It’s about time we all stopped complaining about the system and our politicians. It’s time to be a player not a spectator.” 

With these words on Friday, CK Kumaravel or CKK, as he is known, the serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Naturals Chain of Salons, announced his entry into politics. He has an interesting perspective on things, an energy that is quite infectious and he is rallying for other good souls to join politics and follow what you believe. The only way the current status quo will change is for a wave of new and fresh thought coming in and I completely agree with him on this. I had to ask him why politics, and why now? 

“I had been considering it for three years now and exploring options and meeting with political parties. Earlier, my priority was making sure my family is settled and now that I’m past that phase, this seemed like the right next step for me. I will admit that there is this fear, everyone says politics is not for good people. It’s how we have been conditioned to think, it’s filled with goons and a very terrorising place. We can’t forever use this as an excuse. TN politics is in shambles and it’s the perfect time. For any newcomer this is the best opportunity as people are looking for a change.” He told me he is in touch with both Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan and that he plans to join one of them and that he is yet to decide. “They are both people who have lived in the public eye for over 40 years and conducted themselves with credibility. In India, to be successful in politics, you need visibility first and then credibility. To pretend it’s the other way is just naïve and Anna Hazare was the last exception. I’m not sure in what capacity I will serve, but I want to. I believe a lot of changes and solutions can come from entrepreneurial India. We can dream, make mistakes, fall and make a comeback. I have done it several times in my businesses. We need to take a chance in life. I’m an entrepreneur, I take risks and I go in with my eyes wide open,” said CKK. Something we both agree upon is that not trying is a crime.

In a world where social media is filled with imagery and posts about how great and good one’s life is, more often than not when we hit a rough patch or have a bad day, we feel alone. 

Model and actress Arti Venkatesh put up an incredibly honest and emotional post on social media and in sharing her vulnerabilities she proved her strength. As a friend and a colleague, I am kicking myself for not noticing what she was going through, for getting too caught up in my life and for even when something occurred to me, I hesitated, because I didn’t want to intrude. I’m hoping what she shares makes people out there feel like they are not alone; it’s okay to have low phases or be down and for other friends to take a moment and check on the people in their lives. Arti tells me why she has been reclusive for the last six to eight months and why she has stayed off social media and shied away from public events. “I wasn’t feeling like myself. On the rare occasions that I did get out of my house, I was zoned out and I didn’t recognise the person I was, I didn’t enjoy socialising anymore. It is something that happened to me and that’s okay. It is right to share happiness because I believe in doing so you spread cheer, but you should also speak the truth. Some days or some phases in your life are hard and there is no need to pretend otherwise. I took some time to focus on myself and get to a better place emotionally and physically because those two things are connected,” she said. Glad to hear that she has bounced back and raring to go. 

“I don’t know if what I dealt with was depression. I did have moments of happiness and then it went away, I’d refer to it more as a confused phase. Life went on but it was just a low phase and I wanted things to change and I never gave up. It didn’t feel good when people walked up and said, ‘oh my god you have gained weight’, it’s almost like I had failed an exam! We are all humans. Please say ‘hello’ and ‘how are you?’ People reacted like I had committed a criminal offense, maybe they were just looking out for me, but I’m human. If I wasn’t a model or an actor, this weight gain wouldn’t have affected me,” she said and it was heartbreaking to hear this. Your body is something you live in for the rest of your life and you have to take care it. This is something that Arti can relate to because she felt stuck and trapped in her own body. She would skip a meal a day to lose some weight and then she would binge eat the next day and all the working out in the world wasn’t helping. 

“I feel the pressure to be in a certain shape and a particular way and that is part of our job. I felt the pressure more in Bombay than in Chennai. Chennai is home. Women should learn to embrace their curves and I’m coming to terms with that. A year ago, I wanted to be skinny and today, I am comfortable with myself but I want to be fit! As you grow older, you realise you don’t have the same metabolism as you did in your teens and you have to have a more holistic lifestyle so you can take good care of yourself. It feels good to workout, I feel like I’m working all the negativity and stress out,” she said.