiring innovations, and buoyant aspirations. This nation is no stranger to record-breaking feats and truly lives up to the adage, “Take your feet off the brakes, push the pedal, give yourself the green light and be unstoppable.”

It has all the reasons to be optimistic, with some promising developments heading into 2021.

With adrenaline-pumping attractions and audacious architecture, it certainly lives by the motto – ‘Bigger is Better’.

Heading towards the ‘Next 50’ With no signs of slowing down and many new record-pushing attractions on the horizon, all eyes are set on the Expo 2020 (or we may say Expo 2021) and the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

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While the Expo will now kick off in October, the completion of 50 years of UAE as a united nation is just the beginning of a new story. With the official theme of last year being ‘2020: Towards the next 50’, preparations have already begun to tell the UAE’s global success story. The year-long celebration aims to acknowledge the past and embark on a journey of empowerment for the future to make it one of the best countries in the world.

Excitement is building up to witness the global extravaganza of Expo 2020 with more than 190 participating nations, global businesses, educational institutions, and millions of anticipated vis-

itors. Get spoilt for choice with live performances, robot workshops, virtual and augmented reality activities, avant-garde shows, unique culinary experiences... the list seems endless. The world’s biggest 360-degree projection surface and the ground-breaking pavilions will certainly make for a good spectacle.

Burj Khalifa Fireworks

Madame Tussauds

Capturing the world’s imagination As a visitor or a resident, you will have many more exciting tales to share when Dubai mesmerizes you with wonders beyond your imagination.

This is what one can expect: The unlimited entertainment options at the new Meydan One Mall, within the heart of Mohammed Bin Rashid City, will make it hard for you to curate the best things to do. Envisioned as a place for all to enjoy, it will enthrall you with its 8.2 km Crystal Lagoon water park, beaches, dancing water fountains, and massive 21 screen cinema. The region’s first indoor electric go-karting track will give a speeding experience of a lifetime.

Ever thought of partying in a private fine-dining pod, at a staggering height of more than 210m. The long-awaited Ain Dubai, the world’s tallest Ferris wheel on Bluewaters Island, is the only way to experience this grandeur in the year ahead. If you just missed meeting a celebrity in Dubai, Madame Tussauds Dubai is all set to welcome you. The world-famous waxwork museum known for its life-like wax exhibits of celebrities is another attraction on the bustling Bluewaters Island, providing more reasons than ever to visit.

The museum will feature singers, actors, celebrities, UAE political leaders, historical legends, and sporting icons worldwide.

The much anticipated ‘Museum of the Future’, front-facing Sheikh Zayed Road, is an architectural marvel and a window to this futuristic place, giving a glimpse of what the future has in store.

Ain Dubai

Inspired by Feng Shui, the torus-shaped steel edifice with beautiful Arabic calligraphy inscribed on the structure’s façade is a sight to behold.

Deira Islands is the grand addition to UAE’s list of island wonders, adding to its landscape a total coastline of 40 km, including 21 km of spectacular beachfront. The four man-made islands will be connected to the Deira district mainland through bridges for easy access and also by boats for those who wish to enjoy the experience a little more. Six marinas will offer 614 berths that can accommodate boats and yachts up to 60 meters long.

Another feature on the Islands that is endlessly exciting is the Night Market – a modern take on the traditional Arabian Souk for all those interested in night-time shopping.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is also making waves with its largest upcoming aquarium in the Middle East. The National Aquarium at Al Qana will house 33,000 marine animals and 300 different aquatic species for those who like the ocean’s marvels.

Though the world hasn’t yet conquered Covid completely, it marches on to triumph in more ways than one. Soon the day will dawn when we will be free of the prowling virus completely. Until then, let’s live 2021 with all that it has to offer and make it a year that we live to tell! ✪

Expo 2021

Museum of the Future

Deira Island

The National Aquarium at Al Qana

Meydan One Mall

2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

53

R&R / hobbies

hold your

HORSES!

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of the wind in your hair, and if that is what you enjoy, the back of the horse might be one of the most exhilarating places to be, writes Arundhati Surendaran ne of UAE’s most popular sporting events, Horse-riding attracts people of all ages, and the magnificence of the equine splendor in motion is enthralling! Horses are wonderful, majestic creatures, and being able to own and ride one is not something to be taken lightly.

The rider takes responsibility for the animal, making sure that they’re in accordance with it, and though the charge is big, it is as enjoyable as it can get.

If you can’t own one, horse-riding with an academy is

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ASPIRE — J A N U A R Y — 2 0 2 1

the easiest way to taste test this responsibility as well as experience the happiness that comes from bonding with this stately animal. Horses have unique personalities with their own unique needs. Tuning yourself to them and building trust is a vital part of horse-riding - so it is natural to assume that you would be taking care of your mount at least a little bit.

