CATEGORIES

Making Amends

This generation’s penchant for thoughtless consumption gets Madhu Jain roiled up, and she wonders if nature is getting its own back for our missteps…

Diamonds With Provenance

In keeping with the company’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility, Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer at Tiffany & Co. and chairman and president at The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, enlightens Shirin Mehta on the efforts that make the jewellery giant an industry leader in transparency

SARTORIAL ECONOMICS

Sisters Tashi and Tara Mitra demonstrate to Akanksha Pandey how deviating from the mainstream can bend the way we think, live and dress

NOTES TO SELF

An anthropomorphized tiger’s perspective, a viscerally worded futuristic interpretation of loss, a critique of performative activism, a meta reflection on the earth’s crises. Told through different lenses, Janaki Lenin, Indrapramit Das, Keshava Guha and Roshan Ali’s stories — written exclusively for Verve — attempt to make sense of the fraught reality that we exist in today

The Eternal Optimist

As Generation X and xennials grapple with fully transitioning to conscious living, young millennials and Generation Z are leading the charge to reverse human-caused environmental damage. Sahar Mansoor, founder and CEO of the Bengaluru-based zero-waste social enterprise Bare Necessities, has a simple overarching philosophy: consume less and stay positive. Verve gets deeper into the mindset of the action-oriented earth advocate

Redemption SONGS

Indian music festivals have been demonstrating a refreshing sense of responsibility in terms of their ecological impact. Interacting with stakeholders who strive to make these large-scale events greener, Akhil Sood investigates the reasons behind the improved attitudes of audiences and the increase in corporate support.

earth hour

Crafted using nature’s elements, these dials draw inspiration from the many heterogeneous materials and hues around us.Verve turns its lens onto a mesmerising few

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Children are holding adults accountable for both the grim future they are facing and the toll this is taking on their mental health. Madhumita Bhattacharyya initiates conversations with families of young climate activists and observes the extent to which parenting has changed in the face of catastrophe

NATURAL JUSTICE

Most of us are only just waking up to the urgency of climatic action. When the stakes are so high, what can individual action solve? Mridula Mary Paul, an environmental policy expert, is proof of the tenacity needed to effect systemic change. It’s not glamorous, and the rewards are few and far between, but that doesn’t stop her from aiming big, finds Anandita Bhalerao

Along For The Ride

Navigating Indian streets as a woman is hard enough. But what is it like while riding a bicycle? Bengaluru-based Shreya Dasgupta, a regular cyclist, speaks to five urban women about the pros and cons of this increasingly popular means of transport.

The Second Brain Of The Body Is The Gut

Neither the body nor the mind are monolithic entities. And chef Diya Sethi exemplifies that. The global citizen and author, who spoke out on her recovery from anorexia-bulimia, reflects on how a metamorphosis of food culture and women’s changing social roles have transformed urban India’s eating habits. In a wide-ranging dialogue with her, psychologist Tanya Vasunia says in order to eat healthy, we must first understand our mental framework

Wishful Shrinking

Pihu Sand made her acting debut as Lata Sharma, a plus-sized singer with stars in her eyes, in Fanney Khan(2018). The 22-year-old gives an honest account of how she was made to gain 20 kgs for the role and then pressured into taking it all off to sustain her relevance in an industry with demanding beauty ideals. Sadaf Shaikh, who continues to struggle with her fitness targets, weighs in...

Party Animals

The pet care industry is rapidly transforming as animals are becoming a greater source of emotional fulfilment for city dwellers today. Erika Kleinmann of Piper’s Pet Bakery whips up a personalised pumpkin peanut butter cake for graphic designer Ashna Mistry’s Shih Tzu, Zoie Mistry – while Zaral Shah notes the emerging shifts and growing demand for new food products in this niche market

Menu à la Mode

The opening of Louis Vuitton’s first-ever cafe, Le Café V, and restaurant, Sugalabo V, atop the newly inaugurated Louis Vuitton Maison Osaka Midosuji, has created a flutter of excitement in the circles of fashion and haute cuisine…

GUILTY PLEASURES

Female characters in Hindi cinema cook for and feed others but rarely themselves. Sohini Chattopadhyay sifts through a few recent films for the on-screen quirk that fetishises the act of women eating

FROM THE MOSH PIT INTO THE FRYING PAN

When metal musician Sahil Makhija launched his YouTube cooking channel, Headbanger’s Kitchen, he was resolutely carving out a new identity for himself. Akhil Sood gets Demonic Resurrection’s frontman and now cookbook author to open up about the move that helped his career and life do a one-eighty

