History Buff | Sumedha Verma Ojha | Global Indian

Global IndianstoryThe rest is history…how Sumedha Verma Ojha quit bureaucracy to bring Sanskrit literature to the world

The rest is history…how Sumedha Verma Ojha quit bureaucracy to bring Sanskrit literature to the world

Written by: Amrita Priya

(May 6, 2022) Putting a fourteen-year career as a bureaucrat and a stint at the United Nations behind her, former IRS officer Sumedha Verma Ojha dedicated herself to spreading knowledge about the Indian epics and bringing Sanskrit literature to the modern world. Her first book, Urnabhih, is a work of historical fiction set in the Mauryan period and based on Chanakya’s Arthashastra (the science of material gain). It expanded into a series on the Mauryan empire with the second book, Chanakya’s Scribe, being released this April. With a third part in the works, Sumedha is now all set for a book tour in the US, India and UK. Sumedha is also making a historical web series (Bharat Keerti) on Mauryan India, giving viewers a glimpse of how ancient times laid the foundations of modern life. The English version of the series is available on YouTube, while the Hindi version is in the pipeline for a Doordarshan broadcast. “I think I have been lucky,” Sumedha says, modestly, in an interview with Global Indian. “I wanted to follow my passion and I got that chance. My passion is now my profession, what could be better?” Sumedha has also translated Valmiki Ramayana from Sanskrit to English and delves deep into the gendered analysis of the ancient India.

Sumedha Verma Ojha with her just released book Chanakya’s Scribe

To foreign shores

The first turning point in Sumedha’s career came when she moved to Geneva with her bureaucrat husband 14 years ago for his job at the UN. Sumedha set out on what was intended to be a sabbatical and ended up writing her first book. “During that time, I researched and wrote Urnabhih,” she says. “As I immersed myself in Sanskrit scriptures, I realised that bringing alive the past and studying the scriptures in their original form give me deep satisfaction. I resigned from the civil services and took to learning Sanskrit seriously, so I could read everything in its original form.”

What followed were frequent lectures in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Her Ramayana lectures made such an impact at the Los Angeles Public Library that they appointed her as the library’s single-point of contact for South Asian outreach. She was also pleasantly surprised to find that while her interpretations of the Ramayana were popular with the Indian diaspora, Americans were drawn to them as well. “They outnumbered the Indians,” smiles the alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College and Delhi School of Economics.

Sumedha with librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library

Spreading indigenous Indian knowledge

The passion to spread knowledge brings her to MIT School of Vedic Sciences in Pune as a visiting faculty, where she takes classes online. “It’s an experimental boutique college that combines the western system of academia with indigenous Indian knowledge systems. She has been at the helm of this experimental teaching and has even prepared the syllabus of the various programmes including the master’s programme in Vedic sciences that are in the offering.

Sumedha is also a council member at the international organization, Indica Today, which is a platform for revival of Shastraas (sacred book of treatise), Indic knowledge systems and Indology, taking care of the women’s studies vertical. Last month, one of its conferences brought her to Guwahati. The conference was a resounding success with 40 scholars from different parts of the world there. “We feel that there is too much of a Western gaze on academics. It’s time we brought our own perspectives to it as well,” Sumedha remarks, saying she has always been drawn to history and its significance in modern living.

Love for history and ancient India honed at home

Her earliest influence was her mother, whom Sumedha describes as a “very well-read and learned person.” This ensured she had “a great entry into history: Puranas (ancient Sanskrit writings), Vedas (earliest body of Indian scriptures), Upanishads (religious teachings of Hinduism) and ancient India through her,” says Sumedha. She recalls being introduced to the Arthashastra as a student in class eight. Her fascination, she says, has remained intact. “I always rely on primary sources for my studies,” Sumedha explains. “I read either the text or the archaeological inscriptions, study the coins, or visit the monuments and ruins that are still standing. I take a 360-degree view of the past and learn about the history, culture, food, society, religion, as much as I can, all through primary evidence.” While the Mauryan dynasty remains her focus, her love of history is not confined to a single period.

Unconventional giving…

She admits it’s been an unconventional life, filled with choices that few would make. Not many Indians, for instance, would dream of giving up a job at the UN, let alone a post in the civil services. “I have a desire that drives me, though,” Sumedha smiles, adding, “I want to do away with Indians’ ignorance of their own past. I want to see a society that understands itself. If we don’t understand our past, we cannot understand ourselves. That is my passion and it always drives me.” Indians, Sumedha believes, have become used to seeing “through the eyes of colonial masters when instead they should look through our own knowledge systems and languages.”

