Sports stars | Commonwealth Games | Global Indian

Global IndianstoryFlying the tricolour high: Indian sports stars bring home 61 medals from CWG 2022

Flying the tricolour high: Indian sports stars bring home 61 medals from CWG 2022

Written by: Namrata Srivastava

(August 10, 2022) It rained gold and silver for India at Birmingham. Finishing fourth in the medal tally at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 – Indian athletes brought home a total of 61 medals, including 22 golds, 16 silvers and 23 bronze in various categories. While accolades were expected from seasoned sports stars such as Mirabai Chanu, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Nikhat Zareen, some performances at the CWG came as a pleasant surprise for the nation. Making new records and winning first-time medals for the country, these stars have added to India’s 75th Independence Year celebrations.

Global Indian takes a look at a few brilliant performances at CWG 2022, which will inspire many young and budding sports personalities for years to come.

Avinash Sable, steeplechaser

Steeplechase – an athletic event that most Indians were unaware of until recently, started trending on several micro blogging sites after athlete Avinash Sable created history by winning the silver medal at the CWG. Running in the 3000m men’s steeplechase event, the Maharashtrian lad not only broke his personal best record, but also became the first non-Kenyan athlete to claim the podium since 1994.

Sports stars | Avinash Sable | Global Indian

Born in to a farming family in a small village named Mandwa, the struggles of his initial days turned Avinash into a world-class runner. A soldier, who has served the Indian Army at the highest battlefield on the planet – Siachen – 27-year old Avinash was just 0.05 seconds short of the gold at CWG. While many knew of his potential, the expectations of him winning a silver were very low considering he finished 11th at World Athletics Championship just a few days back. Defying odds, however, this Indian Army jawaan emerged victorious.

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Indian women’s lawn bowls team

Sports stars | Lawn Bowls | Global Indian

While most women are busy taking care of their home and family in their 30s and 40s, these four bowling queens brought home India’s first-ever medal in lawn bowls. Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki and Nayanmoni Saikia achieved an extraordinary feat by claiming gold at the CWG. The ladies defeated the South African team by 17-10 in Birmingham. A sport which has been a part of the CWG since its inception in 1930, it attracts very few players in India resulting in almost no international representation from the country. With this historic win, one can only hope to see more participation and medals in lawn bowls going ahead.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga, weightlifter

Sports stars | Jeremy Lalrinnunga | Global Indian

One of the youngest sports stars in the Indian contingent, he is also one of the brightest. 19-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga had a dream-come-true moment at the Commonwealth Games, after he earned the gold medal in the men’s 67kg weightlifting event. The former Youth Olympic winner struggled through a very tough phase last year due to a series of injuries and medical issues. But despite the setbacks, the champion made a superb comeback and set a new Commonwealth Games record by lifting 300kg (140kg snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk) in his specific category. Unfortunately, however, the weightlifter from Mizoram ended up with an injured back in the process.

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Eldhose Paul, triple jumper

Sports stars | Eldhose Paul | Global Indian

Scripting history, Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to win gold in the men’s triple jump at CWG. The 25-year-old jumper from Kerala has been participating in various state and national-level championships since a very young age, and has won several medals. Serving the Indian Navy, Eldhose was able to produce his best effort of 17.03m in his third attempt at the CWG. However that could not be recorded as his personal best due to wind assistance. A prodigy of Dronacharya T P Ouseph, Eldhose was also the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump finals at the World Championships, which was held at Eugene last month.

Indian men’s table tennis team

Sports stars | Table Tennis | Global Indian

Defeating the mighty Singaporean team by 3-1, Indian table tennis stars clinched the gold at the CWG. In the first round, the top-ranking pair of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai beat Singapore’s Izaac Quek Yong and Pang Yew En Koen 3-0 (13-11, 11-7, 11-5). This was followed by a brilliant performance by paddlers Sharath Kamal and Sanil Shetty helped the team finish podium at the event. India table tennis team, which stands at the 121st position on the world ranking list, was playing under pressure throughout the match. However, it was their grit and determination that won the country a gold medal.

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Published on 10, Aug 2022

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Darjeeling Express in London’s Covent Garden has Indian chef Asma getting epicurean

(March 19, 2022) The smell of spices roasting, Kishore Kumar hits blaring from a speaker, the air thick with laughter - Asma Khan's Supper Clubs started small in early 90s London but grew bigger every week. A talent for putting together Kolkata Mughlai and Hyderabadi spreads had opened the doors to a new life - a much-needed opportunity for a young woman who had put the familiar thousands of miles behind. "More than just the act of cooking, I enjoy feeding people," smiles Asma during an interview with Global Indian. "I knew I could do something with food, so I opted for the easiest and cheapest - Hosting supper clubs in my own house," she adds. The London-based chef runs Darjeeling Express, one of that London's most sought-after dining rooms. Since it began in 2017, celebrities like Nigella Lawson, actor Keira Knightley, Dan Levy (the creator of Schitt's Creek), Anil Kapoor and his daughter Sonam and Paul Rudd have visited for the "pani puri, prawn malai curry, Hyderabadi thali, chicken kaati rolls and Kolkata biryani, all of which guests love. Famous chefs are synonymous with famed schools and restaurants, celebrity mentors, and a tally of Michelin stars. Asma Khan boasts

n malai curry, Hyderabadi thali, chicken kaati rolls and Kolkata biryani, all of which guests love.

