Indian Athlete | Sunil Chhetri | Indian Football Captain

Global IndianstoryMeet Sunil Chhetri the charismatic Indian footballer who recently surpassed Pele’s record of international goals

Meet Sunil Chhetri the charismatic Indian footballer who recently surpassed Pele’s record of international goals

Written by: Global Indian

(October 26, 2021) His diminutive figure shuffles with alacrity across the football field as he dons the mantle of playmaker with ease. Before you know it, Sunil Chhetri scores. The football skipper of the Indian national football team and Bengaluru FC has another special moniker to his name nowadays – of having surpassed Brazilian legend Pele’s record of international goals scored (when India beat Maldives at the SAFF Championship 2021). Pele scored 77 goals for Brazil, Chhetri now has 80 goals under his belt. Yet, ask the purposeful striker, and he would much rather speak about more important things – like the beautiful game, the Bengaluru FC women’s team or the heart of training.

The 37-year-old has been wearing the Indian jersey since 2005, and while 2011 was his best season ever with 13 goals, 2021 comes a close second with eight goals, and counting with the season starting soon. In football years, that is an achievement in itself.

Didn't start like we should have, but ended exactly how we wanted to. Proud of this bunch and the way we got things on track.
I enjoyed watching that, Sahal.👌
Suresh, of all the things you copy from me, this is up there. Make it a habit.🙂 #SAFFChampionship2021 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Z67Kca5qBh

— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) October 17, 2021

Football in the family

The boy born to KB Chhetri (Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Indian Army), and Sushila Chhetri in Secunderabad had a childhood entrenched in the basics of football as his father played for the Indian Army’s team, and his mother and twin aunts played for Nepal women’s national team. The little Chhetri imbibed tenets of the game as a toddler, and no doubt got lessons that gave him a foundation that has added to his prowess. Similar to how Tiger Woods learned watching his father swing his golf club in the garage as a toddler.

Indian Athlete | Sunil Chhetri | Indian Football Captain

COVID-19 lockdowns and bio bubbles were tough to adapt to but Chhetri was busy using social media to get help. “It was a time when everyone came together in such amazing ways. It was overwhelming to see people go out of their way to help complete strangers. I was happy to lend my social media platforms to some fantastic people who were doing so much to gather resources. They were the real heroes,” says Chhetri.

The Indian captain is the third-highest active international goal scorer. Both Goats – Lionel Messi (80) and Cristiano Ronaldo (115) are ahead of Chhetri in goal scoring, yet the affable and modest skipper would much rather concentrate on his next game, and give his best. With clubs like Mohun Bagan, JCT, Dempo, and international seasons with Sporting Clube de Portugal (also called Sporting Lisbon (B)), Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer during his stellar career, there have been many an international transfer rumour in the past. At the heart of it lies a leader, mentor, and player who believes in being proactive.

Indian Athlete | Sunil Chhetri | Indian Football Captain

The leader in him

Chhetri always has a motivating word for his teammates. Videos of his positive words dot his twitter account, and he himself is extremely driven. His secret? “There is no secret. When you love what you do, you don’t have to search for reasons to turn up. It’s hard work, yes, but it’s all worth it at the end of every training session, every game, every season,” says Sunil to Global Indian from Maldives.

His tryst with BFC has taken the club to greater heights. With 203 appearances, he has scored 101 goals. His joie de vivre is evident in his demeanour and dedication to football. With many accolades, and monikers, he is humble, and would much rather leave his past laurels behind, and look at creating more.

Indian Athlete | Sunil Chhetri | Indian Football Captain

“I’ve been fortunate enough to share the dressing room with some stalwarts of Indian football. Seniors like Bhaichung Bhai and Renedy Singh took me in and showed me the ropes of pro football. There were so many others who I shared dressing rooms with, and looked up to,” says Chhetri, who has always tried to pick the best qualities to emulate from those around him.

Chhetri had also met Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona in Kolkata to kick off a game years ago. He recalled the magic he great brought on his passing. His aura was infectious, and Chhetri was awestruck.

