(March 24, 2023) As Grammarly approaches its fourteenth birthday, it’s going through an exciting transition with the appointment of its new CEO. The market leader in helping people communicate better and one of the first platforms providing assistive AI to millions of people will now be headed by Indian-American, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury.
“I joined Grammarly two years ago because of a deep belief in our mission to improve lives by improving communication. I’m honoured to serve that mission in a new capacity as Grammarly’s CEO, starting May 1,” Roy-Chowdhury shared on LinkedIn and Twitter.
“Our millions of users remain our north star as we continue solving their real communication challenges. Grammarly has been harnessing innovation in AI responsibly for over a decade, and we’re just getting started!” added Roy-Chowdhury who has been serving as the Global Head of Product in the organisation since 2021.
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury
He thanked his predecessor Brad Hoover for his leadership over the last 12 years. “It can only be described as an epic run!” Roy-Chowdhury mentioned in his message.
From Google to Grammarly
The business executive spent over a decade in Google, starting out in the Bengaluru office as a product manager in 2007. He climbed the hierarchy ladder, becoming the vice president of product management during his 14-year stint. Two years after he joined Google, he moved to California.
Roy-Chowdhury spent his years at Google leading the safety, security and privacy teams coming up with unified solutions across Google’s product portfolio. He also led the product management teams for Chrome OS and the Chrome browser.
The empathetic leader and team builder has been passionate about his craft of product management, applying a human-centred approach to problem solving.
Inclusivity and mentorship
With a mission-driven mindset, Roy-Chowdhury places emphasis on the value of inclusive process in building a high-quality decision-making culture at workplace.
I care about the mission, and I care about the possibility that what I am working on can impact the world. Trying to bring about the world we believe in keeps me going.
Mentoring product leaders and entrepreneurs and sharing the lessons he has learned, has been an important part of Roy-Chowdhury’s career graph.
From Grammarly to GrammarlyGO
Roy-Chowdhury has announced Grammarly’s new AI tool, GrammarlyGO – the next evolution of the digital writing assistant. “GrammarlyGO brings the power of generative AI to Grammarly: it works everywhere you write, uses context to create personalized and relevant content, keeps you safe from harm and brings the comfort of our enterprise-grade security and privacy guarantees. Let’s GO!!” Users would be able to use the new assistive tool from April onwards.
"That means practically wherever you go to write something—composing an email or opening up a Google doc, GrammarlyGO will be there to assist you." @mashable's take on our new generative AI product: GrammarlyGO.https://t.co/Sqd5RUeQSP
Brad Hoover, Roy-Chowdhury’s predecessor at Grammarly is all praise for his abilities. “During his two years at Grammarly, Rahul has focused on driving excellence and helped us up-level as a company. He has pushed our thinking and driven the organization forward with clarity, keen judgment, and sound decision-making,” he said, as he announced Roy-Chowdhury’s appointment. “Under Rahul’s leadership, we also took a big step forward with our product, increasing quality and introducing solutions to help beyond the revision stage of communication,” he added.
Successfully enabling billions of people worldwide access the power of the open web, Roy-Chowdhury oversaw the entire functioning of the writing assistance software – managing the product, design, and data science teams.
The course of life
Roy-Chowdhury’s academic accomplishments are as impressive as his professional journey. After doing his BS in mathematics from Hamilton College, he went on to do MS in computer science from Columbia University, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
On the personal front, one of his big goals has been to impart his love for ’80s music to his children, and has made some progress with the British rock band, Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’.
(June 25, 2024) Have you ever wondered where old clothes and waste generated by textile factories end up? Usually in landfills. And there's a lot of it. In 2023, the fashion industry produced 97 million tons of waste. Of this, 18 million were leftover textiles, 2.5 million were chemical waste and 3 million tonnes were discarded packaging materials. And in the world of fast fashion, big fashion houses simply end up throwing away leftover stock, like the infamous clothing dump in Atacama, Chile. So why does textile waste end up in landfills? Mainly because the complexity of the materials used in modern clothing makes it very difficult to recycle. Garments are usually made from blends of natural and synthetic fibers, like cotton mixed with polyester, and while different fibres require different treatments and recycling methods, they are difficult to separate from each other. As consumers look for clothes that are 'organic' and 'vegan' and 'sustainable', companies have responded with greenwashing - you might think you're wearing 'organic' cotton, but chances are it's a blend, and has been dyed with chemical substances that come at a great environment cost. The Refiberd story However, textile recycling has made several strides in the
extile recycling has made several strides in the last decade, with growing consumer awareness, increased regulatory pressures and technology. Consumers are now demanding sustainable products over fast fashion, and want to know if everything that goes into making an item of clothing has been ethically sourced. Now, bigger brands are adopting recycling initiatives and even taking back old clothes for recycling. Leading the way on the tech front, however, is Refiberd, co-founded by Tushita Gupta and Sarika Bajaj.