Diamonds are Forever

Breguet’s watches, the masters in timekeeping, can be proudly shown off during any elegant occasion. Verve presents two shining examples — the Reine de Naples 8958 and the Classique 9065

Culinary Histories

The origins of recipes, some of them accidental, fascinate Madhu Jain who travels back in time to her grandmother’s rich, layered paranthas

Coming back for more

When it’s got to do with eating out, the emotional link with certain experiences has turned Kamakshi Ayyar into a creature of habit. She recounts three anecdotes about the places where she can call herself a regular

Clarified Living

Embracing beauty and skincare as part of a healthy lifestyle while creating and using natural products is what brothers Gopesh and Gopal Sutariya hope to enable through the family business, Suryan Organic. Their daily routine is just as holistic and gives Shirin Mehta an alternative perspective

BARE ESSENTIALS

Displaying intricate detailing and fine structures, these skeletal timepieces offer a mesmerising peek into the complicated inner workings of their movements. Verve presents a hand-picked selection

IT'S NEWS TO HER

In the current national scenario, the economic liberalisation of 1991 – that, to a large extent, shaped our dreams – seems to be a thing of the distant past. Sonia Singh, editorial director, NDTV and mother of three, who has been reporting on the country’s ups and downs for over 20 years, tactfully balances an objective big-picture outlook with her maternal sixth sense. During a Sunday afternoon in her home, she offers Shraddha Jahagirdar-Saxena an even-handed take on re-evaluating history and preparing for what lies ahead...

FAME and MISFORTUNE

Dhinchak Pooja’s eventual fall from the stratosphere of the inexplicably internet famous into the mass grave of fleeting pop culture phenomena is a case study in what happens when self-promotion has no limits. Poulomi Das goes over the cringe pop singer’s brief oeuvre to pinpoint the reasons her 15 minutes ended almost as soon as they began

Rebirth of a Nation

Beginning an eight-day road trip down the Albanian Riviera in Tirana, the capital city at the heart of a post-Communist awakening, prepares New York-based Aalika Mahindra to traverse the country’s particular sociopolitical arc and her own progression as a traveller

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF

The menswear retail sector has undergone a visible evolution as it moved from offering just boring basics or expensive designer garments to including multi-designer men’s stores and Instagram brands that are eco-friendly and influenced by street style. Verve gives you an overview of the ready-to-wear market while highlighting a mix of well-established and under-the-radar labels

IN GOOD COMPANY

Two women. Two start-ups. Two thought leaders. The result of an impromptu idea, Ankiti Bose’s Singapore-based digital fashion marketplace, Zilingo, is en route to a billion dollar valuation just four years after its launch. Its rapid rise caught the eye of fellow businesswoman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of the over-four-decade-old Biocon, who herself holds an unmatched position in corporate India. She naturally takes a mentoring stance when Verve combines the entrepreneurial powers of the Bengaluruborn disruptors for a reliably impressive exchange of ideas as Shirin Mehta listens in.

Bittersweet

The essence of boutique brand Ether Atelier Chocolat is rooted in the founder Prateek Bakhtiani’s lived experiences and the stories of the earth that begat the bean. Disarming Ranjabati Das with his candour, the chocolatier and chemistry savant expounds on the intense interaction between his two passions

GAME FACE

Following a serendipitous opportunity, the girl who once hated cricket is now a fixture on its televised English coverage in India. Over the last 13 years, Mayanti Langer-Binny has commentated on a host of major global sports events, and in a long-overdue encounter, former national cricketer Snehal Pradhan observes the off-camera confidence that has maintained the broadcaster’s steady position in such an unpredictable field

An Inside Job

Anxiety and stress at the workplace can be crippling, particularly in today’s high-pressure corporate culture. And the stigma around men opening up about mental illness is shaped by its own set of patriarchal diktats. Entrepreneur Nikhil Taneja leads Supriya Thanawala through his uphill climb to personal and occupational success and proves that showing vulnerability is the first step towards taking control

Of Love And Longing

Researcher and multidisciplinary artist YSK Prerana photographs traces of the things that people leave behind while building queer fantasies around these discarded objects. In a special photo feature that draws from the Leftover+Pleasures project, three individuals from the capital relate their stories, of questioning society’s moral codes and cultural representations of pleasure by heteronormative bodies, which are visually translated through fragments of their specific histories.