Sumedha at Ramayan Launch with Niti Aayog Chairman, Amitabh Kant, Maharana of Mewar Arvind Singh and Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books.

Digitization of Sanskrit manuscript a boon

By the time Sumedha discovered the depth of her love for Sanskrit – and Indian history – she was living abroad. Finding primary sources for research was a struggle. “I had friends sending me books,” she says. “Then came the great movement towards the digitization of Sanskrit manuscripts, which has been a boon to me. I can read them all anywhere.” She visits India often too – before the pandemic, it was as often as four times a year for research and other activities. “I consult libraries in India and buy lots of books there,” says the lifelong scholar, who grew up in serene Ranchi back when it was part of Bihar.

The past and the present

“Possibly, I live more in the past than in the present, and I want everyone else to know about it. That’s why I write books, give lectures and talks and make web series so that all Indians can learn more about their roots and through that, get a better understanding of the present,” Sumedha says.

Sumedha’s husband Alok Kumar Ojha is now the director of the World Meteorological Organisation, the weather arm of UN in Geneva. The couple met during training after Sumedha aced the civil services exam two decades ago. Their two children live in the US.

Sumedha Verma Ojha with her family

Apart from writing the third book in the Urnabhih series, she is in the midst of writing her fourth book which is based on the women of ancient India. “It will establish a new approach to understanding women, based on the epic shastrick and Indic traditions of the subcontinent,” she adds.

Primary (original) source of research of ancient India:

Literary sources (Vedic, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other literature)
Archaeological sources (epigraphic, numismatic, and other architectural remains)
Letters, manuscripts etc.

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Published on 06, May 2022

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Eric Garcetti: The US Ambassador’s Passage to India

(May 23, 2023) Eric Garcetti's Indian love story began when he was a teenager. He recalls that trip vividly, down to the name of the tea stall in Old Delhi, 'Aap ki Pasand', which he visited twice. And most of all, he remembers the warmth he received from the Indian people. "I came to India for the first time when I was a teenager. And even though the place has changed so much, the warmth and friendliness of everybody remains the same,' he said, speaking at event shortly after he took charge as the US Ambassador. As it happens, the ties run even deeper than that - remarkably enough, Garcetti came back when he was 19, to stay with the then-US Ambassador, because his son was his college roommate. "The universe works in mysterious ways," Garcetti remarked. In fact, back in 2013, Garcetti, who was a mayoral contender then, attended a breakfast meeting of entrepreneurs and addressed a Sikh businessman in Hindi. Even so, maybe there was a fault in the stars, but Garcetti's passage to India as the Ambassador was not an easy one. He was nominated back in 2021 by US President Joe Biden, as he served the

en, as he served the last few years of his tenure as Los Angeles mayor. That final leg was steeped in controversy - the Senate stalled his appointment. The key post been left vacant for well over two years, after Kenneth Juster's term ended on January 20, 2020. It was the longest time without a US envoy to India. Finally, in 2023, Garcetti was sworn in by US Vice President Kamala Harris.

[caption id="attachment_39039" align="aligncenter" width="474"] US Ambassador Eric Garcetti with Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani[/caption]

Garcetti is here at a crucial time, as India and the US recently launched the Critical and Emerging Technology initiative to focus on the development and production of military hardware equipment and expanded cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. And despite differences over the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Joe Biden cabinet hopes India will balance the rise of China. He has been well-received, spotted posing with the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani, trying his hand at a game of cricket and eating vada pav.

Garcetti’s legacy as mayor

They have found the right man for the job. Garcetti is no stranger to challenges - he entered the mayor's office as the youngest mayor in LA for over a century. He came prepared for the unexpected and his expectations were surpassed. "I have told my successors and other contendors, there are two jobs to being mayor. One, there are the things, you want to see, your proactive agenda. Second are the things you hope will never happen but you know will, like an earthquake, civil unrest, or in my case, a pandemic," he said in an interview, looking back at his thorny decade as mayor.

The homelessness crisis skyrocketed, going up by over 30 percent during his tenure, which he described as the 'result of four decades of failure'. He also guided the city through the pandemic, soothed civil unrest during the 'defund the police' campaign, and oversaw the passage of 'Measure M' to make public transport more affordable. He also brought about the Twenty-eight by 28 initiative, an effort to complete 28 transport infrastructure projects before the 2028 Summer Olympics to be held in L.A.