Indian Athlete | Sunil Chhetri | Indian Football Captain

Practice makes perfect

Practice makes perfect, and Sunil’s pre-game routine is like clockwork – now a habit. “When it comes to must-dos, it’s more about resting enough, eating correctly and on time, getting my time with the masseur – regular, boring stuff,” says the footballer.

Different teams, different management styles have only enhanced Chhetri’s adaptability and enterprise. Any favourite managers? The diplomat says he has learned from many, “Football comprises so many aspects and you find these elements in different people.”

Cheering Team India

The constant motivator, he can be seen egging on Olympians, footballers, teams and other sports people. When Bengaluru FC recently announced starting age-group women’s teams in September 2021, a thrilled Sunil welcomed this move. “It’s fantastic that the club has come forward with the intent to have a full-fledged women’s team. It took a while in the coming, but they wanted to do it right and that’s how Bengaluru FC approaches things. Women’s football needs a big push and we’ve got to do it together. I’m optimistic that things will only get better,” says the skipper.

Chhetri married his girlfriend Sonam Bhattacharya in 2017. Sonam is former Indian international and Mohun Bagan player Subrata Bhattacharya’s daughter. Thus, personally too football made its mark, or match. “Marriage is wonderful. Sonam and I have been together long enough now. You appreciate many aspects as time goes by. It helps a lot that she has had an upbringing that involved football because we footballers can be a very tough species to understand and deal with. More so, when things aren’t going well, she’s been a real blessing, I am grateful for that,” says the husband, who is admittedly not big on talking about himself.

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Published on 26, Oct 2021

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Championing inclusion: Activist Manjusha Kulkarni’s inspiring journey against racism and hate crimes

(March 1, 2024) Racism and racial hate crimes have been major issues being faced by minorities around the world. Fortunately, there are individuals like US-based activist Manjusha Kulkarni, who are determined to use their experience, influence, and positions to help make the world a more inclusive place. The activist, who cofounded Stop AAPI Hate four years ago, has been awarded the prestigious James Irvine Foundation award for confronting hate and discrimination against AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) communities with data, partnerships, and policy solutions. She was also acknowledged as Time’s “100 Most Influential” People in 2021 and won the Racial Equality Award in 2022. "It's incredibly humbling. There are so many people who have been involved in the effort. I want to acknowledge those people who are doing this work, day in and out, without much pay or prestige. This is now a movement. Even the monolingual grandparents came out to say we are not going to take this. There is a lot of work to be done to know and understand what is happening in our communities, and then bring about belonging for significant populations," expressed the activist, who currently serves as the Executive Director at the Asian

ige. This is now a movement. Even the monolingual grandparents came out to say we are not going to take this. There is a lot of work to be done to know and understand what is happening in our communities, and then bring about belonging for significant populations," expressed the activist, who currently serves as the Executive Director at the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, a coalition of organisations working for the rights of the oppressed.

From humble beginnings

At the age of two, Manjusha and her parents, both physicians in Alabama, migrated from India. During her teenage years, she witnessed her mother successfully lead a class action lawsuit against the state, challenging discriminatory policies targeting non-European doctors. "My interest in public welfare and civil rights began in 1971, when my parents immigrated to the USA. Before the Immigration Act of 1965, non-Europeans were not allowed to immigrate to the U.S. The Act removed racial barriers to immigration and opened specific pathways; only professional visas were granted. My parents came here as physicians. My father joined a practice in Alabama, but my mother was denied a job when she applied at a local hospital," shared the activist.

Activist | Manjusha Kulkarni | Global Indian

She further added, "During an interview, a panel of white male physicians said to her, “Why do you foreigners come to the United States and take all of our jobs?” My parents hired an attorney, and it became a Class Action Lawsuit. I was in fifth or sixth grade, hearing words like class action lawsuit! Seeing the courage it took my parents to bring a lawsuit against my dad’s colleagues and seeing that the law could provide redress made me change my plan of following in my parent’s footsteps to become a doctor."

ALSO READ | Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta’s journey is empowering millions

This pivotal experience, combined with instances of feeling marginalised as one of the few AAPI students in her school, sowed the seeds of Kulkarni's activism. It motivated her to pursue a law degree and a career dedicated to civil rights. “Seeing that the law was a vehicle for change and actually able to redress the wrongs that my parents experienced was really motivational for me,” the Global Indian shared during an interview.