[caption id="attachment_52623" align="aligncenter" width="437"] Sarika Bajaj, CEO and co-founder, Refiberd[/caption]
The California-based company was founded back in 2020, when they were around 24 years old. Their aim is to use AI and cutting edge tech to identify what types of materials are in any given textile item. This is crucial to the recycling process, and also one of the biggest challenges, especially in chemical recycling. "This seems to be a real problem. Accurately sorting textiles is the main gap that everyone's seeing in the industry," Sarika said in an interview. In 2023, Gupta was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in AI by TIME Magazine.
"My co-founder, Tushita and I met in college at Carnegie Mellon where we both majored in electrical engineering," said the Global Indian. "During my first internship, at Intel, I was introduced to electronic textiles. I was on Intel's experimental fashion team." There, she learned that textiles involve deep engineering. For the next five years, she got involved in textiles, learning about everything from production to sustainability. It even pushed Bajaj to get a second graduate degree at CMU in Technology Ventures. The curriculum taught Bajaj how to build a startup. "For my master's thesis, I explored the crux of the problem of textile waste, which is how to sort textiles for proper recycling. I realised that the solution involved a very specific sensor processing program which uses AI."
Experimenting with AI
Meanwhile, Tushita, arrived at Carnegie Mellon in 2014, and graduated with a Bachelor's in Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a double major in Biomedical engineering. She stayed on to do her master's and her senior capstone project was related tot he trash sorting problem. "We had worked together in different capacities for six years and developed a deep amount of trust." They had also seen the massive environmental impact the fashion industry has had for years. They learned about textiles piling up in Ghana or the Atacama Desert. "So it just seemed inevitable that we would put our heads together to solve this big problem.. here was such a massive need, and as technologists, we could provide a solution. That's how Refiberd got started," Sarika says.
Tushita's interests, however, lay primarily in AI before she became involved with textiles. As an undergrad, she developed a Webcam Based Eye Tracker, using Python, OpenCV and calculus. It allows the user to move the mouse and type using just their eyes. Her project was showcased in a class over 100 students. In 2016, at the MHacks IV hackathon, Gupta and her team constructed an android app using Machine Learning and NLP to predict a user's mood through social media usage. She also developed Experia, which provides immersive Virtual Reality with visual and audio feedback, using the Google Cardboard, heat pads, fans, vibration motors and earphones.
[caption id="attachment_52624" align="aligncenter" width="529"] Tushita Gupta, CTO and co-founder, Refiberd[/caption]
Tackling the textile recycling problem
Refiberd's first task was to test the equipment, build the neural networks and assemble a sample library that contains over 10,000 entries. This involved charting all the companies in the fashion and textile industry to understand what they were trying to solve. They found that the biggest gap was in recycling that nobody seemed to be addressing. "We worked very hard with manufacturers to obtain textile samples, said Bajaj. However, even that is just a drop in the ocean, and 10,000 samples are nowhere close to enough to cover the full range of possible permutation and combinations in making textiles. "Other fields use intelligent material detection, but applying it to textiles is a huge opportunity," Tushita said in an interview. "No scaled solutions exist for textile waste detection for recycling because it's such a hard problem."
Around 15 years ago, Sarika explains, recycling companies began using chemical reagents to recycle textiles. "But when you're dealing with chemical recycling and any chemical reagent, you need to make sure that whatever material (metal, nylon, spandex) you're inputting into that chemical is not going to react to it." This was the missing piece in the puzzle - the analysis of textile waste to understand its exact composition before the recycling process. "Unlike other types of waste, like plastics, you can't simply look at a textile and understand what it's made of. You have to actually know all of its components with a high degree of specificity. That's where it becomes a very interesting sensor detection problem and an AI problem," Sarika says.
Gupta, who is leading the charge with the company's AI efforts, says the system involves a conveyor belt with a hyperspectral camera. The camera's inbuilt AI tech identifies different fibres based on how they absorb or reflect light. Each material has a unique signature, which AI can recognize and process to discern fabric compositions and group similar materials to ease the recycling process. This leaves them with a huge dataset, which the AI can interpret to tell them exactly what is in the piece of textile being analysed. "Our system can even tell us where a certain type of material - for example, a spandex band – is located within a particular item."
Who are their customers?
