MILLESIMAL EXCLUSIVE 2023

MILLESIMAL

EXCLUSIVE EDITION

MARCH 2023

12

ACTRESS

NIKITA RAWAL

Interview with stunning Nikita Rawal

At what age did you realise that you want to join the entertainment industry?

I came to the realisation at the age of eleven that my true passion was in the film industry. I have a deep-rooted connection to this field, as if it's in my blood. I believe I was born with an artistic talent and have great admiration for many renowned artists. I am particularly fond of Madhubala and Meena Kumari, who are my favourites. This drive to pursue my passion and make it a larger part of my life has always been present within me.

The entertainment industry is said to be full of stress and pressure; what do you do to tackle the pressure that comes with your work?

P r e s s u r e i s a c o mmo n a s p e c t o f a l l i n d u s t r i e s , b e i t i n t h e me d i c a l o r l e g a l f i e l d s . Ho we v e r , t h e f i l m i nd us t r y c a n b e a b i t mo r e i n t e n s e i n t e r ms o f p r e s s u r e . De s p i t e t h i s , I f i nd g r e a t j o y i n my wo r k a s a n a c t o r , wh i c h i s my d r e a m. I t a k e t h i n g s i n s t r i d e a n d t r y t o d o my b e s t . Wh e n t h e p r e s s ur e b e c o me s t o o mu c h , I t a k e t i me t o b e wi t h my f a mi l y , wh o a r e a c o n s t a n t s o u r c e o f l o v e a n d s u p p o r t . I a m a l wa y s s u r r o u n d e d b y t h o s e wh o l o v e me d e e p l y . T h i s l o v e h e l p s me t o h a n d l e t h e s t r e s s a n d k e e p s me g r o u n d e d .

Talking about making it big in Bollywood, the word ‘nepotism’ is up for debate. There’s a lot of buzz of being an insider and outsider in the film industry, and many big celebrities have called out on being treated differently. Did you have your own share of struggles in the industry?

T h e f i l m i n d u s t r y i s o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d wi t h t h e wo r d " n e p o t i s m" , b u t t h e r e a r e a l s o ma n y s u c c e s s f ul i nd i v i d ua l s wh o h a v e ma d e t h e i r ma r k a s o u t s i d e r s , s uc h a s Ay us h ma n Kh u r a n a , Na wa z u d d i n S i d d i q u i , P r i y a n k a C h o p r a , a nd o t h e r s .

Ul t i ma t e l y , i t ' s a b o u t t h e q u a l i t y o f y o u r wo r k a nd t a l e nt . I , t o o , h a v e f a c e d c h a l l e n g e s a s a n o u t s i d e r i n t h i s i nd us t r y .

De s p i t e b e i n g l a b e l l e d a s s u c h , I b e l i e v e t h a t i f y o u h a v e t h e t a l e n t a n d a r e s k i l l e d a t y o u r c r a f t , i t wo n ' t ma t t e r wh e t h e r y o u a r e a n i n s i d e r o r a n o u t s i d e r . S o , i t ' s a l l a b o ut t h e wo r k you produce.

Today movies are being released on OTT platforms, while some may prefer the old-style theatre release for their big-budget movies. What future and success do you think OTT has in store?

Before the pandemic and lockdown, people used to enjoy going to theatres and watching big movies with their family, munching on popcorn. However, the COVID-19 situation has brought about changes in the way people watch movies. With the advent of various online streaming platforms, it has become much more convenient to access a wide range of content from the comfort of one's own home, or even while on the go. People can now watch movies or series of their choice, regardless of the topic or concept, as they are easily available on these platforms. While big-budget movies like "Pathan" may still draw crowds to theatres, smaller productions and series have also found a suitable platform through OTT services. Both options are good in their own way; one offers the traditional theatrical experience, while the other provides a more relaxed, comfortable viewing experience.

Out of so many roles that you have performed as an actor, which one is your favourite and why?

Throughout my career, I have played a variety of roles including comedy, action, and even that of a doctor. However, my current favourite role is that of an undercover cop, which I am playing right now.

This role incorporates elements of action, romance, and much more, and I am incredibly excited about it. It's my favourite role to date and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Eating with joy and wisdom

BY: BRACHA GOETZ

We’ve all been duped! We thought we were eating food when we really weren’t. According to Google, food is defined as “any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or plants absorb in order to maintain life and growth.” Typical snack food like potato chips, soda, and donuts, for instance, don’t maintain life or growth. I take that back. They do make people grow in certain ways, but not exactly helpful ones.

