GoanBeing
Bina Nayak
June Biswas
The wanderer who “wants it all!”
Colin D’Cruz
Spearheading the Jazz movement in Goa
Heena shah
A mechanical engineer who doubles up as a blogger, a traveller and a teacher of the Japanese language.
Dr.
A Holistic Health Expert and the Founder of Plant Walks Goa
An award winning graphic designer with more than 30 years of experience How
Marilyn
Lydia Pinto
Making Teenagers “Smarter, Richer and Braver”
Geeta Hegde Goa s Queen of Glamour
Jason Almeida
A Goan entrepreneur and the inventor of RAZE
Editorial
Hello Readers,
As you all know, ItsGoa has successfully launched two e-magazines, ItsGoa - Being Goan and ItsGoa - Eat and Stay. We are proud to announce the launch of yet another e-magazine - ItsGoa- The Goan Tycoon. Our endeavour is to showcase the hidden talent of people in Goa, locals or diaspora including all those who love Goa and are contributing to its growth in one way or another.
It's the month of June, the half-year mark already! Schools are ready to reopen after the long gap of lockdown due to the Covid pandemic while children and parents can be seen running helter-skelter for admissions. In Goa, this is a very busy time. Everyone is busy preparing themselves for the monsoons ahead. The practice of ‘Purument’ (storing) is still prevalent like in olden times, though markets are fully functional and everything is freely available. Except that the prices of certain commodities like tamarind, local varieties of red chillies, coconuts, local red rice, ‘bhinda sola’ or kokum, palm vinegar - all important ingredients in Goan cuisine, soar during the monsoons. These items are freshly available in May.
Therefore, it is imperative for the locals to buy and stock up before the rainy season. In many villages, the ‘Purumentachem Fest’ is celebrated, where locals from all over Goa gather with their produce to sell. One of the items to look out for is freshly dried fish, a highly sought-after item by the locals, as 'choice' local fish is hard to come by. Therefore, tourists and locals can be seen clamouring to get hold of some to stock up.
At this time, having local contacts helps, especially when it comes to stocking up on the two most important items on every Goan’s listUrak and Feni, the aphrodisiacal local brew, distilled from the cashew apple and widely available in Goa.
Urak is the first distillation and then comes Feni. While Urak is said to have cooling properties and is best during the hot summer months, its sibling Feni is known to be ‘heaty’ and therefore enjoyed when the weather starts to cool down a bit, especially during the monsoons. Urak and Feni are known for their medicinal properties, especially for loss of appetite, stomach pain and cold. Urak can be enjoyed as a shot, gulped down, or drunk in the form of a cocktail with soda, lemon, a dash of salt and a big slit green chilly. Feni on the other hand is stronger on the palate and is best enjoyed with a little Limca and soda. Beware of the hit while drinking, it’s sudden and hard.
So cheers everyone! Enjoy the ‘Purument’ and while you sip on that distilled cashew juice, enjoy reading our e-magazines or browse through our website ItsGoa.com. There is always something for everyone.
Jessyl FernandezGet in touch:
Nordic Intent HQ, Lane 4, PDA Colony, Near Le Magnifique, Bardez Goa – 403521 +91-9765419976 mail@itsgoa.com
Index
01 Colin D’Cruz
02 June Biswas
03 Bina Nayak
04 Marilyn Lydia Pinto
05 Geeta Hegde
06 Heena Shah
07 Jason Almeida
08 Nitisha Pandit
09 Dr. Maryanne Lobo
Introduction
Goa, the tiniest state on the western coast of India, boasts golden pristine beaches, palmfringed avenues, flavourful food, delicious Portuguese-influenced sweets, and warm, hospitable people. Also known as the Ibiza of India for its partying. A tropical paradise of flora and fauna, from the very famous 'almi' (mushrooms) endemic to its forests, that grow only on the red mud anthills, to the solar prawns that are fished immediately after the monsoons, Goa is unique. Tourists are also attracted to Goa for its cultural heritage - from the famous old Portuguese churches like Se Cathedral in Old Goa, the 16th Century Safa Masjid in Ponda and Shree Mangesha Temple in Mardol, the legendary Arvalem or Pandava Caves where the Pandavas of the Mahabharat fame lived, to its two unique festivals - Carnival and Shigmo. Goa plays host to many festivals - the International Film Festival of India that promotes cinema, the Serendipity Art Festival, Sunburn Music Festival, The Grape Escapade to name a few. To showcase this varied heritage of culture, art, tradition, food, and people, in 2015 ItsGoa was born. The main aim was to make it the premier portal for all things Goa.
