ACT ONE

Royal Hotel Shimla

If I attempt to go back to the beginning of it all, to understand how the tide of our undoing swept us along headfirst into the calamitous sea, perhaps I would arrive at our father’s love for stories. He loved telling stories, and maybe that’s also what made him such a good trader, besides, of course, the fact that he traded in opium. He had a way of talking that would turn the mundane into the dramatic, that could make one forget the immediate world and move the person to tears—‘baaton mein ras ghol dete hai, Mistryji!’ It was a compliment we often heard about him—that he could sway people with his words.

He often used to say that stories are between you and I, making them seem like a personal, special secret, relating them with penchant and charm. He knew when to raise his tone with a smattering of exclamations, and when to pause and build suspense. He knew how to hold attention, and how to laugh and diffuse it. Even as a child, I realized this magnetic power he had. More than anything else, he knew human nature—what made people smile and cry.

Every week, our relatives would gather over salli boti and steaming dal, and our father, the all-important storyteller, would regale us with stories of the follies of great kings, the loyalties of loving friends, and the treacheries of seeminglyinnocent partners. Stories about statecraft and politics, cleverness and retributions, love and death. Eventually, he would ask the guests to participate by sharing tales fictional and real, tragic and comic, gloomy and hopeful.

It was the highlight of our time spent with him, as our father had many important businesses to attend to other than just take care of three little girls. Our charge was passed among ayahs, under the watchful eye of an aunt here or there. While most times he remained a distant, strict and awe-inspiring figure, the stories abolished hierarchies and treated all of us equally in their wonderful and mysterious world.

My favourite story, the one I remembered as a hymn late into the hours of troubling nights, was a story from the Jataka tales, of the little quail Latukika who laid her eggs on the feeding ground of elephants. My sisters—Noor, Afreen—and I would be spellbound as we imagined Latukika’s tiny eggs in the path of hundreds of bumbling elephants. One elephant, a form of the Bodhisatta, protected Latukika and her eggs from the parade of elephants but, before leaving, he warned Latukika of one wild elephant whom he could not control.

The rogue elephant came and destroyed Latukika’s eggs, although she begged him to show mercy. With shattered dreams, Latukika flew away, weighed down by a life that would never be the same again. Yet, a fire of vengeance burnt in Latukika’s belly, and she vowed to avenge her hatchlings. Over time, she made friends with a crow, a fly and a frog, and convinced them to join her in her mission to destroy the wild elephant. After days of planning, the crow pecked at the elephant’s eyeballs until they oozed blood. The fly then entered and laid eggs inside his eye sockets. When the eggs hatched into maggots, the elephant was in a pain so fierce that the croaking frog, promising a refreshing dunk in a pond of water, was able to mislead the blind elephant off the edge of a cliff. And so, Latukika had her revenge.

‘It matters not who has the most strength,’ father would say, ‘it matters how you use that strength, what friends you have and what cause you fight for.’ In the difficult times of life, I remembered Latukika and her courage in the face of horrifying odds, and over time, my sisters and I became Latukika and her friends, sticking together in the face of all that had happened to us.

When our father died, our eldest sister, Noor, was compelled to save Afreen and I from our relatives, lest they relegate us to a torrid, shameful future. Noor had bravely borne two huge tragedies of life—first when her husband died of tuberculosis and then when we lost our father. She had been forced to grow up more each time and hold life tighter in her hands, and yet, she fought her husband’s family to be with us. She left behind her world in Lahore to take her younger sisters to our inheritance: Royal Hotel Shimla.

In a land of heat and dust, Royal Hotel Shimla was an oasis of dreams perched on top of Sunset Hill in Shimla. When our father’s opium business stalled, he put his energies into developing the four-storeyed stone establishment. But he did not want to offer just another inn for passersby. He wanted Royal Hotel Shimla to be a stunning cultural centre, a place that hosted soirées for all the beautiful and distinguished people who set foot in Shimla.

