Global IndianstorySaloni Lodha: London-based designer captivates the global audience with Indian fashion

Saloni Lodha: London-based designer captivates the global audience with Indian fashion

Compiled by: Charu Thakur

(December 13, 2023) Born and raised in India, settled in Hong Kong and based out of London, fashion designer Saloni Lodha is truly global in more than one way. If her designs have found a niche clientele among the who’s who of the world, she is still connected to her roots and it’s this perfect blend of Indian and modern that makes her a designer to reckon with in the fashion circle.

When she moved out of her home in Maharashtra as a teenager she had no idea that fashion designing was her calling. But serendipity put her in the right place at the right time, and as they say, the rest is history. With the likes of Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton, Emma Watson and Jessica Alba proudly strutting in the designs of this Indian designer, Saloni has become the champion of Indian textiles in the international market.

But the journey of this Global Indian wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine as she had to steer her way to the top.

Wings of freedom

Born in Nashik in a traditional Rajasthani family, Lodha was raised in a conservative setup that had the women of the house restricted to household chores. Seeing the various ages live under the same roof, the close-knit environment of the house started her love affair with textiles as she always saw her mom and grandmom clad in a sari. Being a very visual child, her eyes were always drawn to colors and prints. “From the age of 15, I began cutting up my grandmother’s brocade saris to make dresses for myself and my friends,” she said in an interview. But a young Lodha wanted to free herself from the shackles of tradition and therefore made the choice of moving to Mumbai at the age of 16 to study advertising at Sophia College. “It’s a very conservative and religious life. I don’t know how, but I always knew I didn’t want that,” she added. During those three years of college, she did internships and took as much freelance work as she could find.

Love for fashion – a new beginning

At 19, she met Giorgio, a banker from Italy, who she ended up marrying within a year. The couple soon moved to Hong Kong, and this was the place that played the perfect catalyst in giving wings to her designing dreams. She never intended to be a designer as her style quotient was mainly restricted to jeans and T-shirts throughout her college life. But her own evolution as she entered the glossy world of the Hong Kong expats gave birth to her clothing designs.

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“That’s when I started to think about fashion. All you could find there were these big luxury brands, so I thought I could make my own dresses and sell them to clients in a more personal way,” she said. She set up tiny pop-up shops to sell her dresses made of silk, cotton and brocade. This exposure helped her set sail for her future in designing and in the summer of 2003, she moved to London to do a course in fashion from Central Saint Martins. The British capital’s monochromatic fashion sense made Lodha think about adding a pop of color. “I realized I wanted to bring the spirit of India in some sort of way, but not in that obvious, hippie look. Here was India, the factory to the world — but there was not one single brand that retailed out of the top 200 department stores. That didn’t really make sense to me,” she told New York Times.

Her own global brand

So after spending a few years consulting for production agencies, she started her own company in 2008 with a focus on Made in India label. Her website reads, “The brand draws from the designer’s Indian heritage and its aesthetic is centred around a combination of color, artisanal craft and innovative cut and finish.”

The line was snapped up by top London department store Harvey Nichols and others followed suit. She launched her Summer/Spring 2008 collection during the London Fashion Week, but it was in July 2009 that the turning point in Lodha’s career came when Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame made an appearance at The Early Show in a red dress by Saloni. This put Lodha on the global map.

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“I just wanted to create a beautiful, contemporary brand taking the Indian aesthetic, which I grew up with, but modernising it with very simple silhouettes, something that anyone can wear anytime. You can wear it to go to work, you take it to the evening, but very affordable, and we wanted to use all the Indian handcraft and all the techniques – block-printing, weaving – but just to make it affordable because everything, at that point in the market, was so expensive,” she said.

Her label began creating the right noise in the fashion circles, and soon pulled in clients like Michelle Obama, Naomi Watts, Anne Hathaway model Helena Christensen and Samantha Cameron. If the creme da la creme were dressing up in her couture, luxury stores like Harrods, Selfridges and Barneys had stocks of her collection. In 2016, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, made heads turn with a Saloni Lodha dress for a function at Kensington Palace.

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With each passing year, Saloni Lodha brand started expanding its wings and making a name in the fashion market. In the last 15 years, Lodha has truly become a global name in the fashion circle as she beautifully infuses Indian textiles with western silhouettes making it a perfect blend of modern and rustic. “There’s a long way to go and I feel like I am learning how to do it every step of the way,” she added.

