As-salamu alaikum my respected viewers, my brothers and sisters from all over the world. I stand here in Karbala. I stand about seven kilometers or eight kilometers from the city center of Karbala Muqaddasa. And today we are here to talk about Al-Horbni Yazid Al-Riyahi Al-Tamimi, in which I stand behind this holy shrine. Unfortunately, we're not able to go inside the shrine today because of construction that's going on in the shrine and of the new Darih they're placing, and the new dome they're placing. But we will take a look at the life of Al-Horbni Yazid Al-Riyahi and talk about how Al-Riyahi came from being on the side of Yazid Al-Mu'awiya, on the side of Al-Waida Allah ibn Ziyad al-Aliyama al-La'ana, to the side of Ibi Abdullah al-Hussain, and being of the 72 that were of the Ansar, of the companions of Ibi Abdullah al-Hussain Sayyid al-Shuhada. Al-Horbni Yazid was counted among the 72 companions of Ibi Abdullah al-Hussain, in which Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa alaihi wa sallam, peace be upon him and his family, stated that there are no companions, there are no Ansar like that of an Ansar of Imam al-Hussain. And when Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi alaihi comes back in his raja'a, the first among these people that will come back will be Imam al-Hussain and his companions. Now we're going to start by talking about how Al-Horbni Yazid al-Riyahi originally started out. It is narrated by Sheikh al-Mufid in his Irshad. That Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi alaihi has left Medina and is on his way to Kufa because the Kufans at the time informed him to come and that they will be for his aid. Obaidullah ibn Ziyad alaihi al-La'ana had sent al-Horbni Yazid al-Riyahi with 1,000 soldiers to stop Ibi Abdullah al-Hussain and to divert him on a tangent somewhere else. On his way in his caravan, Ibi Abdullah al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi alaihi, one of his companions stopped and said, Allah is great. Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi alaihi told him, Allah is great. Yes, God is truly great. But why are you saying Allah is great? What did you see? His companion told him that far away I saw a palm tree. Then he asked his companions, he said, what do you guys see? They said, there are no palm trees here. We swear to Allah that this area, no palm trees grow in this area. Then he asked his companions, then my companions, what is it that you see? His companions told him, we hear the hooves of the horses making sound on the ground and we see the edge of the spears. Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi sallam asked his companions, he told them, is there a place we can take refuge so that our backs are to this place and that we can fight the enemy in case they attack us? You see, Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi sallam, like his grandfather, Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa alaihi wa sallam and like his father, Ali ibn Abi Talib, fought in all fairness. He did not want to face the army back to back. He wanted to face the army face to face so that nobody attacks from behind, from his side and nobody attacks from behind from the enemy's side. So his companion told him, he said, there is a hill close by called Dhuhamsa. Let us go there. If we hasten to the left, we shall reach there before and achieve our goal. So Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi wa sallam turned left with his companions towards the cliff and they were able to make it to the cliff before al-Hurr's army arrived. Now, when they arrived at the cliff and al-Hurr's army arrived as well, the narration says, the historians say that they all had their spears ready and they had their standards. A standard in battle is called a war flag or a banner. Imam al-Hussain sallallahu alaihi wa sallam faced the army of al-Hurr on the scorching sun on a day that was very hot at the time of Dhuhr. Imam al-Hussain told his companions, now here it is very important that we look at this part here. Imam al-Hussain told his companions, give them water. Now you see al-Hurr alaihi wa sallam learned and saw Imam al-Hussain's humility, kindness, generosity. So he told his companions, give them water. His companions came and filled their bowls and their water skins with water and they fed each and every one of the thousand people al-Hurr's army. After they fed each person, they fed each horse. It is narrated, they fed each horse three or four times until the horse was fully quenched and his thirst was gone, they moved on to the other horse. Now another incident to narrate to you, to show you the Imam's humility. The Imam was at the pinnacle of humanity. The Imam understood what humanity means. When Ali ibn Abi Talib, the commander of the faithful, says that man is either your equal in faith or your brother in humanity. When Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, had stated that either man is your equal in humanity or your brother in faith, Imam al-Hussain, like his father, had placed this law and had practiced this law. A man by the name of Ali ibn al-Taqan al-Muhrabi narrates this incident. He said, I was one of the last people from the army of al-Hurr to arrive. When I arrived, I arrived late. I arrived late and Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, came to me and he said, sit your Rawiya down. Now Ali says that by Rawiya, I thought he meant my water skin since Rawiya in Arabic translates to the camel that holds water, the water skin. So I did not understand what he meant. So the Imam came to me and told me, oh Ali sit your camel down.  So he took the water skin. He began to drink and every time he would drink the water would pour on his face. The Imam told him, ya Ali, bend the water skin so that water may flow down correctly. The Ali himself says that I did not understand what the Imam meant by this. The Imam, peace be upon him, went to Ali and began to properly show him how to drink the water. This is the Imam's humility. This is Abi Abdullah al-Hussain on the scorching sun giving his enemies. Knowing that these people will soon in Karbala slaughter him into pieces and massacre and not give him water. He wanted to show something. He wanted to stamp in history and say, look, we are the Ahle Bayt of Muhammad SAW. And we follow the teachings of Muhammad. We follow the teachings of the Quran.  