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Indian Express
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal is as much a political satire and as it is a paean for rivers
Delhi-NCR Residents bathing in the toxic foamy Yamuna water is a common sight, come Chhath Puja. Similar visual reminders of polluted water bodies being revered have inspired British-Indian writer Gurnaik Johal's first full-length novel, Saraswati. Johal wondered what would happen if the titular 'ancient holy river was brought back today?' And thus, the foundation was laid for the book that is as much a political satire as it is a paean to rivers, the life source around which civilisations thrives. Johal creates a complex fictional universe wherein Saraswati becomes the centre of all kinds of political and religious discourses. There is the inter-caste marriage of Sejal and Jugaad, who eloped in the wake of their relationship not being accepted. The narrative is divided into seven parts, each named after a river — Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, Indus and Saraswati — and focusing on the perspective of each of the seven descendants of Sejal and Jugaad. Johal weaves in the couple's romance alongside retellings of epic tragic sagas of the Punjabi-Sindh region, including Heer-Ranjha, Sassi-Punnu, MirzaSahiban, Sohni-Mahiwal and Pooran Bhagat. The author shares that he was specifically interested in the qissa and the 'origin myth' forms of storytelling, both of which structure his narrative. He says, 'I liked the idea of blending the two and indeed, within the book, I counterfeit my own qissa (Sejal and Jugaad), which is based on two 'real' characters who fall in love. It is the descendants of their children who make up the main cast of characters. I thought, in a way, many of our origins can be traced back, in some part, to a love story of two people choosing one another.' It is, however, not only the human characters who are in charge of plot development in the novel. In the age of the Anthropocene, human beings have become geological agents given the ongoing climate crisis. In Saraswati, which may be read as a novel examining ecocriticism, focus is also drawn to species such as the spruce beetle or the yellow crazy ants that are shown to be biological agents capable of reshaping human history. 'I became interested in how invasive species can change new environments and found this a charged and changing metaphor for both colonialism and immigration,' Johal says. The novel, as a whole, spans generations with each of the characters emanating from the original qissa of Sejal and Jugaad. This genre of interconnected narratives is something that characterises Johal's journey as an author. His first book We Move (2022), which won the 2023 Somerset Maugham Award, was a collection of17 loosely linked short stories with recurring characters, mostly centred around the residents ofSouthall in West London, particularly its Punjabi migrant population. About his preference for this mode of narration, Johal says, 'I'm slightly wary of singular narratives that follow one character arc. In real life, all our lives are inextricably linked and I think a function of me trying to write realist fiction is writing stories which connect characters.' Immigrant life in Britain, particularly for the Punjabi diaspora, was a major overarching thematic concern in We Move, which came to be expressed through stories that displayed the migrant character of the English language itself. This is because of the intentional aesthetic choice Johal makes where he refuses to provide context or explain away any Punjabi references and phrases. These are not even italicised in the text. In Saraswati, the Galley Beggar Press short story prize awardee takes the foregrounding of contemporary discourses around immigration a step further. He visibilises the connected histo- ries of the Empire which have historically shaped and continue to shape migratory flows from the post-colonial nations of the Global South. From British Columbia and Nairobi to Singapore, the temporal and spatial scale of Johal's narrative is ambitious. A second-generation immigrant of colour himself, Johal's poetics continue to address migration in the form of interconnected fiction as well as the way he uses English as a language embodying deterritorialisation. What makes Saraswati relevant today is how, with the climate crisis, rivers are being used in diplomacy and power plays in international rising populist rhetoric surrounding religion, historical facts and geographical entities alike is expressed through tangential characters such as the political powerhouse Indra, whose journey from a chief minister to prime minister is charted through the book, and who 'had been sworn in, drinking water from the newly surfaced Saraswati river during his inaugural speech'. At one point, the character of Nathu, an archaeologist, claims that 'all history was historical fiction', which Johal, though he is 'wary of aphorisms', feels may be befitting to 'the current political climate'. Bhasin is a Delhi-based independent writer
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Inter-state drug racket busted in city, four held
Ranchi: City police on Friday arrested four drug peddlers, including a woman, from two locations in the city and busted an inter-state drug racket, recovering narcotics and cash worth around Rs 27 lakh. Ranchi SSP claimed it to be one of the biggest drug haul in recent years. The arrested persons have been identified as Suraj Kumar (25) who hails from Bihar's Sasaram, Sejal Khan (22), Vishal Mittal alias Hemant Mittal (25) and Arif Iqbal (26), all from Ranchi. Police recovered Rs 4.5 lakh cash and brown sugar worth around Rs 23 lakh market value from them. SSP Chandan Kumar Singh said that an individual from Bihar's Sasaram trafficked brown sugar to Ranchi's Nur Nagar area under the Kotwali police station area. "Based on an intel, DSP Kotwali conducted a raid in the area at around 3 am on Friday, seizing brown sugar weighing around 110 grams. During the raid, Suraj and Sejal were arrested for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking from Bihar's Sasaram and selling it in Ranchi. Police recovered Rs 4.5 lakh from their possession. This is so far the biggest achievement of Ranchi police against drug trafficking," the SSP added. Police also recovered two mobiles and a two-wheeler from them. During the interrogation, the duo revealed that they had been associated with the trafficking for a long time. "Sejal informed that her elder sister is also associated with the trafficking ring, and police have been trying to apprehend her as well," the SSP added. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Brother's Day wishes , messages and quotes !
