Scholar | Pavithra Prabhakar | Global Indian

Global IndianstoryIndian scholars are winning the world, developing pioneering technology, and working for a better future

Indian scholars are winning the world, developing pioneering technology, and working for a better future

Compiled by: Namrata Srivastava

(April 18, 2023) India has the largest diaspora population in the world, with over 13 million Indians living outside the country and 17 million people of Indian origin spread. While they are known to be skilled IT professionals, several Indian-origin scholars have made significant contributions to the field of maths, science, technology, and many more – which has also translated to them winning some of the biggest awards in their field. In fact, according to the latest report by Alper Dodger (AD) Scientific Index, a total of 52 Indians are among the world’s top two percent scholars in 2023.

Scholar | Global Indian

One of the most recent examples of Indian scholars shining at a global level is that of Dr. CR Rao, who recently received the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, the equivalent to the Nobel Prize in the field, for his monumental work 75 years ago that revolutionised statistical thinking. The 102-year-old mathematician, who will also receive a cash prize of $80,000, is considered one of the pioneers of modern statistics and has worked in various areas, including multivariate analysis, sample survey theory, and biometry. Global Indian looks at a few notable scholars who have done pioneering work in their field and helped take Brand India a notch higher.

Dr. Kaushik Rajashekara

The recipient of the Global Energy Prize 2022 – the highest award in the field of energy – Dr. Rajashekara is one of the first engineers, who worked on the concept of building an electronic vehicle, far before the technology became known to the common man. The scholar, who is currently working as a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of Houston, wishes to pass on all the knowledge he has gained in the last three decades to new-age engineers, to ensure that the evolution of science and technology never stops.

Dr, Rajashekara with GM Impact electric vehicle in 1993

Speaking to Global Indian about his accomplishments in a previous interview, the scholar said, “When I received the e-mail about my selection, I could not believe it for a moment. This award shows the importance of energy efficiency improvement and reducing emissions. I am proud of the contributions I made to technologies that would improve the environment. Also, I have travelled to about 60 countries giving seminars on various topics at universities and conferences. It is humbling to recognise how many people contributed to my success, expecting nothing in return. ‘It takes a village’ is very true in my case, and I am fortunate that my village included some of the most encouraging and inspiring engineers in the field.”

Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishna

Who would have thought that a man born in the small temple town of Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, could bring home the Nobel Prize for Chemistry? But, defying every odd that faced him, Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishna won the top prize in 2009 for his research on the structure and function of ribosomes. Currently working as a group leader at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, UK, the scholar is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and has also served as the President of the Royal Society from 2015 to 2020.

Scholar | Venkatraman Ramakrishnan | Global Indian

“It takes a certain amount of courage to tackle very hard problems in science, I now realise,” the scholar said after winning the Nobel Prize, adding, “You don’t know what the timescale of your work will be: decades or only a few years. Or your approach may be fatally flawed and doomed to fail. Or you could get scooped just as you are finalising your work. It is very stressful.” The scholar also received the prestigious Order of Merit from King Charles in 2022.

Dr. Ravi Prakash Singh

Included among the top 1 percent of highly cited researchers across the globe by Clarivate Analytics-Web of Science, every year since 2017, Dr. Ravi Prakash Singh has been working tirelessly towards his goal of increasing food production in the world for the last four decades. A Distinguished Scientist and Head of Global Wheat Improvement at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, the academic has developed several wheat varieties, which have added over $1 billion annually to farmers’ incomes through increased productivity and built-in disease resistance.

Dr Ravi Prakash Singh, Head of Global Wheat Improvement at CIMMYT

The scientist also serves as Adjunct Professor at Cornell University and Kansas State University and is the recipient of several top awards in agrotechnology, including the Outstanding CGIAR Scientist Award, the CSSA Crop Science Research Award, the University of Minnesota E.C. Stakman Award, and the China State Council’s Friendship Award. “The awards recognise and value many years of wheat breeding at CIMMYT, where I had the opportunity, privilege, and satisfaction to have contributed and made impacts through our invaluable partners in India and many other countries,” the scholar told GI during an interview.

Dr. Pavithra Prabhakar

Proving the age-old idea, ‘mathematics is not for girls’ wrong, Dr. Pavithra Prabhakaran’s research in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence is helping the industry grow by leaps and bounds. Currently, the Peggy and Gary Edwards chair in engineering and professor of computer science at Kansas State University, the scholar recently received the prestigious Amazon Research Award to design a tool that highlights changes between different versions of machine learning software systems to minimise negative user experiences.

Scholar | Pavithra Prabhakar | Global Indian

The Programme Director at the National Science Foundation, USA, the scholar’s proposed research will build on foundational concepts from process algebra and control theory to define mathematical notions of distance between different versions of machine learning systems and develop algorithms for outputting the similarity and dissimilarity between them. “The broad objective of the project is to automatically characterise how much two versions of machine learning-based systems are similar or different,” she told GI during an interview.