Famous chefs are synonymous with famed schools and restaurants, celebrity mentors, and a tally of Michelin stars. Asma Khan boasts none of these. With no formal training, the London-based chef, restaurateur and author has carved herself a niche at London's culinary high table. Apart from its popularity, Darjeeling Express' biryani supper clubs are eagerly awaited. Asma Khan's stock only rose when she became the first British chef to feature in Netflix's Emmy nominated Chef's Table. On March 17, 2022, she unveiled her second book, Ammu, dedicated to her mother, bringing recipes from her family kitchen to yours.

[caption id="attachment_21526" align="aligncenter" width="377"] Asma Khan. Photo by Urszula Sołtys[/caption]

Back to the beginning

Her five years in the restaurant business have been marked by a meteoric rise to fame but was preceded, as most success stories are, by a long, sometimes arduous journey. In 1991, "a family member introduced me to my future husband," she says. Three months later, the couple decided to marry. When she arrived in England, Asma had barely cooked in her life. Stepping off the plane, her first experience of a foreign land was the biting cold of an unforgiving winter.

With her friends and family back home in India, sheer boredom compelled Asma to try her hand in the kitchen. Back home in India, the history honours student from Loreto College had been all set for what looked like a career in writing. The La Martiniere alumna began with a stint as a copywriter in Lintas, then joined Anand Bazar Patrika's Sunday magazine as a sub-editor, working with columnist Vir Sanghvi.

"When I started cooking, I started feeling happy and satisfied. Feeding others was a bonus," she adds. She mostly stuck to a mix of Kolkata Mughlai and Hyderabadi cuisine. In 1996, she decided to return to studies and studied law.

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A post shared by Asma Khan (@asmakhanlondon)

With a little help from her friends

Her love for cooking brought one more opportunity - to make new friends. As her home was beside a school, Asma became friends with a group of Indian nannies awaiting their wards. They would come home, where Asma cooked for them.

What started out as a group of 14 grew bigger each passing week, with her nanny friends helping out in the kitchen. "I had mostly women guests from diverse backgrounds but slowly, through word-of-mouth, it became more of a cosmopolitan crowd, with women bringing their partners as well," Asma explains. As the demand continued to grow, so did Asma's team of home chefs.

Pop-ups and English pubs

Asma’s two young sons were overwhelmed by the Supper Club gatherings and the constant noise. That led her to her coveted space at Covent Garden, after trying a hand at pop-ups.

In 2015, Asma collaborated with a Soho pub to serve food there. The journey was tough, Asma admits. There were days when her fare had no takers and on others, they ran out of food. Sometimes, she offered free samosas to attract crowds. One day, however, “A man said, 'Oh no, I don't like your curry, love,' I felt terrible but I wasn't ready to give up. I knew my food was good and was confident that things would change."

[caption id="attachment_21525" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Photo by Urszula Sołtys[/caption]

A food critic and a change

Fay Maschler, the restaurant critic of London's Evening Standard decided to try her food. It was unexpected, as temporary setups like pop-ups and supper clubs don't usually get reviewed. "She liked the food and wrote the review. Overnight, we had a massive queue of people," Asma smiles.

One thing led to another and in 2017, Asma decided it was time to open Darjeeling Express at Garrick Street in Covent Garden. Why the name? "Darjeeling takes me back to my childhood. The toy train ride from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling reminded me of my childhood days when we escaped to the hills far away from Kolkata heat," she says.

No shortcuts to success

The all-female staff who ran the restaurant came with no formal training. "We learned everything the hard way," the London-based chef remarks. But she had her loyal guests from the supper clubs and her pop-up days. Soon, the restaurant was the go-to for authentic Indian food.

Her restaurant, she says, is about home food cooked by women. It's her way of celebrating the, "heroes of the sub-continent. They are the housewives, the mothers and the household help. The identity of women is so overshadowed."

When Netflix came calling

Asma is the first British chef to be featured on Chef's Table. This was the big league, she knew and she used it as a platform to raise a voice of solidarity for South Asian women. “I wanted to showcase our home cooks for we are collectively uncelebrated. Every household in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka has women in the kitchens, even if men dominate the restaurant business," says Asma.

She presented Netflix, therefore, with one condition: That her team is present also. “Darjeeling Express and its journey is not about me alone," she insisted. Netflix agreed and soon, the world learned Asma's name and became acquainted with her team of women from India and Nepal. The episode went on to an Emmy nomination and Darjeeling Express was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2020.

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A post shared by Asma Khan (@asmakhanlondon)

The pandemic

The year 2020 was fateful for restaurant businesses and for Darjeeling Express too. "We had to close down but didn't give up," Asma says. Instead, the kitchen's female warriors began a home delivery service. Her second book, Ammu, written for her mother began. It comprises 100 recipes that she used to have as a child and what she was cooking for her sons in London. "Since I couldn't travel due to Covid-19, and I had complete silence around me, I could write the book. It is all about learning about spices, flavours and how to cook with love and patience," she says. Food, she feels, is all about story-telling and the book does that.

In 2018, Asma made her literary debut with a cookbook titled Asma's Indian Kitchen. It won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award in the Indian cuisine category in the UK, and was shortlisted for best debut cookbook for the Fortnum & Mason 2019 Awards.

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A post shared by Asma Khan (@asmakhanlondon)

Between Bollywood and the BBC

Her love for Bollywood music will never fade away, with Kishore Kumar and Hemant Kumar remaining her favourites. Asma also enjoys writing poetry and is a regular at BBC Radio where she and a team analyse political news every Sunday morning.

Though she has a busy schedule, Asma was in Kolkata last year to shoot for Yes Chef, an online show that features the world's best chefs taking exclusive cooking classes for the home cook. She shared her favourite recipes, and enthused in yet another chance of storytelling through cuisine.

