Andria Zafirakou, the winner of the $1m World Teacher Prize, has a mission: to help students realise their true potential. Read here  A day after receiving the $1million World Teacher Prize at a glittering Oscar-like ceremony in Dubai, Andria Zafirakou still can’t stop smiling. Posing for a photoshoot at the Gulf News studio, the associate deputy head teacher of Alperton Community School in Brent, England, is ecstatic and does not hesitate to break into a merry jig, shaking a

The single worst thing we do to ourselves that causes us to get sick when we get old is breathe, says biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey, who believes humans can soon live for 1,000 years. Read here  Head resting upon shoulder, his long, greying hair bunched into a ponytail, the nearly navel-length salt and pepper beard brushing the armrest of the chair, Aubrey de Grey, one of the world’s leading bio gerontologists, is catching twenty winks during a break between sessions of the

Bestselling author and activist Cheryl Strayed says that the real liberation of women is profoundly connected to the shoes they wear. Read here  Cheryl Strayed throws back her head and laughs when I ask her if she ever felt like quitting during her life-changing 1,770km solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail through California and Oregon more than 20 years ago. Seated in a meeting room of the Intercontinental at Dubai Festival City, venue of the recently concluded Emirates A

Allan Jenkins, author and passionate gardener, believes waking up at dawn can change your life. Read here  Most gardeners, amateur and professional, pretty much follow a set pattern when growing plants. They sow seeds and when the plant germinates, choose the stronger and healthier ones discarding the weak ones.   Allan Jenkins is unlike them.   Award-winning author, journalist and passionate gardener, he thinks differently. ‘I know the strong plants will be completely fine o

From meandering through an ancient salt mine to examining notes written by Copernicus, Anand Raj OK explores the amazing wonders of Krakow. Read here  ‘Go ahead,’ says Sonia, our guide. ‘You can lick the walls. It’s pure salt.’   We – a group of mediapersons from the UAE, part of a fam tour courtesy of flydubai – were in the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Krakow, Poland, getting a taste of the spectacular creations of miners over the centuries.   A quick guide to Krakow, Poland A Une

Saroo Brierley, whose life changed after a train journey he took at age 5, tells Anand Raj OK what it means to be lost, his thoughts on the Nicole Kidman-Dev Patel movie that was made on his life and the emotions he experienced when he reunited with his mother after 25 years. Read here  The first question I ask Saroo Brierley is: what was racing through his mind when 32 years ago, as a five-year-old he found himself alone on a train that was hurtling to a destination he had n

Thumbay Moideen, head of the Thumbay Group that boasts 20 verticals including the largest network of private academic hospitals in the region, tells Anand Raj OK how while it is important to dream big, one must also work hard to realise them. Read here  ‘Would I have the guts to do it now? I don’t think so. I was much younger and more adventurous at the time,’ says Thumbay Moideen, a smile playing on his face.   We are seated in the plush office of the multibillion Thumbay Gr

Dubai Municipality official Maryam Bin Fahd has collected more than eight tons of coins – part of which has gone to a foundation that...

A mechanical engineer by profession, Babu John set off on a new path to build the now much-respected chain Sky Jewellery. On the cusp of...

The award-winning author of The Ivory Throne reveals inspirations from his impressionable boyhood years and why he has a bone to pick with pseudo historians on Twitter. Read here Standing close to an old and partially burnt-down temple, with ruined platforms and crumbling pillars, Manu S Pillai’s ancestral house was a veritable storehouse of mystique and magic, stories and legends. To add to the mystery was the vast serpent grove nearby — a treasure trove of history, adventur

Ramit Harisinghani, regional head of a consumer tech giant, talks futuristic technology, style and the smart way to deal with smart employees. Read here Busy moving around HTC’s Vive hub with a white virtual reality headset covering half of his face, Ramit Harisinghani could pass off for any geeky teenager with a passion for playing cutting edge futuristic games. ‘You must try it,’ suggests the vice-president and head of Middle East and Africa for HTC Vive, extending a VR set

Author Gaurav Punj’s recent book is packed with tips and itineraries for lesser-known trek routes in the fabled mountain range, finds...

John D Hanafin, who helps companies set up operations in Dubai, believes empowering people makes a business flourish. Read here John D. Hanafin is still getting settled into his brand-new office in Dubai’s Business Bay — Huriya Private, a fiduciary firm that he set up just a few months ago. The 40-something Dublin expat smiles when I mention that setting up his office must have surely been a cakewalk — after all he is an expert in helping people set up a business. ‘Yes, that’

Michael Scott Moore was in Somalia to research piracy when he was kidnapped by pirates. He tells Anand Raj OK how he survived 977 days of captivity. Read here One moment author Michael Scott Moore was in a car seated next to a gunman assigned for his protection and trundling down a dusty road in Somalia. The next, in a surprise attack, he was grabbed from the vehicle, attacked, bundled into a car, taken to a secret location and held for a ransom of $20 million (Dh73.4 millio

Devastated after the loss of their cherished home and all their savings, Raynor Winn and her husband Moth set off on a long walk. Her book about the journey is now a bestseller. Read here Raynor Winn and her husband Moth were down to their last few coins. Having lost all their savings and, worse, the lovely house they had painstakingly built, their home for more than two decades, to a dodgy investment idea, the couple, in their fifties, decided to take — quite literally — a s

At the helm of one of the most successful business houses in the region, Raja Easa Al Gurg tells Anand Raj OK about her humble beginnings, important life lessons from her parents and a newly launched autobiography. Read here From my office window in Deira, I can see dhows clustered in the port, loading and unloading their wares, much as they did back when I was growing up across the creek. Raja Al Gurg Looking out the 15th floor office window of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg towers

Whether paying for fabrics or financial services, if you buy cheap, you buy twice, says wealth management expert Tim Searle. Read here The heavy, leather-covered office desk is rock solid and sturdy, exuding a sense of power and strength. Neat and absolutely clutter-free, it holds nothing save a classic table décor piece and a smart leather-bound diary — a clear indicator of the user being a perfectly organised person. Dressed in an immaculately tailored white shirt, an elega

Author of the bestselling ‘Diary of the Wimpy Kid’ series, who will be in Dubai for the Emirates Lit Fest in March, talks about his method of crafting stories and why readers love a hero with minor faults. Read here With two dots for eyes, a perfectly round head atop which are three strands of hair, a glum expression plastered over his face, the reed-thin 12-year-old Greg Heffley crouches on the starter blocks at a swimming pool waiting for the coach’s whistle. ‘Stop shiverin

Anand Raj OK returns from a tour of China’s Jiangsu province, amazed at the nature, culture and developments in a city that is embracing the future while respecting its past. Stretching like an undulating green carpet, the rich verdant forest shimmers in the gentle breeze. Suddenly, zipping through the air, barely skimming the tops, Jen Yu, sword drawn, races to duel with her opponent Li Mu Bai in the expansive and spectacularly green bamboo thicket. Dressed in a flowing whit

Pakistani photographer, author, artist and documentary maker refuses to allow his aural condition to get the better of him, instead turning it to his advantage. Read here Mobeen Ansari and his father were atop the 4,693m Khunjerab Pass on the borders of Pakistan and China. Both photography enthusiasts, they were savouring the scenic splendours of the Karakoram Mountain range — one of the most spectacular areas in the world. ‘It was freezing,’ recalls Mobeen, an award-winning