Early life

Eric Garcetti was born on February 4, 1971 in Los Angeles. He grew up in Encino in the San Fernando Valley, the son of Sukey and Gil Garcetti, who is the former LA County DA. His paternal grandfather was born in Chihuahua, the son of an Italian immigrant who married a Mexican woman. He was hanged during the Mexican Revolution and his son, Salvador came to the United States. His maternal grandparents were Russian-Jewish immigrants - both sides of the family put down roots in Boyle Heights, where Garcetti grew up.

"I have an Italian last name, and I'm half Mexican and half Jewish," Garcetti remarked during his first run for the Mayor's office in 2013, after having served as Councilman for nearly a decade. He donned a yarmulke and sang Hanukkah songs with rabbis, and stood on the steps of City Hall wearing a Peruvian headpiece and speaking Spanish to show his support for the stretch of Hollywood's Vine Street that was renamed Peru Village'. It went a long way with LA's multicultural fabric. He became the city's first Jewish mayor and the second Mexican American.

The young Garcetti was an excellent student and politically savvy, too. In high school, he was a member of the Junior State of America, which promoted civic engagement and political debate among students. He majored in political science and urban planning from Columbia University, which he attended as John Jay Scholar. Even there, he was on the student council, president of the St Anthony Hall fraternity and founded the Columbia Urban Experience.

After graduating, Garcetti was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and studied at Oxford and the London School of Economics. He did his research and human rights missions in East Africa and was a visiting instructor of International Affairs at the University of Southern California, and an assistant professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve Information Dominance Corps from 2005 to 2013.

[caption id="attachment_39044" align="aligncenter" width="592"] Garcetti served as a Lieutenant in the US Navy Reserve for eight years. Photo: LA Times[/caption]

Public life

In 2001, Garcetti was elected to City Council District 13. In 2006, he was elected as Council President and remained in the post for six years. He implemented the Constituent Bill of Rights, ensuring that phone calls from constituents were returned in a day, and also held "office hours", meeting with them face to face. In 2004, Garcetti composed Proposition O to clean the city's waterways and helped the city cut its water use to deal with drought.

Garcetti declared his mayoral candidacy in 2011 and was elected two years later. In 2017, he won by a landslide, serving for five years and six months, much longer than the standard term of four years. He worked towards LA leaving behind its personal car culture in favour of walkability and public transport, a big step in the city's urban plan.

In the arts

He's an accomplished pianist, given to "soul, jazz and Keith Jarrett-esque improvisations," as he puts it. In college, he performed in the student-written musical tradition the Varsity Show, for three years. "My great grandparents played the piano, my grandparents met at music school and my mom played as well," he said. "I was continuing the family tradition." He even kept a piano in the mayor's office, playing for a few minutes between meetings or whenever he got the chance, to "clear his head."

Garcetti married his longtime girlfriend Amy Elaine Wakeland, a fellow Rhodes scholar, whom he met a Oxford. They adopted their daughter, Maya Juanita, and have also fostered seven children.

Follow Eric Garcetti on Instagram and Twitter.

The ‘Maharaja’ of wheat: Dr Sanjaya Rajaram

(June 20, 2023) Growing up in a small farming community in Raipur, life was tough for Dr Sanjaya Rajaram and his family. Having seen stark poverty in central India's rural heartlands, Rajaram had seen the ugliness of stark poverty. It led him to dedicate his life improving the lives of smallholder farmers around the world. The World Food Prize in 2014 was an acknowledgement of decades of scientific work - Dr Sanjaya Rajaram, who served for over 33 years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, developed more than 480 wheat varieties, leading to an increase of over 200 million tons in worldwide wheat production. Humble beginnings Rajaram was born in 1943 in Raipur, the same year, incidentally, that the CIMMYT was founded in El Batan in Southern Central Mexico, with its nascent programme headed by the legendary Norman Borlaug, known as the father of the Green Revolution. Borlaug's work would bring him to India to spread the word, resulting the Green Revolution led by MS Swaminathan, with whom Rajaram would also work. Rajaram studied genetics and plant breeding at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, during which time he worked with MS Swaminathan.

[caption id="attachment_32639" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Dr Sanjaya Rajaram receives the World Food Prize. Photo: www.worldfoodprize.org[/caption]

"He is known for his genuine concern for farming and farmers," Swaminathan said at the time, about Rajaram. "He is a worthy successor to the legacy of Norman Borlaug and was selected for his outstanding work in the improvement of wheat crop and wheat production in the world."

