NEW DELHI: “Beginnings are a seductive necessity,” wrote Manan Ahmed Asif in his book “A Book of Conquest.” It is this curiosity for beginnings that makes Munaf Kapadia, 28, so interesting.
Why did a guy with an MBA from a top business school in India, who was doing well as a Google marketing executive, decide to leave everything behind and start selling samosas? It was not a sudden epiphany but a fun experiment that changed his life.
During a family gathering in late 2014, it occurred to him to start a kitchen at home and invite people over to taste the cuisine of the Bohra community.
This, he thought, would keep his mother from idling away her time watching soap operas and gossiping. His mother Nafisa, a great cook, agreed to take part.
“We belong to a community where food is very intrinsic to us, and our delicacies aren’t known outside our community,” Kapadia told Arab News.
“It occurred to us (the family) that my mom is a fantastic cook and she enjoys it. Since we couldn’t afford to open a restaurant, we started inviting people over every Saturday and Sunday to eat at The Bohri Kitchen (TBK). That’s how our journey began.”
Initially Kapadia invited friends and acquaintances, but through Facebook and word of mouth the kitchen became a roaring success within a few months. People started befriending Kapadia so they could enjoy the dining experience.
“Luckily for us, there have been no downs for us, only ups, since we started,” he said. The project started consuming all his time as demand grew and his interest deepened.
So decided to bid adieu to his life as a Google professional after working there for four years. “The most exciting thing is that I’ve grown up a lot over the last few years because of this new journey. This gave me confidence to give up my job at Google,” he said.
His parents were initially apprehensive, but they started supporting him once he and TBK started getting attention from the media and Bollywood.
“When my parents started seeing my name in the media and saw that popular people are taking notice of the kitchen, they felt reassured,” Kapadia said.
Popular names in the Mumbai film industry, such as directors Farah Khan and Ashutosh Gowarikar, started visiting his home.
TBK started catering to Bollywood parties and doing home deliveries. Instead of just weekends, it started operating every day.
While TBK offers the full range of Bohra cuisine, among the most popular items are mutton samosas, raan, mutton biryani, jumbo chicken biryani, khichda, chicken tikka biryani, chicken dum biryani and mutton chops.
Next month, Kapadia’s brainchild will celebrate its second anniversary. “I plan to open a bigger kitchen where we provide much more variety. We plan to hire people from the hospitality and food industries who have expertise in managing a kitchen.”
He is currently searching for an appropriate venue. “Branding is important, and we don’t want to lose our niche in the rush for success,” he said.
“A few years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that my life would evolve like this. My horizon is bigger now and my vision much broader. I’m really cherishing the moment.”
Trump tells Putin to end Ukraine war before mediating Iran-Israel
“He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own’,” Trump said
Peskov appeared to suggest the pair had not even spoken
Updated 57 min 56 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump appeared Wednesday to rebuff Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying the Russian president should end his own war in Ukraine first.
“He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, okay?’” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I said ‘Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.’“
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to suggest the pair had not even spoken, telling Russian state news agency TASS: “He was speaking figuratively. Life is so eventful right now that looking back a few days is like looking back to yesterday.”
Later Wednesday Trump said a change in Iran’s government “could happen,” and also indicated that negotiations could be in the offing, without giving details.
“They want to meet, they want to come to the White House — I may do that,” Trump told reporters.
Leaked call between Thai PM and Cambodia ‘strongman’ stokes tensions
Thai PM says leak shows ‘trust problem’ with Cambodian ex-premier
Updated 18 June 2025
Reuters
BANGKOK, Phnom Penh: Relations between Thailand and Cambodia suffered a major blow on Wednesday after a leak of a telephone conversation between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and influential former Cambodian Premier Hun Sen that could further escalate tensions.
Ties between the two neighbors are at their worst in more than a decade after a row over border territory that has sparked fears of a military confrontation following a sharp rise in nationalist rhetoric and the mobilization of troops on both sides of their frontier.
The leaked June 15 phone call, which has been confirmed as authentic by both Hun Sen and Paetongtarn, shows the Thai premier telling Hun Sen, whom she called uncle, that she is under domestic pressure and urging him not to listen to “the opposite side” which includes a prominent Thai military commander at the border.
“He just want to look cool and saying things that are not useful to the nation, but in truth what we want is peace,” she told Hun Sen through a translator in the leaked audio clip, referring to the general.
Paetongtarn later told reporters her conversation with Hun Sen was part of a negotiation tactic and she has no problem with the Thai army.