Activist | Manjusha Kulkarni | Global Indian

Following completing a JD at the School of Law, where she pursued her undergraduate studies at Duke and gained valuable experience during a gap year at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Kulkarni has forged a career in antidiscrimination law and advocacy. The activist also served as an attorney for the National Health Law Program and later took on the role of executive director at the support services nonprofit South Asian Network (SAN). Her efforts at SAN led to her receiving a Champions of Change award from the Obama administration, recognising the organisation's impactful work in educating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) about the Affordable Care Act.

Advocating for justice

In 2017, Manjush assumed the leadership of the AAPI Equity Alliance. The activist successfully transitioned the forty-year-old organization into a new era, transforming it from a behind-the-scenes entity to a pioneering force in healthcare access, interpersonal violence, and mental health initiatives. Talking about the organisation's measures to solve the hate crime, the activist said, "We’ve been focused for many years, if not decades, on ensuring a robust AAPI vote and representation. You can’t solve what you don’t measure, so with the census, we wanted to ensure a robust count — to know where our communities are, who they are — and with that data, to help ensure that they have a voice in our political system."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxBfyytg9nY&pp=ygUWbWFuanVzaGEga3Vsa2FybmkgYWFwaQ%3D%3D

An unfortunate incident that took place in LA, propelled Manjusha to establish Stop AAPI Hate in 2020 - together with Chinese for Affirmative Action co-executive director Cynthia Choi and San Francisco State University Asian American Studies Department professor Russell Jeung.

ALSO READ | Priti Krishtel: Indian-American lawyer is fighting against racism in healthcare

"In 2018, in LA, an Asian American middle school child was attacked in the schoolyard before there was a single confirmed case of Covid-19 in southern California. “You are a Covid carrier, go back to China,” he was told. He said, “I am not Chinese.” Not to distance himself, but to say I am not from there, I have nowhere to go back to. The other kid punched him in the face and head 20 times. We helped the family cope and held a press conference with local leaders. That press conference got quite a bit of coverage. My colleagues saw the same thing in the Bay Area. Within two weeks we noted several hundred incident reports from across the country. We collected data with the intention of releasing it to the public and lawmakers, and got close to 700 incident reports with minimal public outreach," said the activist.

Activist | Manjusha Kulkarni | Global Indian

As an attorney, Manjusha has always been determined to use her skills to stop racism. "I have a lot more to do in this space. I’m not necessarily in the business of changing hearts and minds; I want to change policies to change behaviour," the activist said, adding, "One thing that we make clear at Stop AAPI Hate is that it’s not just about interpersonal violence or hate, but the institutional and structural mechanisms that make racism possible."

Follow Manjusha Kulkarni on Twitter and LinkedIn

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Comic belief, period! Menstrupedia entrepreneur Aditi Gupta busts taboos

(March 2, 2022) Not many individuals are comfortable discussing periods or even menstruation freely. The subject is often relegated to hushed tones. Sanitary napkins hidden in brown paper bags, menstruating women banned from kitchens, places of worship and festivities, or just isolated. Even today, several girls in small towns and villages drop out of school due to lack of proper hygiene once they start their periods. To shatter these myths and taboos surrounding menstruation Indian entrepreneur Aditi Gupta launched Menstrupedia with her husband Tuhin Paul. Launched as a comic book aimed at educating and creating awareness about menstruation, the comic demystifies the biological process and makes information accessible for young kids in the throes of puberty. Today, Menstrupedia works with over 11,000 schools and 10 government organisations, and the comic itself is published in 19 different languages with a presence in six countries. In fact, Aditi’s work has been so appreciated that she has been featured in international magazines like TIME and is also on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. A magical childhood Raised in Garhwa, Jharkhand, Aditi is the eldest of three siblings who led a magical childhood. “Our house was by a river. My brother and

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A magical childhood

Raised in Garhwa, Jharkhand, Aditi is the eldest of three siblings who led a magical childhood. “Our house was by a river. My brother and I spent hours trying to fish there. During Chhat, I’ve seen beautiful ceremonies right outside our home. A little mountain just beyond the river provided a beautiful backdrop as it changed colours every passing season,” she recalls, adding that summer evenings were spent under the glow of a thousand fireflies. “It really was magical,” smiles the Indian entrepreneur, who shares a close rapport with her parents who always instilled a sense of confidence in her.

