Global IndianstorySunny (Gurpreet) Singh – promoting holistic wellbeing in a turbulent world

Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh – promoting holistic wellbeing in a turbulent world

Written by: Charu Thakur

(March 12, 2022) Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and wellbeing seeker, Sunny aspires to revolutionise people’s understanding of their wholistic mental and physical selves. More than two decades back, Sunny made the transition from tech to well-being, and last week, he launched a first-of-its kind app for humans around the world to achieve better mental health

Back in 1995, NRI Sunny setup a company called Edifecs, from Seattle. The healthcare technology company, aimed to improve healthcare delivery for patients, caregivers, and professionals. It all began with the vision to solve one of the most burdensome, time consuming and wasteful problems of healthcare — Paperwork. Edifecs wanted to unify disparate information channels and automate core business processes. Sunny and his team combined their software experience and innovative ideas in electronic trading—and took on the business of complex transaction processing across a wide variety of vertical industries. Soon, the company grew to a size of 600 employees. It went on to become a unicorn and today it has over 350 healthcare customers and is serving more than 215 million lives.

But this was just the tip of the iceberg for Sunny. His true calling was human health and well-being, which he realised through his dream startup, RoundGlass.

Sunny Singh is the founder of RoundGlass

Transforming healthcare from ‘sick care’ to preventive care

In an exclusive interview with Global Indian, Sunny said, “While leading Edifecs, I got a chance to get intimately familiar with the healthcare system. And I discovered that it wasn’t about healthcare at all — it was about sick care. This realisation led me to my next goal: To transform the prevailing reaction-based approach in the healthcare world to one that’s proactive and focused on prevention, in addition to treatment.” He added, “RoundGlass emerged from this vision. I set it up in 2014, with the mission to democratise wholistic wellbeing and, in the process, create a healthier and happier world”.

A wholistic well-being app for today’s times

RoundGlass recently launched the RoundGlass Living app that aims at helping users find their way to managing work-life balance, getting better sleep, parenting, eating healthy, coping with grief, and making end-of-life decisions. RoundGlass Living offers guidance from the world’s best teachers in the form of authentic, science-backed courses, classes, live sessions, and more, guiding users to a life of happiness, harmony, health, and growth. The wellbeing champion explains, “As a long-time seeker of wellbeing, I have realised that it is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It is as much about physical health as it is about emotional centring; it is also about financial safety, and a stronger connection with our community and the planet. That’s why, we have developed a wholistic approach to wellbeing across eight dimensions or pillars — physical, mental, professional, financial, social, community, planetary, and spiritual. These pillars reflect all the aspects of life that contribute to individual and collective wellbeing. The app, available for iPhone and Android users, has a free and a premium version (Living+) with a monthly subscription of $7.99 and an annual subscription of $59.99.

I am excited to share the new RoundGlass Living app, where we put you at the center and help you feel happier and healthier.

Update the RoundGlass app in your settings or download here – https://t.co/z6ztGVn9yl pic.twitter.com/3813tJMf1h

— Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh (@SunnySingh) February 15, 2022

Vision to democratise well-being

The RoundGlass Living app is just one part of Sunny’s wholistic wellbeing vision. His true goal is wholistic wellness. He says, “At RoundGlass, our mission is to democratise wellbeing for the world. To this end, we also invest in social impact initiatives. For instance, the RoundGlass Foundation is accelerating development in under-served communities of Punjab, my home state, with learning and sports-based initiatives for children and youth, self-help groups for women, reforestation, waste management, building entrepreneurship and sustained financial independence in the region. The foundation has impacted the lives of over a million people in more than 1,000 villages in the state in the past four years.”

Wellbeing Champion | Sunny Singh

Another wing of RoundGlass is RoundGlass Sports, which is aimed at channelising the energy of children and youth by creating opportunities for them to take up and train in sports such as football, hockey, and tennis. The wellbeing champion explains, “We have established sports academies that offer best-in-class facilities, coaching, accommodation, and education to budding athletes.” Finally, his company is also committed to our planet’s wellbeing. Sunny says, “We are creating a media-rich encyclopedia of India’s biodiversity through RoundGlass Sustain. It tells engaging stories about India’s wildlife and habitats while creating awareness, impact, and a compassionate community.”

There is a special #joy in practicing the simpler things in life: #eating well, #caring for our friends, and looking after our #health. #simplicity #joy #wellness #care #friends #wellbeing #roundglass #wholisticwellbeing @RoundGlass_ @RgFoundation1 pic.twitter.com/xm6xPHPPLw

— Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh (@SunnySingh) February 1, 2022

Parents’ formative role in a Sunny future

Born to a father, one of the country’s leading hockey players, supported by a mother who constantly instilled the traditional Punjabi values of compassion and empathy, Sunny from a very early age, felt a strong sense of proximity to them and their values. He says, “This feeling always inspired me with a sense of safety, trust, and kinship, which, in many ways, shaped who I am. My father has always inspired me to live healthy and to give back to society. Despite his humble beginnings, he became one of India’s leading hockey players of his time and has coached several Olympians and world champion players. Having a father who was a professional field hockey coach, teamwork and healthy competition were the bedrocks of my family and social life. He taught me the importance of perseverance, collaboration, and passion. Thanks to him, I was able to experience the benefits of participating in sports, especially team sports, as a child”. Speaking about his mother, the wellbeing champion says, “My mother was my best friend. She supported me in all my projects — from my endeavours as a child to full-fledged entrepreneurial pursuits. She shared her wisdom and knowledge with me and laid the foundation of my life of wholistic wellbeing. The life education I received from her: from mindful eating and parables of traditional Punjabi wisdom to treating others with respect, compassion, and empathy has helped me become who I am, and also influenced my work.”