“I won’t be talking privately with him (Hun Sen) anymore because there is a trust problem,” she said.
Hun Sen said the leak came from one of the 80 politicians he shared the audio recording with. Self-styled strongman Hun Sen was Cambodia’s premier for nearly four decades and has maintained a high public profile since handing over power in 2023 to his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The two governments had until recently enjoyed warm ties, helped by the close relationship between Hun Sen and Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn’s influential father. Both former leaders are still active in politics.
Fierce rhetoric
The leak could put that relationship in jeopardy and will add to speculation in Thailand that Paetongtarn and the powerful Thai military are at odds on how to respond to the border crisis with Cambodia.
Cambodia’s rhetoric has become more fierce in the past week, with Hun Sen blaming Thai “extremists” and the Thai army for stoking tensions, saying Paetongtarn’s government was “unable to control its military the way our country can.”
The billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the army, with two of its governments ousted by generals in coups in 2006 and 2014.
Lt. Gen. Boonsin Padklang, commander of Thailand’s Second Army Area overseeing the eastern border, on Wednesday told local media that Paetongtarn had called him to explain the leak.
“I don’t have any issue, I understand,” Boonsin said. The weeks-long standoff followed a brief border skirmish on May 28 that left a Cambodian soldier dead. Both countries have called for calm while vowing to defend their sovereignty over contested stretches of a 820-km (510-mile) land border, parts of which are undemarcated. Attempts to settle the issue have failed, with Cambodia on Sunday delivering on its vow to seek resolution at the International Court of Justice, the jurisdiction of which Thailand says it does not recognize.
On Wednesday, Cambodia’s defense ministry said Thailand had again violated its sovereignty with drone flights, trench digging and troop deployments, which Bangkok rejected.
Thousands of Cambodians joined a state-organized march in the capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday to support the government, shouting slogans, waving national flags and holding portraits of Hun Manet and Hun Sen.
“Cambodia’s land! We won’t take others’ land, we keep our land!” some chanted.
France plans European ‘initiative’ to end Iran-Israel conflict: presidency
France, UK and Germany were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers
French president urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles
Updated 18 June 2025
AFP
PARIS: France is planning along with European partners to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Wednesday.
At a national security council meeting, Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up in the coming days “an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict,” it said, without giving details on the nature of the plan.
Barrot has been in regular touch with his German and British counterparts since Israel launched massive air strikes against Iran on Friday.
All three countries were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions.
The United States withdrew from that accord during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Macron also urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles.
He voice “concern over the current escalation, with Israeli strikes increasingly hitting targets not linked to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic program, and a mounting number of civilian victims in Iran and Israel,” his office said.
He said it was “necessary to urgently end these military operations, which pose significant threats to regional security,” it added.
The French president also urged the foreign ministry to take measures to help French citizens leave Israel or Iran if they wished to do so, the Elysee added, without providing further details.
Princess of Wales pulls out of engagement at Royal Ascot
Kate has been gradually returning to public duties since last fall
Racegoers had hoped to see Kate on Wednesday
Updated 18 June 2025
AP
LONDON: The Princess of Wales canceled plans to attend Royal Ascot on Wednesday as she continues to balance the demands of her public duties against the realities of her recovery from cancer.
Kate, as Prince William’s wife is commonly known, has been gradually returning to public duties since last fall, when she announced that she had completed chemotherapy and would return to work. At the time, she said her road to full recovery would be long and she would “take each day as it comes.”
Royal Ascot, a five-day series of horse races, is the centerpiece of the summer social season in Britain, with members of the royal family attending throughout the meeting.
Racegoers had hoped to see Kate on Wednesday, as Prince William was scheduled to awarding race prizes. William attended without his wife.
Kate, 42, announced on Sept. 9 that she had completed treatment six months after revealing she had an undisclosed type of cancer.
The announcement came six weeks after Buckingham Palace said King Charles III was also being treated for cancer, stretching the ability of the royal family to keep up with its busy schedule of public appearances. Charles has also returned to public duties.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that Islamabad had not engaged in any new military cooperation with Tehran since Israel launched attacks on Iran last week and had not held specific talks with the US over the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Iran, which borders Pakistan, has hit back with strikes against Israel after it unleashed waves of attacks on Friday at Iranian nuclear installations, missile stockpiles, scientists and military commanders, among other targets, sparking global alarm that the conflict could erupt into a regional war.
