(April 16, 2023) Having lived in six countries – India, Bahrain, Germany, Australia, United States and now Singapore, Pridhee Kapoor Gupta knows how English becomes a predominant language of communication in expat homes. In India too, the medium of conversation is often English in modern households. As a result, kids do not develop the fluency to communicate in their mother tongues.
Realising that if kids from the diaspora are not introduced to their native language in their formative years, they might never pick it up when their exposure to multiculturalism increases, Pridhee started her publishing house, T4Tales. Over the last eight years, she has been publishing interactive board books for children to be confident speakers in their mother tongues.
Pridhee Kapoor Gupta, Founder and CEO, T4Tales
“There aren’t many publishers who are publishing such books in Indian languages,” says Pridhee. “An interactive board book is an amalgamation of a toy and a book that facilitates learning by involving all the senses of a child.”
Books published by T4Tales enhance conversational skills in Hindi, Gujrati, and Tamil and are available in the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and India. “We have recently expanded our reach. Now parents across the globe can purchase our books at Shopify.” Pridhee tells Global Indian.
In a recent development, the Public Libraries of Brooklyn and New York have agreed to stock the entire line of T4Tales Hindi books.
Apart from being a book publisher, Pridhee has been working as a teacher for the last one-and-a-half decades at Eton House International in Singapore. “It’s a renowned international school with several branches spread across the globe,” she says.
How teaching helps publishing
Pridhee’s 15 years of experience in teaching primary school kids at an international school helps her meet the language learning goals of diaspora kids. T4Tales is not just a business venture for her. “It’s an avenue to make a meaningful difference.” Interspersing her pedagogical expertise with her entrepreneurial moves the publisher has made her venture unique. “Interactions with my pupils often give me insights to decide the next step in my business,” she says.
Pridhee during one of the T4Tales workshops
Raising two kids outside India has also given Pridhee an insight into what was missing in the Indian language learning space for the diaspora kids. In fact, the idea of T4Tales stemmed from personal experiences as a mother. “I used to feel disappointed when my daughter would find the most colourful and interactive books in English at the bookstores and spend hours flipping through the pages but did not have such option in Hindi,” says Pridhee.
Trials and triumphs
The book publisher has not just authored and co-authored some of the books but keeps herself fully involved in all the stages of production so that the final products are not just appealing to the eyes but fulfil the purpose.
“We try our best to incorporate as much variety as we can to keep the learners engaged so that they pick up the language easily while being involved in fun learning,” she says.
After eight years, she now has a hold over the domain, but having started out without a business background meant a great deal of perseverance in the early years. “With trial and error and a growth mindset I surged ahead. I am blessed to have connected with amazing people who helped me in my entrepreneurial journey. Early on, I was lucky to get a mentor who kept me on track, and even now guides me when required” she says .
Demand for children’s books will never die
Though there are many books out in the market, and marketing books in today’s times is an uphill task Pridhee does not get intimidated. “My books have a niche market, and there has been a dearth of learning resources in Indian languages,” she remarks adding, “Paediatricians all over the globe have been recommending lessening the screen time of kids. Parents are becoming more aware of the benefits of resources like my interactive board books. They want to limit the screen time of their children, as recommended.”
Pridhee with her junior from IIT Delhi, Aathira Nair who looks into T4Tales marketing efforts in India
All T4Tales books come with English transliteration so that the learners do not get the pronunciation wrong. “I know of many families where one parent is Indian and the other belongs to a different country. English transliteration helps the parents of the foreign descents to also be proudly involved in their children’s language learning developments,” she shares.
Apart from connecting kids to their roots through books, T4Tales also helps keep the concept of storytelling alive. Pridhee and the authors of her books conduct regular storytelling and book reading sessions at bookstores, schools and libraries in their respective countries.
The course of life
Born and raised in Bahrain, Pridhee did her degree in biochemical engineering and biotechnology at IIT-Delhi. She went on to do her PhD in molecular and cellular biology from Heidelberg University in Germany, where the programme also helped her hone her teaching and training skills, apart from research. Later, her learnings as a parent led Pridhee to pursue a career that revolved around education.
However, biology is not completely off the radar for the founder and CEO of T4Tales. “I would certainly do something around it,” she says reassuringly to her parents, who live in Bahrain. “Who knows, there would be a new book series around the subject,” smiles the publisher who is excited about having four new books in the pipeline.
