JANUARY 2022
INSIDE
DETOXING AFTER THE HOLIDAYS JYOTI CHOPRA: A LEGACY OF EQUALITY
FASHION TRENDS 2022
PLUS
SEEMA TEENS RECOMMEND
The Iconic INDRA NOOYI
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Food Trends 2022 page 68
Fashion Trends 2022 page 62
CONTENTS
PIONEERS 6
Paying it Forward
14 The Belle With the Belan 18 A Legacy of Equality
FEATURES 44 New Year’s Resolutions
RELATIONSHIPS
HOROSCOPE
58 Keeping the Balance
104 Forecast with Farzana
SEEMA TEENS RECOMMEND 60 SEEMA Teens Recommend
FASHION 62 Fashion Trends 2022
The Iconic Indra Nooyi
24
FOOD & DRINKS
WELLNESS
68 Food Trends 2022
48 Detoxing After the Holidays
78 Sumptuous Soups
FITNESS
TRAVEL
52 Fitness for the
92 The State of Amazement
100 Resort to Wellness with Luxury
New Year
ON THE COVER
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
4 CONTRIBUTORS 5 BEYOND LIMITS
Zarna Garg page 14
MEET OUR
CONTRIBUTORS FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
SEEMA KUMAR CREATIVE DIRECTOR
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SAJID MOINUDDIN DESIGN
HB DESIGN EDITORIAL COORDINATOR
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AHAD SANWARI @seemanetwork
WRITERS
ABHIJIT MASIH
BINDU GOPAL RAO
RASHMI GOPAL RAO @seemanetworks
SWARNENDU BISWAS PRATIKA YASHASWI SWETA VIKRAM
FARZANA CONTRACTOR @seemanetwork
BRAND PARTNERSHIPS, DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY
ANJALI MANIAM
SEEMA™ ISSUE 01 | JANUARY 2022 EMPOWERING SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN GLOBALLY SEEMA KUMAR, FOUNDER
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PUBLISHED AT P.O. BOX 814, PENNINGTON, NJ 08534
ON THE COVER: INDIRA NOOYI (PAGE 24).
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
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EDIT | SEEMA
GOING
BEYOND LIMITS The World Is in Good Hands
W
hen I first met Indra Nooyi several years ago in New York City, I was struck by her down-to-earth manner and warm personality, not to mention her height. At 5’9’’ dressed in a conservative business suit and surrounded by a crowd, the then CEO of PepsiCo could have been an intimidating figure. But her genuine smile, the eye contact she made, a warm handshake and the personal greeting by name made her approachable, likable and relatable. It was that same warmth, approachability and relatability that struck me about Nooyi last month as we connected over zoom to talk about her new book, “My Life in Full,” published by Penguin Portfolio Books in 2021. The moment she realized that I was a fellow Tamilian with a family that had lived in the same town as her parents, she broke into Tamil, and we exchanged a few pleasantries in our mother tongue. She asked me about my name, which is uncommon among Tamilians. I explained how my father, Ramachandran, a bit of an outlier, rejected the family’s suggestions to name me Usha, Uma or Lakshmi, choosing instead an unusual name like Seema. My last name did not fit in the limited squares available in American application forms, I shared, deciding to go with Kumar after I married. She laughed and could relate. My mother, I said, was an extraordinary leader, who could have been CEO five times over had she had the same opportunities that I did. Nooyi nodded, with complete understanding. “That’s the same with my mother,” she said. “That group of Tamilian mommies were just driven. They knew how to manage a budget, how to run a family and household with no education on the topic, and they lived their lives through their children. Yet, they wanted us to get married as part of a safety net. I went through all that.”
I am struck by how much the Tamilian culture still influences Nooyi – her experience at Madras Christian College, which I also attended years later, the fact that she is still vegetarian as I am, and how much she still loves South Indian food, and cooking sambar and rasam as I do. As I reflect on how much I have in common with Nooyi, and with other immigrant and second-generation South Asian women, including Vice President Kamala Harris, and a thousand others who are assuming leadership positions across industries and disciplines, I wonder again why we are not yet a cohesive group and an influential and powerful demographic with a united voice. I ask her for her take. “I think it’s an existential question to ask ourselves,” she said. “Are we united, are we going to embrace our South Asian or keep our heads down and not interfere in anything and just be viewed as somebody who was assimilated, or do we really want to keep our identity and assimilate? I think non Indian Asians have done a better job than uniting then we have. We have to change that.” As we say goodbye after the interview, I take heart and validation in launching SEEMA and the platform we have created for the community. The time is now, and the opportunity never greater. As we begin 2022, I have great hopes for the future of the community, of women’s leadership and the state of the world, Omicron notwithstanding. With women like Indra Nooyi, Kamala Harris, Anjali Sud, Leena Nair, and thousands of other leaders we feature regularly on SEEMA, including in this issue, and with the allyship and partnership of males and other communities, the world is in good hands. I hope you enjoy reading my interview with Nooyi, which is the cover story in this issue. I invite you to watch the interview on Sundays with SEEMA when it airs, and read the full transcript of the interview. As always we have many inspirational stories of pioneering women and engagement from our new crop of teen externs to help you kick off the new year with a jam packed issue filled with the latest trends and tips in fitness, food, fashion, family, travel and more. Happy New Year!
SEEMA KUMAR, FOUNDER JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 5
PHOTO CREDIT: MEERA GANDHI
Meera Gandhi, CEO and founder of The Giving Back Foundation 6 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
PIONEER | SEEMA
PAYING IT Forward
Meera Gandhi has been doing more than her bit with her Giving Back Foundation SEEMA STAFF
“W
e are to the universe only as much as we give back to it.” That belief drove Meera Gandhi, the CEO and founder of The Giving Back Foundation, when she started her charity in 2010. As part of that work, Gandhi has made a documentary, written a coffee table book, and is now coming out with a new one, “3 Tips.” All this, while managing three children of her own. When she was a teenager, Gandhi volunteered at Asha Daan for the
abandoned and differently abled children in Mumbai where she met Mother Teresa. She says that it was only after spending enough time around Mother Teresa that she realized that giving back is a great joy in itself. Born in Mumbai, India, to an Irish mother and an Indian father. Gandhi graduated from the University of Delhi with an undergraduate degree in economics, after which she earned an MBA degree from Boston University. We recently sat down with Gandhi to ask her about her legacy and her plans for the future.
JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 7
PIONEER | SEEMA
What did you aspire to become when you were a kid? Did you always know that you would work on social issues? As a child, I always wanted to be a teacher. Often, the way I did homework was that I had a small chalkboard. I did my homework with two friends who were also my neighbors. My style of learning was [by teaching], and this is what went on to inspire me to work on a book I’m coming out with, “3 Tips.”
“I’M ABLE TO SEAMLESSLY NAVIGATE CROSSCULTURAL AND GLOBAL BOUNDARIES, AND INTERACT WITH PEOPLE FROM ANY CULTURE, COLOR, CREED AND RELIGION, FROM ANY PART OF THE WORLD”
8 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
PHOTO CREDIT: MEERA GANDHI
What was it like growing up in a multicultural family, and how did that influence you? I feel so grateful that I grew up with an Irish mother and an Indian father because today I have an intrinsic understanding of East and West. My work constantly takes me back and forth between eastern and western cultures. I’m able to seamlessly navigate cross-cultural and global boundaries, and interact with people from any culture, color, creed and religion, from any part of the world.
Meera Gandhi practicing yoga
PHOTO CREDIT: MEERA GANDHI
Meera Gandhi with Harriet Anna Mayor, president of the J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center and Board President of Harriet Fulbright College
JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 9
PHOTO CREDIT: MEERA GANDHI
PHOTO CREDIT: XXXXXX XXXXXXX PHOTO CREDIT: MOHAMMED JAFFER-SNAPSINDIA
Meera Gandhi (right) with singer and composer Sir Elton John (center).
Meera Gandhi (right) with Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of the advocacy organizations ONE and (RED)
PIONEER | SEEMA
“I FOUNDED GIVING BACK IN 2010, AND IT HAS ONLY GROWN SINCE. WHILE WE UNDERTAKE MANY PROJECTS, ONE OF OUR PERMANENT PROJECTS IS SUPPORTING THE ST MICHAEL’S SCHOOL IN NEW DELHI, WHERE WE PROVIDE TUITION, BOARD AND LODGING FOR OVER 200 GIRLS WHO STUDY THERE”
Tell us about your experience of meeting Mother Teresa. When I was a teen, I had the honor of volunteering at the Asha Daan for abandoned and differently abled children in Mumbai. I enjoyed playing and helping the children eat and bathe, and talking to them at the afternoon nap time. There, I had the privilege of working with Mother Teresa, whose dedication and passion for serving others created a deep impression on me. What struck me the most was how she spent hours upon hours ensuring that every child’s needs were met. She treated this as a sacred duty. Of course, she was getting nothing in return, or so I thought. It was only after spending enough time around her that I realized that giving back is a great joy unto itself. I’ve always said, “We are to the universe only as much as we give back to it.” That is the motto with which I have approached life ever since. What are the things, and who are the people, that shaped your outlook towards life? Our lives are shaped by two sets of experiences. The first are the samskaras, or the fixed aspects of life: your parents, your immediate surroundings. The second are your experiences, or the people you meet along the way. I am the product of my parents for sure because they were extremely involved in my upbringing and all aspects of my life. Then, as I chose projects that were improving other people’s lives, I naturally came in contact with good humans. Some were known in the world and some not so well known. Ultimately, we are a product of our choices. I think our choices shape us and as we make choices it changes our outlook as well. What prompted you to set up the Giving Back Foundation? What do you aim to achieve with it? The Giving Back Foundation is a charity born out of my passion for giving back to the universe that gave so much to me. It’s the vessel through which I, as an individual, can do my part in helping address the big issues of the world – like poverty, discrimination, and issues concerning women and children, whose rights are marginalized the world over. The foundation acts as a private grant-making entity, which is how we support notable causes. I founded Giving Back in 2010, and it has only grown since. While we undertake many projects, one of our permanent projects is supporting the St Michael’s School in New
JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 11
PIONEER | SEEMA Delhi, where we provide tuition, board and lodging for over 200 girls who study there.
What are the issues closest to your heart and why? The issues closest to my heart have formed the three pillars of the Giving Back Foundation: 1. To empower through education. We give educational grants. 2. To create a base for positive dialog by sponsoring events and film festivals and art music festivals. 3. To create media programs, like “The Meera Gandhi Show,” the “Giving Back” film and constant Instagram posts on @MeeraGandhiGBF to enable mental wellness. There is a book called “3 Tips,” which will be out soon to support our mental wellness mandate. What has been your biggest learning experience? My biggest learning experience has been to never underestimate anyone. At this stage of my life I find I still have to actively keep that in mind, not for the new people I meet along the way, but for people who have been in my life for a long time. To understand that just like I am growing and evolving, they are growing and evolving. To underestimate their growth is to undermine them. This is not only my biggest learning, but if anyone takes anything away from this article, take this: Leave yourself open to the freshness of a person in the moment, rather than holding on to expectations from the past.
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PHOTO CREDIT: MOHAMMED JAFFER-SNAPSINDIA
What were the challenges you faced while setting up your foundation? How did you navigate them? Starting an effective nonprofit that provides tangible support to people is an exercise in several disciplines, each presenting its own unique challenge. From exploring entrepreneurial solutions to accomplishing funding goals; implementing marketing techniques to ensure that we are reaching the right people; diplomacy in creating necessary partnerships in inclement areas of operations; and others. Navigating these challenges requires a healthy dose of passion, perseverance, friendship from those you are working with and the requisite belief in the value of your own efforts.