Refiberd's system, Sarika explains, can be installed into existing textile recycling systems to ensure that materials are isolated and sorted. Their main target audience are the large companies that sort clothes for resale, like the Goodwill. "They spend a lot of effort in sorting and only twenty percent of what they get can actually be resold," Sarika says. Then there are the major textile recyclers, and the big textile brands, like H&M, which are leading the way to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
[caption id="attachment_52625" align="aligncenter" width="693"] The clothing dump for fast fashion in the Atacama Desert, Chile[/caption]
The textile recycling industry is evolving rapidly, driven by increased consumer awareness and regulatory pressures. However, significant challenges remain, such as the complexity of recycling blended fabrics and the prevalence of greenwashing in fashion. Companies like Refiberd are making strides with innovative AI technology to better sort and recycle textiles. Despite advancements, the industry still needs improved infrastructure and transparency to effectively tackle textile waste. As the fashion industry moves towards sustainability, continuous innovation and consumer education are crucial for meaningful progress in reducing textile waste and its environmental impact.
(December 28, 2021) Vrooming on her Bajaj Dominar, Candida Louis revved up on the open road solo for a trip from Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha to Sydney. It was August 2018 and she covered 28,000 km across 10 countries. Not just an ordinary road trip across continents, it was an emotional tribute that culminated into an epic journey. The 31-year-old biker girl’s journey was homage to an Australian biker who died riding a motorcycle from Alaska to South America. “I won a photography contest and was invited to the US where I first heard about Alistair Farland, an Australian biker who died in a highway accident in North America. It’s every parent’s wish to see their child return home after a trip. I kept thinking about Alistair’s parents after the tragic incident, and just couldn’t shake off that feeling. So, I decided to take a trip from Bengaluru to Sydney to meet his parents, and complete the trip on his behalf as a tribute to him,” Candida tells Global Indian in an interview. [caption id="attachment_18277" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Candida Louis is Sydney[/caption] It was a personal voyage yet sponsors were ready to help, and Candida made the journey as a part of
e-full" src="https://www.globalindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/candida1.jpg" alt="Biker Girl | Candida Louis | Traveller | Global Indian" width="1080" height="720" /> Candida Louis is Sydney[/caption]
It was a personal voyage yet sponsors were ready to help, and Candida made the journey as a part of the Change Your World Fund travel project. “I have taken many international road trips before, but this was special,” adds Louis who stayed with Alistair’s family for a week in Sydney, and visited his grave. “It felt like I managed to finish the trip for Alistair,” she adds.
“Travel is empowering. Your perspective on life changes. I have realised how we are just a speck in the universe. Getting to know people and multi-cultures is what makes it exciting,” adds the girl on a mission to educate the world on the importance of travel.
The Hubli-born girl has always been enchanted by travel. “I would accompany my dad on road trips to Goa from Hubli on his bike - it gave me a sense of freedom,” says Candida. This passion for exploration extended to her youth and when her dad gifted her a bike on her 21st birthday, she was ecstatic. While her love for travel was simmering, Louis, like everyone, opted for a steady job. Her days as a financial analyst with Oracle were a good balance of work and travel. The 31-year-old then began questioning herself when she moved to Infosys. “With crazy timing, immense world load, the urge to be outdoors was even stronger,” reveals the biker girl.
[caption id="attachment_18278" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Candida Louis on her road trip in Australia.[/caption]
Travel opens up new perspectives
Without further ado, she packed her bags and went biking from South to North India on a three-month sabbatical. It gave her a sense of purpose. “I knew this was my calling. I wanted to see the world and experience it first-hand. That trip made me realise that I could never go back to a desk job. On my return, I quit and went on another trip across India,” declares the biker who covered 32,000 km and 22 states in four months.
While spreading her wings gave her the quintessential freedom, she did face resistance initially from her parents. “It wasn’t an easy decision to quit my job. For my parents, a job meant security and financial stability. They were aghast that I was leaving all for biking. But I was adamant. I asked them to give me a year to prove myself, and told them if things didn’t work out, I would resume my job,” reveals Candida whose bargain paid off, and she bid farewell to her corporate life.
The initial journey was bumpy as women bikers were not a norm in 2015. “The only job I got was that of a store manager at bike rentals. However, Wicked Ride (a bike rental in Bengaluru) gave me a chance, and specially created an opportunity for me to lead tours. This opened doors,” chirps Candida. In no time, she was planning and organising bike tours across India, and has led more than 40 trips across seven countries ever since.
[caption id="attachment_18279" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] Candida Louis with her group of bikers.[/caption]
The sensation across border
Her road trip from Bengaluru to Sydney made Candida a social media sensation. Louis kickstarted her journey from Bengaluru, moved to the East Coast, headed towards North-East before entering Bhutan. She then rode the beautiful roads of Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia from where she loaded her bike on a ship to Perth and then rode to Sydney.