(November 2, 2021) The next time you attempt solving an NYT or LA Times crossword, do keep an eye out for the byline. It’s quite likely that the crossword you’re attempting to solve would have been constructed by a young Mumbai-based investment banker, who’s had a passion for crosswords since his engineering days. Meet Mangesh Ghogre, the 41-year-old executive director and head of equity capital at Nomura Holdings, who has been the only Indian to have his crosswords published in some of America’s top publications and is the first Indian to have judged the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament directed by New York Times. At a time when most of his peers were busy cracking the GRE and GMAT to go to the US, Ghogre was busy solving crosswords least expecting the puzzle to one day transform his life in ways he could only imagine. Today, while most of his peers are settled either in the US or UK, it is Ghogre who holds the unique distinction of being the only Indian to earn prime spot in some of America’s top publications. The Panvel boy who made it big Born in Panvel, on the outskirts of Mumbai, in 1980, Ghogre led the life a typically middle-class Indian in the 1980s would. His father worked at the Reliance plant there and his mother was a homemaker. Their lives revolved
Born in Panvel, on the outskirts of Mumbai, in 1980, Ghogre led the life a typically middle-class Indian in the 1980s would. His father worked at the Reliance plant there and his mother was a homemaker. Their lives revolved around Mumbai and Nagpur (their hometown) and there was little to no exposure to a world outside of India. This was after all an era with no internet connectivity, cable TV or Hollywood films in the country. After his schooling, Ghogre opted to study Mechanical Engineering from VJTI in Matunga and moved into a hostel to avoid long commutes.
It was around this time that he and a few friends got together and decided to move to the US after their engineering course in search of greener pastures. There was a hitch though: English was not their strong language, most of them were more fluent in Hindi. Their go-to resource back then while preparing for GRE and GMAT, was the Barron’s word list. “But these were not words that we used in everyday lives,” Ghogre tells Global Indian, “It was around this time that I began trying to solve the crosswords that would appear in The Times of India in a bid to improve my vocabulary.”
For the love of crossword
The crossword though was no easy feat and many of his friends eventually gave up. But Ghogre kept at it. “In retrospect it was my motivation to crack the GMAT and also the fact that I was curious about the answers which I would refer to the next day,” he explains, adding, “It was only much later that I realized that these crosswords were syndicated from the LA Times. We didn’t have any exposure to American culture, let alone American slang, back then. And the crossword is usually a reflection of society and its culture.”
Ghogre would religiously try to solve the crossword every single day and would check the solutions the next day and make elaborate notes. His diaries were divided into neat sections: slang, animals, religion, geography, flowers, etc. He’d created his own mini-Wikipedia. Over the years, he began to put two and two together and was finally able to begin solving the crossword completely about eight years later. By this time, it had become a habit that he couldn’t do without.
The crossword had opened up a whole new world for him: of American culture, society, geography, food, wildlife and even cinema. American slang like dough, grand, hero (sandwich), break a leg etc became commonplace for him. It also introduced him to the rivers in the US and animals like coyote, llama, and emu. “I’d never heard of these animals before, let alone seen them. When internet finally came to India, I went to a cybercafé to look these animals up to see what they looked like,” he recalls.
Life changing grid
The crossword had fascinated him and he’d carry it with him everywhere. “In the process, I was thrown out of class for solving the crossword mid-lecture, I’d carry it to the canteen and even the washroom. My friends would laugh at me,” smiles Ghogre. “Now they’re in awe of what the small black and white grid did for me.”
The crossword had truly changed his life; he is now considered an authority on it. As time went by, Ghogre got better and better at solving the puzzle. Though he didn’t manage to crack the GMAT and move to the US, he did land a good job when he graduated in 2000. However, a few months later, that job offer was withdrawn due to the dot come bust. “I spent a year at home jobless because of the market situation. I prepared for CAT to do my MBA but didn’t get into the IIMs; it wasn’t a great time. That’s when I took to crossword more strongly. It was my solace; it was addictive.”
He eventually did his MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and embarked on a career as an investment banker with ICICI Securities. He also worked with SBI Capital and HSBC before being appointed by Nomura as executive director in 2016.
Through it all, his love for crossword was going strong. “But I also began noticing that all these crosswords had American bylines, there were no Indian names on the scene. I began researching and came across blogs that analyse the puzzle and also spoke about how to construct one. So, I thought why not give constructing a crossword a shot,” says Ghogre.
The only Indian constructor
He sent his first one to the editor of LA Times. Though it wasn’t selected, the editor did encourage him to keep at it. That’s when Ghogre came across a lady Nancy Salomon, a veteran crossword constructor. The two began corresponding by email and she coached him through the nuances of the making a good puzzle. Several tries later, Ghogre’s first crossword was published in the LA Times in September 2010.
Since then, Ghogre has had several of his crosswords published in international publications. The ultimate though was when his work was featured in New York Times, which is considered the Holy Grail of crosswords. Today, he is counted among the top crossword constructors in the world and has been invited to judge the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament as well. That was when Ghogre finally got on a plane to visit the continent he’d learnt so much about through his 15x15 black and white grid. “It was a fantasy come true for me. I finally saw so many of the things I’d learnt about,” he says.
Bringing in the desi flavour
In his own way, Ghogre also ensures that he educates Americans on some Indian nuances. In 2019, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, he designed a special crossword with the word Gandhi and a few other Indian terms that was published in New York Times. “There is no other icon as Global Indian as Gandhi and I, in my own way, had the world celebrate him on that landmark occasion,” he smiles.