Meera and Vikram Gandhi on the red carpet of Meera Gandhi’s movie “Meera Gandhi Giving Back”
PHOTO CREDIT: MEERA GANDHI
Meera Gandhi with Former UK First Lady Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair women's foundation, and Meera’s siblings
JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 13
Award-winning screenwriter and stand-up comedian Zarna Garg at a recent performance
PIONEER | SEEMA
The Belle With the Belan Zarna Garg’s light take on Indian American life finds a mainstream audience
A
unty Z and her belan--the rolling pin--have brought a fresh lease on life to south Asian comedy. It would not be wrong to liken her to Melissa McCarthy who made a name for herself with her in-your-face comedy. Zarna Garg proudly wears her identity on her sleeve and manages to exploit the South Asian complexes to her advantage. Zarna Garg, the Indian-American aunty with a bindi, an unapologetic attire and accent, was raised in Bombay and moved to the US to escape matrimonial bondage when she was barely an adult. She opted to leave home rather than be bullied into marriage. Garg is first and foremost a mom, then, by her own admission, a lousy lawyer, and is now an award-winning screenwriter
and stand-up comedian. She has been comically highlighting the immigrant and American experience with her own signature and hilarious style. She is also someone who finds romance in doing math with her husband and has only said ‘I love you’ once in her life – to an Amazon delivery guy. Garg was warmly accepted by the Indian community when she began her journey as a stand-up, and she made it a point to represent what they were living in their everyday life. What began with shows targeted at an all-Indian audience in parks and subways expanded to a multi-cultural audience across the world during the pandemic. Since the pandemic, she has brought her comedy shows online – a move which was covered in The New York Times – and outdoors to venues such as JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 15
ALL PHOTOS CREDIT: ZARANA GARG
ABHIJIT MASIH
I’VE GONE TO COLLEGE IN AMERICA, I’VE GONE TO LAW SCHOOL. I WAS A STAY-AT-HOME MOM FOR 16 YEARS. I HAVE THREE KIDS. I’M MARRIED. AND THEN THE JOURNEY OF COMEDY, SCREENWRITING AND ALL OF IT STARTED”
Zarna Garg with the trophy for Best Comedy Feature at the Austin Film Festival, 2019
Central Park and the Met. The credit for her online and social media success goes to her son. She proudly mentions, “He said, ‘Mom, I know the clubs are closed. You’re very sad. But there is TikTok.’ He took a couple of my clips and put them up there.” Garg’s reels on Instagram and videos on TikTok have raised a storm, with an ever-increasing number of viewers and followers. Garg’s entry into comedy came after the failure to produce a big Indian rom-com. Her main motivation was to bring out the happy and fun side of the immigrant story. She explains, “Somehow, the idea of Indian immigrants in America is very sad and heavy. And I felt like no one was representing the fun side of our lives here. That was the biggest motivation. I also saw a business opportunity. I was like, why isn’t anybody doing this, and maybe I should do it. And that’s how this ball got rolling.” It certainly has rolled into one massive ball of success both on stage and online. The face that makes you crack up, does, as in many cases, hide a melancholy story. Garg lost her mother suddenly when she was just 14. Shortly after, her father decided to fix
PIONEER | SEEMA up an arranged marriage for her. The loss of a parent at a young age can be devastating and now she had to take some major decisions. Finding the walls caving in on her, she decided to leave home and find her own way. “I moved here right before I turned 16. My mother passed away, quite suddenly, actually. And I decided, for various reasons to live with my sister who was living here in America. So I’ve been here since then. I’ve gone to college in America, I’ve gone to law school. I was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years. I have three kids. I’m married. And then the journey of comedy, screenwriting and all of it started.” Comedy has been Garg’s armor ever since she was a kid. It also became her ticket to fit in. She quickly learned the value of “being the fun one” among friends, relatives and strangers, who would open up to her because she made them laugh. That was true while she was growing up in India, too. “In hindsight, I was always the funny one. So I got included in a lot of things even though my mom wasn’t
Zarna Garg performing at a park
there to pitch for me. My friends always included me because they knew I’ll keep it light. I’ll keep everybody happy. It’s something I’ve done naturally my whole life so I didn’t even have to really work at it.” Now Garg performs for sold-out audiences at top clubs across the country, and you can find her each month at the famous Caroline’s on Broadway with her second hit show, “Sari, Not Sorry,” following her headlining debut, “My American Dream.” In a short span of time in the public space, Garg has accomplished a whole lot, giving credence to her talent and popularity. She is a featured comic on Kevin Hart’s Lyft Comic Series, and she won Best Newcomer at Ladies of Laughter. Garg was the featured performer for the Outstanding Mother Awards in support of the Save the Children Foundation, where attendees included Halle Berry, Kate Hudson, Kris Jenner and others. Her debut romantic comedy screenplay, “Rearranged,” beat 11,000 scripts to win the Best Comedy Screenplay Award at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. Garg is one of a handful of female Indian comedians worldwide, quite possibly the only one, who publicly takes on her mother-in-law. Though she jokes and pokes fun at her mother-in-law, making her out to be someone akin to Lalita Pawar, Garg admits that her mother-in-law is a wonderful person. “I cleared it with her,” says Garg. “I got her blessings. She’s completely on board. She gets the joke. We have a great relationship. That’s why I can do this. You know, I explained to her what I’m doing, why I’m doing it. And you know how much fun people are having with it.” Zarna, or Aunty Z, is a rare voice representing the Indian immigrant women community and making their day to day experiences into her comedic influences. She is now a popular favorite at New York’s famed Comedy Cellar, currently booking over 10 shows a week and performing alongside fellow regulars like Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari, Ray Romano, and Kevin Hart. Soon her jokes will be traveling west to Las Vegas where she will be performing at the Comedy Cellar from February 18th till the end of the month. Never has there been a comic with a prop as interesting as the one made famous by Zarna. She has given the belan--the rolling pin--a new lease on life. She is quick to point out the many uses of the belan in an Indian mom’s multifaceted life. She lists them out, “The belan is central. You’re doing something all the time with it. You’re either fixing things with it, you’re breaking ice with it or you are chasing one of your kids with it. I use it for everything, except actually making rotis.” JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 17
PIONEER | SEEMA
A Legacy of EQUALITY Jyoti Chopra learned it from her parents;
now she promotes it in the corporate world
ALL PHOTOS CREDIT: JYOTI CHOPRA
ABHIJIT MASIH
S
he is the senior vice president and the chief diversity and sustainability officer at MGM Resorts International. That position is the right fit for Jyoti Chopra, an award-winning diversity, inclusion and sustainability leader who has always been focused on inclusion strategies and positive gender initiatives. From her office in Las Vegas, Jyoti Chopra spoke to SEEMA about her journey, which began in a hospital in the East End of London. A first-generation British-American-Indian is how she describes how she was born in England
18 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
Jyoti Chopra, chief people, inclusion and sustainability officer at MGM Resorts International JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 19
PIONEER | SEEMA and subsequently moved to the U.S. to study further when she was 18. Though she has not lived in India, apart from brief holiday trips, she proudly claims herself to be a Sikh Punjabi in heart, soul and roots. She spoke to us about her Indian heritage and the deep connection she has with the country, “My parents are from India. My late father was born and raised in Pune and my mother grew up in Bombay. Three months after they got married, they decided to set sail aboard a ship headed for London.” She gives a taste of the inherent British humor when she mentions, “I’m told I was produced somewhere off the coast of Italy.” Born in a first-generation immigrant family, Chopra and her two younger sisters, even within a conservative Indian household, had a normal British childhood. She recalls growing up in London. “I was raised in the Sikh faith. My father wore a turban throughout his life, and we would go to the gurdwara every Sunday,” she said. Growing up, the three girls always felt a sense of equality in their home. Chopra explains: “There was equal division of labor; both my parents worked. I would say the distinctive part of my childhood was the incredible emphasis that my parents placed on education and saving every penny to ensure that my sisters and I could go to a good school.” A result of that was Chopra went to the best schools, ones with an emphasis on learning. The example of her parents and the lessons learned has stayed with Chopra. Her story resonates with so many secondgeneration immigrants in America whose parents made a life for themselves and their children with sheer grit and hard work. Like in many Indian American homes, the values imbibed at home from her parents shaped and molded Chopra’s character. There were, of course, those trips to India that are etched in her memory. The first happened when she was just three. She recalls, “I remember my parents taking me to try to get my ears pierced. The needle went through one ear, but it didn’t quite make it through the second ‘cause I was screaming so much. So my parents gave up on me having my ears pierced and wearing earrings.” The second and the one she remembers more
20 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
Chopra with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice at a Deloitte partner meeting in Washington DC, in 2011
“MENTORS CAN HELP COACH, ADVISE AND GUIDE YOU; SPONSORS CAN HELP PULL YOU UP THE PIPELINE, ADVOCATE FOR YOU AND HELP GET YOU PROMOTED TO A POSITION OF LEADERSHIP,” SHE SAID. “SPONSORS REALLY ARE PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF POWER, WHO CAN INFLUENCE YOUR CAREER AND ADVOCATE ON YOUR BEHALF.”
fondly is when she was about 11, way back in the 70s when she spent an entire summer in India, spending time with her grandparents, extended family and cousins. Chopra explains that her relation with India was very much through the eyes of her parents, but while she was there, she enjoyed the time relishing nimbu pani, gol gappas and watching Hindi movies. Brought up in London with a somewhat hybrid British-Indian upbringing, enrolling in New York University at 18 called for some adjustment. But she fit right in. “I remember arriving into Manhattan and just feeling this incredible sense of freedom, liberation, and being welcomed and I loved it,” Chopra said. “I had an American coming of age, I really came into my own and discovered my identity and defined myself as an adult in the United States.” Chopra began working at the United Nations, which deeply influenced her work, making her aware of the importance of diversity, equality and inclusion. It was also in New York that she met her husband. Their son was born in Manhattan, but they raised him in Princeton, New Jersey. Chopra credits a lot to the U.S.: “America was really where I came of age and, and then subsequently built my professional career.” At the United Nations, Chopra was exposed to working on issues affecting women, young girls and children. But she made the surprising decision to leave a cushy job with a permanent contract for the private sector. She explains her decision: “It was really the inflection point in my career, the decision to leave the United Nations and to pivot into corporate America. It was a much sought out deliberate, intentional move. I sort of felt I didn’t want to end my career as a diplomat. I wanted to get experience in corporate America.” So from working with people from more than 170 countries at the time, she went into the heart of Wall Street, a different, very male dominated domain with very few women and with a very hard sales entrepreneurial culture. The tough
Jyoti Chopra with her son Kabir at her graduation from the University of Oxford, where she got an MBA with distinction
Chopra with her parents and sisters in Nice, France 2009
Jyoti Chopra speaks at a Diversity & Inclusion panel at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2021
Sikhni from London was up for the task and learned on the job, even going back to school for two stints. She states, “I did a three year executive education program at Wharton while I was at Merrill Lynch while I was working. Subsequently, while in my 40s, I made the decision to go back to university and to pursue an MBA.” The decision to go back to school was based on the realization of leadership gaps and strengths and concluding that to advance she needed to plug those gaps. So, while she was a global managing director overseeing diversity and sustainability for Bank of New York Mellon she did a two-year executive MBA program at the University of Oxford. This led her to where she 22 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
“IF YOU LOOK AT THE COMPOSITION OF BOARDS OF DIRECTORS IN THE UNITED STATES YOU SEE, LOW SINGLE DIGIT REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN OF COLOR IN THOSE BOARDROOMS, BUT THOSE BOARDROOM SEATS GET PULLED IN FROM THE C SUITES OF THE FORTUNE 1000. IF YOU DON’T HAVE SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN IN EXECUTIVE POSITIONS, THERE’LL BE EVEN FEWER OF THEM IN THE BOARDROOM”
PIONEER | SEEMA is today at MGM Resorts International. From her experience working for the private sector, Chopra’s advice to young women entering corporate America is to first invest in relationships and cultivating formal or informal networks, within the organization and outside. The second is to seek out mentors, and then cultivate them into sponsoring relationships. “Mentors can help coach, advise and guide you; sponsors can help pull you up the pipeline, advocate for you and help get you promoted to a position of leadership,” she said. “Sponsors really are people in positions of power, who can influence your career and advocate on your behalf.” Besides investing in relationships and having sponsors she also suggests on having a clearly defined vision for one’s self. To achieve a racially diverse workforce in the true sense and not just to fill the pallet of color as a token is a challenge for many companies. As chief diversity and sustainability officer, she explains the role she plays within her company is to ensure a balance and in keeping them competitive. She advocates firmly for a diverse workforce and an inclusive work environment. “At MGM Resorts International, we have properties for housing resorts in multiple locations,” she said. “Our clients come in from all over the United States and around the world to visit our properties. And so as we think about guests and it’s important to understand their cultural values and their cultural norms. And so we are very focused at MGM Resorts on advancing both a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture.” Talking about sustainability to help protect and preserve the planet for the future generations, Chopra feels immense pride at some of the work done by MGM Resorts, an example of which is the major investment in building a massive solar array in the desert. It’s one of the largest in the area of renewable energy, she said. “The solar array actually powers more than 90% of our daytime electricity for all of our properties on the Las Vegas Strip,” Chopra said. “That’s just one example of what we’re trying to do in the area of sustainability.” Chopra credits her zeal for work and her success as a woman in a leadership role to her cultural background and as product of her
upbringing which was founded on a deep work ethic, a legacy from her parents. “In my case, a very strong work ethic, transferred from my parents to me,” she said. “Values, like integrity, authenticity, this notion of being true to yourself and being who you are and being able to bring all parts of yourself into the workplace and being true to your identity are really important aspects of my leadership.” Chopra may be one of the few women as part of the C-Suite club but is in no way content with the level of representation of South Asian women in senior leadership positions. She goes a step further and is dismayed by the minuscule number in the boardroom of corporations. “We need to do more,” she said. “If you look at the composition of boards of directors in the United States you see, low single digit representation of women of color in those boardrooms, but those boardroom seats get pulled in from the C suites of the Fortune 1000. If you don’t have South Asian women in executive positions, there’ll be even fewer of them in the boardroom.” Besides overseeing the MGM Resorts’ Diversity and Inclusion, and Environmental Sustainability teams and departments, Chopra also oversees MGM Resorts’ Foundation and Community Grant Fund, a corporate giving program, and the Employee Volunteer Program. She describes the promise of the younger generation, saying she is amazed by this dynamic and vibrant young South Asian community. A member of that group is right in her home, in the form of her millennial son, Kabir Chopra. She considers him one of the most important influences and inspirations in her life, after her mother. She gushes with pride when she speaks of Kabir. “He is a writer, an actor, a filmmaker, a videographer, a producer, and probably a few other things that I forget,” she says. “I have learned so much through Kabir, through the lens and the aperture of his camera, as he’s gone off and explored the world. It’s been absolutely fantastic to see the talent that is out there in the world of cinema, film and television.”
JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 23
COVER STORY | SEEMA
THE
Iconic
INDRA NOOYI
Her new book “My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future” is a call-to-action for how society can empower women to blend work and family. We sat down with Indra Nooyi to talk about life, leadership and South Asian sisterhood SEEMA KUMAR
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
COVER STORY | SEEMA
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
F
or Indra Nooyi, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, life has been one big balancing act. It has been a delicate dance between retaining her cultural identity as an immigrant, and assimilating into the mainstream business environment to earn the top position. Between keeping the intense pace required to climb the corporate ladder and finding quality time for home and family priorities. Between breaking ultimate glass ceilings to become a role model for working women in corporate America and fulfilling the duties expected of a traditional daughter, wife and mother in a South Indian household. It is not an easy balance but it can be done, and Nooyi’s life is a lesson on the tremendous “care infrastructure” it takes for a working woman to rise to the top in the corporate world without compromising identity and family. “I’m a family builder, not a family breaker,” says Nooyi. “I believe in family; it’s the core of all society. However, the only way for families to be economically secure is if both husband and wife have the power of the purse. Because families are fragile. Nobody knows when something can go wrong. You don’t want a situation where one person is left with all the family responsibilities and without any support.” The pandemic has brought the issue into sharp focus and given rise to the great resignation, as workers, particularly essential workers and frontline healthcare workers, have struggled to maintain the balance between lives and livelihoods. The lack of care infrastructure — high quality, accessible, and affordable child care; paid family and medical leave; and home- and community-based services to help families meet their caregiving needs — has led to a wave of resignations in the U.S. and around the world. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021, with a record-breaking 10.9 million open jobs at the end of July. Nooyi, who was tapped by the state of Connecticut to co-chair “Reopen Connecticut”
ABOUT THE BOOK “My Life in Full” is an intimate and powerful memoir by Indra Nooyi, the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo. For a dozen years, as one of the world’s most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company, she transformed PepsiCo with her vision, pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, “My Life in Full,” a memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, offers a firsthand view of Nooyi’s legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded. Nooyi takes us through the events that shaped her – from her childhood and early education in 1960s India, to the Yale School of Management, to her rise as a corporate consultant and strategist who ascended into the most senior executive ranks. The book offers an inside look at PepsiCo, and Nooyi’s thinking as she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products, and reinvented its environmental profile, despite resistance at every turn. For the first time, Nooyi lays bare the difficulties that came with managing her demanding job with a growing family, and what she learned along the way. She makes a clear, actionable, call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave, and work flexibility. She also argues that improving company and community support for young family builders will unleash the economy’s full potential. “My Life in Full” is the story of an extraordinary leader’s life, a moving tribute to the relationships that created it, and a blueprint for 21st-century prosperity. Visit IndraNooyi.com for recent coverage of the book. The book was released on September 28, 2021 and published by Penguin Portfolio Books.
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COVER STORY | SEEMA during the pandemic, says it was an immersive eye opening experience. “Reopen Connecticut made my eyes open to the real challenges being faced by the essential worker,” she says. “We have to address care for both the office worker who has to also be a family builder, and for the essential worker. For anybody who has to go to work, and doesn’t have the luxury of flexibility, you’ll need a care infrastructure. Without that, I think you’re going to see the great resignation accelerate. People are going to say, I don’t want to do these jobs where I have to go in every day. These jobs don’t pay enough and I don’t get treated so well. I think this is a human issue. If you want to preserve our quality of life, yes, we have to really think through this whole care infrastructure in a much more sensible way.” Nooyi is familiar with the importance of care infrastructure without which she says it would have been impossible to rise to become CEO at PepsiCo, especially as an immigrant, as a woman and a woman of color. A Tamilian from Chennai, who is still vegetarian and prefers South Indian food, Indra Krishnamurthy grew up in a traditional family in T-Nagar, Chennai, with a progressive working father who traveled a lot, a strong South Indian mother who managed the household and encouraged her kids to dream big, and a paternal grandfather who lived at home and was there when the kids came home from school, teaching them world affairs, politics, and economics and helping them with school projects. The three children grew up with “freedom, but within the frame.” “Sometimes, I pinch myself and say, I won the lottery of life based on the family I was born into,” says Nooyi, who earned a degree from Madras Christian College and a masters from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. She felt she won another lottery when she was admitted to Yale School of Management with a financial scholarship and her traditional parents allowed her, a single woman, to leave for America for higher education. Especially her mother, Shantha Krishnamurthy, who like many protective South Indian mothers, wanted her daughter to soar professionally and have opportunities she did not have access to, but at the same time
Nooyi at the airport saying farewell to her family before her flight to the U.S. and Yale
felt the traditional tug to get her daughter married by age 20 and be “settled” on the family front before embarking on a career. “She had one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the pedal,” says Nooyi. COMING TO AMERICA Nooyi’s coming to America is not unlike other South Asian immigrant stories. With only $500 and a college admission, Nooyi landed wide-eyed in New Haven, CT, in what seemed like paradise. Orderly, neat and clean, everything seemed to be in place in America. Cars driving within lanes, no animals walking on the street, no honking auto rickshaws. But reality hit almost immediately, and Nooyi experienced the typical culture shock that many Indian students go through. “You come into this world of loneliness,” says Nooyi. “You have no idea what to do. You have no idea how to shop. Or
get a bank account, or a mailbox, which you needed in those days. There was no computer or internet. You come to this world. That is lonely. And after the hustle and bustle and the noise and the honking of India, you just say, what have I done? I don’t know how to survive in the silence. The first few days were pretty tough and I cried more than anything else.” Support and reinforcement arrived in the form of international students who taught her the ropes and helped her assimilate into the culture. She moved to an international dormitory where the familiar smells of cultural cuisines, the ability to cook her own Indian food and to be among other international students made her feel at home. There was no looking back after that.