We were able to showcase Goa like never before. Soon our blog-based website transcended the virtual space, with the ItsGoa magazine a sought-after resource for visitors to Goa from countries like Norway, Germany, UK, USA, UAE, etc. The Covid Pandemic in 2020 brought everything to a standstill and printing of the magazine was put on hold. Now that life is almost back to normal in Goa, and to maintain the covid norms, we have decided to launch our very own ItsGoa magazine online.
A little about our Magazine
Think of Goa! Think ItsGoa! Our magazine is known for its business listings of basically anything and everything found in Goa. We also produce uniquely written articles in regard to Goa. Some of these folk tales you quite literally will not find anywhere else on the net. These rich in content stories are passed down from generation to generation in the villages of golden Goa. We also provide up-to-date news and information on travel, food, and events that are taking place in this beautiful State of Goa. The content on ItsGoa is written by people who are passionate about calling this tiny state their home. The ItsGoa magazine is a single point of reference for news, lifestyle, and culture in Goa.
Colin D’Cruz is a very popular name in the music industry in India. Having started off playing for resident bands at various hotels in Mumbai in the mid-70s, Colin has enjoyed a glorious career that has seen him work with many popular musicians including Sonu Nigam, Asha Bhonsle and Shubha Mudgal. He is also the founder of Jazz Goa, a nonprofit organisation based in Sangolda which works to promote Indian Jazz talent from Goa, across India and around the world.
In a brief chat with our staff writer Steve Antao, Colin shared a few insights into his childhood, his musical career, famous musicians whom he has worked with, and lots more…
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born and brought up in Mumbai. My ancestral home is in Thivim. I moved to Goa only in the year 2008 with one big regret, I should have moved earlier.
What was your childhood ambition?
I really don’t remember having any ambition as a child, or as an adult for that matter. In fact, I still don’t have any ambition.
I landed up becoming a musician simply by following my passion and not an ambition. Music took me around the world to places I couldn’t imagine visiting as a child. So it wasn’t any dream or ambition. I simply loved music and decided to spend my life playing music.
As a child, who were the artists whose music you grew up listening to?
My first unforgettable memory as a toddler was hearing a live band perform at some event my parents took me to. I clearly remember it as a magical moment. That moment stayed in my subconscious mind and could probably be the reason why I chose music. I clearly remember a Glen Miller big band record called ‘In The Mood’ playing at home. It literally put me in the mood for jazz!
When did you start to learn the guitar? Is there any particular person whom you credit with introducing you to music?
I always wanted to play the guitar as a child but got hold of one only in my teens. The moment I got one, I started picking out melodies before learning how to
tune it. They may have been strange melodies, but they were melodies. A little later, I got together with a few of my school friends to form a band and hoped to make it big like 'The Beatles'. From the response we got from our neighbours, it looked like we would get beaten up before getting anywhere near ‘The Beatles’. Once I decided to play professionally, I got hold of some books that taught me the rudiments. I used to play along with records and cassettes, picking out the bass lines of my favourite bass players by ear. Then came music videos and I promptly started imitating the stance and facial expressions of the artists whom I liked. Seriously though, most of my learning came from listening to music.
Give us a detailed insight into your journey as a professional jazz musician.
It was like the best way to learn how to swim. I was thrown into the deep end. I began playing professionally in the mid-seventies on hotel resident band contracts. In those days, most five star hotels in Mumbai featured six to eight-piece bands, six nights a week and I suddenly found myself in one. These bands usually played ‘jazz standards’, which was the popular nightclub music of that time. To me, it was all ‘jazz’. I literally learnt to play the right notes by ear, simply because of the horrible look I got from fellow members when I hit a wrong note.