In small towns like hers, girls are married off after class 10. “But my parents were well educated and went to great lengths to ensure that we were too,” she tells Global Indian.

Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia

After doing her engineering from Hindustan College of Science and Technology, Agra, Aditi did a Masters in new media design from National Institute of Design. “Growing up in a small town meant that one either studied medicine or engineering. Although, I had a creative bent of mind, I too first pursued engineering,” says the Indian entrepreneur in an interview with Global Indian.

Despite an idyllic childhood, Aditi was asked to keep her period a secret, even from family. “I got mine at 12. It was treated like an unspeakable sin. I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles, attend social activities or festivities, sit on the sofa or on the beds of family members. I had to wash my sheets after each period, stained or not,” shares the entrepreneur, who would use rags to manage her cycle, often dried in damp, dark places.

The onus to design for progress

[caption id="attachment_20577" align="aligncenter" width="544"] Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul[/caption]

It was during her time at NID that she met and fell in love with Tuhin, who learnt about the inconvenience she often faced. He pulled up a wealth of information for her. “It struck me that there were millions of girls who were ill-informed about menstruation. This left them vulnerable to unhygienic practices, and also lowered self-esteem,” says Aditi, who undertook a year-long research project with Tuhin to understand the level of menstrual awareness in young school-going girls in urban and semi-urban areas.

[embed]https://twitter.com/menstrupedia/status/1481498655396102147?s=20&t=dZYYeqjWoRZo2A_OtVtKJA[/embed]

Most kids were ill informed, and most girls didn’t know about menstruation before their first period. “In fact, in Rajasthan 90 percent girls were unaware,” says Aditi, adding that even today 88 percent of girls and women in India follow unhygienic practices. “This is largely due to the culture of silence and the inherent shame surrounding it,” she adds.

After NID, both Tuhin and Aditi worked for a couple of years before they got married, and quit to launch their dream project. The idea for Menstrupedia received a great response. “There were a few naysayers who questioned it. We applied for Power of Idea, and were pitching it to investors who didn’t seem entirely convinced. However, we crowdfunded our book, raised ₹5.15 lakh (our target was ₹4 lakh) - the public loved the idea,” says the Indian entrepreneur.

[embed]https://www.ted.com/talks/aditi_gupta_a_taboo_free_way_to_talk_about_periods?language=en[/embed]

A comic on awareness

Menstrupedia was launched in 2014. The comic aimed at creating two-pronged awareness- do away with the associated shame by portraying menstruation in a positive light, and to help young girls learn about the subject in a fun way. It is also a great tool for parents and teachers to broach the topic.

Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia

Today, Menstrupedia has four offerings: the Menstrupedia comic, Gulu, a book for pubescent boys, workshops for teen girls and parents, and a masterclass to enable menstrual educators. The team also works with government organisations; just last week, they shipped over 20,000 comics to Punjab. Their comics are also printed locally in US, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Uruguay, Hungary and China. “Currently, we’re working on a huge project in Jharkhand with an aim to reach 50,000 girls through workshops. And focus on enabling menstrual educators to spread the word,” says the entrepreneur, who loves to read and paint.

As the team gears up to take the business online, and build a one-stop platform, Aditi says they couldn’t have done it without mentors Ketan Rawal, Uday Akkaraju, and Sunil Handa. “From pointing us in the right direction, helping us transform as human beings, instilling a sense of discipline, pushing us to win, and working towards our aim of achieving global domination as period educators, they’ve been with us right through,” says Aditi, who also won big on Shark Tank India recently.