Rajaram, not always given to talking about his childhood, allowed himself a moment of reminiscence at the World Food Prize acceptance speech 2014. "My childhood wasn't easy," he remarked. "My family made a meagre living growing maize, rice, wheat, sugarcane and millets. There were a few goats, cows and buffaloes as well." Rajaram's parents, he says, "valued education and made many sacrifices" to send him to school. "Seeing people live in poverty ignited a passion in me to dedicate my life to work that makes a real difference." The newly-independent India in which Rajaram grew up was a tough place - at the time, 96 percent of rural children lacked basic schooling. "I was in the fortunate four percent," Rajaram said. As acknowledgement of this, Rajaram dedicated a part of his $250,000 prize money to an educational institute in India.

Finding Norman Borlaug

Rajaram graduated with a BSc in agriculture from the University of Gorakhpur, which played a leading role at the time in the Green Revolution. He followed it up with an MSc in genetics and plant breeding from IARI and then moved to Australia, where he earned a PhD from the University of Sydney. A prolific researcher through his life, Rajaram had more than 400 research publications and had mentored hundreds of scientists around the world until his passing in 2021.

In 1969, after his PhD, Rajaram moved to Mexico to join CIMMYT, headed still by the legendary Norman Borlaugh, who would become one of the driving forces behind Rajaram's own work. "It was a few years after the great events of the Green Revolution. Despite the food security gains, there was no time for complacency. There were mountains to climb and the fight against hunger has not yet been won. The fight for food and nutrition security had not even begun."

[caption id="attachment_32640" align="aligncenter" width="569"] Sanjaya Rajaram in Izmir, Turkey in 2014. Credit: Linda McCandless / Borlaug Global Rust Initiative[/caption]

Borlaug was quick to spot potential in the young man, who would spend his days wandering through small wheat farms, clad in baggy jeans and a sweatshirt, usually. Eventually, Rajaram went on to take over as the director of wheat research at CIMMYT and also as direct of ICARDA's biodiversity and integrated gene management programme. He is also the owner and director of R&D for Resource Seed Mexicana, which promotes wheat varietes in Mexico, India, Egypt and Australia. "working for the poor and the hungry was the trademark of Rajaram. Borlaug was the main spirit of Rajaram's work," said G. Venkataramani, Rajaram's biographer and author of 'Mr Golden Grain, the Life and Work of the Maharaja of Wheat'.

Building worldwide food security

Rajaram was an active proponent of the private and public sectors working together - it is the only way, he believed, to tackle the enormity of the task at hand. "Feeding over nine billion people by 2050 will not be a trivial task. Sustainably increasing wheat production will have crucial impact on livelihoods and food security. For wheat alone, we will need to grow sixty percent more grain than now, on the same amount of land, while trying to use fewer nutrients, less water and labour," Rajaram explained. "However, the staff of life for 1.2 billion people is one of the lowest-funded crops in terms of research." It's a daunting prospect, even after the robust successes of the Green Revolution.

Dr Rajaram is credited with developing 58 percent of all the wheat varieties that exist today, according to his biography. He is best known for his contributions to the development of two high-yield wheat cultivars - Kauz and Attila. These produce at least 15% higher yield than other types, holding more grains on each stalk. They are cultivated across over 40 million hectares worldwide. The process involved winter and spring wheat gene pools, shuttle breeding and mega environment testing.

Promoting young scientists

President Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Dr Sanjaya Rajaram (Posthumous) for Science & Engineering . He developed 490+ high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat varieties grown in 51 countries. This has increased global wheat production by more than 200+ million tons. pic.twitter.com/fieCxk6V9Q

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 28, 2022

Working on the field and truly understanding the problems of farmers, Rajaram believed, was critical to promoting new ideas and technology. This is a nod to Borlaug's legacy, which Rajaram dedicated himself to building. "Borlaug and I promoted the international community by connecting scientists across the world. Applied training should be the standard for any scientific institution," said the Global Indian. The way forward, he always said, was unity among the private and public sectors, free sharing of knowledge and seeds and training young scientists on the ground. "There can be no permanent progress in the battle for food and nutritional security until all the partners unite," he remarked.

Dr Sanjaya Rajaram is also the winner of the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman, the highest civilian honour given by the Indian government to Indians abroad. He also received the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2022.