Within a few months, I learnt to ‘hear around the corner’ and play a decent bass line, even on songs I never heard before. In hindsight, I think that was the best possible ear training I got on the job. I always believed in myself and I think that helped me in a profession that can be cruel. There’s a saying “Show business is full of jealous backstabbers, cheaters and liars and that’s just the good side!” Anyway, I simply agree with the phrase “There’s no business like show business.” I love music and I love my work, whether it is performing, recording, curating, producing or simply encouraging our amazing young talent in Goa.
We have heard that you have worked with Sonu Nigam. How did Sonu Nigam discover you and how was your experience working with him? The Indian film industry artists usually appoint an ‘organiser’ who takes care of lining up the band. One of these organisers invited me to join Sonu’s band. I went for a rehearsal and met Sonu.
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famous singers and music directors from Bollywood whom you have met or worked with? I have performed with Asha Bhosle and Shubha Mudgal, who are two of India’s biggest music icons. We rehearsed with Asha’s band at her husband, the late musical genius R.D. Burman’s apartment. She showed us a harmonium on a table that Burman composed most of his songs on. It was left exactly in the same spot he had left it at before passing away. Shubha Mudgal was an unforgettable experience simply because of her simplicity even after scaling such great heights in the field of music. Carnatic singing legend Rama Mani also invited me to perform in her global fusion band called ‘Trimukhi’.
concert we played. It felt good to be a rock star, but then the tour ended and it was time to get my feet back on the ground again.
Finally, is there any message or words of advice that you would like to share with all our Goan youth, especially those aspiring to become musicians in the near future? My advice to local youth is to embrace technology by all means but make sure you hone your skill on a musical instrument or your vocal cords if you are a singer. There’s more to music than just pressing the ‘play’ button!
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June Biswas is an award winning blogger and Instagram influencer from Pune. Currently residing in Goa on the beautiful island of Divar, June has been the recipient of the “Most Stylish and Fabulous Blogger Award”. Her blog, “June Wants It All” (www.junewantsitall.com), has been featured in the 100 Best Indian Fashion Blogs and Websites list curated by Feedspot.
In a brief chat with Its Goa, June gave us an insight into her life, her career, her hobbies, her interests and much more…
Tell us about yourself...
My name is June. I was born in May (haha!). I hail from the beautiful city of Pune. My father served in the Indian army. As a result, due to him getting posted to different places during the course of his career, I have lived in different parts of India.
I hold an MBA degree in marketing and work in the field of digital marketing. I also work as an Instagram influencer and have been blogging since 2007. Travel, fashion and writing are my passions.
There are two sides to me - when I'm not obsessing about fashion and shopping, I'm a total geek (computer stuff, video games and reading crap). I have also worked in data analytics and enjoy going through large chunks of data! I am also a huge foodie and totally love cooking! I also harbour an immense love for horror films and video games.
I love travelling and am obsessed with beaches! I'm also a self-confessed party girl!
Your loved ones call you: Juney, Juno, Juna, Gina. It's a long list!
You live in Goa at: Divar Island
What was that one moment that changed everything?
I won a blogging contest for Indian fashion bloggers back in 2013 which took me on an all-expenses-paid trip to Dubai. It was an amazing experience and made me realize that my hobby and passion for blogging was taking me places!
Any funny/inspiring childhood story or memory you want to share that shaped your life. I've actually had a very interesting childhood, thanks to my dad's postings. I've stayed in some very beautiful places across the country like Siliguri near Darjeeling and Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. These places had a lot of wildlife, forests and mountains. So, I got to witness a lot of nature while growing up. Coupled with this, my parents are very fond of travelling too. So we used to go on trips quite often. And I guess that's where my love for nature and travelling comes from.
Who are your role models? The ones you seek inspiration from?
Surprisingly no one! I've never been a fan girl or the kind of person to have a role model.
What role did family and friends play? Any stories of support you recall?
My friends and family have always been very supportive and encouraging. They have been with me through my evolution from a blogger who used to only write to a fashion and beauty influencer which got me in front of the camera and my present situation as a travel content creator, where I also shoot and direct my own content.
What advice would you give yourself if you went back in time?
Nothing really. I've always been a happy-go-lucky person and have enjoyed my journey.