“I BELIEVE IN FAMILY; IT’S THE CORE OF ALL SOCIETY. HOWEVER, THE ONLY WAY FOR FAMILIES TO BE ECONOMICALLY SECURE IS IF BOTH HUSBAND AND WIFE HAVE THE POWER OF THE PURSE. BECAUSE FAMILIES ARE FRAGILE. NOBODY KNOWS WHEN SOMETHING CAN GO WRONG. YOU DON’T WANT A SITUATION WHERE ONE PERSON IS LEFT WITH ALL THE FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES AND WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT.”
STYLE MATTERS BUT SUBSTANCE RULES Nooyi’s foray into the workforce in America began with her applying for summer jobs in her first year at Yale. “I was considered smart and hardworking, and people liked me fine, I think. But I was also largely invisible and conscious of how international students, especially from developing countries, were grouped in people’s minds. Diligent, but no style, funny accents, socially inept,” says Nooyi in her book, conscious that the clothes she had brought back from Chennai, which she had stitched by an Indian tailor, were “ill-fitting and ugly.” But her work ethic and her unique global perspective, which Corporate America needed, made her competitive. She says she used her savings to buy a polyester business suit at the S.S. Kresge store (a precursor to KMart) but without trying it in the fitting room, culturally uncomfortable undressing in a public place. Nooyi interviewed with the company, Insilco, in her ill-fitting suit, feeling good about the interview but embarrassed and defeated about how she looked, especially as her classmates looked well put together in their Brooks Brothers suits. She was convinced she had bombed her chances, but Insilco made offers only to two students, and Nooyi was one of them. “It dawned on me that I was in a new environment—and that this might be a living example of the American promise of meritocracy. It was clear that Insilco picked me because of what I said and what I could contribute and looked past the horrendous outfit I wore. I had three weeks to accept the offer.” Nooyi had also interviewed with Booz Allen, showing up to the interview in a sari, after receiving advice to wear something authentic and comfortable. Once again, she landed the job, proving that what she said had more weight than what she wore. She accepted the offer from Booz Allen and was on Nooyi spearheaded PepStart, PepsiCo's onsite childcare center at their New York headquarters her way to being a working woman in America. “I wore
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INDRA NOOYI'S LIFE IN FULL Born Indra Krishnamurthy in Chennai, India
B.S., Madras Christian College, Chennai
1955
Product Director, Johnson & Johnson India and Mettur Beardsell, Ltd. India
1974
19801986
1977
1960s Holy Angels Anglo Indian Secondary High School, Chennai
Director, International Corporate Strategy, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
1976 MBA, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
1980 Master of Public and Private Management, Yale University School of Management Marries Raj K. Nooyi
As a child, Nooyi was in an all-girls rock band, The LogRhythms. She played the guitar
Nooyi as a baby in 1956
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Nooyi and her husband Raj in the early days of their marriage
Nooyi's younger daughter Tara was born when Nooyi was at ABB in Connecticut
Nooyi's firstborn, Preetha
Vice President and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning, Motorola
Nooyi at a market tour in Guatemala to see how products looked on the shelf and show appreciation for the frontline workers
19861990
First daughter Preetha is born
19962000
1992
19941996
19901994
1984
Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development, PepsiCo
Second daughter Tara is born
Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Strategic Marketing, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB)
Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, PepsiCo
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, PepsiCo
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo
20002001
20062019
20012006 President and Chief Financial Officer, PepsiCo and Member of the Board of Directors Robert Morrison, CEO of Quaker Oats. Nooyi had just been named CEO of PepsiCo
a sari to work every day but never visited the client,” says Nooyi in the book. “Taking me to a client meeting in Indianapolis in a sari would have been too jarring in those days. At the time, I fully understood and accepted my colleagues’ leaving me behind. It seemed a small price to pay.” MARRIED WITH FAMILY Nooyi had moved to Chicago for the summer job and into an apartment with her friend and classmate. It was there, as she was settling in a new town, that a friend suggested she meet Raj Nooyi, a young engineer from Mangalore, India, who’d just finished his master’s degree and had moved to a job in Chicago and living alone in a small apartment. She invited Raj home for dinner one night and soon they began to spend a lot of the summer together. In August, during her last week at the internship, she and Raj met for a movie, and over dinner decided to get married. Both were from traditional South Indian families, where arranged marriage was the norm. So there was work to do in getting the apprehensive families to embrace the idea, especially as the families had not met each other nor had they matched horoscopes as is typically done in
Nooyi married Raj in the basement of Raj’s uncle’s house surrounded by their closest family
South Asian households. Ultimately, the parents met in India, held an engagement ceremony there. Nooyi graduated from Yale in 1980 with her family arriving from India to celebrate and a few days later got
FAMILY: • Parents: Shantha and R. Krishnamurthy
• Married to Raj K. Nooyi, president at AmSoft Systems, in 1981.
• Two daughters Preetha and Tara
• Resides in Greenwich, Connecticut
• Siblings: older sister Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon,
Raj's parents with Nooyi's daughters Preetha and Tara
businesswoman and Grammy nominated artist; younger brother Narayan Krishnamurthy
• Played cricket and was also in an all-girl rock band, where she played guitar
Nooyi's daughters Preetha and Tara in their school uniforms. For several years, Nooyi worked and traveled nonstop, missing her children
COVER STORY | SEEMA married in a small ceremony in the basement of Raj’s relatives in Chicago with both families in attendance. Ironically, she had lived up to her mother’s dream, getting married and settling things on the family front before embarking on a steep climb up the career ladder. Raj’s father gave parting advice to the young couple and left Nooyi with a piece of wisdom: “Indra, don’t give up your job. You have all this education, and you should use it. We will support you in any way we can.”
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
ENTERING THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE Nooyi moved on up, working for Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Motorola, and Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) in increasing roles of responsibilities leading strategy before joining PepsiCo, all the while balancing the pressures of an insane work schedule, giving birth to her first daughter, Preetha, finding good childcare, managing school events, and dealing with issues of racism in her kid’s school. Nooyi says she could not have done it without the support of her husband Raj and the care infrastructure of her family in India, including her mother, her mother-in-law and other relatives and American friends, neighbors and colleagues who took turns to help her with household duties and with childcare until she and her husband Raj came home in the evening. On the flip side, Nooyi says, her employers’ support and her bosses’ mentorship also played a big part in her professional ascent. She points to BCG’s offer of three months paid leave, which enabled her to take care of her ill father without compromising her career or personal finances, and mentorship by Gerhard Salge of ABB who continued to give her plum assignments when she was pregnant and after the birth of her first child. THE IMMIGRANT PHENOMENON Nooyi admits she probably worked twice as hard to prove herself, which she says is an integral part of being an immigrant and a woman and a woman of color. “When I was in corporate America,” she says. JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 33
MAJOR AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS: To date:
15 honorary degrees.
2007
Padma Bhushan from the Government of India, the country’s 3rd highest civilian honor.
2007
Named an “Outstanding American by Choice” by the US State Department.
2019 Portrait inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. 2021
Elected member of the American Philosophical Society Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art. Inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame and National Women’s Hall of Fame.
President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam pins the Padma Bhushan award on Nooyi in April 2007
Currently: Member of the Board of Amazon and Philips, Member of International Advisory Council of Temasek; an independent director of the International Cricket Council; Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Member of the MIT Corporation and Dean’s Advisory Council at MIT’s School of Engineering Member of the Boards of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Partnership for Public Service. Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point Advisor to several early stage companies. Co-director of the newly created Connecticut Economic Resource Center “I was the only woman in most cases in senior positions. And in the early days in the tech world, there weren’t a lot of immigrants in mainstream corporate America, so I was always the odd person out. I had to work harder to establish myself, there’s no question about it.” The good news is that there are more immigrants and women in the mainstream, but she says they have to work hard to maintain the right balance between retaining their authenticity and integrating into the mainstream. “Sometimes when you try to be too authentic, you stand out too much in a negative way,” she says. “And if you try to integrate too much, you come across like a little bit of a fake. So it’s a real interesting balance we have to take: make sure that you don’t give up what makes you, you. But embrace what makes you more mainstream for the corporate environment or the business environment you’re in. It’s a dial you turn, and how you settle on the right point is the challenge. It is a trial and error to try to not get too extreme on either side.” LEADERSHIP AND ALLYSHIP Still Nooyi says that as a woman, a woman of color, and often the only one at a senior level in the room, she 34 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
could not have done it without the support of senior level White males in corporate America who committed to develop, train and push her, starting with Wayne Calloway, CEO of PepsiCo, who believed that diversity was important and lived up to that philosophy and promise. He convinced Nooyi to join PepsiCo saying he needed her more than Jack Welch at General Electric who had also made her an offer. “A lot of us work very hard, there’s no question about it. But sometimes we all run up against a real brick wall,” she says. “In my case, when I joined PepsiCo in 1994, I joined at a very senior level. I was 39 years old and head of corporate strategy, and all the senior executives were White males. But that was the case in all corporate America. PepsiCo was no different. Most of the executives were big supporters, helping every step of the way, pulling me along, even when I made mistakes. They viewed me as a major asset to the company. I did my piece of the job, no question about it, I work very hard. But I’m also a testament to mentorship, to a youthful company that welcomed me and pushed me forward.”
COVER STORY | SEEMA
THE SECRET TO SUCCESS: FOCUS ON THE COMPANY, NOT YOURSELF Working hard and having the right mentors and allies, in a company that supports diversity and has the right support infrastructure matters, according to Nooyi, but one more critical secret to success lies within the individual she says. That is a focus not on one’s personal success but on the success of the company, organization or mission, she says. “To me, personal success was irrelevant,” Nooyi adds. “My personal success was tied to the success of the company. So I put the company before everything. And I worried about making sure the company is going to be successful in the long term. I made sure the company’s business model would sustain in the future. I had a great succession bench. So when I focused on those aspects, unselfishly, my position also solidified.” Often people worry about themselves rather than the company and that creates issues, she says. Setting your goal on that senior job makes you obsess over
the next promotion instead of doing well in your current job, she maintains. “Do a great job now and that automatically gets you to the next level,” Nooyi said. HOW TO ATTRACT THE RIGHT MENTORS Nooyi’s experience is a lesson in the importance of mentorship as an essential aspect of developing a big leader. Mentors come in two types, she says. Those with the small M are mentors who give you advice at random every now and then. “And then there’s the real mentor, the one with the big M. Some people call them sponsors, I just call them real mentors,” says Nooyi. These mentors pick you, you don’t pick them, she says. They see something in you, and give you a push and are willing to let you outshine them and take their job, even if that means they will end up working for you. They are willing to commit the time to support, promote, and provide advice. “Unless you find that sort of a big M mentor, you
Nooyi with (then PepsiCo CEO) Wayne Calloway on her first day at the company JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 35
COVER STORY | SEEMA
Nooyi speaking at the Women in the World conference in New York in 2016 with international lawyer and foreign policy analyst Anne-Marie Slaughter (left) and television journalist and anchor of CBS News Norah O’Donnell (right)
really haven’t hit the jackpot,” says Nooyi. And the way to attract the big M mentor is by doing a good job and doing it the right way,” she says. “It is not just what you do, it is how you do it, and by having a great presence. All three together, make people attracted to you. So you’ve got to think about your own brand proposition, and how to define your own brand proposition and attract people to that proposition.” Like it or not, part of the brand proposition is your executive presence — how you look and dress, which can have an effect on how people receive and respond to you, says Nooyi in the book, describing her own experience with an image consultant and a colleague at PepsiCo who pulled Nooyi aside and advised her to improve the way she dressed. Nooyi’s experience is not unlike what a lot of women, especially those from South Asian cultures, who over-index on the competence side but may not necessarily pay attention to personal grooming. “I had to overcome issues related to how I dressed by overdoing the competence bit, by just showing that I was so good at my job,” she says. “People looked right through how I dressed, and I don’t have any issues with that. When a consultant pulled me aside and said, let me help you change your entire clothing, I thought it was a gift from God and in a very nice way without making me feel bad, made me change my entire outfit. I’ll be honest with you: I could have survived dressed the way I was. Trust me, nothing would have happened to me. But it gave me added confidence. It gave me more courage. I could walk in with my head held high, as opposed to focusing on why my clothes are so ill-fitting.” Nooyi wishes she had access to such consulting services in her early years as a professional, and encourages women, including South Asian women, who feel the need to to improve. FLEXIBILITY AND WORK LIFE At PepsiCo, Nooyi’s brand proposition was someone who put company first and did not play politics although she understood them. She became the go-to person to
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Left to right: Nooyi's daughter Preetha, husband Raj, and younger daughter Tara
assign difficult jobs to as she quickly gained the reputation for having a superpower to take the complex and make it simple and understandable. As part of the senior management team she was involved in PepsiCo’s transformation, exiting non-core businesses to focus on its snack food and beverage lines, including the acquisition of Tropicana and a merger with Quaker Oats. She continued to rise up the ranks to become CEO in 2006, becoming one of the few women–perhaps the only Indian woman at the time–to head a Fortune 500 company and later became Chairman of the Board, holding the post of
Chairman and CEO for more than 10 years and being cited as one of the world’s best CEOs and the top most powerful women. As CEO, Nooyi spearheaded PepsiCo’s transition to a greener, more environmentally aware company, and to adopting healthier foods and moving to less sugary drinks. Under her leadership, and with a focus on “Performance with Purpose” PepsiCo’s revenue grew from $35 billion in 2006 to more than $63 billion when she retired. Throughout, Nooyi, who had her second daughter Tara, continued to balance life as an executive, wife, JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 37
Nooyi with Hillary Clinton, who visited PepsiCo when she was U.S. senator for New York
Nooyi with U.S. President Barack Obama
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daughter, daughter in law, a mother, and sister, all while staying connected to her Tamilian South Asian culture and meeting her family’s expectations to fulfill traditional duties of a South Indian woman, and heed her mother’s advice to “leave the crown in the garage” — all of which, she admits, was often a giant juggling act. “When I was CEO, we didn’t have all of these remote technologies,” she says. “So I had to travel. I had to be in the office. Flexibility was not a choice. I was constantly juggling every priority, and PepsiCo, as a priority, could not be dropped. So I focused excessively on PepsiCo, because so many lives and livelihoods depended on my decision-making. Juggling these priorities meant I always hoped I wouldn’t drop something.” Nooyi, admits there were moments of doubt, including when her daughters pleaded her to quit her job, but she was able to push through and manage because the companies she worked for had access to paid parental and medical leave and support structure, policies and perks and a supportive husband, a family infrastructure and community support system that allowed Nooyi to travel while leaving her children in able hands of her parents and extended family. “I believe that women’s choice to work outside the home is integral to their well-being and their family’s prosperity,” Nooyi says in her book, challenging those who question its impact on children’s wellbeing. She argues that working women’s kids tend to do better in school, grow up to be more independent and respect their mothers as role models. She also points to evidence that women’s participation in the paid labor-force results in economic prosperity
INDRA’S INSIGHTS FOR PROFESSIONAL WOMEN LISTEN: "There’s a reason you have two ears and only one mouth. So listen more than you talk." LEARN: Get a solid education and build and hone your skills, using on the job work experience as a learning opportunity. WORK HARD: There is no substitute for hard work. Give it your 100 percent; anything less is not enough. CONSTANTLY UPDATE AND UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS: Don’t assume that once you have a good set of skills, the game is over. Continuously improve them and learn new ones to remain competitive. Remain a life-long learner. Be curious. PUT THE COMPANY’S GOALS AHEAD OF YOUR OWN: Think of what you can do to make it a better place, rather than about how you are going to climb up the ranks. Do a good job and the rest will follow. BUILD ALLIES: Your hard work can only get you so far. Allyship from senior leaders, including those in positions of power, is critical to success. EMBRACE FEEDBACK: The boss knows better. If the boss says the project is only 60% of the way there, they’re giving you valuable feedback. Rather than ask them to tell you how to move to 90%, go figure it out. Work to get it to 100%. USE DIVERSITY AS AN ADVANTAGE: As a person with a global mindset and diverse perspectives, you can bring valuable insights to improve the company’s prospects. BE AUTHENTIC BUT ALSO ASSIMILATE: Maintain a balance between being authentic to who you are and your own culture. At the same time, assimilate to the mainstream and company culture to be part of the collective team driving a vision. BUILD YOUR OWN BRAND PROPOSITION: First, put the company before you. Second, understand the politics but don’t play it. Second, focus on the job at hand, not on the next promotion. Third, think about what you are especially good at and can deliver on time
Nooyi with female CEOs, soon after taking over PepsiCo. Cherie Blair, English barrister and and wife of former British PM Tony Blair, is in the center
while ensuring the highest quality. Accept assignments accordingly and do a great job again and again. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MENTORS: Mentors come in two forms. The one with the small M, where somebody just gives you advice at random, is OK. But real mentors, the one with the big M, commit the time to support, promote, and push you, and provide advice to enable you to grow. Unless you find a big M mentor, you really haven’t hit the jackpot. ATTRACT BIG M MENTORS TO YOUR BRAND PROPOSITION: Doing a good job and doing it right attracts big mentors. It’s not just what you do, it is how you do it, combined with great presence. All three together, attract leadership to your brand proposition. SUBSTANCE IS THE CORE, BUT STYLE AND PRESENCE MATTER: If you are unsure about your attire or presence, get help from independent consultants who can help you improve the way you dress, if needed. Knowing you are well put together can give you the added confidence to walk in with authority, and can take your mind off of how you look and focus instead on what you deliver.