Follow Asma on Instagram

Reading Time: 8 mins

From Mumbai Streets to North Carolina Eats: Chef Meherwan Irani’s Chai Pani

(October 29, 2023) From chaat to vada pav and more, Chef Meherwan Irani's restaurant chain called Chai Pani, is all about celebrating Indian street food with aplomb. Pani puri, sev puri, dahi puri, vada pav, misal, bhajiyas – sounds like just a streetfood restaurant in India. This menu, however, belongs to Chef Meherwan Irani’s Chai Pani, in America’s Deep South, in Asheville, North Carolina. In 2022, Meherwan’s flagship restaurant in Asheville, Chai Pani, was named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, in the ‘Oscars’ of the culinary world. “It was jaw-dropping, honestly,” Chef Meherwan Irani smiles, as he chats with Global Indian. “To win the award for the Outstanding Restaurant, where the word Indian doesn’t even figure, was a shock. It means a lot because I got nominated five times for Best Chef but never got to the finals.” What’s more, Meherwan has just signed a deal for a cookbook with Penguin Random House’s division Tenspeed Press. [caption id="attachment_46322" align="aligncenter" width="506"] Chef Meherwan Irani[/caption] Born in Ahmednagar, in Maharashtra, Irani went to the US for an MBA, then lived and worked with companies like Lexus and Mercedes Benz in the Bay area for 12 years. A desire to get

Tenspeed Press.

[caption id="attachment_46322" align="aligncenter" width="506"] Indian Cuisine | Chef Meherwan Irani | Global Indian Chef Meherwan Irani[/caption]

Born in Ahmednagar, in Maharashtra, Irani went to the US for an MBA, then lived and worked with companies like Lexus and Mercedes Benz in the Bay area for 12 years. A desire to get out of the rat race made him and his American wife Molly relocate to Asheville in North Carolina, with their daughter Aria. This was way back in 2009, and it was a move that would forever change the course of their lives; and go on to significantly impact that of others as well.

The co-founder and CEO of the Chai Pani Group of Restaurants, says, “Life in San Francisco was too busy and too expensive. So we moved to North Carolina and having grown up at the hotel my parents had in Ahmednagar, I was familiar with the hospitality business. I wanted to start a restaurant; I made a list of my favourite street food based on what I had eaten in Mumbai and other cities. Then I created dishes, ran focus groups with white Americans for feedback and over a couple of hours one night, I created the entire menu for Chai Pani.”

Chai Pani Time

Meherwan called the restaurant Chai Pani because the phrase has multiple meanings in Indian culture and many layers, much the way the menu does. It literally means tea and water. While the common association is a small roadside snack with friends, or a small tip to grease the wheels, it mostly signifies hospitality and welcome (offering tea and water to guests in your home)!

Meherwan made frequent trips to India to figure out how the hawkers made bhel puri and other snacks. “There is no culinary school for vada pav, pav bhaji or bhel puri; or chai even. Also, I wanted to create food that was different, but not necessarily an acquired taste. The Indian food at restaurants is often too oily, too spicy and greasy and not how we make it at home. We give it a halka sa touch of spice and tadka and don’t drown it in chilli and ghee. I wanted to create flavour profiles that are universal, combinations that appealed, because with globalised palates, there was less fear of people not wanting to try the unknown.”

Indian Cuisine | Chef Meherwan Irani | Global Indian

Elevating Street Food

Chai Pani essentially serves snacks you could get on the streets of Indian cities and meals you’d be served in someone’s home — what Meherwan felt were the most under-represented Indian foods in Western culture. Diners craved Chai Pani’s stereotype-shattering food, drinks and service, and this first-of-its-kind establishment has been recognised as sparking a revolution in Indian cuisine in America. He also insists that managing people is an art; one that is diligently taught to staff. He avers, “The philosophy at the centre of Chai Pani, which is the purpose of our existence, is that we don’t serve food, but serve people by serving food.”

Word spread and the local, predominantly white populace started frequenting Chai Pani. Now, every Friday through to Sunday, from 5 to 9 in the evenings, they queue up for pani puri and the restaurant averages anything between 3000 to 5000 of them being sold every week! Other popular items are vada pav, sev puri and dahi puri.

Chai Pani and the kebab and rolls restaurant that followed, Botiwalla, have décor inspired by the Irani cafés one sees in Mumbai. Old Hindi film posters on the walls add a dash of Bollywood, as does the music playing in the background. The atmosphere is mela-like, especially during pani puri time!

What makes this restaurant authentic all the way is Meherwan’s integrity and approach to food. He reveals, “We make the sev in-house, we even set the dahi ourselves for the raita and dahi puri; and teach our staff how to do it as well. We buy puris from Atlanta, from an ex-team member who wanted to start his own business.” The puris, he says, resemble “what you get at the Elco Market pani puri stall [a famous street food place in Bandra, Mumbai] and like them, we too serve our pani cold.” The green chutney is Parsi style and the tamarind chutney reminiscent of Mumbai. The vada pav is served with a mix of chutneys and fried green chillies, just like it is sold on the streets of Mumbai.

[caption id="attachment_46318" align="aligncenter" width="532"] Indian Cuisine | Chef Meherwan Irani | Global Indian Chef Meherwan Irani with his wife Molly, the co-founder of Chai Pani[/caption]

I love my India

Sticking to his Indian roots, Meherwan also serves Kingfisher and Haywards beer – both Indian brands and Old Monk rum, besides Thums Up. The cocktails here too have Indian flavour profiles, like a gin and cilantro cocktail and the Punjabi Porch Pounder which is gin, sage and Indian spices. The Tamarind Margarita is self-explanatory.

