#ATYPICALINTERVIEW: SAMEER NAIK

TIKTOK and social media sensation Jernad Martin has become a hit in the past few months, with several of her videos going viral in the country.

The 24-year-old Martin is also a law graduate, a model and a gamer.

You are able to shop at only one clothing store for the rest of your life. Which store do you choose?

Shelflife. It includes a plethora of accessories, clothing and sneakers from premium lifestyle brands that have influenced me since I was a teenager.

The best meal to have after a hangover?

The best hangover meal might be a contentious one. It depends on the liquor that was consumed the night before. Dark liquor requires a Grand Chicken Spicy from Mcdonald’s, with extra spicy sauce on the burger and a Watermelon Mcfizz. Light liquor may just need a Princess Wrap and a berry smoothie from Kauai.

Joburg or Cape Town? Which has the better people and is the better city?

Whoa! Easy there, I am already the most hated person in South

Africa for exposing socio-political issues that plague Cape Town in this neo-colonialist dispensation. I love both cities but my opinion as a Johannesburg native will be subjective and biased.

I love Cape Town for how attuned I feel to nature, the sea and the crisp air. Cape Town provides a sense of rejuvenation. On the surface, Cape

Town appears to be superior but it is grossly homogenised and gentrified.

Johannesburg boasts a higher standard of living and Cape Town accommodates tourism but in Johannesburg, people are more enmeshed and inclusive, constructs are not as evident. The answer is not clear cut, but I love the social culture in Johannesburg more.

Your favourite social media platform? Why?

It would have to be Tiktok. I feel so free and unapologetic. I love connecting with people from all walks of life and all around the world because I love to expose myself to different thought processes and ways of being. Tiktok is the perfect platform to just be.

The meal that most reminds you of your childhood?

Lentils, otherwise known as dhal. I would investigate food by its appearance rather than its taste and, later in my life, I realised the food I so sternly rejected was what I was missing out on this entire time. When I was growing up, it looked slimy, so I would have the roti or rice with butter and keep it moving. Oh, how wrong I was to hate on one of the hardest meals to ever exist!

The biggest misconception people have of you?

People think I am classist and elitist. I come from humble beginnings where I promised to take care of my family and take my education seriously. I have family members double my age who have been unemployed for years and if that’s not telling enough of my upbringing, I am not sure what is.

The song that describes your life?

We Don’t Luv Em, by Hoodrich Pablo Juan. The lyrics keep emphasising that he doesn’t chase money; it flows naturally to him.

Money is just energy that is harnessed temporarily and then exchanged for something else. It’s just access and it’s beautiful to know that there will always be more somehow as soon as you spend it.

You are given a day to do anything you like. How do you spend the day?

Easy. Read, journal, meditate, pray and play video games in that order. Personal time in solace is a priority for me.