Design & Culture
We (Masala Movement) have supported a very special event this year … The first Ayurveda Festival in Germany. There were many inspiring lectures, creative workshops, relaxing meditations, moving yoga sessions and connecting live music! The lovely pictures were taken by Hanna Witte and the great…
Besides my regular design and cultural work I’ve also been little active in the field of angel investment recently. A year ago me and my long-time business partners and friends Hans-Jörg Dohrmann and Claudia Baumgart have founded PAWAO. The idea was/is to build a network…
Masala Movement had the honour of presenting a musical special at the renowned Museum Ludwig. In the photography room, the museum were showing twelve photographs by Raghubir Singh (1942 Jaipur–1999 New York). Inspired by the photographer’s atmospheric works and places of creation, me, Keshavara and…
At the end of the 1990s, the children of Indian / South Asian migrants in Germany began to network. Among other things, they organised parties, seminars and created internet projects. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of theinder.net, me and three other panelists talked…
Especially in times like these, the importance of medical staff and the need for sustainable solutions securing health care globally become more than evident … „What health workers need is the proper recognition of their value in society. They do not want to be called heroes who…
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of theinder.net the first Indo-German online community I was interviewed by co-founder Kristian Joshi. Read the full interview here (Sorry German only).
DutchCulture (Amsterdam) invited 40 communication experts to address cultural differences and inequalities that arise from the use of language when cooperating internationally. The aim is to promote international cultural collaborations in a manner that recognises different working modalities and acknowledges unequal systems while promoting mutual…
Happy Independence Day! I couldn’t resist to do this month’s Masala Movement podcast myself. One good thing caused by the pandemic is that I’ve been listening to a lot of music again .. favourite tunes from the past as well as recent beats, rhymes and…
Me and my partners at Masala Movement Sepiedeh Fazlali and Pravini Baboeram are currently carving out the brand principles and vision for our growing platform. Meanwhile I couldn’t resist to put a representative visual together based on a mix-and-match illustration set I came across some…
One of my many teenage dreams was to become a hair dresser and open my own barber shop despite the fact that it was considered to be a pretty „gay“ job and not hip at all. But for me growing up with hiphop music it…
Who does? This little publication called Indien verstehen is at least trying. It’s part of the SympathieMagazine series including more than 50 country magazines and special issues on religions, development, globalisation, human rights and more. The overall idea is to support a travel culture of…
I always wanted to record a vinyl only mix and since I’m kind of stuck at home it seemed like the perfect time to do so. It was late in the night or rather early morning of April 1st, so please don’t take it too…
The editor-in-chief of Meine Welt Rainer Hörig contacted me because he wanted to do a feature about young Indo-German entrepreneurs. I think it’s pretty useful to write about your profession once in a while … especially when you have to keep it short. Before I…
Me and my friend Dr. Margret Müller (specialist for humanitarian affairs) started the Facebook group Corona Hilfe Köln bringing volunteers and people in need together. I quickly put a logo together and created some visuals for different threads making it easier to navigate within the…
It was really nice to be back at the German University in Cairo, exactly 10 years after teaching there for the first time. My friend and old colleague Miroslaw Leczek who’s still teaching at the GUC invited me to share some insights with the students…
mer. Store Frankfurt invited me and my partner in crime Vineetha to present the documentary movie „Brown Angels“ and our little photo exhibition „Schwester Kerala“ tracing the migration story of Indian nurses in Germany. Thank you airbag craftworks and Indian Goods Co. for being such amazing hosts!!! We had…
The Indo-German Young Leaders Forum is a platform for bilateral exchange of the young and rising generation of India and Germany. I was invited to their annual conference which was held in Berlin. During a session on migration at the Humboldt University me (representing Masala Movement e.V.), Prof.…
I was invited to the Max-Planck-Institute in Dresden to conduct a workshop at a conference organised by IndiAlumni which is a group of people who have taken part in Indo-German academic experiences sponsored by the DAAD. The workshop was about exploring the identity and positioning of IndiaAlumni amongst other…
No, I’m not planning to become a fashion model 🙂 I just helped out at a shoot for an urban adventure project. The air was crisp, the sunlight amazing and it was fun spending some time with this secret photographer. What I like is the…
A little TV feature about me, my mom and Indian culture in our hometown Cologne. Watch the video in their media centre or below.
Like almost all men in Kerala my uncle wears the Lungi at home. Basically it’s the Indian version of jogging pants. I was always impressed by the colourful and trippy designs. This one seems like a little accident or maybe not. Anyways my uncle loves…
Quite some time ago m-way (retailer for e-bikes) asked me to come up with brand suggestions for potential in-house products. Eventually they’ve never launched any. My favourite brand idea was vlo-e … basically it stands for „flowing electrically“. My inspiration was the similarity between the words „velo“…
After the INDERNET exhibition I was interviewed by Kunal Anand from Kulture Shop. We had a realy nice chat about design, internet and a globalised Indian identity. Read full interview here.
While I was in Dubai for some work I went on a day trip to Abu Dhabi. In the land of excessive striving for superlatives and disgusting pomp, the Emirati version of the Louvre is definitely a real cultural highlight. But that shouldn’t be too…
Meine Welt is a magazine supporting the German-Indian dialogue since 1984. Editor-in-chief Rainer Hörig met me at Masala Empire in Cologne to interview me regarding my upcoming exhibition. Read full interview here.
Me and my neighbours love to hang out in front of our Büdchen (small corner shop) at Clever Street. Most people in Cologne have their favourite kiosk. Usually the shop owner becomes a significant part of your everyday life. Besides selling snacks, beer and newspapers,…
After we had to shut down our Cairo office due to the recession after the revolution I moved back to Europe and my business partner Sagar Ghoting eventually went on to do his Master in Service Design at the Glasgow School of Art. Of course…
When my mom called me two days ago she said „Did you know that I was 34 years old when I gave birth to you? And today you are turning 34 yourself. Isn’t it incredible how time flies? Happy birthday, monkey.“ For a moment I…