Anyone from the past or present you'd want to meet? Why? No one as of now!
What's the biggest challenge when pursuing this full time?
One of the challenges I face is coming up with creative content ideas and concepts. Another major challenge which I face is the fact that travelling frequently is an exhausting and expensive affair.
What is the legacy you want to leave behind? Any advice for your followers...
Always be kind and help others in any way that you can.
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Bina Nayak is a graphic designer and communications specialist with more than 30 years of experience in the world of advertising and media. She was born and brought up in Mumbai to Goan parents. Growing up in Andheri West, Bina did her schooling at St Louis Convent and then went on to complete a 5 year degree course in Applied Art at Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai.
How Bina’s passion unfolded
As a child, Bina loved to draw, swim, read and write (in exactly that order she confirms!). Drawing came naturally to Bina. She was the school artist, and early success in drawing competitions like winning the Silver at Shankar’s International Children’s Drawing Competition made it clear to her, what her life path should be. At the same time, she was fascinated by the world of films and advertising. As a teenager growing up in the 80’s, she was exposed to the world of MTV, music videos, ads, photography, fashion and media. Also, Bombay was (and still is) the hub of the advertising and media world in India. At that time, it became very clear to her that she wanted to be in advertising. Drawing and painting was a talent she would continue to nurture on the side but she wanted to be a communicator above all.
Her journey as a graphic designer and communications specialist
Bina started off her career in advertising in 1991 as a trainee visualizer at Speer Communications in Colaba. It was a mid-size ad agency that worked with national and international brands like Monginis, Voltas, Levi’s Jeans, Tata Press, Borosil, ABB, Singer Sewing Machines etc.
After this, Bina joined Mudra DDB-Needham where she designed advertisements for companies like Hong Kong Bank, Hutchison Max mobile (now Vodafone), Lupin Pharma, Pfizer, BSA SLR bicycles, Nutrine Biscuits, Reynolds Pens, etc.
Bina then worked at Chaitra Leo Burnett where she oversaw the ad campaigns for the launch of Coca Cola, the relaunch and rebranding of Thums Up and Limca, ad campaigns for Penzoil, Fiat cars etc.
During her stint at Ogilvy and Mather, she worked on ads for brands like Unilever (Lakme, Ponds, Aviance), Globus Fashions, ICICI Bank, Mattel (Barbie, Funskool and Hotwheels), Kotex etc. She bagged a Clio award for a newspaper ad she had done for Lakme.
Goa Calling
After spending so many years working in Mumbai, Bina suddenly felt a desire to return to her home state. So in 2003, Bina packed her bags and moved to Goa where she met a wonderful individual - Keith Fernandes of Slip Disc Advertising. This was the start of a friendship that has held strong from 2003 till date. Currently, Bina is the Consultant Creative Director for Slip Disc Advertising. Her first assignment for Slip Disc was “Battle of the Bands”. This, she thought, was a test to prove her skills. She has been organizing this event for the last 15 years. Bina says she did some crazy advertising for the event with newspaper write ups and innovative advertorials. All the newspapers in Goa were very supportive and put up with all her creative shenanigans! Her biggest joy was to meet the late Nandu Bhende while organising one of the editions of “Battle of the Bands”. Nandu Bhende had jammed with Led Zeppelin in the 70’s when they visited Bombay and played at “The Slip Disc” club in Colaba. Nandu had once left a comment on the SlipDisc Advertising Facebook page saying that he was a big fan of “Battle of the Bands”. They had come full circle!
The late Mr. Manohar Parrikar would also frequent their rock show “Battle of the Bands” to connect with the youth. In Goa, Bina also worked with advertising associates of organizations like Chowgule’s Maruti Suzuki, Goa Tourism and the Goa Government. She also freelanced for Santa Fe Realty, Calizz and Club Paradiso (now defunct). Most of her work in Goa was local - as Goan businesses rarely advertise in national dailies or TV channels, with the exception of Goa Tourism (for which she managed to press ads for national magazines and newspapers) and Santa Fe Realty (Dreamwoods project in Navelim, which was advertised on national and airline magazines). Her last corporate job was at The Walt Disney Company’s Mumbai office in 2010 where she worked as the Head of the Design cell. The only difference was that Bina now worked on the client side and was in charge of the design and creativity for all of Disney India’s business verticals.