What started as one restaurant in 2009, is today a group of restaurants and includes Botiwalla which serves grilled kebabs, rolls, and more, along with the popular chaat items. Meherwan says, “We didn’t have the budget to expand though Chai Pani was self-funded. Family and friends like family came forward and expressed interest in our expansion plans. If you remember that scene in the movie Kal Ho Na Ho where friends come together to relaunch the Indian restaurant, it was exactly the same with us.”

Spicewalla is their retail brand of freshly crushed spices and blends – over a 100 of them and they include spice blends from across the world. Meherwan leads a growing team across several locations: Chai Pani Asheville, Chai Pani Decatur, Botiwalla Atlanta, Botiwalla Charlotte, and spice brand Spicewalla, which has two outposts in Asheville and Atlanta.

Intriguingly, although Chef Meherwan Irani is half-Parsi, the menus don’t quite include Parsi dishes, nor do eggs dominate the menu, given how much the Parsis love them. An acknowledgement of his Parsi heritage is the raspberry soda [also made in-house] and the Falooda at Chai Pani. He agrees, “Yes, I did think of including Parsi dishes but other than Kheema Pav, others didn’t work out. I do sneak in the Parsi dishes like Egg Bhurji, Akuri, Dhansak and Patra ni Machchi at special events and galas.”

Indian Cuisine | Chef Meherwan Irani | Global Indian

The Gift of Giving

Through Chai Pani University, Meherwan and Molly provide formal training in leadership and management skills coaching to managers and employees who express an interest in future leadership positions. In 2018, the University launched an annual programme to send several of their employees to India for cultural immersion. Meherwan explains, “We pay for everything – and we take anything between eight to 15 employees twice every year. They love the visits, and many of them have come with us several times. Some have even learnt how to speak Hindi.”

As part of their visit, the team also goes to the hotel run by Meherwan’s parents. And they unanimously declare that meeting his parents and getting cooking tips from Meherwan’s Parsi mum is usually the highlight of the trip. “My mother is the heart and soul of why Chai Pani exists. Her cooking philosophy is all about balance – tradition and innovation.”

The co-founder couple are generous bosses in other ways too. He reveals, “We give away a certain percentage of our business to our staff – the managers and other employees, every year. That is so they have a sense of ownership. Our daughter Aria is now studying law, and we hope to bring her into the business someday.”

The Iranis also created Chai Pani Giving, an internal foundation dedicated to giving back and supporting causes related to hunger, poverty and socio-economic inequalities faced by immigrants, especially in the service and hospitality business. He says, “We believe that since our needs are taken care of, we need to do the next best thing and help the community. We conduct food drives at shelters for the homeless, provide support for education.” They have sent over 50 kids to school in the last seven years, and several to college.

Indian Cuisine | Chef Meherwan Irani | Global Indian

Global Melting Pot

Speaking on global trends in Indian food, Chef Meherwan Irani says, “Regionality is gaining prominence. Unlike an all is one approach, the originality of each dish is the standpoint. In Mumbai for instance, there is a cultural coming together that is reflected in food. Take bhel puri – the murmura comes from Andhra, the sev from Gujarat, papdi from the North and chutneys from Maharashtra. But, if you look across cuisines, veganism, conscious eating, giving back to the planet through the way we eat is growing.”

Follow Chef Meherwan Irani on Instagram

Reading Time: 5 mins

Gender equality proponent Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta’s journey is empowering millions

(October 7, 2023) A man trying to cop a feel, a scared teenager struggling to find her voice, and several passengers ignoring the scene... While it is a scary situation, unfortunately, lots of girls across India battle these adversities daily to reach their schools or colleges. While some find the courage to speak about it, most remain silent. When about 10 minutes into our conversation, I asked renowned gender expert and the current United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta if she ever witnessed any such incidents, she quipped, "Growing up in New Delhi, I personally experienced the horrors that girls used to go through. They called it 'eve-teasing', and I feel that it is such a bad word for what actually happens to girls. But nobody ever talked about it, and it made me have an anger in my belly that I had to learn to channel." [caption id="attachment_45748" align="aligncenter" width="619"] Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta[/caption] In a career spanning over four decades, Ambassador Rao Gupta has served as the former president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and was previously appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the deputy executive

r decades, Ambassador Rao Gupta has served as the former president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and was previously appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the deputy executive director for UNICEF, where she served from 2011 to 2016. During her recent visit to India, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large took some time out of her very busy schedule to sit with Global Indian and share her journey from being a young girl with big dreams in New Delhi to being nominated by the President of the United States, Joe Biden to become the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues.

Inspired by her mother

Born in Mumbai in 1956, Ambassador Rao Gupta first moved to Delhi when she was about ten years old. It was quite early in her life that she became aware of the various inequalities prevalent in society. “My parents moved to Delhi when I was in fifth grade. So, most of my childhood was spent in the capital. Delhi was a very different culture from Bombay in those days. Growing up as a young girl in Delhi made me very aware of the inequalities that existed between women and men. But I grew up in a very progressive household, where my parents treated us siblings equally,” she shares.

Growing up in a gender-biased world, Ambassador Rao Gupta was inspired by the journey of her mother, which made her realise that gender doesn't define the limits of what she could achieve. "My mother was a physician and public health specialist," she says, adding, "Her boss had informed her about a 13-month-long Ford Foundation fellowship, which was offering a public health degree from the University of California, Berkeley. I was about seven years old at the time, my brother was nine, and my younger sister was about three. It must have been a difficult choice for her, but my father was very supportive of her decision [to accept the fellowship]. He knew that her exposure, learning, and taking this opportunity would transform our lives forever. So looking back, I can say that this decision changed my life in two ways. Firstly, the role modeling of the fact that my parents supported the professional advancement of my mother. That instilled in me the importance of being your own person. Secondly, my mother brought back several books, toys, and music that gave us immense exposure to the Western culture."

