Bridge India Event: I’m In Conversation with Anita Kaushal, Co Founder, Mauli Rituals, 16 February at 6.30pm

 

I have a love and an interest in wellbeing and Ayurvedic products.

If you are curious about Ayurveda, join me for this special event where I am speaking with Anita Kaushal co-founder of the multi-award-winning Mauli Rituals, which is one of my favourite Ayurvedic brands. Heralded by Vogue UK, Tatler, Harpers Bazaar, and others it is a fabulous brand with lots of soul.

I got to know the brand first before I met Anita Kaushal and I had the privilege of interviewing Anita for the Indian edition of my book, Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations and I fell in love with this brand more!

There’s so much to learn and know about Anita, Ayurveda, and her very successful brand, as Mauli Rituals is one the first Ayurvedic brands to enter the UK market… I am pleased to be back in conversation with Anita on 16 Feb at 6.30pm hosted by Bridge India

So if you are interested in wellbeing, want to know more about Ayurveda or just want good company and conversation, come along. Book via Bridge Indiahttps://www.linkedin.com/company/bridgeindia/

 

Serendipity PR Is Working With New British Author Tom Mead Whose Debut Book Is Taking Crime Fiction Genre By Storm

The crime genre is explosively popular and is why Death and the Conjuror a debut crime novel by author, Tom Mead has launched to great success in the US in March 2022. The book was published in the UK on 2 February 2023 by the publishing house, Head of Zeus. Mead is an exciting new British author, specializing in locked-room mysteries and has been lauded across the crime fiction genre, earning high praise from best-loved writers and publications, including New York Times bestselling authors. Mead and his book have been named a “Buzz Book” by Publishers Marketplace and selected as one of Publishers Weekly’s Mysteries of the Year 2022.

Mead’s book is a tribute to the classic golden age whodunnit when crime fiction was a battle of wits between writer and reader. Death and the Conjuror joins its macabre atmosphere, period detail, and vividly drawn characters with a meticulously constructed fair play puzzle. Its baffling plot promises to enthral readers of mystery icons such as Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, modern masters like Anthony Horowitz and Elly Griffiths, or anyone who appreciates a good mystery.

The success of Mead and his book can be attributed to the latest trend for “escapism” which has been fuelled by recent events from the global pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of living. We all need to escape somewhere, and good books are providing the answer. Death and the Conjuror is leading the way on the cosy crime revival that’s been building for years.

Readers are also falling out of love with celebrity writers and want real authentic authors, who write because of their passion and burning imagination. Mead is a testament to this as his short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and numerous others. Most recently, his short story “Heatwave” was selected by Lee Child for inclusion in his Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021.

 Advance Praise – These are just some of the endorsements received to give a snapshot of the respect Mead has earned. There are too many to include:

“Death and the Conjuror is an engrossing tale of murder and magicians, and a revealing exploration of the ever-popular locked-room mystery. Mead’s debut is a novel to intrigue and delight.”

John Connolly, New York Times bestseller of The Nameless Ones and 18 additional titles in the Charlie Parker series

“Tom Mead has created an intriguing set of puzzles on par with John Dickson Carr in Death and the Conjuror.  A true delight for mystery lovers!”

Charles Todd, New York Times bestseller of A Game of Fear and 23 additional titles in the Inspector Rutledge series

“With a deviously intricate locked-room plot, Death and the Conjuror unfolds as both an elegant tribute and a cunning update of the classic ‘impossible crime’ story. Somewhere, the great John Dickson Carr is smiling.”
Daniel Stashower, two-time Edgar-winner, and author of the Harry Houdini mysteries

“A real treat for mystery fans”

Ragnar Jonasson, bestselling author of the Dark Iceland series

An intricate, elegantly written ‘impossible’ crime that completely fooled me. Tom Mead is already a master of the art of misdirection.”

Peter Lovesey, international bestseller, CWA Diamond Dagger Award winner and MWA Grandmaster

“Both a splendid homage to the Golden age of impossible crimes and its great exponent John Dickson Carr and a witty reconstruction of the classic locked room mystery with tongue in cheek bravado and a gallery of attendant, endearing characters, Tom Mead’s debut is a sheer delight.”