Some of the challenges Bina faced
In the first couple of months at her first job at Speer Communications, her immediate boss - a senior lady art director - went on maternity leave and all her work was assigned to Bina. The work that was given
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overworked and underpaid”, she says. He was appalled at the lack of systems in advertising (back then in the early 90s). “He even told me sarcastically that ‘with this kind of dedication, you would have found a cure for cancer if you were in some other field.’”
But Bina made him understand that this is how creative fields function, because creativity cannot be structured. Also, initially, ad agencies test their new employees in this manner so that only those who are
leaving early as all modes of transport would be full. She completed all her work and did the next day’s work as well. After that, she coolly left for home at 1 am by taking a cab from Colaba to Andheri (one of the joys of working late - after 10 pm cab fare was reimbursed. Also, Bombay is so beautiful and empty late at night). A curfew was in place. Advertising personnel often pass off as journalists or reporters. “Maybe we look and dress similarly!”, she says. The cops took one look at her and allowed her to pass at
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every barricade. She didn’t even have to show her ID!
“At every agency I worked at, I have been lucky to have had supportive bosses and colleagues. Also, many of my copywriter partners encouraged me to write just as I encouraged them to learn some design skills”, she says
Her most famous and memorable advertisement campaigns
Bina’s most memorable advertising campaigns which she worked on include Ponds’ press and TV ad campaigns, Globus Fashion’s press and billboard ads, Impulse Deo’s (international deo brand) launch in India , Fiat Uno’s launch in India. Limca re-launch and re-branding in India, and press and TV ad campaigns for Lakme.
Famous ad-gurus she worked with
During the course of her career, Bina worked with many stalwarts from India’s advertising industry including Piyush Pandey and Geeta Rao at Ogilvy, Late Nalesh Patil and Gangadharan Menon (Nalesh & Ganga) at Mudra DDB, KS Chakravarthy (Chax) and KV Sridhar (Pops), Agnelo Dias (Aggie) at Chaitra Leo Burnett, and Ronnie Screwala, Mahesh Samat and Mubina Ansari at The Walt Disney Company.
Venturing into the world of films and radio
Apart from graphic designing, Bina used to also write scripts for TV and radio. “Usually an art director’s role is to storyboard a film idea and oversee the film’s shoot. The main idea and script comes from the copywriter. Very few art directors get involved in radio spots” she says.
Early on in her first job, she did ad film campaigns for Tata Press Yellow pages. She also worked on promos for animated feature films produced by Disney like “The Jungle Book” and “El Dorado”, during her stint at Mudra Mumbai. When she was at Chaitra Leo Burnett, Coke would do one or two big ad films every year (brand films). They would also do several promo films every week (depending on brand tie-ups, sports events sponsored by them, summer promos, etc). Bina worked on many promo films for Coke, on the re-launch brand film for Limca and promo films for Penzoil.
While working for Ogilvy, Bina did brand films for brands like Lakme, Ponds, Impulse Deo spray, Kotex
and Barbie.
Bina moved to Goa when FM radio was just becoming big. She capitalized on her years of experience in radio while working for clients in Goa. “One major difference I found in Goa was that there were no recording studios doing radio spots (in different languages, with voice over artists etc). Yes, there were superb recording studios, but they were catering only to musicians who wished to record CDs”, she says. The FM radio stations would not only record the radio spot for the client/ ad agency - they would also do the script, and get their RJs to record the spot ad.
So, clients were used to briefing the radio channel directly. And for the price of radio time, they were getting radio scripts and recorded spots. “Of course, I doubt if the FM channel gave them that radio spot on a CD, or even did very creative spots”, she says. SlipDisc was probably the first agency in Goa to give creative radio scripts to radio channels, with specific instructions on how to record them, the kind of voices and accents to be used, etc. Bina did many radio spots in Konkani. In the early 2000’s, most of the radio spots on Goa’s radio channels were in English. The national ones, usually govt. schemes, were in Hindi, and they would sometimes give the Marathi version for Goa. “I started writing radio scripts in Konkani for local clients. Sometimes a mix of English and Konkani (Konklish) - how we all speak in Goa. We did a lot of these for our own show, ‘Battle of the Bands’. Soon, our other clients started requesting it” says Bina.
