Shraddha Gurung is a beauty Influencer who promotes body & skin positivity through her content. Shraddha joined us for an exclusive interview as a part of NewsX Influencer A-List. In the interview, she tells us about her journey of becoming an influencer and an inspiration for thousands. She also tells us about how she managed to balance her full-time job with content creation. Below are the excerpts from the interview

When asked about her journey and how far does it takes her in life, she said, “I have been a content creator for over six years now, the first three years I spend working with a nice company, where I was producing where I was the talent, where I was doing a lot of things behind scenes, and post that I have been just an independent creator, a full-time creator for last three years.” She added that “it’s been quite an interesting up and down sort of journey.”

She gives us insights about working full-time and having to create content at the same time and how to manage all the things properly. Shraddha said, “I started with a full-time job because I kind of knew that this is where I should be. It felt right when I joined the company because it is quite challenging.” She added, “I’ll be very honest. It’s very challenging doing a full-time job with anything else involved, not just content creation and even to follow just a hobby, I am pretty sure you guys work crazy hours especially on news channels like yours.”

For our next question, we asked Shraddha how she manages to keep up with new trends and how she reacts to these trends, she answered, “I feel like the most stressed person in the world at the moment because the job’s already very dynamic, there is no guarantee as to what is going to work tomorrow and then it is also important to keep up with the foundation of what you had started with,” She continued, “so I do feel the pressure all the time, I am not gonna lie, I keep saying it on my social media as well, these trends are really affecting the way I work because it’s not about your work anymore it’s a lot of just plain entertainment in a very small format,”

As she was asked about being real with her content and being transparent with the viewers about body positivity, she replied with a smile, “Being authentic is actually the easiest thing to do because when you are pretending and when you are producing this image of you online, you can only do it so much and if you can actually do it like full-time, it’s a lot of work, so the best possible way to keep yourself sane and keep it real is to just be yourself good universally, you don’t have to put on a facade because then it doesn’t differentiate us from any other person, like influencers are relevant because people will find them relevant and that’s how we came into being.”

Aastha Shah is a digital content creator who empowers people suffering from Vitiligo. Her content is aimed at making people comfortable in their own skin and it is admired by lakhs of people, especially youth, who struggle with body image problems. We invited Aastha for a frank conversation for our special series NewsX Influencer A-List. Below are the excerpts from the interview:

Our first question to Aastha was about how she started her journey in content creation, to which she replied, “Thank you for having me here, I would like to start by giving you an idea about my skin condition. I have Vitiligo which is a skin condition where the colour of the cells which give colour to your skin, melanocytes, stop functioning. So they start losing colour in patches that can either spread throughout your body or remain in certain parts of your body, so obviously, I have a long journey with Vitiligo but this year in March, I just thought of putting it out. I always wanted to inspire people but this year, I thought I’d just put out a video on social media and see how it actually does to inspire people.”

Aastha added, “I put up a video of my transformation, my old videos versus now, and that video hit 32 million views on Instagram. I think that’s where it all started. I got the confidence that there are people who are taking this in a good way and they may get inspired, so I should start creating content that is motivational.”

We asked Aastha how she manages to juggle a full-time job in finance and content creation, together. She replied, “I agree, both require an equal amount of effort but for me, content creation is a stress buster. I also love finance, being a financial analyst, but this is like a stress buster after working all day, I feel coming back to this, making content, ideating, being creative is a very big thing, so I like doing it and I like making content, so for right now, it’s like a stress buster, it’s a hobby and dancing has also been my hobby, so I make a lot of content even around dancing. So yeah, I love doing it. It is tough but I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Aastha then tells about how she thinks it’s important for content creators to be themselves, she gladly stated, “So, I believe that you need to be yourself in this. You need to create content which your audience consumes but you also need to be yourself, I do not think of it as a minus point but a plus point. Whatever your external appearance is, it should not matter what other people think. Just be yourself, put out whatever you want-art, creativity, anything. The audience who do not perceive it in a good way, will not follow you, and the audience who love it will follow you. So, in the end, you can put stuff that you like plus what your audience consumes.”

Arushi Singh and Tejas Singh, Co-ideators, Food Bus Of India, recently joined NewsX for an insightful chat as part of our special series NewsX India A List. In the exclusive interview, the duo opened about running a double decker food bus in Delhi.

Giving us an insight about Food Bus Of India, Arushi said, “Food Bus Of India, as the name suggests, is a very novel concept that we brought in to Delhi. We are providing you the best experience, a novel experience of dining within a double decker.” When asked where we all can find their best dining experience, Arushi responded, “Our bus is placed at Rajendra place, right outside of metro’s gate no. 2. It doesn’t move, it is in a fixed place but it is the whole experience of being in a double decker.”

