Rishabh Tongya, Creative Director, Diacolor, recently joined NewsX for an exclusive conversation as a part of NewsX India A-List and said that one might feel that there are more jewellers than confectionery stores in India, but when it comes to fine jewellery, there is a dearth of it. 

Tracing the journey of his family business Diacolor, Rishabh said, “Jewellery has been my family business. It was started by my great-grandfather. We have been working with a lot of brands and designers around the world, mostly overseas. It was after I had my son that we decided to move to Delhi and open up our store. Since then, there has been no looking back. It has been a tremendous, incredible and happy journey and I think that the best is yet to come.”

When asked about any significant milestones, achievements, or growth plans he would like to share, Rishabh said, “When you just start your first store, you want to get everything right. The checks on the list, you trying to get the right team in place, the right setting, the right product, and then of course reaching out to the Indian consumer. We have three branch stores in India with another two in pipeline and we have got plans to further move to other cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. We feel that in India, there’s a dearth of fine jewellers. One might sort of argue that there are more jewellers than confectionery stores in India, but when it comes to fine jewellery, I think there is the dearth of it. That’s where we find a space and that’s what we’re looking to expand.”

Diacolor has long been known for its range of rare emeralds as a jewellery brand. An admirer of his father’s craftsmanship, Rishabh said that his father is very passionate about stones, so whenever he comes across something nice and beautiful, he makes an attempt to acquire it. Speaking on two stones that they acquired a few years back, Rishabh shared, “About five years ago, one of them was found in Zambia and it was one of the most important finds in the last 12-13 years. Two years later, they found another important, rough stone with the right colour, saturation and size. Again, we couldn’t resist from acquiring it. Interestingly, we got covered as one of the most read stories of 2019 by CNN. We’re very happy and proud to have it over with us.”

On acquiring the assets for their brand, Rishabh expressed, “The most important thing that remains a challenge for any jewellery brand today is the acquisition because there is no consistent supply when it comes to emeralds, diamonds and rubies. We took a step further and acquired some great assets in Mozambique for rubies, for emeralds in Ethiopia and Colombia. We sort of pursue further assets and so, like in the energy business where one tends to focus all the way from pit to plug, I think here our challenge and our sort of mission is to acquire and secure our own assets in coloured stones and diamonds.”

When asked about the challenges he had faced during the pandemic, he expressed, “2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, especially in the luxury business. Unlike other products, unless you really have the feel of ambiance, one doesn’t really transact. I must say the first eight-nine months of the year were extremely challenging. But then, things in India sort of turned the corner and the wedding boom was back again.”

On a concluding note, Rishabh shared his success mantra and said, “I think persistence, I mean, nothing comes easy and nothing comes faster. We’re all living in a generation and at a time when everybody wants to add things immediately, but I think if you believe in it and if you want it and if you are persistent about any project you wish to pursue or anything you’d like to do in life, then I think things sort of come around. Human persistence and passion, I think, are two things that work for me.”

India has been known for its rich culture and heritage and she has been rated the top-most culturally rich country across the globe. Indian artisans are known as the backbone of the non-farm rural economy. This Saturday witnessed a conversation around India’s soft power between designer and architect Dikshu Kukreja of C.P. Kukreja Architects and Sunil Kant Munjal of Hero Enterprises.

“Our culture of art and business skills has been one of the strongest in the world. But in more recent times, we’ve given it a go by and one doesn’t see much of it in homes or offices. In everyday use, it appears that we’ve also started to make this distinction between high art and low art,” said Munjal, when asked about the positioning of India’s resplendent crafts in the contemporary world.

With mobile times and global economies, awareness towards craft and the value of our artisanal skills, and India’s influence in this regard, is coming back and on the rise. However, while the craft is out there and being made present through multiple opportunities, newer generations do not want to carry it forward and are more willing to relocate for jobs. The actual art is getting lost in the urbanisation of lifestyles and the diminished value of its existence.

“I think for the country to grow in a balanced way, it can’t just be about urban centres and smart cities and all of that. It’s really the balanced growth of urban and rural areas that has to defend it for certain,” says Dikshu Kukreja

The time has come when we put our artisanal skills and products in the limelight and create the right kind of design awareness around it. Understanding the growing importance of design in our day to day lives, Dikshu Kukreja has curated his show, Deciphering Design with Dikshu, to increase sensitivity and create awareness towards design, and bring back the value it holds in our lives. “This show is not just about conversations, it’s about creating a community of like-minded people to come together and create a ripple effect towards design awareness” he says. 