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee

“An elegant inquiry, at once clinical and personal, into the long history of an insidious disease that, despite treatment breakthroughs, still bedevils medical science,” the Pulitzer Prize committee had noted while awarding the 2011 award to cancer specialist Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. An Indian American oncologist, cell biologist, and hematologist, Dr Mukherjee created waves in the medical world after he released his first book The Emperor of Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which weaves together his experiences as a cancer expert.

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University presenting Pulitzer Prize to Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee

Honoured with India’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, the scholar’s research about the roles of cells in cancer therapy has helped several medical practitioners across the globe help ailing patients. “The book is written entirely for a layperson to understand, but I wanted to treat this audience with the utmost seriousness. If you look at Amazon, you find 5000 books about cancer…but I felt as if there was a vacuum and that none of these books addressed the kinds of questions that patients and families have, which is a desire to have a larger history, one that goes back to the origins and then takes us into the future,” the scholar had said after winning the Pulitzer Prize.

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Published on 18, Apr 2023

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Fame’s not a game for Anurag Shanker: His music restores folk music, & traditional riffs

(March 24, 2022) As he made music with his friends in high school, it was clear that Anurag Shanker had a special talent. It wasn’t as a glamorous frontman, or an even more glamorous lead guitarist. He knew early on that his gift lay in composition and arrangement, to take a song and turn it into something people would want to listen to. While ideas were abundant, good execution was not. “I have never just been a guitarist or a composer,” says Anurag Shanker, today a reputed composer and music supervisor for Netflix’s The Fame Game. For him, the excitement lay in meeting new artists, about taking a song and expanding it to an audio production perspective. “I want to arrange their music and produce their songs,” says Shanker to Global Indian. He was first approached by the OTT giant back in 2020, soon after the pandemic began. “It was to do music for one show - The Big Day,” he recalls. A series about six engaged couples, the show takes a look at India’s multibillion-dollar wedding industry. “They needed someone to handle Indian-centric stuff that was culturally accurate, and also contemporary,” he adds. The Fame Game allowed Anurag to “place

n-centric stuff that was culturally accurate, and also contemporary,” he adds. The Fame Game allowed Anurag to “place some really nice indie music,” and that makes him a happy camper. One example is singer-songwriter Kamakshi Khanna's 2021 single Duur, which was featured.

[caption id="attachment_21803" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Anurag Shanker[/caption]

This space is Anurag's forte, to create music that is “culturally relevant and which sounds cool,” he avers. A repertoire of prolific- acoustic, rock and folk music (he collaborated with the Manganiyars of Rajasthan, for instance), and a classical collaboration with sarod player Pratyush Bannerjee (among the foremost sarod exponents of our day) who played songs in eight ragas that Anurag produced with an electronic sound. “We have to bring in a new perspective without alienating either form,” says the classicist. Cross-culture collaborations are all the rage and the word fusion is, arguably, overdone. “Putting a raga together with a drumbeat is not fusion. You have to be sensitive about it,” says the traditionalist.

Keeping up with the 'times'

Anurag's sensibilities were shaped at home, expectedly, as the son of late Promod Shanker, former VP, Times Music. “Dad had a knack for discovering new artists. He discovered Indian Ocean and Jasbeer Jassi. That was very inspiring to me,” says the musician with an eclectic ear. Growing up, he would often find the biggest names sitting in his living room – he recalls Indian Ocean and the composer duo Ajay-Atul. “There were artists coming home to jam all the time,” he adds.

Having been in the thick of things often, he has lost his taste for jam sessions. “If I’m playing music or creating it, it has to be for the music. It can’t be an evening of frolic where the music is incidental,” he mulls. It also showed him, at an early age, what lies beyond the glitz of show business - he understood the hard work and determination that goes into life as a professional musician.

Training began early, and at age nine it was tabla lessons. “It’s the best age to learn an art form,” Anurag says. “Rhythm became very much ingrained in me. Also, Indian rhythms are so complex that after learning them, everything else is simple. If a jazz musician says to me, this is a 7/4 time signature, I’m unfazed by that,” he says.

[caption id="attachment_21779" align="aligncenter" width="707"] Live with Namit Das. Picture: Vaishnavi Suresh[/caption]

Bengaluru days

Those early years were routine, and the joy came later, when he began to jam with friends in high school. “I hit the ground running. I was making songs when someone who started along with me was still trying to figure out the instrument. That was a huge plus,” which led him to visiting studios with his father, watching people organise recording sessions and learning how to make artists comfortable.