Famous celebrities she worked with
During her stint in the world of films and radio, Bina worked with celebrities like Lisa Ray, Rachel Rubens, Nethra Raghuraman, Mugdha Godse, Shonali Rozario. Vinod Kambli, Malaika Arora, Vidya Malwade and VJ Keith Sequeira. She also got an opportunity to work with directors like Atul Kasbekar and Pradeep Sarkar.
Bina, the writer Bina’s passion for writing did not come up all of a sudden. Says Bina, “I was always into writing. In whichever agency I’ve worked in, I was known as the art director who also writes. I would write the copy for ads that I designed, scripts for films and radio ads,
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content for brochures, etc. In my leisure time, I would write short stories. Some would get published while some would stay in my computer’s folders!”, she adds. Bina was inspired to write her book “Starfish Pickle” after Arundhati Roy published “God Of Small Things”. Even before that, Bina was an avid reader of books in English written by Indian as well as international authors. “I knew I would write a book someday. And after Arundhati got published, it suddenly seemed very possible. Here she was, telling a story based in a small South Indian village, and she was not a trained writer - She had studied architecture. I have followed her work since her acting and script writing days” says Bina. When asked whether she has any plans to start an academy where she can teach and mentor aspiring students in Goa who are interested in making it big in
the field of media and advertising, Bina replied that she doesn’t have such kind of plans as of now. “I don’t think I’ll make a good teacher!”, she says. “Also being an introvert, I get tired of engaging all the time with people. I can manage it for short periods, but otherwise I like to be left alone to do my writing or my art. And while there have been offers to start academies, I have declined. I am first and foremost a creative person. I am still learning myself. I can do one-on-one mentoring, but I don’t have the patience to take on a full class!”, she adds.
The other side of Bina Nayak
When she is not designing ads or writing scripts, Bina spends her time enjoying adventure sports, especially water sports and trekking. She is also very fond of animals.
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Marilyn Pinto is the founder of Kids Finance Initiative (KFI), an organization based in the UAE, which has been educating kids and teenagers for the past 5 years about the importance of proper management of their personal finances. More than 5,500 students have gone through the KFI financial empowerment programme and are setting themselves up for a financially secure future.
Marilyn works with some of the most respected educational and financial institutions to bring this critical education to more teens across the world. She is on a mission to empower more teenagers with this skill because she believes this will help them step up, stand out and live life on their own terms. Recently, Marilyn released her book “Smarter, Richer, Braver - Unleash the power of financial education and turbocharge your teen’s future.” The book aims to enlighten parents about the importance of making their teenage children financially literate, the importance of inculcating good financial habits in their teens from a very young age and what they can do to empower their teens to take control of their finances and make wise decisions about how to use their money when they grow up.
In a brief tete-a-tete with our staff writer Steve Antao, Marilyn shared some insights into her life, the journey of the Kids Finance Initiative, her book “Smarter, Richer, Braver”, and much more…
Tell us a little bit about yourself (where are you from, where did you do your schooling and your higher studies, the initial phases of your career, etc.)
I am from Panjim. I was born in Kuwait where I did my primary schooling. I then returned to Goa to do my secondary schooling at Mary Immaculate Girls High School. After completing my higher secondary education in science at Dhempe College, Panjim, I pursued my B.Sc in Biochemistry at St. Xavier’s College in Mapusa. My first job was at AT&T where I worked for close to 4 years after which I joined Coca-Cola in Pune. I worked there for a year and then went to the UK to pursue my MBA from the prestigious London School of Commerce
When did you migrate to the UAE?
Almost 20 years ago. I wanted to stay here for a couple of years only, but this place really grows on you.
What inspired you to start the Kids Finance Initiative?