Today, Indian artisans are uncertain about their future and are decreasing in number due to a lack of affordable livelihoods. Given this context, the Serendipity Arts Foundation, an initiative led by Sunil Kant Munjal, is doing pathbreaking work by coming up with sustainability initiatives in the arts and craft world for reviving various art forms.

“We widened the scope to look at all art forms because traditionally in India there were no silos or barriers between different art forms as we normally see. What we actually see right now is an inheritance from British times. The Western sensibility looks at arts as theatre, music, crafts and dance — each in its own category. Whereas that was not the way the arts were in India. So, one of our attempts was to bring back different art forms and look at what happens at their junctions,” says Munjal.

Kukreja, Chief Architect of the Live Museum Project, conceptualised by the Serendipity Arts Foundation, is creating a unique building which will speak its own language based on the heritage of architectural design in India. Speaking about the lost richness of Indian culture, which demonstrated itself in its design and architecture, he says, “That is something I ponder over many times because, if you see, our history is witness to the kind of architecture that this country has possessed. I don’t think there are that many places in the world which can have this kind of plethora of works. Somewhere down the line it started to change and unfortunately, I would say, then it slipped into decay before we knew it. Otherwise, there has been tremendous synergy between craftspeople and professionals. Architects were the visionaries who envisioned a great building but the craftsmen were the invisible hands that executed the designs to perfection. In our country, whether it is the stone work or woodwork or metal work or textiles, it has been an amazing journey all through those graphs. So, what you said, I think, is very fascinating because somewhere we have probably followed that Western model.” 

Both Dikshu Kukreja and Sunil Kant Munjal are creating common pathways today for creating awareness and bringing to light the importance of design. They are actively working towards building a revolutionary icon through the Live Museum on the cultural landscape of the world.

Log into www.designwithdikshu.com to watch the entire episode of rebuilding India’s soft power and join Dikshu Kukreja in his journey of creating awareness towards design by following and subscribing to the show. You can also directly connect with Dikshu Kukreja and find answers to your questions about design by using the hashtag #designwithdikshu on Instagram or Twitter. For more updates follow @DikshuKukreja on Instagram and Twitter.

A very sad case of lynching took place in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district, where a Station House Officer from Bihar’s Kishanganj, Ashwini Kumar, was beaten to death by a village mob, which was instigated to attack him by a few criminals who had stolen a bike in Bihar and fled to their village in Bengal. If this was not enough, the incident came at a time when the fourth phase of polling in the state was marred by unbelievable violence. At Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district, a young voter died after being attacked allegedly by the cadre of the state’s ruling party; and then the Central forces shot dead four young men after allegedly coming under attack by a local mob. Even otherwise, the poll process has been marred by violence, making one wonder what ails the state of Bengal. This sort of violence is not observed in any other state, in fact not even in Jammu and Kashmir, where too elections have to be spread over several days so that voters can vote peacefully. But Jammu and Kashmir is the most “disturbed” region in the country—a “conflict zone”. To place Bengal in the same category as Kashmir, raises the obvious question: where has Bengal gone wrong? Even Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, once considered the two most violent states in the country, have smooth election processes now, but not Bengal.