Because water is not for me and you. Water is for everybody. Because Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, wants to show the world that this water that flows here is for all mankind. Like his father, Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Suffin, when he blocked the army of Muawiya and Muawiya alaihi al-La'nah did not have any water. And his companions said, no, Ali ibn Abi Talib, do not give him water. Ali ibn Abi Talib said, this river that flows through here is not mine. This river is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This river that flows is for all of humanity. This is Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, following his father's footsteps. Imam al-Hussain then called for prayer for Adhan. He asked his companion, al-Hajjaj ibn Masroor, to call for the Adhan prayer. Imam al-Hussain left his tent wearing but his shirt, sandals and turban. Now you see here, Imam al-Hussain left his tent only wearing his shirt, a turban and sandals. He wasn't wearing his clothes for war. Of course, when al-Hur looks at the situation, al-Hur is amazed that the Imam, there is danger on his life, yet he leaves like this. So he left and he gave a khutbah. I will read to you the khutbah from the nas, it says, O people, I did not come to you until I received your letters and messengers urging me to come to you. He is talking about the letters and the messages that came from al-Kufa. For you had no Imam and you desired that Allah may unite you through me towards the path of guidance and truth. If you adhere to your promises, I have come to you. Thus, admit your promises and covenants and testimonies so that I may find relief. While I do not agree to it and I despise my arrival, I shall go to where I had come from. This is the Imam preaching to the people whom sent him from al-Kufa.  Why is it now that you have blockaded my path and asked me to go on a tangent and leave? None replied from the army of al-Hurbni, al-Riyahi, al-Salam. And then the Imam asked the Mu'addin to continue the call for prayer and continue the iqama. Then he went to al-Hurbni Yazid and told him, al-Hurb, if you want to pray with your companions then do so. Al-Hurb told him, no, but I would rather pray alongside you and you lead the prayer. So they prayed the heart together. After finishing prayer al-Hurb went to his tent. Imam al-Hussein, peace be upon him, went to his tent. And then the time of Asr came. Imam al-Hussein, al-Salam, once again told his Mu'addin to do the idhan for Asr. He finished prayer. After finishing prayer, he recited his salutations. He glorified Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and he gave another Nos and I'll read to you this Nos as well. It says, now then, oh people, if you fear Allah and you recognize the do's of the rightful, Allah will be pleased with you. We are the household of Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam and hold more authority upon this matter, meaning this leadership than those who claim it. The Imam tells him that, wallah, we are a haqq. We are more right to this leadership because we are from the family of Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam. Um Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran chose us. Um Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran contextually stated that the Imam after you is Ali ibn Abi Talib. If you believe this, then you must follow us. He says, they have sown the seeds of oppression and enmity amongst you. The Imam here speaks about two, about Ahlul Sakhaifa and about Bani Umayyah, whom trick these people into following these enemies to sowing seeds of oppression. The ones who sowed oppression are the ones in Ziyarat Aashura, whom the Imam al-Sadiq, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, states from the Hadith al-Qudsi, al-Ladina asas al-Ghulmi wa al-Jawri, aleykum ahlul bait. They are the ones of Ahlul Sakhaifa. They are the ones who sat in Ahlul Sakhaifa from Ibn Abi Quhafa and Ibn Al-Khattab, who sowed the killing of Imam al-Hussain, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It continues. It says, then if you despise us and you do not recognise our rights and if your opinions are adverse to what you had written to me in your letters and conveyed to me through your messages, then I shall go away. This is the second complaint by the Imam al-Salam. He told him that if you guys truly won't follow this, I will go away. I will go on my path. Al-Hur replied to the Imam's sermon. Al-Hur said, by Allah, I do not know anything regarding these messages and these letters. Imam al-Hussain said to his companion. He said, Al-Aqba, bring forth the bag containing the letters and the sermons so that we may show Hur what the Khufans wrote to us telling us to come to our aid and we will fight for you. He came. Al-Hur said, we did not know of those letters that was written for you. We have been commanded not to part with you as soon as we find you. Await Allah told Al-Hur as soon as you find Abi Abdullah al-Hussain, you do not depart with him. You stick with him. You stick with him and you direct him to a different route. You direct him to a place where there's no water, where the sun is scorching hot, where there's no one to come aid him. Direct him towards Naynawa, towards Karbala, where Abi Abdullah, peace be upon him, will be martyred. Al-Hur says, and then to take you to Kufa to the presence of Await Allah ibn Ziyad. The original plan of Await Allah ibn Ziyad is to divert Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, from Kufa and take him directly to ibn Ziyad, so that ibn Ziyad may deal with him.  What do you intend to do with me? Al-Hur said, Ya Aba Abdullah, I cannot reply to you because I know who your mother is. Al-Hur, you see, Al-Hur has divine tawfiq from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to gain this manzala here, because Al-Hur knew who Abi Abdullah was. This is the divine tawfiq that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guided Al-Hur from the path of hellfire, from the path of Kufa, this belief, hypocrisy, to become one of the 72 Ansara, Abi Abdullah al-Hussain, peace be upon him, because Al-Hur, peace be upon him, had ma'rifah. Now after this incident, Imam al-Hussain told him, what will you do now? Because he told his companions, let's leave and Al-Hur stopped him again. He said, no, Aba Abdullah, you will not go towards Kufa. You will go somewhere else. Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, went towards Al-Qadisiye and Al-Hur followed him on this path. Now the story is long, concerning Al-Hur means the Riyahi and our time is very limited. But after that, the letters from Al-Hur came and the messenger came. Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, found out of the hypocrisy of the people of Kufa. Now I suggest my viewers to go and read about Al-Hur and how he became who he was. And Al-Hur was the main reason, the main reason that Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, went to Karbala, was by Al-Hur means the Riyahi. Now I spoke to you about Al-Hur and I've only spoken but a small percentage about his life. And I tell my viewers, please go and read more about Al-Hur, our time here is limited. And I want to move to the story in how Al-Hur ibn Jid al-Riyahi, al-Tamimi, peace be upon him, changed his path from the army of Omar ibn Sa'ad to the army of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him. When Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, had sent camp in Karbala and Al-Hur was on the side of Omar ibn Sa'ad. Omar ibn Sa'ad told his companions, now we're going to go wage war against this person and slaughter him in cold blood. Al-Hur heard the call of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him. Imam al-Hussain on that day in Karbala, he said, is there none that would hasten to assist us in the name of Allah? Is there none who would defend the household of the Prophet, peace be upon him? Al-Hur went to Omar ibn Sa'ad and asked him. He told him, would you fight this man? Are you going to fight this man, Al-Hussain ibn Ali, peace be upon him? Listen to the treacherous words of Omar ibn Sa'ad. This la'een, this Mal'oon said, yes by Allah, he