Sunny Singh with his father Sarpal Singh

An emotional Sunny says, “She was a polite, gentle, and kind woman, and although we didn’t get to spend much time together, she taught me lasting life lessons that are now part of the RoundGlass framework of Wholistic Wellbeing”.

Well-being during turbulent times

Sunny believes that wellbeing is more important now than ever. He says, “The global pandemic has made us acutely aware of our own impermanence, our mortality, and ushered in a paradigm shift in the way we approach our wellbeing. Wholistic Wellbeing can help us find our way back to serenity, nourishment, movement, community, and joy. Today, planning our wellness journey and investing time in it has become just as important as pursuing our professional and social goals. A consumer survey done by McKinsey in 2021 found that 79 percent of the respondents believed that wellness is important, and 42 percent considered it a top priority. Since last year, millions of people across the world have chosen to leave unhealthy workplaces and work schedules to make time for their physical, mental, and social wellbeing. People are choosing to slow down, to find joy in living in the moment and in being mindful.”

Sunny has been performing yoga everyday for the last two decades. “For me, being fit isn’t just about exercising – it’s about how I eat, sleep and relax. If I don’t feel fit, I don’t look fit. I only evangelize what I practice in real life – mindfulness and overall wellness,” he adds.

The message is loud and clear. The post-pandemic world requires us to slow down and focus on our selves across multiple dimensions, and with people like Sunny evangelising mental health, help is easily accessible.

Sarpal Singh is a veteran hockey player

Honing tenets from his father

Sunny Singh’s father Sarpal Singh, a veteran field hockey player and coach to over a dozen Olympians and international hockey players from India, has been conferred the Dronacharya Award 2021 in the lifetime category by the Indian ministry of youth affairs & sports.
His father represented Punjab and India in many hockey championships, bringing home medals and laurels. He mentors and helps identify and nurture talent, including international hockey players and Olympians from India.
His father represented Panjab University in intervarsity field hockey championships, and the Indian Railway team which won the National Hockey Championship in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He was also recognised among the top 22 players for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and was selected for the Indian field hockey camp for the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 12, Mar 2022

Share with

ALSO READ

How Dr. Keshav Singh became a pioneer of mitochondria research

(November 25, 2022) In 2018, Dr. Keshav Singh, a professor of genetics at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, was experimenting with mitochondria in mice. The team introduced a mutation to induce dysfunction and, over the next few weeks, observed that the mice developed wrinkles and lost hair - their bodies were ageing. It was an exciting development - if the loss of mitochondrial function led to ageing in mice, could the opposite delay or even prevent it? So Dr. Singh restored the mitochondrial function in the now-wrinkled mice and sure enough, their skin cleared, and the hair grew back. It became the foundation for a startup - Yuva Biosciences. Global media came knocking and Dr. Keshav Singh, a world leader in mitochondria research. Currently, the Joy and Bill Harbert Endowed Chair and Professor of Genetics, Pathology, and Dermatology at the University of Alabama, Dr. Keshav Singh, the author of three books and over 100 research publications, is on Stanford University's list of the top two percent of scientists in the world and one of Newsweek's Innovation Heroes. For over two decades, Dr. Singh has been at the forefront of mitochondrial research, working tirelessly to make a change. He even uses

research, working tirelessly to make a change. He even uses his talent for painting to create artistic renditions of mitochondria on canvas.

In October 2022, Dr. Singh and his team also received a grant from NASA, after a study showed that 57 astronauts suffered from mitochondrial anomalies after their stints at the International Space Station. The organisation has awarded Dr. Keshav a grant to do the animal studies - "We will take our mice and work at the NASA facility in Brookhaven, in a laboratory-created space environment," he told Global Indian.

[caption id="attachment_32114" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Dr Keshav Singh[/caption]

A long journey

The accolades, although never the end goal, had been a long time coming. Some fifteen years had passed since he started the Society for Mitochondrial Research and Medicine, first in the USA and later on in India, as well as a scientific journal, Mitochondrion, in 2000. At the same time, Dr Singh, along with his young son and daughter, would work late into the night on a companion newsletter, MitoMatters. "My daughter was in charge of the newsletter. We were trying to create awareness."

"Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell," is biology's most repeated line, and any Indian student who paid attention in high school can rattle it off without pause. Little is known even today about the complex set of mitochondrial diseases induced due to primary defects in mitochondria. And the information was even scarcer when Dr. Keshav chose it as an area of research. "Nobody cared much for it," he says. "But one of the godfathers of mitochondria biology happened to be at Johns Hopkins at that time. I was looking for a mentor - when you are an immigrant, moving around all the time, you have no mentor." Dr. Keshav’s ambitions were thwarted when he was told, "You're wasting your time. Mitochondria produce energy and there's nothing more to it."

Bareilly to Boston

It wasn't great news, but by this time, well-honed by the education system in India and abroad, Dr. Keshav wasn't about to give up. He recalls the early days over a Zoom call early on a Saturday morning. "My father was in the railways and I was the youngest child in the family," he says. "At school, we didn't get a desk until sixth grade, we had to sit on the floor." The day the furniture arrived was one of great excitement.

Dr. Keshav excelled in school and in the sixth grade received his first scholarship of Rs 16, a significant sum then. "The first big change came when I did my master's in GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology," he says. After having tried and failed to get a medical seat, Dr. Singh settled on microbiology, which was a top branch of science at the time, with only six seats available across India.

"In college, I used cow dung to make methane, and at the same time, my brother was using methane to make biogas to power a village." His brother also went on to set up the Ministry of Non-Conventional Sources of Energy.

Fuelled by one academic success after the next, he continued to receive scholarships, at the National Dairy Research Institute, at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and IIT-Delhi, "I was offered scholarships, but the problem I faced was that I didn't speak English too well, so I joined Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow for a short while under a CSIR fellowship."

To foreign shores

He had his degrees but wanted more than to "do mediocre science." That led him to the University of Wollongong in Australia, where he did a Ph.D. in marine biology and received a scholarship to Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratories. " At MBL, I isolated a bacterium from sewage sludge, which was a lot of fun. It turned out it had unique characteristics and hadn't been discovered before, so I named it after my Professor and me. It grows as a clump but is a single-cell organism." After a post-doc at Harvard, Dr. Keshav joined Johns Hopkins, where he would remain as a faculty member until 2003.

Mitochondria research

"I learned that hundreds of mitochondrial diseases have no cure or even a name or diagnosis," Dr Singh remarks. He recalls one case - that of a high-profile patient, the scion of a global hospitality company, who visited Johns Hopkins complaining of a problem in his eye - "he had no energy in the eyelid and a lot of other problems as well," Dr. Keshav explains. The patient had visited a nephrologist, eye specialist, and neurologist and made no headway with a diagnosis. Mitochondrial diseases are multisystem disorders, so patients end up consulting specialists in those areas without much luck.

Mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited and passed on to the egg, which contains about five million mitochondria. Each mitochondrion contains 100 copies of the DNA. If even one percent of that DNA is mutated, "you don't know how it will be distributed in different organs and in which order. That is the dilemma," Dr. Keshav says. "You may be okay for a while, but if the mutant load increases, you develop symptoms quickly. And even today, there is little or no training in some parts of the world, particularly in India, for physicians to connect these dots and arrive at a diagnosis."

Work in India

Starting in 2006-07, Dr. Keshav began collaborating with Dr. K. Thangaraj at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad; Dr. Keshav set up the Society for mitochondrial research and medicine in India. Physicians from America are brought to India to train the physicians here in recognizing symptoms and diagnoses. "There is no treatment, though," Dr. Keshav admits. For 15 years now, the society has been organising conferences, bringing scientists and physicians together in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Manipal University, Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, and JNU in Delhi.

In the United States, they also involve the patients. Just like the HIV model that was followed in the 1970s and 80s, we bring patients at the end of the conference. The scientists train the physicians, who train the patients, who then go to the politicians and make their case." Mitochondrial diseases are supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. "There are around 400 diseases related to mitochondria. But, unfortunately, only a handful have been accepted," he says.

[caption id="attachment_32111" align="aligncenter" width="577"] At the first annual conference of the Society for Mitochondria Research and Medicine[/caption]

Energy for all

Spurred on by the success of the anti-ageing experiment, Dr. Keshav co-founded Yuva Biosciences with serial entrepreneur and fellow Harvard grad Greg Schmergel. Their mission is to "restore mitochondrial function to rejuvenate you, starting with your hair and skin that is provide youthfulness for life."

The experiment with the mice also received the attention of an MD clinical fellow, Jasmine Chiang, who saw the story in the news. She approached the team at the University of Alabama, asking to work on the ovaries of the mice. "I asked her why an MD and Ob/Gyn who deals with patients would want to do this." Dr. Chiang, however, was interested in working on the ageing of the ovaries, which takes place at a much faster rate than the rest of the body.

"Mice go through processes which are very similar to that of human beings. When women go through menopause or ovarian ageing, hormones are downregulated, putting them at high risk for cardiovascular, cancer, and neurological disorders. "The idea is to understand how mitochondria control ovarian functions and how we can delay menopause." Two women in a 100 (amounting to some 60 million women) suffer from premature ovarian aging, a condition for which there is no treatment other than egg donation. Notably, in some countries like Germany, egg donation is prohibited.