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Published on 13, Dec 2023

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Indian Union Budget 2022: Mental health, startups get a boost, while tourism, social sector look on

(February 2, 2022) The Union Budget 2022 announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2022 promised Indian stakeholders “amrit kaal,” with reforms for the next 25 years. While many sectors are reaping the benefits, the common man is short-changed. TEAM GI decoded what the budget amidst the pandemic means for the industries, and how to descramble these numbers. A startup for startups [caption id="attachment_19421" align="alignleft" width="263"] Vijay Anand, founder, The Startup Centre[/caption]

gnleft" width="263"] Union Budget 2022 | Vijay Anand Vijay Anand, founder, The Startup Centre[/caption]
That apart, finance minister Sitharaman has announced an open stack for the national digital health ecosystem, which means unique digital IDs will be provided to promote universal access to healthcare facilities. However, according to Vijay Anand, founder of the Startup Centre, also popularly known as the Startup Guy, “the open stack feature seems promising, but iSPIRT has already been working on this for years.”

The fact that the government has extended tax benefits for the startup ecosystem though is a welcome relief. “Things have been on a massive upswing in terms of the number of startups that have emerged and unicorns that came to be. This move was smart to not rock the boat and introduce minimal interventions this year,” says Anand, adding, “There are some issues that we still need to address overall if we want to make the Indian ecosystem competitive to global ones. There is already an ongoing discussion with the FM regarding these and a 120-point document has been shared, in consultation with startups and stakeholders,” he tells Global Indian.

A socially uplifting budget?

When budget 2022 was announced, many thought that it has missed social sector announcements. Interestingly, this is one sector that was highly neglected. Despite the pandemic creating a severe impact on the health, education and food security of the poor and informal sectors in the past two years, budget 2022 turned a blind eye to the social sector by restricting the spending that could contribute to improvements in human development outcomes.

Budget 2022 sees Health and Family Welfare that accounts for ₹83,000 crore, go up by only 16 percent. Calling out the discrepancy, Avani Kapur, a senior fellow at Centre for Research Policy tweeted, “Investments in the social sector remain neglected in this year’s budget. What has been particularly surprising is the low investments for health and also for some key schemes that were a safety net during the peak of the Covid-19 crisis. For instance, while there remain 77 lakh households that had demanded work under MGNREGS still to receive it, allocations for the scheme saw a 26 percent decrease over past year’s revised estimates. Food subsidy has seen a 28 percent decrease even as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana providing additional free grains to families was extended till 2022. Similarly, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, sees only a ₹200 crore increase this year.”

[caption id="attachment_19422" align="alignright" width="180"] Union Budget 2022 | Mayank Midha Mayank Midha, CEO of GARV Toilets[/caption]However, the allocation of ₹60,000 crore to provide tap water to 3.8 crore households under Har Ghar, Nal Se Jal Scheme, has been welcomed by the social sector. Mayank Midha, CEO, GARV Toilets, is glad to see the government’s commitment to delivering basic necessities. “There has already been significant progress in this project since its launch in 2019 and the target to reach 16 crore households by 2024 seems practical with fresh commitment of funds. Providing access to tap water for every household will positively impact community health, women empowerment and socio-economic parameters,” says Mayank Midha.

Mental health for the pandemic inflicted

The burden of mental health issues in India clocks 2,443 DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) per 100,000 population. Lancet’s 2019 study stated that one in seven Indians are affected by mental disorders, and a survey by NIMHANS calls out a treatment gap between of 70 percent – 92 percent.

With this budget giving the health sector a robust boost, ₹4,176.84 crore allocated, this added focus on health infrastructure has been lauded by business leaders and the industry too.

[caption id="attachment_19423" align="alignleft" width="292"] Union Budget 2022 | Dr Amit Malik Dr Amit Malik, founder, InnerHour[/caption] Dr Amit Malik, founder and CEO, InnerHour, a healthcare technology company looking to disrupt the psychological wellness and mental health, says, “India has nearly 200 million people with a mental health need and lots of barriers to access of high-quality professional support. The treatment gap for mental health in India is nearly 95 percent, and all partners, government bodies like NIMHANs, private partners like InnerHour, and NGOs need to work towards bridging this huge need gap.”