[caption id="attachment_45749" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Ambassador | Geeta Rao Gupta | Global Indian Ambassador with USA Vice President, Kamala Harris[/caption]

But, was her mother her only source of inspiration? As she shares, "My mother's sister was also a physician and demographer. In fact, she and my mother were two of the first trainers of family planning workers in India. However, apart from being a professional woman, she also acted in theatre. Even my grandmother was a full-time working woman.

A world tilted by discrimination

As Ambassador Rao Gupta finished school and stepped into college to pursue a bachelor's in psychology, she was introduced to a world of issues women faced daily - something so common that people do not bother discussing them. "Travelling to college in buses, I experienced sexual harassment, especially since I would fight back" she laughs, adding, "Also, this occurred not only on public transportation but also on the street, which was very common those days. Eventually, I realised that many of my classmates were facing the same situation. I remember one of my classmates telling me that she used to keep open safety pins in her hand when she got onto a bus so that nobody could come close to her without getting poked. So I did that for a while. However, that certainly wasn't a permanent solution."

[caption id="attachment_45750" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Ambassador | Geeta Rao Gupta | Global Indian Ambassador with women entrepreneurs in Bengaluru, during her recent India visit[/caption]

She decided that she would become a clinical psychologist to try and fix society. "I mean, I joke about it now, but it was a very serious commitment then that I would fix one person at a time. And I became a counselor and even did some voluntary counselling work while I was studying. The cases that came to me were inevitably about sex and rape. Frankly, most of them would be about women being traumatised by not knowing anything about sex or being newly married in overcrowded homes. Or it was about men who were confused about sex or were sexually stalking women and didn't know how to stop and were obsessed with it.”

Ambassador | Geeta Rao Gupta | Global Indian

Realising that the issue was too big to be fixed by just one person, Rao Gupta took to social psychology and went on to earn a Ph.D. in the subject from Bangalore University. So, when did she decide to move to the United States? "Now, let me tell you something I have never shared in any interview," the Ambassador quipped, "I was very keen to study clinical psychology abroad, so I applied to a U.S. university for a Ph.D. and was successful in getting admission. However, they wouldn't give me a fellowship for my tuition. My parents, being public servants, didn't have the money and said that they could give me a one-way ticket, but nothing else. It was just too scary for me to go off without any money in hand, and without a return ticket, so I applied for a Rotary Club scholarship. I got to the final round along with a young man who was an engineer. During the interview, a panel of four men asked me repeatedly whether I would get married and have children. And if that was my intention, then why would they spend the money on sending me abroad? I was informed that the candidate I was competing against was a civil engineer who would return and build bridges. He got the scholarship, and it was such a huge disappointment, but also made me so angry because it was so sexist," she shares.

The land of dreams

While it wasn't always her intention to move to the United States, destiny had other plans for her. "I was 23 years old when I got married, and we had no intentions of traveling abroad. My husband was working in the Export Import Bank of India, and at one point further in our marriage, he got a transfer to the United States when the Indian economy opened up," the Ambassador shares, adding, "It was supposed to be a two-year-long assignment. However, he never told me about this opportunity and even turned it down as I would have been on a dependent visa and wouldn't be able to work there. I had a chance meeting with his boss, where I got to know about this opportunity," Ambassador Rao Gupta shares smiling. "I told my husband that I had never travelled abroad - and we can't miss out on this opportunity."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbv3B4AI4Ts

However, when her husband flew to the United States, Ambassador Rao Gupta was eight months pregnant, and the airline didn't allow her to fly. Then, another incident made her aware of the gender bias in the country once again. “When I delivered my baby in India, in a hospital in an urban site, the nurse would not tell me whether the child was a girl or a boy, because I had delivered a girl child, and she was nervous that I would be so upset with the news that I would hemorrhage and my health would be at risk,” she shares, adding, “So they held the news from me till a few hours later, and told me that I had a girl child with great nervousness that I would be upset. When they saw how overjoyed I was and how pleased my parents and my parents-in-law were, the nurse came to me and said, “You belong to a very strange family. Were you raised in India?”

Ambassador Rao Gupta finally flew to Washington, D.C., four months after her daughter arrived. "For two years I was home with my baby, which was wonderful. However, soon I started getting restless because I wanted to work. And so, I joined the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), and that's how my journey began," she says, adding, "When I went there they had never heard of Bangalore in those days. They didn't know whether I spoke good English, and wanted to see if maybe I could write something and test my English. So, I started as a volunteer, working for no money."

[caption id="attachment_45751" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Ambassador | Geeta Rao Gupta | Global Indian Ambassador with student interns at G20[/caption]

But then how did she manage to stay in the United States? "Soon after joining, ICRW decided to sponsor me for an H-1B visa, and offered me a full-time job," says the Ambassador, adding, "I joined as a Research Associate, and eventually became a Project Director. Subsequently, they sponsored me for a Green Card. Meanwhile, my husband's assignment kept getting extended."

Five years later, however, her husband's company decided to call him back home. It was a difficult decision, but he decided to make a tough choice for the sake of his wife’s career. "At that point in my career, my boss had given me my first project directorship of a new programme called the Women and Aids Research Programme. I had gotten very involved in learning about women's vulnerability to HIV. And so, my husband said that he would go back to India and tell his bosses that he would be taking a sabbatical so that I could continue my job. And then after one year, we could all go home," shares the Ambassador.