That’s easy… My kids! I didn’t start this company because I noticed a gap in the market. I started it because I noticed a gap (more like a deep gaping hole) in my then eight- and ten-yearold daughters’ understanding of money. While they were both academically brilliant, they were clueless about money, and this problem wasn’t specific to them. Everybody else’s kids seemed to have the same issue. I didn’t intend to start a company. I just wanted to enrol my kids in a programme that taught them about money in a thoughtful, holistic and intelligent way. There wasn’t one back then. I knew what I wanted, and every programme I looked into came up way short. There seemed to be a lot of half-hearted and shortsighted attempts to bring about change in this domain, but those petered out quickly due to many reasons, chief among them being a lack of proper understanding of the underlying problem and an unimaginative way of trying to fix it.
Just telling teens what to do made little difference if they didn’t properly grasp how important this was and how this would drastically affect their lives. Many of the financial education programmes available back then were deeply flawed too, at least with respect to garnering interest from teenagers. All of this was just the tip of the iceberg that I was heading towards at full steam.
That’s how and why I started KFI. It’s a labour of love, created not just for my kids but for any kid who’d like to be financially empowered.
Take us through the journey of KFI, from its inception till today.
KFI started almost 5 years ago. And it has evolved so much in every way; in what we teach, how we teach and even who we teach.
We started with a focus on 8 to 10-year-old kids, but today we teach students ranging from 10 years to 24 years of age. We started with students in the UAE but today, we have students from all over the world who join our programs through the online classes we conduct.
But perhaps the biggest evolution has taken place in how and what we teach. In addition to personal finance, we incorporate facets of psychology, neuroscience, decision making and emotional
intelligence in our programs. We have also increased the programs we run – Smart Money Management, Investing, Entrepreneurship and SUPERMIND, which is a program that teaches students ‘how’ to learn.
What were the challenges that you faced while starting this initiative? And how did you overcome them? Who were the people/organizations who assisted you in your initiative to promote financial literacy in the UAE?
I’d like to split my answer to this question in two parts – Personal Challenges and Business Challenges.
Personal Challenges:
For a long while, I was stuck on the ‘who am I to try?’ question. Who was I to question the educationindustrial complex and tell academics and tenured professors that what they aren’t teaching our teens about money is severely handicapping their ability to live up to their full potential? Who was I to tell other parents that this is an issue that needs their immediate, undivided attention? Who was I to tell financial industry experts that what they do by helping people better manage their finances needs to happen earlier?
A potent mix of imposter syndrome, a lack of experience and confidence, a terrifying fear of failing and useful excuses about time, money, kids and life kept me at the pondering and self-debating stage for longer than I care to admit. I’m an introvert. I grew up
with a pronounced stutter that effectively took any sort of public speaking off the table. The thought of giving a speech was enough to make me want to throw up. I hated being in the spotlight, which I understood would be a requirement here. I had young kids who needed me. My husband and I were already running a business together.
There seemed to be tons of people out there who were more qualified and experienced than me. People who already had a huge social media following, who were in the education or financial services industry and for whom, it seemed to me, it would be a short leap to embark on this crusade and make a success of it.
I had built a watertight case about the futility of going down this path. The twenty-four-carat excuses I had dreamt up for myself were unassailable. Nobody could blame me for ditching this idea. Except an annoying voice inside my head that refused to shut up: ‘If they are so experienced and knowledgeable, why is this issue largely unaddressed in society?’ It took a while for me to get to the stage where I could ask myself ‘Who am I not to try?’ and have a reasonable answer. I hadn’t had any sort of financial education growing up, so I keenly felt this lack of what I came to realize was an essential life skill. I had kids who I wanted to make sure were not going to follow in my footsteps and make ludicrous money mistakes, whether by commission or omission. I was a quick study and had a knack for explaining complex concepts simply and memorably.
I saw vividly that this issue had the potential to derail lives if not addressed early on. I certainly cared enough to spend every waking moment obsessing about the best way to approach this and effect lasting change. I realized that I didn’t need to be in the spotlight. I just needed to shine the spotlight on this critical issue. I had kids who needed to see me stand up for what I believed in, and to strive for significance and impact, as I hoped they would someday. I had the unstinting support of my husband, who I call my delusional angel (someone who believes in you without any good reason). Tell me again, I asked my stubborn self: ‘Who am I not to try?’
