The Lunch Break

#COVID19 #ChooseLife To put us all back in touch with nature, World Wide Fund – (WWF) South Africa has launched a playlist, titled ‘Bring Nature Inside’, which captures the soundscapes of our beautiful natural world. Varshan chatted to Justin Smith, Head of Business Development at WWF South Africa, about how the playlist can be enjoyed safely at home, while observing the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife According to recent data, there’s been a massive jump in e-learning during lockdown – which is offering companies great solutions to social distancing, reduced budgets and lack of time. Varshan spoke to Mike Hanly, CEO of New Leaf Technologies, a learning-software company, about how e-learning is bridging the skills gap for many corporates, in a more cost effective and product...

Janez Vermeiren has worn many caps from his early days as a model to becoming the popular face on Top Billing. He's ranked as one of the most sought after South Africans in showbiz. He also recently launched Africa's first crowd sourcing content creation platform. Varshan Sookun caught up with Janez to chat about life as a family man and other things.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife The impact of mental health during Covid-19 has been a growing issue and concern. During the lockdown, there’s been an increase of suicides. To better understand why suicide happens and how we can prevent it, Varshan Sookhun spoke to Clinical Psychologist Viwe Dweba, who is based in JHB. She has a passion for empowerment though mental health advocacy.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife The Covid-19 lockdown rules of social distancing poses extra challenges for those who are blind or have sight loss. Varshan spoke to Sandra Dreyer, who is head of the department of training, education and development at Cape Town Society for the Blind, about her lockdown experiences as a blind person.

Varshan spoke to SA Music artist Krish Reedoy, about how during this lockdown, he spearheaded a wonderful music project – producing the inspiring song Teri Jai Mata.

Interview with Dr. Habib Noorbhai (Mr South Africa 2017), who is a Researcher in Sports Science, a presenter, speaker and humanitarian. In 2013, he was among South Africa’s top 100 brightest young minds and in 2015, he was nominated among Mail and Guardians top 200 young South Africans. He was also included in Fast Company South Africa’s Top 30 creative people in business for 2017.

Varshan caught with up with South African songstress Belinda Davids to chat about her amazing performance on the stage of the reality TV show Britain's Got Talent and about her music idol Whitney Houston inspiring her career.

Varshan spoke to Chef Dasen Sarugaser, who had a passion for cooking from a young age. He is a graduate of the International Hotel School and is currently the Executive Chef at Garden Court Sandton City, as well as the secretary for the South African Chefs Association Gauteng. Chef Dasen is also a volunteer with the non-profit organisation Chefs With Compassion.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife Varshan chatted to author Mike Saunders about his new book, HumanCentric, which is all about how to build a successful business in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and a COVID-19 world, while focusing on human stakeholders.

Acclaimed South African filmmaker Anant Singh, spoke to Varshan about a remarkable new documentary feature titled Ahimsa – Gandhi: The Power of the Powerless.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife This year's Child Protection Week was held under the theme “Let us all protect children during COVID-19 and beyond”. Varshan spoke to Childline KwaZulu-Natal acting director Adeshni Naicker about how the lockdown has seen an escalation of child abuse cases and the factors that have contributed to it.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife Varshan chatted to Corné Welman, Head of Compliance at PaySpace, a cloud-based payroll and human capital management software company about how the Covid-19 pandemic has forced companies to find new ways of operating and is triggering new workplace trends.

Varshan caught up with Prim Reddy & NIranj Pather to chat about their new cookbook Temptations, their inspiration behind the book and their experiences of lockdown cooking.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife Varshan spoke to Zviko Mudimo, the Operations Executive of the Rali and Mokentse Mampeule Foundation about a COVID-19 Self-Diagnostic Application & Predictive Modelling Dashboard, a digital tool to both help South Africans self-assess their COVID-19 symptoms.

Durban bred Darrius Pillay is a chemical engineer and a talented classical singer. Varshan chatted to him about his music career and growing popularity.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife On 1st June World Milk Day – Varshan spoke to Christine Leighton, Food Scientist and Project Manager for The Consumer Education Project of Milk SA, about the benefits of dairy in our diets and how dairy foods are affordable and nutrient dense for tighter food budgets during the Coronavirus pandemic.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife On World Africa Day, Varshan crossed to the Republic of Congo to speak to Dr Mary Stephen, Technical Officer, at the World Health Organisation’s Regional Office for Africa. Dr. Stephen spoke about the continent's advancing efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19.

Interview with young musician and Bharata Natyam dancer, Shruti Teeluck about her journey through the arts since childhood.

May is Anti-Tobacco Awareness Month – with May 31st commemorated as World No Tobacco Day. Varshan spoke to Lorraine Govender – CANSA National Advocacy Co-ordinator, about this annual campaign which informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife The Covid-19 pandemic has been brutal on the economy. Varshan chatted to Mark Tomlinson, Chief Innovation Officer at Hoorah Digital about how South African entrepreneurs can mitigate the effects of the lockdown with innovative thinking.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife The Covid-19 pandemic has had an extreme effect on economies. Varshan spoke to business coach, author and YouTube personality Douglas Kruger about his new book 'Virus-Proof Your Small Business, 50 Ways to Survive the Covid-19 Crisis', which could be the helpline you need, to rescue your business.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife Newly launched South African digital platform ForKeeps has issued a call to people across the world to join its #LoveMoment movement to create a global #LoveMoment digital photo album celebrating the spirit of humankind – especially during these challenging times of the Coronavirus lockdowns across the world. Varshan spoke to ForKeeps creator Prakash Patel about this inspiring...

#COVID19 #ChooseLife Local filmmakers Tami & Dylan Marriott have won the best short film award at Enfoque International Film Festival . Their film titled Alone had competed against 475 entries from around the world to win this award, which is a first for South Africa. Varshan spoke to Tami Marriott about this film and how it resonates with everyone currently experiencing lockdown.

#COVID19 #ChooseLife Employment and Health and Safety expert, Lizle Louw from Webber Wentzel, was interviewed about the return to work as the Lockdown eases and how employers can ensure the safety of their employees.