Single mom wins lead in radio drama
ALTHOUGH she feared rejection and criticism, a single mother was determined to fulfil her dream to become an actress.
Ashnee Ramsaywok, 32, has risen above the negativity in her life and has landed the lead role in a Lotus FM radio drama production, Bottled Up.
Bottled Up would begin airing from May 22, Mondays to Fridays at 9.30pm and repeats would air at 9.45am. The Raeesa Mohammed production would also feature the well-known voices of Maeshni Naicker, Rory Booth and Goonam Pillay. Bottled Up zooms in on the daily life, trials and convictions of an alcoholic Pammy, played by Pillay, a nurturing mother Savy (Ramsaywok), the physically abused Niki (Kirthee Nepaul) and concerned Sushila (Jayshree Parasuramen) who worries about her unemployed son and wayward daughter. The story leads to the kidnap of a loved one, in which sparks a chain of events prompting a troubled mother to rethink her life.
Ramsaywok plays the role of Savy, a wise, caring woman in her mid-sixties, who lost her husband at a young age and has to deal with her alcoholic only daughter and the kidnap of her granddaughter.
The elated Stanger resident told Tribune Herald that she is thrilled to be a part of the cast whose voices would be heard by the station’s national listenership of 367 000.
On how she got the lead role, Ramsaywok said she had the desire to work as a voice-over artist and out of desperation she made a call to Lotus FM.
Her call got directed to the station’s drama producer Ashnee Ramsaywok and director, Mohammed, who motivated her and asked Ramsaywok to forward her CV.
A month later, Ramsaywok was called to an interview, and after a successful audition, she got cast in the supporting role of the radio drama A Woman’s Own.
“When A Woman’s Own had ended, I found myself checking my e-mails repeatedly, hoping to get news of further auditions.”
The wait wasn’t too long before she got the lead role in the 20-episode Bottled Up series,” she told.
When reflecting about the years leading her to her present role, memories of the days when she was criticised and made fun of because of her desire to act came flooding back. Ramsaywok said the criticism made her determined to succeed as an actress. At the age of 10, Ramsaywok realised she wanted to become an actress, and would often sing and dance in her aunt’s heels, pretending she was in a movie.
Now that dream has become a reality.
However, her journey through life had been fraught with difficulties. The murder of her father during a taxi violence incident disrupted her studies. Her father’s death forced her to operate a tuck shop to help her save for her studies to become an HIV/AIDS counsellor. Salona Lutchminarain has sparked a food revolution in India. SINCE moving to India in 2015, Durban-born Salona Lutchminarain has caused a food revolution in her adopted homeland with the establishment of her line of vegan “mock meat products” called Vegitein.
The 32-year-old explained that she decided to launch Vegitein as an ethical alternative to traditional meat products people were accustomed to enjoying.
Lutchminarain had always been a vegetarian and said her vegan way of life was justified when she realised that the meat and dairy industry is one and the same, and she was opposed to animal abuse and cruelty.
The stay-at-home motherof-one launched Vegitein in January last year from her home in Bangalore.
At the beginning of this year, she partnered with Carrots, a vegan restaurant, to manufacture the product for her.
Although mock meats are popular in South Africa, Lutchminarain explained these products are not widely available in India, despite being the world’s largest vegetarian nation.
“India has not embraced mock meats and generally react to it with shock, but with more exposure this is bound to change.” She added that her clientele were largely Indians who had travelled abroad and had grown familiar with the idea of synthetic meats.
Her line of mock meats comprises several varieties of sausages, hot dogs and meat strips.
She explained that the key ingredients in her products were nutritional yeast, wholegrains, nuts, vegetables and wheat gluten.
The Bangalore resident hopes that products such as Vegitein will bring positive change in the food industry, which, she claimed, doesn’t take health and ethics into consideration.
“It’s the first time in history we have more people dying worldwide of obesity-related issues such as diabetes and heart disease instead of the lack of food. It’s time we became more mindful of what we choose to consume,” she said.
Her vision for Vegitein is to ensure its growth, while maintaining sustainability and ethical production.