Narrating his experience of ideating the Food Bus Of India, Tejas shared, “In Delhi, we always used to go out every week for dining, to eat in fancy restaurants. We always check out the interior, food, ambience, everything and try to analyse how much effort the person put in setting up the restaurant. In Delhi, we saw that most of the restaurants were getting shut or having trouble because of having the initial investments they put into the space, creating the space, paying the rents or purchasing the land. The basic model started in our head where we thought of a way to try and overcome these obstacles, to try to learn something that is not bound by space or bound by these things that all the other restaurants that are bound by a space or the work you get done in the space. If you move out, then you have to start all over again.”

“And this is how this concept started. We created a temporary structure that we can even move around and what is better than a bus. We have a co-founder of a bus and his son actually started in London. When both of us got together, he came up with the idea that we can come with a double decker bus. It all just fit together because of the two floors. The kitchen can be downstairs , sitting can be upstairs, so it all worked out very smoothly. That was just till the ideation. When the whole process started, then the nightmare started. It almost took a year to get the basic structure going,” he added.

When asked about the challenges they faced, Tejas said, “Transportation was the major challenge because we created the bus at an offside location of Delhi because of the pandemic. We had to regularly go there to check the progress. Since most of the labour was unavailable during those days, it added a lot to our time frame. The whole economic model that we had set up was a major challenge that we faced. Even today, with Covid slowly clearing up, we can see that the response is getting a little better. What we are trying to achieve is that we are providing them a safer experience rather than eating on the street. We try to get them to eat in a clean environment, an air conditioned environment, so that they don’t have to exposed to the weather and be directly exposed to the virus in an outdoor situation.”

Talking about the experience of putting together a double-decker bus in Delhi, Arushi said, “ The concept was actually driven by the fascination to bring something that the people had not seen in Delhi. Our plan is to dot the entire city with this bus, so that a commoner can experience that they cannot otherwise. I think the making of the bus is the great deal because nothing like this has been made before in Delhi. The architect of the bus made it from scratch, It is an actual real bus made from scratch and not something that has been modified.”

Actress Taapsee Pannu recently joined NewsX for a insightful conversation as part of NewsX India A-List. In the interview, she spoke about her latest film “Rashmi Rocket” that throws light on the issue of gender testing in sports. In the exclusive conversation, Taapsee spoke about how she handled the tough or uncomfortable scenes in the movie, how gender testing impact players and much more. Read excerpts:

Speaking about the factors that convinced her to play “Rashmi Rocket”, Taapsee said, “Two reasons: first was I love sports. I love to follow sports. For me, sport stars are real heroes. I am in awe of them, so when I got to know about this particular testing, how it only done on females, it was shocking for me that someone like me, who loves sports so much, had no clue about something so crazy happening even till date.”

Sharing insights on the practice of gender testing across the world, she said, “Yes, this happening all over the world. Even in last Tokyo Olympics, there were two Namibian players, who were banned because of same gender testing. As an actor, I can only use my medium to bring about a certain kind of awareness and discussions. I can’t assure that the change will happen. It is not like after Pink, the molestation or rapes stopped. It is not like after Thappad, the domestic violence stopped. However, at least the conversions started. The topic became a mainstream or dining table conversation, not just keeping it under wraps.”

When asked about how she is able to handle these tough scenes in her films, she responded, “I’ve been living with this script through the lockdown. Actually it been in my head when I heard it in 2018, so it has been there in my head since then. As I just told you, I was so shocked to hear that this still happens. When the script came in my hand and the screenplay was ready, we were in early 2020. Since then, I’ve been living with it at the back of my head, so I was already mentally prepared to dive into it. How to get rid of it was like, as an actor, you feel a sense of accomplishment if it affects you in real, if it actually makes me pause and take a little while to get back to reality. That means I have done a decent job doing it, so that happens doing that job. If have felt it inside, it mean the camera would have captured it. So, that sense of happiness helps me get out of it because then I feel, “okay, I did my job, I did what was in my hands to push this topic out, now let’s be ready to see what the audience does”, so that happiness makes me get out of the role.”

Actor Soundarya Sharma recently joined us for a candid chat as part of NewsX India A-List. In the exclusive conversation, the actor opened up about her debut music video Mast Barsaat, sharing the screen space with Salman Yusuf Khan, experience of shooting in the new normal and much more. Read excerpts:

Talking about the response she has been getting for her music video and receiving a shout out from Salman Khan, Soundarya said, “It has been overwhelming. It is amazing to start my music video, which is my debut music video with Sajid ji. This is a tribute to Wajid sir. What a way to start with Salman sir tweeting. He supported our song and he totally loved it. Apart from that, everyone is loving it. They have told us that it is growing on them – the feelings, the music. In the song, there is only harmonium that is playing. There are no electronic progressing or anything. It is a very organically made and done song, so that it is very rooted. The response has been amazing.”