Bengal’s elite takes great pride in the state’s culture and its icons. In fact one of the main attacks on the Prime Minister and his party coming from this section—echoing the ruling Trinamool Congress—is that they being “outsiders”, are unable to fathom Bengal’s syncretic culture. There is no denying Bengal’s rich cultural heritage. But the problem starts when the only culture that is apparent to the rest of the country at present is the culture of violence—something that cannot be justified by saying “but political violence is in the DNA of Bengal”. Worse, in this election season, it’s also about politics over violence. The two parties trying to make the maximum political capital out of the Central-force incident at Sitalkuchi, the CPM and the Trinamool Congress, are also totally responsible for the present state of affairs. In 35 years of CPM rule, Bengal witnessed complete anarchy. The Left single-handedly drove out industry from the state, and stopped the rise of any viable political opposition, by unleashing violence through its unions and cadre. Over a period of time, Left rule become synonymous with murder, massacre and mayhem. So, when Mamata Banerjee’s government came to power in 2011, it was hoped that since she herself had withstood Left violence, she would be mindful of this aspect. However, to “eliminate” the Left, which was too entrenched in the ground, her party needed the help of elements—ironically, many of them originally CPM—who could fight a tough turf war. From there onwards, the situation has deteriorated to the extent that ground level criminality is one of the biggest issues of the 2021 elections. It was this criminality that made 30% of the panchayat seats go uncontested in 2018. In fact, 2018 was the turning point for Mamata Banerjee’s second term in office. Coming within two years of a landslide Assembly victory in 2016, there was no reason for the TMC to fear any adverse outcome in the panchayat elections. Even then voters were not allowed to vote and terror was unleashed. 2018 showed how free and fair elections were next to impossible in the state unless conducted under strict supervision. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Central forces did an exemplary job. In 2021 too they are doing an equally good job. They have been able to instil a certain degree of confidence among the people, and in fact have created conditions that are helping some voters in some areas exercise their franchise for the first time in five or ten years. Voters in general are all praise for the forces. Hence, it is rather unfortunate that supposedly responsible politicians are trying to spread disaffection about them by hurling the most outrageous charges at them. The forces are above politics. So is the Election Commission. There is no point crying foul over them when, as Sitalkuchi showed, even eight phases of election may not have been enough for Bengal. It is not the EC’s fault that the fear of intimidation and vote manipulation is very real in Bengal. Hence, politicians of all hues need to behave more responsibly, talk more responsibly and create conditions so that voters can vote in peace. Parties need to rein in their goons. After 45 years—35 years of the Left and 10 of TMC—Bengal is broken. A state has lost almost half a century of its existence to anarchy. The canker of violence is eating away at the innards of Bengal. This cannot be allowed to continue.

The great political strategist for Mamata Banerjee has scored a self-goal because of the propensity of the truth to come out in different ways. There is nothing off record in any briefing today, whether you are talking to pliant, critical or neutral media. The boss—in this case Mamata Banerjee—would have come to know of what was said anyway. But the crucial question is: Why did Prashant Kishor do this?

Kishor has not doubted the authenticity of the leaked chat although some people have demanded the release of the entire chat. He has asked why the BJP is trusting the leaked Clubhouse interaction, in which he spoke to some mediapersons, and not their own leaders who have asserted that the party would win a minimum of 200 Assembly seats.

When such comments come from a person who has gained expertise as a political strategist and has been working overtime to ensure a victory for Mamata, any political party would take this as an endorsement of their calculations. When your critics turn into admirers, you are bound to take it as an endorsement. But the intention behind this interaction may go farther than what meets the eye.

What could be the reason for this media briefing? Either the strategist wanted to lull the BJP into a sense of overconfidence or was trying to build his image for the next political assignment, which is the Punjab Assembly election. There is also the possibility that by raking up the issue of the BJP winning, the strategist wanted to create a fear of the BJP among Muslim voters and achieve complete polarisation by making the community favour the Trinamool Congress.

If Kishor knows the functioning of the BJP, which he knows quite well considering that he was a part of the party’s campaign during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, he should be certain that the party has perfected its election machinery and such talks are unlikely to impact its momentum negatively. On the contrary, it is likely to enthuse the BJP cadre and help fence-sitters make up their minds. Fear of the TMC might have forced them not to go against Banerjee but the impression of a surging BJP may now embolden them to come out and try to vote her out. 

The second reason seems more likely. He stuck his neck out in December 2020 when he said the BJP would struggle to cross double-digit figures and, if it did, he would quit Twitter, the platform where he had made this prediction. Then, in an interview with a television channel in March this year, he said he would quit his job as a political strategist if the BJP won 100 seats in the state. Now, his admission of a BJP surge in West Bengal during the Clubhouse interaction belies his claims. Is he then building his case for not quitting, should the BJP win in the state by defeating the Trinamool Congress?

His image as a political strategist rests on the impression that he can make parties win elections by using social media as a tool to shore up an image and strengthen political constituencies. It is a different matter that his claims have not been fully established. The BJP has surged ahead despite rival political parties trying to use his services to stop the saffron juggernaut.

This brings us to the third possibility. It is quite possible that Mamata Banerjee’s political managers have concluded that the only way to win the elections is through the complete consolidation of Muslim votes for the TMC. The vote is getting split due to the desperate Congress and Left joining hands with the Indian Secular Front formed by Abbas Siddiqui. In a sharply polarised election between the BJP and the TMC, both the Left and the Congress are looking for political relevance. The Muslims must therefore be told not to waste their votes. The projection of a strong BJP may persuade them to change their minds. Promises fail but fear works, that is the principle being applied here.

