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What does it take to carry the weight of a classical tradition and simultaneously shatter its boundaries? In this special episode of Money Majlis XTRA, recorded in the heart of Kolkata, Suvo Sarkar sits down with tabla maestro and composer Bickram Ghosh for a conversation that moves effortlessly between raga and rhythm, art and entrepreneurship, spiritual alignment and streaming algorithms.

Born into a musical dynasty — his father the legendary Pandit Shankar Ghosh, his maternal grandfather the great Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee — Bickram was being shaped by the tabla even before he could read. He describes a childhood defined by beautiful contradictions: a California upbringing, a La Martiniere education, Rolling Stones covers by day and rigorous riyaz at dawn. That discipline, resisted fiercely in youth, became the bedrock of everything that followed.

His years accompanying Pandit Ravi Shankar became a masterclass in more than music. Bickram recounts two unforgettable lessons — one about eating octopus in Japan, and one about 15,000 people closing their eyes in a gymnasium in Taipei — that distilled what it really means to cross cultural borders, not just with your art, but with your whole self. He shares the story of a transformative four-hour conversation with Zakir Hussain in Los Angeles that gave him permission to become more than he already was, and the founding of Rhythmscape, his fusion band, which stayed at the top of India's CD charts for a decade.

The conversation turns to money, ownership and legacy in a way that few artists dare to. Bickram speaks candidly about licensing rather than selling his music, retaining control over his intellectual property, and thinking of himself unashamedly as an entrepreneur. He reflects on film scoring — where his master's degree in English literature gave him an unexpected edge in reading and interpreting scripts — and on his recent appointment as artistic director of music at the Venice Biennale, alongside a stunning project orchestrating Tagore songs with a hundred-piece German ensemble.

On AI, streaming and virality, he is characteristically clear-eyed: understand the tools, build your team, but never let the algorithm drive your art. And on legacy, his answer is just two words — True Music. Strong melodies, good rhythms, improvisation, skilled musicians, and music that moves and changes people. It is a deceptively simple ambition from a man who has spent a lifetime proving it is anything but.

For younger musicians and creative professionals, this conversation is packed with grounded advice: why knowledge and relentless practice still matter more than virality, how to build relationships with humility and charm, and why gratitude and enthusiasm can be your biggest unfair advantages even after forty years in the game. For listeners from banking, fintech and business, there are striking parallels with entrepreneurship: building a distinctive brand, owning your IP, diversifying revenue streams and designing a legacy that will outlive you.

If you care about creativity, culture, or simply building a meaningful career on your own terms, this rhythmic, reflective journey with Bickram Ghosh will stay with you long after the final beat fades.

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What happens when one of the world’s most dynamic payments corridors becomes a live laboratory for the future of money? In this episode of Money Majlis, host Suvo Sarkar sits down with Dr. Dimitrios Dosis, President for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard, to explore how technology, AI and cybersecurity are rewriting the rules of how we pay, get paid and stay protected across more than 80 markets. In this richly layered conversation, he makes the case for why this region is not just catching up with the rest of the world — it is outpacing it.

From Riyadh’s Vision 2030 to the UAE’s ambition to go largely cashless within the decade, Dimi explains why intent from policymakers, combined with strong spending power and youthful, curious consumers, is turning this region into a powerful testbed for real-time and digital payments. He shares how contactless payments, digital wallets and interoperable national schemes are moving from novelty to everyday habit, while mobile money in Africa continues to leapfrog traditional models and inspire new thinking on financial inclusion.

The conversation dives into Mastercard’s multi-rail strategy, spanning cards, account-to-account, real-time and even blockchain-enabled payments, and what that really means for banks, fintechs, merchants and SMEs in 2026. Dimi breaks down the payment trends he believes will hit critical mass this year – from AI-enabled payments and embedded finance to smarter loyalty and tokenisation – and offers practical guidance on how regional players can ride the wave rather than chase it.

Dimi dives deep into Mastercard's Agent Pay — the technology that allows an AI agent to complete an entire e-commerce checkout on your behalf, with your pre-given consent encoded in a Mastercard token. He explains why this shift from automation to delegation is not just a convenience feature but a structural reimagining of how commerce works, one that puts the consumer back in control through what he describes as the coming era of reverse auctions. He also reflects on the next generation of loyalty, from ultra-premium experiences like The Mastercard Collection and cards such as Ultima, to the promise of “segment-of-one” recognition powered by real-time data and AI.

Dimi speaks candidly about leadership — the value of authenticity, of owning decisions as if the money were your own, and of pairing data with instinct. And on a personal level, he shares what truly keeps him grounded across 80 markets: a Fender Stratocaster in his living room, and a yoga mat that changed his life.

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Produced by : Poddster

Giving partner : Goodworld

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Network International’s merger with Magnati has quietly created a new payments powerhouse at the heart of the Middle East and Africa’s digital economy. In this episode of Money Majlis, Suvo Sarkar sits down with Murat Cagri Suzer, Network’s Group CEO, to unpack what that really means for banks, merchants and consumers across 50+ markets.

Murat makes a compelling case for why MENA’s USD 250B digital payments market is poised to outgrow most global peers, powered by visionary regulators, aggressive investment and demographics that are rapidly embracing cards, wallets and real-time rails. He explains why the UAE has become a cashless testbed and how that model can be exported, with care, to more cash-heavy markets across the region.

The conversation goes under the hood of the new Network–Magnati platform: a Brookfield-led private ownership structure, over USD 400B in total payment volume and a footprint spanning 250+ financial institutions, 240,000 merchants and around 20 million cardholders. Murat is candid about the advantages of being private in a capital-intensive, scale-driven business, the realities of running an acquirer with more than 60 percent market share in UAE card acquiring, and why scale is not about supernormal margins but about having the firepower to invest half a billion dollars a year in resilient infrastructure and AI.

Suvo and Murat then dive into the next frontier: AE Coin, the UAE’s Central Bank-licensed, AED-backed stablecoin, going live across Network’s POS and ecommerce rails. Murat demystifies stablecoins for everyday retailers, explains how tokenised money can sit alongside cards and account-to-account payments, and outlines the risk, chargeback and consumer protection implications. He also points to concrete product bets: using transaction data to power SME lending via partner banks, providing merchants with revenue-enhancing analytics, and helping large corporates access best-in-class fraud and security solutions across 56 markets.

The episode is also a leadership masterclass. Murat reflects on lessons from Danone and McKinsey, his time running BBVA’s 60 billion dollar US consumer bank, and leading Turkey’s largest card business through volatility and innovation. He talks about why payments are really “fast-moving consumer services,” why emotional needs matter as much as functionality in product design, and why his leadership philosophy boils down to positivity, flexibility and surrounding himself with strong people.

A lively rapid-fire round – from Istanbul’s quirky card culture to Texas barbecue and the hidden power of “member since” on a card – rounds off a conversation that blends macro trends, technology strategy and very human insights into what it takes to build a regional fintech champion.

Visit moneymajlis.com to join our giving movement and get your USD 50 complimentary GiveCard.

Produced by : Poddster

Giving partner : Goodworld