[caption id="attachment_32108" align="aligncenter" width="566"] Dr Keshav Singh | Global Indian Dr Keshav K Singh[/caption]

'Fem tech' and ancient Indian remedies

India, Dr. Keshav says, has much to offer in the area of rejuvenation. "We have concepts like kayakalpa, medicinal plants, and the knowledge of Ayurveda. People talk about regenerating through yoga. At a cellular level, there are technologies in existence that can be utilized and applied along with kayakalpa and yoga to develop ways to rejuvenate mitochondrial function and energy". Dr. Singh's goals is to find a way to prevent, restore and rejuvenate mitochondrial function to extend health span and provide energy to all to age well when you get old. He is leading the field to accomplish this goal.

Follow Dr Keshav Singh on LinkedIn

Rajnish Bajpai: Driving the development of rural India through SmartGaon

(August 19, 2024) In 2015, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, traveled to the US and addressed the Indian community in San Jose, California, imploring them to give back to the society they came from and stressing that Indians abroad should be counted as “brain gain” and not “brain drain.” Among the audience was Rajnish Bajpai, who held a job at Synopsys Inc. and was deeply motivated by the PM’s speech. “I couldn’t sleep for two days after I heard the speech. I was determined to do something for my motherland,” he recalls, in an interview with Global Indian. It was this determination that soon made him start the SmartGaon initiative with his friend Yogesh Sahu, which worked towards making India's villages' smart. Things came to a full circle when the Prime Minister mentioned Rajnish and his initiative in his Mann Ki Baat program in 2018, lauding his efforts and holding him as a shining example as to what global Indians can achieve. He is the first NRI who was appreciated in the national program. [caption id="attachment_53837" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Rajnish Bajpai was lauded for his SmartGaon initiative by PM Narendra Modi on his Mann ki Baat program[/caption] By leveraging his expertise and passion,

/www.globalindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Untitled-design-4.png" alt="Rajnish Bajpai | SmartGaon | Global Indian" width="700" height="400" /> Rajnish Bajpai was lauded for his SmartGaon initiative by PM Narendra Modi on his Mann ki Baat program[/caption]

By leveraging his expertise and passion, Rajnish Bajpai has made a significant difference to society, transforming rural communities through technology and innovation. His efforts have not only improved the quality of life in these villages but have also inspired others to contribute to the development of their homeland, showcasing how the efforts of one person can act as a multiplier for a community.

A rooted upbringing

Born and raised in the Taudhakpur village in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh (the first village adopted under the initiative), Rajnish was the first person in his village to pass his tenth board exams with distinction.

He calls those years blissful. “Growing up in a village is a very humbling experience. While I sat on the ground in our school, which did not have many comforts or facilities, I really learned a lot about human resilience and the importance of relationships. We had so much time for street games, be it gully cricket or gilli danda,” he shares.

He went to complete his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science from Bhopal and his master’s degree from IIIT Hyderabad.

Sparking a fire

After moving to the US in 2013, Rajnish wanted to give back to his janmabhoomi but was not clear on the path to do it. SmartGaon was the perfect vehicle to do so and actively contribute to the country in which he grew up.

SmartGaon is an idea that is built around the five principles that can transform a village into a smart village: Swacch (sanitation), Swasth (health), Sundar (modern), Sakshar (literacy), and Swavalambhi (self-reliant). Just like a body needs five elements to thrive, Rajnish believes that society can thrive if these five fundamentals can be provided.

[caption id="attachment_53839" align="aligncenter" width="542"] Rajnish Bajpai | SmartGaon | Global Indian Rajnish with SmartGaon co-founder Yogesh[/caption]

“There are so many benefits available to the common man by the government that they are not aware of,” he states and adds, “be it as simple as prices of wheat and rice, complaints and suggestions to Sarpanch, availing of government schemes, or having access to healthcare. Raised in a village, I know the issues that plague people. From village news to requests for certificates, the app helps authentic information trickle down to the grassroots level.”

The app is easy to use, and anyone who wishes to make their village a smart village can only download it and feed information to use it to make a difference. What started with one district in Uttar Pradesh was followed by many in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, transforming the lives of people.

Currently working with 20 villages with a focus on 3E development: education, employment-based skills, and entrepreneurship assistance, the initiative is making its presence felt at the grassroots level.

Making an impact

The SmartGaon Mentors program trained 1,500 students in 21st-century skills, including coding and imparting others that leverage technology. An early success was building 243 quality toilets in 48 hours in Taudhakpur with the help of district administration and village support. Security measures, such as CCTV and public address systems, increased PDS distribution from 30% to 90%. School infrastructure improvements boosted attendance from 20 to 140 students, earning an award from the Chief Minister.

The SmartGaon model aims for holistic development, starting with smart schools with clean drinking water and toilets, smart classrooms, cleanliness, tree plantations, beautification, electricity connection, and clean drinking water for each household, healthcare, waste recycling, better road connectivity, and sanitation facilities—all things small and big that have an impact.

