I AM TAXONOMY PAGE

Chapter: London

The Art of Creating Timeless Fashion

Karnika Kisnadwala will take you through the wide world of fashion through her eyes and give you an insight into what her brand is all about. She will also shed light on how she brought Kaanjj into life.

Into the Wild – Explore the world’s 5 most extravagant wildlife resorts

Sometimes we just need to tap out of the hustle and bustle of contemporary life and find solace.The wild provides a place where our day is not dictated by the ringing of our phones, but instead the rising and setting of the sun. Here we can seek bird song symphonies, night skies where no constellation goes unnoticed, and vast sunsets interrupted by only trees. These incredible wildlife resorts guarantee luxury, comfort and serenity against the backdrop of the dynamic, vast and ever-changing wilderness.

Wilderness Safaris Jao Camp – Okavango Delta, Botswana On a remote island within the 60,000 hectares of Jao reserve in the heart of the Okavango Delta,is Jao Camp. Renovated in 2019, Jao Camp is made of natural and recycled materials of steel,wood and glass which make for a spacious and light sanctuary in the middle of the African bush.The main camp features a spa, library, museum and gallery. Being elevated into the tree canopy,the main camp also offers spectacular views of the vista and makes for great land and water based game viewing. Game viewing opportunities however, are in abundance at Jao. Expert guides take guests on both land and water safaris, the most unique to the Okavango being the Mokoro excursions where you can explore the delta in a glass bottomed dug out canoe.Accommodation is of course luxurious, with all villas and suites having their own private plunge pools, lounge and dining areas and ensuite bathrooms with both indoor an outdoor showers.

vAman-I-Khas – Rajasthan, India
Aman-I-Khas is located on the fringe of Ranthambore National Park – one of the best places in the
world to see the elusive Bengal tiger in it’s natural habitat. Embark on daily safaris led by expert
guides, in search of this mysterious creature. You can even organize a bespoke picnic to be
prepared for you when you need to refuel. In between safaris, find solace in the camp which is
surrounded by rugged beauty. Stay in one of ten Mughal-inspired tents, privacy, elegance and
comfort all in one, serviced by your own personal butler. During the day, these luxurious tents
swim in natural light – relax on your own private deck area or lounge by the camps pool. At night,
the tents become a cozy haven in which you can retreat to after an evening of story telling and
stargazing round the firepit. Aman-I-Khas’ relationship with nature is unparalleled with their everchanging menu being curated around what produce is available in their onsite organic kitchen
garden. Enjoy elevated traditional Indian cuisine, cooked by Chef’s who are equipped with recipes
passed down from generation to generation. Wellness is also a focal point of the Aman-I-Khas
experience with bespoke therapeutic activities available including; outdoor yoga sessions,
aromatic baths, Poornvandana massage and traditional Ayurveda to help you find balance and
healing.

Singita Kwitondo Lodge – Rwanda
Over a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorilla population resides in Rwanda’s Volcanoes
National Park. Located right next door, Singita Kwitonda Lodge provides its guests with direct
access to encountering these magnificent animals in person through guided gorilla trekking
experiences. Singita Kwitondo Lodge invites guests to contemplate and savor these once-in-a lifetime experiences; each of the luxurious eight suites provides a sanctuary of warmth, stillness
and solitude to reflect and unwind. They all have their own private heated plunge pool, wellness
treatment area, indoor an outdoor fireplaces and panoramic timber framed windows which
showcase breathtaking views of the surrounding habitat. Conservation and sustainability are just
as important to SIngita Kwitonda Lodge as providing guests with a luxurious stay. There is a room
on-site dedicated to educating guests about the conservation of the gorillas. The lodge also
follows a farm-to-table approach with fresh produce being grown in the on-site garden for the
chefs to use.

Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge – The Amazon, Brazil
Experience luxury, adventure and comfort in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest at Anavilhanas
Jungle Lodge. They take a personalized approach, tailoring guests a bespoke programme based
on the length of your stay and your personal preferences. Immerse yourself in all that the Amazon
has to offer with; a canoe trip on Rio Negro to visit a local caboclo community, watch the sunrise
on one of the islands, go fishing for Piranhas, go on guided hikes in the Madadá caves and the
Dryland forest, experience the Amazon in its most traditional way on a tour into the Archipelago
on board of a regional boat, paddle through creeks and the flooded forest on a canoe, and go in
search of nocturnal creatures on a Anavilhanas Archipelago Nocturnal Sightseeing tour. Choose
between a Cottage, Bungalow or Panoramic room – all ensure the upmost of comfort and privacy,
finding a balance between feeling like you are immersed in the forest whilst still being connected
via amenities such as air conditioning and a TV.

Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge – Tanzania
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is described as being “where Maasai meets Versailles” – this elegant
baroque chateaux is romantic and opulent, yet is still deeply connected to its surroundings on the
edge of Ngorongoro’s ancient caldera. This almost mythic crater is nearly three million years old
and is home to one of the most beautiful wildlife havens in the world; Africa’s incredible creatures
can roam freely. Service at Ngorongoro Lodge is truly personal. Each suite is equipped with their
own dining area and private butler to warmly cater to your very need. The highlights of this lodge
however have to be the unique experiences it provides for its guests. Seek the big five on a safari
game drive, interact with the Maasai and Hadzabe tribes, step back in time at Olduvai Gorge, dine
in one of the most unique settings in Africa with a banquet on the Crater floor, and interact with
the Kopelion conservation team, you can even indulge in wine tasting at the on-site wine shop.

The once in a lifetime memories created in places like these change us. They change our
perspective on the world we live in, the way we interact and appreciate the nature in our own
cities, how we interact with one another, what we seek from our days etc… The wild is raw,
unfiltered, and pure. Go into the wild not to escape reality, but to be reconnected with it
 

Why is Empathy first stage of Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a social problem solution method that resembles the neurological process of creativity with alternating phases of divergent thinking and task-focused thinking. 

To understand the complexity of a problem, we need to diverge and look for the full set of input trajectories that help us to form a comprehensive, socially shared representation of the problem. 

But of course, it is a complex system that consists of at least two nested, interdependent problems. The first problem is the one we need to understand before we think of how to solve it, the second relates to social system dynamics. 

Ideally, the Empathize Phase unfolds in a psychologically safe space where all social agents share a belief, that it is safe to take socio-emotional risks and speak up, reveal their observations, thoughts and offer their evaluation in a bid to create a full information set. 

Conversely, when people meet in a psychologically unsafe environment, they tend to exhibit a behavioral bias which we can call self-protection bias. 

In an unsafe space, people behave passively or actively unconstructive which negatively impacts group dynamics by causing social frictions that in turn inhibit productive intellectual frictions to occur. 

Rather than offering their view and diverse perspectives, they hold back and get defensive. This also creates information asymmetries as people hold back vital information conducive to understanding the problem and forming a social representation of it in a fear-based response. A misrepresentation of the problem inevitably leads to the danger that a precise solution will be found for the wrong problem and therefore, the Design Thinking process has failed! 

Furthermore, perceived information asymmetries are also the main reason for unproductive conflicts in social systems leading to adverse emotions. 

Individual emotions are contagious, and they spread fast through the entire social system. Especially, negative emotions are highly infectious and stick around for a while. Apart from individual and social levels of emotional inertia, social system trajectories are path-dependent. What happened back then influences perceptions and interpretations in the present and has implications for expectations about the future, which feeds back to the current experience and subjective reality. 

This is problematic for all other stages of the Design Thinking process such as ‘Ideation’, where everyone is asked to think creatively and share their ideas through sharable abstractions. 

Creative thinking is based on the ability to switch between task-focused thinking which predominantly occurs in the left hemisphere of the brain and the right hemisphere-focused default mode network [DMN], which is active when the task-focused network is suspended. The DMN is active in daydreaming and responsible for moments of serendipity, a much-needed trait in Ideation. 

When we are stressed out because we are moving in a space of socio-emotional stress, our self-protection needs become salient, and emotional processing centers in the sub-cortical regions shut down our task-focused cognitions and inhibit the DMN to be productive in the sense of creating ideas for the problem subject to the Design Thinking process. 

Thus, the Empathy Phase goes way beyond understanding the problem that needs solving.  

To create a psychologically safe space, people need to feel actively listened to without having the feeling of being judged or disrespected for who they are or what they say. 

The most important start for the Design Thinking process is to do exactly that – empathize cognitively by joining the other peoples’ mental model of the world which creates their subjective reality of the problem and to empathize emotionally, trying to understand how they feel about the problem and develop compassion for all stakeholders. 

This gets you the best of information in terms of quantity and quality and sets the social system up for a successful Design Thinking process. 

Conversely, a Design Thinking process that starts in a psychologically unsafe space will be inefficient, ineffective, and entirely futile.