It was the best of experiences, as people cheered her throughout. “I remember posting on social media, and found over 100 people waiting for me at Vidhana Soudha to flag off my journey. Often, people were waiting on highways to show their support,” recalls the girl who has 159k followers on Instagram. She started using Facebook to keep her friends and family updated, and found innumerable supporters. “I was an accidental content creator. But over the years, content has helped me find sponsors,” says the adventure enthusiast. However, she warns amateurs about the risks. “It can be tricky as there are days where you don’t know how you are going to make money. During the pandemic, I didn’t make money for seven months. It’s a risk you take for something you love,” adds the girl.
In the past six years, Candida has become patient and accepting owing to her travel. Confined to her home during Covid 19, she adapted by spending time with family, doing art and hiking. “Being a biker, you are mostly on the road. So, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise as I got to be with my parents. I didn’t miss being on the road much as I like being in the moment,” says the avid gardener.
For someone who has been on the road for a very long time, she recalls an incident in Cambodia as one of her most special moments. "When I was riding in Cambodia for a month in 2017, 20 days into the trip and I started missing Indian food. As we were riding through one of the remotest areas, it was impossible to find that. But we happen to find an Indian man on a tractor while stopping at a water stream who told us that many Indians work in a nearby factory. He invited us for lunch and we had sumptuous rice and sambhar. I think it was one of the best moments for me," says an ecstatic Candida.
When Candida started as a woman biker, she was among a handful to take the road less travelled. Every passing day, more women are breaking gender stereotypes and venturing into riding but she says there’s still a long way to go. “There are 4,000-5,000 female bikers right now in India, a very small number,” she says, adding that family support is the real game-changer. “I am happy that my parents have been my biggest support system. But many are not getting such support,” she adds. “Do not give up on your dreams,” is her advice, “It took me 10 years to prove myself. Nothing comes easy and it needs constant dedication, hard work, and passion. Just keep going.”
Candida has travelled across continents on her hot wheels, knows how to fix almost any problem herself, but Covid 19 has been a spoiler. However, her fingers are crossed for her next big adventure. “With the Omicron strain, many trips are getting cancelled. But if all goes well, I will be riding to Europe in 2022,” says the girl who is following her dreams, one ride at a time.
How to chart your own road trip across continents
Visa: Since Indian passport isn’t too strong, it’s best to get visa for all the countries you are planning to travel to before the commencement of the journey.
Fuel: Finding petrol pumps across the countries is quite simple. In remote places, if you might not find petrol pumps, petrol in bottles is always easily accessible.
Police checkpoint: Every country has their own rules, but one needs to show passport, visa, bike registration number at most checkpoints while entering a country.
Documents needed:
Passport: It is stamped at all border crossings while entering and exiting countries.
Carnet: In simple terms, it acts as a customs document for your motorcycle and has all details about your bike number, engine number and bike registration number. For India, you can get it from WIAA, for Europe, you can get it from ADAC and for the US, you can get from Boomerang. This document keeps you away from paying heavy tax that are levied on imported vehicles on road and states that the bike will return to India in a year.
International Driving Permit: You can get this document by submitting your passport, visa, flight tickets and filling a form to the Regional Transport Office. This is valid for one year.
Motorcycle Registration: Make sure to carry the original document, however, do carry photocopies that you can hand out at borders.
(January 16, 2023) In the year 2006, three months into their marriage, the quest to buy an eco-friendly sofa set for their home took Prashant and Aruna Lingam to a small village called “Katlamara” on the India-Bangladesh border. Enamoured by bamboo and the amazing skills of the local bamboo communities, they decided on social entrepreneurship themselves. It was an unknown domain then but they took the risk, launching Bamboo House India in 2007. [caption id="attachment_33883" align="alignnone" width="3915"] Prashant and Aruna Lingam, co-founders, Bamboo House India[/caption] A risky leap to social entrepreneurship It was a tough call for a middle-class, just married couple to get into the bamboo business and their families were much against it. Yet, they went ahead. The decision proved costly for them during the next three years, forcing them into a debt of Rs. 60 lakh (approximately $ 80,000) owing to a failed business model. Despite being plagued with physical, mental, financial, and personal woes, their passion for bamboo refused to die. “Today, Bamboo House India is the largest builder of bamboo and recycled plastic houses in the country with a robust social business model which never existed in India earlier,” smile Prashant and Aruna, speaking exclusively
cial, and personal woes, their passion for bamboo refused to die. “Today, Bamboo House India is the largest builder of bamboo and recycled plastic houses in the country with a robust social business model which never existed in India earlier,” smile Prashant and Aruna, speaking exclusively to Global Indian.
The successful revival of their enterprise from the brink of a complete washout provided them with an opportunity to bring a bamboo revolution to India.
Challenges galore
“Years of failures coupled with knowledge gained from tribal communities, waste pickers, farmers, municipal bodies, and multi-lateral agencies taught us to comprehend the ground realities and think out-of-the-box,” say the founders of Bamboo House India, who have received many awards for their work.