[caption id="attachment_39735" align="aligncenter" width="649"] Gender activist | Geeta Rao Gupta | Global Indian Dr. Rao Gupta with Michelle Milford Morse, Vice President of the UN Foundation’s Girls and Women Strategy[/caption]

But of course, destiny again played its part. Her husband's bosses didn't agree to a sabbatical, and he came back to the United States after resigning from his position. It was a tough time for the couple; they didn't have much savings, had to shift their five-year-old daughter from a private to public school, and the bank - which owned all their household stuff - took it back. But the couple persisted, and her husband got a consulting assignment with the World Bank soon after. "I remember, one day he told me that from now on yours is the career and mine is the job," shares Ambassador Rao Gupta, who seven years after she got her H-1B visa was made president of ICRW.

Ambassador Rao Gupta and her “angels”

Navigating the path in an organisation in a new country, can be challenging. But Ambassador Rao Gupta benefitted by having several ‘guardian angels’ helping her. "When I moved here, there were not that many Indians in the United States. So, to fit in, I felt I had to cut my long hair and dress a certain way. But I had no clue where to shop and as a result, wore all the wrong types of clothes! Luckily, one day, when I was in the Xerox room, one of my senior colleagues was standing in the corner flipping through a women's clothes catalog, that now I know is not a catalog that she would ever buy clothes from. When I asked her what she was looking at, she showed me some of the clothes from the catalog and said how amazing they would look on me. I had no clue that she was telling me, “Don't wear what you're wearing," laughs the Ambassador.

[caption id="attachment_45753" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Ambassador | Geeta Rao Gupta | Global Indian Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta with Indian PM Narendra Modi[/caption]

A few years later, while she was a co-lead on a project, the Ambassador was asked to present the results at an event and had to wear a business suit to the event. A little unsure, Rao Gupta went to a Casual Corner store. "A saleswoman helped me get the clothes. The next day people loved it so much, that I ended up wearing it even on the second day of the conference," she said, as her whole team burst out laughing.

Forging ahead

The former president of ICRW, and deputy executive director of UNICEF, was nominated to be the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues by President Biden in 2021 and was confirmed by the Senate on May 10, 2023. Speaking about her goals ahead, the gender equality advocate says, "So, you know how people say at the beginning of speeches, 'I'm very honoured and feel very privileged'. For me, this is more than just words. It's tough to imagine the distance that I have traveled. I have a wonderful job. There are many champions of women within the department, and we need to partner with them to amplify the impact that the Office of Global Women's Issues can have."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD3PZx0hZws

As she signs off from the interview, Ambassador Rao Gupta has just one piece of advice for young activists, who want to create an impact and bring good changes to society. "Be persistent," she says, adding, "It's a tough road, but you have to be tenacious and keep at it."

Follow Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta on LinkedIn and Twitter

Reading Time: 8 mins

Ashay Bhave: How this 23-year-old is getting “kicks” out of plastic waste, and is sold out

(November 27, 2021) "Don't just do it, do it right," puns the Thaely slogan, taking a dig at an international shoe brand. Rightly so, as Thaely sneakers are 100 percent recycled, and made from plastic trash. In fact, truth be told, CEO and founder of Thaely, an ethically produced ecologically fashioned sneaker brand, Ashay Bhave, is as honest, sceptical and idealistic in life as he is in deed. This, and a talent for art saw him create a niche with his vegan sneakers which he shrugs off – "This is just the beginning of greater things to come." Modest words. Interestingly, his first art installation at the Jameel Art Centre in Dubai, a show he curated too, got government attention, and he was given a UAE Golden Visa. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Thaely (@thaely.inc) Thaely has an ethos of sustainability as the 23-year-old Ashay upcycles plastic bags and bottles to create shoes. Named after the common place plastic bag's Hindi word for it, thaely, the shoes use plastic waste with cutting edge design. "We are the only company that uses plastic bags to make shoes. When you look at their aesthetics and design,

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thaely (@thaely.inc)

Thaely has an ethos of sustainability as the 23-year-old Ashay upcycles plastic bags and bottles to create shoes. Named after the common place plastic bag's Hindi word for it, thaely, the shoes use plastic waste with cutting edge design. "We are the only company that uses plastic bags to make shoes. When you look at their aesthetics and design, you would never know that they are made from plastic," says the creator. Each sneaker uses ten plastic bags and 12 plastic bottles – an overall whopping 50,000 plastic bags and 35,000 bottles have been used so far.

The sneakers won the PETA's Best Vegan Sneaker Award 2021. Head honcho Anand Mahindra tweeted his interest in funding and buying these ecologically attuned sneakers.

This is awesome!
A startup in India 🇮🇳 is making these sneakers (a $70 billion market) are made of garbage (12 plastic bottles and handful of trash bags). And for $110, they will be shipped anywhere in the world.@Thaely_inc

pic.twitter.com/ogNwVCFhXY

— Erik Solheim (@ErikSolheim) November 17, 2021

Today, Thaely sneakers are sold out. Behind the minimalistic and soft leather shoe is a boy with a curly shock of hair forming a whimsical halo around his artistic head, with an endearing schoolboy drawl. He rattles off the science behind the shoes, fabric, and his depth is clear to see. The boy who studied at DY Patil in Navi Mumbai, comes from a Maharashtrian family - his mother Sheetal Bhave is a counsellor, and father Sameer Bhave works in Dubai at an oil company, and he has a younger sister.