When he came to Christ University in Bengaluru, Anurag joined the college's thriving cultural scene during his third year. And that enabled him to take his music more seriously. Slowly, work started - jingles and promos. He was also part of a band then, Caesar's Palace, which performed in Bengaluru. “It was just a fun idea which helped me discover myself,” and his talent for arrangement and composition was noticed, and suddenly creative decisions were under his aegis. The band did an EP too.

In 2009, the composer moved to Delhi to be with his parents but found his career stalling. “I decided the only place to get really fired up is Mumbai - such an exciting city,” he says. He left home in 2010, carrying precious wisdom from his father. “Don’t look for a break,” he said. It put paid to the idea of starstruck youth swarming tinsel town looking for fame. Instead, his father said, “That big break will never happen. The world just doesn't work like that. Learn not to depend on what is in the pipeline. Instead, have a good time, collaborate with people and make music,” lessons he took to heart, created a repertoire of diverse projects.

[caption id="attachment_21781" align="aligncenter" width="556"] The composer recording Kinnaram from Tamil Nadu[/caption]

Bombay's acoustic people

A chance meeting with a friend from college (2010), Arfaaz Kagalwala, led to the formation of Slow Down Clown, an alternative outfit. The duo explored film work, like in Amit Masurkar's Suleimani Keeda. “We sent in a couple of ideas and they liked them. That was our first experience as composers,” smiles the composer whose wit and humour endears him to all. A web series, some film songs later, Arfaaz left for France. Anurag remained in Bombay - classical, folk music to film scores, and indie songwriting.

In 2013, Anurag became one-half of the now-dormant guitar duo Bombay Acoustic People with Sankarshan 'Shanks' Kini, who was playing with Kailash Kher's ensemble at the time. Kini, he says, is an “all-round, holistic musician,” who was “so welcoming.” The Bombay Acoustic People toured India, entranced Shillong, also toured Europe. They began the warm and inclusive living room gigs long before they entered mainstream cultural discourse.

“That started out in Sankarshan's room. We would bring speakers and debut material for some 25 guests,” and the shows were instant hits with fans offering their homes. Those intimate sessions call for the best in a musician, he believes, “One can play loud electric guitar to already loud music. Yet, if you're playing a real acoustic instrument in a small room where people are paying attention only to you, that’s the true test of your skill and personal peace.” In 2014, Namit Das + Anurag Shanker came to be, and still active though in the middle he was also a part of another alternative outfit, Last Remaining Light, in Mumbai.

That's all 'folk'

Working with folk artists is close to his heart. Accompanying his father to Mumbai's Western Outdoor studio in 2000, (now closed) where legends like Bhimsen Joshi and Abida Parveen would come in to record, he says, "Abida ji would walk into the studio and produce seven or eight hours of content at a shot. She just goes in and starts singing - Kabir for an hour, Punjabi folk for an hour. They were legends on the brink of something new. And simply to be in the presence of that spark - these are things that cannot be taught."

Producing at the core of his musicology - he has worked with the Manganiyar singers from Rajasthan including upcoming artist Peeru Khan, produced an album with sarod player Pratyush Bannerjee, the Urban Grooves Project series for Virgin EMI and a string of Indian music releases for a Bengaluru-label, Pragnya.

[caption id="attachment_21783" align="aligncenter" width="642"] Anurag with Manganiyar singer Peeru Khan[/caption]

At his home studio, he is busy working for an NGO, recording one folk song from every state of India. With 22 done, the collection will be presented on a website, where people can discover more about the song, its state of origin and the culture to which it belongs. “I have made so many friends and connections in the folk music community so this is my way of protecting our cultural heritage,” says the guy who can croon a mean tune.

The pandemic saw him long for the surrounds of Bengaluru, where he and his wife Malini currently live – an idyllic villa near Nandi Hills. “After living in cities all my life, I didn’t even realise this was something I needed,” he laughs.

Follow Anurag on Instagram and YouTube

Reading Time: 6 min

Country’s first certified chocolate taster Nitin Chordia serves ‘Made in India’ chocolates in the truest sense

(September 16, 2022) When people get to know that Nitin Chordia is a chocolate taster, they can’t help but be curious. What could be a better job than that of a chocolate taster’s is the most common reaction. Though Nitin seconds their opinion with a smile, India’s first certified chocolate taster dons other hats too. As an entrepreneur, he has his work divided between Cocoashala, an academy that trains chocolate makers from around the globe, and Kocoatrait, the chocolate manufacturing company that has his wife, Poonam at the forefront. [caption id="attachment_29429" align="aligncenter" width="903"] L Nitin Chordia, chocolate taster and entrepreneur[/caption] Chocolates that are literally ‘Made in India’ Since long India’s large share of the chocolate market has been claimed by big foreign brands. Thanks to the efforts of chocolate makers like Nitin, we can now enjoy made-in-India chocolates. In a conversation with Global Indian, he elaborates: Chocolates in India have been made by big players in the industry for decades. I have tried to revolutionise the concept of made-in-India chocolates in the sense that the ingredients (cocoa beans) that we use for chocolate making are being sourced from Indian farms instead of being imported from outside - Nitin Chordia

an>Global Indian, he elaborates:

Chocolates in India have been made by big players in the industry for decades. I have tried to revolutionise the concept of made-in-India chocolates in the sense that the ingredients (cocoa beans) that we use for chocolate making are being sourced from Indian farms instead of being imported from outside - Nitin Chordia

That’s what makes his chocolates unique in comparison to the popular brands that have been ruling the market for years now.