Business Challenges:
I think my biggest challenge arose from the fact that I wasn’t gushing with ‘cruel optimism’. ‘Cruel optimism’ was first coined by the historian Lauren Berlant. This is when you take a big problem with deep systemic causes in society — like obesity, stress, or financial illiteracy — and offer a simplistic solution in an upbeat manner.
It’s optimistic because it implies there is a quick and easy solution to this complex problem.
It’s cruel because the solution offered is very limited, not to mention short-sighted, and does not take into account the deeper causes of the problem and so will fail to work for most people.
I refuse to offer ‘3 quick tips’ or byte-sized advice and recommendations. And that seemed to be exactly what the market was looking for. Nobody was interested in the underlying causes or a long term solution. It needed to be snappy and cute. I don’t do either.
I was offering authentic optimism. This is where you identify and carefully study the deep-rooted causes and the obstacles you’re likely to encounter and then lay out a plan to overcome those obstacles. This necessitates genuine concern and long-term thinking, which isn’t easy to come by.
We also made it abundantly clear to all prospective financial institutions who were interested in partnering with us that we would never be advertising or selling their products to the kids in our care. That was a deal-breaker and it did indeed scuttle many deals.
However, I’ve been very fortunate to partner with some of the leading financial institutions here in the UAE like Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD and National Bonds who’ve wholeheartedly supported us and our vision. I am so grateful to them because they really helped us scale this initiative by sponsoring this program in schools across the UAE.
What was the response of the public towards KFI when it just started?
When I started this initiative 5 years ago, there wasn’t much of an awareness of financial education. Parents just assumed their kids would learn everything they needed to be successful in at school because schools were shouting from the rooftop about how innovative, and future-ready their curriculum was.
So we had to spend a lot of time educating the public about the issue of financial literacy and how this was very different to what was covered in an economics or business class.
And again, I come back to the point of ‘cruel optimism’, which I wasn’t offering. The public was looking for a quick fix, a magic bullet. One session that would magically transform their kids into financial gurus. I don’t blame them because there were companies out there offering just that.
We refused to do one-hour classes – we only ever enrolled students for the entire financial program that was laid and built on solid foundations. We focused on changing attitudes and mindsets and on impacting behavior.
The parents who enrolled their kids in our program were amazed at the results and at the mature understanding, their kids now seemed to have about money. I will always be grateful to those parents for trusting us with teaching their kids; their feedback and encouragement meant the world to me.
What are your future plans for KFI?
To scale this through a multi-stakeholder approach by working with financial institutions and educational institutions, and bring this crucial education to more teenagers across the world.
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Do you intend to start providing your services to schools in India as well via video-conferencing apps like Zoom or Google Meet? We actually did conduct an initiative in 2020, just before the pandemic hit, in collaboration with the Government of Goa and the Goa State Innovation Council, where we ran this program for 160 students from 80 schools in North and South Goa. I loved doing that and I hope we can work with the schools and the government to do more in Goa in the future.
Give us a brief idea regarding what your book “Smarter, Richer, Braver” is all about? The book is aimed at parents of teenagers. It breaks down the issue of financial education – it gives the reader a deeper understanding of the problem, because I believe it’s important to understand the problem fully before we ever attempt to solve it. It talks about the obstacles involved and gets parents to see the issue of financial education in a very different, more holistic light - one that then sets the stage for empowering their teens with this crucial life skill.
I think this excerpt from the introduction will shed more light on this question:
“If you’re looking for an inspirational, feel-good book about parenting, put this down quickly because this isn’t it.”
“If you’re looking for a book that will give you three hot tips that will transform your teens into financial gurus, then again look away as this isn’t it.”
“However, if you’re looking for a book that has some hard truths and valuable insights about why our teens are so clueless about money, how important this skill is, the ways it will transform their thinking and lives, what to look for in a good financial education programme, the common mistakes to avoid and a blueprint of how to financially empower them while keeping your sanity, then this is exactly the book for you.”
Any message or words of advice that you would like to share with our readers, especially the youth? “Wake up, it’s later than you think. Get yourself educated about money. Money is intricately entwined in every aspect of your adult life and the sooner you learn how to make smarter money decisions, the better off you will be.”
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