The opium was going to be his key to make Royal Hotel Shimla a success, the gateway to his entry in the world of the British and an opportunity for consorting with the Rajahs and Maharajahs. Word spread that our father, Jamshedji Mistry, offered the best opium in all of Hindustan in his hotel. It attracted the influential Nawabs, the dainty princesses, the anglicized civil servants. Our father made gifts of this opium to high-ranking officials, and soon the place was teeming with English officers out to enjoy the summer season. Within months, the who’s who were at Royal Hotel Shimla: the Maharaja of Kapurthala, the Maharani of Cooch Behar, Lords and Marquesses, Governors of various Presidencies, fallen-from-glory Sultans, French explorers and Swiss diplomats—all eager to meet with the cream of society.

Every summer, the town came alive with balls, parties, picnics, country fairs and the revelries of the British as well as India’s rich. It was the perfect time for single women, accompanied by their mothers, on the lookout for an appropriate husband. Gossip and scandal flowed as freely as champagne and wine, with dances to aid the meeting of eligible single adults.

In the hotel, I often pretended to be someone else; a desperate Maharani out to negotiate with the evil White men to save her kingdom, an out-of-favour Nawab giving in to intoxicants and falling in love with a courtesan, a little girl locked in the hotel alone to fight the ghosts of its past owners. The fabulous lives of our guests took my imagination to far-off worlds. Surrounded by these important people, I was keen to be someone more exciting and live their life, even if only in fantasy.

While Noor took over the complicated tasks of running the hotel, I was trained in English and taught to welcome the guests and arrange for their needs. I was on call to bring them their towels, show them to the ballroom, make sure the tea arrived and ensure that every room had hot water for their baths. I also kept the fires burning. Afreen, on the other hand, was placed in the kitchen, to oversee the cooking. With her loud mouth, keen sense of justice and resentment, which prevented her from being practical, the kitchen was the only place she could remain out of trouble.

There was always work to do, always things to take care of and always someone to help. I was happy being there, it took our minds away from the past. Yet, as I grew up, the hotel’s walls, elaborate though they might have been, weren’t enough, and I started getting restless.

I was young and beautiful, I knew as much, but it seemed as though my life had come to a standstill within the four walls of this hotel. Chained to our inheritance, I longed for the world outside that seemed out of reach. In my dreams, I dared to venture far and away to America, to a life of Hollywood glamour, while I was resigned to await the marriage fate had in store for me.

I knew that the hotel was our lifeline. Outside of these four walls, we would be lost, and our self-made house of graces would crumble. I helped my sisters in the running of this place to maintain our semblance of respectability—so that good Parsi men could be found for us, so we may dedicate the rest of our lives to them and give them beautiful, well-behaved children who would go on to glorify their Parsi name.

In the management of the everyday—the rooms that had to be cleaned, the delicacies that had to be laid out, the small talk that had to be kept up, I somehow forgot my small indignances. I erased my hope for a purpose to make sure my life amounted to something, that I was held in worth, but mostly, my insatiable desire to live and dream of all the lives in the realm of possibility.

Yet, the hypocrisy of our position and the limits of our physical reality frustrated me. I ached for something that would help me understand why it must be so and what I could be.

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In She Stood By Me, Tarun Vikash captures the chaos and charm of young love—long-distance calls, meddling friends, and the bittersweet journey of two people trying to hold on to each other when life keeps pulling them apart.

Wake up you fool, we are getting late,’ I yelled out but to no avail; Manish stayed sleeping. And why wouldn’t he? I have no doubt he had spent the entire night on the phone, trying
to convince his ex-girlfriend to accept him again.

There is nothing like self-respect in his life. He loves being around girls. Girls flatter him, he flatters girls and the cycle goes on. I hate it. Why? Because unlike him, I have no options. I am terrified of speaking to girls, not that there is anything wrong with that. Not all guys are extroverts. I had issues talking to girls in the past and I have issues even today.
I hate myself for being like this but I hate Manish too. Last night, he spoke to the only girl I ever liked as if he had known her forever.

