Best of Weekender: From a candid chat with music producer Sez on the Beat to storytelling insights from Jeffrey Archer

Sajeel Kapoor or Sez on the Beat is a music producer and entrepreneur, widely acknowledged as the man behind the sound of Indian hip-hop. He is the man behind Divine’s Mere Gully Mein, a hip-hop number that was later used in Bollywood film Gully Boy, India’s official entry in the Oscar 2020.

Sajeel partnered with music executive Faizan Khan in February this year to launch an independent hip-hop collective and record label, called the MVMNT. The duo aim to curate fresh new sounds and promote the next generation of hip-hop talent from across the nook and corners of the country.

Don’t miss our interview with Sez on the Beat and his take on the hip-hop talent in the country.

Jeffrey Archer, arguably one of the most successful writers of our time, is also a politician and a peer of the realm. Ever since his first book, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less came out in 1976, the iconic British author has written numerous bestselling blockbusters, and in 2011, he embarked on the seven-volume series called Clifton Chronicles.

Fans of his earliest books - Kane and Abel and The Prodigal Daughter - believe they are his best novels ever, but many readers have enjoyed the recent series too. His book Kane and Abel sold one million copies in its first week of sale and the sequel was just as brilliant.

Read our interview with Jeffrey where he tells us about his writing journey, his latest book Hidden in Plain Sight, and his future projects.

As we prepare to bid adieu to 2020, a year that presented challenges and scenarios never faced before, let’s not forget that it also made us reconnect with our homes and the people in it.

Having spent almost the entire year locked up in our homes, we have definitely transformed into decor enthusiasts of late. From DIY tricks to purchasing decor and furniture items to making our homes more functional and higher on aesthetics, we’ve tried it all.

Check out some tips from Saloni Khosla, Head of Spatial Design, Pepperfry, as she shares a few interior decor trends that will help you reinvent and refresh your home for the year ahead.

With winter around the corner and the temperatures dipping this month, there’s a good chance that the season has already taken a toll on your skin. It is common for our skin to become dry, flaky, and rough during the winter, so before you go out and spend that paycheck on fancy lotions and creams, try providing your skin with some nourishment from the inside first.

What you eat is just as essential for a healthy glow as what you apply on it. From almonds and green vegetables to fruits, there are many foods out there that can improve the condition of your skin.

Don’t miss reading all the details on how to get healthy skin this winter by changing your meal plans and your snacks.

The beauty industry ties our body image with our self-esteem and life satisfaction. More women want to look good, hoping they will be more accepted, favoured, and marketable.

Beauty is an over $500 billion industry with its focus shifting to owning the customer experience and cutting out the middleman. When you chase an unpredictable standard, you are bound to meet disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Read all about how to improve your self-image and some tips on how to achieve self-esteem in an article by a clinical psychologist.

Are George RR Martin in fiction and Yuval Noah Harari in non-fiction your favourite authors? Would you love to meet Douglas Adams, who wrote the fascinating book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? Is Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, your heroine of fiction? If so, meet Kanika Agarrwal, Co-founder and CIO of Upside AI, a fintech startup, who feels the same way.

An extreme board game enthusiast, Kanika along with her co-founders spend over eight hours every weekend playing high risk, strategy games. She is also a certified scuba diver.

Don’t miss Kanika’s responses to our Proust questionnaire, where she talks about her greatest loves, regrets, journeys, writers and more.