The biggest change the SmartGaon initiative has brought about is that many NRIs came forward, bringing with them resources and skills, which created a ripple effect. As Rajnish juggles his job with his initiative (working on the weekends), this has helped create a community of changemakers.

“When you have the passion to do something, you find a way,” smiles the change agent and adds, “When you give 5% of your time to society, you can actually create an impact that future generations can take advantage of. So many people ask me how to give back to their motherland. I say, Do it by giving your time.”

Advise to next gen

Rajnish Bajpai | SmartGaon | Global Indian

As many young Indians seek opportunities abroad in record numbers, Rajnish’s advice is simple and straightforward. He says, “Many youngsters think that language is a barrier as they come from rural backgrounds and cannot speak perfect English. Remember that your ideas are what matter most. If you keep learning, you are in the right direction.”

He also implores the young to not lose touch with their roots (similar to Japanese and Chinese students who move overseas yet remain connected to their values) and think about giving back to society. “While you learn new skills, remember that the same skills are transferable to improving society. From Gen AI to tech transformation, try and ensure that you use them in real life too.”

When not juggling his work, Rajnish loves to spend time with his wife, Ojaswi, traveling to the national parks in US and enjoying the small joys of life.

Rajnish Bajpai's journey exemplifies Mahatma Gandhi's wisdom: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. He has demonstrated the impact of what one determined person can make with their passion.

Learn more about SmartGaon on their website

Dr Nayan Kalnad: At the forefront of the digital healthcare revolution

(June 7, 2024) "M-Health, E-Health, we had lots of names for digital healthcare when I first started working in this space. It was very novel and a lot of people were sceptical," Dr Nayan Kalnad says, as he connects with Global Indian from the UK, where he currently lives and runs his digital healthcare company, Avegen. "Do you remember when people said 'digital banking'? Now, it's just banking. You can do your banking work while you're in a car on the way to the airport. That's the kind of change we want to see in healthcare. There should be no distinction between digital and non-digital," he says. Seizing an opportunity Dr Nayan's first turning point came in 2007, when he was introduced to a technology that would change his approach to healthcare. It was an interactive voice response system, part of a pilot project to improve healthcare responses for HIV patients, many of whom avoided going to doctors because of the prevailing stigma. "At that stage, I saw the potential of what this could do, especially because due to my experience of working in clinics," Dr Nayan explains. Surrounded by scepticism, Dr Nayan decided to stick with his instincts anyway,

erience of working in clinics," Dr Nayan explains.

Surrounded by scepticism, Dr Nayan decided to stick with his instincts anyway, and follow through on what he knew would come to become the future of healthcare. Today, Avegen operates around the world and its services have been used by over one million people globally. Their products include cardiac rehab apps, digital HIV-care programmes and maternity monitoring tools.

[caption id="attachment_38122" align="aligncenter" width="330"] Dr Nayan Kalnad, CEO and co-founder, Avegen[/caption]

From medicine to pharmaceuticals

Born in India, Dr Nayan Kalnad was raised in Mangalore, and studied medicine at Kasturba Medical College. He pivoted to pharmaceuticals, joining Pfizer, where he worked mainly in drug development before moving on to Johnson & Johnson."I was working to improve care delivery for HIV-positive patients in India," he recalls. They noticed that patients living with HIV, especially in rural areas, had very limited access to healthcare The stigma surrounding the illness was the main cause - Dr Nayan's team found that HIV+ people preferred to avoid taking health issues to a doctor. "We wondered if we could use IT to solve this problem."

This was around 2007-08 and the team decided to try an Interactive Voice Response system. The user could call a number, enter the number corresponding to the issue and pick out the symptoms. The system would use an algorithm to give them advice and its database already contained information on the drugs the patient had been taking. "The other part was to call the patient and educate them on living with HIV," Dr Nayan explains. "What medicines should they take, what food should they eat? We created a data bank, back in those days. It was my first exposure to using IT within healthcare and I felt like digital technology could help solve challenges that patients, doctors and nurses face."

The digital-healthcare dream

Dr Nayan moved to London to study at London Business School, after which he went back to J&J. By this time, the conglomerate had set up a team to examine how IT could be used in the healthcare context. "We built products for patients who needed cardiac rehabilitation, to try and reduce the risk of a repeat heart attack and to reduce the time heart patients spent in the hospital." The project was piloted in four hospitals - three in the US and one in the UK, "another critical experience," Dr Nayan says. Shortly after, he left J&J to co-found Avegen.

In 2015, Dr Nayan and Neeraj Apte, an engineer with over 20 years of experience in software development, came together to create Avegen. A couple of years were spent exploring the best business structure and fine-tuning their model, before dedicating their efforts to making Avegen the go-to development platform for scalable digital health products. "We were like any startup," Dr Nayan says. "Our initial idea did not work."

That idea was to build a virtual call center for doctors in India. "We were handling about 1 lakh calls per week," he recalls. "It was a call center, basically and it took up all the oxygen in the room." While they were meeting a need, it was not the purpose for which Avegen was created. It was also difficult to scale up. "We had to stop, pivot and return our focus to the original aim - building a digital platform. That pivot happened around 2019 and we re-branded." This was when they build the platform that Avegen continues to use - HealthMachine enables healthcare providers and pharma companies to build, implement and scale their digital health products. It's their way of helping democratise the creation of digital health products, removing the need for a large team and extensive investments in software engineering.