swears by Allah. He says, the battle which if goes smoothly will result in the rolling of heads and cutting of hands. Hur said, then this proposal is not accepted. Al-Hur, peace be upon him, left the army. Omar ibn Sa'ad and departed towards the side of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him. Al-Hur went, took his horse and he placed his hand on his head and he started walking towards the army. Abu ibn Abdullah al-Hussain, peace be upon him, in shame. He came to Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and he told him. He said, by Allah, I am returning towards you. Thus you accept me, for I have put fear into the hearts of your friends and the children of the Prophet's grandson. Al-Hur tells Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and tells Imam al-Hussain, Ya Allah accept me. Abu ibn Abdullah accept me. I am the reason that Imam al-Hussain and his family have been instilled with fear. I am the reason that they are brought here towards Karbala. He told him. May my soul be sacrificed for you, our son of the Messenger of Allah. I am the one who had stopped you from returning back and accompanied you all the way and forced you all here. But I had not known these people would directly refuse your proposal and bring you to this present state. By Allah, by Allah, if I had known they would do such a thing. I would not have undertaken what I have done, Ya Abu ibn Abdullah. Hence, how do I apologize to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Al-Hur tells Imam al-Hussain, alayhi salam. He tells him, I am the reason that you came to Karbala. How will I apologize to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that I am the reason for your massacre? What have I done, Ya Abu ibn Abdullah? What have I done? Do you think that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will accept my forgiveness? Imam al-Hussain, alayhi salam. The forgiving Hussain, alayhi salam replied and said, May Allah accept your repentance. Thus, get up from your horse. Join us. Al-Hur said, Ya Abu ibn Abdullah, I will not get off of my horse until I am killed. Ya Abu ibn Abdullah, give me permission that I may be the first one to go and be killed in your name since I was the reason that you came here. Al-Hur, Ibn Isid al-Riyahi, took permission from Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him. He left and he began to give a thunderous sermon to the enemies. He told them, do you know who you are fighting? You are fighting Ibn Bint al-Rasood Allah, al-Hussain ibn Ali, alayhi salam. You are fighting Hussain ibn Ali, the son of the Messenger of Allah, the son of Fatima al-Zahra.  Nobody listened to him and they attacked him. And this is when Omar ibn Sa'id al-La'een, al-Mal'oon, took his standard, took the war flag and shot the first arrow and said, I testified that I was the first to shoot an arrow at the camp Ibn Abdullah al-Hussain, alayhi salam. Al-Hur went back to Imam al-Hussain, alayhi salam. He greeted him, he said his goodbye and he went towards the battlefield. He fought courageously, he fought ferociously and he killed many until he was slaughtered. When he was slaughtered, he called, Ya Hussain come for my aid. Come for my aid. Imam al-Hussain ran towards al-Hur, alayhi salam.  Imam al-Hussain, alayhi salam, gave al-Hurra a guarantee, gave him zaman that you have paradise with me al-Hurra ibn Ijid al-Riyahi. After the maqtala of al-Hurra, alayhi salam, al-Hurra stayed on the medan in Karbala, on the grounds in Karbala. When Umar al-La'een, Umar ibn Sa'ad, alayhi al-La'na, asked for the horses to trample the bodies, the family of al-Hurra, his close family came and said, you will not trample the body of al-Hurra. You will not trample the body of al-Hurra. They took him seven kilometers from the maqtala. Imam al-Hussain, alayhi salam, and brought him here. Here. They buried him here. And now millions of Zuhwar, every year, come and visit al-Hurra. Take blessings from his shine. Take tabarak. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, by the right of this Nasr, by the right of this companion of Abiyah Abdullah al-Hussain, to grant them their hajats. A lot of history resides here. This maqtala here, this Medina, has been named by the tabarak of al-Hurra. They called this maqtala here al-Hurra District. This maqtala here has been through a lot of reconstructions as well. The first person to come here and reconstruct this maqtala was Shah Ismail al-Safawi, from the Safavid era. This man here came to Karbala to visit al-Hurra. He wanted to dig his grave. It is narrated. It is narrated that he dug the grave of al-Hurra, and he witnessed al-Hurra as if just seconds ago. He was slaughtered in the ma'laka. He narrates himself that there was a cloth that was tied around the head of al-Hurra. He wanted to take it for blessings, but as soon as he removed it, it began to seep blood. He put it back and he built the first structure here of al-Hurra. After that time, many hukam, many salatine came and built this place. As you can see Alhamdulillah, the khuddam are working on building the dome. Insha'Allah, in the near future, when Allah gives us a longer life, if we still live in the near future, insha'Allah, we will go inside and look at the finished bari'ah of al-Hurr ibn Yajid al-Riyahi. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, by the right of al-Hurr, to count us amongst the Ansar of Imam al-Husayn, alayhi salam. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to count us amongst the Ansar of Imam al-Mehdi, al-Muntadar, al-Ajjal Allah, al-Farajah, al-Sharif. As we stand here in Karbala, when Imam al-Mehdi comes and asks us for his aid, we will not turn our heels and run away from him. We ask Allah to give us the divine tawfiq and the divine guidance so that we may not turn back on our heels because the Ahadith tell us that when Imam al-Mehdi, al-Ajjal Allah, al-Farajah, Al-Sharif, al-Ruhi, al-Fida, al-Salam Allah, alaihi alaikum. A lot of people will turn back on their heels and they will say Ibn Rasulullah, we do not need you Ibn Rasulullah because we have our taqiyyah and taqiyyah is more love to us then your grandfathers and Taqiyah is more loved for us. We don't need you to cause fitnah. So let us not, let us not turn back on our heels when Imam al-Nahdi comes and asks us for his aid. And you won this greatest test. Among seventy-two companions you became Awhar. Among seventy-two whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about and takes pride in their creation. You are among seventy-two whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his holy family has stated in our hadith that there are none like the companions of Abi Abdullah al-Hussain. Awhar, make sure we also win this divine test by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and make sure we are also counted amongst the Zubar and amongst the Ansar of Abi Abdullah al-Hussain, peace be upon him. Peace be upon him.


