History, environment and DIY: Indulge in these unique activities this week

It’s working well, and in our personal opinion, sometimes the hustle matters much more than the genius

Curated by Aastha Atray Banan, Yusra Husain and Nidhi Lodaya

Kayan is intent on making her presence felt as a smooth-singing R&B groove queen, and she is almost successful at it. Her new song Count the Stars, is one you may listen on repeat, that’s is if you can ignore the overly-processed vocals, and flighty lyrics. But as long as you move to the track, and can listen to it without wanting to skip to the next one, it’s worth it. The singer has been the talk of the town, after she was chosen for the YouTube Foundry  in 2022, which is the platform’s music incubator. She has also performed at all the major music festivals, in wacky outfits that showcase her style and sexy persona. It’s working well, and in our personal opinion, sometimes the hustle matters much more than the genius.  
On all streaming sites

Is Siberia always cold? Polyna knows

We just found out that the Siberian Cedar, with its health and healing benefits especially for the skin and hair, is exclusive to Siberia alone. We went Googling about it later, but Siberian singer and content creator Polyna’s new aim to tell the world nuggets about her home country, has a number of takers. Wearing traditional silver head accessory, the frothing ocean and clear blue skies make up her backdrop. One of her posts informs us that a special passport is required to enter her hometown, where not even a diplomatic passport works! Surprising ways of the world, we say. 
@polynamusic, Instagram

Korea se India tak

We all know of at least one Indian who is a die-hard fan of K-Pop, BTS, K-Dramas and South Korea. But when we found this Korean girl who loves India and its languages almost as much as we go gaga over all things K, it was a welcome change. And then we saw videos where Jiwan aka Koreang1 drew similarities between Hindi/Urdu and her mother tongue. She says that the Hindi phrase “aye Haye” means “all is white” in Korean and that “arey wa” means “come down”. Besides these tutorial videos, we also like her Indian song dance covers—our favourite is her dance video on Srivalli. Another hook to her account is her travel content from most of the tourist destinations in India. She rocks Indian attire with finesse, be it sarees, lehengas or a kurta as if she was born into it, which is cute. We find her account to be the perfect blend between two cultures. 
@korean.g1, Youtube, Instagram

DIY hearts to light up your home

There was a reason why the Sky Goodies stall stood out for us at the Lil Flea last month. This writer couldn’t resist the heart-shaped fairy lights, and now they hang in her windows. The best, and challenging part is that everything needs to be put together by you. The DIY brand offers cute craft kits that either turn into lights, lanterns, table calendars (our favourite is the typewriter calendar) or toys for children. We had a hard time putting our heart lights up, as there is  some  manoeuvring required to mold the lights into shape, but once our fingers caught on, it was fun and a stress buster. 
in.skygoodies.co

The making of India in 400 pages

Stone-age Bhimbetka rock shelters, Madhya Pradesh. Pic/Getty Images

With a history that goes back billions of years, it almost feels impossible to tell the story of India in a compact one-volume book. But celebrated historians Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Shobita Punja and Toby Sinclair have managed to do just that, with some nudging, they say, from publisher David Davidar. Their new book, A New History of India: From its origins to the 21st century (Aleph Book Company; Rs 999), offers a layered history of the country through words, maps and images. The book follows a timeline that begins with India’s creation story—it starts 4.5 billion years ago, when the Earth was first formed, to around 50-55 million years ago, when the collision between the Indian plate and Eurasian landmass begins, which leads to the emergence of the Himalayas, Karakoram, and other mountain ranges. We learn about the First Indians, who migrated from Africa to the Indian subcontinent around 65,000 years ago; the emergence  of the Harappan Civilisation; the tales of various ruling empires; our fight for Independence and the birth of New India.  The authors call this book a guide meant to stroke curiosity and encourage debate.  
Available at all bookstores

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