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PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
of nations, reduces poverty and boosts GDP. But ultimately, says Nooyi, for her, the reason women need a clear path to paid work is more direct. “We all deserve the power of the purse for our own freedom. The full acceptance of women as paid workers spells human progress. It unlocks them from being at the mercy of a male-dominated world.” PAYING IT FORWARD Nooyi is passionate about helping women get to the 40 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
next level and keenly aware that beyond providing education, skills, opportunities, and mentorship, systemic change in care infrastructure is needed. When she retired from PepsiCo after more than a decade as CEO, she began to think about important policy changes needed to establish care infrastructure for professional women to head companies. But then the pandemic hit, and as she began working on the “Reopen Connecticut” project, she realized that the challenge for essential
workers and people who had to come to work physically was much more acute. Even among the office workers who still had the flexibility to work remotely, the burden for women in particular was much higher. With kids home, mothers in particular had to juggle to be teachers, caregivers, cleaners, cooks, and more, because there was no help from outside during the lockdown and in most cases, women ended up with a workload that was off the charts. “And on top of that, without broadband access, when you had to prioritize who should be on the computer, the kids and the husband got precedence, and the woman took a backseat even in her job that led to a lot of stress,” Nooyi says. “White collar workers went through extra mental stress and there was a lot more domestic violence and divorces coming as a result of the pandemic. So it was a messy situation.” Nooyi first explored the possibility of writing policy papers but was strongly advised against it and instead advised to inform policy by storytelling the arc of her own life. So she decided to write a book, “My Life in Full,” published by Penguin 2021. “This book is a memoir like no other. It is a quasi-textbook. The best way to read this book is to go chapter by chapter, and engage in the book, because the lessons are very important and can be informative to the next generation.” She is particularly interested that the younger generation, especially from the South Asian and Asian diaspora, read it. “There’s no point calling somebody a role model, if you’re not going to understand what it took to get to where they were,” Nooyi says. “So I hope the diaspora looks at the book that way, as a way to educate the young and for the parents themselves to be educated, and to really understand what it takes to progress in the corporate world.” She says it is particularly important, especially as a woman and an immigrant and a woman of color of South Asian origin to understand the puts and takes involved in getting to the mountain top. Yes, one part is you and how hard you work and your own personal philosophy, leadership and courage. But in equal measure it is about the system, the family and community infrastructure and the organizational infrastructure, the mentorship, and allyship and the policies needed to help you succeed. “I think it’s important we give women the education and the power of the purse,” Nooyi says. “But then a job itself is a full time job. And as you rise in the job, it’s two full-time jobs or three full-time jobs. I know my CEO job was three full-time jobs. I think
“WE ALL DESERVE THE POWER OF THE PURSE FOR OUR OWN FREEDOM. THE FULL ACCEPTANCE OF WOMEN AS PAID WORKERS SPELLS HUMAN PROGRESS. IT UNLOCKS THEM FROM BEING AT THE MERCY OF A MALEDOMINATED WORLD.”
Nooyi at the event announcing her retirement from PepsiCo
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PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE PUENTE
A FEW OF HER FAVORITE THINGS
FAVORITE MOVIE “The American President”
FAVORITE INDIAN/TAMIL MOVIE “Sadhu Mirandal” (1966 Tamil movie) FAVORITE MUSICIAN No one favorite. Changes with the times FAVORITE COLOR Blue
what needs to happen is, first, husband and wife should say, the family’s a joint responsibility ... Family is not female. Family is family. “First point: That agreement has to happen between husband and wife. Second, I think in-laws and parents have to lean in to help the young woman do her job. Very often, it’s viewed as a penalty when she goes to work. And when she comes back home, she has to do all the housework. And sometimes a paycheck is taken away in India, not here. 42 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
FAVORITE FOOD TO COOK Good South Indian sambar and rasam. Also pasta of all kinds BEST LESSON YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR CHILDREN “Can you let us finish what we are saying,” and “Stop interrupting.” FAVORITE TAMILIAN EXPRESSION Othaippen (I will give you a kick – affectionately)
I think that’s got to change, I think the husband has got to put his foot down and say, my wife’s got to be treated right, and not put all the burden on the mother. “The third thing is now with tools like this that we’re using, like Zoom, you can actually engineer flexibility into your workday, where you can work a bit by Zoom, and then do the rest in person, and be available for the family and for work. And so I think utilizing these technologies intelligently is very important.”
COVER STORY | SEEMA THE MISSING LINK: SOUTH ASIAN SISTERHOOD Nooyi’s focus on maintaining cultural authenticity is common among many South Asian women in top ranks, including current Vice President Kamala Harris, many of whom attribute cultural values as critical to their success. I asked Nooyi about her message for women of Indian and South Asian origin, especially as more South Asian women have significant earning power and yet are not seen as an influential and powerful collective demographic. “First of all, we have to ask ourselves, are the Indian women in the United States united? If you’re not united, it doesn’t help,” says Nooyi. “I’d go a step further and say, as Asian Americans, we should all be united. As Asian Americans, we contribute enormously to the United States, yet we want to be viewed in slices. And within the Indian community, we want to be viewed in micro slices as North or South Indians.
That’s got to stop.” I asked about possible solutions and how to change that. “I think that we have to really ask ourselves the question, how do we want to be viewed? Are we going to keep our heads down and not get involved in anything and just be viewed as somebody who is assimilated, or do we really want to keep our identity while we assimilate? “I think non-Indian Asians have done a better job uniting than we have. And I think it’s an existential question to ask ourselves. Are we part of the Asian diaspora or the South Asian diaspora and are we going to embrace our South Asian or our South Indian, or North Indian, whatever slice we are from. Unless we make that decision, we will never be taken seriously as a group. I don’t think we even know each other. There’s no sisterhood. Asian women should feel comfortable talking to each other. We have to change this.”
We sat down with Nooyi recently to interview her for the Sundays with SEEMA TV show, to be aired on January 30 at 8.30 pm EST on TV Asia and to be available on https://www.seema.com/tv/ For any one who wants to follow in her footsteps, Nooyi has made it simple in her latest book, “My Life in Full.” Available on Google Play, Audible and Amazon.
Indra Nooyi on Sundays with SEEMA JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 43
New Year’s Resolutions
Here’s why they have changed this year PRATIKA YASHASWI
T
he pandemic has changed us. We’ve surfaced from about two years of facing our mortality everyday, reeling from the chaos and misery around us and experiencing immense grief as we lost relatives and friends to COVID. We’ve been sick, stressed in every aspect of our lives, and really, really tired. Never has peace and our lives appeared so fleeting and never has the
world needed us more. So at SEEMA, we’ve decided to change the way we look at things. As we march eagerly towards the promises of the new year, let’s take a breather and recalibrate our priorities. We’ve listed some of the resolutions we’re keeping this year to reflect our learning from the past few years. They fall into 3 categories: sustainability and social good, health and relationships.
PIONEER | SEEMA
FEATURES | SEEMA
1. SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL GOOD This era truly feels apocalyptic. Ranging from forestswallowing wildfires to floods to unbelievable locust infestations, the years of the pandemic did not spare the earth. As the climate emergency’s situation intensifies, the urgency of individual action increases. 2022 is the year where we need to get out and take responsibility for our world. Here are some suggestions from the SEEMA team. Resolve to: 1. Switch to menstrual cups, cloth pads or period panties for good. 2. Reuse, reduce and recycle. 3. Eliminate single use plastic. 4. Declutter your home and adopt a minimalist approach while shopping. 5. Pick a cause you care about and volunteer regularly for it. 6. Adopt a pet. It’s high time we ditched breeders and gave happy homes to pets who need it.
2. RELATIONSHIPS We spent the whole year cooped up with our families (or roommates in some cases) and realized the difference between a home and a house. Families argued incessantly, and marriages broke apart. Some of us couldn’t visit our grandparents. Many who lived alone felt even more isolated from their families, friends and secondary circles, not being able to meet or interact with them. Some of us are returning to offices and others are raring to resign. Still, the majority of corporate employees in many companies that don’t make it mandatory to return continue to work from home. Good relationships are a pillar of happiness. What’s the nature of your social life? Are your family relationships and friendships those that fill you with positivity and joy? Are there toxic people you need to cut off from? Here are suggestions for resolutions in the major relationships in your life that you could improve upon. Remember, as relationships are often neglected easily, make sure to treat your resolutions as a part of your to-do list, until staying in touch and spending time becomes wholly natural to you. • FRIENDSHIPS: Resolve to stay in touch with old friends. Make time for regular phone calls and even visit them safely if you can. Do brunches. Everything may not be exactly back to safety, but you can make do with the little allowances the pandemic gives us. Friends are the family you choose, so nourish those friendships. • KIDS: The kids have been kept away from school at home for months and lost a lot. Time is one thing you’ll never get back especially with a child’s social development. Resolve to spend quality time with your children and improve your communication. When the adults are overloaded with work and chores, communication can often become centered on instructions, parenting or criticism — which isn’t nice, no matter how positive it might be.
• PHYSICAL 1. Resolve to build your physical fitness. If you don’t have an exercise routine yet, start with small, achievable goals such as a seven-minute tabata workout or 30-minute HIIT workout. Find a way of exercising that you enjoy. It could be power yoga or even a dance class! 2. Eat well and follow a healthy diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and whole grains. If you’re new to this, you could do worse than go by Michael Pollan’s advice on eating: Eat food, not too much. Mostly plants. 3. Get a minimum of seven hours of sleep every night.
• SPOUSE Resolve to improve your connection with your partner if you have one. COVID-19 heaped a lot of stress on this particular relationship. If you need couples’ counseling, there’s absolutely no shame in pursuing it—don’t wait until things get out of hand. Work on your communication and make time for dates without kids or family around. • PARENTS Resolve to spend more time with your parents if they live away from you. If you are caring for elderly parents, it can be easy to let their emotional needs fall by the wayside as we rush around to take care of everyone, ourselves AND focus on our careers. If you find their needs challenging, consider getting a home nurse to help. It can take a lot of stress off of your relationship. 3. HEALTH There’s no way we’ll be able to be active citizens of the world or maintain good relationships if we’re without our health, physical and mental. Whether one got Covid or not, we were all challenged to maintain a sense of positivity and hope. Many of us are still dealing with the mental health fallout of this pandemic. It’s high time we took every aspect of health seriously. Resolve to prioritize your mental and physical well being this year.
• MENTAL 1. Make time for yourself. Many of us have hobbies that once gave us lots of joy, but neglected in adulthood. Take an hour or so at least once a week to indulge. Even otherwise, make sure your schedule is providing you with enough rest and room to breathe. 2. Learn to meditate. There are many wonderful schools of meditation: Zen, Vipassana, transcendental meditation and more. If you can’t sit still for long hours, try chanting or an adult mandala colouring book. Both have tremendous benefits for your daily life. 3. Seek help if you need it. Move past the self-imposed stigma and find a qualified, licensed professional to help you. Even if you don’t “have a disorder” or are just going through a tough time, a professional therapist can be an asset to your personal development.
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WELLNESS | SEEMA
Detoxing AFTER THE HOLIDAYS It’s not about coming up for air after a hazily remembered binge, but transforming wellness, relationships and productivity SWETA VIKRAM
W
hether you are spending it alone or with friends/family, the holidays and end-of-year festivities can create an upheaval in how we eat, sleep, and live. That’s life, and it’s important to create these memories too. But we don’t need to continue with the I-can-do-whatever attitude. Getting back on track takes a whole lot of commitment if you want to live a balanced lifestyle. It would mean revamping your pantry, mindset, and schedule. Achieving a lifestyle where you are filled with vitality, energy, inspiration,
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and desire takes strategy, sense of purpose, and getting rid of your limiting beliefs. It means being better than your excuses and recalibrating how you eat, sleep, behave, and navigate the world. The New Year and new month are a great time to make some longlasting behavioral shifts … starting with a detox. I am not talking about drinking five glasses of green juice and counting down days when you can start drinking alcohol again. Or, doing a keto diet for three weeks, so you can feast on biryani by the end of the month. Detoxification includes cleansing your mind, body, and spirit. It also
WELLNESS | SEEMA means choosing a lifestyle that will transform your overall wellness, relationships, and productivity.
1. TAKE INTENTIONAL BREAKS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA
Research tells us that excessive and compulsive social media usage is linked to depression, anxiety, insomnia, and low self-esteem, among other health issues. If we don’t learn to take care of ourselves, pause every now and then, and stop refreshing our feeds constantly, poor mental health is inevitable. I know of people who have felt depressed after spending unnecessary amounts of time on social media. While many of us sheltered-inplace during the holiday season because Omicron wreaked havoc; others might have traveled or partied and shared those moments on socials. Your mind can think, “Did everyone have a good time but me?” If you have an unpleasant relationship with your family, how can pictures of someone’s “perfect” family gatherings (We all know that social media shares include a projected version of people’s lives) not upset you? Why do you want to get riled up or include any negativity in your life?
2. GIVE YOUR DIGESTION A BREAK
Holidays mean mindless eating for a large majority of people. Honestly, we South Asians are obsessed with food. One of my pet peeves is people forcing me to eat even though I’m neither shy nor starve myself. We use food to reward, punish, mourn, and celebrate. We are trained to lean on food in an unhealthy way even though diabetes and heart diseases are rampant in our community.
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Ask your doctor if you can fast occasionally, so your digestive system gets a break. Clean out your pantry. Stop snacking because that spikes your insulin. Start enjoying your meals at a deeper level: No work. No noise. No arguments. Sit down to eat each meal. The environment should be just as nourishing as your food. Eat slowly, and with love. The faster you eat, the less time your brain has to process that it’s full. Especially after spending 2-3 weeks feasting on more food than you’re used to, it will take some time adjusting to more reasonable portions, and a non-party menu. Don’t find some crazy fad diet. Don’t judge yourself if you fall off the wagon. The important thing here is to not repeat bad choices (e.g. cupcakes for breakfast) and make them a pattern.
3. MEDITATE TO QUIETEN THE MIND
From an Ayurvedic perspective, excessive talking, traveling, watching too much TV, eating & drinking erratically, sleeping at odd hours can all increase vata dosha. Vitiated vata can create a surge in anxiety, sleeplessness, constipation, as well as nervousness. Meditation can help lower vata and lessen the mind chatter. It can also protect your energy. Meditation can create happiness. That happiness comes from self-acceptance. Meditation can literally change your brain. Set an alarm, so the monkey-brain doesn’t keep nagging, “Are we done yet?” Close your eyes and focus on your breath. You can sit or lie down. Thoughts will arise. Don’t judge them. Don’t question any feelings. Just observe. Every time that your mind wanders, bring it back to the breath. Do this for 10 minutes every day.