How would a round of applause for the first panel? Put your hands together, everybody. For these inspiring stories that will blow your mind and make you want to start your own company eventually. The next panel is about India's rising creative entrepreneurs. Our moderator is Sameer Bangara, co-founder Kyuki. Yes! Come on, guys. Can we have Mr. Sameer Bangara on stage, please? And on the panel, we have Prajakta Kohli, content creator Aakib Vani, founder AW Designs, Nirmika Singh, executive editor, Rolling Stone India and Tej Brar, founder, third culture. Ladies and gentlemen, your second panel for the day. Put your hands together. Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies and gentlemen. Since this is a panel on entrepreneurship, we thought we'd change this up a little bit and do things differently. And so let me just say that all of the folks on this panel, there's enough information about them on the internet. So we're not going to spoon feed you with their life stories because Prajakta, Nirmika, Tej, Aakib, they've done this enough of time. So hit up Google. You'll find out their life stories. We're going to do, you know, it'll emerge in some of the conversations. The second thing is that usually the panels will be about the panelists first. But I'm going to come to you and ask you a couple of questions before we start this, OK? So everyone's awake. If you can raise your hands, anyone? Awesome. OK. Please, the lady who's raised her hand. Can you name your favorite entrepreneur? I want to set the context of entrepreneurship basically here because we are moving from entrepreneurship to creative entrepreneurship. And I think it's important to set the context of who is an entrepreneur, what is an entrepreneur. So the lady who raised her hand. Could you tell us who are your role models as entrepreneurs? My plan worked. Thank you very much. So, Ambili, I couldn't even. OK, that's not fair. Ambili is managed by QQ. That's not a fair answer. So we'll move on to somebody else. Anybody from this side? Raise your hands. Who's your favorite entrepreneur? India, abroad, anybody? Yes. Gary V. OK. Anybody else? Please? Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Gary V. So all really obviously successful people. And to further contextualize what is entrepreneurship, guys, I have a little bit of a surprise for you guys. And I wouldn't have worked without surprising you guys. So we're going to do a rapid fire with the panelists, catch them off guard. And maybe we'll start with Prajakta. Since you are the famous logger, it should come easy to you. We're going to do 10 seconds, at best, with the three things that. Before that, is this working? Yeah? Hi. Can you hear her? Thank you. OK, I said hi. I just said hi. OK, so Prajakta, the three things that describe the qualities of an entrepreneur for you, the top three things. Go. I think a hard worker vision and a great, great, great team. Great team. OK, Aakib. I think you've got to be a fire starter. A fire starter, OK. A hustler, because nothing's easy without that. And of course, a little creative. A little creative? Yep. OK, awesome. The jacket is awesome, by the way. Thank you. It's hand-painted. It's hand-painted. By you, right? Or is this what you do? OK, Nirmika, three things. 10 seconds, 9, 8. All right, so you have to be an incorrigible dreamer to be an entrepreneur. I think you have to be somebody who's always optimistic. Very important, yeah. And you have to have the will, capacity, and the ability to take risks. Awesome. Tej. I'm going to say responsibility, independence. Sorry, what's the first one? Responsibility. OK. To your staff, to yourself, your artist, responsibility, independence, and adaptability. Responsibility, independence, and adaptability. Fantastic. OK, so we're beginning to contextualize this, and I think it's important because the thing is, some of these trades, you could, you know, a plumber and a carpenter is also an entrepreneur in one sense. So it's important to distinguish the context that we're talking about today. I don't want to take away that from them, but the point is, do we talk about that? So I think what I want to bridge into this is, fundamentally, how many Simon Sinek fans in the audience start with why? Who's seen the TED Talk start with why? OK, just a couple of people. I would urge you to go look up Simon Sinek, start with why. It's an incredible, very short TED Talk. But I think what distinguishes an entrepreneur is the spirit of entrepreneurship. It's, you know, a great Urdu word describes it as Junoon. That Junoon with which the spirit with which you start, the revolt, the breakout, the wanting to change the norm, that spirit is what entrepreneurship is, and that's the why you become an entrepreneur. How you do it is starting up a company. So you'll notice nobody said starting up a company, and I'm really happy nobody said starting a company, because starting a company is how you do it. And then what the company does is what the company does, and that defines its success or not. But entrepreneurship, in my view, and we can talk about it and challenge it, maybe in the Q&A, is the spirit of entrepreneurship. So if you guys disagree, then disagree, but I'd like to bring it back to you now and say, you know, starting with Tej, talk to us about the why. Why did you do what you did? And also, you know, in that, you've had a pretty rich experience of working abroad, and you were in Tanzania, you were in LA, and then you came to India.  You know, the real honest answer to your question about why is because I saw an opportunity. I saw a gap in the market, and I saw a very clear niche space that I could occupy and accelerate quite quickly. So that's really why we went into doing it, but very quickly after we started, you know, the company, that's when you kind of realized like, okay, this is how much work it's really gonna be, you know, and very quickly, the why becomes your inspiration, but the how and the what becomes your everyday, your practicality of how you have to kind of handle things and move forward with it. Just to refresh that, so this is, you saw an opportunity in managing talent that was underserved in the music space. Correct, I saw that there was, obviously Bollywood was being very well-serviced, there was a huge amount of machinery there already. We had this explosion that was happening in the independent music space, which was not just happening on the show side, but also on the talent side. You know, in 2011, when I moved back from Los Angeles to India, I would say that there was a handful, probably 50. What brought you back to India? Were you born here or were you born? I was born here, yeah. So what brought you back? So the company I was working for in LA was run on venture capital. It was a music startup based in LA that I was working for for two years and one fine day I walked into work and there was a general staff meeting that was called. Some dude in a suit walks in and he says, hey, you know, I'm Chris, whatever, from Chicago and I pay all your salaries and you guys are not making the numbers I want you to be making, so I'm pulling the funding and thank you very much, see you later. And you know, there's me and I was waiting for my H-1B employment visa to come through. So after 10 years of living in the US, I was given 14 days to leave the country. So seven days I got, you know, I got somebody to move into my apartment. I sold my car. Next seven days I went to go stay with a girl I'd been seeing in New York for a while and then I showed up in India for a cousin's wedding thinking that I was gonna make a pit stop here and then continue on to the UK. My mother's English and I was