Best of Weekender: Conversation with Kadence founder, talking art with Kalki Subramanian, and more

Under entrepreneurship, YS Weekender spoke with Siddhartha Jhunjhunwala, Founder and Director of Bengaluru-based Kadence. The company manufactures affordable and quality musical instruments, including guitar, ukulele, piano, xylophone, saxophone, and kalimba, among others. It has a marquee list of clients, which includes the likes of AR Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal, Virat Kohli, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, Vasu Dixit, Sakshi Agarwal, Reba John, and Plabitha Manu.

Founder Siddhartha said, "Kadence is on a mission to make music a part of everyone’s life - young or seasoned, from bathroom singers to performers."

Kadence is already present across India, Bhutan, Mexico and Canada. By the end of this year, the company is planning to expand to 22 other countries, including the US.

Transgender activist and artist Kalki Subramaniam is on a mission to provide a voice for the transgender community. Her brainchild, the Sahodari Foundation provides artists of the trans community with art supplies and materials, and helps them exhibit their artwork in galleries and online, for sale.

After conducting various workshops and art exhibitions in South India, Kalki announced Sahodari Foundation's latest exhibition 'We are not the Others.'

She says, "Gender is not just binary, it is multiple and real."

The art exhibition is scheduled for February 5 to 7 and will be held at the Bangalore International Centre.

For our YourStory Reviews column, YS Weekender reviewed Transformation in Times of Crisis, a timely book co-authored by Nitin Rakesh, CEO of IT solutions company Mphasis, along with Jerry Wind, Lauder Professors Emeritus and Professor of Marketing at Wharton School.

Loaded with insightful quotes, citations and analysis, the book comes off as an easy read. Transformation in Times of Crisis talks about big picture ideas and provides practical advice in a way that not just seems do-able, but achievable by entrepreneurs, big and small.

When it comes to feeling great health, it should include energy, mental equilibrium, great sleep, greater resilience to stress, and amazing creativity. Functional Nutritionist Deepa Kannan, in her weekly column writes about how one can support a healthy body while working towards a healthy mind.

She advises one to maintain a stable and healthy mind by indulging in handwritten lists, doing a 30-minute dance to get rid of the restless energy, create separate to-do lists, setting time boundaries and spending time with loved ones to calm their minds.

Last year, the media and entertainment sector took a hit and witnessed a significant slowdown in advertising spends as traditional media and outdoor entertainment were severely impacted by the pandemic.

As a result, the brand value of top 20 celebrities in 2020 is estimated at $1 billion, down by five percent from 2019 as the pandemic crippled all activities, reported multinational financial consultancy firm Duff & Phelps.

The Celebrity Brand Valuation Study 2020 report stated that cricketer Virat Kohli continues to be the country's most valued celebrity for the fourth consecutive year. His brand value stands at $237.7 million. Check the list of top 10 most valued celebrities from the Celebrity Brand Valuation Study 2020 here.

Under Opinions, Salman Sarwer, Founder of Corporate Marriage Bureau wrote about how the pandemic has changed the way people meet and get to know each other.

Salman writes: "The online matrimony business got technology’s back and isn’t letting a pandemic ruin people’s wedding plans in 2021. The users are now more engaging in online matrimony services to find their match via voice and video calling."

He adds that matrimonial sites have seen around a 30 percent increase in traffic compared to pre-COVID days across markets and continue to rise.