[caption id="attachment_29430" align="aligncenter" width="788"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian Cocoa pods on a cacao tree in the farm - cocoa beans are inside these pods[/caption]

Having begun just a few years back, the revolution ushered by Nitin is ‘benefitting the farmers cultivating cocoa beans in India’ and it’s the most satisfying part of the business for him. Talking about the second satisfying aspect, “I can assure you that no child labour is involved in cocoa farming in India, unlike in some other countries,” says the bean-to-bar chocolate maker.

What’s bean-to-bar chocolate making?

A question that’s often posed to Nitin. “Many big companies that make and sell chocolates in India just do the last mile thing, buying chocolate slabs, adding fruits and nuts, and giving them shapes and packaging.” While the bean-to-bar chocolate makers like Nitin are involved in the process right from the beginning – cocoa beans cultivated by the farmers on the cacao trees,” he explains.

[caption id="attachment_29458" align="alignnone" width="1040"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian From bean to bar[/caption]

However, big brands, on the other hand, follow cocoa liquor-to-bar or mass-to-bar chocolate production processes. “All they do is buy chocolate paste which is known as cocoa liquor or cocoa mass, bypassing several processes like dealing with the farmers, trying to select the best fruit, getting the cocoa beans fermented, dried, roasted and then turned into paste. They outsource the initial processes,” tells Nitin. Such has been his close association with the farmers that he often sees himself getting into the shoes of the mentor for them to ensure quality produce.

[caption id="attachment_29435" align="aligncenter" width="923"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian Interaction session with cocoa farmers[/caption]

It all began when…

Though Nitin dipped his toes in the world of entrepreneurship in 2015, his tryst with confectionery dates back to 2005 when he was working for KSA Technopak, one of India’s largest retail companies and was heading its client Godrej’s Nature Basket project. Nitin was entrusted with the responsibility of establishing the Nature Basket chain of stores across the country for the corporate giant. “In that process, I developed a grasp on several categories of food products. Chocolates particularly interested me from the economic, and business standpoint,” says the Chennai based entrepreneur.

[caption id="attachment_29436" align="alignnone" width="1029"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian Nitin conducting a chocolate appreciation session[/caption]

Nitin hails from a family that has been into entrepreneurship since generations, and to be in that space was his ultimate goal as well. However, he wanted to dabble in something new as opposed to his family business in trading, finance and real estate. That’s when he decided to pursue an M Sc in retail management from University of Surrey and later worked for a couple of retail consultancy firms with the plan to eventually foray into entrepreneurship one day.

Expensive lessons

Over the years, Nitin found himself intrigued by the world of chocolates, a business domain he was keen to explore. However, he wanted to do some research before soaking into the world of entrepreneurship, and that’s when he decided to go on a backpacking trip to Belgium, the European Mecca for chocolate. “It took me 20-days to discover that thousands of chocolate sellers actually don’t make chocolates at all. They don’t go to cocoa farms, they don’t buy cocoa fruit, they don’t process or make chocolate in bulk. All they do is buy slabs of chocolate from some manufacturer, put some nuts into it and sell.” This discovery was a gamechanger for Nitin as for him ‘a myth got uncovered.’

[caption id="attachment_29448" align="alignnone" width="1079"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian Nitin in one of the sessions abroad[/caption]

However, there was more as it was on the same trip that he met his mentor Martin Christy, who runs the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting in the UK, the only institution of its kind and affiliated to the Government. “We happened to meet in a chocolate museum. Within two weeks, I was back attending a chocolate tasting certification course at his institute, becoming India’s first certified chocolate taster,” Nitin tells. After a few months of clearing the first certification level, he returned for level two getting assured that the chocolate business has huge potential to click. Martin became his mentor.

[caption id="attachment_29469" align="aligncenter" width="877"] Fermented cocoa beans - in the process of chocolate production[/caption]

“People had just started understanding speciality tea, coffee, wine but chocolates had never been spoken about,” and he got determined to bring his discoveries and gained knowledge to the forefront.

Making a difference

There were some people making bean-to-bar chocolates at a very small scale in India in places like Puducherry and Mysuru, but the practice was not popular - Nitin Chordia

With the purpose of making cocoa bean farming a profitable venture in India, he opened a franchisee of his mentor’s institute in the country giving fuel to business ideas of other entrepreneurs to start chocolate making ventures with ingredients produced in the country.

