Laughter is the best medicine, as the old saying goes, and this certainly appeared to be the case with the author Moni Mohsin, whose session was one of the hits of the recently held Khushwant Singh Lit Fest (KSLF) in London.
Mohsin, who created a character called “the Social Butterfly”, an upper middle-class woman in Lahore, was asked what her creation would make of Rishi Sunak, an Indian, becoming the British prime minister.
The Social Butterfly would be delighted, said Mohsin, a Pakistani-origin columnist and comedy writer who lives in London.
Moni Mohsin (left) and UK-based editor Faiza Khan
“Mashallah, mashallah, mashallah, he’s not from the poors,” the Social Butterfly would say. “Unlike other people who have come from the migrants, who have had to work hard and lift themselves, but he is mashallah not from the poors.”
The Social Butterfly – famed for her malapropisms – has a husband, Jannu, who likes books as he has been to Oxford. His wife proudly proclaims he is an “Oxen”.
Commenting on the claim that “Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Bachchan” had invested in a company called “Offshore” in the Panama, she is scornful that her husband failed to have the foresight shown by the stars from Bollywood.
“Obviously, Jannu, my husband, being the loser that he is, hasn’t (invested).”
Mohsin told Eastern Eye, who are media partners with KSLF, that the Social Butterfly had a following in India, and laughter brought Indians and Pakistanis together.
Lord Meghnad Desai with Vicky Pryce
She explained: “The social structure is the same. It’s not just in the Punjab, but in all of India and Pakistan – the social structure is the same. So if (as a Pakistani) you meet an Indian in London and ask them, ‘Where do you live?’ and (the reply is) ‘In Delhi,’ you go, ‘You must be knowing so and so.’ That’s because the social elites are so small. It’s the same in both countries. So the Social Butterfly is enjoyed in India, because she is so familiar.”
As for India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, the Social Butterfly is “very impressed because, as she says, ‘his 56-inch chest is bigger than Kim Kardashian, even’. All her Indian friends in London love Modiji. She’s also in love with Modiji because she wants to be invited to their parties.”
Rahul Singh
She added: “We’ve turned (the) English (language) into our own English – which is entirely justifiable. We love asking each other what our ‘good name’ is.
“And I must give due credit to somebody else who also wrote like this a long time ago – and that was Shoba (now Shobaa) De. She wrote in Stardust magazine which I used to devour in the 1970s… I learned from her as well. I was talking to a friend in Delhi who was having lunch sitting outside in November and he said, ‘Oh, there’s such a nipple in the air.’”
Rahul Singh, who runs KSLF with his partner, Niloufer Bilimora, said he was trying to carry on with his father’s work of trying to bring together the people of India and Pakistan through the medium of books.
This year’s KSLF was held in the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) last month. He said: “One of the great things about holding it in London is you can invite Indian and Pakistani speakers to share the platform.”
Nandita Das
For example, Reham Khan, whose brief marriage to the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan ended in acrimony, flew over from America where she now lives to take part in the KSLF (she steered clear of discussing her personal life).
The theme of the event this year was ‘Connecting Futures’. Speakers included Lord Meghnad Desai who discussed how “economics has abandoned the poor” with Vicky Pryce. Lord Karan Bilimoria, who is now vice-president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) after having served a year as its president, and Lalita Taylor talked about ‘the UK and India: Cheers to a Future Perfect?’
Prabhu Guptara
After the poets Imtiaz Dharker and Ruth Padel had launched the festival with a session called ‘We are all from somewhere else’, Oxford don Nandini Das talked about her book, Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire with fellow historian Roddy Matthews.
Two publishers attended the event. One was Prabhu Guptara has a niche publishing house, Pippa Rann Books & Media, which has brought out Ram Gidoomal’s memoir, My Silk Road: The Adventures & Struggles of a British Asian Refugee.
The festival was compered by the academic Rachel Dwyer, whose husband, Michael Dwyer, was also present. He runs Hurst Publishers, and its portfolio covers international affairs, the Islamic world, politics and the social sciences. It has brought out such books as Faisal Devji’s Is Race a Red Herring in Rishi Sunak’s Rise?
Kim, Kanye, North and Saint West out in NYC Twitter/KimKFan
Anurag Bajpayee's Gradiant: The water company tackling a global crisis
In a world increasingly defined by scarcity, one resource is emerging as the most quietly decisive factor in the future of industry, sustainability, and even geopolitics: water. Yet, while the headlines are dominated by energy transition and climate pledges, few companies working behind the scenes on water issues have attracted much public attention. One of them is Gradiant, a Boston-based firm that has, over the past decade, grown into a key player in the underappreciated but critical sector of industrial water treatment.
A Company Born from MIT, and from Urgency
Founded in 2013 by Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan, two researchers with strong ties to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Gradiant began as a scrappy start-up with a deceptively simple premise: make water work harder. At a time when discussions about climate change were centred almost exclusively on carbon emissions and renewable energy, the trio saw water scarcity looming in the background.
