Latest news with #Kashmira
IOL News
15-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- IOL News
Join Kihaan Kylas on his exciting YouTube adventure in China
Kihaan Kylas. Image: Supplied Eight-year-old Kihaan Kylas, with his mother Kashmira, have embarked on a YouTube adventure, sharing their experiences as a South African Indian family living in China. The YouTube channel is called SouthAfricanIndianBoyInChina. Kihaan and his family, who are formerly from Durban, moved to China in 2023. Kashmira's mother, Nirupa Dayaram, joined them. The Grade 2 pupil no longer attends formal school but is homeschooled. This has left him with extra time to make fun videos. Kashmira and her husband, Dhiren, are both ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers. They teach English to pupils whose first language is not English. The couple decided to move to China in search of better opportunities. Kashmira was a property administrator at Maxprop and Dhiren was the Durban regional manager for Hisense. 'Back home, we faced financial difficulties and I just had my second baby Mihaar (aged 2), so moving to China gave us a chance to rebuild, grow and provide a more stable life for our little family. It was not an easy decision but it was one filled with hope to give our children a better future,' said Kashmira. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The family lives in Hainan province, an island, and Kihaan decided to show the rest of the world his daily life as an 8-year-old Indian. 'My son started this channel to share his unique story with the world. As a South African Indian kid living in China, his little life has been filled with interesting experiences that some people never get to see. 'We came up with the idea after our friends and family could not fathom the things that I had been telling them about living here, so I started doing Facebook posts enlightening everybody about our journey here. "My son likes technology, so he knows all about YouTube channels. He suggested doing one, so his old friends in South Africa could see what he had been up to, and I thought it was a good idea and went with it." She said living in China was not easy on the family, so starting the channel helped them stay connected to family in South Africa. 'We are family-oriented. We miss our family and friends like crazy. It breaks our hearts every time that we miss out on a family get-together. If we had the opportunity, we would return to South Africa in a heartbeat. 'Adjusting to a new language, unfamiliar surroundings, being far away from family and friends, and basically starting from scratch made it hard but being able to share my son and our family's everyday lives through videos, makes it fun. "In addition, we hope that this channel teaches people about the beauty of diversity and the power of curiosity. We want it to showcase how cultures can connect and coexist, how children can grow with empathy and open-mindedness, and how being different is something to celebrate." Kihaan stars in the videos, while Kashmira edits them. Kihaan Kylas making his Mother's Day video for the channel. Image: Supplied 'Through my eyes, I try to share what everyday life looks like here in China. From trying new foods and exploring new places, to learning Mandarin, celebrating different cultures and sharing fun family moments,' said Kihaan. He said the channel was a fun family-friendly space that also teaches children to appreciate diversity and enjoy the little things in life. 'People should tune in to my channel to see the world through the eyes of a South African Indian boy growing up in China. It's unique and interesting. I miss South Africa but I'm excited to show my friends and family China,' he added. The pilot video was uploaded last week and even though the channel has 103 subscribers, the video has already reached 3 500 views. New videos will be uploaded every weekend. The POST
Daily Mail
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The REAL reason Freddie Mercury's sister had to buy back £3million of his most treasured possessions...from the ex-fiancee who got the lion's share of his fortune
With an auction of this magnitude, it's not unusual for there to be requests from wealthy and anonymous interested parties for private viewings, as there was during the Sotheby's sale of Freddie Mercury 's effects in 2023. The trove was so enormous – 1,406 lots – the auction took place over six days. There was music memorabilia: dozens of gold discs, stage outfits, Brit awards, manuscript lyrics and two pianos. Artwork by Picasso and Matisse were on sale along with a range of Japanese prints, including by the master Hiroshige. And there were lots for Faberge clocks, Lalique glassware and more than 50 kimonos – not to mention jewellery, including Freddie's silver Tiffany moustache comb. Prior to the doors opening, a small 69-year-old woman walked in accompanied by her son and PA, wanting to see the items before they went public. But when it came to auction time, the woman was nowhere to be seen. The PA was there, however, with the pair staying in touch online and over the phone. In the end, the anonymous bidder paid £3 million for several items, including a jukebox, a Nike sweatshirt and a waistcoat with portraits of Freddie's six cats on it – which went for £139,700. We now know the mysterious Freddie Mercury fan was, in fact, Kashmira Bulsara – his younger sister. She was, a source revealed this week, 'angry and upset' at seeing so many of her beloved brother's possessions available for anyone to buy – and so went along to try to discreetly buy some of them back. 