It’s easier and quicker to see the harmful effects of soda, for example, on a plant than on an animal or human. Ever try watering a plant with soda? Give this experiment a try sometime on a plant you don’t love.

Maybe an annoying weed you don’t want around? And see how long it takes before it’s gone.

The stats are shocking. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 42% of adults in the U.S. are obese. Including those who are obese, over 73% of Americans are considered to be overweight. And these stats were from before the pandemic, before many stayed home for months, eating endless snack “food.”

There has been a huge surge in Type II diabetes which can result from being overweight. Other consequences include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, several types of cancer, breathing problems, and depression – which can all lead to increased mortality. A new book, Hooked: Food, Free Will And How The Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions, by a former NY Times investigative reporter, Michael Moss, documents how the food industry has purposely sought to turn us into overweight food addicts.

He explains in the book how the Standard American Diet (fittingly known as SAD) is designed by chemical researchers in the food and beverage industry to be addictive.

As with tobacco and cocaine, which are also very addictive substances, highly processed food is derived from naturally occurring plants, but stripped of the components, such as water, fiber, and protein, that slow its absorption into the bloodstream.

The most addictive “food” generally has large amounts of trans and saturated fat combined with an excess of refined carbohydrates.

This concentrated combination is not found in nature, where natural food may be quite sweet or fatty, but not both at once.

This triggers an abnormal spike in the pleasure center of the brain which can lead to cravings to overeat, similar to the spike that results from addictive substances like tobacco and opioids.

According to Susan McQuillan, M.S., RDN, a well-known food and health writer, “The addictive nature of other substances, such as tobacco and opioids, was denied for decades for some of the same reasons, and these products were heavily promoted to consumers, just like processed foods.”

The American Psychiatric Association defines an addiction as “the compulsive use of a substance or behavior despite its harmful consequences.” When we discover that two-thirds of all grocery items currently have added sugar in them, we can begin to understand how we are being set up to develop food addictions.

According to the CDC (the Center for Disease Control), 40% of all cancers are now attributable to obesity – that is 13 types, including colorectal, pancreatic, liver and kidney cancers.

As Dr. Jason Fung, best-selling author of The Obesity Code explains, “Cancer exists in our bodies all the time, but the immune system keeps it in check.

Cancer is always trying to grow and spread, and the best defense we have is a healthy diet.”

I also read that our immune cells have receptors (which can be imagined as being similar to parking spots) for the vital nutrients we need, and they only function at full capacity when there is a daily supply of these nutrients.

And it takes about 400 repetitions to form new synapses in the brain, but it takes only 10-20 repetitions when done playfully, according to research conducted by Dr. Karyn Purvis. So what’s the quickest way to make positive changes? Joyfully! For lifelong fitness we get to enjoy eating food that is both delicious and nutritious – instead of food-like substances that are chemically manipulated to be delicious and addictive. An orange was designed with infinite intelligence and beneficence, while an orange-flavored Tangy Taffy really provides nothing good for us besides the immediate sensation.

Yes, we were duped, but we don’t need to be anymore. With wisdom, we can now joyfully aim to keep our wondrous immune systems strong, doing what is within our power to lead healthy, happy, and long lives.

www.goetzbookshop.com

MR MOON, THE WONDERS

Poetry of the month

BY: CHARVI

Dear crescent, At times, I wonder, how do you manage to look so magnificent every time I look at you?

Be it with the menace, Be it without the spectre, Or be it under the veil of clouds, Your beauty remains unaffected.

Shining merrily among the stars, dancing in rhythm of our hearts, your gleaming refinement steals our heed every time we look at the unfathomable sky.

The inimitable beauty of mångata that radiates tranquility and peace. With you, the fantasies of fairy tale are on tonight.

DANCE WITH ME

Poetry of the month

BY: SWATI The moment I entered my eyes caught your face, When you looked back, my heart was sent into a never ending chase.

Every step you take closer to me makes my heart beat so fast, How I wish that this moment just never ever goes past!

The way you look at me sends a shiver down my spine, Your thoughts make me crazy, they even make me rhyme.

So tonight my darling, let us kick off our shoes, And dance with the melody, as we join in the blues.

Tonight hold my hand and join me babe, don't say no, Join me tonight, lets dance till dawn on the dancing floor.

DESTINY BY: ADDYA VERMA Lying beside the rivulet, hopeless.. waiting for a miraculous.. looked at those eyes of yours...