These Indian techies break the chain with blockchain

From securing critical documents to creating new protocols to unlocking working capital, Indian techies are unchaining blockchain for a variety of applications. (February 3, 2022) Blockchain has grown from being just an industry buzzword to a full-fledged technology stream that harnesses the power of impenetrable ledger data for a variety of applications. Of course, blockchain shot to fame with crypto, which essentially unleashed an alternate currency for the world to trade in. But today, thanks to innovative Indians who are committed to making a difference, we have a variety of blockchain applications that have a massive impact on our daily lives, as well at the blockchain industry at large. Let’s take a look… Securing property papers [caption id="attachment_19450" align="aligncenter" width="381"] Tanmay Yadav, founder, CRUBN[/caption] On January 24, the Prime Minister of India felicitated the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees, as per tradition. However, this year was slightly different. Each awardee was conferred with a blockchain-based digital certificate, and this initiative was in partnership with a blockchain startup called CRUBN. The company was incubated at IIT Kanpur in 2020, and is founded by Tanmay Yadav. Tanmay has also started collaborating with individual state government to create innovative solutions aimed at

in partnership with a blockchain startup called CRUBN. The company was incubated at IIT Kanpur in 2020, and is founded by Tanmay Yadav. Tanmay has also started collaborating with individual state government to create innovative solutions aimed at better and safer governance. For instance, he recently tied up with the Center for Smart Governance, Government of Karnataka, to create a blockchain-based property data storage solution, eliminating the risk of impersonation and tweaking of historical records. Explaining the solution, Tanmay says, “The solution gives every property holder a card, which upon authentication by the user, provides access to property-related documents in electronic form. The card can be accessed at citizen service centres for access.” Tanmay believes that solutions like these are an ideal testimony to how blockchain can be used for secure data storage.

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Covid-19 test certificate powered by blockchain

[caption id="attachment_19452" align="aligncenter" width="367"] Indian Techie | Vignesh Babu Vignesh Babu Venkatesan, founder, Print2Block[/caption]

In mid-2020, when the entire country was raging under the first wave of the pandemic, the government of Maharashtra realised that test certificates of those testing negative was around 70 percent of those getting tested. In order to ensure that negative certificates reach users on time, the government turned to blockchain. Chennai based Print2Block, provided this solution by setting up a private blockchain where the data resided on government servers while the processing and retrieval happened at the private Print2Block server. Co-founded by Vignesh Babu Venkatesan and Joji Verghese, Print2Block, the NASSCOM- incubated startup specialises in issuing digital documents on blockchain. Vignesh tells Global Indian, “We were the first to develop a robust trust infrastructure platform, along with a human interactive USB device that facilitates secure document access.” The masters degree holder in mechatronics from Madras Institute of Technology envisions a world where electronic documents exist in the safest possible corner of cyberspace.

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Reimagining a blockchain platform

[caption id="attachment_19451" align="aligncenter" width="417"] Indian Techie | Jaynti Kanani Jaynti Kanani, founder, Polygon Technologies[/caption]

“Built by developers, for developers” is the mantra of Polygon Technologies. Created with the vision of building a framework and protocol for connecting various blockchain networks, Polygon became a familiar name in the blockchain circuit, when its Singapore-based, Indian-origin founder Jaynti Kanani, became one of the first Indians to secure a huge funding from Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban. Today, the company has crossed market capitalisation of $10 billion. Interestingly, Jaynti was a regular data scientist with housing.com prior to founding Polygon. Oftentimes, he recalls how his humble beginnings as a diamond factory worker’s son in the outskirts of Ahmedabad, slowly morphed into a full-fledged career and entrepreneurship in blockchain. Kanani recalls, “From a monthly salary of ₹6,000 from my first job in Pune, to Polygon, the journey has been amazing. The potential of blockchain is so huge that there’s no looking back now.”

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Ploughing equity back to the industry

Founded by IIT-Bombay graduate Piyush Gupta, Polytrade was created as early as 2014, with the aim of supporting small businesses by providing working capital to those who were struggling for finances. Piyush realised quite early that the main reasons SMEs struggled with finances was lack of understanding around some trade finance instruments such as lack of collaterals, high cost of borrowing, and exhaustion of credit limits. As per industry data, the unmet demands of working capital for SMEs in India is to the tune of ₹2,200 crore. Piyush wanted to change this.

[caption id="attachment_19453" align="aligncenter" width="355"] Indian Techie | Piyush Gupta Piyush Gupta, founder, Polytrade[/caption]

Piyush, MD and founder, Polytrade says, “We’ve just launched (on January 31, 2022), Polytrade Mainnet, essentially opening up a supplementary source of financing for SMEs by creating a blockchain-based decentralized protocol.”

By leveraging the power of blockchain and crypto, SMEs operating in the area of crypto now have access to finances in their own virtual currencies, allowing them to innovate at will. Like most others in the blockchain innovation space, Piyush is passionate about doing his bit for India. “India’s SMEs will be key to achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objective of making the country atmanirbhar and a $ 5 trillion economy. Polytrade will ensure that these small enterprises have the working cash to achieve their goals,” explains Piyush Gupta.