[caption id="attachment_38123" align="alignnone" width="2560"] The Avegen team[/caption]

Expanding the scope of healthcare

"Today we have digital health for pregnancy, HIV, TB, pulmonary arterial hypertension. We have around eight or nine conditions for which we build digital health products," Dr Nayan says, adding, "We have hundreds of thousands of users every month and have deployed it in multiple countries, although our strongest presence is in Europe and India."

Simply put, the idea is to make interaction easier, especially in countries like India where patients travel many miles to see a doctor. The pandemic only reinforced this need. One Avegen product, used by Europe's largest HIV clinic, asks the patient to complete a questionnaire instead of setting up an appointment with a hospital. The information is sent to the clinic, where doctors can decide if the patient needs to come in to the hospital or not. "Often, patients come from very far away, only to be told that they are fine."

Maternity care is another important pillar for Dr Nayan and Avegen. "India has a high maternal mortality rate and some of that is avoidable," he explains. "Expecting mothers need to make regular visits, do blood tests and take folic acid supplements and follow an evidence-based care programme. We want to make it easier for them to do this." Pregnant women need to download the app, which will tell them what to do based on how far along they are, and also connect them with experts. "Good health is not just about what happens within the four walls of the clinic. It's about what happens outside of it. I can get my bloods done at a clinic, but when I go out, do I decrease the salt in my food, or get regular exercise? These are the main drivers of good health. We want to support patients outside and widen the scope of healthcare."

Overcoming challenges

When he first started working in digital healthcare, people didn’t trust the concept. "The common understanding was that healthcare had to be face-to-face; they didn't trust the digital tech, hence didn't use it." However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world's perspective on digital healthcare overnight. "During the pandemic, digital products became essential to the functioning of the healthcare ecosystem," Dr. Kalnad noted.

Avegen collaborated with government bodies and charities to provide digital healthcare solutions during the pandemic, such as supporting 30,000 HIV patients in Mumbai who couldn't access their medication due to lockdowns. "We have come a long way since. In the coming decades, we will see digital health becoming mainstream," Dr Nayan predicts.

The way forward

Despite the progress, Dr Nayan admits there is work to be done. "Scaling and integrating digital healthcare into the existing healthcare system is crucial," he says, adding, "It needs to become accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or socioeconomic status. Digital health should not be for a certain segment of the population; it should be for everyone."

Dr Nayan Kalnad, CEO, Avegen, talks to a colleague

This vision aligns with Avegen's mission as well, which is to provide digital health solutions to all, irrespective of where they live or what healthcare challenges they face. "We believe that healthcare should be a fundamental right. We want to build digital health products that are relevant to the user, easy to use, and engaging. This is done through collaboration with healthcare providers, governments, non-profits, and other stakeholders to bring digital health products to the public."

Nayan Kalnad's journey is a testament to the power of innovation and technology in improving healthcare. His dedication to making healthcare accessible and affordable to everyone has inspired many, and his work with Avegen has shown that digital health services have the potential to transform the healthcare industry.

Follow Dr Nayan Kalnad on LinkedIn and check out Avegen's work here.

Michelin star Indian chef Srijith Gopinath is taking the South Indian spice palette to the world

(September 8, 2022) I could listen to the sound of vegetables being cut when I connected with Chef Srijith Gopinath over a call for an interview from California. When I asked him if he was cooking, pat came the reply that he was making a mushroom delicacy for his family. "I love cooking for my family," smiled Chef Sri, as he finished plating the breakfast. It was quite heartwarming to catch a chef cooking for his loved ones before starting a very busy day at one of Palo Alto's most renowned restaurants - Ettan. [caption id="attachment_29089" align="aligncenter" width="709"] Chef Srijith Gopinath[/caption] The two star Michelin chef from the southern parts of India, who thought of becoming an IT professional as a kid, is currently one of the highest-rated chefs in the world. Starting his journey from a small village, Chef Sri has come a long way from assisting the head chef in the hotel to running his own venture in California. "I have been cooking for over two decades, but at my restaurant, I get to bring in the spices from my homeland to the table. I do a lot of Indian dishes, but with a little bit of twist.

ing his journey from a small village, Chef Sri has come a long way from assisting the head chef in the hotel to running his own venture in California. "I have been cooking for over two decades, but at my restaurant, I get to bring in the spices from my homeland to the table. I do a lot of Indian dishes, but with a little bit of twist. My menu lists delicacies such as Truffle kulcha, Red plum rasam, Samosa pie, and Tender jack vada. I want the world to taste the amazing herbs from my country," the chef tells Global Indian.