Maxim Jakubowski, author, editor and CWA chairman                                      

 “An ingenious locked room mystery. This is a fiendishly clever puzzle wrapped in a beautiful, dark atmospheric story. Utterly captivating!”

Victoria Dowd, author of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder

“More red herrings than a North Sea trawler, suspects galore, a dearth of clues, a locked room, and no weapon. A classic ‘who?’ and ‘how?'”

Adrian Magson, author of the Inspector Lucas Rocco series

I Was Lucky To Attend The Jaipur Literature Festival, India 2023

 

I have been lucky to be invited to attend this year’s 16th Jaipur Literature Festival, India, an event that has been on my bucket list since 2012 and it did not disappoint. I would go far as saying that everyone should at least once in their lifetime, experience JLF in India. It is like Glastonbury for books, where authors are rock stars.

 

The Festival beautifully combines books with music, creating its own culture and vibe; and te city of Jaipur could not be more perfect for the setting for this Festival. Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajasthan, in India. Translated from Hindi, Rajasthan means ‘the land of kings’, and Jaipur, is defined by royalty. The 18th-century Maharaja Jai Singh designed the city to meet his every desire, with royal palaces, gardens and pavilions taking up almost a quarter of its footprint. Jaipur has kept its romantic atmosphere and regal air. The entire city was painted pink in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales and was refreshed to celebrate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and, later, Diana, Princess of Wales. Today, Jaipur’s prolific royal architecture is fiercely protected.

 

All these details matter and the Festival is colourful and vibrant. The talks are held in beautiful tents that billow in the gentle breeze, which adds to the atmosphere of romance and imagination. Each Festival morning started with Indian classical music to set the vibration of the day; and one morning there was a fusion of guitar with Indian sitar and tabla (drums) players, which was mystical and atmospheric.

The past decade has seen the Festival transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted nearly 2000 speakers and welcomed over a million book lovers from across India and the globe. Past speakers have ranged from Nobel Laureates J.M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk and Muhammad Yunus, Man Booker Prize winners Ben Okri, Margaret Atwood and Paul Beatty, Sahitya Akademi winners Girish Karnad, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, M.T. Vasudevan Nair as well as the late Mahasweta Devi and U.R. Ananthamurthy along with literary superstars including Amish Tripathi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Vikram Seth. An annual event that goes beyond literature, the Festival has also hosted Amartya Sen, Amitabh Bachchan, the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Fry, Thomas Piketty and former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.
The Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders, sports people, and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.

 

Be prepared to learn while you are at the Festival…it’s like being on a crash University course. Your brain is kept busy as you listen to authors. I learnt about the writings of the royal Indian courts and Mughals; about wellness and Ayurveda; Russia; Wedgewood poetry; the Himalayas; climate change and sustainability; cell systems; nurturing democracy and so much more. My list is endless.

This year at JLF, the organiers had a special message about climate change and spoke about the Festival’s commitment to be more sustainable, plastic free and to reduce its carbon footprint, through innovation and better practice. While I was there this message was carried through and you could see that the organisers and volunteers were serious about their endeavours.  The magic of the JLF is its serendipity, where you make new friends, find that you are staying in the same hotel as well-known international authors, sharing cabs with them…it’s a place that is a great leveller, and as I began this piece, it is an experience that everyone should have at least once their lifetime

 

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and all good things for the new year ahead!

Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations – Out In India

 

I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and now enjoying the time off before we hurl ourselves into 2023. I thought I would take this quiet moment of reflection between Christmas and the New Year to get around to updating everyone about my book, Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations, which was published in India on 23 November 2022 by Jaico Publishing.

You will immediately notice that the book has a different cover and is one that has been designed to suit the Indian market. I just love the way on the front cover, if you notice, the line that says ‘For sale in the Indian Subcontinent only’ – that to me, makes this my book extra special. On a personal note, to have my book published and sold here, is a fairy tale come true. I spent my teenage and young adult life in India, where we had books published by Jaico on our bookshelves. Never in my wildest dreams, did I think that one day, I too would have my book published by the highly regarded publishing house.

