Spotlight on mental health at work; Exploring rustic flavours of the Himalayas

Hello,

There’s a first time for everything, even if you’re a billionaire.

Zerodha Co-founder Nikhil Kamath, with a net worth of $3.1 billion, has finally bought a house after years of preferring to rent. 

“The thing with renting, of all the advantages of renting, there is one disadvantage: you don’t have foresight as to when you can move out of the house,” he said in his podcast WTF is. 

Nobody said renting was easy. In fact, a recent report by CREDAI-MCHI stated that renting a 1BHK flat in Mumbai costs Rs 5.18 lakh annually—higher than the average salary of junior-level employees. The high rental prices may lead to brain-drain, it added.

However, real estate remains the preferred asset class of investment for over 59% of Indians given the sense of security and safety associated with homeownership, according to a FICCI-Anarock report.  

Moving on, a Delhi-based software engineer at Google received a rejection letter from a startup. According to the startup, candidates with higher qualifications often find the work unfulfilling and tend to leave shortly after joining.

Well, that’s food for thought. 

Speaking of food and work, nearly half of all Gen Z workers miss lunch twice or more a week, viewing lunch as the “best part of the workday”, a study by ezCater highlighted. Interestingly, this phenomenon appears to stem from a culture of relentless productivity that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They shouldn’t forget that the belly rules the mind. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Prioritising mental health over deadlines
• Exploring rustic flavours of the Himalayas
• An incubator for chefs

Here’s your trivia for today: Before Nvidia, founder and CEO Jensen Huang designed microprocessors for which company?

Mindfulness and spirituality

Prioritising mental health over deadlines

It’s still questionable if workplaces today are prioritising employee well-being over work deadlines. The recent death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old woman who worked at Ernst & Young in Pune, shook the nation.

“According to the WHO, 60% of the global population is working and 15% could be suffering from a mental health condition that warrants attention. Now is a time that can't escape accountability; instead, they must find compassionate ways to support their employees,” says Preeti Singh, Senior Consultant and Chief Medical Officer of Lissun.

Tackling stress:

• Companies must offer tangible resources, including access to mental health professionals, stress management programmes, and regular check-ins, recommends Dr Neerja Agarwal, CEO and Co-founder of Emoneeds.
• “Be direct about what would alleviate the pressure, whether it’s reassigning certain tasks, extending deadlines, or exploring options like mental health days or remote work,” advises Parag Mehra, Chief Human Resources Officer at Guardian India.
• While organisations must do their bit, it's equally important for employees to prioritise self-care. The first step is to refrain from judging oneself for feeling negative emotions, suggests Singh.

Wine and Food

Exploring rustic flavours of the Himalayas

Prateek Sadhu conceived Masque, a fine-dining restaurant in Mumbai, in 2016. When Masque began to be noticed across India as well as globally, Chef Sadhu parted ways to take on a new conquest. Thus, NAAR, meaning ‘fire’ in Kashmiri, was born in the Himalayas in 2023.

Ever since its opening, the restaurant in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, which puts Himalayan cuisine at the forefront, has been making waves.

All about food:

• From the vibrant and hearty dishes of Nepal to the bold and distinctive flavours of Bhutan and the aromatic spices of Indian Himalayan cuisine, Chef Sadhu created dishes that offered a warm experience akin to the embrace of the mountains. 
• “We’ve studied traditional methods and incorporated them into a menu that respects the past while also pushing boundaries. Each dish represents a balance between honouring ancient techniques and creating something fresh,” says Sadhu.
• “Pop-up ‘Peaks to Plates’ is about bringing the essence of the Himalayas to people beyond the mountains. It’s a way of sharing the unique flavours, techniques, and stories of the region to a broader audience,” he adds.

Wine and Food

An incubator for chefs

Known for its innovative culinary events, guest chef pop-ups, and unique dining experiences, Bengaluru's The Courtyard has become a pivotal platform for chefs nationwide to showcase their talents and push the boundaries of experiential dining.

Beyond dining:

• The Courtyard also hosts movie nights under the stars, art workshops, and lifestyle pop-ups. Soon it will have a dedicated music bar.
• The Courtyard gradually became a place for chefs to hang out. Chefs including Rhea Aaron, Karan Upamanyu, and Kavan Kattuppa started trying their new menus in a very organic yet informal fashion, at the in-house cafe.
• For Chef Karan, The Courtyard has been a playground to experiment with creative and “out-there” menus. “They’ve built a great clientele of diners that are open and excited to try new things, and also give instant feedback on what is working, and what isn’t,” he says. 

News & updates

• Trade pact: India is pushing for a critical minerals partnership agreement with the United States, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said, noting that the agreement could be a path to further cooperation.
• Starting up: Mira Murati, former chief technology officer at OpenAI, is raising funds from venture capitalists for her new AI startup. The new company aims to build AI products based on proprietary models, sources told Reuters. It is not clear if Murati will assume the CEO role at the new venture.
• Safety first: The US agency in charge of regulating road safety revealed Friday that they are probing Tesla's self-driving software systems. NHTSA's action is the first step toward any potential recall that the agency might seek against the company, which is run by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Before Nvidia, founder and CEO Jensen Huang designed microprocessors for which company?

Answer: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

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