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Sandhya Devanathan: The VP leading Meta to “power India’s decade”

(August 30, 2024) In November 2022, as India began driving tougher regulatory policies for social media companies, Sandhya Devanathan was appointed Vice President Meta India. Only two weeks prior, the former VP, Ajit Mohan, had resigned from his post, causing a stir. Sandhya has a proven track record of scaling businesses, building exceptional and inclusive teams, driving product innovation and building strong partnerships," Meta's Chief Business Officer Marne Levine said, commenting on the appointment. This year, she was named one of the Most Powerful Women in Business 2024 by Fortune Magazine, and brings 22 years of experience in banking, payments and technology. Within one year of her appointment, Meta saw a 16% increase in global revenue, and a 69% rise in net income. AI, messaging and creator empowerment have been the focus areas for Meta in the last year. "Meta and its AI suite of products can turbocharge this transformation," Devanathan told Fortune India. Who is Sandhya Devanathan Devanathan graduated with a BTech degree from the Andhra University College of Engineering, Vishakhapatnam, in 1998, completed her MBA at the Faculty of Management Studies and attended a course in leadership from Said Business School, Oxford University. She began her career in

hool, Oxford University. She began her career in 2000, as Webmaster & Product Manager, Citibank Online, e-Business.

[caption id="attachment_32372" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, Meta India[/caption]

With an international career spanning over two decades, Sandhya Devanathan doesn't come with the usual set of tech credentials. Instead, the graduate from the Faculty of Management Studies in New Delhi, Devanathan pivoted from banking to technology in 2015, after having spent nearly a decade at Citi and another six years with Standard Chartered Bank. In 2016, she joined Meta, going on to play a key role in building its presence in Singapore and Vietnam, apart from working on the company's e-commerce initiatives in South East Asia.

Teething troubles

She calls the move one of the hardest things she's ever done, in terms of learning how to adapt. The strict hierarchies of the banking sector gave way to a more egalitarian, empowered atmosphere, where the emphasis lay on having a "shared vision, purpose and sense of community," she wrote, in a 2020 blog post for Meta Careers. "When it came to banking, I knew the industry really well. I knew about fintech, but Meta and the digital consumer tech landscape were brand new to me. I faced a steep learning curve managing teams that function very differently from traditional companies."

In 2020, Devanathan moved to Indonesia, where she headed Meta's gaming vertical in the A-Pac region and is the global lead for Play Forward, Meta's bid to improve diversity in gaming. Soon afterwards, the pandemic hit and the job market, Devanathan recalls, was transformed. People started onboarding remotely and she had to come to terms with the process, on being unable to establish an in-person rapport with teammates and managers.

Sandhya Devanathan

Leading in a new world

"Leading through change must start from a place of empathy," she wrote. "Everyone is going through something. Leaders must also have the humility to understand that we are constantly in learning mode because there is so much change happening around us." Reviving the old sense of light-hearted togetherness, she realised, was key, now that there were no more water-cooler gatherings and coffee-break tete-a-tetes.

Skills in demand today

The ability to deal with ambiguity, Devanathan believes, is key. Independence and the ability to adjust to change can make all the difference. Communication and collaboration, she writes, are critical, more so as people work remotely and don't often meet in person. The third skill in Devanathan's book is resilience. Variables are infinite, from employees stepping back to deal with personal challenges, to the collapse of economies. "You live in markets in Asia that are vibrant but also somewhat volatile, so having resilience is very important."

An analytical mind that can strategise and plan in an uncertain world is an essential hard skill to be at a company like Meta. "We look for people who are able to set a strong strategy but setting strategy is useless if you can't break it down into what needs to be done today and what needs to play out longer term."

Troubled waters

Devanathan takes over Meta India at a stormy time in the company's India story. With the current administration tightening regulations for big tech, there is lots to navigate. The company is pulling out all the stops to woo Indian developers and creative talent and pledged $1 million for an extended reality fellowship programme in India.

Meta's Chief Business Officer, Nick Clegg has said that the revised version of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is "really promising." Clegg noted that India is on its way to becoming a digital superpower. India is a key market for Meta India, with over half a billion Indians using its services, forming one of the company's largest markets.

In this atmosphere, Devanathan's priorities will be on bringing business and revenue priorities to partners and clients.