‘Manish, get up, for god’s sake? Look at your watch,
damn it,’ I shouted and kicked him hard enough to jolt him
out of bed.

‘Early morning and you’ve gone mad or what, Abhi?’ he
said, scratching his bum.

‘Look at your watch, you fool. We need to leave now to be on time.’

‘Oh please. I know why you are in such a hurry. You have to meet her. Isn’t it?’ ‘Shut up and get ready.’

‘And don’t you dare look at her the way you were looking
last night,’ I added. If I warn him, he might not do it but if I don’t,
he will definitely do it.

‘Now, don’t start again. I was just admiring her.’
‘Excuse me! Did you say admiring? Manish, you stare at
every girl like a jerk.’

‘Abhi, is that how you talk to your best friend?’
‘And is that how you look at the girl I like?’

‘Come on, Abhi. She is beautiful. Do you expect me to
keep my eyes closed and sit like a monk?’

‘Not monk, monkey, you must say. You barely behave like
a human when you see girls around you.’

‘What can I do if Aparna is beautiful? I just can’t
control myself.’

I felt like slapping him.

‘Whatever, but don’t talk shit when she comes today,’ I said.
‘It’s called being funny, damn it. You won’t understand.’

‘She is not your type and honestly, I have no idea why she
was even talking to you last night.’

‘Girls just feel comfortable around me and you are jealous
of that. Accept it.’

‘Oh, please. You and your dumb thesis on girls, I don’t
want to hear it. I beg of you. And listen, don’t make a mess
of things this time.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘After leaving the IIT centre, you are going to the station
to check for the return tickets.’

‘Why can’t you go?’

‘Because I have to drop her back home. I can’t leave her
alone with a jerk like you.’

‘Abhi,’ he growled.

‘Shut up.’

‘My Dad is her Dad’s best friend. You chose Dhanbad as our IIT centre because I told you. You should thank me for that at least.”

‘In your dreams,’ I said.
‘Don’t you dare ask me for any help now.’

‘Okay, fine. Thanks for everything and thanks again for making me choose Dhanbad as my IIT centre. But we are going back tonight and I only had last night to talk to her.
And you didn’t even allow me to do that.’

‘You guys did speak. Don’t forget.’

‘Yes, if saying “Hi” means speaking to a girl, then I did speak.’

‘Stop overreacting. You both are at the same IIT centre now. You can speak to her over there.’

‘You know, I can’t speak to her when I am alone.’

‘Be a man. Talk to her like I talk to girls. Look at me and learn something,’ he said.
I looked at him, feeling disgusted.

‘It’s okay. I will see what to do,’ I said.

‘I can help you if you want.’

‘You have already helped me a lot, Manish. So, please stay away from her.’

‘Okay, fine. I will try.’ ‘What the hell do you mean you will try?’

‘What do you want me to do, Abhi? You know me. Beautiful girls are my weakness.’

‘Manish, I am begging you.’

‘Okay, all right. I will not speak to her.’

‘She is coming soon. You know what you have to do.’

‘Yes, I have to sit in the front seat and you both will sit in the back seat,’ he said, pulling his blanket over him and going back to sleep.

  ***

Get your copy of She Stood By Me on Amazon or wherever books are sold.

In this excerpt from It’s Okay…, spiritual guide Jaya Kishori reminds us that true positivity isn’t about pretending everything is fine—it’s about accepting our pain, being patient with ourselves, and trusting that dark nights always lead to brighter mornings.

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay!

