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In Conversation With: Celebrated Fashion Designer, Rina Dhaka on 23 August, 6pm to 8pm

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Calling all fashion lovers on 23 August, from 6 pm to 8 pm, I will be in conversation with the celebrated and much-loved designer, Rina Dhaka who the BBC has called the ‘Gautier’ of the East. Rina has dressed Naomi Campbell, Uma Thurman, and many more…she is known for her combinations of traditional Indian fashions with modern fabrics like Lycra and jersey, bridging traditional rich and contemporary styles in her fashion collections.

At India Fashion Week, her work was recognized as the best collection in Milan! Rina Dhaka entered the Indian fashion scene in the 1980s and since then her work has represented India globally in France and Germany and been exhibited in New York, London, and too many cities to mention; she won the best designer award in Miami Fashion Week 2004.

My favourite bit is that Rina has created collections which focus on sustainability as the way forward in fashion and is a PETA India Ambassador. Collaborating with the NGO Smile and Honour, Rina has dedicated profits from her Indian Couture Week show to their operations in raising awareness for girl child empowerment.

This is a Bridge India event, an influential think tank, whose events are always a relaxed affair. On 23 August I will be chatting with Rina about her career, what inspires her, discovering her epic global journey of Indian fashion and there will be an opportunity for the audience to ask their own questions.

My other favourite bit is that after the session, we will have time for drinks, snacks, and networking. Click to book

One more thing is that the venue is the famous, eccentric, and much loved The India Club, 143 Strand, London, so if you have not been here yet, you have been missing out.

Values20 India – Official Communiqué

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 I am very proud to have been part of the V20 India and to have edited the official Communiqué of the V20 India 2023, which provides a comprehensive summary of the key recommendations of all three task forces, where climate change and sustainability had big roles throughout this report.

The V20 India Summit was held on July 7th and 8th and received resounding acclaim as it placed a significant emphasis on Values, encapsulating the shared objective of forging a brighter future. The V20’s unwavering commitment is to #LEADwithValues and is its driving force.

The Communiqué was recognised by the United Nations in India, acknowledging the significance of the V20 India Summit in the global arena. Mr. Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator, India, placed value on the work of the V20 India and highlighted India’s growing role as a provider of development solutions on the global stage, considering India’s presidency of the G20.

To view the full Communiqué you can see it by clicking here. Enjoy the read!

Talking Points With Keith Vaz

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I had great fun speaking with Keith Vaz on his radio show, Talking Points on Lyca Radio, who is a wonderful warm host, who keeps his guests on their toes. We talked about lots of things from brands, PR, my book, Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations, Donald Trump, speech writing, and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

If you want to listen to the show, you can catch it here and you will also find out what’s my favourite Bollywood film song and why…

On World Book Day, At The World Book Fair 2023

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Nothing, and let me say again, nothing gives an author more joy than seeing their book being read, being with book lovers, on bookshelves, and being at book fairs. So, this photo received today, sent by my publisher was special and they have been making sure the book got all the spotlight it deserves at the World Book Fair happening in Delhi this week, which ends on 5 March.

This book has its own energy, it makes things happen and can be bought on Amazon UK and Amazon India.

This is the 31st edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which began on February 25 and has been organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) in collaboration with the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The event has invited France as its guest of honour and will be attended by a total of 16 French authors, including Annie Ernaux, the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature winner.

This year’s theme of the Fair is based on Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its people, culture, and achievements.

NDWBF was first held in 1972 after it was inaugurated by the then-President of India VV Giri.  Today, it’s one of the biggest literary events in the world with a total footfall of over two million people.

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

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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

 

Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations – Out In India

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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!

 

Elena Fernandes, The Supermodel Who Works To Fund Her Charity Work

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I don’t always get time to write about the things I am up to and the people I meet, but I could not let this event I did for Bridge India, slip by, when I interviewed, supermodel, actress, social media influencer and philanthropist Elena Fernandes. Why? Well, it wasn’t just because Elena so charming to interview, but completely candid, interesting, and thought-provoking. The evening, Elena inspired us all in the room with her heart and passion.

Elena was born in London to a Peruvian mother and Indian father. She still lives in London, and today is a globe trotter, working out of London, Dubai, Mumbai, and New York. Elena’s impressive career started with a 12-page editorial for Vogue India, has graced the front covers of big magazines from Vogue, GQ, and Harper’s Bazaar and has been featured in advertising campaigns for well-known brands such as Adidas. Elena is leading the life, that some of us probably dream of – walking the red carpet, attending the British Fashion Awards, Cannes Film Festival, as well as the fashion week schedule.

And there’s something for Bollywood lovers too, Elena has a flourishing film and tv career, with her first role was with Dharma Productions’ “Kapoor & Sons” and has since starred in Housefull 4 and Jawaani Jaaneman. Her starring role in ‘Cheat India’ was well received and is currently in talks to appear in multiple big budget film projects in India and abroad.

