Habibi Nights
The Claridges, New Delhi, May 2024. From the event film.
Give me a generic theme and I'll build it out to the last detail.
The event film shows it.
The work
Five bodies of work, built or made since 2001, and what each one taught the next. The connections are in my own words.
The Gourmet Planet community
In 2011 Gourmet Planet was a Facebook food group of about 3,000 people who had never met. Luxury hotels want loyal, high-spending regulars. The usual route to them, discount platforms and ads, brings bargain-hunters and cheapens the brand.
What I did
I joined in 2011 and built a community whose authority comes from being honest, impartial and no-nonsense. That honesty is what makes it valuable to hotels:
- members get a flat 25% at partner outlets;
- hotels get the regulars they want;
- members' reviews in the group bring in more guests, which keeps the cycle going.
Events: 750+ since 2011
The Royal Gala
Four editions over four years. Documented here: Balasinor (2024).
THE GIG – The Great Indian Golchakkar Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, 5–7 February 2016. The festival, and what its records show, has its own page.
Where it came from
From · MethodInfinite Theatre
Theatre taught me space design, and it went into the Royal Gala, THE GIG festival and the events that followed.
From · MethodInfinite Theatre
Theatre taught me how to curate an evening: how to entertain, and how to host the perfect one.
NB by Ritu Walia
A homemade beauty cream with no added preservative system lasts about 30 days in the fridge and then decomposes. How do you sell something that perishable nationally, direct to customers?
What we did
India's refrigerated courier network is unreliable, so NB did not try to fix the cold chain. It changed the product to fit the logistics that already exist:
- the formula holds for up to 72 hours without refrigeration, long enough to cross the country by ordinary courier;
- it is made in small batches and shipped immediately;
- delivery is free across India;
- the customer is told to “refrigerate on arrival” and keep it next to the milk.
I run all of NB's logistics and marketing.
Where it came from
From · MethodHighway construction
Planning logistics and shipments came from highway construction, and so did costing, pricing and understanding business models.
From · MethodGourmet Planet
Gourmet Planet taught me to persevere with my conviction whatever people say: imbibe constructive criticism and adapt, but ignore the trolls.
BASALT
Research-heavy documentaries normally need a team and months, and their claims are hard to check.
What I did
I built a solo production process. Sources are stored and hashed, every claim is traced to a source, and scripts, picture plans and human review gates are part of the workflow.
Film 1The Ball Bearing: The One Part the Allies Thought Could Stop Germany5 September 2026 · 17:10
BASALT, on YouTube. Loads from youtube-nocookie.com only after you press play.
One claim, traced
The claim, as the film makes it
Kuwaiti tankers were reflagged into the United States registry. That made them American ships, which made them ships the United States Navy could legally escort.
Its source: US Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command
U.S. law precluded U.S. warships from escorting (and defending) foreign flag ships. In March 1987, after much lawyering, the solution was to “re-flag” 11 Kuwaiti tankers (and LNG carriers) with the U.S. flag and registry. … which then made it legal for U.S. Navy ships to defend them.
H-018-1: The Tanker War and Operation Earnest Will. 2018. Public domain.
The record behind it
Claim CLM-V003-REFLAGGING, fact, high, verified. Source SRC-NHHC-H018-1, stored and hashed: sha256 5bd07d51….
Where it came from
From · MethodInfinite Theatre
The research that went into Arturo Ui and The Education of Heroes refined the skills I use for BASALT.
From · MethodNotebooks
My notebooks gave me a formal framework for research.
From · MethodEvents
Researched events like Puratan 2.0 gave rise to a researched YouTube channel.
Infinite Theatre
An independent theatre company with no institution behind it, producing in two countries from 2001 to 2005, including a professional off-West End house, the Young Vic.
- Table MannersAyckbourn. Delhi, 2001.
- The Education of HeroesA student stage adaptation of the first half of Donna Tartt's The Secret History. King's School Canterbury, 2002; Imperial College London, 2003.Adapter
- The Resistible Rise of Arturo UiBrecht. Kamani Auditorium, Delhi, 2002.Director
- The BalconyGenet. Young Vic, London, 28–29 May 2003.Producer; space, lighting and sound design
- Her Alabaster SkinUK, 2004–05.
Where it went
Into · DomainManthan
The Education of Heroes led me to playwriting, and playwriting, along with working on ad films in Mumbai, led to Manthan.
It went intoEventsGourmet PlanetBASALT
Notebooks
My own college notes and sketches, photographed at full legibility. Never generated or improved.
Where it went
Into · MethodGPOS
My notebooks taught me error correction.
It went intoBASALT
Bring me the problem.
Tell me what you're trying to decide. We'll start with a free 30–45-minute call.