Whatever his intention, the issues that cropped up during the interaction should be discussed publicly. A crucial statement made by Kishor is about the “emergence of the Prime Minister as a demigod for some 15 percent population of the country”. If this is true, it would translate into the support of 21 crore Hindu voters who consider him a “demigod”. This is enough to propel him to power with a massive majority in 2024 when the Lok Sabha elections take place.

Kishor also said that about 50 percent Hindus would vote for Modi, which includes 75 percent Matua voters. Even if we take this as an indicator and extrapolate it to the national level, this would translate into the support of 26 crore voters, considering that 62 crore people voted last time (in 2019) and out of that about 84 percent must have been Hindus. The BJP had secured 17.1 crore votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 22.9 crore in 2019. The likely scenario is a complete sweep for Modi and the BJP in 2024.

One of the other critical issues raised but not discussed fully is the policy of minority appeasement in West Bengal by various parties. Muslims have emerged as a vote bank and hence every party has treated them with velvet gloves in terms of giving them concessions. This has produced a counter-narrative in the state. The policy of uniting Muslims and dividing Hindus is no longer working. Banerjee tried to secularise herself through temple-hopping, talking about her Brahmin gotra and doling out some concessions to Hindu priests. But people know that these were theatrics, just like her campaigning in a wheelchair.

Nobody in the media pliant to Banerjee has been talking of anti-incumbency. Actually, the performance, or a lack of it, has not been discussed in the media that has become too obsessed with communal polarisation. The controversial statement of a nondescript leader from the BJP is blown out of proportion but the carefully woven narrative by the Prime Minister and other senior leaders around faster development is completely ignored. Banerjee’s communal and vituperative statements in which she appeals to the minority Muslim community to vote for her party has added fuel to the fire and various other statements of this kind have recharged the atmosphere.

Thus, besides a huge section of the majority that concludes they have been ignored and given an unfair deal, a progressive section genuinely believes that the state badly needs development, for which the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi is their best bet. They want a secure and strong country, and faster development. And it is here that Mamata Banerjee has completely failed. 

Thus, Prashant Kishor knows that a government with so many odds arranged against it cannot win. Attempting a consolidation of the Muslims is merely a ploy that may not work. It can fuel the counter-narrative, but in his heart of hearts, he knows that Banerjee is on sticky wickets. He has already absolved himself by speaking the truth in an informal media interaction. That would be there to back him up.

Punjab is more promising because Captain Amarinder Singh appears to be on a strong wicket. The Akalis and the BJP have split and the BJP would need to work very hard to work its way up. In politics or in the roadmap to becoming a political strategist you have to save your skin for another day and prepare for the next fight.   

The writer is convener of the Media Relations Department of the BJP and represents the party as a spokesperson on TV debates. He has authored the book ‘Narendra Modi: The Game Changer’. The views expressed are personal.

If Kishor knows the functioning of the BJP, which he knows quite well considering that he was a part of the party’s campaign during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, he should be certain that the party has perfected its election machinery and such talks are unlikely to impact its momentum negatively. On the contrary, it is likely to enthuse the BJP cadre and help fence-sitters make up their minds. Fear of the TMC might have forced them not to go against Banerjee but the impression of a surging BJP may now embolden them to come out and try to vote her out. 

Music composer Jatin Pandit reminisced about his Bollywood journey, the inspiration behind his new single and much more. Popularly known by the name Jatin-Lalit, the duo has delivered timeless songs in movies like ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’, and ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ among many other blockbusters. The composer has now ventured into independent music with his first-ever non-film music album called Dhadakte Rehna.

Speaking about the inspiration behind his new single Dhadakte Rehna, Jatin said, “I was just sitting at home, utilising my time by playing some tunes on my guitar. The rhythm and the words of this song hit out of nowhere. I was just humming the words and playing the tune accordingly. It felt unique and pleasing to my ears and I realised that it had created a melody. My son Rahul Pandit heard it and insisted me to complete the song.”

He explained the meaning of the lyrics, “To me, it seemed like a new approach. When I reviewed the lyrics after writing a few lines, I knew that it was going to be fresh and unique. That’s when I decided to complete it. We decided to shoot the song and started our hunt for a few locations and finally decided to shoot in West Coast California. We shot the whole sequence with Rahul and a Mexican model named Jessica Lopez. The chemistry between the two looks amazing.”