Optimistic about the passing of the Mental Health Act, the new initiative with NIMHANS and IITB in Budget 2022, Dr Malik adds, “It is very encouraging for those suffering from mental illness. It will increase awareness and provide early access to mental health support. We see this as a great step in the right direction and welcome it wholeheartedly.”

Tourism sector wants more

India saw 17.9 million foreign tourists arrive in 2019, while in 2018, the number was 17.4 million – seeing a growth of 3.5 percent. The recent budget allocation to the ministry of tourism - ₹2400 crore, 18.42 percent higher than 2021, is a start to revive the industry.

[caption id="attachment_19424" align="alignright" width="205"] Union Budget 2022 | Sriharan Balan Sriharan Balan, chairman, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India[/caption] However, Sriharan Balan, chairman Adventure Tour Operators Association of India - Tamil Nādu chapter and managing director, Madura Travel Service (P) Ltd says, “Budget 2022 is yet a big disappointment, and it’s very unfortunate that suggestions given by FAITH, TAAI, IATO, and other travel associations were neglected. An industry that contributes to 7 percent of GDP and 10 percent of direct and indirect employment has been left unheard.”
The pandemic has seen industries struggle, and bailouts given to travel in foreign countries. This would have been apt for the Indian tourism industry. Balan explains, “There is more burden in terms of TCS for outbound travel. Back-to-back lockdowns and increases in fuel price have played a spoilt sport. The government has definitely come out with a Bailout Funding Scheme rather than loans to uplift the industry from complete closures.”

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James Beard Awards: Chef Meherwan Irani’s Chai Pani named ‘most outstanding restaurant in the US’

(June 16, 2022) "Restaurants are so much greater than the sum of what's inside the four walls. A restaurant has the power to transform the people that work there, the people that come in, transform the communities we are in, transform society," said Chef Meherwan Irani, as his restaurant, Chai Pani, was named the US' most Outstanding Restaurant at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago. Born in London, chef Irani returned to India when he was a child and grew up in Maharashtra. An MBA program brought him to San Francisco and he has remained in the United States since, spending over a decade in car sales before giving it up to follow his dream. Founded in 2009 in Asheville by Chef Meherwan Irani and his wife, Molly Irani, the Chai Pani Restaurant Group quickly garnered quite the reputation with its desi street food favourites, like aloo tikki chaat, vada pav, pav bhaji and chicken tikka rolls. Customers looking for a traditional meal won't go home disappointed, there are several thalis on offer, including a Chettinad Thali from Tamil Nadu. Those with a more fusion palette can try the sweet potato chaat and the kale pakoras. "From Bombay to Buncombe and Asheville to Atlanta," reads the 'about' page

he sweet potato chaat and the kale pakoras. "From Bombay to Buncombe and Asheville to Atlanta," reads the 'about' page of the Chai Pani website. Today, the team is over 300 strong and Chef Irani is a prominent voice in the conversation around cultural exchange through food. In 2018, the Indian-origin chef was named as one of the '31 People Who Are Changing The South' by Time Magazine. Much of the inspiration came from Irani’s own longing for home-cooked food – he would wander through Indian stores in South Carolina, picking up all the spices he could find and trying, unsuccessfully to create a blend that compared somewhat with what he remembered from back home. When Chai Pani began, Irani’s mother arrived in the US to train the staff for two months, teaching them the complex, exacting art of working with Indian spices.

[caption id="attachment_25844" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Meherwan Irani | Molly Irani | Chai Pani | Global Indian Chef Meherwan Irani and his wife, Molly.[/caption]

In 2012, the group opened the MG Road Bar & Lounge which has received media attention from around the world. Chai Pani Decatur came in 2013 in Decatur, Georgia. Known for its Pani Puri nights, it has been a staple on the 'Best Restaurants in Atlanta' list ever since it opened up. At Botiwalla, in Ponce City Market and Charlotte, Chef Irani returns to the kabab houses from his own childhood, as well as the many grills and rotisseries that pop up in Indian cities after sundown, where spicy stir fries and rolls see brisk business.