4. GET YOUR SLEEP HYGIENE ON TRACK
The one thing most CEOs have in common is that they go to bed at the same time most days of the week and wake up before the crack of dawn. Our body replenishes and recharges when we sleep. Sleep strengthens our immunity and helps fight infections. Not getting enough sleep may lead to accidents, work mishaps, lowered productivity in the shortterm along with irritability and impatience. Too little sleep can also leave you feeling tired to do the things you enjoy doing — be it in your personal life or professional life. But many people underestimate the power of sleep. Shift your mindset in the new year and get about 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Sleep deficiency is linked to many health conditions such as increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, stroke, and more. In one study, people sleeping less than six hours per night had a 20 percent higher chance of a heart attack. Also, get into bed before 10 p.m.
5. CURATE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Spend time with people who are on a similar journey or are at least like-minded. You shouldn’t sabotage your healthy lifestyle for those who don’t get why you make certain choices. It sounds cold, but people who derail you from your healthy habits, limit your interactions with them. Those who have a negative mindset will always faults in anything new that you want to try. The ones who suggest that you pick pakodas over Pilates, you know what to do. Somehow, they feel that your health or weight loss or success at work or happy marriage reflects
their failures. Avoid such people like the bubonic plague. Be proactive in surrounding yourself with folks who enable your decision to lead a mindful life. You have the power to create your own reality. Don’t let your — or other
people’s —limiting beliefs stop you. It might not be easy to do a detox after a few weeks of indulgence. Every time you feel distracted or torn away from your goal, ask yourself one question: Do you value the idea of
being stuck in life or your ability to move forward? Remind yourself that without mental-emotional-physical wellness in place, there is no success. “The groundwork for all happiness is good health.” ~ Leigh Hunt
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FITNESS
HEALTH & FITNESS | SEEMA
FOR THE NEW YEAR How you can keep the promises to look after yourself in 2022! PRATIKA YASHASWI
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e know how hard it can be to maintain your health. Amidst all the demands of work, family and children, it can be all too easy to forget about your health goals. Postpone this long enough and you find yourself at your doctor’s with some bizarre numbers on your medical tests. And then there’s the awfully limiting and completely frustrating idea South Asian families can sometimes have: that a woman after a certain age or life milestone (marriage, children, the age 30, etc) is doomed to “gain some weight here and there!” or accept an unacceptable amount of daily fatigue. This can lead to us ignoring our own health indicators, and taking ourselves and our needs for granted. Also, these notions are completely untrue. Good health leads to happiness and increased productivity. Combine with good rest and you’ve changed your life. So, start now, start this year. Decide to reserve this year for YOU and smash all your goals! We’ll help you out.
HEALTH & FITNESS | SEEMA
HOW TO START EXERCISING IF YOU DON’T HAVE A ROUTINE YET Literally everyone who is exercising today has been a non-exerciser at some point in their adulthood (childhood doesn’t count). So don’t be conscious of this. If you’re just starting out or returning after a long interruption in your routine such as pregnancy, illness or injury, you might expect: • More aches and cramps • Increased tiredness • Difficulty making time for your routine • Discouragement at not being able to complete your reps properly HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO DEAL WITH THEM: 1. Get a personal trainer to help you out for a few months. A trainer turning up at the same time everyday (or week) will be able to ensure your accountability and more importantly, teach you the correct form. Wrong 54 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
form may lead to injuries and inhibit the completion of the movements. 2. Start with a form of exercise you enjoy. When you are just starting out, it is hard to maintain interest and show up regularly for an exercise routine you don’t enjoy, no matter how popular it might be. Dislike running? Try a spin cycling class. Find lifting boring? Try HIIT! A note: this isn’t the time to be concerned with “minimum” recommendations — we’ll get to them as your fitness level improves. 3. Don’t overexert yourself. There are two kinds of pain: the good kind and the bad kind. The good kind of pain comes from pushing yourself slightly beyond your personal “limits”. The bad kind of pain comes from when your body is trying to tell you you’re going too far. Learn to listen to these signs and stop when you really can’t go further. This is not a sign of personal failure, it’s a way you can improve yourself in the long term.
4. If you really can’t find the time or motivation, start with ridiculously small goals: begin with seven-minute exercises (there are apps for that) and slowly increase the time as YOU see fit. You can even do something as simple as going for a fifteen minute power walk. It’s alright if you can’t exercise six days a week. Start with two or even one. Any progress is progress. You go further by celebrating your little wins, not by writing yourself off as a lazy couch potato. IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AN EXERCISE ROUTINE, SHAKE IT UP A LITTLE If you already have an exercise routine, congratulations! Let’s raise the bar this year. Exercising for maintenance is one thing, but it’s another to challenge your body in different ways to strengthen it. Not only is it great from a fitness perspective, it’s also awesome from a fun perspective. Here are a few tips: Mix Things up Over the Week
1. If you run or use the treadmill six days a week, try out HIIT once a week. If you’re a Zumba dancer, try out a barre class. 2. Any exercise routine benefits from the addition of a little bit of weight training: it’s a great way to tone your arms and there are lots of tutorials to help you out with this at home. 3. Another option is to switch up the type of weights you use. For example, you can replace your dumbbells with kettlebells. 4. Are you more of a no-equipment workouter? Get a Bosu Ball and do your normal functional and resistance exercises like pushups and mountain climbers on it. Now, that should make things interesting. Purchase Suggestion: BOSU Pro Balance Trainer, Stability Ball/Balance Board with Manual and Guided Workout Downloads (26 Inches), Blue 5. Get some resistance bands! Resistance bands are amazing because they can be used in almost any type of exercise whether you workout at the gym or at home. They even work as the only equipment you need for exercise. Purchase suggestion: Resistance bands from Amazon
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HEALTH & FITNESS | SEEMA THE UNDERRATED ROLE OF DIET Modern nutritional science is less than a century old, but it plays a catalyzing role in your health. A small improvement in one’s diet can lead to a dramatic shift in health and even improve your body’s response to a fitness routine. You might start losing weight faster (if that’s your goal), develop a better muscle tone, sleep better and even feel fitter and happier overall—all while sticking to the same exercises! There isn’t a lot we know about eating right, but there IS a lot we can do with the information we have to improve our health and fitness parameters. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, here are a few tips to improve your health through nutrition: 1. Get a nutritionist. A nutritionist is a great aid for your fitness routine and can help you avoid fad diets and suggest recipes and schedules based on your health concerns. To get the most out of his or her help: • Choose someone ideally from your own culture, who understands the way you eat and can give you good options that fit a South Asian diet. • Ask questions about your meal plans and make sure you’re communicating your progress to the nutritionist. • Since you already have your meal plan, ask, or look up recipes for the items on it and make sure you are adequately prepared to start before you begin. • If it involves a completely new way of eating, give your body a minimum of 2-4 weeks to adjust to the diet but try not to change it up too much. • Measure the results of your meal plan every two weeks to ensure that it is working for you. • It’s alright to have cheat days! Ask your nutritionist about how you can fit them in. 2. Prepare your own meals. If you are already cooking, you can ignore this. But if you aren’t, you better teach yourself or make time. Cooking can be tiring if you don’t like it, but it is your best ally in sticking to your nutrition goals because it gives you control over what goes into your body. It’s best if you learn to
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have fun with. Every meal doesn’t have to look like it’s made by Maunika Gowardhan, but it should be tasty to you. Here are some tips: • Get ahold of an InstantPot. The Instant Pot allows you to “set it and forget it” and takes a lot of stress out of counting whistles of a pressure cooker. • Learn One Pot One Shot (OPOS) recipes for dal, pulaos, biryanis, and sabzis. Some of them can even work on an ordinary pressure cooker and can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. • Batch cook or batch prepare your meals on Sundays. Chop your vegetables, peel your garlic, prepare a jar of khara masala for the whole week and seal them separately in air tight bags. Put them in the fridge. It saves you a ton of time on prep when you’re feeling hungry during the week! • You can get pre-prepped meals in the department store too, where everything you need is done for you and all • As soon as you enter the kitchen, set the kettle on boil while you get things in place. You never know when you might need it, and it’s a pain to have to wait for water to completely heat up before you can use it when the stove is on. There are loads of other techniques, and in fact, your grandmother herself might know a few! Anything that makes your life easier in the kitchen will help you eat out less and avoid junk food. 3. Eliminate refined carbs and refined cooking oil. White flour, white sugar, white bread and white rice are the refined carbs South Asians commonly eat. This eliminates things like pastries, sodas, snacks, pasta, sweets, breakfast cereals and filter coffee—It demands a ton of willpower, but it can also be immensely, VISIBLY rewarding. Follow this with the passion and merciless focus of a vegan cutting out meat and dairy. Scrutinize every label on every canned or packed item you find at the department store (Ideally stay away from processed food). Accomplish this, and you won’t have to find another New Year’s resolution for health.
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RELATIONSHIPS | SEEMA
KEEPING THE BALANCE Managing work and home for a happy and rewarding life RASHMI GOPAL RAO
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D
on’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. – Dolly Parton It is often said that the key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Many a time in life, it is quite common that work and professional goals take precedence over everything else that it leaves little or no time for one to spend with family and friends. Overwhelmed with work pressure, individuals hardly have the time or the inclination to pursue what they really love and enjoy. Given that stress is a given in today’s fast paced and hectic lifestyle, it is imperative that we give equal importance to ourselves and our well-being than just focusing on work. Indra Nooyi, former chairperson and chief executive officer of PepsiCo once famously said “No matter who we are, or what we do, nobody can take our place in our families.” She also narrated how her mother asked her to leave “the crown” of being the President in the garage the moment she came home for here she was first a wife and a mother. Well, while this is the universal truth, the year 2021 has been our greatest teacher. The importance of family life and making time for things and people we love could hardly be over emphasized. So, why not we make a resolution to work towards having a balance in our personal and professional lives and put family first in 2022? Well, here are some simple tips you can follow.
SET YOUR PRIORITIES
It is key that we make a list and assess our priorities whether at work or at home and make a conscious effort to spend time on what is more important. At work, make sure you finish your tasks well within the stipulated time so that you do not have to carry it home. Keep work related calls to a minimum once you reach home. While work from home is the norm and working across time zones is the need of the hour, it is important for you to “switch off” from work related communication after a set time. Try to limit international calls to a few days in the week so that you can have the rest of the days free. Do note here that communication is the key and it is always recommended that you discuss your working style with your superior and team members and obtain their agreement in order to avoid potential conflicts later on.
EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT
It is always a good practice to review and reflect upon the time spent by you on different tasks. As an
individual one is always juggling multiple roles and multi-tasking. So, it is important to consider activities that take most of your time and make an attempt to manage it better. Say, if you are spending a big chunk of your time checking office mail early in the morning, start earlier in the day so that you can join your spouse in the gym. That way, you not only prioritize your own health and well being but also end up ending quality time with your family. Going for a swim, walk or even doing yoga at home with your spouse is not only energizing but the perfect way to start your day.
SPENDING TIME WITH KIDS AND PARENTS
Make a conscious effort to get involved in what your children are doing. Helping them with their school projects or home work at least a couple of days in a week is sure to strengthen the bond between them and you. If your parents stay close by, accompanying them for shopping or helping them out with small chores is a great way to spend time with them. Your children’s piano classes or football lessons are ideal excuses for you to involve your parents in the activities of their grandchildren.
PLAN ACTIVITIES TO DO AS A FAMILY
Whether it is cooking together on a Friday night or enjoying watching a TV show or even a game of Scrabble, nothing is more fun that doing things together as a family. Make sure that you plan activities so that everyone in the house is involved. This way you not only spend time together but it also helps you relax and rejuvenate. Similarly, remember to fit in those romantic dinners or date nights with your spouse which is again extremely important and helps you sustain a happy relationship.
INCLUDE VACATIONS IN YOUR CALENDAR
Taking off and traveling are always great ideas to spend dedicated time with your loved ones. Getting away from the familiar hustle and bustle helps you unwind and focus better once you are back to work. It increases understanding between members of the family and helps you stay together through thick and thin. While there is nothing like achieving the “perfect” work life balance, it is important that you remain flexible and adapt to changing circumstances at work and/or home. That said, a conscious effort to set boundaries coupled with effective time management techniques is sure to make you successful in spending more time with your family and loved ones. So, go ahead and have a wonderful 2022!
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D N E M M O SEEMA TEENS REC TEENS RECOMMEND | SEEMA
Teenagers have their own take on things, and interests that confound their parents while laying the groundwork for trends to come. Here, four SEEMA teens weigh in on the products they root for - and really REALLY need to have AALIYAH MEHRA
The first must-have product according to me is a portable photo printer! Of course, it’s easy to take pictures on your phone, but being able to hold the picture in your hand feels different! It’s almost like being able to relive the experience. It is even a really cool to be able to give a copy to your friends as a souvenir, so that you can always remember your time spent together. link- https://www.amazon.com/HP-Sprocket-PortablePhoto-Printer/dp/B07GFP7H8C The second product would definitely be the noisecancelling headphones! These can be a REAL blessing. Need to study when there’s noise around you in your house? Such headphones can be a savior! Listening to music with them is such a captivating experience! So they help in many ways. link - https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/ headphones/noise_cancelling_headphones/noisecancelling-headphones-700.html
PALOMA JHINGAN
Wireless headphones - Apple AirPods The first product on my list is a pair of AirPods. These are a bit expensive, and you can probably purchase cheaper alternatives, I find that they are more comfortable as they take the shape of your ear and also have a long battery life. These aren’t noisecancelling, but they muffle the sounds outside a bit, creating a small barrier with the outside world. This helps deepen my focus, tune into assignments, and allows me to work on something with fewer distractions. This barrier can also help me zone out and take a break when I need it. A major plus point is that the packaging is super compact, so I can carry them literally anywhere. 60 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MLWK3AMA-New-AirPods/dp/B09JQMJHXY Stressbusters - A Pop It Mental health is a widely discussed topic. We all have anxieties, some less extreme, some more. Anxiety manifests itself anytime, anywhere, which is why it is good to have a stress buster like ‘A Pop It’ around. Something about popping bubbles – their sound, and their shifting around, does something for us. It’s also nice to have it around when you need something to fidget with and keep that nervous energy at bay. https://www.amazon.com/Sensory-RelieverSilicone-Pressure-Relieving/dp/B094HBFB18
AKHILA JAGAN
The first product I picked are a pair of shoes from the Melissa brand. I came across this brand while walking in SoHo, New York. As teenagers, we buy small daily necessities such as clothing or shoes without considering or knowing the repercussions of buying them. Unfortunately, buying products from unsustainable fashion brands can do much harm to the environment. Melissa not only educates teens on cruelty involving major fashion brands, but also does not take part in it. Melissa, which is based in Brazil, is a vegan and cruelty-free brand, that makes their shoes out of recycled rubber. This brand is very innovative and promotes ethical buying, which is why I believe it is a must-have for 2022. https://www.shopmelissa.com/ The second product line I chose are menstrual products from the Get Rael brand. Menstrual products are unfortunately not as easily accessible as they should be, and usually not intended to be recycled, resulting in environmental damage. Pads and tampons from this brand use organic cotton. It also sells reusable pads, period panties and menstrual cups, which last a lot longer than cotton products. This helps reduce the stress on the environment and spreads awareness about menstruation to teenagers. Although I do feel that even this brand should improve its accessibility, perhaps promoting it for 2022 will encourage it to do so! https://www.getrael.com/
SARAH KAPADIA
Polaroid / disposable cameras Teens are all about the aesthetic, and these cameras provide the perfect option to capture that because they use Polaroid film. Being engrossed in technology and resisting the temptation to retake and edit photos in real time prevents us from staying in the present. With Disposable Polaroids, teens can capture the ideal picture by reducing the use of technology and getting enough time to cherish the moment. https://eu.polaroid.com/. Skin Care Products Self-care and self-love is essential for any teenager, because of the drastic comparisons they have to deal with on social media. Skin care gives teens a natural glowing look, so they don’t need to hide their natural beauty with make-up. Skin-care products such as scrubs, face masks and creams ensure a healthy skin for the future, too! These help heal severe conditions such as acne which is very common in teens. There are two skin care brands that teens use worldwide: • Bubble https://hellobubble.com/ What is interesting about this brand is that the ambassadors are teen icons themselves! • Bath and Body Works https://www.bathandbodyworks.com/
Sequin embellishments take an outfit from drab to glam 62 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
FASHION TRENDS
2022
A new year means a new wardrobe, and it would be great if it’s all things trendy
PHOTO CREDIT: STYLE ISLAND
BINDU GOPAL RAO
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ashion experts weigh in on what they believe will be the fashion trends of the year, so you can be stylish and put your best foot forward.