planning on going to England and work there. But what ended up happening was that this was peak recession time, right? So there's people who were working in the music industry in the UK for like 20 years who were getting laid off. So I talked to some of my partners and my friends there in the UK and I said, look, if I get on a plane and I go to England, is there an opportunity? They said, do not come here. They said, it's not gonna happen. Like, this is a really bad job market right now. You're in India, you've got a way better shot there. Just stay there. I met some incredible partners very early on. One of them being Muhammad Abud, DJ Mo City, who now runs Box Out FM and he introduced me to my first artist, Duelist Inquiry. And at that point, I kind of realized, oh my God, there's all these kids making incredible music on their laptops all over the country and they have no clue how the music industry works. And if they try to operate through the Bollywood circles, they're gonna get eaten alive. They're never gonna make any money. They're gonna end up not getting credit and they're gonna end up composing and working on music that ultimately is not fulfilling for them. So I thought, okay, we need to set up some machinery that operates outside of Bollywood and that's what my niche has been. And then when did you meet Nuclear? Was that when you were doing your stint at OML? Yes, so I, in 2011, I worked on... How many Nuclear fans in the audience? Ah, good stuff. Yeah, so I worked on Bacardi NH7 Weekender from 2011 until 2018. The first two years as a freelancer that they hired basically to run a stage that they used to have called the dub station.  I'm gonna come back because I promised people they need to Google you. That's enough intrigue. Yeah, I don't want to bore you guys through the whole thing. That's the why, okay? So, Namika, what was your why? Your background is political science at JNU, the top Delhi college, LSR. You were gigging when you were a teenager in restaurants while you were LSR. I can never forget that one out. But what was that journey? Why did you have this dual personality as a journalist and as an artist, as a singer also, and a writer? So just quickly tell us, how does this all get packaged? Why do you do what you do? Right, thank you, Sameer. First of all, thank you, everybody for, you know, being here and listening to all of us. We're all here to kind of, you know, borrow and soak in inspiration from each other. So I'm really happy to be here amongst all of you. I'm gonna keep it very brief, very short. Why do I do what I do? I really don't know. I just feel that I have this compulsive need to create and that's how I describe what I do. I'm a compulsive creator. So whether it was, you know, writing poetry when I was nine years old, or singing, or learning the guitar, or painting my words. So you were writing when you were nine? I was actually. Really? Crazy. Do you remember anything that you wrote at nine? Was it any good? It was something patriotic because my parents were, you know, they were those socialist revolutionaries from the 80s. So there was always this climate of poetry at home. So I do remember writing something in my diary and hiding it from my daddy because I thought that if he saw it, he'd judge me and I'd be so embarrassed. So I... So your dad's a writer too? He is, yeah. Both unpublished writers and they, you know, performed in the literary circles in Delhi back in the day. So the creative gene does transfer in DNA? I think so. I never realized it, you know, back in the day. Somehow it's really weird and funny that I was embarrassed of the fact that they were doing Hindi poetry. It's funny that I saw them on national television and I would be embarrassed of it, you know, because we went to a cool school. I was learning, you know, rock and, you know, rock licks at the guitar school that I was going to. So what seemed to me back in the day and embarrassment is actually my biggest asset today, the gift of language, the gift of words. Right, okay. So you say you don't know why you do it but you do it because you have to do it, right?  Why do I write? I don't know, this is just who make, this is what gives meaning to my life and I know it sounds very vague and vaporous when I say it but that's what, I think that's the reason why I probably project the fields and inclination to create.  You know, we just feel a compulsive need to do that. So do you think this is got, this is something you have to be born with or can it be inculcated in any way? It certainly can't be projected. Do you think it has to be innate? You've actually dealt into a debate about nurture versus nature. I think it's a combination of both. You have to have it congenitally, you have to have it intrinsically. Of course you have to hone it to become better at it.  So it's a combination of both for sure. Again, why do I do it? Because I have to do it. Got it. Okay, I'm going to jump to Prajakta and then come back to you if you don't mind. So... That's okay. Yeah. I would say the best for last. So, but so Prajakta, you know, tell us a little bit because there's enough material out there but tell us stuff that's not out there as to like, why did you do this? How much of it was random coincidence and how much was it about a desire to do something and then figuring it out and leaving other options that you might have had? I don't know, but tell us the why journey for you. I think 100% of it was just like, what? Like I did not see that coming from anywhere four years ago. Being a YouTuber is not something everyone dreamed of.  It never was like that. For me, I think why I did it was because I didn't know what else to do.  So that's when I was like, okay, great. So the one dream I had is not working out. What am I going to do about it? And that's when YouTube just showed up and so I literally just did it because I didn't know what else to do. And I think it's a combination of a very, very random coincidence but also like trusting the process. I took it up and then best decision ever. Right. Can you relate back to now that you've done it in hindsight, things that happened in your life that you can see, so now in hindsight, I could see that this is the path I was going to be on. Do you get that sense of deja vu of? All the time, all the time. Everything that I've done, I used to do theater when I was in college. I used to dance when I was in school. I used to do theater in college when I did radio. I remember when I was doing radio, I used to hate that so much. I used to be like, I don't know why I keep doing this. I don't know what good's going to come out of it but now when I have a YouTube channel, I know so many learnings that I took from when I was a radio jockey. Everything from understanding the audience mindset, keeping your content crisp, editing. All of that that I learned when I absolutely hated doing it but now thanks to that one year I spend doing radio, I have that knowledge. So every bit and every stop I've taken on the way has made 100% sense. Do you think one can map this out to detect it to find that entrepreneur early on? Is there a way to predict that in advance? I grew up mapping everything out so I'm a huge fan of the map. Where I was like, great, I want to write everything down. I want to know exactly how the journey is going to be. But then when everything worked out and still didn't, then reaching a point where I'm like, oh, okay, so I'm going to let this take a turn of its own. So I think it's great if you have a plan but even if you don't, it's not that much of an issue, I feel like. Cool, okay. So Gurpreet, I'm trying to figure out is can we templatize this in our businesses and discover it, but I don't know. It's still the real random. And in fact, I like the fact that you can't predict it, right? If it became predictable, how boring would our businesses be, right? So, but... Also we go with the platform, right? And the platform is not predictable at all. Exactly, exactly. Nobody saw this happening two years ago, so we can't see where it's going a year from now. Exactly. And now the tick-tockification of video. That's another thing, another panel. But, Akib, what's your story of why, man? So, I'm just to refresh it, because we've all introduced when we were not even in here. So you do this, you design this, because all the pictures online are with the guitar. Yeah.  