Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Diversity, Empathy and Inclusivity

The championing of diversity appears to be at the crux of Lina Asher’s career as an educationist, which had begun with a single 25-kids preschool, and had blossomed to more than 70

“A girl’s night in: as the conversation unfolds, my thoughts were about how diverse each one of us is. How unique our interests are. Imagine giving us a standardised test!” wrote educationist and founder of a prestigious chain of schools and self-proclaimed happiness and peace advocate Lina Asher, this week in the gratitude journal that she shares on social media.

Lina Asher (second from left) said her life-long research in education and neuro and behavioural sciences has taught her that gratitude and appreciation, practiced consciously and mindfully, helps people in coping with stressful, negative, and frustrating situations.

Asher was referring to a group of women whose talent pool included activities as diverse as social work, hiking, pole dancing, new age healing and cross-cultural rapping!

“Every child on Earth is talented. Just not in the same way. Education does not honour that uniqueness as it puts us all in the same standardised box of learning and assessing who we are and what our talents and gifts are.”

The championing of individuality and diversity appears to be at the crux of Asher’s career as an educationist, which had begun with a single 25-kids preschool in Bandra, and had blossomed to more than 70 across the country and a string of high schools in India and abroad.

This individual holistic approach is perhaps also what prompted her to recently sell off her brick-and-mortar empire to embark on what appears to be a long-cherished dream: ‘establishing a happier, healthier and more sustainable online school, which works on the principles of high interest and engagement, interaction and a focus on individual gifts and talents each child has’.

“It will solve a lot of what ails education. We will have highly paid teachers, learning that is designed for the technology era and it will be as low cost as possible as we will not have infrastructure and textbook costs. It is also kinder to the planet as it is less resource intensive,” she said about her newest initiative.

As for her gratitude journal, which began at the start of the pandemic in response to a particular challenging phase exacerbated by family medical issues, she said her life-long research in education and neuro and behavioural sciences has taught her that gratitude and appreciation, practiced consciously and mindfully, helps people in coping with stressful, negative, and frustrating situations.

“Grateful people are able to regulate their negative emotions. Gratitude helps us to think in more innovative and creative ways, which helps us build resources we can draw upon when things get difficult,” She said.

Agreed.

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‘In some people’s life, a little rain must fall, in others, it seems to be raining all the time.’

This week, friends and fans of the Jafferbhai Mansuri family were particularly devastated to learn of the passing of Nida Mansuri, the youngest daughter of the legendary late Jafferbhai aka ‘The Biryani King of Mumbai.’

Occurring only 16 days after the family lost Lubna – their eldest daughter – this seems to be the cruellest blow. Nida, described as “a sweet God-fearing, affectionate kindergarten teacher” by those who knew her, succumbed to a sudden illness, a few days after complaining of stomach cramps at a south Mumbai hospital.

“It’s been one blow after another,” said a stricken Farzana Contractor, publisher editor of Upper Crust and a close friend of the family. “How much can one family take? What is happening?”

As is known, Jafferbhai, who had been a cherished institution in Mumbai for his Delhi Darbar restaurant and later with his Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Darbar chain of eateries, passed away last September owing to a cardiac arrest, while being treated for Covid-19. “He was such a refined, soft spoken man, a dear friend of Behram’s,” said Contractor, referring to her husband, the late Behram (Busybee) Contactor, Mumbai’s much loved columnist and food writer, who’d been a champion of the signature chicken and mutton biryani, chicken tangdi, raan sikandari and daal ghosht, which emanated from the Jafferbhai kitchens. “And despite all his success and fame, he’d remained humble and grounded till the end. In fact, it had been Behram who’d first named him ‘The Biryani King of Mumbai’.”

Contractor herself is no stranger to the multiple, cruel blows of fate: Twenty years ago, she had lost her beloved brother in a freak road accident on the same day that Behram had died. “I found myself thinking of that day when I heard about the passing of Nida,” she said, when we spoke, adding, “And wondering how on earth I had coped…”

Speaking to Contractor brought to mind one among the many memorable and poignant sentences that Behram himself had penned on the subject of multiple blows, during his illustrious career as Busybee. “In some people’s life, a little rain must fall, in others-it seems to be raining all the time,” the late great Busybee had written – as always, incisive and heartbreakingly true…

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Say what you may, but IMHO the 2.18-minute clip ‘Not Just A Cadbury Ad’ is the nicest sparkler to emerge in this season of lights.

For those who’ve been in Mars, I’m referring to the latest advertisement from the multinational confectionary brand that has, through the help of machine learning technology, turned Shah Rukh Khan, the country’s biggest brand ambassador, into the brand ambassador for hundreds of local businesses across India, in a bid to brighten up their sales after the long, lean months of the pandemic.

Clad in an exquisite cream silk sherwani and looking every inch the Badshah he is, SRK can be made to mouth the name of a hundred different small brands and establishments that would have never been able to afford his services until now. “Big businesses and brands that suffered during the pandemic found their way back but the smaller stores still suffer. It is impossible to cover all the stores, so we gave people the power to create their own version of not just a Cadbury ad,” the clip says, going on to explain how it can be customised by any brand to market its own products.

Hearteningly, the response to this generous spirited initiative has been unanimously positive, with many appreciating the spirit of inclusivity and benevolence it fosters. Many of the responses are particularly appreciative of the fact that the chocolate producer has not allowed SRK’s recent travails to affect his engagement with them.

As one appreciative fan posted: “Let’s hope SRK’s Diwali is meetha too.”

Happy Diwali gentle readers, may yours be as sweet as it is bright.