While Prashant is a management graduate, Aruna is a science graduate. Their initial days of entrepreneurship were tough. “My post-pregnancy complications, my husband’s year-long immobility caused by a near-fatal accident, the deaths of six loved ones, lack of household income, and my inability to put proper food on the table for two years only aggravated the situation took a toll on my mental health,” informs Aruna. In those trying times, Aruna had to offer up whatever little jewellery she had left, to rework their business model and give their bamboo enterprise another try.
When fortune favoured them
It was only after a Hyderabad-based client reached out to them for a bamboo project that fortune for this couple turned its course. “But the client’s lack of trust about the durability of the product became a stumbling block. I convinced him to pay us post production and only if the end-result is up to his satisfaction,” recalls Prashant.
The end product not only turned out to be extremely well-constructed but also earned a good reputation for the bamboo houses in the region. The success led them to build recreational bamboo houses at the behest of prime corporate houses like Google and Infosys.
For Prashant and Aruna, their difficult entrepreneurial journey introduced them to certain qualities and abilities which they never knew existed. “I never knew I had so much determination, patience, and ability to take extreme risks and fight so many odds,” says Aruna, while Prashant nods in complete agreement.
Recognition for the ‘bamboo couple of India’
Known as the “bamboo couple of India” Prashant and Aruna networked effectively and brought in stakeholders like the Confederation of Indian Industries, the Indian Institute of Technology, the National Mission on Bamboo Applications, and Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, forging a multi-stakeholder partnership which triggered the construction of 300+ eco houses till date.
Their work received greater recognition from the US State Department not only when they nominated Aruna for the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program for global thought leaders but also when they made a short video feature on their innovative work for Global Entrepreneurship summit 2017 (Hyderabad), an event graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump.
Recognition for their work continued when they received an invitation from the Government of Kenya to replicate their social business models in their country and case studies by the Indian School of Business, ICFAI University, University of Mexico, and IDEX. “It further strengthened our belief in the work we were doing,” smile the couple, who also constructed 100 low-cost shelters using plastic waste and received global attention after coverage by BBC and the World Economic Forum.
A creative business model
“We designed a lean, sustainable, and innovative business model which laid a road map for our personal and professional growth,” says Aruna, who believes that their business is commercially profitable and socially impactful because of the innovative products designed to meet customer needs without compromising on the social deliverables.
When they were struggling to get a foothold in the market, the lack of funds nudged them to rope in the media as an important stakeholder in their vision to achieve social progress. What started with a single local newspaper coverage in 2006 has today snowballed to media features in over 1500 national and international media platforms including Entrepreneur, BBC, Brut, CII, CNN, World Economic Forum, French TV, Australian TV, to name a few.
Lifetime learners
Aruna believes that theoretical knowledge is an important foundation for an entrepreneur’s toolkit, which they could not obtain during their initial days of entrepreneurial journey.
“All our decisions were based on intuition and gut-feel, rather than organized subject knowledge, and today I have decided to go back to school and obtain the required learning to scale my impact,” says Aruna, who is all set to broaden her horizon by pursuing her masters in innovation and entrepreneurship from London School of Economics. Their innovative social business models have been globally studied with universities Harvard, Cornell, Kellogg and ISB doing case studies on their work.
Last year, www.reall.net, a UK-based social housing company offered to bring in investment in their work and this year too they proposed a green entrepreneurship project from IKEA Foundation.
“My innovations in plastic waste shelter solutions found a platform under the UNDP program for possible global replication. Still, I am afraid to take up projects of this magnitude due to lack of organized subject knowledge, lack of business model clarity. That’s why I want to go back to school and capitalise on my experiences,” explains Aruna, a renowned speaker on national and international platforms on various topics including circular economy, waste management and social entrepreneurship.
Aruna has also been named among the world's 100 social entrepreneurs bringing a change with her work and her bamboo work has been featured in World Bank Report as well.
Creating employment
Motivating people to pursue their dreams and having successfully created employment opportunities for thousands of artisans and waste pickers, she has mentored and influenced students, academicians, children, housewives, corporates, NGOs, and society at large with her work.
Experimenting with new material has been central to their success. Once, the entrepreneur-couple even used discarded tyres and came up with a range of fabulously comfortable furniture by taking unwanted lorry and car tyres and turning them into quirky seating options with creative flair and endless innovation.
“Once, we saw tyres being burnt and the owner told us there was no process in place to discard them. We decided to help with the problem,” says Prashant.