Follow Sandhya Devanathan on LinkedIn

Shantanu Narayen: The CEO who is heart and soul of Adobe

(June 30, 2022) Shantanu Narayen is one among the celebrated tribe of Indian-origin CEOs shaping the global business world. Under his leadership, Adobe, which is one of the largest software companies of the world achieved record revenue and industry recognition for being an inclusive, innovative, and exceptional workplace. For the sixth year in a row, Adobe has been identified as one of the 25 World’s Best Workplaces. While, Narayen has earned himself the title of ‘Top CEO’ on Glassdoor, which is based on employee feedback. Global Indian turns its spotlight on the pioneer of creativity and digital media who puts a lot of effort on creating leaders. [caption id="attachment_26332" align="alignnone" width="1160"] Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe[/caption] Narayen wanted to be a journalist but later pursued engineering upon his parent's advice. He started his career with Measurex Automation Systems, a startup. The Hyderabad-born business executive went on to start his own company, Pictra, an early pioneer of digital photo-sharing on the internet, which he eventually decided to sell off. Incidentally, while trying to sell it off to Adobe, he landed a job at the organisation, becoming its vice-president of worldwide product research in 1998. That's another story that he did not succeed

a startup. The Hyderabad-born business executive went on to start his own company, Pictra, an early pioneer of digital photo-sharing on the internet, which he eventually decided to sell off. Incidentally, while trying to sell it off to Adobe, he landed a job at the organisation, becoming its vice-president of worldwide product research in 1998. That's another story that he did not succeed in making Adobe buy Pictra.

Under his leadership, Adobe now offers nearly 100 creative products, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Acrobat and Acrobat Sign. This wide array of tools helps students, business communicators and the world’s largest enterprises to meet their goals.

Narayen has been a smart player landing close to 400 deals for the company. Big media firms like Viacom, and CBS all play their videos with Adobe flash player, thanks to Narayen.

He once remarked at an Adobe summit:

“To win in today’s world every business has to transform itself to become maniacally focussed on the customer experience." - Shantanu Narayen

Reaching heights

It took him only a decade to rise to the top position of CEO. As chairman and chief executive officer, Narayen has been at the helm of driving the company’s strategy to unleash creativity for all, and power digital business. The software giant, which has always aimed at changing the world through digital experiences, has taken a dramatic turnaround in recent years and has become a global brand with a huge customer base.

Narayen, the recipient of India’s civilian honour Padma Shri (2019), has a special place for India in his heart, “We have got incredible talent in India and they are responsible for major parts of every aspect of our business, including product. Whether it’s Acrobat or creative or digital experience tools, so much of the pioneering engineering work is done in India,” he said in an interview.

The typical journey of unusual success

Born in 1963, Narayen grew up in an affluent, Telugu-speaking family in Hyderabad. His father ran a plastics company, while his mother was a teacher of American literature. He is an alumnus of Hyderabad Public School that boasts of a great repertoire of former students who are top CEOs and business executives like Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Ajay Singh Banga, CEO of MasterCard, and Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal.

[caption id="attachment_26333" align="alignnone" width="960"] Indian CEO | Global Indian Shantanu Narayen with his schoolmate, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft[/caption]

He was one of the thousands of young men who headed to the US in the 1980s packing their mom’s homemade snacks and pickles to ward off homesickness. By then, Narayen was armed with a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering from Osmania University. In the US, he earned a master’s degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University and another master’s degree in business administration from the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. The Indian-American business executive was honoured with a doctorate degree for applied science by his Alma Mater, Bowling Green State University in 2011.

Not many are aware that Narayen holds five patents. All are focussed on creation and editing of electronic documents on digital processing systems that he invented during his Pictra days. That apart, multifaceted business executive’s golfing IQ is superb. He would have become a professional golfer if he hadn't been a business executive.

[caption id="attachment_26334" align="alignnone" width="948"] Indian CEO | Global Indian Shantanu Narayen posing with a golf ball[/caption]

He also loves cricket and sailing, and has even represented India in sailing at an Asian regatta. Along with his cricket-loving schoolmate Satya Nadella, he has invested in Major League Cricket (MLC) to be hosted by the American Cricket Enterprises (ACE). It's an upcoming professional Twenty20 cricket league in the United States with plans to begin matches in 2023.

Creativity in DNA

With creativity in his DNA, Narayen is shaping the future of storytelling. By transforming how people and brands tell their stories, the suave orator and debater has been connecting content and data with new technologies.