Chef Irani also branched out into Spicewalla, to supply fresh Indian spices across North Carolina, paying homage to his own childhood. At his grandmother’s house in Mumbai, the family would sit together in winter to make their own dhansak masala. "Whole spices were brought to our home, often in jute sacks from the spice merchants," he says. "For days, the air would be heady with the scent of roasting coriander, mace, cumin and cinnamon. After the spices were roasted and cooled, we would blend and grind them in our old, large hand grinder using recipes written on scraps of paper that my grandmother would keep in a box in her dresser." In 2019, Oprah Winfrey added Spicewalla to her list of favourite things. "That was full circle," Irani said in an interview.

Chef Irani's earliest lessons in the kitchen came from his mother. Growing up, he was exposed to a versatile mix of cuisines, from pastas and casseroles to chicken cutlets served with tomato ketchup - all homemade. "We never knew what would be on the table for lunch and dinner each day. She could make potatoes taste like masala, with mustard seeds and fresh limes, or roast them with rosemary and olive oil... She applied Indian spices to dishes without changing the DNA of it," he told bon appetit.

[caption id="attachment_25845" align="aligncenter" width="639"] Meherwan Irani | Chai Pani | Global Indian Chef Meherwan Irani. Photo: Instagram @meherwanirani[/caption]

After graduating with an MBA from the University of South Carolina, Chef Irani moved to San Francisco. There, he began working at Lexus dealership, spending over a decade selling cars. In 2009, Irani quit his sales job to open his first restaurant - Chai Pani, in downtown Asheville where he lived with his wife. Today, he has five James Beard nominations for Best Chef in the Southeast under his belt and his restaurants have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, GQ, Men's Health, USA Today and Bon Appetite.

By Chef Irani’s side from the very start is his wife, Molly, who, unlike Irani, grew up in the restaurant business. Her parents owned a restaurant in the south-east (America) and Molly is no stranger to kitchens, chefs and restaurants. Having travelled to India for many years, she has brought rich and diverse experiences to the table at the Chai Pani Restaurant Group, where she is Hospitality Director & co-founder. Incidentally, Molly's family restaurant is where the two first crossed paths. Chef Irani said in a 2020 interview with Garden & Gun that his first job was "waiting tables in Myrtle Beach at a French patisserie. I married the owner's daughter, Molly."

As is evident by now, Chef Irani’s food comes wrapped in stories, which are consumed with equal gusto. Through these stories, Chef Irani finds his own connection between Southern India, from where he hails, and the American deep South, where he now lives. Despite the fact that his restaurants have expanded to other states, Asheville is his home: "What if we did what we really wanted to do," he once asked his wife, before the Chai Pani Restaurant Group began. "I honestly believe because we were in Asheville, we were able to answer that question, and Chai Pani was born."

Follow Chef Meherwan Irani, Chai Pani and Spicewalla on Instagram

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Mindfulness on the menu: Sumukh Tallam celebrates the slow life at Maya

(May 26, 2024) It is always heartening to meet a young person who follows his or her passion while caring about the environment. Their career trajectory feels like a victory lap – a win-win situation where they are doing what they love best, and simultaneously, saving the earth. One such determined young entrepreneur is Sumukh Tallam from Bengaluru. Though he comes from a family of jewellers, he had an early interest in cooking. One he attributes to his mother and grandmother. “I was always curious about what went on inside the kitchen. My mother and grandmother were feeding us haute cuisine, microgreens and edible flowers, and experimenting with regional cuisines, well before these concepts became trendy,” recalls Sumukh in an exclusive with Global Indian, adding, “My grandmother has also written a cookbook – Pakadharshi – by Bhoopalam Suryakaanthamma and Tallam Vijaayalakshmi.” The freedom to pursue his calling led Sumukh to a post graduate degree in culinary arts at Manipal University. This was followed by a course in food styling and mixology at EBS, London. On his return to India, he worked with various food brands as a food stylist before launching his restaurant, Maya, in Jaya Nagar, Bengaluru. [caption id="attachment_51973"

as a food stylist before launching his restaurant, Maya, in Jaya Nagar, Bengaluru.

[caption id="attachment_51973" align="aligncenter" width="465"] Sumukh Tallam[/caption]

Recollections in tranquillity

Maya is unique in several ways. Sumukh elaborates, “Firstly, I believe in the concept of the maker’s maya – that everyone has a creative side. You have an ikigai, as do I, and Maya gives you a platform to reflect on your creative side, whatever it may be – from painting to writing to cooking.” To each their own Maya. In keeping with this paradigm, the restaurant is on the first and terrace floors and the ground floor houses an art gallery. “We provide a platform for up-and-coming artists and my sister Anusha, who runs a creative studio named Ebbxflo, is also a curator. We have a different artist exhibiting every month and Maya is the first restaurant in India to have built a dining experience inside the premises of an art gallery where you can enjoy a slow, relaxed meal and art.”