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Indian author Sreemoyee Piu Kundu gives single women the Status Single community to thrive

(January 4, 2021) Ever tried to house hunt as a single woman in the country? Kept a low profile at family dos to avoid the constant badgering by pesky relatives on your yet single status? Or for that matter had to back out of parties that would permit couples only? In a country where the single woman (over 74.1 million as per the 2011 Census) population struggles with gross under-representation, the issues and pressures faced by single women are simply too many to enumerate. And the loneliness can often be staggering too. Which is why, when Indian author Sreemoyee Piu Kundu released her last book Status Single back in 2018, she had an avalanche of messages from singles from across India. The overwhelming response led to the birth of her now popular online community Status Single. The community — which has now grown to offline chapters too — is a sort of support network for single women across the country. And now it is set to further spread its branches with the launch of two new offline chapters: in Dubai and the UK. Today, Status Single has over 700 members on WhatsApp groups in six cities, nearly 2,000 on Facebook. “We’re all just

ingle women across the country. And now it is set to further spread its branches with the launch of two new offline chapters: in Dubai and the UK. Today, Status Single has over 700 members on WhatsApp groups in six cities, nearly 2,000 on Facebook.

“We’re all just walking each other home,” says 44-year-old Indian author Kundu, a firm believer of Guru Ramdas. “We’re a highly active community on Facebook and share issues, problems, and advice. When the pandemic happened, we realised what a marginalised community we were. There are barely any laws protecting single women in the country,” adds the NDTV Woman of Worth Awardee (2016).

Indian author | Sreemoyee Piu Kundu | Global Indian

The pandemic and lockdowns threw up several heart-wrenching stories of struggles single women faced in India. From losing jobs to looking for second-hand devices for online classes for their children, solely handling caregiving for aged parents as siblings were married and settled elsewhere, differently-abled women struggling as caregivers had stopped coming, and older single women dealing with loneliness as their children were far away. The stories were many, the problems similar.

“We created a buddy system to check in on each other. We’d do zoom calls to pep them up or fix doctor appointments. Mental health was precarious given that single women had no support structure: many were dealing with loss of jobs, income, pay cuts and shutting down of projects,” Indian author Kundu tells Global Indian. “That is when we realised a Facebook group wouldn’t suffice. So we began organising national Zoom calls every second Sunday. They would last hours, and members would discuss various issues: from the loss of loved ones, grappling with the pandemic, struggling with finances and much more.”

An offline support system

Earlier in 2021, one of the Kolkata chapter leads suggested meeting offline, and the notion took hold. Soon Status Single had offline chapters in several cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Lucknow, Bengaluru, etc. Today, it is set to launch its Dubai and UK chapters. “We have a core team in every city and chapter leads. Each month, we choose a topic – women and wealth, self-love, mental health, etc. We also rope in experts from finance, mental health, etc to speak,” says Indian author Kundu, of the workings of Status Single.

Indian author | Sreemoyee Piu Kundu | Global Indian

Talking about her role in the community, Kundu says that she feels like a mother, albeit a younger one. “I consider myself to be akin to Gandhari with her 100 children. My work with the community definitely increased since the pandemic in 2020. There were days when I’d field as many as 50 calls from women wanting to join the community. In fact, the community became my strength in many ways,” says the Indian author, who herself battled for her life after a bout of Covid in April 2021. “I’d spent about three weeks in the ICU and it was my community of warrior women that inspired me to fight my best fight. It would’ve been extremely hard to soldier on given all the trauma and death around me. But these strong women inspired me to fight, recover and recuperate.”

Single, and fighting the good fight

Indian author Kundu, who’s proudly living up the single life, has been setting the benchmark for singles across India for a while now. From celebrating her 40th birthday like a wedding where she made vows to herself, to proudly owning her life and all its achievements, this author has no qualms in embracing a life that is quite different from what she’d once dreamt of. “There was a time when I dreamt of getting married, having three kids and a beautiful home. But life led me down a different path. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but I’m enormously proud of the woman I’ve become,” says Kundu, who gave up on her archaeology dreams following an abusive relationship that saw her escaping Kolkata early on.