As CEO, Narayen has revamped the company, shifting its creative and digital document software franchises from the desktop to the Cloud. Under his leadership, as of June 2022, Adobe has a market cap of $172.76 billion. Adobe's business is powered by three cloud-based solutions: Creative Cloud (Adobe XD, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator etc.); Document Cloud (Acrobat DC, Adobe Sign and powerful mobile apps) and Experience Cloud that helps organisations design campaigns, advertise and gain deep insight on business performance.

For the Adobe CEO, the company's most valuable assets are its people.

"Every single engineer at Adobe we've invested in is being trained in future technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Cloud to help businesses deliver better customer experiences" - Shantanu Narayen

Impressive collaborations

Narayen swears by the importance of communicating well with people – a lesson that he has learned from his experiences as a CEO. “Simply put, good communication is needed to ensure that all the components which make up a corporation will move in the same direction, instead of each component pulling this way and that way.”

Just before starting Pictra in 1996, Narayen enjoyed a stint at Apple in senior management positions between 1989 to 1995. The top CEO takes pride in lessons learned from Gursharan Singh Sandhu of Apple Talk who mentored him during his Apple days and taught him how to challenge others and himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw6A6cQ4Y6g

In 2011, Barack Obama had appointed him as a member of his Management Advisory Board. Narayen has been the lead independent director on Pfizer’s board of directors, and vice chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. The India-bred CEO expects more Indian-origin leaders to helm global corporations.

He has been staying in Palo Alto, California with his wife Reni, whom he met during his college days in the US in the mid-1980s. She holds a doctorate in clinical psychology. They have two sons.

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Indian-origin life coaches helping people transform their lives

(December 21, 2022) Come May 2023, life coach and author Jay Shetty will embark on his first-ever world tour Jay Shetty: Love Rules, four months after the release of his second book 8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go, and India will be one of the pit stops. The British Indian for years has shared pearls of wisdom to help people maneuver their lives. And now he is ready with his second book. How many times have you come across a life coach who has spent his life as a monk? How many times did you hear about a British-Indian teen following a monk to India? How many times have you seen a former monk turn into a media mogul? And it's this rarity that makes Jay Shetty a prominent face in the personal growth industry. An award-winning storyteller, podcaster, former monk, life coach, author - the 34-year-old juggles several hats. But it's his purpose to inspire people and help them find their calling that has made him popular across the globe. It's personal transformation that's Shetty's dharma. He made a 180-degree shift in his life more than once and now he's on

ore than once and now he's on a mission to transform others' lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu6gBqDu_Qw

A North London lad, he was the perfect child until he decided to go rogue in his teens. From drugs to violence, Shetty dabbled in all and was thrown out of his school three times. But after a little bit of soul searching, he enrolled in a business school to make it big. Inspired by the stories of self-made entrepreneurs and the CEOs, it was the success that Shetty was chasing after. However, a chance encounter with a monk, Gauranga Das, changed it all for an 18-year-old Shetty. At 22, he decided to trade his suit for robes. He left London and moved to an ashram outside of Mumbai to become a Vedic monk. The next three years were filled with service where he built sustainable communities, fed the homeless, and taught meditation. He meditated for 4-8 hours a day and learnt ancient practices of breath and mind control. He studied Vedas and philosophies of the east in great depth, and knew he wanted to impart the knowledge in the real world.

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Having learnt from the monks in India, the author of Think Like A Monk is now helping thousands across the world get on the journey of self-discovery and helping people discover their purpose. "I want to help people find stillness, purpose, peace, and clarity in their daily life, by adopting the mindset monks have developed over thousands of years. I want to show people that thinking like a monk isn’t just about being still and calm, it’s a lot more about seeing patterns and connections; seeing things in mainstream culture that remind you of wisdom," the life coach said in a 2020 interview.

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Global Indian turns the spotlight on the Indian-origin life coaches who are opening the world to the concept of consciousness and self-awareness.