The other day, I was at a get-together that was attended by a sizeable number of people. I could spot some known faces, a few were friends, others with whom I have worked in the past, all mingling among themselves, amid a sea of unknown faces. They were greeting each other rather warmly, asking one another about how they have been, how their life was going. Most were responding in a very similar manner and tone, that ‘things were fine and that they were doing well’. Being in close proximity, I was able to overhear a few of these exchanges, when a question arose in my mind, ‘Was it a fact that they were indeed doing fine?’ ‘Could it be possible that there be someone in the world with whom all things were good and fine in life?’ ‘And that nothing was wrong in their lives,’ ‘No work or task of theirs was undone’. ‘That all or every of their relationships was good and none was troublesome or poor?’ To me, it seemed impossible.

Then it occurred to me that they, quite like me, were following an old lesson we learn when still young. When we are often advised by our elders:
• No matter what, you ought to be bold in the face of adversity
• You must always smile, even though you are hurting inside;
• You must not feel too sad about anything • You cannot afford to lose in life • You cannot get tired so easily;
• No matter what’s happening with you in your life, you must say, ‘It’s all okay.’ But the truth is, you are not!

In life, everything does not always go as we wish it to and to acknowledge this truth is our greatest strength. We tend to exaggerate and make a problem much bigger when we refuse to accept it. Life never runs perfectly; it is possible that on some days I don’t feel okay; which I believe is perfectly okay. When will we realize that ‘it’s okay –to not be okay’.

It is not necessary to be strong all the time; like it is not essential to smile at all times. If you are faced with problems in life, you must bear with it—but it is important that you also remind yourself that ‘things are not good’ and that ‘they are not running as you may have wanted’. Once this is done, you would perhaps be able to find a solution to the problem. If you keep feeding yourself with false beliefs about positivity that ‘Everything is going fine’ and that ‘You really do not have any problem’, then somewhere down the line, you are deceiving yourself. There is an increasing reliance and optimism that if you shoo away a problem or difficulty saying that nothing is wrong, or the problem or difficulty does not exist, you are relieved of it. This is one great fallacy. For the one in pain feels the pain, and no matter what is being said or needs to be believed, the pain does not subside on its own. This circumventing behaviour does not solve the problem. On the contrary, because you are not able to express the emotion, it becomes an added problem which is self-created.

The right way is to acknowledge that if you are in a given situation, then accept that you are in it. To be patient with that emotion is also a way to solve it. Remember, you are not the only one who is feeling this, there are numberless who are in the same boat— rather, most of humanity subsists in this. No one’s life is perfect, no matter how perfect they depict their lives to be on social media, it is far from that. However, not everyone has the courage to accept this fact. Maybe, you could try to do that? Not for anyone else but yourself. To realize that real positivity is not in ignorance but in acknowledgement. It is not about ignoring or running away from a problem but in accepting it.

I know it is easy to say such things, but difficult to live. I also know that if you are facing a difficult situation, you wish you could get out of it. I also know when a person is sad, he barely understands words of wisdom because of his pain and trauma. However, when one is in such a situation, one only needs to remind oneself that such a situation will not stay for long; it is only a passing phase. No situation stays permanently. The problem with which you were concerned or worried, say, five years ago, are you still worrying about those things? So quite like that, even the present ones would dissolve. Until then, we ought to learn to live with them. Therefore, it is important that we feel their presence and learn from them before they pass away.

At that time, you ought to keep reminding yourself, like morning follows night, your dark days will also end with a bright dawn. And if you wish to see that beautiful dawn, you must also experience the night. It is a matter of outlook; some enjoy the night and find it soothing; others are scared of it. So when you know that you need to pass the night, it makes a lot more sense that you pass it with a sense of tolerance and patience. Who knows, it might help to make your morning a little more beautiful than you had imagined. So it’s okay to not feel okay, but not okay to suppress those emotions and act as if everything is okay.

Know the hard times shall soon pass Though long and dark is your night; Be patient and have some faith A new dawn shall bring forth light.

  ***

Get your copy of It’s Okay on Amazon or wherever books are sold.