I've been a musician, that's how I started my journey. Then a magazine approached me because I used to design artworks or bands, all of that, t-shirts, worked for a magazine, became the art director, which is also a partner here, which is RSJ Magazine. And then later, which then I turned it into designing spaces. That's where I began designing weddings. So I've worn many hats from designing artworks or bands to designing interiors. What took you to designing weddings is just that you were designing spaces and somebody hits you up one day and says, cool stuff, come design the Ambani wedding now for us. That kind of happened as well, yes. How much do you make on that? Let's not talk numbers right now. Just ask me. Okay. So it was always about creating things and giving it back to the community is what I felt. There was always something that I would like doing, but how are you giving it back? So there was always a need, like Thij mentioned, there is a need for things that need to happen here. So obviously, like, I would see that bands aren't doing as nice artworks. The videos aren't as great. The restaurants aren't looking as nice as they should as compared to what's happening in the West. Similar in the wedding space. So similarly with the jackets, in fact. So, you know, let's just keep on creating things. So as the day progresses, there's something that one or the other I would like to just keep on creating. So it doesn't matter, is it a wedding or is it a music festival stage that I'm designing? Right. So I think if you really think of this, creative folks and you know, if you really go back in history during the Renaissance and let's maybe not go that far back, but creative people are actually the original entrepreneurs because the revolt and the changing the status quo musicians, poets, you know, everything that is a form of expression is, so I guess along the way, we're going to learn of entrepreneurs as successful businesses versus actually people again, the spirit of entrepreneurship is the most native, I feel, in creative people.   So I think they are far more in the space of creative entrepreneurs and so I think the creative entrepreneurship, therefore, is interesting and creatives are the first entrepreneurs. Now, we've got another 13 minutes left and I promise to give at least, you know, five minutes for Q&A. I do want to touch upon one thing that I was dodging in my mind whether we should or not, but with creative people, there is a sense that in the creative business there is a deeper occurrence of mental health, depression and challenges of that nature and I don't know how many of you have heard of the 27 Club also known as the Forever 27 Club of, you know, how a lot of famous musicians, most recently Avicii, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, several who died at 27 and there's, you know, there's several research that talks about mental health in creatives. Now the thing is, if you ever see the docu in Amy Winehouse or Billy Ellis who's won multiple awards off late also, the sorrow and the depression actually results in their creativity and so do you really want to disengage the mental health issue of the depression from the creative process? Would you agree that this is something, and this is such a deep topic, but I just want to touch upon it because one is it's rampant, it's not talked about enough, but do you get the feeling that the feeling of I haven't done enough or feeling of loan is part of the entire creative journey or as entrepreneurs, as you all have become, you're able to fight that and that's really not on your radar. Nirmika? Very important question, Samy. Thank you for bringing this debate up. Mental health and creativity, I think it'll be wrong to say that mental health issues are only endemic to the creative community. Some of my peers are still pursuing their PhDs, people, folks from JNU and I know that mental health is as big an issue there in the academic circles as it is here. So I feel that, I mean, it's just my understanding that any sort of work that requires you to place a premium on creation in solitude can probably lead to a lot of internal miseries, just my observation, of course, it's not to say that when you're in a team, these things don't crop up, but I've seen that the one quality, if I had to, the one commonality, if I had to string together among different communities would be that creating stuff from scratch, doing stuff in solitude, being a lone ranger, a one-person army, these are some of the things that I see say among PhD candidates or people who are making music in solitude or bedroom producers, singers, writers, poets, any sort of creation that requires a lot of self-driven nature also leads to a lot of grappling with issues that are also internal. So I wouldn't say that it's endemic to our community, it's a rampant thing, of course it gets heightened and more talked about because, of course, it's a glamorous field. So if Amy Winehouse suffered from depression or if she was showing up drunk on stage, it got talked about more than, say, my friend who's pursuing a PhD degree in Oslo and has a paper presentation in Norway. So you're saying it's not something that is more deeply associated with the creative arts. I mean, when you write a poem that is sad, are you actually going through those emotions or about love, are you going through those emotions? Are you able to just bring that out without actually going through those emotions? Well, it depends, right? It depends on the work at hand. If I'm writing a poem for myself, of course I've gone through that emotion because you want to keep the aspect of sincerity and honesty intact in your poetry. But if it's commissioned work, then I can induce all of that and get those emotions out. And I think that's the quality of being a professional writer, poet, songwriter. Would like to take a stab at that. Prachak Tati. So I feel like things are slightly different today because now these conversations are more public. Right. Is that a good thing, right? Yeah, which is an amazing thing. For the longest time, these were very hushed conversations where nobody tells anybody that someone's suffering from depression. But now people are actually thanks to the digital