Speaking about how it felt to create an independent music single, Jatin expressed that the entire experience has been amazing. “The song was shot during the Covid-19 pandemic. The presence of Rahul in the video appeals to the youth and revives the young-love element in the video. It was a special moment for me.” 

When asked about his opinion on the changing trends in the music industry, he said, “With the advent of technology, new trends have emerged in the music industry which is good. Music has evolved with time. Now, there are many music directors and background singers. Earlier, the music used to create such an impact that people would forget the stories, the films but good music stayed in their memories forever.”

Talking about his favourite song, Jatin said, “Nothing like Pehla Nasha, composed by my brother Lalit Pandit and I, has ever been created or can be created in future. I believe that the song is immortal.” On a concluding note, the music composer and his son crooned a few lines of Pehla Nasha.

In an exclusive conversation with NewsX as part of NewsX India A-List, Aprameya Radhakrishna, founder & CEO of Koo said that on learning over 90% of people were not comfortable with English they built a platform giving equal recognition to local languages for them to search information, connect and communicate easily.

As Koo expands its network across the length and breadth of the country, Aprameya Radhakrishna spoke about his journey, taking the big leap from the corporate world to establishing his own venture Koo. Sharing insights from his journey, Aprameya said, “After graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, I started working and understanding how a business works. With that understanding, I began to brainstorm what businesses I could run. The first problem that we solved was the cab-hailing problem. Before Vocal and Koo, I founded Taxi for Sure, which was the second-largest player in the cab-hailing market in 2015. We sold it to Ola for $200 million and that was my first entrepreneurial experience. Post that, we started thinking about what would be the next big wave. We saw that people were getting access to phones and the internet. The one thing that would stop them from using the internet was that every app was in English. More than 90% of people in India are not comfortable with English. That is when we started thinking about building something in local languages so that people can search information, connect and communicate with each other, express oneself and that is how our product got formed”. 

Speaking about the necessity of microblogging in India, he expressed, “Vocal is a question and answer app. Although some of our community, which were answering questions, needed to express themselves without answering questions. This made us curious as to why they needed a separate app even although there are other apps. When we deep-dived, we saw that all the major options were in English and if you have to give a comfortable environment for people to express themselves on what is on their mind, it has to be in their own language. If you enter any community, the app converts it into their language and you can find people from the same community who are speaking the language. You will be able to create content in that language very easily including the hashtags and you will talk about things that are important to that community. That did not exist before and so to bring the voices of India, irrespective of language was a new problem to solve. We are solving the problem of connecting India on a deeper level whereas the existing options only connected English-speaking India to the rest of the world. The core philosophy of KOO is the experience we have given to users in terms of local languages and allowed them to easily express themselves in those languages. Nobody has built an app around microblogging and expression of thoughts and opinions ever before in local languages and that is what we have focused on.”

Emphasising that technology-building has undergone different stages in India, Aprameya said, “We have had the resources to build them. Internet access and technology access define who we built the technology for. Companies like Infosys and Wipro built technologies for companies outside because that is where it was needed. Next came, the English-speaking Indian where most cases were about booking tickets, searching for jobs, booking movie tickets, cabs, and buying things online. Now, is when the majority of Indians are getting access to the Internet and technology. There is no better person than an Indian to build technology for them in their own language. Once we build this, we will know how to create apps for non-English audiences as well. We will take this technology to the world, which has a majority of the non-English population, and to those who face the same kind of issues that Indian users face.” 

When asked about the policy challenges, he replied that the guidelines introduced by the Indian Government are rather flexible. “Most of the social media users are behaving very well. Few people, a small percentage of them, are trouble-seekers or mischief-makers because of whom the community faces problems. The idea is to ensure that people behave as they would behave offline. As long as they feel a sense of responsibility while exercising freedom of speech, it is good enough. What you say should not harm other people’s lives. Abiding by the laws of the land is crucial and as an Indian company, we respect that.”

The immediate priority for Aprameya is to “build the team and get young talent to join us in this mission.” He elaborated, “Building and hiring, especially in engineering are important. Our user base has grown, we are close to five million downloads in India across various languages. Our primary objective is to further make it reach 100 million users in a year or so is.” On a concluding note, Aprameya advised the young entrepreneurs: “Make sure you solve a real problem so you do not have to worry about users coming.”