The latest escalation follows months of hostilities between Israel and Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, which intensified after the war in Gaza was launched late in 2023.
Regional powers fear a direct confrontation could spiral into a broader conflict involving major oil shipping lanes and global energy supplies.
For Pakistan, a close Iranian neighbor and a longtime opponent of Israel, a prolonged conflict risks disrupting border security, inflaming sectarian tensions at home and possibly putting it in a tight spot with Arab allies and the West.
Pakistan’s Air Force fighter JF-17 fighter jets fly past during the multinational naval exercise AMAN-25 in the Arabian Sea near Karachi on February 10, 2025. (AFP)
Speaking to Arab News, Asif said regular security cooperation was continuing with Iran along their shared border to combat militant groups, but no fresh operational coordination had been initiated in response to Israel’s attacks on Iranian territory since June 13.
“I don’t see any need for it,” the defense minister said in response to a question on whether Pakistan’s military was coordinating with its Iranian counterparts on the border or engaging in any fresh defense cooperation.
“We coordinate on a very regular basis as far as the Iran and Pakistan border is concerned because of terrorist activities … that sort of cooperation is already on. So I don’t see any new activity.”
Asked if Pakistan had held talks with Washington to discuss the fast-evolving situation, the minister said there had been no contact specifically on the crisis in the past five days.
“But we are in constant touch with the United States of America regarding the tense situation we have in this region.”
Smoke rises following what Iran says was an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Asif said Pakistan’s leadership was instead focused on engagement with close partners like China and Muslim countries to press for calm, warning that the conflict risked engulfing the entire region.
“The countries who have religious affinity with us or geographical affinity, even China or other countries, because what we are pursuing is peace,” he said.
“And we would like to mobilize the countries of this region. This conflict can multiply and it can engulf the whole region into a situation which could be very, very disastrous.”
Diplomatic and security experts warn that the Israel-Iran hostilities could affect Pakistan by destabilizing its western border with Iran, threatening energy imports as oil prices surge and creating new pressures on Pakistan’s relations with the US and Gulf partners if Islamabad is seen as tilting too far toward Tehran.
On the other hand, if Tehran were to fall or be severely weakened, analysts say Pakistan would likely side with the US and its allies — despite being Iran’s immediate neighbor — to protect its strategic and economic interests.
Pakistani security personnel stand guard as pilgrims who evacuated from Iran walk at the Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
Addressing concerns over past remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have drawn parallels between Iran and Pakistan as so-called militant Islamic regimes that needed to be deterred, Asif rejected any immediate threat to Pakistan from Tel Aviv, but stressed Islamabad would remain vigilant.
“If we are threatened by Israel, which I will discount at the moment … what happens in the coming months or years I can’t predict, but at the moment I discount (a threat from Israel),” he said.
He described Israel as a state with “hegemonic intent” whose recent actions in Gaza and against Iran were “extremely dangerous to the immediate region,” and said global public opinion was turning against Israeli policies despite support or muted reactions from many Western governments.
Asif declined to comment on reports that Pakistan had scrambled fighter jets near its nuclear sites and the Iranian border in response to Israel’s initial strikes on Iran but insisted that its nuclear security remained robust.
In addition to the Middle East tensions, Pakistan faced a major military standoff with India last month in which the two sides exchanged missile, drone and artillery attacks.
Iranian cargo trucks cross into the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, Balochistan province on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. (AFP)
Islamabad claimed to have shot down six Indian jets and struck back at military positions, triggering fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals before a ceasefire was announced by the Trump administration on May 10.
When questioned about any direct threat to Pakistan’s national security or strategic assets as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, Asif said Pakistan’s armed forces were already on high alert following the latest confrontation with New Delhi, describing the country’s nuclear facilities as “very militantly guarded, very grudgingly guarded” and fully compliant with international safeguards.
“Since our short war with India, we have been on alert so we have not lowered guards … We can never take the risk of any attack on our nuclear facility from anywhere, that is something which is a lifeline as far as our defense is concerned,” he said.
A general view shows the destruction at the site of an overnight Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
Asif said Pakistan’s performance in the recent fight with India was evidence of his country’s defense capability and national resolve, which would deter Israel from any adventurism.
“We have just had a bout with India and we clearly established our superiority, the superiority of our armed forces, air force, Pakistan army, Pakistan navy and the determination of our people, the way the nation stood behind the armed forces,” he said.
“So I think Netanyahu or his people or his government will think many times before taking on Pakistan.”
