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HarperCollins India to publish Naheed Phiroze Patel’s brilliant coming-of-age novel A Mirror Made of Rain

NEW DELHI, Feb. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —

Publishing in April 2021

from Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

HarperCollins India is delighted to announce that it has acquired the rights to publish Naheed Phiroze Patel’s brilliant coming-of-age novel, A Mirror Made of Rain. Publishing under the prestigious Fourth Estate imprint and set for release in April 2021, this intricately textured work of fiction, is both riveting and discomfiting, as it brings alive a world and characters that are complex, layered and flawed, yet breathtakingly real.

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The book has elicited some warm advance praise and here’s what writer Diksha Basu has to say about it, “A Mirror Made of Rain is luminous – a blistering and unflinching commentary on family, love, pain, addiction and destruction. We are lucky to have Naheed Patel writing.”

Naheed Phiroze Patel says, “I began writing A Mirror Made of Rain as a way to come to terms with the untimely death of my father. I hoped, by writing a character based on him, to keep him a part of my life for a bit longer. As I got further into the story, however, I was taken over by an all-consuming need to explore the sense of unbelonging felt by my protagonist, Noomi, and to capture the maelstrom of loss, joy, grief and tender moments that make up a life. The novel’s epicenter is the dysfunctional relationship between Noomi and her mother, Asha, and I wanted to portray the unravelling of their lives with honesty and empathy, reaching into the hearts of these two women to reveal the darkness that addiction and mental illness casts over a family. In the wonderful editorial team at HarperCollins, I found the best possible champions for my novel.”

Rahul Soni, Executive Editor – Literary at HarperCollins Publishers India, says, “Naheed Phiroze Patel’s first novel is intelligent, humorous – yet sharp and merciless in its portrayal of a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and the universal struggle all children undertake in order to not turn into their parents. But for all the direness of the subject matter, what shines through is hope and an affirmation of life, without any of the attendant sentimentality. A Mirror Made of Rain is an exceptional work, and we at HarperCollins India are looking forward very much to bringing this novel to readers.”

Udayan Mitra, Publisher – Literary at HarperCollins Publishers India, says, “A Mirror Made of Rain is an exceptionally accomplished first novel, a book that is going to be thought of and talked about for a long time to come. We’re delighted to be publishing Naheed’s remarkable work of fiction this April, under our prestigious Fourth Estate imprint.”

About the book –

Noomi Wadia, a bright, quick-tempered young woman with a penchant for getting into trouble, has struggled with the social isolation of her manic-depressive mother. We watch Noomi grow from a lonely, wild-hearted teenager, pining for her mother’s acceptance and nurtured by her father’s devotion, to a troubled young adult who finds love, but not happiness.

Battling addiction and anxiety, Noomi realizes that her worst fears have come to pass – that she is the reluctant heir to her mother’s history, and the she must battle her self-destructive impulses or risk losing everything, even her life. Even as the story moves from small-town India to New York City, and traverses between the past and the present in a journey that is both dark and beguiling, its soul stays tethered to this heartbreakingly toxic mother-daughter relationship and its destructive aftermath.

About the author –

Naheed Phiroze Patel received her MFA in fiction from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, HuffPost, The Rumpus, Scroll.in, New England Review, BOMB Magazine, EuropeNow Journal, PEN America, and elsewhere. She lives in the greater New York City area and works as a freelance essayist, interviewer and critic.

About HarperCollins Publishers India –

HarperCollins Publishers India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Prabha Khaitan Woman’s Voice Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and the Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India has been awarded the Publisher of the Year Award three times: at Publishing Next in 2015, and at Tata Literature Live! in 2016 and 2018.HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Egmont, Oneworld, Harvard University Press, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet.

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SPJIMR hosts Faculty Development Workshop to integrate ‘Indian Knowledge Systems in Business Education’

Two-day event explored embedding Indian wisdom in management curricula in line with NEP 2020

MUMBAI, India, April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) successfully hosted a two-day Faculty Development Workshop (FDP) on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) for Business Education on April 10–11, 2025. The workshop brought together over 40 faculty members from across the country, providing a unique platform for dialogue, reflection, and curriculum development centred on the integration of Indian thought into management education.