I wanted to make this edition of the book special, and I decided to include three new interviews with business leaders that will be of interest to the market here. One interview is with an award-winning luxury British Ayurvedic wellbeing brand that has a strong Indian heritage; the other is with one’s of France’s influential ESG and CSR thought leaders and activists, who has worked in India, and the third interview is with a multi-award-winning Indo-German sustainable fashion brand that is doing great things.

I could not be prouder to have my book published in India, a country that was the first in the world to implement a national CSR law in 2014. A region that is a superpower, and has the fifth largest economy in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. This means my book could not be timelier, because it is now vital for all national and international brands and businesses in India, to authentically commit to their CSR initiatives and build CSR into the heart of their brands and business strategies, and my book explains how to do this with purpose.

The Indian Government has started to raise consumer awareness, with its efforts toward reducing the country’s carbon footprint. Currently, India is the world’s third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after the US and China. According to an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and PricewaterhouseCoopers International report, landfills are brimming with so much urban waste that by 2050, India is going to need a landfill that’s the size of its capital, New Delhi. Indian consumers aren’t ignoring these horrifying numbers anymore.

More and more consumers are becoming aware of their choices and realising that whether it is clothes that they decide to throw away, nothing ever really goes ‘away’, it all ends up in a landfill. Human activities are clearly harming the global environment and brands have no choice but to migrate to sustainable solutions and work towards building a circular economy. Information is not only to educate people about environmental issues but also to guide them on how they can make a difference every step of the way.

In October 2022, PM Modi launched Mission LiFE movement (Lifestyle for the Environment), which is an India-led global mass movement that will nudge individual and collective action to protect and preserve the environment. PM Modi said the mantra of Mission LiFE is ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ and “Connects the powers of the people for the protection of this earth and teaches them to utilize it in a better way. Mission LiFE makes the fight against climate change democratic, in which everyone can contribute within their capacity. It inspires us to do all that can be done in our everyday life to protect the environment…and that the environment can be protected by making changes in our lifestyle.”

PM Modi added that the mission emboldens the spirit of the P3 model, Pro Planet People, uniting the people of the earth as pro planet people, uniting them all in their thoughts. It functions on the basic principles of ‘Lifestyle of the planet, for the planet and by the planet’…making my book both timely and relevant to the Indian market. Jai Hind!

 

Newspaper Front Page Stories, October 2022 With Links To The Climate Crisis

 

 

In light of COP27 happening this week, this photo above is striking and shows the newspaper front page stories in October 2022 with links to climate change and climate risks, from the Media and Climate Observatory (MECCO) Monthly Summaries. The work of MECCO is to monitor media coverage of themes associated with climate change and global warming, as there are no comparable monitoring services for news coverage of climate change or global warming.

MECCO reports that October media coverage of climate change or global warming in newspapers around the globe dipped five percent from September 2022 and 37 percent from September 2021 levels. MECCO’s analysis also shows that coverage in international wire services decreased 15 percent, as radio coverage rose 21 percent from September 2022. Compared to the previous month, coverage decreased in the European Union (EU) (-4%), Asia (-6%), Oceania (-6%), the Middle East (-7%) and North America (-11%).

What is apparent from this data, is that when it comes to news about this topic, media outlets often struggle to gain audience attention. The climate crisis story can seem intractable, depressing, and often difficult to understand. It is also frequently politicised, with audiences polarised on the topic.

However, the following data from MECCO is insightful, showing coverage was up from the previous month in Africa (+14%), and Latin America (+19%), revealing that interest in climate change news is highest in these regions, and this is probably because the countries here have witnessed extreme weather events linked to the climate crisis. Where Chile continues to suffer from severe drought, which has made climate change ‘easy to see’, while this year every part of the African continent was affected by extreme weather events, ranging from wildfires in Algeria to catastrophic flooding in South Africa. It may be that audiences are more interested in news about the topic when they are not so polarised and can clearly see the negative effects of extreme weather where they live.

This data clearly shows that while the climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges for humanity right now, it is not always front-page news. Audiences appear to be more interested in and pay more attention to climate change news in places where the negative effects are felt more acutely. But it is too late if audiences only pay attention once disasters have already struck!