There are different riding methods or disciplines that you could go for - most notably the Western-style or the English

style. What distinguishes the two is that the Western-style is more comfortable and easier to learn - as it came from western cowboys, who developed this style for functionality. On the other hand, the English style is more distinguished as it was a style that English nobility typically used, which explains why it is more elegant and refined - and also slightly more difficult.

While both are equally fun when you get the hang of it, but when you are just starting, the western style might be better to get used to the feel of a horse.

The thing to be always vigilant about while horse-riding is safety - both for you and your horse. Ensuring that your trainer is experienced, and the institute treats the animals ethically is

paramount to properly enjoy this hobby or sport. Otherwise, you may be left with more than a couple of bruises. Thankfully, the UAE has well-reputed horse-riding academies, so all you need to be careful about is yourself.

Make sure to always wear the helmet and that the saddle fits well, and constantly communicate with your trainer about the comfortability of the ride.

Before you enroll in any institute, make sure that you are prepared for a proper equestrian class. Horses are incredibly sharp and can sense your unease - trust your horse, and it will trust you. Building up your relationship with the steed is important too. To begin with, try out the horseman’s handshake.

Keep your hand stretched forward and wait for the horse to come to you. Pat it (not excessively) and observe its reactions.

Since each steed is unique, you will have to learn the horse while you also learn riding.

It would help if you also were mindful of the clothes you wear.

Make sure the pants you wear aren’t baggy and don’t chafe, or riding will be painful for your thighs. Boots are the most appropriate shoes, so make sure to have a heel that can help keep your feet on the stirrups and that the boot is thick and firm just in case the horse steps on you.

And most importantly - make sure to treat your horse well. It is an intelligent creature you’re working with, so the best way to ensure your safety is to guarantee that the horse is happy.

Horse-riding is fantastic for improving mental health and focus, and since it is an outdoor activity, the physical benefits are also numerous. Weekly classes allow a breath of fresh air and your needed dose of Vitamin D. It enhances your reflexes, improves posture, and most importantly, it enriches your bal-

ance and coordination – the two most important motor skills.

Even the most experienced rider will admit that there is always something new to learn! Riding can also help change the way you handle responsibilities, making you more accountable as an individual. It can even help sharpen memory.

Lastly, horse-riding also augments your emotional strength.

People often find companionship and solace while working with their mounts. During stressful times they are great companions; all you need to do is pick up your saddle, and they are ready to trot away with you happily. Imagine the wind in your hair as you, the free-spirited noble, are flying and galloping on your steed! J

Horses are incredibly sharp and can sense your unease - trust your horse, and it will trust you

2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

55

R&R / explore

T

The World’s Highest Skybridge at The Address

he Address Hotels and Resorts makes a splash by bringing to you its very first waterfront property in the UAE with a 100m-long stretch of beach.

The 77-storey structure has the world’s highest inhabited sky-bridge connecting two towers, also linked at the base to create a frame-like structure; it is as picturesque as it sounds.

One tower is the hotel with 217 guest rooms and suites, while the other tower houses The Residences with fully furnished and unfurnished apartments.

The view of the towers themselves is a sight to behold, located at one of the most exquisite places in all of Dubai - the Dubai Marina. Much like the Dubai Frame, the architecture aims to capture two contrasting views - one side being the stunning natural Jumeirah beach.

The other side is the typical cosmopolitan luxury one would expect from Dubai. Being so close to Jumeirah Beach Walk and the Beach Mall, there are no shortages of retail opportunities, cafes, restaurants, and entertainment options nearby.

Its close range to Dubai’s

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ASPIRE — J A N U A R Y — 2 0 2 1

business hubs such as Media City, Internet City, Knowledge Village also boosts its value as a residential tower.

The amenities within the towers are what one would expect of an Address Hotel - chic conference halls and ballrooms, a fully equipped gymnasium and health clubs, award-winning spa facilities, luxurious beauty

salons, as well as world-class restaurant services.

The infinity pool at the acclaimed bar on the 77th floor, vying for a Guinness Record for the highest pool, offers one a stunning view of Ain Dubai, Bluewaters, The Palm, and beyond. Make sure to visit it because the Address Beach Resort is sure to leave you with hard to forget experiences. ✪

SUBSCRIBE NOW

... BE MO RE

... BE MO RE

2 0 2 1 — J A N U A R Y — ASPIRE

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‫ ٭‬DO MO

RE

RE

‫ ٭‬DO MO

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