The founders of Bamboo House India have also experimented with trash plastic bottles to build sustainable homes, replacing bricks. “Housing shortfall in India stands today at 148 lakh dwelling units and we hope our innovative techniques will help bring it down,” say the Lingam couple, who are on a mission to improve the housing situation of the poor in the country. For those who do not know, a mud-filled plastic bottle is no less strong than a brick.
A plastic bottle house costs a quarter of the money required to build a conventional house, points out Prashant. The 225 sq ft house looks like an ordinary home, but it differs in many ways. “The structure has the added advantage of being fire proof and earthquake resistant,” says the TEDx speaker. In terms of strength, performance is equal to bricks and may be better too.
Prashant feels the in the mantra “reduce, reuse and recycle”, the ‘reuse’ part is often overlooked. In one pilot project, they built a house with bamboo and bottles.
How it works
Explaining how they went about it, Prashant says while the basic skeleton was made with bamboo, bottles filled with mud were placed both vertically and horizontally for walls, which offers thermal insulation. “The plastering was done with mud and cow dung and Cement plaster was used only for the final coat. The roof was made with bamboo attached to wooden batons,” he explains.
Over the years, the couple constructed 55 street vending kiosks using plastic waste, laid10,000 sq. ft of recycled plastic paver tiles, installed 5,000 recycled plastic street dust bins, enabling then to circulate 10,000 MT of plastic waste from landfills and water bodies.
“Continuing with our eco spirit, we developed low-cost shelters using agricultural waste to address the issue of stubble burning and to date, have constructed 25 Agri waste houses circulating close to 5,000 tons of agricultural waste,” inform the Lingams, who employ thousands of artisans from villages including women on a part-time basis ensuring their livelihood and a better standard of living.
(March 30, 2024) In 2023, wildlife photographer Parag Bhatt was named the winner of the People's Vote Award in the wildlife category at the ReFocus Black & White Photo Contest for his image 'The Gentle Giant of Ambroseli', where he went up against entrants from 77 countries around the world. With numerous accolades to his name, and work featured in publications across the globe, the self-taught photographer's journey began at home, listening to his mother's stories of growing up in Mombasa and in his father's darkroom, where he watched films being developed and enlarged. He talks to Global Indian about what inspires him to travel to the world's most remote and challenging terrains to seek out some of the world's most exotic, dangerous and elusive wildlife, as well as toeing the line between respecting an animal in its habitat and getting the perfect shot. [caption id="attachment_50399" align="aligncenter" width="523"] The photo of the polar bear in Svalbard that won Parag Bhatt an honourable mention in 2022[/caption] The formative years Born, raised, and educated in Mumbai, Bhatt’s school days saw him keenly interested in science when he would make models and electrical toys from scratch. That interest saw him pursue electronic engineering.
Born, raised, and educated in Mumbai, Bhatt’s school days saw him keenly interested in science when he would make models and electrical toys from scratch. That interest saw him pursue electronic engineering. However, post his graduation, he moved to Powder Metallurgy where he worked on manufacturing diamond tools for the stone cutting industry. He worked in this industry for 40 years at the same time pursuing his hobby. “My father had a deep interest in photography. He had a darkroom at home where he would develop the film and enlarge prints. I used to love the way prints would come alive in a hypo solution in just a few minutes from white light falling on photo paper. So, I used to work with him in the darkroom and occasionally pick up his camera and shoot. That is how my interest was kindled in photography,” he reminisces.
Wild Ways
As far as his interest in wildlife was concerned, the contribution to this came from his mother who was born in Mombasa, Kenya since his grandfather had emigrated to Kenya. “She used to tell us stories of how she frequently encountered wildlife in Kenya when traveling from one place to the other by road or how the animals used to roam freely and were not confined to parks. Such stories brought in a lot of excitement within me as a young boy and ever since then, I wished to visit Kenya to view wildlife. Gladly this dream of mine came to fruition in 1994 when I first visited Kenya. My trip to Kenya plays an integral role in my journey as a wildlife photographer. It was on that trip that I for the very first time in my journey as a wildlife photographer shot wildlife,” he explains.
Wildlife behaviour is quite unpredictable, making it challenging to anticipate their actions and movements. Capturing the perfect shot often requires waiting for the right moment, sometimes for hours or even days. “Hence patience and persistence are mandatory qualities for a wildlife photographer. Moreover, many times the weather is not conducive, which can impact the quality of shots. In times like these, the photographer can either wait for the weather to change and become favourable for capturing shots or use the weather to his/her advantage,” he says.
Wildlife photography involves using specialized gear, such as long lenses and sturdy tripods, which can be heavy and cumbersome to carry around. Mastering technical skills like exposure, focus techniques and composition principles are essential for capturing compelling wildlife images. “In wildlife photography, there is something very interesting called a ‘circle of fear’, which if crossed, will result in the animal fleeing." It's a fine line, he admits, between respecting the animal's space and natural habitat while still getting close enough for a good shot. But, he maintains, the well-being of animals is always top priority and disturbing them for the perfect shot is just not done. "Documenting wildlife can also raise awareness about conservation issues, but photographers must be mindful of their impact on fragile ecosystems and endangered species,” he adds.