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The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 underscores the importance of integrating IKS into higher education to foster holistic, multidisciplinary learning rooted in India’s rich intellectual traditions. SPJIMR, with its long standing focus on Indian wisdom in management, is well placed to advance this through meaningful academic engagement.

Commenting on the initiative, Prof. Varun Nagaraj, Dean, SPJIMR said, “As we look to infuse IKS principles in the management education curriculum, it is important that we are specific about what is new and additive to existing approaches that have been built on the liberal arts, ethics, and systems thinking. I thank our conference attendees for engaging in an intellectually rigorous discussion around this question.”

The workshop began with a session by Prof. (Retd.) B. Mahadevan (IIM Bangalore), who offered a clear overview of IKS. He highlighted their interdisciplinary nature, drawing on examples from Aryabhatta to Kalidasa, and emphasised the importance of Sanskrit for accessing original sources without distortion. Prof. Jitesh Mohnot (IIT Jodhpur) followed with an exploration of Marwari and indigenous business practices. He described India’s economic landscape as shaped by ‘vernacular capitalism’, rooted in family firms and informal trust networks, and noted the publishing challenges IKS scholars face without aligning their work to global academic frameworks.

Prof. Ashish Pandey (IIT Bombay) explored leadership through Indian psychology, drawing on the Bhagavad Gita and Rājayoga to connect concepts like karma yoga and mind management with modern leadership. Prof. Varadraj Bapat (IIT Bombay) discussed indigenous financial systems, linking instruments like hundis and insights from the Arthashastra to current economic models and classroom teaching.

The workshop concluded with a synthesis session and curriculum development framework presented by Prof. Surya Tahora, Executive Director of the Centre for Wisdom in Leadership (CWIL), SPJIMR. “This workshop is part of a larger inquiry,” he remarked. “It reflects a growing recognition that our academic institutions can be spaces of intellectual decolonisation, but also creative renewal. Not by rejecting modernity, but by deepening it with the wisdom and subtlety of our indigenous traditions.”

The two-day workshop culminated in a spirited panel discussion and certificate distribution ceremony, marking a meaningful step in SPJIMR’s ongoing efforts to develop contextually rooted yet globally relevant business education.

About SPJIMR

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) is a leading postgraduate management institute, recognised by the Financial Times MiM Global Rankings as India’s #1 business school, by Business Today as one of the country’s top five business schools, and by the Positive Impact Rating as one of the top five business schools worldwide for societal impact. Known for its innovative and socially conscious approach to management education, research, and community engagement, SPJIMR aims to influence managerial practice and promote the value-based growth of its students, alumni, organisations and their leaders, and society. SPJIMR holds the international ‘triple crown’ of accreditations from EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA.

Visit SPJIMR.org for more information.

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Agoda and Atlys Unveil Co-Branded Advertising Campaign to Inspire Confidence in International Travel for Indian Travellers

NEW DELHI, April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Digital travel platform Agoda and visa processing platform Atlys have launched a co-branded marketing and advertising campaign in India, focusing on simplifying international travel. Featuring a new advertisement, the campaign highlights the stress often associated with traveling abroad—from fears of overpaying for flights and accommodation to concerns over visa approvals—and positions the partnership as a solution for anxiety-free travel.

Play the advertisement at https://youtu.be/-jJZqhurikk

Drawing on the insight that international trips can feel overwhelming for Indian travellers, the campaign acknowledges how uncertainties around securing the best value for bookings and fears of visa rejection often overshadow the joy of planning a journey.  The newly launched advertisement portrays these pre-travel anxieties: from anxious searches for flight deals to the tense wait for visa approvals and how we address them. Through their collaborative approach, Agoda and Atlys demonstrate how these unavoidable aspects of international travel can be simplified, allowing the excitement of discovery to take center stage.

Matteo Frigerio, Chief Marketing Officer at Agoda, stated, “At Agoda, we believe travel should feel exciting, not overwhelming. Teaming up with Atlys lets us clear two of the biggest hurdles: cost and visa complexity. Together, we’re making global travel from India more accessible, more affordable, and much less stressful – so travellers can explore the world with ease and peace of mind.”