Sparkling Clothes Audrey Hepburn once said, “Life is a party, dress like it.” The last two years however have been anything but a party.
Now that parties are filling our diaries again, it’s time to dress like it. Malika Mehta, co-founder and CEO, Style Island, says, “there is nothing quite linking sequin embellishments to take an outfit from drab to glam in an instant. This trend features sequin accents and shiny embellishments for that extra punch of bling, sparkle, and razzmatazz to dazzle the crowd.”
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Oversized Shirts From boxy tees, well-tailored baggy shirts to roomy dresses and baggy trousers, oversized has always been a statement-making trend, and lately, it’s one that a large part of the fashion world has taken a liking to. “It is a fabulous trend because of how versatile and liberating it is coupled with 64 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
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Fringes Fringes can add fluidity and drama to the simplest of outfits and give it an instant uplift. According to Anisha Kapoor and Reema Singhania, founders, Maison Blu, you can either go the boho chic way, or you can go full-on Gatsby. Adding fringes is a great way to add character to any outfit and elevate the look. The duo says this should be the focus of any outfit and look best when worn weaved into a cape or as a standout dress. They are in trend now since there are multiple ways you can add them to an outfit and take it from 0 to 100. They add an element of fun, all while keeping it chic. Whether they’re on the sleeves of a jacket or on the hem of the dress, their versatility makes any outfit look fun which is why it’s a trend that’s here to stay.
ks amazing on The cut-out trend loo range of outfits
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Cut-Out Dresses Cut out trends is one of the most sought after and popular trends this season. It’s a silhouette which flatters and accentuates all body types if placed appropriately. “The peek-a-boo style gives an oomph factor even to the most basic outfit,” says Anjali Bhaskar, Founder, Samatvam by Anjali Bhaskar. “The cut-out trend looks amazing on outfits, dresses, bodysuits, swimwear and pants. It is all set to flatter your collar bones, raise a spotlight on the toned midriff or hip cutout, and adds a flirtatious factor to it. The style can be subtle yet dramatic, sexy yet modest, bold yet delicate. A major shift is seen from wearing tracksuits, loungewear in the pandemic induced era to a more daring, risqué outfit.”
PHOTO CREDIT: SAMATVAM BY ANJALI BHASKAR
FASHION | SEEMA
Fringe adds a d to any outfit. ash of boho chic
PHOTO CR EDIT: PALL AV I SWAD
Oversized shir
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PHOTO CREDIT: MANNMAYA
the plus factor that there are tons of ways one can style a boxy ensemble,” says designer Pallavi Swadi. “Oversized dressing has become everyone’s go-to since it prioritizes comfort over everything else. It has given people the taste of being at ease yet looking chic. You can enjoy wearing an easybreezy and comfy silhouette but still, look polished and be more productive while in your comfort zone. This size-inclusive trend of a well-tailored yet baggy ensemble teaches you to embrace your body so you can enjoy looking fabulous at every size.”
The tie-dye trend is perfect for easy-breezy casuals
Tie and Dye Tie and dye has been around since the eighth century AD and has found place in contemporary fashion trends even today. “You can wear tie-dye in easy-breezy casuals to sophisticated and chic evening dresses. One can pair up a tie-dye t-shirt or a sweatshirt to give a trendy athleisure look, apt for casual hangouts or travel. During weddings, tie-dye kaftans or kurta can be worn for Haldi or Mehendi ceremonies,” says a spokesperson from MannMaya. Prabhkiran Singh, founder & CEO, Bewakoof.com, adds, “The uptake in JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 65
SWA DI L AVI T: PA L PHO TO C REDI
PHOTO CREDIT: SHAYE
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A sparkly shirt ensures an instant chic look
this trend has become quite big and will continue to [grow]. From T-shirts, sweatshirts to shorts and joggers, tie-dye becomes a must-have for the wardrobe. Minds are becoming more creative and expressive, and there seems to be nothing more fun and vibrant than owning a few pieces of this eclectic trend as a part of your wardrobe.” Bright Bags Bright and bejeweled bags is a trend that needs to be embraced for its eye-catching appeal and the way they lend an eloquent update to any ensemble. Striking colors on bags add some visual interest to timeless basics, rendering them statement-making. Time to spice up an outfit with a bright and exquisitely embellished Geometric Heart Tote Bag from Pallavi 66 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
Swadi to your wardrobe. This utility-friendly carry all, crafted from cotton canvas, will fit your whole world in – whether you use it for your farmers’ market runs, for running errands, as well as for your vacays at the beach. Graphic Prints Prints on clothes are getting bolder, more eccentric, and creative. “It’s definitely moving away from the ordinary and making room for the marvelous,” says Pooja Kapur, founder and director, Shaye. “To escape all the pandemic related feels, you will find fun and artsy prints that sometimes borrow from the fantasy world. Wearing bold prints can get a little tricky so here’s a tip: find a print that fits your vibe, so you don’t feel
FASHION | SEEMA pushed out of your comfort zone. If you’re not into bold prints, then you can try some fun florals or stripes and keep it edgy. You can also start small like accessorizing your outfit with a printed scarf. An all-print look from head to toe in the same color palette will ease you into a trendier maximalist look. And clashing prints is really a statement look that’s unmissable.” Gladiator Sandals and Boots The 2000s trends are coming back, including a resurgence of flared jeans and juicy couture sweats. “Adding to the re-growing of the trend, gladiator sandals and boots are a classic in the early 20s trend game that never goes out of style, says Rubaina Adhikari, fashion expert and influencer. “These sandals have a bit of a kick to them! Gladiators add a twist, they can transform a summer dress into a night out look by adding heavy silver accessories and a fantastic bag. Gladiator Boots made a return in vogue this year, they are one of the biggest footwear trends people will follow in 2022.” Head Scarves Scarves have been an enduring fashion embellishment for centuries. The versatile ways of tying a scarf are an art, this needs to be mastered. Scarves add a spark of sophistication and a refined look to all stylish sleek suit jackets. Here are a few simple scarf styling tips to adorn. “Rather than strolling with a similar scarf over and again, look out for striking blends and contrast,” says Ravi Gupta, creative director at Gargee Designer’s. “Layering is important. Bulkier scarves go with sturdier coats; silk and cotton scarves are for lighter renditions. A weighty winter scarf over your T-shirt is a big no. Always pick a scarf that doesn’t make you look messy. Go for a medium-sized or little measured, right size scarf avoiding the huge. Scarves are accessories, not a necessity. One should avoid overdoing it. If one chooses a perfectly fitting turtleneck and button-up jacket, give the scarf a miss.”
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FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
FOOD TRENDS
2022
As we welcome the new year, it is time to check the food trends that are likely to rule our plates BINDU GOPAL RAO
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PHOTO CREDIT: AN ODE TO GAIA
Salted caramel chocolate cake
P L A N T - B A S E D Fueled by the current climate crisis, part of which is propelled by unsustainable food consumption and lifestyle, plant-based eating is here to stay. There are a few things we as individuals can do to mitigate our carbon footprint, and one of them is to eat local, reduce our use of animal products and overall choose more sustainable options. Chef Naimita Jagasia of An Ode to Gaia, says, “This started out as a weight management trend, health improvement diet and a fad, but slowly people have realized the benefits
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of eating plant-based isn’t just individual, but also has a great impact on our environmental output, reduces our carbon footprint significantly and look on the bright side. You are also reducing the number of animals killed by an annual average of 350. It went from being a trend to lifestyle choice especially among the younger generations, the Gen Z and millennials who understand the urgency of the climate crisis and are choosing to explore lifestyle changes that benefit not only themselves but the planet as well.”
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
S M A L L E R M E N U S The taste of Indian consumers is evolving, and Korean, Japanese, and other foods are taking a decent market share now. “We are seeing this trend becoming stronger every month as you will find these newly formed food habits are leading to a larger adoption (Dalgona coffee is now available almost everywhere, so is Lotus Biscoff),” says Dharmin Vora, Co-founder, peAR Technologies. “That also means, you not only require a unique menu but also need to educate your customers to drive consumption, repeat orders, which would lead to a higher average bill size. That will require you to have a digital medium alongside a very visual medium. You need to show the presentation and ingredients first, get them to eat with their eyes first. 3-D menus will play a major part in both the dine in and food delivery segments. Food will have to be more presentable and eye pleasing before customers decide to add it to their cart.”
A bowl of pasta
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Non-alcoholic beverages that include a variety of fruit combinations are popular. There is an increase in interest in innovative nonalcoholic and multifunctional cereal-based beverages as part of the trend toward more health-conscious lifestyles. Renu Dalal, a cookbook author, says, “To make a great thirst quencher, mix any of the following fruits with soda: strawberry, green apple, berries, passion fruit, and avocado. Each fruit has a special and unique flavor. The drink should be just sweet enough to gratify the palate, not too sugary. A masala soda with no sugar is an excellent alternative for those watching their calories. For the healthconscious, a coconut water-lychee juice combo is ideal, as is a combination of juices. A dash of spice in the drink improves the flavor and leaves people wanting more.”
Cucumber and jalapeno chiller
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA H Y P E R - L O C A L
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PHOTO CREDIT: NOVOTEL IBIS CHENNAI OMR
With an increasing awareness of the carbon imprint that food produces, many people are turning to locally grown foods that were nearly lost in the change during the last few years. Several fitness gurus and chefs who are developing some fantastic new recipes that are based on old recipes but have been updated to cater to modern tastes are also fueling this trend. “They have maintained the mindful eating trends while reproducing them,” says Saravanan Ranganathan, executive sous chef, Novotel ibis Chennai OMR. “In general, a big audience, particularly from tier I and II cities, has recognized the nutritional and environmental benefits of locally grown foods. Palmira (palm shoot) is one such influence, which is historically found in Tamil Nadu and is eaten steamed or roasted as a snack. The palm root is well-known for its ability to treat urinary infections and other renal problems. Palmira kal vada, palmira poriyal, and palmira payasam are some of the dishes our chefs have created using this healthful root and utilizing its fibrous character.”
Dishes made with palm shoot
PHOTO CREDIT: CHEF ADITI DUGAR
Koji-aged beetroot and peach chunda
W A S T E - F R E E As we become more conscious of what we eat, where it comes from, and that our ecosystems are reaching a tipping point, we are becoming a bit more conservative and innovative in how to preserve what we do have. “How to minimize food waste was one of the first things we set out to think about when we opened Masque,” says Aditi Dugar, founder, Sage & Saffron and Masque. “For one, Masque only offers tasting menus; that, along with our reservations-preferred model, allows us to restrict our waste in itself because we know almost exactly how
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many portions, we are preparing every evening. That said, a kitchen in any format will always produce some wastage, so we try to follow a zero-waste policy insofar as possible and meet it 95 percent of the time. Nearly every trimming, excess part, or byproduct, is turned into a new product. We’ve had chips, salts, cookies, and noodles made of veggie peels, leftover breads, even fish bones. Anything that’s left behind is composted, or moved over to the Masque Lab, where we can test how to preserve or convert it.”
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Yoghurt, a popular fermented food
F E R M E N T E D F O O D S There has been a growing interest among consumers for incorporating fermented food and drinks in their diets over the last few years. Consumers are eating healthier than ever, and this has been the core reason why fermented foods have gained visibility within the consumer markets. “Fermented foods have numerous health benefits like boosting immunity and improving gut health,” says Vivek Mani, CEO, Heritage Novandie Foods Private Limited.. This works by increasing the number of healthy beneficial bacteria present within our bodies, also known as probiotics, that acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and aids absorption of essential nutrients, which in turn promotes good gut health... Products like yogurt and drinkable yogurts are gaining rapid visibility within the supermarket shelves and in people’s kitchens.” 74 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
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The planet has so much to offer is talk of the discussion globally and the trend of getting it into our daily diet is increasing rapidly. A few decades ago we heard dairy free desserts or ice cream and so on was the first step towards healthy food from the farm. “Plants give us a dairy free, fat free and cholesterol free diet,” says Inder Dev, corporate director, food and beverage, Signum Hotels & Resorts. “Can we believe that calcium found in potato milk is as good or the same as found in cow milk? I will not be surprised to see potato milk in the stores... This will be just another vegan milk available everywhere. Consumers are aware and concerned about what they eat and what benefits it gives to their bodies. I strongly feel that the plant-based trend is doing all good for us and the planet.”
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA R E T R O F O O D S A N D A U T H E N T I C F L A V O R S chefs both on the streets and in the royal kitchens before bringing the cuisine to India. Even with Thai Naam, I continue to travel and spend months researching how the cuisine has evolved. Classics like tom yum, som tam, chicken in pandanas leaves, red curry, green curry and pad thai have stayed the same through the years and are a balance of herbs and spices which tickle the taste buds.”
PHOTO CREDIT: THAI NAM
In the last few years, chefs have been experimenting a lot with flavors and spices. Though innovation is great it is important to stay true to the authenticity of a cuisine. “The core recipes can only be enhanced once a chef has a thorough understanding of the nuances of the cuisine,” says Chef Ananda Solomon, Thai Naam. “Before I introduced India to the world of Thai cuisine I went to the country and lived and worked with the local
Som Tam, young papaya salad from chef Ananda Solomon
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Savory breakfast has been a crowd favorite from the past many years, but it is only now that people have started experimenting with their choices. Over the years, the definition of a savory breakfast has changed and evolved. With more places having a breakfast-focused menu, people have become well acquainted with the variety of savory options available and open to trying new things. Anukriti Anand, chef-owner, Altogether Experimental says, “The savory choices have seen a shift from the good old aloo parathas to savory crepes/croissants served with scrambled eggs. It’s about combining the Indian flavors with the modern dishes, to accommodate the taste buds. A savory breakfast keeps you full for a longer period and puts you in a good mood. A warm bagel smeared with cream cheese topped with mixed greens, fresh tomatoes, chili bomb cheese and a sunny side up egg makes for a wholesome breakfast option. Another favorite is a warm twice baked croissant with mornay, feta, rosemary, and onion jam. On busy days, the best pick-me-up is a warm cup of coffee and butter croissant.”
PHOTO CREDIT: ALTOGETHER EXPERIMENTAL
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Spinach and mushroom crepe from chef Anukriti Anand
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FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
Sumptuous SOUPS
Our top chefs share their best recipes for luxurious soups, perfect to warm you up even on the coldest of winter days BINDU GOPAL RAO AND RASHMI GOPAL RAO
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acked with protein, folate, iron, phosphorus, potassium and fiber and being low in fat lentils are all about good food. One of the best ways to enjoy lentils is to make an easy lentil soup recipe. “Lentil soup is very easy to make,” says Ganesh Gangoni, sous chef at Mercure Hyderabad KCP. “Always boil the lentils in a pressure cooker. It is easy to make fine paste. Wash the lentils in fresh water before cooking and soak them in water to reduce the cooking time by about half. If you add salt before it can make the lentils tough. Season with salt after cooking. Lentil soup is very good for reducing weight as they are high in proteins. Lentils also help to stabilize blood sugar, have a great source of fiber and protein.” Lentil soup is usually vegetarian, but can also include meat. If you can use lentils with husk, it makes for a great fiber-rich dish. A staple food through Europe, Latin America
S O U P and the Middle East, lentil soup is also mentioned in the Bible. A hearty dish that can take in a variety of vegetables, it is usually pureed and served in winter in Egypt. Lemon juice is added to traditional lentil soup recipes in the Middle East. A simple lentil soup recipe can just include a lentil base and a smattering of spices and still taste exotic. A typical lentil soup recipe includes vegetables like tomato, pumpkin, onion, carrots, potatoes, celery and parsley and is flavored with garlic, bay leaf, cumin, olive oil and vinegar. Croutons, chopped herbs, butter, olive oil, cream and yogurt are typically used as part of the garnish of lentil soup recipes. With so much variety, it is easy to play around with the lentil soup recipe and using different lentils – red, yellow, green, black or white will give you an all new version of the soup. Here are two great lentil soup recipes that show the versatility of this dish. JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 79
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(courtesy Ganesh Gangoni, sous chef, Mercure Hyderabad KCP) The Recipe INGREDIENTS • 5 tsp olive oil • 1 oz onion, chopped • 3/4 oz garlic, chopped • 3/4 oz carrot, chopped • 3/4 oz celery, chopped • A few basil leaves • 1 bay leaf • 3 cloves • 3.5 oz boiled yellow lentil • 2 tsp lemon juice • 1/3 oz black pepper powder • 1 oz coriander roots • Salt to taste METHOD • Heat oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add chopped garlic, cloves and bay leaves. Stir for few seconds. Now add chopped vegetables carrot, onion, celery, coriander roots and basil leaves stir until onion is tender. • Add boiled lentil paste and stir for few seconds and add water. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with garlic bread as accompaniment.
