An exclusive jewellery store for the millennials, with pieces which are sleek, stylish and trendy, yet simple and affordable, that too with blessing from their heartthrob, Salman Khan. What more could they have asked for! And, the super star has chosen Chandigarh to be the first city in India and the world to open an exclusive store of his jewellery brand Being Human Jewellery. The store, the lucky franchise of which is young Achal Gupta, has been opened right next to Tanishq and Saraf in NAC Manimajra.
Delhi businessman and actor Aayush Sharma, who made his recent Bollywood debut in the Salman Khan Films Production, Loveyatri, cut the ribbon on Saturday to open the doors of the plush and exclusive Being Human Jewellery store to the public. Aayush is also Salman’s brother-in-law, married to his sister Arpita Khan.
Photos By : Life In Chandigarh
A surprise awaits the buyer of every piece of jewellery from Being Human. On opening the box, the superstar’s voice automatically comes on thanking the customer for reposing faith in the brand. “Hi! I am Salman Khan. Thank you so much for buying Being Human jewellery, and supporting a good cause,” says the recorded message. A contribution from each piece of jewellery sold goes towards charity for healthcare and education of the unprivileged children, at no extra cost to the customer.
A write-up of the brand shared with media persons says, “The store houses an enthralling range of fine jewellery catering to varied tastes. Elegantly designed, Being Human Jewellery offers light-weight collections in plain gold, diamonds and coloured stone pieces. The designs are classic, stylish and affordable, catering to every woman’s taste in fine jewellery.”
A video recording of Salman’s message for the occasion, was also played out on screen in which the star said though he could not be present, despite wanting to, “It feels great that we are taking our next step of expansion with Being Human Jewellery’s first franchise store in Chandigarh! The people of Chandigarh have always given me a lot of love, and I hope we continue to receive it.”
Speaking to lifeinchandigarh.com, Prasad Kapre, CEO and Director, Style Quotient Jewellery Pvt Ltd, the world licensee of the Being Human Jewellery brand, shared that the launch of the brand was sparked by the tremendous popularity of the pendant worn by Salman in the super hit movie ‘Bajrangi Bhai Jaan’. “I had designed the pendant, and when we received a tremendous response for it after the movie, we discussed how to capitalise on it. Thus the seed was sown for launching a jewellery brand in the name of Salman’s foundation, Being Human.”
Kapre said before the launch of the first exclusive franchise store in Chandigarh, Being Human Jewellery was being marketed across 40-odd locations using the shop-in-shop model. The obvious question then was, Why Chandigarh? “This is among the most brand conscious cities in the country, and we are confident that the city millennials will appreciate our brand.”
“We are positioning ourselves as a jewellery brand with a heart. People will buy our jewellery pieces conscious of the fact that by doing so they will be bringing hope in the lives of the underprivileged. On merit, the brand is focussing on everyday wear, which millennials can wear even to work. Being sleek and stylish, and yet minimal, simple and affordable, our jewellery pieces are bound to appeal to the young and the millennials in the age group 18-35 years,” Kapre added.
After Chandigarh, the brand plans to launch more exclusive stores – six to seven – by the end of the current financial year in other tier 1 cities like Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Jabalpur, etc. It has already tied up with Damac Group to open 100 strores in the Middle East countries. The next push overseas will be in the USA and South Africa, he informed.
There will be 170 odd stalls with artisans from nearly all states exhibiting their products. A dozen stalls have been earmarked for the Chandigarh Administration. A special stall will be dedicated to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary. The stall will showcase some rare pictures from the Mahatma’s life, the freedom struggle and other aspects of his journey.
Among the bands and individual artists performing at the cultural evenings will be the famous Bhopal based Sanskrit band ‘Dhruvaa’, which performs to laser lights, the all woman folk band Lasya wow womania, Gurdas Mann’s protégé Lal Chand Lala, Hans Raj Hans, Satinder Sartaj, Jazzy B, Lakhwinder Wadali, B Paraak, Sonu Virk, Kulwinder Billa, Ranjit Bawa, Anadi Misra and Manjeet Nikki.
Replying to a question, Jitender Yadav informed that a detailed project report has been sent to the Union Ministry of Culture to spruce up the Kalagram grounds by laying more tracks and increasing the greenery for a more enjoyable experience for visitors in the future. To this Saubhagya Sharma added that more mega events are being planned to be included in the existing calendar of events at Kalagram with a motive to keep it in a high state of upkeep and maintenance throughout the year and generate more revenues. There is also a plan to revamp the sculpture park at Kalagram to attract more visitors. 
He adds, “We would like to be a testimony of transformation in terms of festivals in the country. We have a variety of festivals, but there is none in the wellness space which holistically combines wellness with adventure and music. The Forest Escape Festival will fill that void. It’ll be one grand festival in the lap of Mother Nature.”
For the first time in the country, a festival is putting together an organic flea market that will offer authentic organic food products, recycled merchandises and clothes to its attendees. 
Considering the region’s penchant for good food, Starbucks is introducing two new food additions to its existing beverage menu to celebrate the flavours of the Chandigarh region. The Chicken Makhani Croissant Bun is a butterfly croissant bun layered with chicken and onions, perfected with makhani sauce and pickled mayo. For the vegans, there is Chole Masala Tortilla Wrap, which has chole wrapped in a tortilla with onions, jalapenos and spinach. The wrap is complimented with green chutney and mango murabba.
Commenting on the choice of Chandigarh, Ghosh said, “We are extremely excited to be in Chandigarh, which is the first non-metro city we have touched so far. The decision to come to the city was taken after receiving persistent feedback from customers belonging here at Starbucks stores in other cities that they sorely missed the coffee chain in their city. And, this is definitely not going to be the only outlet in Chandigarh. We will have many more as we go along.”
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Advocating that scientists need to generate ground level data with the help of organisations and individuals who work with communities, he said this was necessary to be able to identify and quickly tackle new viruses and new strains of old viruses which are posing new challenge before the scientific community. These grass root level operatives also need to be empowered, along with the communities in which they are working, for optimising outcomes of new initiatives, he opined. 
“About 25% of the entries in Empresario in the past have been from among participants of EAD, which underlines the impact of this unique initiative towards motivating young minds towards entrepreneurial thought and action. As many as 30,000 students from 158 colleges participated in EAD 2017, with 24 colleges in as many cities associating with us to conduct the EAD in their respective campuses. We look forward to even bigger numbers this year. During such drives, many colleges evinced interest in setting up entrepreneurship promoting bodies of their own for the benefit of their students.”