The bungalow in Jaya Nagar is on a long-term lease and Maya has been designed in keeping with the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa’s design philosophy. Seamless incorporation of lush greenery, natural elements and ventilation, open spaces, and a synergistic blending in with the surroundings. As a nature lover, Sumukh has planted over 100 species of plants there that have certification from the Lalbagh Botanical Institute. He plans to bring in 100 more to make it the greenest restaurant in the country.

Mindfulness on the menu

The ambience is all about tranquil and calm surroundings. The music playing in the background too is soothing. The icing on the cake? The food reflects all these artistic elements. Says Sumukh, “I believe that you eat with your eyes first. The entire concept of eating is an art to me. When you eat mindfully, your soul is appeased. I aim to create that experience with every meal. I want my guests to have a consciously relaxed, spatial and culinary experience. Maya has a homely feel amidst all the chaos; we chose this area because you won’t find a green belt like this anywhere in the city, and the locality represents old world Bengaluru.”

[caption id="attachment_51974" align="aligncenter" width="703"] Maya[/caption]

The most important aspect of course, is the food. Sumukh, who refuses to call himself a chef, but prefers the moniker ‘a passionate cook,’ has designed the menu to serve global cuisine in a farm to table concept. “We source most of our ingredients locally. Most of them are organically grown. Having said that, since the water and soil is contaminated with pollutants and pesticides from elsewhere, one can’t really say they are 100 percent organic. Our herbs however are certified organic. We source our produce fresh every day directly from farmers and they are all within an 80 km radius of the city. We have a zero plastic policy and within six months we aim to achieve a 100 percent zero-wastage in our kitchen too. Our crockery is sourced from a company that works with tribals who live around the Nugu river. The eggs and chicken come from a farm where they are not fed hormones or antibiotics and are completely free range. Our seafood comes from Mangalore.” All in all, with the best practices to bring in the best quality and freshest food to the table.

Beyond Maya

The cuisine is global with Pan-Asian, Italian and a smattering of Indian dishes on the menu. Sumukh reveals, “We did try cuisines of my choice – Greek, Ethiopian and a bit of Sri Lankan. For some reason, they were not popular so we stuck to global food with wood fired pizzas, freshly made spring rolls etc. The most popular dishes today are the Vietnamese Onion Flower – a starter made with the flower bloom of the onion, the pizzas, and the Vegan Spring Rolls with julienned vegetables and glass noodles. Though they take us five to ten minutes more, we roll the wraps freshly just before filling them. This makes them less oily and is in keeping with our fresh food-only philosophy. The Palak Stuffed Paneer and the Kokum Infused Prawn are popular dishes. I love working with unique and atypical ingredients like kokum, jicama, palm sugar, cayenne pepper, salt alternatives like soy, miso paste, parmesan rinds, and pickle juice.

Maya is an all-day diner open from noon till late night but comes with its inherent challenges. Sumukh believes they are commonly faced in the hospitality business. “Staff attrition is huge; it is the hardest because getting good skilled staff is difficult. The overheads eat into our profits as real estate costs in Bengaluru are quite high. Plus, we face constant harassment from the regulatory and compliance folks.”

Despite all this, once the zero wastage in food milestone is achieved, Maya will become the greenest restaurant in India due to its sustainable practices. Sumukh’s company is called The Food Smith and Maya is one of its brands. Next on the agenda is a new project in Hyderabad, and, at Maya – virtual art exhibitions, artisanal food pairings where the artist’s vision is echoed through the food. He plans to hold an exhibition of the wildlife photographs shot by Chef Michael Swamy, Sumukh’s mentor and a photographer as well. He also wants to grow herbs where guests can walk through the garden and pick their herbs as ingredients or garnishes for the dish they have chosen.

With Maya on such a solid footing, where Mama Earth and her well-being is as important as serving good food, Sumukh is bound to be blessed by the universe to achieve greater heights.