[caption id="attachment_29432" align="alignnone" width="1006"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian Nitin at one of the training sessions at Cocoashala[/caption]

Nitin’s Cocoashala has not only provided training to some of the most successful bean-to-bar chocolate makers of India but has also enabled their businesses by hand-holding them throughout the process. Through his consultancy venture, Nitin has helped them out with machinery, raw material, recipe development, being instrumental in ensuring their transition from learners to professional chocolate makers. There are 12 well-known bean-to-bar chocolate entrepreneurs in the country who have been successful in their businesses under Nitin’s mentorship. One of them being Paul and Mike, India’s largest bean-to-bar chocolate makers.

[caption id="attachment_29466" align="alignnone" width="1193"] Different types of cocoa pods[/caption]

All the entrepreneurs whom Nitin has mentored have been sourcing cocoa beans from farmers in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra and Tamil Nadu, giving a boost to the economy.

Strong partnership

Poonam Chordiya, Nitin’s wife has had a significant role behind the success of both Cocoashala and Kocoatrait. “It was she who was instrumental in the idea of me starting Cocoashala. When in 2015 we talked about bean-to-bar chocolate making, everyone laughed at us. Poonam coaxed me to monetise the insights I gained through extensive travels and expensive mistakes.”

[caption id="attachment_29442" align="alignnone" width="930"] Indian Entrepreneur | Nitin Chordia | Global Indian Nitin with his wife, Poonam Chordia[/caption]

Once Cocoashala got stable, they started Kocoatrait in 2019, manufacturing chocolates and coming up with the end product with an all-women’s team. “Poonam is the brain, soul and heart behind the Kocoatrait brand,” Nitin says. The couple has been working diligently to let the quality of the products and services do all the talking. “We do not engage in any advertising and PR,” he remarks.

Measuring success

The only way Nitin and Poonam measure success is through the fact that they have saved more than 200 kgs of single use plastic from entering landfills. Their chocolate brand does not use paper or plastic in packaging.

The wrappers are biodegradable, compostable, recyclable, and upcycled in the first place. They are made with cocoa shells which are a by-product of our roasting process that would have otherwise gone into landfill. Apart from that, cotton waste generated by the garment industry in places like Coimbatore is being used for making the wrappers - Nitin Chordia

To compete with established brands is hardly the goal for Nitin. He finds happiness in the fact that he has been able to drive in the point that India is capable of producing internationally acceptable chocolates with Indian-origin ingredients.

Follow Nitin Chordia on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook

Reading Time: 7 mins

Sumeet Rawla: Bringing clean water to millions in rural India

(May 7, 2024) An activist at heart, be it conservation, sustainability, or inequity across society, Sumeet Rawla is focused on actions that bring measurable impact within a finite time span. It is this zeal that makes her the right person to drive change. Especially as the Philanthropic Initiatives Lead at Community Pure Water Foundation, she brings both passion and expertise to the role that will help millions access pure drinking water, which is still a pipe dream for many in rural India. During her two decades at Tata Consultancy Services in the USA and India, Sumeet Rawla led new business development for a portfolio of high-value business-critical systems for large MNCs. She has been recognized among the most impactful CSR leaders by the World CSR Day forum for her services towards sustainable, safe water, a part of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 for 2023 and 2024. [caption id="attachment_51361" align="aligncenter" width="901"] Sumeet Rawla[/caption] A holistic childhood Growing up in Hyderabad amidst a very science-oriented community (her father was the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)), Sumeet recalls it as a very quiet and engaging time. “All our neighbors were scientists from different parts of the country,

gnized among the most impactful CSR leaders by the World CSR Day forum for her services towards sustainable, safe water, a part of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 for 2023 and 2024.

[caption id="attachment_51361" align="aligncenter" width="901"] Sumeet Rawla | Global Indian Sumeet Rawla[/caption]

A holistic childhood

Growing up in Hyderabad amidst a very science-oriented community (her father was the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)), Sumeet recalls it as a very quiet and engaging time. “All our neighbors were scientists from different parts of the country, and visitors included the likes of the legendary Jonas Salk and Nobel laureates. So, it felt like an extended family where we celebrated many festivals and cultures across India,” she tells Global Indian.

The happy-go-lucky childhood, which was both cosmopolitan and cultural in outlook, where Sumeet was exposed to the classical arts and local culture while inculcating an understanding of scientific temper, shaped her outlook towards life.

Looking back, she says that she misses the syncretism of life, where different religions and diversity in culture were celebrated while the onus was always on the community to thrive as one.

Moving abroad

In 2000, Sumeet decided to move to the US to work as she felt a need to expand her horizons and was looking for a change in life. The move was not too difficult, and she recalls, “The transition was not very challenging, as I traveled to the US earlier to meet my family. Also, having worked in the technology field, I felt that the opportunities there would be better, which they were.”