[caption id="attachment_18430" align="aligncenter" width="1440"] Indian author | Sreemoyee Piu Kundu | Global Indian Sreemoyee with the Status Single group at an offline meet up[/caption]

Her second relationship ended in a broken engagement and a nervous breakdown. A chance job at Asian Age in Delhi changed the course of her life for good. She became an editor at 25 and pursued a career as a journalist for 15 long years before moving to PR as head media strategy. “Books happened quite by accident. I wrote my first book on a holiday in Australia. I came back and impulsively quit my job to turn author and it clicked,” says the Indian author, who is a trendsetter. From becoming the first Indian woman to write about sex with Sita’s Curse to becoming the first Indian woman to writing lad lit with You Got the Wrong Girl, she has been breaking stereotypes for a while now.

For Status Single, the book, which was born out of the Below the Belt column she wrote for DailyO, she interviewed over 3,500 single women – unmarried, divorced, widowed, transwomen or separated. “In a way, I suppose my books shaped me as a community founder, curator of diversity and inclusion events and a chat show host,” says Kundu, who learnt a great deal from her mother, who dealt with widowhood and a single life after the death of her biological father.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkpev1QBtnc[/embed]

“For the longest time, all she did was care for me, her aging parents and her job at Loreto House. She wasn’t allowed to participate in customs and her parents stopped seeing her as a woman... just as a widow. Then she met the man of her dreams and they got married. At age 60, she decided to foster a girl child. I now have a 12-year-old sister. My parents have always stood by my choices and are proud of all that I do. But I’ve largely walked the path alone on this journey,” says the Indian author, who is currently working on Unhealed, her second non-fiction book after Status Single to be released in mid-2022 by Bloomsbury.

Lessons in life

From dealing with abuse, abandonment, loneliness to becoming a celebrated author and now a community founder, Kundu has come into her own. She is working to expand Status Single and hopefully turn it into an organisation this year. “It needs a sense of structure and hierarchy. Becoming an organisation will help us spread our wings and probably rope in investors for funding to expand,” signs off Kundu.

Follow Sreemoyee Piu Kundu on LinkedIn

Follow Status Single on Facebook and Instagram

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Kiveshan Thumbiran: Exploring South African artistry through the lens of Indian mythology

(July 28, 2023) Kiveshan Thumbiran is an Indian-origin artist, born and raised in South Africa. Like his identity, his creations are a blend of both Indian and South African elements. The artist amalgamates Hindu mythology and iconography with the imagery, incidents, and stories of contemporary South Africa to express his perspective as an individual who does not completely belong to either of the two nations. Recognising the prevailing lack of awareness about Indian religion and culture in South Africa, one of his primary goals is to enlighten the masses and foster equal respect for Indian culture in the African nation. “In South Africa, Indian people are a minority who are often pushed to the back in social settings. Many Indian people adopt Western behaviours to fit in. For me, my pride in my culture is a resistance to fit the norm. Hence my interest in Hindu mythology,” Kiveshan tells Global Indian adding “The Indian mythology allows me to interpret the world as I see it in a way that is comfortable to me.” [caption id="attachment_42610" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Kiveshan Thumbiran[/caption] Born and raised in Lenasia, a suburb in the city of Johannesburg, Kiveshan had a childhood filled with diverse play experiences,

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[caption id="attachment_42610" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Indians in Africa | Kiveshan Thumbiran | Global Indian Kiveshan Thumbiran[/caption]

Born and raised in Lenasia, a suburb in the city of Johannesburg, Kiveshan had a childhood filled with diverse play experiences, which also included crafting his own toys. Watching the TV show ‘Ramayana’ by Ramanand Sagar was a customary activity in the Thumbiran household. The show inspired young Kiveshan to replicate the mythological series' weapons to play with. This early exposure marked the beginning of his fascination with mythology, which gradually evolved into a distinctive form of artistic expression. Today, as a practicing artist, Kiveshan channels his passion for mythology, making it a prominent tool in his creative repertoire.

Strong influences

“My mother hails from Gujarat, and my father was a descendent of indentured labourers from Tamil Nadu who were brought to South Africa during colonialism,” he shares. As his parents worked full time, Kiveshan grew up spending lots of time with his maternal grandparents who taught him about the Hindu culture.

“They often highlighted that our culture is something to be celebrated, to engage with and to be proud of,” he says adding “My grandmother used visuals from the Ramayana to impart lessons to me and my siblings while my late grandfather taught us about the nuances of our Hindu faith.” Both his grandparents have had an indelible mark on Kiveshan’s outlook.

He thinks of his grandfather who passed away in 2007 as an artisan of many talents. “From carpentry and woodwork to tailoring, he was truly multi-faceted. He believed that knowing our roots and paying homage to our ancestors and culture would keep us in good stead no matter where we end up in life,” Kiveshan remarks. His absence is still painful for the artist, but his memories serve as a strong motivator when he is feeling low.