The spice trail

Growing up in the land of spices, Chef Sri who hails from a small village in Kanyakumari often saw his mother cook for the entire family. "I lived in a joint family, and as a kid, I wasn't allowed to cook. But I loved to eat and was always fascinated by different flavours. Although tasting varied cuisine wasn't possible in a small village, I would still try to find something different to eat in the limited options I had then." As a kid, Chef Sri would often be asked by his grandmother to run to the backyard to fetch her some spices. "We had black pepper, turmeric, ginger, and many other spices. I wasn't taught about these spices, I just knew what they were, how they smelled or tasted since I was a kid."

[caption id="attachment_29090" align="aligncenter" width="657"] Chef | Srijith Gopinathan | Global Indian Sea bass collar spice roasted with coconut, turmeric, tamarind and curry leaves[/caption]

Leaving behind his beautiful coconut orchard, the chef moved to Bengaluru to pursue a degree in Hotel Management. Interestingly though, this was not the original plan. "Becoming a chef was never a goal - in fact, I never thought about it growing up. I always thought that I would be a regular guy, working in the IT sector. Even when I joined the Hotel Management college, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't go into the kitchen."

[caption id="attachment_29091" align="aligncenter" width="727"] Chef | Srijith Gopinathan | Global Indian Chef Srijith Gopinath with Chef Vikas Khanna and Chef Zorawar Kalra[/caption]

So how did the odds work in his favour? "You know when you live alone and your mother isn't around to take care of you, you inadvertently end up with a ladle in hand trying to make something that could taste something like home," laughs the chef, adding, "Cookery books were my best friends because there was no Google to tell me a recipe. I found it quite interesting to experiment with tastes and flavours. So, I decided to become a chef."

Tasting success

His graduation paved the way for his professional career which started with working for the local hotels to get a better understanding of the functioning of a kitchen. It was while working at a hotel in Chennai, Chef Sri was offered a job at two-starred Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons in Oxfordshire. This shift not only helped him hone his culinary skills, but also aided in getting his talent recognised. "It was one of the iconic restaurants and I saw how a kitchen actually functioned. While I learnt a lot there, it was also the first time that I earned a good amount and took the opportunity to travel as much as I could around Europe," he shared.

[caption id="attachment_29092" align="aligncenter" width="736"] Chef | Srijith Gopinathan | Global Indian Maine lobster poached in spiced ghee, coastal curry, sweet peas and pea leaf oil[/caption]

Eventually, the chef moved to the Taj Hotels, first in Maldives and then in San Francisco, where he earned his first Michelin star. "At Campton Place, I earned my first Michelin in the two years and subsequently got the second one as well. It's not easy to man a kitchen, although many think that it is a glamorous job. In most hotels and restaurants, the kitchen is the heart of the story. So, there is always some chaos that we are dealing with, something is always going wrong which the team is working on fixing. But, when we send out the plates, they are always perfect. So, to be rewarded for all the hard work that we put in every day is very special," shares the chef.

While he cooks for some very high-profile people, he himself revels in comfort food. "I think it's quite natural to lean towards what you used to eat as a child. So for me, a good dosa with coconut chutney is the best comfort food. Also, I enjoy sitting down for sadhya, which is a big selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf in Kerala - mostly during Onam or weddings. But, because of living in California for the last 15 years, I have come to love some local comfort food as well. I really enjoy having a good Bánh mì, which is a Vietnamese sandwich or a good plate of piping hot pasta."

[caption id="attachment_29093" align="aligncenter" width="742"] Chef | Srijith Gopinathan | Global Indian Chef Srijith Gopinath and team at Ettan[/caption]

After successfully running the Taj kitchen, the chef recently started his own restaurant. Named Ettan, which means "to breathe" in Sanskrit, the restaurant became an instant hit in Downtown Palo Alto. Unfortunately, it had to shut shop within the first month of its inauguration due to Covid. "It took us about 18 months to start Ettan in February 2020, and then just in 22 days, COVID caused havoc across the globe. For two months we had to close the restaurants, but in May 2020 we started taking takeaway orders and slowly opened the restaurant again," says the chef. Ettan is currently one of the highest-rated restaurant in the Palo Alto area. "I plan on starting another restaurant soon," shared the chef before dashing off to the kitchen.

Follow Chef Srijith Gopinath on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Follow Ettan on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Reading Time: 7 mins

Manu Chopra: Bridging the digital divide and empowering rural India with AI

(November 11, 2024) The rise of artificial intelligence has transformed almost every aspect of modern life - redefining industries, reshaping economies, and raising questions about the future of work. From self-driving cars navigating busy streets to predictive healthcare, AI systems continue to alter how we live and interact with technology. But while tech giants benefit immensely, marginalised communities often get left behind in this wave of innovation. This is where Manu Chopra, the founder of Karya, is bridging the gap and changing the narrative. For him, AI isn't just about algorithms and data. It's a tool to uplift, to bring dignity and opportunity to India’s often overlooked rural citizens. Till now, this Stanford graduate has impacted over 35,000 people across 24 states in rural India through Karya's digital work. [caption id="attachment_59715" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Manu Chopra[/caption] "Our goal is to use technology as a means to provide opportunities to disadvantaged communities. We identify and train workers who need work the most and pay them 20 times the minimum wage, ensuring that our data solutions contribute positively to both technology and society," the 28-year-old wrote on his website. The idea for Karya was born out of a realisation that large technology companies

st and pay them 20 times the minimum wage, ensuring that our data solutions contribute positively to both technology and society," the 28-year-old wrote on his website.