[caption id="attachment_51362" align="aligncenter" width="483"] Sumeet Rawla | Global Indian Sumeet Rawla with Mirjaguda operators[/caption]

While women were starting to be a part of the larger workforce, the late 1990s and early 2000s were still times when not many women could get leadership positions. Sumeet nods in agreement and adds, “When I studied at Osmania University Campus, there were three women and 105 men in my class! In the work sphere, women were never leaders, and especially not outspoken women!”

In the US, she worked with different companies and across sectors in various roles, gaining a wealth of experience. Working on new technologies, disruptive innovations, and developing strategic alliances were all skills she built over her various roles that gave her a unique standpoint and ability to provide solutions to a wide range of problems.

In 2018, Sumeet Rawla started working with Community Pure Water (CPW), a foundation that helps provide drinking water in 500+ villages across six states of India. Working with rural communities to make safe drinking water affordable, accessible, and available 24/7, the foundation distributes over 9 million liters of water every month.

She explains, “We establish water purification plants that are accessible to everyone. This simple intervention has a fundamental effect as it protects people from illness. As a result, medical expenditure goes down while people’s ability to work increases. As the onus of fetching water is mostly on young girls, it results in fewer young girls dropping out of school.”

Sumeet works pro-bono and provides her expertise and energy to help people gain access to a basic necessity: clean drinking water. The social sector being a key interest, she is also on the board of other initiatives, including the Solar Village Project and Video Volunteers.

Working towards change

CPW brings about change by providing solutions that are simple and hyperlocal. Their operating model is simple and efficient; they work with the village panchayat, which provides the water source (ponds, reservoirs, or wells) in the area and allocates them a space to build the water purification center.

Sumeet Rawla explains, “What we do is so rewarding that it is worth all the challenges; once a purification center is established, we begin to see the cycle of impact in six months. The children are back in school, there are fewer illnesses, and the quality of life improves for the entire community.” 

Helping make clean water available and affordable, the foundation works hard to ensure that all the stakeholders, from the villagers to the panchayat, are on board with their interventions. Through a series of interactive sessions and educational programs, they instilled a culture of hygiene and health consciousness, catalyzing a paradigm shift in behavior within these rural communities.

A zest for life

As someone who has spent more than two decades in the US, Sumeet has had a ringside view of the changes the Indian diaspora has seen over time. “There is an improved understanding and acceptance for the Indian community now,” she shares and adds. “It is easier now for us to assimilate into society. Today, Indians are participating as equals in everything. There is widespread representation in local leadership and politics too, which is remarkable.”

While not drafting plans to increase accessibility to water in rural India, she loves to spend time with her two sons, Shvet (VP Partnerships at Bolt) and Swayam (Director, Customer Success at Symplr), and indulging in her love for reading, traveling, and spending time with nature.

Apart from expanding the scope and reach of CPW and ensuring that quality water is accessible to all, her focus also remains on her other passions: her book club and encouraging people to vote!

Follow CPW on their website.

Reading Time: 6 mins

Shafat Qazi: The Kashmiri techie who built a global firm

(March 21, 2023) Time and time again, history has stood testament to the fact that the biggest successes often start with humble beginnings. When Shafat Qazi, a technologist by passion, left his well-established career midway to write code from his garage, he knew he was going to realise his dream one day. Having followed Einstein, Newton and their ilk from his childhood, Shafat had always dreamt of being a pioneer too. Qazi, who began his career in the US, is the founder of BQE Software, an all-in-one accounting and invoicing software that is used around the world. [caption id="attachment_36403" align="aligncenter" width="561"] Shafat Qazi[/caption] The great American dream While pursuing his Bachelor's in Engineering in NIT Srinagar, he gathered information on how he could go to America to study further. This was despite the dearth of resources and technology back then, which was even more predominant in a place like Jammu and Kashmir. With US $700 in his pocket and big dreams in his eyes, Shafat left Kashmir to build a global enterprise through persistent and focused efforts. "I didn’t ask more from my parents; they gave me what they could manage. However, their support was more than I could ask for,"

hafat left Kashmir to build a global enterprise through persistent and focused efforts. "I didn’t ask more from my parents; they gave me what they could manage. However, their support was more than I could ask for," he tells Global Indian.

Early influences

Coming from an educational background, Shafat says his upbringing and his schooling at Burn Hall -- which is a considered a reputed Christian Missionary School in Srinagar -- played a great role in shaping him as a person he is today.

"My mother and father, who are both academicians, stood behind me like rocks. My mother would bring me books and introduced me to math and science from early childhood. She would encourage me to take part in all co-curricular activities and lots of science competitions, as I was passionate about math and science," Shafat recalls.