Being Recognised
Bhatt won two honourable mentions and the People’s Choice Award in 2022 in the ReFocus B&W photo competition, something that has given him satisfaction and happiness. “I remember capturing the polar bear photograph less than two years ago in Svalbard. The whole idea behind capturing this shot was to portray the behaviour of the polar bear." The polar bear, he says, was dipping into the icy water to search for her kill, which had been carried adrift from the shore by the tide. For Bhatt, the challenge was to locate her everytime she surfaced, as she would dive in somewhere and resurface randomly elsewhere after about half a minute. The long and heavy lens, the choppy waters and the bobbing rubber boat only made the task more challenging.
[caption id="attachment_50403" align="aligncenter" width="433"] Photographer by Parag Bhatt[/caption]
Working on Himself
As self-taught wildlife photographer Parag Bhatt commenced his journey in wildlife photography during the days of the film by taking snapshots of animals in their habitat. For the first few years, he pursued this path and started documenting each exposure, trying to improve the next time. “Over the years, I realized that there was much more to it than what I had been doing. Hence, I started my quest to improve my skills. For this, I collected a lot of books on the art and science of photography and slowly learned the ropes of exposure, metering, focus techniques, and mainly the art of composing images,” he says.
In 2003, Bhatt bought his first digital camera which revolutionised the learning process. It shortened the learning curve for photographers everywhere, and Bhatt also began observing and learning from some of the best in the business. Seeing their work inspired him to strive for better photographs. "My journey has been slow and painstaking but I have reached a stage where I have the confidence to exhibit my work at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai,” he adds.
Conflict Cues
For a wildlife photographer documenting human wildlife conflict is an interesting yet challenging task. Balance plays a vital role in showcasing the human and the wild stories. “While documenting the human wildlife conflict I ensure I am capturing the beauty of the wildlife showcasing them as at ease in their natural habitat while coexisting with the human. I also try to show the complex relationship between humans and the wild through my photographs. For instance, I captured one such photograph in Masai Mara Kenya. The photograph portrays how the usage of plastic negatively impacts our ecosystem. The photograph showcased a lion cub chewing a plastic bottle while sitting beside its mother. Plastics pose a significant threat to the health and survival of wildlife globally and the photograph tried to get attention to the harmful effects plastic can have on animals. I wanted to convey the message that we should have effective waste management techniques to avoid such incidents and reduce the harmful effects of plastic pollution,” he says.
Looking Ahead
Over the years he has learnt several lessons while pursuing his craft of capturing the wild. Patience, persistence and acceptance in nature are key because no matter how well-prepared one might be, nothing goes according to plan in the wild. "Things unfold in their own way," he says. "I have learned to embrace every moment in the wild as it comes. I enjoy being by nature and observing the animals in their natural habitat and there are a plethora of things I have learned while capturing each shot." Over the years, he has learned to understand animal behaviour better, and to approach every encounter with an open mind. "I accept nature’s unpredictability efficiently and always remain patient in the moment,” he says. For someone who always tries to push boundaries to capture amazing shots, he plans to publish a coffee table book soon. “I will also set strategies to mentor budding wildlife photographers by hand holding them and teaching them the techniques of shooting good wildlife images. I will be going to Kenya at the end of this month to shoot wildlife at night and rhinos up close and hopefully come up with some striking images,” he signs off.
(June 21, 2024) Brushing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the world of cinema at the French Riviera last month, Mysuru-based filmmaker Chidananda S Naik found himself in a state of deep gratitude and awe at the 77th Cannes Film Festival where his short film, Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know won him the La Cinef Award. "My heart is filled with gratitude. This win is not just mine; it belongs to everyone who was a part of this project and every Indian who backed us, especially from Karnataka, as we proudly represented India on this global stage," he tells Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_52501" align="aligncenter" width="529"] Chidananda Naik[/caption] Cannes 2024 proved to be a landmark year for Indian cinema at the prestigious film festival with several participants scripting history, including the 29-year-old filmmaker. It is for the first time that a film made by a student from the first year Television course at FTII, Pune has won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. Humbled by the win, Chidananda says, "I genuinely feel that this is just the beginning. Our success at Cannes has opened new doors and inspired us to continue creating films that resonate globally."
from the first year Television course at FTII, Pune has won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. Humbled by the win, Chidananda says, "I genuinely feel that this is just the beginning. Our success at Cannes has opened new doors and inspired us to continue creating films that resonate globally."