'They had set aside a huge budget, so were actually very happy with the final figure laid out despite paying well over the estimated price for each one,' the source said. 'Of course, Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones.' The extraordinary turn of events came about after Mary Austin, Mercury's former fiancée and the 'love of his life', was bequeathed his home, Garden Lodge in Kensington, and everything in it after the singer's death in 1991 aged 45. Two years ago, she decided to put everything up for auction in a sale that raised more than £40 million. In a statement, Mary, now 74, said: 'The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot.' Yet the sale raised many questions, chief among them being: given the shared love of Freddie by Mary and Kashmira – and the fact they are both benefactors of his £75 million fortune – could Kashmira not just have asked Mary if she could have some of Freddie's effects? And why didn't Mary offer her the chance to pick out some items? It's not like mementos were in short supply. And by 2023 Freddie's mother and father were dead, as was his last boyfriend Jim Hutton, meaning Kashmira and her children are his last living close relatives. However, the sad truth is in the years since his death from AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia, a deep and apparently unbridgeable divide has sprung up between the two most important women in Freddie's life. It seems they've not spoken since his small funeral. Indeed, it's said Kashmira still has no idea for certain where her brother's ashes were scattered – an extraordinary state of affairs by any standard. 'Mary did it – and Mary won't tell,' says a Mercury source. 'It was one of the last promises she made to Freddie.' Freddie, born Farrokh Bulsara, hadn't been close to Kashmira growing up, as he was sent away from the family home in Zanzibar to a boarding school in India when he was eight years old. He was 18 when the family joined him in the UK, having fled the Zanzibar revolution and settled in Feltham, Middlesex. In later years, Kashmira, six years younger than Freddie, and her then-husband Roger and two children would visit him at Garden Lodge, as would their parents Bomi and Jer. By 2023 Freddie's mother and father were dead, as was his last boyfriend Jim Hutton, meaning Kashmira and her children are his last living close relatives He never 'came out' to his mother or father – both Parsi followers of the Zoroastrian religion which forbade homosexuality – and didn't let them see the wild partying side of his life. He wanted to protect them, it's said, and they in turn respected his wish for privacy. Former brother-in-law Roger has said: 'Freddie kept his life strictly in compartments, and they rarely overlapped. 'We used to celebrate our kids' birthdays at Freddie's. He'd always have a massive cake or Easter egg for them. He never had any kids of his own. 'I think he would have liked to have seen our children grow up.' All the Bulsara family were very fond of Mary, whom Freddie fell in love with when she was 19, and working as a PR for the famous Biba boutique in London. A petite and still-glamorous blonde, she too seems to have a taste for privacy. She didn't want to be featured in the 2018 Bohemian Rhapsody film (she was played by actress Lucy Boynton) and apparently deplored its 'intrusion'. The two spent seven years as a couple and set up home together. When Mary was 23, Freddie even proposed marriage with a jade ring one Christmas. Kashmira still has no idea for certain where her brother's ashes were scattered – an extraordinary state of affairs by any standard As she described in her only known interview in 2013: 'Freddie hadn't said anything more about marrying, the only way that I could test the water was to say, 'Is it time I bought the dress?' But he said no. He had gone off the idea and it never happened.' She added: 'I was disappointed but I had a feeling it wasn't going to happen. Things were getting very complicated and the atmosphere between us was changing a lot. I knew the writing was on the wall, but what writing? I wasn't absolutely sure.' Eventually, he told her he believed he was bisexual and she responded: 'No Freddie, I don't think you are bisexual. I think you are gay.' They carried on living together for a time, with Freddie bringing home boyfriends but, eventually, she moved out. Mary, though, was always a part of his life and he remained devoted to her in the years which followed. She was among the small crew who nursed him when he fell ill, visiting daily. Freddie was godfather to her older son Richard, by artist Piers Cameron, and she was pregnant