Thirty-year-old Tanya Purohit looks like a leading lady: slim, beautiful and fair-skinned. But what makes her special is her intelligence, warmth and wry, comedienne-like wit. Having started out on a Delhi-based TV shopping channel as a promoter and then moving on to a Mumbai sports network, the Uttarakhand-born beauty is working her way ever deeper into Bollywood’s huge M&E (media and entertainment) industry.

The Nggapulu (named after a glacier-covered peak in Papua’s Jayawijaya range) is a German-built ship and part of the fleet of Indonesia’s national ferry company, PELNI. From the moment the passengers started boarding the towering, eight deck-high ferry – in a supremely chaotic rush of porters, luggage, crates and personal belongings – the Nggapulu became a microcosm of the republic itself.

The Gig Economy is a risky prospect for entrepreneurs and workers alike. Backed by massive corporations and venture capitalists, companies like Foodpanda and Grab can initially offer lucrative pay to their riders with the advantage of flexibility. However, once funding becomes scarce or competition increases, these incentives disappear as quickly as they emerge. When you take the shine off the gig economy, what’s left?