Making India proud
Growing up, Chidananda had never imagined himself on a stage as big as the Cannes Film Festival, making his debut feel surreal and an experience he calls incredible. "It was such a huge honour to represent India." As a member of the contingent that made India proud at Cannes 2024, the filmmaker is thrilled to have witnessed the historic triumphs of Indians at the film festival, a period he calls his "most memorable moment." "I saw history being written in front of me and what a year for India! It started with Mansi Maheshwari, her anime film Bunnyhood won third prize at La Cinef, followed by Anasuya Sengupta, who became the first Indian to win the Un Certain Regard Best Actress award, and then Payal Kapadia, whose film All We Imagine won Palme d'Or," he smiles.
For an emerging talent like him, film festivals play a crucial role, offering a platform to showcase their talent to a global audience and industry professionals. "La Cinef, formerly known as Cinefondation Selection, are particularly important because they are specifically created mainly to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers," says Chidananda, whose short Kannada film was among the 18 entries selected from film school students worldwide.
Bringing a popular folklore to the forefront
Taking a leaf out of a popular Kannada folklore Ajjiya Jamba, the 16-minute short film tells the story of a village plunged into darkness by an elderly woman who steals a rooster. This act triggers chaos as the villagers frantically search for the missing rooster, believing it is essential to restore daylight. To bring the rooster back, a prophecy is invoked, resulting in the exile of the old woman's family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAmKq-Nwq6s
Chidananda cherished the folklore since childhood, but during his time at FTII, he discovered that it was only well-known in Karnataka and remained a mystery to people outside the state. "My editor, Manoj V, and I have always wanted to make a Kannada film, and the possibility of bringing the story world we imagined to life was really fascinating to us," adds the filmmaker, who had only four days to shoot the film that was a part of his coursework at FTII. However, he remained focussed on taking the best shots and reflects that the filming process taught him to be "meditative in the chaos."
Shot entirely under the cloak of night, the film uses darkness to weave a tale of mystery and suspense, pulling the viewers in the villagers' desperate struggle, thus making night itself a vital character. "It was extremely difficult to shoot with all the limited resources and rules. We were super exhausted but really satisfied with the shots we achieved," says the filmmaker, who found his crew in his batchmates. "Suraj served as the Director of Photography, Manoj was the editor, and Abhishek handled location sound and mixing," reveals Chidananda, noting that other artists joined them to assist during the filming.
Doctor-turned-filmmaker
It's hard to believe that the award-winning filmmaker once aspired to be a doctor. Born in Shivamogga to Prof Shekar Naik, Head of Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition at Yuvaraja College and Vinoda Bai, Chidananda was "never interested in cinema nor thought about it much." His passion initially lay in medicine, leading him to enroll at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute for his MMBS. Ironically, it was medicine that initially drew him towards art. "From the first year, we delved into anatomy through dissection, understanding the human body in great detail. Yet, I often pondered about emotions and feelings, which are also essential aspects of being human," says Chidananda, who found his expression in filmmaking, and joined FTII, Pune after completing his MBBS.
"We are all born first and then we decide how to spend the rest of the days before turning into ashes. There is no blueprint to life that dictates what we should do. I just decided to be happy and do things that make me and people around me happy. It's more about coming to terms with myself and finding my expression of life. These thoughts led me to resonate deeply with art and literature, ultimately guiding me towards filmmaking. It wasn't that I was unhappy studying or practicing medicine, nor was I doing it solely for my parents. Instead, it was a realisation that my true passion lay elsewhere," says Chidananda.
The road ahead
Pivoting to filmmaking turned out to the best decision for Chidananda, who met a bunch of talented people at FTII, thus helping him hone his craft and make impactful films. He reserves a special mention for Neeraj Voralia, a mentor whom he deeply admires. "He is a true blessing to students at FTII."
With La Cinef Award under his belt, the passionate filmmaker is now gearing towards making a mainstream film. "I will share updates in a proper way as the project progresses. I can't reveal too much at this stage," says the man who has brought Kannada film to the forefront at a global stage like Cannes with his film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know. "We are motivated more than ever to make films that tell compelling stories and connect with audiences worldwide. The journey ahead is exciting, and I believe we will see many more Kannada films gaining global acclaim in the future," he signs off.
Sarika Bajaj, CEO and co-founder, Refiberd[/caption]
Tushita Gupta, CTO and co-founder, Refiberd[/caption]
The clothing dump for fast fashion in the Atacama Desert, Chile[/caption]
Candida Louis on her road trip in Australia.[/caption]
Candida Louis with her group of bikers.[/caption]
Candida Louis[/caption]
Candida Louis[/caption]
Wildlife photographer Parag Bhatt[/caption]
Photographer by Parag Bhatt[/caption]