Their insight was that some of the world’s largest industries—semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverage—were facing acute water-related challenges long before the general public grasped the issue. “Without water, these industries don’t just slow down; they stop,” Bajpayee has often remarked. What Gradiant offered was not just a way to save water, but a way to rethink how it is used, recycled, and valued.
The Engineers Behind the Mission
Anurag Bajpayee, the company’s CEO, whose academic path took him to MIT, where he completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering focused on water treatment technologies. It was there that he met Govindan, a fellow engineer and now Gradiant's co-founder and COO, whose expertise complemented his in fluid mechanics and process engineering.
Unlike many founders who drift towards the language of venture capital and corporate strategy, Anurag Bajpayee and his team remained grounded in the technical problem: how to make industrial water treatment more efficient, more affordable, and more sustainable. The company still bears the imprint of its founders’ engineering roots. Gradiant is less Silicon Valley startup and more MIT lab, albeit one that has quietly expanded across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
What Gradiant Actually Does
The company specializes in designing and building bespoke water treatment and reuse systems for industrial clients. Its technologies are aimed at enabling factories and plants to reclaim water that would otherwise be discarded as waste, reducing both the amount of water withdrawn from natural sources and the volume of contaminated water discharged.
At the heart of Gradiant’s portfolio are proprietary technologies such as Counter Flow Reverse Osmosis (CFRO), Carrier Gas Extraction (CGE) and Selective Ion Recovery (SIR), developed from the Gradiant founders’ early research at MIT. Unlike traditional methods like reverse osmosis, these systems are designed to handle highly contaminated or complex wastewater streams, enabling clients to extract clean water even from previously unusable sources.
But Gradiant does not sell “one-size-fits-all” machines. Each project is tailored to the customer’s unique needs. For a semiconductor plant in Singapore, this might mean achieving ultrapure water reuse levels of 98%; for a food and beverage factory in Texas, it might be about safely treating wastewater for discharge while minimising energy consumption. The company's approach—sometimes called "solutioneering" internally—is both its competitive advantage and its raison d'être.
Expansion Without the Usual Hype
Gradiant’s growth has been quietly impressive. From its first commercial project in the oil and gas sector, it has gone on to complete over 500 installations worldwide. The company has raised more than $400 million in funding from a mix of institutional investors and private equity firms, achieving so-called “unicorn” status, with a valuation reportedly over $1 billion.
Unlike many green tech firms, Gradiant’s expansion has not been accompanied by flashy marketing campaigns or grandiose statements. Instead, the company has preferred to build credibility client by client, particularly in Asia, where water-intensive industries and growing environmental pressures make its services indispensable. Anurag Bajpayee, never one to speak in superlatives, frames the company’s expansion as a “response to urgent need” rather than a triumph of business.
Inside Gradiant’s Operations
At its core, Gradiant is still an engineering-first company. Anurag Bajpayee and Govindan, both technically trained and heavily involved in the company’s operations, have instilled a culture where R&D is not just a department but the lifeblood of the business. The firm currently holds more than 250 patents globally, a testament to its ongoing commitment to innovation.
But Gradiant’s success is not just about technology. The company has differentiated itself by offering not just equipment but full-service solutions, including project design, construction, operations, and maintenance. This full-stack approach has been particularly attractive to clients in highly regulated industries, who need water management solutions that work seamlessly and reliably without requiring deep in-house expertise.
Gradiant’s clients include some of the world’s largest manufacturers, including Fortune 500 companies in sectors like microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and energy. Some, like semiconductor producers, rely on Gradiant to help them meet stringent water reuse targets while maintaining ultra-clean production environments.
Navigating a Changing World
Gradiant operates at the intersection of several converging trends: climate change, regulatory pressure, and industrial decarbonisation. In many regions, water scarcity has become the limiting factor for industrial growth, sometimes more than energy availability or supply chain constraints.
While public attention often focuses on domestic water use, it is industries that consume the lion’s share of freshwater. Gradiant's pitch is straightforward: industries will have to do more with less, and Gradiant offers the tools to make that possible.
Anurag Bajpayee is keenly aware of the paradox that water, despite being vital, is often underpriced and undervalued, especially when compared to energy. “We don’t pay what it’s worth, only what it costs,” he told an audience at a recent conference. Yet, the landscape is shifting. Regulators, investors, and companies themselves are increasingly acknowledging water as both a business risk and a social responsibility.
What's Next for Gradiant?
Looking ahead, Gradiant appears poised to play a central role as industries adapt to water scarcity. Yet, Anurag Bajpayee remains cautious about the hype cycle. "The problem we’re working on isn’t going anywhere," he says. "It’s not a question of innovation alone, but of execution—of making sure these solutions actually reach the places that need them most."
In an era where water risk is increasingly material to business, Gradiant’s quiet, technically grounded approach may prove to be exactly what is needed.
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Eye. The publication does not endorse or take responsibility for the accuracy of any statements made by the author.)