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Time of India
How Pak spy 'Sejal Kapoor' scored 98 Indian targets
The arrest of Hisar-based woman travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra on charges of spying and passing sensitive information to Pakistan has brought to the fore Pakistani intelligence agency's strategy to snare Indians with love and lies. Malhotra is not the first Indian to fall into the ISI honeytrap . Before her many men and women have been lured into spying by the ISI. How easy it is to use love and romance as a trap is evident from the case of ISI spy ' Sejal Kapoor ' who compromised 98 targets within a few years with just a fake social media identity, TOI had reported in 2019. 'Sejal Kapoor' was one of a whole beehive of Pakistani spies posing as young Indian women with alluring names to honeytrap Indian defence officials. A Pakistani spy, operating from within Pakistan, used the name 'Sejal Kapoor' to create a Facebook account and managed to hack into the computer systems of more than 98 officials from various departments, including the Indian Army, Air Force, Navy, paramilitary forces and state police personnel in Rajasthan, MP, Punjab and UP between 2015 and 2018. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Sambikerep: Beautiful New Senior Apartments with Two Bedrooms Senior Apartments | Search Ads Search Now Undo How 'Sejal Kapoor' trapped her targets Sejal's Facebook profile said she was an employee of Hays Aviation in the UK. She trapped her targets by showing her videos and pictures with the help of a software malware released from a third-party server hosted in a West Asian country. She was involved in the case related to the leak of classified data on the BrahMos missile in 2018. The UP anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and military intelligence (MI) came to know about her with the arrest of BrahMos senior systems missile projects engineer Nishant Agarwal who was one of her victims. In 2019, TOI had accessed her chats and the details of a malware used by her. Malware is malicious software specifically designed to gain access to or damage a computer, usually without the knowledge of the owner. Live Events Sleuths in UP Police and MI unearthed more than five dozen chats of this female spy. "Well, install whisper n check your desktop icon, open it and send me the code, lets talk there," the Pakistani spy said in one of the chats. "Waiting dude? Installed? After installing u will see Whisper icon on ur desktop. Just send me the code, then we will good to go. just unzip it. n click install. it's a chat app dude In UK, we all use that," she said. "Nope, its restricted. Its getting restricted. Whenever am trying to install it," an Indian official, the target she was chatting with, replied. Spy application used by Sejal worked on stealth mode and had "self-aware" detection techniques which made them extremely difficult to be recognised by anti-malware programmes installed in computers. "It's a malicious communication app. It uses a malware command. A hacker can use as many as 25 internet addresses to mask her identity," a top intelligence official, closely monitoring the probe, had told TOI in 2019. "Instantly, after getting downloaded, the malware first prompts the user to key in a code. It's to ensure that the app is not a virus or malware. Immediately after that, it scans all latest attachments sent from the computer in emails or downloads. It then scans all files with photographs, databases of MS Word and MS Excel, by first verifying their encryption keys and then opening their passwords," the intelligence official said. One of 'Sejal''s victims was a BrahMos engineer An engineer of BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd associated with its missile projects in Nagpur was arrested in 2018 in a joint operation by the UP ATS, its Maharashtra counterpart and Military Intelligence on charges of passing on classified information about the project to Pakistan's ISI. The arrested official, Nishant Agarwal, was a senior systems engineer at BrahMos Aerospace's unit at Butibori, near Nagpur. In his mid-20s, Agarwal headed the Hydraulics-Pneumatics and Warhead Integration wing of BrahMos' production department. Agarwal was managing a team of 40 personnel, including systems engineers, technical supervisors and technicians. He was also supervising the new projects at BrahMos' sites in Nagpur and Pilani, UP ATS officials said, adding that he had won the government's 'Young Scientist Award' for 2017-18. Pankaj Awasthi, a UP-ATS investigation officer, said in his deposition during Agrawal's trial that 'Sejal' introduced herself to Agrawal as a recruiter from Hays Aviation, and as a student from Manchester to another victim, a former IAF staffer. Agrawal was also Facebook friends with two other individuals, 'Neha Sharma' and 'Pooja Ranjan', whose accounts too were active from Pakistan, testified Awasthi. Agrawal had chatted with 'Sejal' on Linked-in too, where she showed interest in hiring him. Awasthi told the court that on Sejal's directions, Agrawal had clicked on links sent by her and installed three apps - Qwhisper, Chat to Hire and X-trust - on his personal laptop. If ISI can access secret information by trapping Indian officials with fake Facebook accounts operating from within Pakistan, trapping prominent social media influencers like Jyoti Malhotra points at a bigger intelligence project.