While travelling, Sumukh likes to eat at:

Michelin star or guided restaurants as well as street hawkers, “I love jumping into the authenticity of the regional cuisine and trying local specials. Here are some of the best restaurants I have tried around the world,” he concludes.

Gaggan Anand, Bangkok – Opera of Food
Les Fondus de la Raclette, Paris – Grill and Meat
Moeders, Amsterdam – Translates to Mother’s Authentic Dutch cuisine
Dishoom, London – Modern Indian
Savoy, Sthalika, Mussorie – Garhwali cuisine

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Russell Peters: The Indo-Canadian comedian keeping the world in stitches

(October 13, 2023) 'Someone's going to get hurt really bad', that's the disclaimer that funnyman Russell Peters never fails to give before any of his performances. Witty, sarcastic and funny - the Indo-Canadian is a standup comedian whose jokes never run dry. From being one of the first artistes of colour to have achieved fame in comedy to becoming the first-ever comedian to get a Netflix special to making it as one of the highest-paid comedians, Russell has become a name to reckon with in the standup comic circle. But it has been a long journey for this brown boy who was bullied in school and had to fight his way to the top. From a bullied brown boy to a hip DJ Born in Toronto to immigrant Indian parents who immigrated to Canada in 1965 from Bombay, Russell's family then moved to Brampton when he was four. Growing up as a South Asian in the ’70s in Canada wasn't easy for a young Russell as he faced bullying at the hands of other kids for his ethnicity and cultural background. It affected him and what added insult to injury was his undiagnosed ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) that led him to

ficit/hyperactivity disorder) that led him to a special school. Eventually, Russell took up boxing to help resist bullying as it gave him the confidence and helped him overcome his insecurities.

[caption id="attachment_12082" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] Russell Peters is an Indo-Canadian comedian.[/caption]

While Russell was up for becoming tough to protect himself, he was also a cool guy who loved mixing tapes. At 15, he started DJing. In the summer of 1985, he learnt to cut, scratch and mix, and got his first turntable. This love for hip hop helped him get many gigs as a teenager. By the 1990s, he had become a well-known DJ in Toronto. But Russell was a multi-hyphenate who was exploring more about himself with each passing year. While DJing helped him evolve as an artiste, he equally loved performing on stage.

The deep dive into comedy

For someone who loved listening to comedy records as a kid, he developed a penchant for standup. However, with no one of his colour ever seen in the mainstream comedy market in Canada, he had to face strong dissent from his father. "Every reason my dad said I couldn't do this; was every reason I could do it. For example, my dad would say, 'There are no Indians in this business.' I would say, 'That's why I'll make it.' He would say, 'They won't understand you.' I would say, 'That's why I'll make it' I was the first guy who couldn't be compared to anybody else," he said in an interview.

While Peters was happy balancing his DJing with standup gigs, he worked as a shoe store attendant to make ends meet. "I was already a comic, but I obviously wasn't making any money, so I worked at ALDO during the day. Then I would go do comedy at night and I would DJ on weekends," he said.

Russell Peters | Global Indian

But things took a stunning turn for the 53-year-old when he met his idol American comedian George Carlin in 1992. Carlin advised Russell to get on the stage whenever and wherever possible, and the comedian took it to heart. "It's the reason I am where I am right now," he wrote on his website. After doing standups at bars, Russell made his TV debut with Comedy at Club 45 and later tickled the funny bone of the audience with Comedy Now and Just for Laughs. For almost a decade, he kept appearing on television but fame still eluded him. Things took a turn when a 2004 special on the Canadian TV show Comedy Now found its way to YouTube. In no time, the small snippets focusing on cultural groups from the show went viral and made Russell an overnight star.

How the funny man became an overnight star

His observational comedy that found its footing in ethnic, racial, class and cultural stereotypes got him acclaim worldwide. For someone who makes money from his wit, Russell has never censored his act to suit the temperament of the audience. "The only thing I don't touch on is religion. People are prepared to die for their religion. Otherwise, I don't believe in censorship and won’t censor myself. If I do, I'm not being true to being a comedian - which is a truth-teller," the Global Indian told FirstPost.