When asked what made her choose Mast Barsaat as her debut music video, Soundarya responded, “I didn’t choose it to be my song. The song chose me. I auditioned for it. I met Sajid ji. Everybody auditioned for it. He was looking for someone who really can enact. He said that the song is really close to our heart and I want somebody to portray the emotions the same way we have made it, with the same love. When he called me, I was super thrilled and excited. He asked about my profile. It worked for me. Ultimately, it should work for us. We connected over the feelings of the song. When Taleem studios shortlisted me, I was really thankful.”

Sharing her experience of working with Salman Yusuf Khan, the actor said, “Very nice. I think he is very professional and he is a really nice guy. He really comforted me. He, himself, is a dancer, performer so he made it really easy for me to work because we decided to shoot in a very short span. We shot for more than 23 hours in a row, so for that you really need a performer to be gelling with you. We were just chilling and working. “

Speaking about shooting for the song in a new normal, Soundarya said, “The new normal, apparently, is actually not that normal because it was scorching. When we shot, it was very hot and everybody was wearing masks but then we were so energised and pepped up by the song that none of us felt even for once that we are exhausted, we are tired. We were so moved by the entire feeling and the enthusiasm to work towards it. I think some things are meant to happen and this was meant to happen for all of us.”

As the pandemic struck the world, Soundarya found herself stuck in Los Angeles, where she was taking an acting course. “I took up the acting course in Los Angeles with New York Film Academy. I was there for 1.5 year and then I was stuck in pandemic. You end up becoming a better human being, learn so many things. Pandemic has taught us so many things in life. I felt like I don’t know what is next, whether I would be able to finish my course. Forget about work, it was a challenge to be on your own and living in a new country. But, I think god is kind. Everything ended well and I am here. I got work,” she further shared.

Delhi Public School R.K. Puram, one of the most prestigious schools in India, was founded in 1972 in New Delhi. The school upholds the founders’ commitment to excellence in the all-round development of the students, with emphasis on its motto Service Before Self. The school is extremely proud of its illustrious alumni who continue to uphold the ideals of the school and have impacted society greatly in every sphere of life. DPS R.K. Puram has received the Education World Award as the No.1 Day-cum-Boarding School (2020-21) in India.

On 2 October, Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram organised a curtain-raiser to the official launch of the six-month-long celebration of the golden jubilee of the institution. The event was attended by renowned alumni of the school. The school plans to organise a plethora of activities to commemorate the 50 years of excellence by organising alumni guest speaker programmes, alumni reunions in different parts of the world, cultural programmes involving the present and former students, collage of video messages of alumni from all over the world to inspire the current students and the culmination of all these events at the grand celebration in 2022.

The event commenced with a lively dance performance by the students as an ode to Lord Ganesha with drum beats followed by a graceful Garba performance. The chief guest, VK Shunglu, Chairman of the DPS Society and DPS RK Puram Managing Committee inaugurated the ceremony by lighting the lamp and unveiling the logo of the 50th anniversary. A cake baked by Aadishwar Singh, a student of class XII was cut to mark the occasion. It was followed by a splendid rendition of ‘Vaishnav Jana Toh’ through Indian and Western instrumental fusion. This was followed by a nostalgic presentation of DPS R.K. Puram through ages.

The Principal, Padma Srinivasan warmly welcomed the Chairman along with the former Principals; Shyama Chona and D.R. Saini. She quoted Mahatma Gandhi, by saying that with the burning passion within each individual one can alter the course of history. She said, while we must reflect on the glories of the past, we must also look to the future and aim to transform lives with education as the school has done so ably in the past five decades. She thanked the chairman, V.K. Shunglu for his guidance, constant unceasing support, his spirit of empathy in covid times and for being a leader who thinks from the heart. She further emphasised how 1972 and 2022 are connected by a belief that transcends time; that education can transform lives. To conclude her address, she asked the alumni present to start a movement and give back to the society what the school has given to them and firmly stand by the motto of ‘Service before Self.‘ Following this was a graceful Kathak dance rendition on the song ‘Ghar More Pardesiya.’

Sooraj Dhawan and Sudeepta Chaterjee coordinated and compèred the programme for the alumni group and presented video messages from them. A video showcasing the drone footage of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, Vasant Vihar and East of Kailash was screened, magnifying the nostalgia of the alumni in the audience. A self-composed song by the alumni and the students helped reminisce the years gone by and rejoice in the celebrations.

V.K. Shunglu, in his address, reiterated the importance of focusing on what we do in the next fifty years so that we modernise at a fast pace and keep abreast with the challenges of a fast-moving world and keep the banner of the school flying high. The vote of thanks was proposed by the Vice Principal, Renu Nayyar. In the closing note, Padma Srinivasan expressed her appreciation for the alumni who actively participated in the cultural programmes of the day. The programme concluded with the national anthem.

The school plans to organise a plethora of activities to commemorate the 50 years of excellence by organising alumni guest speaker programmes, alumni reunions in different parts of the world, cultural programmes involving the present and former students, collage of video messages of alumni from all over the world to inspire the current students and the culmination of all these events at the grand celebration in 2022.