Best of Weekender: From a candid chat with rapper Raja Kumari to wearing pyjamas to work

Raja Kumari, an Indian American singer, rapper, and lyricist from Claremont California, has just launched her new track 'Peace' during the lockdown, which builds on the theme of positivity.

The song is about surrounding yourself with good energy, focussing on the positives in life, and finding inner peace. It also talks about having the right people around you and discovering new experiences. The music video for Peace was shot during the quarantine in her family home.

Don’t miss reading all about Raja Kumari’s new track, why it is so special, and her tips for budding musicians.

WHO predicts that by 2027, one out of five will face mental health problems. But, even today, people act like mental disorders do not exist. In order to help people facing mental health problems, Khushal Katara, Founder, MotivatedSteps, launched an online counselling website to help people facing problems like anxiety, stress, loneliness, and sadness.

Khushal’s counselling platform helps deal with emotional health through video calls, chats, and telephonic interviews. He also launched a free counselling campaign from April 1 to May 31 of this year, during which time his team conducted 1000+ free telephonic counselling sessions.

Don’t miss an interview with Khushal where he talks about the importance of mental health, why it has worsened over the years, and what can be done about it in the future.

As COVID-19 rages on, restaurants have started taking baby steps in seeking to ‘bring the restaurant home,’ as those stepping out to dine are still few and far between.

Despite the many rumours of well-known restaurants struggling to revive business, 37-year-old Chef Vikramjit Roy, along with his partners decided to proceed with their dream project Hello Panda, during the lockdown. But when they realised that the lockdown would last for some time, they deviated from the initial plan, and decided to be a delivery-only model, offering gourmet food.

Read all about how Chef Vikramjit offered a fine dining experience to his customers through a delivery model, and how they plan to expand in the days ahead.

Shutterdrives is a digital platform for automotive reviews and news, experience drives, and travelogues. It started as a WordPress blog in April 2017, and is now one of the seven websites in India to feature a web application called ‘Find My Vehicle,’ that churns out all the specifications and features of a vehicle that the consumer is looking for.

Shutterdrives was founded by Zahoor Hassan in July 2019, and though it started with just 75 followers on Instagram, in three years, its fan following grew to 20,000+. It has also published more than 500 posts, delivering over five million impressions to date.

Don’t miss reading all about Zahoor’s startup adventure and how Shutterdrives aims to transform the way cars are reviewed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in many major changes to different aspects of life. While some of these changes may or may not be permanent, certain tectonic shifts in industries like fashion are inevitable. If ever there was a time for fashion to reinvent itself, it is now, says co-founder of Styched, an ecommerce platform.

From exposing a fundamental weakness in the traditional fashion system - matching supply and demand to people adapting to fashion, which allows them freer expressions and a dramatic shift towards smart casuals and pajamas and casual wear even in offices, there are many changes up ahead in the fashion industry.

Read all about the changes in fashion post-COVID-19, and how there will be Renaissance of personal fashion too.

Is your hero of fiction Sherlock Holmes? Are your favourite authors Rabindranath Tagore, MK Gandhi, Jeffrey Archer, and Enid Blyton? Do you believe there will soon be a revolution in the field of education?

If yes, meet Sridhar G, Founder of Deeksha, who graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and went on to complete his PhD in Fluid Mechanics from the Johns Hopkins University, USA. Later, he and his wife pioneered board and competitive teaching in Karnataka through their education initiative Deeksha. Subsequently, in 2008, Ace Creative Learning Pvt Ltd was formed to take Deeksha to several more campuses across India.

As for his motto, ‘Your legacy is determined by the difference you make in the world,’ is the best advice to keep in mind as you climb the ladder of success in your career, and in life.

Don’t miss his responses to our Proust questionnaire where he talks about his greatest loves, his best journeys, his heroes, and much more.