Atlys echoed this sentiment. Mohak Nahta, Founder and CEO of Atlys remarked: “At Atlys, we’ve built our company on a singular mission: eliminating the visa headaches that prevent millions from experiencing the world freely. For many Indian travellers, venturing abroad brings unique challenges, from finding affordable travel options to dealing with visa uncertainties. Our association with Agoda tackles these hurdles head-on by marrying our expertise in visa facilitation with Agoda’s strong digital travel platform. Together, we create a stress-free, holistic experience for the travellers.”

The strength of this partnership lies in how perfectly the two platforms complement each other. Agoda’s extensive network of five million properties worldwide and its integrated flight and activity options provide travellers with tools to build customized itineraries that match both dreams and budgets. Meanwhile, Atlys transforms the often-intimidating visa application process into a transparent, user-friendly experience that ensures paperwork never stands in the way of adventure.

This collaboration acknowledges a fundamental truth about modern travel—that the journey begins long before departure. By addressing both practical and emotional barriers to international travel, Agoda and Atlys are empowering Indians to approach global exploration with newfound confidence, allowing the excitement of discovery to finally take center stage.

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ZapUp Launches Powerful WhatsApp Marketing Automation Platform, Joins Microsoft for Startups

NEW DELHI, April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ZapUp, a pioneering SaaS platform, a product of Perky.ai transforming how brands engage with customers on WhatsApp, has announced the launch of its next-gen marketing automation suite tailored for SMBs. The platform, now accepted into the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, is positioned to revolutionize WhatsApp as a mainstream, cost-efficient marketing channel across industries.

Leading the Way in WhatsApp Marketing Innovation

As businesses continue to seek authentic and high-conversion communication channels, WhatsApp has emerged as a powerful platform to connect with customers directly. ZapUp’s WhatsApp Automation Marketing Suite introduces a robust set of tools for broadcasting, lead capture, chatbot flows, campaign performance tracking, and e-commerce integration—all via WhatsApp.

Designed for simplicity and scalability, ZapUp empowers startups, D2C brands, agencies, and regional businesses to automate engagement, personalize messaging at scale, and reduce time-to-lead conversion dramatically.

“WhatsApp is where your customer already is. ZapUp ensures you’re there too—with the right message, at the right time, at the right scale,” said Vaibhav Asthana, Founder of ZapUp. “We are proud to join the Microsoft for Startups program, which validates our mission to bring world-class automation technology within the reach of SMBs globally.”

Built for Scale, Designed for Everyone

ZapUp’s onboarding is frictionless—businesses can start sending campaigns within minutes with embedded WhatsApp Business API setup, intuitive template management, and chatbot designers.

What sets ZapUp apart is its cross-industry flexibility. Whether it’s an online clothing brand, a local clinic, or a real estate firm, ZapUp has pre-built workflows tailored to multiple verticals—helping brands deliver contextual, automated conversations that drive actions.

Key Features:

  • Bulk broadcasting and targeted campaigns
  • Advanced chatbot flow designer (drag-and-drop)
  • E-commerce product catalog integration
  • Dynamic lead forms and funnel automation
  • Real-time analytics with conversion tracking
  • GDPR-ready consent mechanisms

Empowering SMBs With Cutting-Edge, Affordable Tech

With rising costs of digital marketing and privacy-led disruptions in traditional ad platforms, ZapUp provides an alternative that’s not only effective but also budget-friendly. Its vision aligns with Microsoft’s startup accelerator ethos—equipping emerging companies with the tools needed to scale responsibly and sustainably.

“By making WhatsApp automation accessible, we are leveling the digital playing field for SMBs,” said Asthana. “ZapUp is not just a product; it’s a movement to democratize modern marketing.”

About ZapUp

ZapUp is a WhatsApp-first marketing automation platform focused on helping businesses of all sizes create personalized, automated customer engagement journeys. Built with scalability and affordability at its core, ZapUp is designed to serve SMBs and enterprises across sectors looking to unlock the full potential of WhatsApp.

For more information, visit https://zapup.marketing

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