The challenge is how newsrooms continue to cover the issue in a way that draws attention to the causes and decisions that lead to disasters, not just the disasters themselves.

Are there other ways journalists can take to make climate change stories feel more relevant? Perhaps environmental documentaries are the way forward, which have wide appeal and provide clear and engaging stories. Afterall, we are the ‘age of the visual’, with video becoming increasing popular on social media. These visual narratives help audiences connect with what is a very large and sometimes abstract story – while not necessarily being ‘political’. A good example of this is the BBC’s very successful Blue Planet series with Sir David Attenborough and according to the Sunday Times, so many Chinese viewers downloaded Blue Planet II “that it temporarily slowed down the country’s internet”.

As a public relations professional, who knows only too well about the power of storytelling, I believe it all comes down to this…there is always room for better storytelling about the climate crisis.

 

BBC MasterChef Host Greg Wallace Presents This Year’s Curry Award

I have been working on the Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA) curry awards since 2017 and each year the competition becomes fiercer and the actual night more glamorous. This year the awards night was held on 30 October 2022 and is now in its 16th year, where this special event announces the regional winners of its prestigious Chef and Restaurant of the Year Awards and celebrates their success as a community.

This year, industry expert and celebrity Greg Wallace, MBE, and Tasmin Lucia-Khan were the hosts of the night, which took place at the Park Plaza, London. The theme for the awards was – ‘Celebrating Success & Inspiring Others’, a theme that is close to the heart and mission of BCA.

There were seven regional chef winners, three takeaways who won ‘Takeaway of the Year’ and ten winning restaurants, with a new category for ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’, which was won by Pach Bhai, in Whitechapel, London. Each winner was chosen from hundreds of outstanding entrants and was judged on their innovation, presentation of food, hygiene standards, and customer service.

These awards celebrate the success of local restaurants, who are critical in keeping local communities thriving and crucially the very best of the Bangladeshi curry industry, shining a light on great local curry houses that are creating some of the best experiences on the high street. All the winners are not just inspiring this industry, they are keeping the legacy of British curry alive and show the best of what our curry houses have to offer.

Times have been tough for the hospitality industry in recent years. They battled the global pandemic, and lockdowns and are now facing their biggest challenge with the cost-of-living crisis. Confidence of this sector has tumbled, and times are tough. These uncertainties are impacting Britain’s curry industry and unless costs come under control, many curry restaurants will go under, and sadly many jobs will be lost.

Sadly, the great British tikka masala – the nation’s favourite dish – is under threat as never before and the curry industry is being hit by cost increases in everything from gas to spices, vegetable oil to mango chutney. Pre-pandemic, the UK’s curry industry contributed £4.2 billion to the national economy and now during these uncertain times, BCA seeks to unlock this industry’s full potential once again, as one of the biggest engines for growth in the UK economy.

This is an organization that believes in community, where together with its 12,000 members it can make a difference. So, if you are reading this, do try to support your local curry house, if you can.

 

Good Bye Fair Queen

On Friday 16 September at exactly at 9.43 pm we joined the queue to pay our respects to the Queen and 13 hours later we were able to do so. I know there are lots of mixed feelings about this time, but this is a story of my journey. It was a pilgrimage, we did not sit and it was long, hard, and very cold, especially along the river.

 

We met different people along the way, Mary from Ware, someone from Southampton, and Daniel the train driver. There was an elderly gentleman with a walking frame and his wife. We were all held outside the Tate Modern for over an hour. There was no complaining or grumbling. We all just waited.

 

We saw the London skyline in different lights – night-time, dawn, and early morning.

 

The queue was respectful and solemn throughout. That in itself was extraordinary.

 

The final legs of the journey were the tests of endurance…it’s called the Zig Zag as you enter Westminster Gardens, but I have heard it called the Death Snake, which is more apt as your back has seized by then. Everyone was shuffling, young and old with sore backs. I kept thinking of the elderly gentleman with the frame and tried not to complain.