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(courtesy Ajay Thakur, corporate chef, Hitchki & Bayroute) Serving size: 7 oz Prep time: 20 min Cooking time: 20 min
Cooking tip: If dukkah is not available in the kitchen one old replace it with any spice like zaatar or sumac, or even garam masala.
INGREDIENTS • 2 oz red masoor dal • 1/3 oz onion, chopped • 1/6 oz celery, chopped • 1/6 oz garlic, chopped • 1/3 oz carrot, chopped • 1 1/3 oz tbsp ghee • 1 bay leaf • 4/5 cup water • Salt to taste • 1/2 oz dukkah spice (available on Amazon) • 1 tsp cumin powder • 3 1/2 tbsp vegetable stock
Nutrition Facts Vegetarian Lentil Soup Serving Size 1.5 cups • 240 Kcal • 36g carbs • 5g fat • 12g protein
METHOD 1. Soak the dal for at least 20 minutes in warm water so that it becomes soft. 2. In a pan add half the ghee and bay leaf and let it crackle. Sauté all the chopped vegetables until translucent. Add in the strained dal and sauté for a couple of minutes. 3. Add in the water and bring to a boil while you continue to stir and then cover and simmer the dal for 20 minutes or until it has completely dissolved in the water. 4. Remove the bay leaf, cool the mixture and then blend till a smooth thick mixture is formed. In a pan add in the mixture add in vegetable stock, salt and cumin powde. Finish the soup with the remaining ghee. To garnish, sprinkle the dukkah spice and serve hot.
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FAQ Is lentil soup good for weight loss? Being dense in nutrients, low in calories and high in protein lentils are a great example of good carbs. As they keep you full for longer, they are ideal for weight loss. Is lentil soup healthy? Lentils have polyphenols, are a good source of iron, help lower cholesterol, stabilize blood sugar and promote weight loss. Do lentils need to be soaked? Pre-soaked lentils need about half the time to cook so you can save precious cooking time. Make sure that prior to soaking the lentils you wash them well with cold water and remove any debris. What happens if I eat lentils every day? You can eat lentils every day as they can significantly reduce bad cholesterol and the associated risk of cardiovascular disease.
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
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French classic, potato leek soup is quick, easy, creamy and delicious, this is a great way to add a punch of health into your diet. The best potato leek soup recipe is one that uses top-notch ingredients. “I like to thicken my soup with natural ingredients Potato itself is starch, and once you cook and blend the soup it thickens by itself. That’s the most natural way,” says Jitendra Lakhwa, executive chef, Radisson Blu Resort Dharamshala. “While I was in the U.K. and the U.S., I always used russets, although Yukon Golds also have a good texture for potato Leek soup. It is one of my favorite soups. In India I use the farmer’s potato and it gives a good result.” If you are non-vegetarian, you can use chicken stock and make a simple potato leek soup recipe. To make an authentic potato leek soup recipe, top some fresh sour cream and fresh chives. Likewise, to make an easy potato leek soup recipe, keep your ingredients handy and ready this soup in advance. Here are two ways to make potato leek soup.
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(courtesy Chirag Sehgal, Jr., sous chef at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru) INGREDIENTS • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1/2 cup onions • 1/4 cup leeks • 2 cloves garlic • 1 sprig thyme • 3 potatoes, medium size • 1 tbsp butter (unsalted) • 1 tbsp salt • 2 cups milk • 1 tsp white pepper powder • 4 cups water For garnish • 12 roundels of leek • 12 pieces of potato, diced, boiled METHOD 1. Peel and roughly chop the onions, garlic, leeks and potato. In a pan over medium heat add oil, butter, onions, leeks, garlic, thyme, potato and cook it for about 3 minutes until the vegetables become tender. 2. Season with salt and white pepper powder. Add milk, three cups of water and bring it to a boil. Simmer and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are completely cooked. 3. Allow the mixture to cool down and blend it until a smooth puree. Bring the puree to a boil and adjust consistency by adding a cup of water. Taste and season the soup. Serve hot in a garnished soup plate. 4. To Garnish: Cut the roundels of leeks and char
them on a non-stick pan. Add diced boiled potato. Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 12.68 fl oz • 100 kcal • 18g carbs • 2g fat • 3g protein FAQs How long does potato leek soup last in the fridge? The soup can be frozen, without the cream, for up to three months. What part of the leek do you use for leek soup? Only the white and light green parts. How do you thicken leek and potato soup? There are multiple ways to thicken the soup, depending on the chef. The most common ways are to add roux, corn starch, and beurre mannie. How do you keep potatoes from falling apart in soup? Sauté some potato chunks on a flat pan and add it to the soup after finishing. What type of potato is best for soup? Farmer’s potatoes work well with this soup. Choose freshly grown potatoes.
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(courtesy Jitendra Lakhwa, executive chef, Radisson Blu Resort, Dharamshala) Serves: 6 Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 1 hr 5 mins INGREDIENTS • 3 tbsp olive oil • 3 tbsp unsalted butter • 4-5 large leeks, ensure to use only white parts, roughly chopped • 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled • 2.2 lb farmer’s potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped • 6-7 cups vegetable stock • 2-3 bay leaves • 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme • 1 tsp salt • Cracked black pepper as per taste • 1 cup heavy cream • Parsley, finely chopped for garnish • French baguette slice for accompaniment METHOD 1. Heat olive oil and butter together In a large soup pan. Once heated, add leeks, onion, bay leaf, thyme and garlic together, keep stirring until soft and tender about 10-15 minutes. Ensure it doesn’t turn brown. 2. Add the chopped potatoes, salt, pepper and vegetable stock and bring to a boil, keeping the pan covered to ensure fast cooking. Simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. 3. Once the potatoes are cooked, purée the soup with a hand blender until smooth. Once blended, add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. 4. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. If you the soup is too thin, simmer until thickened. Garnish with fresh parsley and accompany with French baguette slices.
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TIPS While yellow onions are the best for the recipe, you can also use red onions if the former is not available. Before serving, you can transfer the soup onto oven-proof bowls and place the bread on top. Layer the bread with cheese and broil in a preheated oven until the cheese melts and turns golden brown In case Gruyere cheese is not available, you can use Parmesan, Swiss or mozzarella.
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
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Warm and comforting, it is the food of kings There is nothing like savoring a hot French onion soup with crispy bread on a cold, dreary day. Full of flavor, it is loaded with caramelized onions with a hint of wine, making it a favorite of many. Served with bread generously slathered with cheese, this one is sure to keep your appetite and spirits high! Origins The modern French onion soup is believed to have gained full form in Paris around the 18th century. Rich in texture and delectable in taste, the soup is traditionally served with crusty baguette slices and makes for a perfect start to any meal. Nutrition Facts A wholesome dish, French onion soup is rich in protein, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants mainly derived from the cheese and the onions. Onions are known to have a positive effect on heart health as well as blood sugar levels. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is known to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides. Onions are known to be good for bone health, to fight bacteria, and take on cancer. The Best French Onion Soup Here is a simple and easy recipe that should deliver the star of any meal. Just remember to choose the best onions available, because an authentic French onion soup uses the highest quality ones.
INGREDIENTS • 3 tbsp unsalted butter • 3 tbsp olive oil • 6 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced • 4 garlic cloves, chopped fine • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup red wine • 2 sprigs fresh thyme, roughly chopped • 6 cups beef stock or broth • 2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped • 1 whole bay leaf (dried or fresh) • 1 tsp sugar • Salt and pepper to taste For serving • 4 slices of French bread • 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese METHOD 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and melt the butter. add the onions and cook until soft for about 15 minutes on medium to high heat. Stir every five minutes. 2. Reduce the flame, add the sugar and allow the onions to caramelize. Take care not to burn. 3. Add in the garlic and thyme and fry till aromatic. Then add the wine and beef stock, followed by salt and pepper to taste. 4. Add the bay leaf, letting it simmer for 15 minutes. 5. Serve with bread slices coated with melted Gruyere cheese.
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TRAVEL | SEEMA
A view of the ancient temple of the Sun God in Konark, Odisha 92 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
The
STATEOf
Amazement With great art, architecture, natural beauty, and cuisine, Odisha is the place to go SWARNENDU BISWAS
O
disha is a state on the eastern side of India, but actually it lies in its millions and millions of tourists’ mind space. Yes, if you have traveled to Odisha, it is most likely that Odisha has become a state of your mind. It is a destination and also a journey…
TRAVEL | SEEMA Here, the abundance of delights for tourists is characterized by natural splendors, enchanting wildlife, rich legacy of textiles, arts and crafts and sumptuous culinary delights. In this feature, we would make a humble attempt to have a glimpse of some awesome destinations, magical textiles and delicious food of Odisha. EXPLORING GOLDEN TRIANGLE Of course, Puri, Bhubaneshwar and Konark are the three most important destinations of Odisha from the tourism point of view. Together these three destinations are referred to as the Golden Triangle as their geographies can be connected in a triangular shape. There is Puri beach, with its golden sands, where you can get wonderful views of the mighty Bay of Bengal. The sunrise and sunset at the Puri beach can easily count among the experiences of a lifetime. Here, you can marvel at the Bay of Bengal at its turbulent best, with huge waves that can both frighten and thrill you at the same time. The city of Puri is not an attraction solely for nature lovers. With several temples, Puri can attract lovers of religious tourism. Exploring the many temples of Puri, such as Gundicha Temple, Vimala Temple, Loknath Temple, and others, can itself call for many visits to the holy city. However, the most important religious landmark in Puri is the Jagannath Temple, dedicated to the Lord Jagannath. The temple complex which houses Jagannath Temple and several other smaller temples and shrines, is spread over 400,000 sq. ft. The Jagannath Temple, which, at 214 ft., is the highest temple in Odisha, was built in the 12th century by the Ganga dynasty king 94 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
Anantavarman Chodaganga. The temple is still standing majestically and attracting millions and millions of devotees, more than 900 years after its construction. Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are the three deities worshiped at the temple. The Jagannath Temple’s kitchen is the largest kitchen in the world. The offering to Lord Jagannath in Puri, known as the mahaprasad, is much coveted. The rath yatra is another worldfamous attraction in Puri. The celebration generally takes place in end-June or the beginning or middle of July. So, the 2021 rath yatra took place on July 12; the 2022 rath yatra is to take place on July 1. The festival is about Lord Jagannath’s annual week-long visit to Gundicha Temple. For the rath yatra, idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are removed from the temple, placed in three, huge, separate and well-decorated chariots, which are pulled by euphoric devotees. The deities remain at Gundicha Temple for seven days and then return to their abode. Bhubaneshwar, 38 miles from Odisha, is not only the capital of Odisha but also a wonderful destination for religious tourists and lovers of art and architecture. The city and its surroundings have a number of temples with splendid architecture. Lingaraj Temple (dedicated to Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva, it was built in the 11th century), Mukteswar Temple with its famous arched gateway and exquisitely carved pillars (celebrating Lord Shiva and built in the 10th century), and the enigmatic Rajarani Temple, built in the 11th century, which has no presiding deity (a temple without a God) are must visits. The erotic
carvings of the Rajarani Temple reflect India’s ancient liberal traditions. The Udaygiri and Khandagiri caves in Bhubaneshwar are worth exploring, too. On two adjacent hills — Udayagiri and Khandagiri — they are partly natural and partly artificial. They mostly served as abodes of Jain ascetics. They date back to the 1st century BCE. You must visit the Museum of Tribal Arts and Artifacts, popularly known as the Tribal Museum. The museum gives remarkable insights into Odisha’s tribal life. Here, replicas of tribal huts of various tribal communities and artifacts collected from different tribal groups in Odisha are must see. Konark should be a mustgo destination in your Odisha tour itinerary. The small town is globally renowned for its magnificent Sun Temple, built in the 13th century during the rule of Narasimhadeva I. The UNESCO World Heritage Site represents the supreme excellence of Odisha’s ancient temple architecture. The magnificent temple, which is now mostly in ruins, was dedicated to the Sun God. It represents aweinspiring symmetry and precision in its architecture, and amazingly detailed sculptures, vividly showcasing life in ancient India. Also known as the Black Pagoda, the temple was designed as a huge chariot of the Sun God, set on 24 intricately carved wheels and pulled by seven horses, all of it carved in stone. Now only six of the horses remain. The shadows of the wheels are designed to help tell the time of the day. A five-day-long annual festival, the Konark Music and Dance Festival, is held there in December, against the backdrop of the Sun
The hills of Udaygiri and Khandagiri located on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Odisha Jagannath Temple in Balasore
A priest offers rajnigandha flowers during ratha yatra
Temple. It is one of the most prestigious dance festivals in Odisha. After visiting the Sun Temple, one can also head for the calm and clean Chandrabhaga beach in Konark. It is India’s first beach to get the Blue Flag certification, given to those environment-friendly clean beaches that have amenities of international standards. Besides these three famous destinations that comprise the Golden Triangle of Odisha, the state has many lesser-known destinations and attractions, which can call for many visits to this fascinating state again and again.
Boats in a river inside the Bhitarkanika National Park
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LAGOON, BEACHES, AND WILD DELIGHTS The brackish water lagoon of Chilika Lake (the second-largest such lagoon in the world, covering 684 miles), located just 28 miles from Puri, hosts many migratory birds and the Irrawaddy dolphin. Over 160 bird species flock there during the peak migratory season. Chilika Lake is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds in the Indian subcontinent. The Talasari Beach, in the Baleswar district of Odisha, has swaying palms, and coconut and cashew trees adorning the coastline. While watching the waves lapping the shore and catamarans in the distance, you can lose yourself. Chandipur and Gopalpur must also be included in the beach tour of Odisha. During low tide, the Chandipur beach recedes up to 3 miles, allowing visitors to walk on the sea bed. Chandipur beach hosts a rich biodiversity, including endangered horseshoe crabs, starfish, and sea urchins. Besides the glorious sea and the ancient temples, Odisha is known for its wild splendors. Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Bhitarkanika
PHOTO CREDIT: VRIKSH DESIGNS
National Park (Bhitarkanika is home to the largest congregation of the endangered salt water crocodile in the country and is the India’s second-largest mangrove ecosystem after the Sunderbans), Similipal Tiger Reserve (recently a rare melanistic tiger — a black tiger — was found there) and Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, are some important wildlife destinations. INTRICATE CREATIONS However, the tourism delights of Odisha wouldn’t reveal the rich cultural tapestry of the state. The enduring legacy of textiles is one of
the essential characteristics of this many-splendored state. Textiles of Odisha, which is an important manifestation of its rich culture, is characterized by intricate weaves, embodying uncommon dexterity. Many remote villages in Odisha produce hand-loom fabrics of exquisite craftsmanship, marveled globally by the connoisseurs and commoners alike. The hand-loom industry is the most important cottage industry of Odisha, providing a livelihood to more than 250,000 weavers. Sambalpuri Ikat, Bomkai Silk, Berhampuri and Kataki sarees are some renowned saris this state produces.