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Three years later, he became the first comedian to sell out Toronto's Air Canada Centre with more than 30,000 tickets sold nationally over a two-day sales period. Not just this, the comedian broke a UK comedy sales record at London's O2 Arena when he sold 16,000 tickets to his show in 2009. 2010 brought with it another record-breaking gig in Sydney with an audience of 13,880 making it the largest stand-up comedy show ever in Australia.

Cashing in on the success, Russell released his autobiography, Call Me Russell in 2010 which chronicles his humble beginning as a brown, bullied kid to his rise as one of the world's top-earning comics.

In 2013, he secured a third spot on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid comedians, and became the first comedian to get a Netflix standup special, Notorius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Fmvj3dbSU

While shows and television kept Russell occupied for majority of the time, he also tried his hand in Hollywood with films like Source Code, The Jungle Book, and Fifty Shades of Black.

In 2016, Russell turned producer with a Canadian music documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution that won him a Peabody Award and the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming.

Russell, who began at a time when people of colour were almost invisible in the comedy circle, has come a long way. And the comedian is happy that the world of comedy has metamorphosed. "It’s no longer dominated by white guys. It’s obviously more diverse — not just racially, but gender-wise and culturally. It’s also global now. It’s more accepted as an art form unto itself in more and more countries," he added.

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Meet Dr. Shyam Bishen: The Indian-origin executive heading the Global Health and Healthcare arena at the World Economic Forum

(January 2, 2023) As a reporter covering the global pandemic, one of the biggest tragedies that I reported on was the severe shortage of basic medicines in various developing countries, including India. While the world leaders were busy finding a solution to this problem, which might have claimed thousands of lives, an Indian-origin healthcare leader - Dr. Shyam Bishen - pulled up his sleeves and worked tirelessly in licensing and technology transfer of COVID-19 antiviral drugs from US pharma to Indian companies. His only aim was to ensure that these drugs can be produced and made available at an accessible price to low- and middle-income countries. [caption id="attachment_33403" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Dr. Shyam Bishen, Head of Health and Healthcare, World Economic Forum[/caption] "One of the prime goals in my life has been to increase the accessibility of medicines in developing nations. When the pandemic hit the world in 2020, I was working with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as their regional director of partnerships in the global health arena. My focus was to ensure that COVID treatment drugs were accessible in India and other developing countries as soon as possible. Back then anti-viral medicines were being developed by Merck, Pfizer, Gilead,

I was working with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as their regional director of partnerships in the global health arena. My focus was to ensure that COVID treatment drugs were accessible in India and other developing countries as soon as possible. Back then anti-viral medicines were being developed by Merck, Pfizer, Gilead, and other big US pharma companies. Even though these drugs were patented, I worked on establishing a partnership that can bring licensing to Indian pharma companies such as Dr. Reddy's and Cipla. I am glad that it was a successful initiative," shares the healthcare industry expert as he connects with me from Geneva, Switzerland.

Currently heading the global health and healthcare arena at the World Economic Forum, Dr. Bishen is working on establishing a public-private partnership. "I am invested in bringing private players in the healthcare industry and governments from across the globe so that we can look into and find sustainable solutions for the major health-related issues people are facing. I am engaging political, cultural, and industrial leaders from various countries to overall shape the global health and healthcare agenda," Dr. Bishen tells Global Indian in an exclusive interview.

Spreading his wings

Born to an affluent family in the small town of Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Bishen grew up on a farm in the village. "I spent several years of my childhood in the village, where my family owned a farm. I remember, when I was in the eighth standard, I received a merit scholarship. So we subsequently moved to the city for my education," shares the healthcare executive, adding, "Even though I come from a family of lawyers, I was always interested in building a career in sciences. My father was very ambitious for me and always emphasised the importance of education. He would often tell me that if I worked hard and was focussed there is no reason why I couldn't win a Nobel Prize one day. My parents were so invested in my education that my mother even learned a little English so that she can teach me," he smiles.

Healthcare | Shyam Bishen | Global Indian

An ambitious student himself, Dr. Bishen secured the first rank in his Bachelor of Science class and went to Lucknow University on a National Scholarship to complete his master’s in chemistry with a gold medal. "I was very happy with my accomplishments. I wanted to study further, so after my master's I joined IIT Delhi as a Ph.D. student," he shares. However, his destiny was somewhere else. About 18 months into his course, Dr. Bishen got an offer to join the University of Newcastle, Australia as a Ph.D. scholar, in 1984.

