The Anatomy of Success

Somehow, all success stories sound particularly successful when they are preceded by failure; failure grants them a sort of splendour because success becomes a counter to it, and there is something grand about overcoming a failure, fixing your life and then - and only then - achieving success. In short, failure is what you need to endure, and get over, before you can be successful. Everyday, we come across case studies on failure-to-success stories. They are a cliché. There was some talk about how investors take start-up operators more seriously if they've been through 'failure'; it makes them (the start-up operators) more determined since they have learnt from their failings and are now wiser with hindsight. This week, we decided to look into this you-need-to-fail-first-in-order-to-succeed formula, and turn it on its head. What if you don't succeed at first strike because you didn't do something the right way - and not because you were a 'failure'? Is failure exaggerated? Or worse, are we being gulled into believing that failure is a sort of achievement - one that makes you a better person? There are no easy answers to this, but there are a whole lot of pertinent questions that crop up - in turn questioning the formulaic approach to success. Promises to be an interesting read.
Three gorgeous ladies from the glam world of Bollywood - Bipasha Basu, Malaika Arora Khan and Sussanne Khan - have teamed up to form an online lifestyle brand called The Label Life, that is catering to the needs of a fast-growing virtual community in India. All products are customised, "edited" and given finishing touches by the three. And clearly it's not a flash in the pan: Bipasha, for instance, says The Label Life has kept her so busy, she's not finding time to do more films. Meet the leading ladies, and also meet the woman whose brainchild the project was: former media person Preeta Sukhtankar. Meanwhile, in our Bollywood column, we get up close and personal with the cherubic Rishi Kapoor, and find out why yesterday's lover boy is still as charming as ever.
DSF is on, and while you are wondering what your next purchase will be, Travel takes you to New York for a shopping bonanza. Looks like this is the right time for swipe your credit card in the Big Apple too, as there are some spectacular sales on right now. It's viva l'Italia in Kitchen Classics; get ready to cook up some food from the Florentine countryside. All this and much more.
Enjoy reading wknd. and have a great weekend!