Sadhguru

When Hollywood actor Will Smith made his first public appearance in Mumbai in May post the infamous Oscar slap gate, murmurs of him meeting Indian spiritual leader and life coach Sadhguru in search of "healing" and "correction" echoed across the globe. It's no secret that Will Smith hosted Sadhguru at his LA home in 2020, where the two discussed life and spirituality. Stoked by Sadhguru's 2016 book Inner Engineering, he called the mystic to greet his family as he wanted them to meet "spiritual people, who are not hooked on the material world." This beautiful rendezvous touched upon the understanding of "one's suffering" and left Will amazed. But he isn't the only one that's enamoured by the teachings of Sadhguru.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL8sCf0qYHI

Born as Jagadish Vasudev, his tryst with yoga began as early as 13 years of age, and in 1992, he founded the Isha Foundation with a mission to transform the lives of millions with his wisdom. His ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds has made him one of the most sought-after life coaches in the world. Helping people navigate through life by making them craft their destiny by embracing the "technologies of well-being" is what makes him popular. Talking about the concept of Karma, he said in an interview, "The things you have done with your body, with your mind, with your emotions and your energy since the time of your birth is deciding what kind of a person you are, how you see things, how you experience things. Is it not? The impressions of that are what cause the bondage. Because you can have only limited exposure in your life, you will be limited. So unless you free yourself from this, you cannot look at all the enormous possibilities out there. The past is ruling the present and future. You are recreating your future just like the past."

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Vishen Lakhiani

If it's about striving to elevate the key systems that shape humanity's future and to unlock the highest potential, then it's game on for Mindvalley founder Vishen Lakhiani. Born and raised in Malaysia, he moved to the Silicon Valley in the late 90s, but things were hard. However, one meditation class changed it all for him, and that's when his quest for personal growth began. Soon, he became a meditation instructor, a decision that led him to creating his own form of meditation - the six phase meditation. In 2004, he founded Mindvalley, then a tiny company building websites for various authors in personal transformation. But things shifted in 2016 for Vishen when he released his first book The Code of The Extraordinary Life, and all of a sudden became one of the leading brands in human transformation.

Life coach | Vishen Lakhiani

Today, Mindvalley offers more than 30 courses on personal mastery including health, wealth, relationship, and productivity that are set to raise human consciousness. As an entrepreneur and life coach, his biggest advice is to have a real passion for your calling.

"I believe that a person can only realise their fullest potential when they're in a constant state of growth. And through my work with Mindvalley, transformation has become the primary driver of my life," the author of The Buddha and the Badass said in an interview.

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Robin Sharma

The bestselling book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari gave admission to Robin Sharma in the literary world, but his book wasn't run-of-the-mill stuff, but an almost bible on personal mastery. That's what made Sharma an overnight star. The 57-year-old former lawyer is considered to be one of the top life coaches in the world with clients like Nasa, Microsoft, Starbucks, Oracle, and Unilever, and his purpose is to make everyone live to their full potential.

Life coach | Robin Sharma

At 25, he self-published his first book MegaLiving. But it wasn't until the success of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari that he quit his job as a litigation lawyer and became a full-time writer. Soon he ventured into public speaking, and was approached by CEOs on personal mastery and leadership.

"There are a lot of people with a lot of money but money is all they have. It's very inspiring to see how many people want to be the heroes of their lives, and how many people want to grow and rise above their circumstances. One of the keys to my longevity is that I want to help people, I don't just write books but I am putting down the information that is not superficial but really creates change," said the author of The 5 AM Club who believes in the power of transformation.

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Deepak Chopra

A pioneer in introducing the west to the wonders of meditation, Deepak Chopra has been at the forefront of the meditation revolution for the last 30 years. At 45, he quit his career as a prominent physician in Boston and started his centre in California, focused on integrative medicine. Merging meditation with medicine is what his expertise lies in. The 75-year-old has coached some of the biggest leaders and corporate giants, and for him, it's more about "deep reflection" than "giving advice."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm29bAYaJoQ

"The idea is for them to work toward taking responsibility for not only their well-being—social, emotional, physical, financial, professional—but also that of others. I teach them how to harness creativity, whether they’re artists or scientists—intention, information gathering, analysis, incubation, insight, intuition—and how to serve the people they influence. Those are the basic elements. If they’re receptive, I then take them into meditation practices for tapping into higher consciousness," the life coach said in an interview.

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Indian-origin life coaches helping people transform their lives

Sadhguru

Robin Sharma

Deepak Chopra