Hindustan Times
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Nawazuddin Siddiqui swam in crocodile-infested lake for Costao, finished shot despite bike brakes failing
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has impressed many through the years with his performance on-screen, but it looks like it takes a special kind of dedication off-screen for him to achieve that. For his upcoming film, Costao, with director Sejal Shah, he swam in a lake full of crocodiles despite not being a good swimmer. (Also Read: Nawazuddin Siddiqui calls the Pahalgam terror attack 'sharmnaak'; talks of unity in India: 'Everyone stands together') Sejal recently shared a jaw-dropping story about how Nawazuddin swam in a lake with crocodiles for Costao. The team wanted to keep the action as 'real and raw' as possible, and the actors, including Nawazuddin, were committed to that vision. He trained for weeks in boxing and sprinting for the film. In one of his most daring moments, he had to jump into a crocodile-infested lake. Sejal reveals that Nawazuddin wasn't a trained swimmer but insisted on doing the stunt himself to lend it authenticity. 'Nawaz always took on tough scenes. There's a moment in the film where he has to dive into a lake, but the lake had crocodiles, and he insisted on doing it for real, even though he isn't a great swimmer,' she said. According to the director, Nawazuddin also did his own stunt in another intense scene featuring a high-speed bike chase. The bike's brakes even failed, but the actor kept going without breaking character so she could get her shot. Costao is directed by Sejal and stars Nawazuddin as a customs officer from Goa, Costao Fernandes. The gritty crime drama, which will be released on Zee5 on May 1, is based on the life of the real Costao. The film explores the dark underbelly of smuggling operations and features intense, action-packed scenes. Priya Bapat, Kishore Kumar Huli, Gagan Dev Riar, and Hussain Dalal also star in it. It is produced by Vinod Bhanushali, Kamlesh Bhanushali, Bhavesh Mandalia, Sejal Shah, Shyam Sunder, and Faizuddin Siddiqui.
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Sejal Jaiswal on entering showbiz: As a medical student, I never imagined stepping into this world
Sejal Jaiswal Sejal Jaiswal, who is set to appear in the upcoming show Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad , has had quite an unconventional entry into the world of showbiz. Originally a physiotherapist , her shift to the entertainment industry wasn't something she had ever planned. She shares, 'I was always a studious kid. So honestly, getting into showbiz was never on the cards — it was a complete twist of fate. ' She adds, 'As a medical student, I never imagined stepping into this world. But everything changed when I randomly took part in a contest for fun and ended up winning. That win gave me the chance to perform on stage with John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, and Tushar Kapoor, who were in Nagpur for a movie promotion. That moment made me realise I had no stage fear — and that was the spark.' From there, one thing led to another. 'Some modelling agents noticed me at the event and offered me a few projects. I jumped at the opportunity—it was all so new and thrilling. It gave me a huge confidence boost. After that, I participated in two beauty pageants and won both back-to-back. While still in my final year of studies, I also took part in a reality show. That's how my journey really began.' Despite her growing interest in entertainment, Sejal remained committed to her education. 'My mom was very particular that I finish my degree first,' she says. 'So, I only moved to Mumbai after completing my graduation and the mandatory internship for medical professionals. My parents were supportive throughout, always encouraging me to balance my studies and passion. It was after the COVID-19 pandemic that I finally shifted to Mumbai in search of bigger acting opportunities. ' Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad also marks the Hindi television production debut of Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee . Talking about the experience of working under his banner, Sejal beams, 'It's truly a blessing. This has been the most amazing team I've worked with so far. Prosenjit sir may be a superstar, but he's incredibly humble and warm. When we met, we had a heartfelt conversation about the show. His kindness and values really shine through in his production team. It's been an absolute pleasure.'