TRADITION WITH TODAY Delhi-based Vriksh Designs is a very creative player in the Odisha’s handloom sector. According to its founder, Gunjan Jain, “Vriksh was conceived and born as a modest initiative to revive some of the dwindling weaving traditions of Odisha and contemporize the traditional handlooms of the state for the modern Indian market while making sure their cultural significance remains intact. “For Vriksh, threads, hues, patterns and motifs on handloom fabrics aren’t simply the ingredients of design, they are JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 97
“FOR VRIKSH, THREADS, HUES, PATTERNS AND MOTIFS ON HAND-LOOM FABRICS AREN’T SIMPLY THE INGREDIENTS OF DESIGN, THEY ARE LIVING EXHIBITS THAT OFFER YOU GLIMPSES INTO THE VIBRANT LIVES OF THE PEOPLE OF ODISHA AND THEIR RICH CULTURAL MOSAIC” Gunjan Jain, founder, Vriksh Design
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living exhibits that offer you glimpses into the vibrant lives of the people of Odisha and their rich cultural mosaic,” she said. Jain, who began her career in the garment apparel industry, often produces saris which depicts scenes from historical or mythological incidents pertaining to Odisha, thus adding to their visual and cultural appeal. Recently, Vriksh Designs depicted the annual festival of Bali Yatra (a major festival in Odisha, considered one of Asia’s largest open trade fairs) on one type of sari. Vriksh Designs produces fabrics of cotton, Tussar silk, a blend of silk and cotton, and mulberry silk. “Besides these, we have recently introduced silk-linen saris, which has enhanced our portfolio,” Gunjan said. One important sari-dyeing techniques used in Odisha is Ikat. Ikat is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. Ikat woven fabrics are an important cultural heritage of the state. “We use Ikat and Jala technique in our handloom creations,” Jain said. THE TASTES OF ODISHA Odisha’s culinary heritage also adds to its enduring tourism appeal. Odia cuisine is simple, delicious and easy to digest. It generally calls for very little oil and a restrained but judicious use of spices. Dalma, a lentil dish cooked with an assortment of vegetables and spices, and pitha, a cereal-based steamed cake, are some dishes you shouldn’t miss out on during your visit. Dalma is generally partaken with the main meal, whereas pitha can be enjoyed at any time. Pakhala bhata is a renowned dish from Odisha. This is a staple lunch in households in Odisha. It involves soaking rice in sour curd and water. Served with fried fish and fried vegetables on the side, it is good for the extreme summers of Odisha. Some researchers say the dish has vitamins beneficial for nerve cells. Rasagulla, made from cottage cheese, which was known as kheera mohana in ancient Odisha, is a famous sweet dish of
Homemade crispy, sweet khaja
Pakhala bhata is a summer-time dish of cooked rice washed or lightly fermented in water
the state. Chennapoda is another famous sweet dish from Odisha. It is prepared by mixing cottage cheese with sugar and then placing the concoction in a bowl to give it its characteristic round shape. Then it is baked in an earthen oven covered with sal leaves. The burnt upper layer of chennapoda gives it the smoky flavor and contributes to its taste. Rasabali, another sweet dish, comes soaked in thick flavored
milk and garnished with cardamoms. Chenna jhili is another dessert from the state, which can be simply be described as a brown jalebi made with cottage cheese. Khaja is a sweet dish wherein refined wheat flour is mixed with sugar and fried lightly in some oil. So while travelling to Odisha do not just go for a swim in the sea or explore its ancient temples and enchanting wildlife. Also keep an eye out for its exquisite textiles, and sample some of its delicacies. These can not only satiate your senses but can be the stuff of memories. JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 99
TRAVEL | SEEMA
Resort to Wellness with Luxury Three top spas to visit in India and Maldives SWARNENDU BISWAS
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eople have become more conscious about health and wellness, more so during the pandemic. With tourism getting back on its feet, spa resorts are expected to gain new popularity among the well-heeled. Here we have a brief overview of three of the many luxury spa resorts in India and Maldives. Take Ananda in the Himalayas, an award-winning luxury destination spa resort situated at the Himalayan foothills, near Rishikesh in Uttrakhand state. Located on a palace estate that spreads across 100 acres, Ananda is nestled in sal forests and overlooks the spiritual town of Rishikesh, by which meanders the tranquil green Ganga 100 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
river. It is regarded by many as one of the best spa resorts on the planet. Find Your Bliss In 2020, Ananda in the Himalayas had been ranked as the No. 1 Destination Spa in the World by Condé Nast — Readers’ Choice Awards (USA & UK) and the Favorite Destination Spa by the Condé Nast Traveller, India — Readers’ Travel Awards. The spa resort has won other prestigious awards over the years, too. It integrates traditional wellness regimes of Ayurveda, yoga and Vedanta, with international wellness experiences, fitness and healthy organic cuisine, resulting in holistic well-being. At the spa, which covers 24,000 square feet, you
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can explore an extensive menu of more than 80 body and beauty treatments. The Ayurvedic healing experience is not to be missed. Qualified Ayurveda doctors and therapists administer treatments, ranging from therapeutic massages to more rigorous toxic elimination. The Ayurvedic therapies at Ananda are rooted in traditions, while keeping in mind contemporary preferences and comforts. The spa experience aims to bring about a wonderful harmony between the physical and the mental realms of the individual, thereby giving a soul-uplifting experience. One of the Ayurvedic therapies offered at Ananda In The Himalayas is Shirodhara. In it, lukewarm herbal oil poured in an even stream on the forehead pacifies and revitalizes the mind and body. Besides being intensely rejuvenating, it is believed to have anti-aging effects and improve memory. The resort asserts that the remedy can address neurological disorders, and normalize sleep patterns and blood pressure. Of course, it takes many sessions to achieve the desired results. Spa by the Backwaters Situated on the shores of Vembanad Lake, the longest backwater lake in Kerala, The Zuri Kumarakom, Kerala Resort & Spa offers fascinating views of the serene backwaters of Kerala. At this resort you can not only enjoy the colorful local culture and mouth-watering cuisine, and the rich flora and fauna, but can also pamper yourself at the hospitality property’s Maya Spa. Here you can choose from a range of Ayurvedic, Western and Eastern therapies to rejuvenate your jaded nerves. One Ayurvedic massage is the Marma massage. It is a traditional Kerala Ayurvedic full-body massage believed to stimulate the vital energy points of the body, refreshing them by releasing the blockages in energy flow. One Ayurvedic therapy, Udwarthanam, claims to fight obesity. In it, warmed dry herbal powders are scrubbed vigorously into the skin to melt away subcutaneous fat. The scrub could invigorate the skin through exfoliation. Unwind at the Reef High-end spa lovers who are planning a visit to the sun-washed, sea-caressed Maldives can try the Taj Coral Reef Resort & Spa, Maldives. Located on the heart-shaped Hembadhu island, 102 | SEEMA.COM | JANUARY 2022
the hospitality property is on a thousand-year old coral atoll. A 45-minute ride on a speed boat can get you from Velana International Airport to this opulent, environmentally conscious resort comprising 62 luxurious thatched-roof villas. After indulging in water activities such as diving and swimming, and enjoying dolphin cruises and snorkeling parties, visitors can unwind and rejuvenate in the luxurious Jiva Spa. One signature experience, Jivanya-Invigorate, which lasts two hours, 120 minutes, aims to relieve muscular tension and improve blood circulation. This treatment includes an exfoliating herbal scrub of exotic spices and herbs from the hills of India, a heat-stimulating
wrap, and a revitalizing massage. Another experience, Soundarya, lasts five hours! This therapeutic experience begins with a deep nourishing scrub followed by a wrap of the guest’s choice. A soothing aromatherapy massage and a nourishing facial that follows can leave her/his skin feeling supple and radiant. The experience is heightened with a spa manicure and pedicure, all this while one sips on a warm cup of green tea and enjoys the goodness of a fresh fruit. So, if you are planning for a trip to India or Maldives to get over the boredom of being cooped up in home for large parts of 2020 and 2021, get a luxurious dosage of wellness at one of these spa resorts. JANUARY 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 103
HOROSCOPE | SEEMA
FORECAST WITH FARZANA
Mar 21 - Apr 19
If you are in a situation that restricts you, open your mind to solutions. Whatever is holding you back is self-imposed so don’t poke sticks into your own spokes. Put yourself out there and quit doubting yourself. If you feel overwhelmed then talk to your partner or a mentor about how you are feeling. As you let go of the emotions, energies and circumstances that no longer serve you, you open yourself up to amazing opportunities. Be discerning when making any major decisions related to finance and property. You are responsible for your own choices. Get your dreams out of the cage and live your life. Victory lies in choosing, courageously. 2022: Leave the past behind and embrace the ‘new’ you. Opportunities that were invisible suddenly appear to flash all around you. And all that you set in motion this year, creates the foundation for your victory.
Apr 20 - May 20
There’s still some sludge to push through,
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before things clear up. If you idealize perfection, you are likely to become a stress magnet. Release yourself from the ties that keep you anchored to painful situations. Now is the time to be candid, clear and decisive so leave diplomacy for another day. Playing hot and cold in relationships may cast a dark cloud on your joy. Speak up when someone is wrong and learn to give yourself some tough love, too. You may want to exercise financial conservatism and prudence in money matters. Head outside in the fresh air, do some deep breathing and spread your butterfly wings and soar! 2022: Focus on getting things done, review your plans, and get other people to your corner to support you. To achieve tangible goals, stabilize your position at work with a patient and collaborative approach.
May 21 - Jun 20
There seems to be some lingering hurt from the past, perhaps a heartbreak, loss of something special to you, or a difficulty that brings up deep emotions.
Express and cleanse it all out. Zoom out, expand your perspective and see the bigger picture. Pour love into yourself and trust that happier days are ahead. If you are having any issues at work or with someone you’re close to, take the initiative to clear things up. It might be helpful to find someone to assist you in healing. The way you feel now does not encompass how you will feel once the dust settles. Chin up and maintain a positive outlook. Your optimism is instrumental in your victory. 2022: It is a time for expansion, particularly with new projects, relationships or situations. Your optimism, creativity, spirit of adventure and sense of humor are allies for success.
Jun 21 - Jul 22 All things are possible, what with a new beginning and new identity manifesting for you. Remember, the seeds for
success are planted in the actions you take today. You may have to jump in with both feet and prove yourself. Be confident that your efforts will pay off. You may start a financial project together with your partner to further cement your relationship. You have a better chance of winning, now provided you stay grounded in common sense. Take care of your health and you will be, actually taking care of your wealth. Lighten up and stop being too serious. Allow your new restored sense of self, out to play. 2022: Consolidate energy and resources so that they are strong enough to support your future growth. Reconnect with your gifts that bring you alive and remain in touch with your passions.
Jul 23 - Aug 22
Life changing choices may put you in a dilemma with options that are both, contradicting and equally unifying, all at once. Tune into your intuition and get clear about your own values and find harmony within yourself. You have got this. Reach for the stars and shine, brightly for you were born with all the skills inside of you. If you are single, expect the beginnings of a romance. If you’re in a relationship, you may renew a soul connection. Collaboration, cooperation and alliances are likely to pan out for the better. In case you are unsure, resist the temptation to be impulsive at work or with investments. 2022: Be open to change, heal old
issues and seek balance in all you do. Your communication, creativity and ability to bounce back are your strengths.
Aug 23 - Sept 22
A project or situation you find challenging requires persistence and endurance; and based on past experiences, you may be wary of others, and their intentions. So, hang in there, stand tall and draw upon your inner strength. Victory is within reach. Keep your resolve regardless of how intense things may appear. Steer clear of any politics or petty gossip at work. In the love area, expect a rocky romance so some maturity and receptiveness would help. However, at the end of the day, your relationship with yourself is the most important one you will ever have. Whatever it is in your life that has inhibited your freedom, financially needs a reset. 2022: Strive for love and harmony and changes to your environment that create peace. Embrace commitments or collective responsibilities thrown at you, gracefully. But do not overplay your part in anyone’s life.
Sept 23 - Oct 22
Do you feel any forward momentum? Saddle up and prepare to make moves and shake things up. Follow the energy that is flowing and be inspired to get moving to take the next step in your career growth. You are on fire with enthusiasm and
passion about something or someone. Bask in it and do not let anything hold you back yet weigh the pros and cons, mindfully. In the love area, speak up and share. Make sure that both of you are on the same page. This allows your love to grow and blossom. Avoid the temptation to spend, mindlessly, instead use your money to expand your mind. 2022: Everything starts to come together for you, professionally. Being goal-oriented and ambitious, can help in getting you where you want to go. Keep your focus on structure, patience and discipline.
Oct 23 - Nov 21
Who takes care of the ones who take care of others? See that you’re on a two-way street when it comes to giving and receiving care and support. Nurture your soul with what you love. Get out and breathe fresh air, beautify your home with flowers, watch the sunset, sit in the park or dust off your party shoes and socialize. It’s the month of abundance so expect new opportunities, a surge of creative ideas or the birth of something new. Understand what brightens your soul and make a commitment to support processes that are slow and organic in your personal and professional relationships.
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HOROSCOPE | SEEMA 2022: Find ways of pushing boundaries, explore new ideas with an adventurous and fearless spirit. Expect the unexpected and see where the wind takes you.
Nov 22 - Dec 21
It’s time to shine your light from within to help yourself and others find their way. Challenge the status quo and think for yourself, rather than follow the crowd, even if it means going against others’ expectations of you. Ask and thou shalt receive. At work, think about how you can lead, not through setting the rules but by allowing your team to also take the lead. Explore how you can bring in traditions and make vintage cool, in your business. Set intentions on your money goals if resources are tight. In the love area, you may find someone who is keen to make a commitment. 2022: Use the opportunity to redesign any aspect of your life that needs to be expanded or eliminated. Embrace the expansive phase and all that comes your way with forgiveness, determination and the least resistance.
Dec 22 - Jan 19 If things are confusing and hazy, straighten your shoulders. There are game-changing perspectives lying in wait that could really
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alter your outlook. You are on the path of change and there is nothing to fear. Take a breath and slow down. Make sure you are focusing on what you have control over, i.e. your choices. If you are pushing for something and coming up against a wall in a relationship; step back and allow things to happen, naturally. Eliminate the need for approval and pursue your goals, doggedly. If you want to change careers or are unsure of your next move it’s time to ask, what do I really want? Be kind to yourself. 2022: A great opportunity to cultivate patience and understanding and work on your relationship skills. Be still and know that you are supported, you are loved and capable of making it through anything.
Jan 20 – Feb 20
If you feel you have been walking through rough terrain, lately, keep going. You’re on the brink of making things happen so take a moment to appreciate how strong you are. Place your worries in a box and indulge in something pleasurable and relaxing. A compassionate, practical and down-to-earth approach in your personal and professional relationships will go a long way. While you have worked hard to generate a level of financial security, your generosity in sharing your abundance with the lesser privileged, will make it manifold. Some of you may even find yourselves having or being a mother figure. Go on, celebrate the little things in life that make it extra special. 2022: A good time to make peace with situations or people from the past that block your victory. Expect
powerful shifts in your mental outlook regarding your career and finances.
Feb 21 – Mar 20
It is time to “boss up,” especially when it comes to your career, finance and business. Learn more about how to invest your money for long-term growth. In your career, be the leader and take accountability for your own success. Don’t aim for ‘good enough’; aim to give it your absolute best. There is prosperity in every opportunity. Make sure that you stay in control of your energy and your resources. If you are single, prepare to meet the person of your dreams. In an existing relationship, who you are with, will be in it for the long haul. Eat right, work out, and take care of your mind, body and soul. 2022: Aim to tie up loose ends, clear out your life in every way, to make room for all of the new things that will come for you this year. You have the power of manifestation so manifest the right things in your life. Farzana Suri is a Victory Coach who coaches people through their life’s challenges to take the leap to victory, using the science of numerology. For a personalized forecast, you may contact Farzana at surifarzana@gmail.com or visit her website, www.farzanasuri.com
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