Struggles in the USA

Life didn’t come easy to Shafat in the USA. His tuition fee at New York University was thousands of dollars. Besides borrowing some from a cousin, he took up several odd jobs.

"I worked at the University’s candy store as a cashier and took the dinner shift in the university café as a waiter. I worked very hard and with my earnings, I was able to pay my fee and other living expenses." Shafat never hesitated to pick up the petty jobs because his mind remained stuck on his ultimate goal. "I never let the negativity drive my thinking. I knew this phase was temporary. The ultimate goal of my life was to build a technology company that would make the lives of people more comfortable," he adds.

A talent for tech

"Technology came to me naturally and with my expertise and skill set, I could build a leading software company in the USA,” he says. "Even as a child, I knew I would do something in technology and America was my true destiny because it nurtured innovation. So, as a young boy, I left home to follow my dream and passion of creating cutting-edge technology and to simplify the lives of people around the world."

After his graduation from New York, Shafat relocated to California and began to work at a local engineering firm named David C. Breiholz Inc. With his talent and expertise in technology, he was offered a partnership in the firm. "I was bringing a lot of business to the company and my employer recognised my value and offered me a partnership in his firm. The firm was then renamed to Breiholz Qazi Engineering Inc. (BQE).

Rise to the top

At the firm, Shafat was also selected to be the chairman of the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) Computer Applications Committee, a very prestigious position for a 24-year-old young engineer.

"When I was working as a partner, I learnt about the pain-points of professional service firms. They would face problems in accounting, time tracking, billing and project management. There was no good software to automate these jobs and to address simply business management.”

As chairman of a committee for structural engineers, Shafat had the opportunity to visit hundreds of professional service firms and he came across the same problems everywhere. So, one day, he decided to leave his full-time job, sell his ownership in the engineering company and start a technology company of his own.

Life as an entrepreneur

Shafat powered an office in his garage to devote himself full time to ‘BillQuick’. The mission was to build a one-stop solution to make the lives of engineers, architects, accountants, attorneys, and other professionals easy and comfortable, by automating repetitive tasks and improving their productivity.

The decision came as a shock to his spouse, who had just left her own job to take care of their newborn. "We had bought a new house; our son was six months old; we went through a lot of financial hardship in the initial years. We did a lot of cost-cutting, stopped going on vacations etc. but in the end, it paid off well."

Again, his hard work and determination paid off, for Shafat and his family. Success came his way and over the years, his business management firm, BQE Software, became known all over the world. The flagship product, BQE Core, is used by thousands of businesses around the world.

Global expansion – and acclaim

BQE Core was ranked number one in GetApp.com 2021 category leaders for Accounting Software. "The product connects with the banks, performs the transactions, and allows people to accept and make payment with credit cards." Today BQE has become a top management and accounting software developer for professional service firms. BQE spans all over the world and apart from the US, has offices in Australia, India, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam etc.

BQE also has a strong presence in Srinagar, from where services are provided to thousands of businesses all over the world. In 2018, Shafat Qazi was listed as one of the top 50 CEOs by USA Today. He has also been listed as a best CEO to work with by women in the US.

Under Qazi´s leadership, BQE Software had also acquired another software company, Orange Loft LLC in 2009, and received the Accountex User Favourite Award for Best Project Management – 2016.

A review from an international publication writes: “Even though Shafat leads a worldwide corporation, BQE continues at the forefront of customer-driven innovation under his leadership. The company debuted its initial Web-based product in 1997, a mobile app for the flip phone in 1998, and electronic bill pay in 1999. BQE and its personnel are forerunners in the industry.”

Literary pursuits

Today Shafat has replaced himself from the position of CEO and is now a part of the BQE board. He is also fulfilling his wish to travel to at least 100 countries by 2025. He has travelled to 51 countries so far.

Shafat Qazi is also a common name now in publications like Forbes, CPA Practice Advisor, Accounting Today and The Business of Architecture. Recently, BQE brought in private equity for investment which in a way states that the firm is steering for achieving bigger milestones in the near future.

Apart from technology, Shafat takes interest in movies, music, culture and non-profit activities. He recently completed the shooting of his movie ‘Songs of Paradise’ which is scheduled to release in May this year.