platforms, people are actually coming up and saying things and feeling things and now being heard, which is sort of helping. And when it comes to being a creator, I think one thing that personally for me that has worked a lot is having a circle that helps you grow and keeps you grounded. Have you ever sought inspiration from sorrow? From? Sorrow? From feeling low? Not yet, no. I'm an annoyingly happy person, all the time. Fantastic. All right. Akib, your design certainly don't reflect anything that is... Yeah, I'm all about dough. Yeah. The message is to spread color, as always. Also, okay. I know it is an important topic touch and it's always important to share stories so people also kind of relate. So once you tell, okay, even I'm going through things and they see, okay, you're also coping up with it. So that way, okay, people see some hope. But do you think it's more rampant in creatives? Yes or no? Well, no, not really. All right, all right. There's you work with artists. I was actually just thinking that, you know, I'm not really well placed to say if it's more prevalent in entrepreneurs. But in creatives? In creatives, I'm not going to say that they're more predisposed to having it. What I am going to say is that out of the roster of artists that I've worked with over the last eight years, almost every one of them has had some episode that they've had to go through, to some to a greater degree than others. But what I feel is that in creatives, what it does is it's important to have that. It's important to go through that. And what ends up coming out as a result of that is some truly incredible art, right? Because they have to move through that in order to be able to close the chapter and turn the page. Right, so, you know, some of the, I mean, I'm not going to get into the artists and the records, but some of the records that are the best known here that everybody in this room would know those songs, have come out as a result of some real-life turmoil, you know? So I'm not going to say more likely, less likely, but I'm going to say that it's important and all of the artists that manage to get a hold on that come up with something truly remarkable on the other side. Got it, okay. In the next two minutes, I want to touch upon the final aspect before we open it up to the audiences, which is a big part of entrepreneurship is failing. And the thing is that entrepreneurship is so romanticized and you know, you always talk about the successes that it's easy to fall into the trap and then when people attempt being entrepreneurs and maybe they don't succeed in the first six months, one year, two years, they think that it's, you know, they're always comparing to somebody else's journey and they don't really think about that they've spent maybe 10 years, 15 years, five years doing something. There is a theory about doing something for five years, I'm sure some of you are aware of that, that it takes at least five years to become perfect at anything. And so that would be the minimum time I would suggest that anybody give themselves to become entrepreneurs. Five years is the minimum time. Now, if you can afford it or not, it's a different matter, but talk to us very quickly in two minutes if we can run through the panelists, your failures and maybe very fast, how you dealt with that, that make you stronger, I'm assuming it did. Projector. I've always said this. One thing that I really, really live by is trusting the process. Every time I have hit a roadblock, I've reached now, I've reached a point where every time I see a roadblock, I'm like, ooh, okay. Because every time I've hit one, I've come out of it learning so much more than I knew before it. Tell us what one. In 2017, I think I hit a major content block where suddenly my content went very stagnant, the channel wasn't growing, there were no views, there was no reach, none of that was happening. And I reached a point, I love making YouTube videos, okay? It's one of my favorite things to do ever. And I reached a point where I was like, you know what, I can't do this, so I'm gonna stop making videos and maybe I'll explore something else. And the one good thing I did at that time was that I didn't stop uploading content, even though I didn't enjoy it as much, it was not great content, but I didn't stop making content. And I had this one video, which I had written, I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna make this one video and then I'll stop the channel. I made that video and that video blew up. And then the next one blew up, and then the next one. So the determination, because you don't know the success, is run just the corners of the terminal. The big part of being an entrepreneur is the grittiness, okay? So I've never had formal education in design, so it's nothing that I've learnt. It's something that I've always had it in me. I've failed in school, I've never completed college, so this is not something I... That sounds so amazing now, right? I'm sure it was hard going through that. I know, right? So the idea is obviously not to give up, just keep on going. And like I keep telling people, my peers doesn't have to be something that you've read in the book. Right. Like I tell people, it's a lot of hustle that it goes to, get to what your dreams are basically. Okay. That's it. Narmika? Failure. I don't know what to say. You call it self-preservation, ego, selfishness. Failure doesn't exist for me. I ignore it. I don't know what failure is. Actually, I can't even speak about myself. What is failure? I can tell you about learning. Were you a topper in school? Sorry. I know you went to L-S-R and then J-N-U. So I can see where that went. I don't know what you're hopping on about it, but yes, I can talk about my biggest learning. My biggest learning came to me, courtesy, my best friend who's here, somewhere here. So last year I had this discussion with him where he made me realize the difference between my calling and my hobby. So I think what I was doing was I was chasing a dream that, that which wasn't playing to my strengths. So this was the biggest learning. I was writing songs. I was performing. I had this full-time journalistic career.  Playing to my strengths, writing. So, you know, I've had a band, a successful, I would like to believe band for like 10 years and I was performing. And I love doing all of that and I love being on stage. But I was really playing to my strengths. What was really my strength was writing. I think I found that now and I couldn't be happier. So, that's my biggest learning. I can't say it's a failure. I think, I think that's more learning. Thank you. Big hand to your best friend. Then if he's here or she's here, please stand up. But anyway, awesome. Good on you for having that, Tige. Man, I think it's pretty simple. Like, a big part of being an entrepreneur is taking a risk, right?  