The idea for Karya was born out of a realisation that large technology companies spend large sums collecting data to train AI systems, but these opportunities rarely reach the communities most in need. Karya addresses this issue by connecting rural communities to tech industry opportunities. Explaining how it works, Manu said, "Microsoft wants to make a language model in Marathi, one of the many regional languages of India. They reach out to Karya to collect thousands of hours of speech data in Marathi. Karya takes Microsoft’s big digital task and breaks it into micro tasks and we distribute these micro-tasks to our workers in rural India via their smartphone.” Apart from the employment, the biggest differentiator for these rural Indians is the pay. “We pay our workers 20 times the Indian minimum wage.”

From Shakur Basti to Stanford University

Manu grew up in one of Delhi's poorest neighbourhoods, Shakur Basti. It was in the dusty alleys of the basti that he found himself at a crossroads many times. Though poverty was a constant challenge, he channelled his interest in technology and education as a means of breaking the cycle. Growing up, he spent most of his afternoons coding in the community computer lab and dancing to Bollywood songs. "Through a series of scholarships, I became the first person from my community to go to a college in the US. In one generation, I went from Shakur Basti to Stanford," the Global Indian said.

His admission to Stanford University was a seismic shift not just for him, but for his entire community. Stanford marked a new chapter for him, where he deepened his knowledge of computer science and explored how technology could create social impact. At Stanford, he co-founded CS+ Social Good, a student group focused on using technology to address pressing social issues. The goal was to empower students to use technology for social good by inspiring action, fostering collaboration, and creating pathways for change. This initiative began a lifelong commitment to merging tech innovation with social impact.

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

Having gained knowledge and skill sets in the US, he wanted to make an impact back home. Despite work opportunities at big companies, Manu Chopra decided to pack his bags and return to India in 2017 to work as a research fellow at Microsoft to explore ways to tackle extreme poverty by giving the poor access to digital work. This led him to travel across the country where he sought ways to leverage technology to alleviate poverty, gaining new insights into India’s evolving landscape. “I expected it to be harrowing. Mainstream media (within India and especially, abroad) paints such a bleak picture of India as if nothing good has ever happened or will ever happen in India. I expected to feel jaded at the lack of progress, and to be disappointed at the lack of good work happening on the ground. Obviously, the opposite happened. Every single village I visited blew me away. The more I travelled within India, the more optimistic I became,” he wrote on his website.

Empowering Rural India through AI

One experience in particular stayed with him — a field visit to a data company, where he saw over 30 men earning as little as $0.40 an hour. “I thought, this cannot be the only way this work can happen,” Chopra said. Driven by a desire to create more equitable opportunities, he founded Karya in 2021 alongside Vivek Sheshadri, a former Microsoft Research colleague. Their mission: to use AI and data collection to benefit the very people traditionally left behind by the tech revolution.

Karya's main focus is on language. By highlighting India's linguistic diversity, Karya meets the data needs of large tech companies while also helping rural workers earn money. “What if we could bypass skilling?” Chopra asked. “Can we give people a livelihood and money for skills they already have? What is the skill that rural India already has? Their language.” This philosophy has driven Karya to gather information in regional languages—spoken, written, and visual—so that AI systems become more accurate and culturally inclusive.

Manu Chopra | Global Indian

AI for Social Good

They pay workers $5 per hour, 20 times the minimum wage, and also help them earn royalties whenever their data is sold, creating a source of passive income. Karya currently focuses on collecting data in Indian languages that are underrepresented in AI. This data will be used to develop AI systems that are accurate and fair for all. Their work includes collecting written, spoken, and visual data in regional languages across India.

In just two years, Karya has changed lives. Over 35,000 rural Indians have earned a collective ₹65 million, finding economic security and, perhaps more importantly, a renewed sense of self-worth. “I genuinely feel this is the quickest way to move millions of people out of poverty if done right,” Chopra told TIME.

“Wealth is power. And we want to redistribute wealth to the communities who have been left behind.”-- Manu Chopra

AI’s recent boom, especially in natural language processing, has placed projects like Karya at the center of global attention. Large tech players, including Microsoft and Google, have turned to Karya for speech data across 85 Indian districts, while the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation collaborates with them to reduce gender-related biases in AI datasets. As biases in AI systems continue to garner scrutiny, his work represents a conscientious approach to building ethical, inclusive datasets. In 2023, Manu Chopra was featured in the list of the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI.

In a time when AI seems far from rural realities, Manu Chopra’s Karya bridges the gap by connecting marginalized communities to the digital economy, bringing dignity, and creating new opportunities. His journey from Shakur Basti to Stanford and back to India shows the power of innovation driven by empathy and purpose. It reminds us that technology’s true impact isn’t just in what it can do, but in who it can help.

Follow Manu Chopra on LinkedIn