The birth of an eco-friendly sneaker

Thaely was initially developed as a design exercise by Ashay using recycled material from waste at the Eureka competition during his final BBA entrepreneurship semester at Amity University (Dubai) in 2019. "I wanted to find a solution to the 100 billion plastic bags used each year that use 12 million barrels of oil which kill 100,000 marine animals annually," quips Ashay, who finished 12th and went to the Big Apple to study accessory design. A year into the course, unhappy with his progress, what work the alumni were doing, job prospects and the cost of the course, he signed up for a BBA in Dubai.

"I was doing a few design projects for fun - one was Thaely. Plastic bags are a huge problem, most marine animals confuse them for jelly fish. I experimented at home with different household appliances - irons and hair straighteners. I got familiarised with some industrial equipment during design school, and tried to replicate the tech used in t-shirt printing to form a texture called ThaelyTex with PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) used for coating, shoe bands, etc while the soles are from discarded tyres," he explains. With a rough idea of the fabric that he developed over two years; a prototype was made at a neighbourhood shoe repair shop. That prototype and design, he pitched along with a business plan at Eureka as proof of concept. Ashay won the competition, was spotted by a judge, Matteo Boffa, a Dubai-based Swiss social entrepreneur, who funded and mentored Ashay who was only 20 at the time. "I definitely needed guidance when it came to business and enterprise," says the designer who has since sold out his inventory.

Quote Unquote

"As soon as I heard Ashay’s pitch about Thaely I fell in love with the concept. Being a serial entrepreneur in the field of sustainability and social impact, I saw a great fit. The idea was great but the person behind was even better! The brand can compete with the giants of the industry. We have a real and concrete positive impact on hundreds of people in India," says Matteo Boffa, Social entrepreneur, Forbes 30under30, and co-founder of Thaely.

[caption id="attachment_16837" align="aligncenter" width="851"] Ashay Bhave[/caption]

Ashay identified Trio Tap Technologies, a waste management plant in Gurgaon for plastic bags. Then, the pandemic hit. All work came to a standstill. Beginning 2021, Bhave again started work and finally launched the recycled sneaker.

"It is difficult to create a sneaker with those specs, so we designed a process that is scalable and efficient. Thaely is a casual sneaker. I took inspiration from the many basketball and skateboarding shoes of the 80s – the design is timeless, minimalistic and easy to style. It looks like a leather sneaker," explains the designer, who started off as a freelance designer creating album art, packaging, animation, toys, etc. A name in Dubai already, he now wants to impress the rest of the world with not just products but also his art.

"The installation show was a pretty important point - it helped me become more established. I got government attention, and was offered a UAE Golden Visa. I had designed a fake toy with a packing and gaming console - it was basically critiquing world leaders acting like children and sort of playing with our lives," says the avant-garde thinker.

With funding, the second prototype was made, and the recycled "kicks" were on their way to make feet accountable and responsible. Thaely sneakers are currently sold at Level One, among the biggest shoe stores in the world at Dubai Mall, and online.

[caption id="attachment_16838" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Thaely Thaely's vegan sneakers[/caption]

Tapping the market

"We were sold out on all the shoes produced – 1,600 pairs with 500 pre-orders – mostly from Europe, some from America and Australia. India is not a very big market right now," says Bhave, who is grateful for the acclaim, and success, "It was my dream to be in design or a CEO of a fashion brand - now that it has come true, I am thrilled," says the eco entrepreneur who wants to diversify, and add more colours too (Thaely sneakers are in white, white-brown and white-blue, and pre orders of all-black).

Like other 20-somethings, sneakers are an appendage and lifeline – his, he says, are comfortable and function like regular shoes. They are different though, "We are 100 percent recycled, completely transparent on production processes, our shoes have a QR code, and we are cheaper than other sustainable sneakers at $99 (others are $150, etc)," adds the Global Indian.

[caption id="attachment_16839" align="aligncenter" width="771"] Thaely sneakers[/caption]

Proud parents, a sister who is a tad intimidated by attention, and impressed friends, Bhave knew they all had "pretty high hopes" (for him), and admits they expect much more now.

Mentor Matteo has been instrumental in giving Ashay a deeper perspective, "He is pretty young – 30, and (is) always inspiring me to stretch my boundaries," says Bhave who loves sci-fi movies, art and fashion.

Not many know that Ashay was a national level rifle shooter from sixth to eleventh grade in Mumbai, and even today loves going to the range in Dubai when he visits his parents. His larger aspiration is to make Thaely a lifestyle brand – clothing, furniture, other accessories – recycled and sustainable. Sneakers done, now it’s back to the drawing board to create more from trash.

Follow Thaely on Twitter, Instagram

Reading Time: 6 min

Sufiya Ahmed: The British-Indian author giving South Asians a voice through her books

(July 14, 2022) Growing up in the UK, young Sufiya Ahmed loved immersing herself in the world of adventure - thanks to Enid Blyton. Her books were a perfect gateway, an escape into a magical world. Flipping through the pages of The Famous Five series, she often found herself following Julian, Dick, Anne, George, and Timmy on their epic journeys to find treasure or stumble upon a circus troupe with them. That was the magic of The Famous Five for Sufiya. But little did the author know that decades later, she would give a South Asian spin to the classic, the much-loved series with her own storytelling. The four-book series is an ode to Enid Blyton from her “huge fan” Sufiya. "She’s up there on my presentation slide as an author who inspired me in my school talks. When I was asked if I’d like to pen new adventures with the Famous Five characters, I immediately said yes,” smiles the author. However, the new adventures are more reflective of the modern times. “Whether it’s The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, or the girls at Malory Towers, these are beloved characters and I'm just making the setting for their adventures more reflective of the

ous Five, The Secret Seven, or the girls at Malory Towers, these are beloved characters and I'm just making the setting for their adventures more reflective of the world that young readers live in, without changing the essence of their appeal," she tells Global Indian, adding, "The Five still love the countryside and the coast, go camping on their island and are good-hearted children who help their friends and neighbours and of course, are devoted to Timmy the dog!" The two released books have already captured the imagination of children in the UK, Portugal, and Spain.