"That opportunity proved to be a turning point in my life. For a small city boy, going to Delhi itself was a big adjustment for me. But when I decided to move to Australia, even though I prepared for it by watching several Hollywood movies," he laughs, before adding, "It was a bit of a culture shock for me. I came from a place where no one spoke English to a land where English was the only language I could use to communicate. During my initial days there, I did struggle to adjust." After finishing his Ph.D., Dr. Bishen did a short post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, post which he left for the USA and joined academia as an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The world of healthcare

After working on anti-cancer research at the Medical University of South Carolina for four years, Dr. Bishen decided to join the biopharma industry in 1992. In his 35-long-long career, he has worked with several leading pharma companies, including Pfizer and Merck. While in the biopharma industry, the healthcare expert has discovered many drug candidates in cancer and HIV areas and is listed as the primary inventor on several US and world patents. During his stint at Pfizer, Dr. Bishen also earned an MBA degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He was also trained in a yearlong leadership programme at Harvard University.

[caption id="attachment_33409" align="aligncenter" width="565"] Healthcare | Shyam Bishen | Global Indian Dr. Bishen with Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India[/caption]

"While working for the big pharma companies, I got quite interested in the business side of how the drugs are developed and manufactured. I discovered that people in developed nations have good access to medicines, whereas the same is not the case with people in developing nations. Patients in developing nations have to wait for the medicines to be made in their countries until the patent registered in a developing nation expires. I wanted to explore a business model," he shares.

[caption id="attachment_33408" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Healthcare | Shyam Bishen | Global Indian Dr. Bishen at the first World Bio Summit in Seoul, Korea[/caption]

Dr. Bishen joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2014 and worked to establish programmes like Tuberculosis (TB) Drug Development Collaborator to develop universal TB drugs. Passionate about treating and ending TB, as he has seen its ravaging effects on people’s lives and families in India, Dr. Bishen also participated in the End TB meeting hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in 2018.

In 2022, Dr. Bishen joined the World Economic Forum and as the chief of the health and healthcare division, he is working on ensuring that the world is better prepared for any other global health crisis. Speaking about his work, he says, "We wouldn't have lost so many people if we had better access to medical facilities. We saw how the healthcare industry collapsed in various parts of the world when COVID first hit us, and we do not want that to happen again. I want to make sure that there is equitable access to diagnostics, medicines, vaccines, and treatments for everyone, irrespective of their country. So, for this, I am working with the G20 and G7 nations, and other countries in Africa to ensure that the world handles the next pandemic in a better way."

Extreme weather events like floods, hurricanes, heatwaves & droughts severely threaten global health systems.

Developing resilient health systems that can withstand climate change & other shocks is critical.https://t.co/kK030b6kfC | @economistimpact | #SDG3 pic.twitter.com/TjUaBOGwyM

— UNOPS (@UNOPS) October 14, 2022

But a virus is not the only thing to be scared of in today's world. Dr. Bishen and his team are also looking to tackle various environmental crises across the globe, which are the root of many medical crises as well. "The World Economic Forum is treating climate change and its effects as an emergency. In my mind, environmental disbalance has caused many healthcare-related issues that the world is facing today. There is an increase in several diseases including malaria, dengue, asthma, COPD, and other cardiovascular problems around the world. If we do not take appropriate steps to look for a solution today, these problems will only manifold in the future," he shares.

Giving back to the society

The healthcare expert, who has dedicated over a three-and-a-half decade of his life to making basic medical facilities accessible in the developing nation, is also quite passionate about girl child education. Dr. Bishen is the Chairman of the Global Girls Scholarship Foundation (GGSF) - an organisation dedicated to educating underprivileged girls in developing countries by providing them with scholarships and other academic-related resources needed for success.

Healthcare | Shyam Bishen | Global Indian

Talking about the organisation, the healthcare expert, who still visits his hometown in UP quite often, says, "I feel that in the rural sectors of India, girls are at a disadvantage when it comes to education, as it is not prioritised by their parents. This issue has bothered me for a while and several years I wanted to do something to rectify the situation. GGSF is registered in the US but does most of its work in India and Africa. In the last four years that the foundation was established, we have been able to generate significant funds with major donations and sponsor over 35 girls' education. But, we don't want to stop at just getting them educated. We will also b collaborating with other organisations to help them find a job."

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