Follow Shafat Qazi on LinkedIn and Twitter

Cinu Chandran: How an accidental chef became a celebrity chef

(December 24, 2021) From tossing rosemary into a pan of butter to sauteing caramelised mushrooms with chicken, Dubai-based celebrity chef Cinu Chandran is often seen giving epicurean lessons on television. Who would have thought that an accidental chef would someday bring laurels to a restaurant in Dubai and become a regular on TV? That's Cinu for you - A Malayali lad who worked with Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc in the UK, and later made a name in the UAE by giving Indian cuisine a modern twist. "Indian cuisine is doing well in the global market. It has evolved in the past few decades. The cooking style, flavours, and spices have elevated to another level. Today, it's the amalgamation of cuisines that is making it a hit among food lovers," Cinu tells Global Indian in an exclusive interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c88TF-jqJU The kitchen confidential run From the best kitchens to the television screen to now a consultant chef, Cinu meandered into the world of cuisine effortlessly. "It has been an incredible journey. Learning the craft from scratch and working at the best places around the globe has helped me gain exposure. Now, I am putting that expertise into helping provide solutions to restaurants

und the globe has helped me gain exposure. Now, I am putting that expertise into helping provide solutions to restaurants and food service businesses," adds Cinu.

[caption id="attachment_18213" align="aligncenter" width="399"] Chef Cinu Chandran[/caption]

Born in Jalandhar in 1979 to an army officer father and a homemaker mother, Cinu's tryst with cooking was purely accidental as he had dreams of following in the footsteps of his father, and joining the army. However, after two failed attempts, Cinu gave hospitality a go after a family friend coaxed him into it. "It's rather strange that I sat for the exam after a family friend mentioned that I look like a hospitality guy. To escape from the family pressure of what’s next, I sat for the exam and surprisingly cleared it," smiles chef Cinu.

This took him to the Institute of Hotel Management Trivandrum, and within six months, Chandran knew that he had found his true calling. For someone who wasn’t even a home cook, Cinu had to work hard to prove himself. His efforts paid off, and the faculty started noticing his talent. The turning point came when he migrated to the Delhi Institute of Hotel Management in the second year to be closer to family, and also represented his college at the All India Chef competition. "Someone from the judging panel saw my work and approached me for a job as a management trainee at the Casino Hotel in Kochi. That was the beginning of my career," recalls the celebrity chef.

A carte Blanc for Cinu

After a short stint in Kochi, came The Oberoi Grand Kolkata where he mastered the art for three years. Cinu recalls those days as his foundation years. He left the City of Joy in the quest for a better opportunity that brought him to Delhi's Taj Palace before moving to the UK. "I was always into continental food but somehow I was unable to satisfy my curiosity about European food in India and wanted to have a hands-on experience," says Cinu who grabbed the opportunity of working with Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc at Brasserie Blanc in Bristol.

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"Working with Blanc was such an enriching experience. I could experiment with dishes like nowhere else, and had so much freedom in creating a dish," beams Cinu with pride. While he loved his time evolving as a chef, moving to the UK put him out of his comfort zone. "Working in the kitchen at Brasserie Blanc was a different experience as it was a very busy concept. Though I did learn a lot, it was tiring. Such was the pressure that I would often skip meals," reveals Cinu.

However, working with fresh produce and exotic ingredients made him love the craft. After gaining experience under Blanc, Cinu left Europe to move to Dubai in 2011 as Chef De Cuisine for the West 14th Steakhouse. In less than two years, he helped the restaurant catapult into the league of the best with Dubai's Best Steakhouse Award 2013. "Moving to Dubai was quite an experience because the food scene was evolving in the country. With almost 80 percent expats being Indians, there has been an ever-growing demand for Indian cuisine. Indian restaurants are popping up at every corner, and that says a lot about the love for the cuisine," says the food consultant.

[caption id="attachment_18214" align="aligncenter" width="418"] Chef Cinu Chandran[/caption]

A champion of organic produce and sustainability, Cinu's days at Urban Bistro helped him understand the nuances of environmentally friendly options. "If the food was organic, we equally focussed on using cutlery and packaging that was eco-friendly," says the chef. "I think the pandemic has changed the way people view their health. The realisation of a good diet has finally dawned upon them," notes the chef whose ultimate dream is to start his own restaurant.

While the F&B industry took a major blow during the pandemic, things weren't too bad in Dubai as cloud kitchens and restaurant delivery came up in a big way. The consultant chef did face some project losses during the lockdown.

The 42-year-old calls his entire journey a manifestation of sorts. "Even as a child, I loved sharing stories. I kept on doing that through my food. This love for food took me to television and made me a celebrity. Now, as consultant chef, I help others realise their dream of running a restaurant. This makes me grateful," says the Dubai-based chef who loves unwinding with his three kids.

[caption id="attachment_18215" align="aligncenter" width="487"] Chef Cinu Chandran with South African players Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs[/caption]

Of course, when he first decided to become a chef, his parents were against it, "Those were the days when a guy becoming a chef wasn't socially acceptable. But I knew I had to keep going. And now years later, I have made them proud. I think this is the biggest validation for me," he adds.

Any advice for youngsters? "If you think you can enjoy and have some fun in your work, then it's the right thing for you. Don't be influenced by social media. Everything takes time, so take your time to learn and acquire as much knowledge as possible," signs off Cinu.

Follow Cinu Chandran on Instagram and Twitter

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