In this excerpt from Human Edge in the AI Age, Nitin Seth explores the unstoppable rise of Artificial Intelligence—and why rediscovering our uniquely human strengths may be the only way to thrive in this new era.

AI IS REDEFINING EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE AND BUSINESS

The Irresistible March of the AI Age Nothing else in the world . . . not all the armies . . . is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. —Victor Hugo, French author, poet and politician

AI’s time has come. It is all around us. It is unavoidable. AI might have sounded like pure science fiction, synonymous with futuristic robots or sci-fi movies a decade ago. It felt distant, something reserved for advanced research labs or tech giants. But here we are, on the cusp of a new era, where AI is woven seamlessly into the fabric of our daily lives. From the way we communicate, work and shop to the devices in our homes, cars and even our pockets—AI is everywhere, empowering us like never before.

Today, AI isn’t just a concept of the future; it is an undeniable force shaping our world. Whether we are asking virtual assistants for weather updates, relying on smart devices to adjust the lighting in our homes, navigating traffic with real-time insights or even having AI draft a business email—AI is present, indispensable and, quite frankly, extraordinary!

While AI has been brewing in the labs of tech giants and researchers, the advent of Gen AI has been an enormous leap forward in the history of AI. Unlike earlier forms of AI, which primarily relied on structured datasets and rule-based programming, Gen AI comes with a transformative ability to harness the data of the world and generate content, learn, adapt, create and evolve in real-time. It has shifted the narrative, transforming AI from a reactive tool into a proactive asset, ushering in a wave of innovation that feels limitless.

AI’s meteoric rise is no accident. While it has exploded on the scene quite recently, witnessing near-blinding adoption rates across all industries, it wasn’t possible without multiple waves of technology developments and business model innovations that have happened in the past.

Multiple waves of innovation leading to the AI age.

In my previous book, Winning in the Digital Age, I defined the digital age as a wide-ranging set of technology trends that have evolved over time. Each wave of technological evolution—whether it was the rise of the internet, the surge of mobile technology or the advancement of machine learning—has layered another block onto the foundation of AI as we know it. Business model innovations, too, have played a crucial role, as companies worldwide have eagerly embraced AI to enhance everything from operations to customer engagement. The AI we have today isn’t a standalone invention, but a culmination of countless innovations and relentless progress, each breakthrough building on the last until AI became an unstoppable force. Let’s look at the multiple waves of innovations that brought us to the AI of today.

It all started with the transition from physical to digital.1 Digital truly took off in the 1970s, when the world moved to digital with the explosive growth of computers and the availability of compute power. This era saw innovations like mainframe computers, by companies like IBM, and the development of the microprocessor by Intel, laying the groundwork for personal computing. These early advancements in computing and processing power created the essential foundation for AI, enabling the complex calculations and data processing that AI relies on today.

The next major wave arrived with the internet in the late 1990s, ushering in the dotcom boom. Companies like Amazon and eBay transformed retail by moving commerce online, shifting businesses from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce and online services, and redefining customer interactions and operations. Then in the late 2000s, social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) technologies emerged, reshaping interactions through social media platforms like Facebook, while the iPhone heralded the smartphone revolution, ushering an era of any-time, anywhere access to information, transforming the way people connect, work, shop and entertain themselves. Cloud services like Amazon web services (AWS) offered scalable infrastructure and big data analytics provided real-time insights. This internet and e-commerce boom are the predominant contributors to the rapid expansion of the amount of digital data, which became essential for training AI and improving machine learning methods.

Following the SMAC wave, the digital ecosystem era emerged, characterized by interconnected platforms like Apple’s App Store or Alibaba’s marketplace. These ecosystems enabled new business models and transformed industries and customer engagement. For example, companies like Netflix and Uber emerged that built new digital-first business models, which have led to the creation of new industries. These digital ecosystems also created a connected network where AI could be deployed widely, enabling companies to build AI-powered solutions that work across different platforms and services.