Shining like the pearls...

Felt something magical Something supernatural..

Was trying to unravel the broken threads of life.. when saw one bonded to yours.. bonded with the red strings of fate.. was convinced that it won't break..

May tangle ,twist and stretch but won't break..

So I'll be yours..

And you'll be mine..

Let the world witness how our love flows.. and makes us float...

Poetry of the month

CIRCE BY: IMAN WAQAS

Poetry of the month

The fiddle skipped a beat as perfumed melancholy struck a chord. For, my heart bloomed Veritaserum in the mildew of purple orchids. Spring panted a crippled sigh when the brooding corridors freckled with grey truths.

The land had suckled enough ravenous wolves to bleed out every flimsy corn of hope. But shame cowered beneath dark leathery wings over the deliberate suicide of valor.

The demons’ sulk heaved dry over the blistered shroud of love. For the candles on an empty grave couldn’t grieve as bright. The fetal cry contracted the womb as fate’s venom sizzled anew. But death eluded Circe’s perspiring brow. As blood trickled beneath fences, the silent gong cracked into crescent stars. For even a scorpion tasted the stinging kiss of life. And I was a mere dandelion.

Born in the cradle of Helios’s scorn, shadows dressed me every night. From glass mirrors to stone walls, seashells tracked my lonely desire. For many eclipses, the wooden yacht stayed afloat with my drunken earnestness.

Perhaps a rose could convince the jury to see past the beast into the treasure. But the compass needle sniffled feebly. For these parched streams never led out of Aeaea.

Bowed in the sun’s embrace: the plucked island lies chilled to the bone. For the diadem of this ocean nymph was trampled over gritty pride. As sage warmed the iron maiden’s doorstep, Odysseus slid languidly beneath her silken sheets. But true to prophecy, the gods will attest. A mortal’s affection grazed like the breath of a butterfly’s wing. And soon the funeral march would thrum; desolate and aggrieved.

"THOU" BY: AAYUSHI CHAWLA Erratically thou feel that deep gulf in the tunnels of intellect, Alike you find in someone's presence, That happiness, those tears, That just keep on forging, Perhaps like a waterfall, Like a piece of a broken puzzle, That you have endowed after long, Viz that meditation music you listen to, Or as those tapping of rail drops in monsoon, Akin that tranquil silence of night, You know you cannot be ally, Thou cannot be us, And that is the dilemma, Life ponders upon us, To consort in, To bide in, To stride in There were seas aghast, There were leaves plunging, Winds gusting and And the snow furrying, Where the ebb meets the flow, Where the sun touches the snow, When you will be me, And I will be you, Thou will be we, And we will be us.

I will meet you there.

I will meet you there.

Poetry of the month

CONTINUED............

BY: AAYUSHI CHAWLA Let's unravel the streets of Los Angeles, Let's parish the bounties of life, Let's stop the tickling of time, Let's carcass under the light of moon, Where the birds were cawing, The shepherds were rowing, When the nights befall, When the silence crawl, When the time stops.

When the clock hopes.

I will meet you there.

I will meet you there.

Where the flowers are succelent, Where the leaves are drent, Where the past is begotten, Where the love is rotten, Where the hopes die, Where the nature cry, Where love is letting go, So I let you go, So I let you go.

When the ghastly nights crave, The doors of dark break, The souls abide, The wholes ignite, If death could be once, I would satiate, I would satiate.

Souls transpire to meet the one, Nature craves to be dawn, Skies wish a meteor, White flower desades for quietness, Shadow of a shadow containing the entire universe, Is you.

Is you.

Poetry of the month

WHEN THE BENCH FINALLY GAZED AT NATURE BY: JOANNA LEWI FERDINAND I am a broken bench Caked with muds and weeds In the middle Of a wide meadow An artful tree stood beside me Each dawn feeds me baskets of fruits That painted my world And shield me with layers of leaves From heat and flood One evening A sparrow Visits me for a rest Its fur are soft and lusters In its eyes I see two moons Sparkling with stars Oh look!

The bird smiles at me As joyful as the morning twilight As sweet as childhood memories

Poetry of the month

CONTINUED............

Poetry of the month

BY: JOANNA LEWI FERDINAND As it raised its head up Its wings spread and flew To lift my head up and show me How legendary the soft peach sky is With dash of cotton candies Garnished with dark green leaves In that very nightfall The sky became a cinema to my heart Where the sun is getting tired And tired The moon climbs the sky While its lover, the sun Is in a deep, deep sleep...

