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Chef Vikas Khanna a ‘Buried Seed’ that bloomed (Book Review)

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By Kishori Sud
Title: Buried Seeds: A Chef’s Journey — The Story of Vikas Khanna; Author: Karan Bellani; Publisher: Wisdom Tree; Pages: 155; Price: Rs 345

He never gave up, rose from the ashes like a phoenix every time life tried to bury him. Chef Vikas Khanna, also called Vikku by his near and dear ones, was a buried seed that was meant to bloom.

“Buried Seeds” traces the journey of the Michelin star chef from the boy who helped his grandmother in their kitchen in Amritsar while other children played outside, to the man who worked with influential chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, to presenting his book “UTSAV: A Culinary Epic of Indian Festivals” to the former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Interestingly, before the book emerged, Andrei Severny released a documentary on the chef titled “Buried Seeds: A Life Journey of Chef Vikas Khanna” which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

The author describes how the phrase “when life gives you lemons, make a mojito” is something Khanna has adhered to literally in his roller-coaster of a life and has remained free of arrogance.

Bellani comes across as extremely loyal to the chef, but at a personal level, having interviewed him myself once, the adjectives penned for the chef are certainly believable. The read, however, tends to get too mushy at times.

The author has tried his best to squeeze in all the key memories of Khanna, but they run a bit helter-skelter, confusing the reader as to which turning point came first in the chef’s life — especially the phase after he shifted base to the US.

Nevertheless, the journey is an inspiration not just for a commoner who aspires to touch the sky but also for a physically challenged person. Khanna was himself born with misaligned feet and wasn’t able to run until he was 13.

Yet, he scaled the heights. He is also counted among “The Hottest Chef of America” and was once listed as one of the “Sexiest Men Alive” by People’s magazine.

“There’s no shortcut to success” is a key fact Khanna never forgot, and the author has shed light on instances when he fought against the odds to rise and shine.

“Buried Seeds” is a must read if you want to know more about the success recipe of this down-to-earth chef.

(Kishori Sud can be contacted at [email protected])

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

CasinoDays India

The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

CasinoDays India

Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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