Best of Weekender: The story of Chandigarh’s first microbrewery, safety in digital dating, and more

Someone recommends you a brand new dating app. You quickly download it, begin the swipe fest, and the rest, as they say, is history. Like almost everything else, in times of technology and digitisation, the quest for love has also become as feasible as ordering food or getting done your weekly laundry.

But what happens, when this search for “the one” leads you to some uncharted territories? If reports are to be believed, most women who use online dating apps are apprehensive of sharing their personal information on the internet due to the fear of harassment.

Here’s the thing though. If technology has made finding love all too convenient, re-emerging tech tools like AI and ML have also put checks in place in the digital dating world.

From Bumble to OkCupid and the host of other dating apps, here’s how these online platforms are putting safety first in the search for love.

Not everyone is born with the entrepreneurial zest. Some develop a taste for this life – filled with uncertainties and excitement in equal measures – along the way.

Melbourne-educated Indian entrepreneur Arundeep Singla’s story is no different. The 34-year-old, hailing from a typical service-class family in Punjab, had little relationship with the startup ecosystem until his pursuit for higher education took him to Australia. There, Arundeep was introduced to the local brewpub culture, an experience, which he says left a deep impact on him.

So much so, that once he returned to India, he decided to give the lucrative career in finance a miss and start up on his own. Thus was born The Brew Estate, a chain of microbreweries, that Arundeep claims is the first in Chandigarh.

Today, the chain has seven outlets, clocking in 100 percent growth. Read more about Arundeep’s success story here.  

Born and brought up in Delhi, Anuradha Aggarwal always had a passion for arts and everything creative. In 2016, she decided to turn this passion into a profession, and launched Olives Cre. It’s a luxury interior design studio that works on both corporate and residential projects.

The success of Olives Cre can be measured in terms of its clientele. So far, Anuradha and her team have worked on over 50 projects, including a penthouse in Vadodara for cricketer Hardik Pandya. Believe it or not, she also has Bollywood star Soha Ali Khan vouching for her designs.

Anuradha lives by the motto "smooth seas don’t make skilled sailors." Find out how the mompreneur pulls it all in this exclusive with YS Weekender.

Band Baaja Baaraat, the 2010 hit starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma, did a phenomenal job when it comes to luring young India into wedding entrepreneurship. But if you are going to use this as your reference point for building a career in this field, you might want to rethink.

The wedding industry is one of the most competitive markets, and an ever-changing one. Especially with millennials coming of age, new-age weddings – we are talking about the budget shaadis minus the unnecessary extravaganza and personalised ceremonies – are the order of the day.

While the market is still ripe with opportunities, it’s wise to take into account the millennial wedding trends before you tread this path, or even launch a wedding startup.

There's a lot more to San Francisco than its thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. Its multicultural neighbourhoods are filled with little wonders and snippets of history to be discovered.

For instance, the Castro neighbourhood is one of the hotspots of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activism. Then there is the Fillmore, which was back in the days called “Harlem of the West” due to its thriving jazz culture. And for those with a refined palate, there is always the famous Japantown, considered a hotspot for meat and vegetables.

We get it, life can sometimes get in the way of flying all the way to visit these scenic pockets of San Francisco. Fret not, for you can still see them all (at least virtually) in our compilation of the 10 must-visit places in the Bay area.

For Abhigna Kedia, the concept of perfection and happiness are not mutually exclusive or inclusive. Happiness, she says, is a choice while the same cannot be said of perfection. The resin artist, who creates expressionistic paintings and holds an Advanced Diploma in art from Srishti School of Art and a degree in Visual Arts from Chitrakala Parishath, believes in keeping her art ‘open to any form of interpretation’

Abhigna feels that fluidity is the key. The expressionist artist doesn’t believe in having regrets and has a special place in her heart for poetry.

Get to know her better, as she answers our Proust Questionnaire – a questionnaire about one’s personality.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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