God...

Oh God What an embroidery masterpiece You have made Just for someone Like me July 2022, Indonesia

THE BEST PLACES TO ESCAPE FOR A DIGITAL DETOX

BY- KATE REYNOLDS

Was your New Year’s Resolution to spend less time looking at your screens?

You’re not alone - according to recent research by Reviews.org, the average Australian spends over five hours a day on their phones. That’s more than 17 years across a lifetime! And over in the USA almost half (47%) of Americans say they’re addicted to their phones.

Luckily, there are plenty of places around the world that are perfect for switching off and enjoying a detox from all things digital.

Looking to get off grid? Let’s go!

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, NSW, AUSTRALIA Just 90 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Australia’s biggest city - Sydney lies the tranquil, swaying eucalyptus trees, quaint little villages and Dreamtime stories of The Blue Mountains. It gets its name from the blue haze that sweeps through the vista, and is part of Australia’s Great Dividing Range. You’ll be immersed in nature from the moment you arrive. Whether you want to stroll the streets of quirky Katoomba, enjoy a silent meditation retreat in Wentworth Falls at Happy Buddha Retreats or enjoy one of the many, many bushwalks on offer, the last thing you’ll want to do is sit and stare at your phone all day.

Listen out for the local birdlife; cockatoos, king parrots, crimson rosellas, currawongs and kookaburras are all common sightings in the Blue Mountains, as well as wombats and kangaroos.

Don’t miss: Seeing The Three Sisters - a sacred site for Indigenous Australians and a spectacular rock formation.

KATHMANDU, NEPAL Despite Kathmandu being a loud, busy and bustling city, it happens to also be the perfect place for a digital detox thanks to its strong links to meditation, yoga and mindfulness - and of course, its proximity to the awe-inspiring Himalayas. Pop into one of the many yoga studios in the city for some serious downward-dog detoxing, or sign up to a local meditation class. It’s quite a nice juxtaposition of the chaos of the city blended with the tranquillity of yoga and meditation. Get an almost birds eye view of the city from the Swayambhunath Temple - one of Buddhism’s holiest sites. Just watch out for the monkeys!

Plus, Nepalese food is delicious! Try momos, curries and naan bread washed down with a fresh juice.

Don’t miss: Kathmandu’s Garden of Dreams - a serene oasis ‘hidden’ in the heart of the city.

QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND Looking to replace the ho-hum of scrolling Facebook with some adrenaline? Look no further thanNew Zealand’s action-adventure capital, Queenstown. Whether you want to try bungee jumping, skiing and snowboarding on New Zealand's Southern Alps, rafting through the icy whitewater rapids of the Kawarau River, or hike the Ben Lomond Walkway, there’s plenty to do to get your heart racing (and your mind off your phone). For something a little more relaxing, you can soak in the hot tubs of the Onsen Hot Pools, embark on a scenic helicopter flight or simply indugle in the local food and wine scene.

Don’t miss: nearby Arrowtown, an old gold-mining town where you can give gold-panning a go!

TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA The tagline for Tasmania is ‘Come down for air’, and it couldn’t be more true (and perfect for a digital detox). Escape the mainland of Australia and head down south to a land of sweeping views, rugged cliffs,world-famous hikes, amazing beaches, gourmet food and wine, art galleries and museums, distilleries, orchards and fresh seafood. Whether you’re a foodie, a hiker, camper or just want a break from the hustle and bustle, Tasmania is the perfect place to switch off and immerse yourself in, well, whatever you’d like! There’s no shortage of things to do to keep you busy, whether you want to relax with a glass of local wine, or hike the incredible Cradle Mountain National Park.

Don’t miss: MONA, Tasmania’s premiere Museum of Old and New Art, located in the state’s capital of Hobart.

UBUD, BALI Channel your inner Elizabeth Gilbert and head to one of the most well-known places to enjoy a digital detox - Ubud. Tropical leafy green palms sway above you, wind chimes soundtrack your relaxation as you look out across beautiful terraced rice fields. Bali is synonymous with relaxation (well, certain parts of it, anyway). While you’re there, check out the Bali meditation centre, embark on a sunrise hike up Mount Batur, book into a yoga retreat, take a cooking class, go snorkelling, or simply enjoy the food, drink and hospitality Bali is famous for.

Don’t miss: The Ubud Palace, one of the top attractions where you can often watch evening dance performances, or simply check out the stone carvings. The area is famous for its community of artists, too.

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