with their second son Jamie when Freddie died. The relationship with Cameron broke up and she married again, but she and her second husband divorced around 2005. She's thought to have been single ever since. Mary has stayed so determinedly out of the public eye many of Freddie's old crowd don't even know where she is living. She put Garden Lodge up for sale last year for £30 million and is thought now to be living 'somewhere in London'. Kashmira, now 73, has not done the same, having recently emerged into the spotlight to claim her place as the keeper of his flame. She attends the annual Freddie Mercury birthday party which is thrown by the Mercury Phoenix charity every September, while Mary always stays away. In 2019, she gave a collection of art deco cases to the V&A museum. These are on display bearing the description: 'From the Kashmira Bulsara collection. A loan and promised gift from Kashmira Bulsara, made in the memory of her brother, Freddie Mercury.' Some question if the Mercury kimono, which was exhibited in recent years as part of a kimono exhibition at the V&A, might also have come from her. And many wonder: could she have been the mystery bidder who snapped up his iconic mustard yellow jacket at an auction held by Bonhams in 2004? The jacket, worn during the 1986 Magic tour, is thought to have been taken from Garden Lodge by Jim Hutton and then given along with other items to Hutton's friend Shawn Matthews to sell. The jacket was sold for £26,290. A source in the Mercury camp offered the theory this week that Kashmira is planning to further reclaim Freddie's legacy by putting on an exhibition of her own with some of the items she has bought from the auction. Her publicist made no comment on that either way this week. However, Freddie Mercury biographer Lesley-Ann Jones says that the two women have differing views about the best way to honour Freddie. Jones said: 'Mary was criticised for not preserving Garden Lodge as a museum for fans to visit and pay their respects. But the house was always hers to do with as she wished. Freddie made that clear. 'The fans and the band may have wanted a Graceland, but that wasn't Freddie and Mary's plan.' And while Mary stays as anonymous as possible, recently Kashmira has been making a few media appearances. She spoke about their touching time together while Freddie was on his deathbed in a televised interview in 2021, and also recently granted an 'at home' interview when she was putting her £4.75 million central London flat up for sale. Jones adds: 'No love is lost between Mary and Kash. 'The resentment erupted when Freddie's will was read and it emerged that he'd left the bulk of his estate not to his blood family but to the love of his life, and it has never subsided.' Half of his estate went to Mary Austin along with Garden Lodge. Meanwhile, boyfriend Jim Hutton, who died from liver cancer in 2010, and assistant Peter Freestone were asked to move out. Mercury's parents were given either 25 per cent of his fortune between them or 12.5 per cent each – depending on which report you believe. While Bomi died in 2004, in an interview before her death in 2016, Jer said she didn't mind Mary taking the lion's share. 'Why not? She was just like family to us and still is,' she said. 'She was lovely and used to come to us for meals. I used to wish they had got married and had a normal life with children. 'But even when they broke up, I knew she still loved my boy and they stayed friends right to the end.' Kashmira's share has also been reported as either 25 per cent or 12.5 per cent. It's thought his parents shares passed on to Kashmira after their deaths, although some Queen experts are convinced the money actually went to Mary – which would indeed feel like a final insult. Either way, both Mary and Kashmira will have shared in a huge financial windfall from the hugely successful film Bohemian Rhapsody and from the sale of Queen's back catalogue to Sony. How much might his estate now be worth in total? I'm told well over £300 million; both women are seriously rich. There is also the question of Freddie's ashes and where they were scattered. Mary kept his ashes in his bedroom for two years after his death, and then – by her own account – slipped out one day and scattered them in secret. 'He didn't want anybody to dig him up as has happened to other famous people,' she said. 'Fans can be obsessive. He wanted it to remain a secret. I never betrayed Freddie in his lifetime. And I'll never betray him now.' There was a theory, never confirmed, that his ashes were scattered in a cemetery in North London, where a small bronze plaque bearing his real name was discovered in 2013 – before it was promptly spirited away by staff, nervous of an invasion by fans. A Mercury source says: 'Mary never told the family where she scattered the ashes, so Kashmira does not know. Mary says that she was just loyal to him and did what he wanted. 'She's not close to any of the band, or the family, and has no interaction with his fans. Her belief is that she has given Freddie a gift of privacy.' But whether Kashmira also sees it as a gift is another matter.