[caption id="attachment_26873" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Author | Sufiya Ahmed | Global Indian Sufiya Ahmed is a British-Indian author.[/caption]

A popular name in the children's fiction space, the British-Indian author is one of the few authors giving voice to South Asian characters through her books - My Story: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and Noor-in-Nissa Inayat Khan - something that's been missing from mainstream literature for too long. "Noor and Sophia’s stories are about our shared history and I feel they can add to the sense of belonging for British South Asians to our home country," adds the winner of the Redbridge Children's Book Award.

A writer in the making

Born at her nani's house in Gujarat, Sufiya found herself surrounded by love and care as a baby. "I was the first grandchild who was adored by the extended family and who was constantly fed ladoos as an expression of love," she laughs. But she soon returned to the north of England where "much of the migration after WWII had occurred." At age four, she moved to London where she attended a girls' school. But it was the public library that was her sanctum while growing up. Being a voracious reader, she loved borrowing books from the library per week for free. While she devoured books, she was also a huge Bollywood fan who loved Zeenat Aman and Sridevi.

[caption id="attachment_26876" align="aligncenter" width="864"] Author | Sufiya Ahmed | Global Indian Sufiya Ahmed reading Secret of the Henna Girl to school kids in the UK[/caption]

At age eight, she wielded the pen and started writing her own stories. Being an ardent fan of Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, she "would copy their first few chapters word-for-word in my exercise book and then halfway through, let my imagination come up with my ending." Her stories developed with time, and when she turned 14, Sufiya convinced her mother to buy a typewriter to write her stories and send them to publishers. Amid the clickety-clack of her typewriter, she happily typed a story and sent it to Puffin Books. However, her dreams of being a published teen author crashed as she never heard back from them. "Years later, my debut Secrets of the Henna Girl was published by Puffin Books. I did take some pleasure in mentioning that little story at my book launch," she smiles.

In the following years, while Sufiya kept writing stories in her spare time, she worked full-time in the advertising sector and in the House of Commons. "I worked in both sectors for 15 years while writing stories that were rejected by writing agents. They didn’t feel they could represent the stories I was writing to publishers." Unfazed, Sufiya kept writing more stories, and in 2012, got her big break with Secrets of the Henna Girl – a book that won her an award and put her on UK’s literary scene.

Giving children’s fiction a new voice

In the last decade, Sufiya has established herself as a famous author in the children's fiction category. Having grown up in the 80s, with not much entertainment, except "four TV channels and VHS Bollywood tapes", Sufiya loved spending time in the library. The books were a perfect escape from reality and led her to the world of adventure. And she wants to replicate the experience for children with her books. "The books I read gave me so much pleasure, transporting me into worlds where mysteries were solved, adventures were experienced and fantastical settings were explored. I think it’s the escapism that grabbed me, and I want children today to have that," adds Sufiya, who also calls her books a "reflection of the issues" that matter to her. "Secrets of the Henna Girl looks at forced marriage and girls' rights. An issue I care about deeply," says the author.

South Asian characters take centrestage

Author | Sufiya Ahmed | Global Indian

Being a South Asian raised in London, Sufiya never found people like her in the books that she read. This absence of South Asian characters in her favourite books while growing up made her resolve her to give voice to such characters in her books, and she did that with My Story: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and Noor-in-Nissa Inayat Khan. While Noor was a WWII heroine - a spy who was sent to Nazi-occupied France as a radio operator to transmit messages to London, Princess Sophia was a suffragette who contributed to a pivotal moment in British history. "I want young people to know their stories so they can understand the contribution that British South Asians made to Britain. But I do believe that community cohesion has to work both ways. It is not enough for one minority community to strive for belonging. The majority community has to take steps for acceptance too," explains Sufiya who believes that literary world is evolving with "readers getting more access to books through the internet".

Come August, the British-Indian author's Rose Raja: Churchill's Spy will hit bookshelves across the globe. The idea, she says, took form as she did research for Noor Inayat Khan and Sophia Duleep Singh. Set in WWII, the book sees Rosina as a Muslim heroine, who is half-Indian and half-English, finds herself in occupied France, and how she gets embroiled in a struggle against the Nazis. "It’s a two-book deal, so I’m working on the second book which is set in Egypt during WWII. I’ve included Indian soldier characters because so many were stationed there to protect the Suez Canal, the British Empire's gateway to India," reveals Sufiya whose second book will be out next year.

[caption id="attachment_26874" align="aligncenter" width="460"] Author | Sufiya Ahmed | Global Indian Sufiya Ahmed's Rosie Raja: Churchill's Spy will be out in August.[/caption]

The author is currently binge-watching Miss Marvel and is in love with it. "The representation is just fantastic and it's amazing to see so many talented South Asian women writers and filmmakers behind it," says Sufiya who would have "liked seeing Shah Rukh Khan in it though."

Busy writing more stories that speak of diversity and inclusivity, Sufiya is busy creating an impact in the literary world. "I'd want children to enjoy my stories because that’s what they are. And stories are for everyone. I completely reject the idea that stories should be written for niche audiences," she signs off.

Follow Sufiya Ahmed on Instagram and Twitter

Reading Time: 6 min