Elena has beauty and brains, holding a Law degree from Kings College, University of London, and is very proud of her philanthropic work.

One of the things that struck me about Elena before I got to meet her, was all the different roles that she had, which got me thinking…most of us think when we are growing up that we want to be a lawyer, a teacher, a nurse, doctor – it’s just one thing. I was curious and my first question to Elena was “when you were growing up, did you say, I want to be whatever I want to be?” and her answer was “Yes”, she explained that she believed that we all can be who and what we want to be, irrespective of what age we are, and that we are constantly evolving.

My interview with Elena criss-crossed a whole host of topics from the challenges she has faced to her proudest moment, and what it was like working in Bollywood. We also chatted about whether the modelling industry has really changed to be inclusive and diverse. My takeaway is that colour still matters and while there has been some shift in thinking, a real change of mindset is needed for inclusivity and diversity to become normalised in this fickle industry.

I really wanted to explore Elena’s philanthropic work, which is very important to her, and she has set-up your own charity, iAmChange, which looks after stray animals in India. Elena’s passion really comes through when she talks about her charity work and the causes close to her heart. She told us that she worked to fund her charity work and causes. That’s what drives her.

I wanted to know who was inspiring Elena right now and I loved her answer, it was fresh and honest, it was a simple, “Me.” It was pure. It made me realise we should all be able to say that, but we don’t allow ourselves to acknowledge how far we have come, what we have done or the wins that we have had in our lives.

The final bit of wisdom that Elena gave us is if people try to put you down, question your dreams, your success, or just give you any negativity, “Remember it is their problem, not yours.”

 

Nari Tu Narayani

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On 5 June from 3pm to 4pm on Sky TV channel, 711, I will be on this programme called, Nari Tu Narayani (which means woman you are a Goddess) discussing aid to India during this devastating second wave. I will be representing Bridge India, a charity that has been doing critical, humanitarian work in India right now – sending medical supplies, oxygen machines and food parcels.

These efforts are still continuing, as this second wave of the virus is far from over in this part of the world, and while India may have slipped off our national news agenda, the situation in India is still dire. Like many others, over recent weeks, I know of many people who have lost their lives…young, fit and healthy people.

I will be discussing the situation in India, what it means to us sitting here and the work of Bridge India.

Also on the show will be another panellist, Dr Renu Jainer and we will be hosted by journalist, Smita Sarkar, I hope you will tune in.

Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations: The Book Is Flying

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It is Spring, Easter has come and gone and here in the UK we are about to re-emerge from lockdown and suddenly, we have a lot to look forward to…time has flown and yes, it has taken me this long to write about all the wonderful and positive things that have happened and are happening for my new book, Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations

 The Launch

I cannot believe that it has been a full month since the book had its official publication day on 18 February this year. Like everything that has been happening, the launch event was virtual, and on the day we had just over 100 people join from all over the world. It was great to see so much support for the book, which has continued. The book has been warmly received by both the media and the public.

Irish Tech News & Podcasts

Interest in the book has led to different opportunities and conversations, which includes me creating a special mini podcast series for the award winning, Irish Tech News. The first podcast from this series, launches this April. I have interviewed a mix of people, some of whom are in the book and some new voices, who are all talking about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the things that they are doing to create change and make impact.

The first podcast is now live and is with entrepreneur, Leigh Kathryn Bonner who is one of Forbes Under 30, who is behind her CSR led-business, ‘Bee Downtown.’

In this particular podcast, Leigh gives us an insight into bees, who we discover are one of Mother Nature’s best storytellers!

The other, Irish Tech News podcast interviews I have coming up, are with – a  new purposeful tea company; a clown who is helping to make children laugh in refugee camps; an expert on sustainable and ethical investments; an ethical fashion entrepreneur and more.

Publicity Received

The book has been featured on Reputation Today, who ran a few pieces; India CSR Network also showed the book a lot of love and ran four stories; Asian Voice Newspaper; India Global Business; Viewdigital; Digital Journal; Enfield Dispatch; and Irish Tech News did a podcast with me about the book, which led to the mini-series.

Coming Up

I also have a few interviews just around the corner, including being interviewed on other podcasts. In fact, I am looking forward to joining Books and Friends on 19 April.

The book launches in the US in May and there’s more exciting news to announce soon.

Gratitude

But, the most important thing right now is to thank everyone who has bought the book! Thank you!! As an author, there’s nothing like the thrill of knowing someone is reading ‘your book.’

 

Little Bit Of More Book Love For The PR Knowledge Book

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I was delighted to see this unexpected book review for  – The PR Knowledge Book from Rusen Kumar, founder and managing editor of India CSR Network, India’s largest ethical news platform. Rusen is a respected media mogul in India and well-known in the areas of social entrepreneurship, social journalism and social-economic development.

Rusen has been at the forefront in driving change for not only the vulnerable people in society, but also getting corporates to act differently in India.

You can read his full review here and am hugely grateful for all his support.