“He was like a pillar to everyone around me, and his personality encourages me to go beyond my limits to help every child in a bad space who is thinking to give up in life,” he remarks adding, “My grandfather would have loved to see me graduate and learn Indian classical music, but he passed away before that.”

[caption id="attachment_42608" align="aligncenter" width="530"] Indians in South Africa | Kiveshan Thumbiran | Global Indian One of the art works of Kiveshan Thumbiran[/caption]

In the path of art

Unlike many artists, Kiveshan did not think of making art as a career when he was a child. “I often made dragons from my mother’s clothes pegs. This led me to develop my drawing and sketching skills - to envision and to create,” he says adding, “The high school that I attended did not have any art programme, so I ended up teaching myself how to draw by consulting different books. The subjects in high school prepared me for a standard desk job but I wanted to do something else and applied to pursue fine arts at the University of Johannesburg, and luckily got accepted.”

Today, Kiveshan is a known face at art exhibitions. For him, these events serve as an excellent means to stay abreast of developments in the field while providing ample opportunities for continuous exploration. Additionally, he actively takes on commission work. "I am always open to creating art as long as someone reaches out," says the artist whose fields of specialisation range far and wide.

He is into drawing, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and more modern practices such as photography, videography, and digital art.

Kiveshan obtained his National Diploma (N-Dip), Baccalaureus Technologiae (B-Tech), and M-Tech in visual art from the University of Johannesburg and serves as a lecturer at Stellenbosch University. He has also served as the coordinator for the new media studies course which earned him the first prize for ‘Innovation in Higher Education using Technology’ at the Excellence in Education Awards hosted by iStore and ThinkAhead. For the impactful message that his art conveys, Kiveshan Thumbiran has received many awards and accolades, the most recent being one of the M&G’s 200 Young South Africans - the Mail and Guardian’s 18th edition of celebrating the efforts of South African trailblazers.

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Artist with purpose

The photography and digital media lecturer at Stellenbosch University's visual art department teaches and supervises students from first year to master's level while actively being engaged in research through art-based methodologies.

As a young Indian lecturer of colour, his mission involves transforming and decolonising the tertiary education space through his teaching and research. Through his art, he aims to challenge the boundaries that define who can identify as African and confront problematic issues within South Africa, including the challenges of tokenism.

Kiveshan has been paving the way for the Indian diaspora to participate in the country's art scene and contribute to reshaping South Africa's artistic landscape with diversity and inclusivity.

“Art can communicate where words fail. It’s a tool for creative problem-solving. Artists possess a unique ability to approach problems and address social issues from perspectives that may not have been considered by others before,” tells the teacher who motivates his students to make use of their unique abilities to bring change.

Deeply passionate about South Africa, his vision for the country's future is one where there are minimal or no distinct social classes, and it becomes a place of abundance and prosperity for both the native-born citizens and the ones who have migrated.

Finding joy in music

Indian mythology is part of Kiveshan’s creative pursuits in more ways than one. Not only does he engage with it artistically, but also has a strong connection to it through his musical pursuits. He is adept at singing bhajans and proficiently plays the harmonium and sitar. “My mother sent me and my siblings to singing classes, however, I was impatient with classical music as a teenager and instead took the harmonium to the mandir to teach myself how to play it along with people singing, honing my skills and training my ears in the process,” he shares.

Indian in Africa | Kiveshan Thumbiran | Global Indian

At one point in time, Kiveshan even considered taking up music professionally. “However, music has become something deeply personal and profound to me. I would rather sing in a mandir as a devotee than take it up as a professional pursuit,” says the artist who associates music with spirituality and meditation.

Giving voice to the diaspora

In his work and research, Kiveshan Thumbiran has projected himself as part of the Indian migrant diaspora (including both indentured and non-indentured migrants). “I had been seeking an answer to the question ‘Who are Indians and why do we not belong?’ long before the recent racially fuelled aggression to the Indian community which began with the Zuma protests,” he tells.

The artist’s quest to understand the role of the ‘Indian body’ in present-day South Africa will soon be the foundation for his Ph.D. research. He holds two significant aspirations - first, to attain a Ph.D. focused on integrating art and Hinduism in a compelling thesis, and second, to expand the reach of his work beyond South Africa. “My eyes are set on finding a way to the prestigious India Art Fair,” he tells. Kiveshan also intends to develop a syllabus that empowers creative youngsters to become catalysts for positive change across the African nation.

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Find more details at kiveshan.myportfolio.com

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