News24
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Freddie Mercury's sister forked out R75m to buy her brother's possessions at auction
The younger sister of Queen's Freddie Mercury, Kashmira Bulsara, spent £3 million (R74,5m) to keep her brother's belongings out of the hands of strangers. Freddie's confidante and former fiancée, Mary Austin (74), who received the lion's share of his estate after his death at 45 in 1991, provided 1 400 items that had belonged to the Queen frontman for auction by Sotheby's in 2023. 'Of course Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones,' a source told The Sun. The auction, titled Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, closed with sales of £40m, far higher than the expected £11m. It drew more than 140 000 visitors and buyers from more than 50 countries. Items for sale included handwritten lyrics and some of Freddie's famous stage costumes, as well as his moustache comb, champagne bottles from his cellar and paintings that once adorned his home including works by Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. READ MORE | SEE THE PICS: Freddie Mercury's 'glorious memory box' home is up for sale Kashimira (73), a businesswoman and philanthropist, successfully bid on her big brother's Wurlitzer model 850 jukebox which had been in his home, a hand-painted waistcoat featuring portraits of his cats, a military-style jacket designed for his 39th birthday and the draft lyrics of Queen's 1974 classic Killer Queen. While Kashmira spent more than she'd anticipated at the auction, she was happy with the belongings she'd bought, the source said. Freddie and Mary met in 1969 and dated for several years until they were engaged in 1973. They broke off their engagement in 1976 after he came out as gay, but remained close friends until his death. 'The only friend I've got is Mary, and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other; that's enough for me,' Freddie said in an interview. Most of his estate, including his Kensington mansion, was left to Mary. Kashmira was also at Freddie's side in his last days, along with Freddie's longtime partner, Jim Hutton, who passed away in 2010. Kashmira isn't the first relative of a celebrity to buy their possessions at auction. Julian Lennon, son of late Beatles star John and his first wife, Cynthia, claimed in a 1999 interview that he had to buy back his father's letters and postcards – as well as ones Julian had sent him – after John's second wife, Yoko Ono, reportedly refused to give them to him.
AsiaOne
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
Freddie Mercury's sister spent $5.2m buying up his auctioned belongings, Entertainment News
Freddie Mercury's sister reportedly spent £3 million (S$5.2m) buying up his belongings after they were auctioned off by his ex Mary Austin. The Queen star — who died in 1991 aged 45 — left much of his estate including his London home and its contents to his former lover and longtime friend Mary, who sold off his possessions at auction back in 2023. Now, The Sun newspaper reports Freddie's sibling Kashmira Bulsara, 73, spent millions buying up lots to keep them in the family. A source told the publication: "Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother's possessions become available for anyone to buy. "So she went for a private viewing, anonymously... to see which bits she wanted to try to get... "Kashmira watched [the auction] online and told her PA how much to bid for each item. They had set aside a huge budget so were actually very happy with the final figure laid out, despite paying well over the estimated price for each one. "Of course, Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones." The newspaper reports items bought by Kashmira included a waistcoat emblazoned with portraits of Freddie's six cats which he wore in the music video for Queen's track These Are The Days Of Our Lives. It sold for £139,700. Kashmira is also said to have snapped up a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox (£406,400), draft lyrics for Queen song Killer Queen (£279,400), a Daum Persimmons vase which had been converted into a lamp (£22,860) and a Nike sweatshirt (£40,640). The auction is believed to have made around £40 million and Mary donated some of the proceeds to charity, with funds going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was set up in the late singer's honour, and the Elton John Aids Foundation. Mary said at the time of the sale: "The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. "I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot." [[nid:717169]]
Perth Now
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Freddie Mercury's sister 'spent £3m buying his belongings'
Freddie Mercury's sister reportedly spent £3 million buying up his belongings after they were auctioned off by his ex Mary Austin. The Queen star - who died in 1991 aged 45 - left much of his estate including his London home and its contents to his former lover and longtime friend Mary, who sold off his possessions at auction back in 2023 and now The Sun newspaper reports Freddie's sibling Kashmira Bulsara, 73, spent millions buying up lots to keep them in the family. A source told the publication: "Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother's possessions become available for anyone to buy. "So she went for a private viewing, anonymously .... to see which bits she wanted to try to get ... "Kashmira watched [the auction] online and told her PA how much to bid for each item. They had set aside a huge budget so were actually very happy with the final figure laid out, despite paying well over the estimated price for each one. "Of course, Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones." The newspaper reports items bought by Kashmira included a waistcoat emblazoned with portraits of Freddie's six cats which he wore in the music video for Queen's track 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives'. It sold for £139,700. Kashmira is also said to have snapped up a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox (£406,400), draft lyrics for Queen song 'Killer Queen' (£279,400), a Daum Persimmons vase which had been converted into a lamp (£22,860) and a Nike sweatshirt (£40,640). The auction is believed to have made around £40 million and Mary donated some of the proceeds to charity, with funds going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was set up in the late singer's honour, and the Elton John Aids Foundation. Mary said at the time of the sale: "The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. "I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot."