The early 2020s saw the advent of AI, built on a foundation of powerful new technologies like advanced computing, vast data availability and cloud infrastructure. This era also saw the rise of other new technologies like blockchain, the internet of things (IoT) and quantum computing. While blockchain enabled significant innovations like Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and transparent supply chains, IoT made connected smart homes and industrial machines a possibility. Quantum computing has now opened doors to solving problems beyond the reach of classical computing.

Today all these cutting-edge technologies are converging, opening up newer and greater possibilities for innovation. Their convergence is setting up the stage for new forms of intelligence and interconnected solutions that are not only making our lives easier but are capable of tackling long-prevailing real-world problems. However, amongst all these new technologies, AI has exploded exponentially in recent times. Let’s delve deeper into what made this possible.

Gen AI, the inflection point of the AI wave

The tipping point for AI came with the advent of Gen AI, which literally exploded on the scene, capturing the public imagination. The advent of Gen AI brought the powerful ability to generate rather than merely analyse or predict. This leap has been enabled by access to vast amounts of global data, advancements in algorithms and significant enhancements in computing power. These factors have empowered systems to learn from extensive datasets and perform highly complex calculations, enabling the creation of innovative content and solutions across a broad range of applications. It has unleashed the true transformative power of AI, catapulting it into not just the most groundbreaking technological breakthroughs of the digital age but perhaps in the history of human evolution.

The advent of Gen AI didn’t just open new doors, it broke down the walls that kept AI confined to the labs of researchers and big techs. With the power to create, not merely analyse, Gen AI has triggered a shift towards accessibility and versatility, making AI a tool for everyone, not just specialists. Let’s see how.

Expansion and democratization of AI

Over the past decade, due to data availability and quality, AI’s application was limited. Early AI implementations in healthcare, for example, focused on tasks like detecting anomalies in medical images, such as identifying tumours in X-rays. AI systems required large, high-quality datasets to perform well, which were often difficult to collect and curate. This limited AI to isolated cases, like image recognition in radiology and prevented broader integration in solutions like diagnosis or personalized treatments. The lack of deep and high-quality datasets also restricted AI in other fields. The advent of Gen AI has transformed this paradigm in two major ways. First, it has led to the expansion of AI. As I mentioned, AI needed big, high-quality datasets to work effectively, which was hard to get to and hence really limited what it could do. Gen AI’s large language models (LLMs) are trained on vast, diverse datasets sourced from the internet, literally the data of the world. This gives Gen AI the ability to provide reasonably accurate initial responses (often 40–60 per cent) to nearly any question. This breakthrough means AI’s dependence on data as a starting point has been significantly reduced. Since these models are built on a massive pool of existing knowledge, they excel at recognizing patterns and relationships, enabling them to generate accurate responses across a wide range of topics. This means we no longer need to build AI models from scratch. Instead, we can leverage these pre-trained models and fine-tune them for specific applications, dramatically lowering the effort and time required for developing AI solutions.

Second, tools such as ChatGPT have democratized AI, making it accessible to people without technical expertise. These tools have simplified AI interaction through easy-to-use interfaces that respond to natural language prompts, removing the need for coding or specialized knowledge. This accessibility allows even the nontechnical users to leverage AI for tasks that required a decent level of expertise in the past. Now, individuals from all backgrounds can use AI interactively for tasks like creating art, drafting essays, generating recommendations or even writing codes. For instance, a small business owner can produce custom marketing materials with simple prompts, and a remote teacher can design tailored lesson plans without extensive resources. This evolution has made AI versatile and practical for everyone, regardless of background or expertise. While we discuss the remarkable capabilities of ChatGPT, it wouldn’t be fair to not acknowledge the role of OpenAI in bringing the advancements of Gen AI from the realm of scientists to the masses. So let me take you through their journey and their role in democratization of AI.

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Get your copy of Human Edge in the AI Age on Amazon or wherever books are sold.