 

Then as you finish the Death Snake, everything happens so fast, the security checks, the policemen checking your bags. I suddenly don’t feel ready. You are climbing the steps into Palace where the Queen is resting and it’s beyond anything you will ever see. The quietness is almost heavenly.

 

While the Hall is bathed in this bright, golden light, I can’t help thinking about how cold the walls look. Everything is a leveler in death.

 

I take in the Beefeaters, the Foot Guards, and find that I am walking on red carpet. The crown is dazzling…and the coffin seems so small.

 

Then I am there…so many thoughts flying in my head, and I remember to say Thank You. I bow my head, overcome with emotion. Grief has many triggers.

 

I spent the rest of the Saturday, processing it all. I can’t believe we did it. And yes I would do it all over again.

 

On Monday 19 September, it was the final chapter and the day of the funeral. We went to the Mall to pay our last respects to the Queen, as she left Westminster Abbey for her final journey to Windsor. This was a day not about queues but about crowds, where throngs of people gathered. We were a congregation.

 

The funeral service was broadcast onto the Mall by radio from Westminster Abbey and people shared their phones so we could also watch, as not everyone had phone service. It reminded me of people who said that when they watched the Queen’s coronation, they were huddled around a small tv.

 

It was all glorious and sad. The crowd sang God Save The King.

 

It will be a long time before we have a Queen again, Kings are now before us.

 

The Lionesses Inspiring Us All

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a moment for women’s football in this country, what a moment for women’s football globally, what a moment for women’s sport, and what a moment for women everywhere. There is only one story right now. The England women’s national football team, also known as the Lionesses, did it last night and brought football home, securing the nation’s first major trophy since 1966. Captain Leah Williamson said she believes the win has inspired “change of the best kind”, while the Queen hailed their historic win “an inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations”.

Last night change happened in real-time and this win is also about purpose, equality, and equal pay for equal work, which all come under the umbrella of corporate social responsibility. The Women’s Super League (WSL), English football’s top domestic competition, is one of the most competitive and professional in world football, however, the salary in the WSL can be as low as £20,000 per year in some cases. The average yearly salary in the WSL is said to be £30,000. Some players are even being reportedly “priced out” of playing professional football due to the low starting wage and lack of opportunities.

England right-back Lucy Bronze, considered one of the best players in world football, makes an estimated £200,000 a year from club football and has signed endorsement deals with brands like Pepsi, EE, and Visa. She is set to join Barcelona after her Manchester City contract expired over the summer. While Gareth Bale was reportedly paid up to £600,000 a week while at Real Madrid; six-figure weekly wages are commonplace among the elite men’s players. The highest-paid male footballer according to Forbes, is Lionel Messi, who earns £62million per year before endorsements. There is clearly a wage gap when compared with men’s footballers.

Former England international and BBC pundit Alex Scott reprimanded Premier League clubs who refused to host women’s Euros matches this summer and explained live on-air after BBC One’s full-time coverage how difficult it had been to convince men’s Premier League clubs to agree to host matches when the competition was being planned back in 2018.

She said, ‘Let’s just remind as well, back in 2018 we were begging people [Premier League clubs] to host games in their stadiums for these Euros and so many said no’ and powerfully added, ‘I hope you’re all looking at yourselves right now because you weren’t brave enough to see the vision… I’m not standing up at corporate events in front of sponsors anymore begging for them to get involved in the women’s game, because you know what? If you’re not involved, you’ve missed the boat, you’ve missed the train. Because look at this… it has finally left the station and it is gathering speed.’

Over the next few days, we will see brands and football clubs climbing on the bandwagon, wanting to be part of the Lionesses’ success and the sudden success of women’s football. While these deals will be welcome because they will make a difference to the sport and the players, as the investment will be needed to keep the momentum going, a lot of it will be corporate publicity spin and hype.

Many will be getting on board only for the PR and not because of passion, belief, or real purpose. These types of brands and sponsors won’t stay the course, because they will be using women’s football as a fix, to push out their brand and make themselves look good. Especially, if these corporates have internal challenges and do not have enough diversity or inclusivity within their own organizations, they will be called out for greenwashing.

 

 

 

 

Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations

A reminder of why this book is important and relevant to your business, and your work.