The ones that everybody gets to know about are the ones that worked, right? The ones that nobody ever talks about are all the ones that went south, right? So, you know, I don't wanna take you through a laundry list of all the failures that we've had, but I think it's inherent to being an entrepreneur. You know, if you're going to do something of significance and something that has real impact, something that you really believe in and you put your reputation behind it, you put your finances behind it, you put your staff behind it, you all work towards a goal and then it doesn't come to fruition and it fails, that should be looked at as a learning. It should be looked at as what could have been done differently. Why did I, why did it not work out for me? So I think that, you know, if you are an entrepreneur or you're thinking about being an entrepreneur, just understand that everyone is not going to work. You are going to have those losses. And I just wanted to touch on one earlier point about that nature versus nurture thing. I totally don't agree that entrepreneurs are born with something special in them. I think every single person in this room has the ability to be an entrepreneur if they want to. I think it comes down to where do you see an opportunity and are you confident enough in your skill set to be able to do it. You could have worked at different companies, been an employee for 10 years, but if you see your niche and you are confident in your ability to pursue that and actively work towards that goal, I think every single person can be an entrepreneur. I don't think there's anything special about entrepreneurs. Nirmika, I want to put you on the spotlight one last time before we open it up to the audience. Do you have a poem for us on entrepreneurship? I like how he's testing my entrepreneurial skills right now. I like surprising my panelists. Come on, we don't have much time. You have to do this too, don't you?  It's getting over time. If you have one. Last time you were on the panel, I was the projector and I forced you to sing a poem, so Mr. Anurag has come. Stop it. So I hope that doesn't happen today. Quickly, why do we do what we do? And why do we like life? Thakaan bari aakhe sukhoon bharadil. Hamsapki aakhe. Thakani hai, sab thakke se hi raita hain. Tej bhi bolenge, aap bhi bolenge. Everyone's hustling and doing whatever they can. So thakaan bari aakhe sukhoon bharadil. Thakaan bari aakhe sukhoon bharadil. Shiddat bhare makaam. Chote mote kaam. Jyobhi aam kar hain, chote mote hi sumhachthe hain. Kuch bhi chal jaye. Chaye hum log ek video ye bana hai yaar. Fihar wo kar hain. Mahasochhe jyobhi hai maara kaam hai. Ko ek bada kaam nahi hai. Chote mote kaam hai. Thakaan bari aakhe sukhoon bharadil. Shiddat bari makaam. Chote mote kaam. Ai pyari zindgi, shikayat kabhi karoon agar. Ai pyari zindgi, shikayat kabhi karoon agar. Ai muskil zindgi, shikayat kabhi karoon agar. To fursat wali zindgi ki mujhe. Saza de dena. Fantastic. Thank you. And with that, if we've got a couple of minutes, can we take a couple of questions at best? Okay, yeah, we've got permission to take a couple of questions. Anybody? Yeah, go for it, go for it. Yeah, please. Just go for it, I can hear you. I'll repeat it if you want. So you already have a great team. So the question is, if I can say, how do you make a great team? Is there a template? I think the first point is, be very clear about what you're looking for. Understand who you're trying to partner with. What is the responsibility that you want this person to handle? So once you've identified the roles that you're trying to fill, that will make your life a lot easier, right? In terms of identifying who can fill which role. I also think that a lot of it has to do with, I mean, I know this is not a technical term, but the vibe, you know? Are you vibing with this person? Do they understand where you're trying to go, you know? And is there a shared synergy there between what their path is going to be and what your path is going to be? And if those two things align, that's where you've really got something. So I think be clear about what you need and understand whether that person is on the same wavelength as you. Also, I feel like it's a great way to judge a team. You wouldn't want people around you who always agree with you. You wouldn't want people to be like, I do this, I do this. It's going to be great. You don't want that to happen. So I think, yeah.  If I may just add to that, I always tend to hire for initiative over capability. So, and I know that, you know, oftentimes we're told you must hire the A team in, if you're doing a startup, the A team will desert you the first sign of, the A team is usually a mercenaries and for a startup, you need missionaries. And so if you only hire for the A team, they will desert you when trouble comes. So initiative and you can teach expertise. And I think that sort of solves for that. But yeah, any other question? Yeah, go ahead. Yes, of course, yes. Whom is that question to? Whom is that question to? Is this, okay. So the question is for your, how secure would you feel as an influencer to plug in potential competition? Would you do it for money or would you turn it down? I don't understand the question. Are you saying that are we, are we, are we endorsing, are we? If you're asked to plug in a poet in your poetry, would you do it? I would do it with all my heart. I mean, that's what we do right now. I think we live for collaboration. YouTube collaboration. It's more of a collab than a plug in, I think. We have bills to pay. You have bills to pay. Yeah, okay, you have. So I think the overarching answer is yes. Some for the money, some because that's the way it is. We do it for views and content. My only feedback on that. Creative satisfaction, of course. That too. Yeah. Yeah, so the answer is yes. I think we're, Last, Ambili? Sorry, we just go to one more. Yeah, Ambili, go ahead. Got it. Can I summarize for you? How important is it as an entrepreneur to delegate versus do everything yourself? And if you're actually a creative entrepreneur, you may not have that team. So how do you delegate? Take a crack at it, Nirmika? Because you've got a team. You've got a company, man. That's right. I have the people who are doing it themselves. Take that one. Okay, yeah. How important is it to delegate? Of course, you've got to delegate. If I'm involved in the core art of creating, I cannot be bothered with every day, although I've done it for pretty much all my life. Of course, you're stating the obvious here.  Absolutely, yes. Am I the person doing it every day? No. So you have to be, I feel that if you're an entrepreneur, you have to be absolutely clued in on every aspect of running the little business or the little enterprise that you're creating. And that's what makes you an entrepreneur versus just a creative, I would say. Yes. The difference between that. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, on that happy note, thank you very much. We're gonna close this. Sorry, can we take that offline before we get? Yeah, if you have the time. Oh, no, that's good. We can chat afterwards. Thank you very much. Thank you for being a great audience. Thank you, panelists. Thank you, everyone. Also, thank you for having us. Completely flipping the way in the presence of Rani Kohinoor. I was just going to say, I think when someone asked about collaborating with other artists, I think, put your hands together for Prajakta. I think she's collaborated with more people than people living in Bandra West. And that's a lot of people. Put your hands together and I love you, I love you. Okay, we should do backstage. Okay. Wow. All right, thank you. Let's give a round of applause. What a fantastic panel that was. Incredible indeed. Whoa.