A typical crossword takes Ghogre about a year or 1.5 years to construct, due to the complexity involved. “Each crossword has to have a specific theme, has to pass the breakfast test (words that one would be comfortable using at the start of one’s day), and conform to the grid’s symmetry. So, it is rather time consuming to construct a crossword; it is a solitary activity,” says the father of two, who has had his crosswords displayed at the prestigious Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.
“Crossword didn’t just change my life, it is my life,” says Ghogre, who has been an investment banker for 17 years, but has been solving crosswords for 25. “My nirvana moment was to be able to sit on the same local train that I used to all those years ago in college and solve a crossword with my byline.”
(September 4, 2023) Saiyami Kher has been a die-hard cricket buff and Sachin Tendulkar fan all her life. Growing up, she self-taught herself the sport by watching him on screen and later went onto becoming a state-level cricket player. She even bunked college to watch Tendulkar play and perhaps had the loudest "Sachin….Sachin” chant from the stands in the stadium. So recently, when the ‘god of cricket’ requested Saiyami to show him the now iconic “Ghoomer” bowling style, she gladly obliged. “Meeting Sachin Tendulkar was a dream and I never imagined it would come true. Eventually, I met my hero, my inspiration,” smiles actress Saiyami Kher, speaking exclusively to Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_44472" align="aligncenter" width="548"] Saiyami Kher[/caption] Saiyami Kher has embodied cricket like no other in her latest release, Ghoomer, with everyone lauding her earnest and sincere performance as Anina, a young girl who’s aspirations are broken when she meets with an accident and goes onto become a paraplegic cricketer. She recently hosted a screening where the ‘god of cricket’ himself saw the film and even took to social media praising the film. “Unknowingly, Sachin Tendulkar taught me how to live, work hard, stay grounded and never give up,” says Saiyami, whose
ently hosted a screening where the ‘god of cricket’ himself saw the film and even took to social media praising the film. “Unknowingly, Sachin Tendulkar taught me how to live, work hard, stay grounded and never give up,” says Saiyami, whose recent movie has struck a chord with audiences for its awe-inspiring message and storytelling. So what did Sachin have to say about her ‘Ghoomer’ style ? “He was speechless,” says Saiyami, who is on cloud nine with her ‘Ghoomer’ success.
Ghoomer & Yuvi
Saiyami also took notes from cricketer Yuvraj Singh to prepare for her role as a cricketer with disability in Ghoomer. “A lot of preparation– physical and mental– went into creating the character. Yuvraj Singh helped me prepare mentally for the role,” says Saiyami, who believes that a sportsperson does not just prepare physically but also mentally. Ghoomer is inspired by the story of Karoly Takacs, the late Hungarian right-hand shooter who won two Olympic gold medals with his left hand after his other hand was seriously injured.
She also trained with former cricketer Murali Karthik for her role. Since she played the role of a left-handed cricketer, she preferred a left-handed batsman and bowler to train with. “Murali was a specialist slow left arm orthodox bowler known for his loopy trajectory and ability to spin and bounce. He was the perfect cricketer to train with,” says Saiyami, who studied at St Xavier’s college, Mumbai.
Primarily working in Telugu and Hindi films, Saiyami, the grand daughter of actress Usha Kiran, made her acting debut with Telugu film Rey in 2015. She followed it up with Hindi movie Mirzya the following year. In 2020, she appeared in the web series ‘Breathe’ and the next year, she was starred alongside Tollywood star Nagarjuna in the action film ‘Wild Dogs.’ Born in Nashik, Saiyami’s father Advait Kher was a renowned supermodel while her mother Uttara Mhatre was former Miss India. Saiyami’s sister Sanskruti is a Marathi actress.
Bike packing in Italy
The Nashik born shot a first-of-its kind travel documentary on bikepacking in Italy in July this year. The actress rides a mountain bike to cross the Italian mountain terrain while she shoots the documentary. “I took up this project owing to my love for sport and adventure, which I am extremely close to. I spent 2.5 weeks covering different landscapes of Italy including towns, mountains, beachside and countryside,” informs the 30 year old.
She says the documentary aims to bring forth awareness of the new trend of bike packing to India. “Bike packing is a favourite amongst adrenaline lovers who move across a country with a bicycle and a bag whilst exploring and taking short breaks in between. This has been one of the best trips of my life and a project I was most excited about,” says Saiyami, who was awarded with ‘superstar of tomorrow’ (female) by Stardust in 2016.
Saiyami shot the documentary along with actor and television personality Rannvijay Singha and three more cyclists. “We cycled over 300 kms. The distance wasn’t the problem. I was worried about the luggage while cycling. I did my first pass which was around 2000 metres in a day. And we climbed around 4000 metres in all,” informs the adventure freak.
Saiyami believes that exploring a place is best when you can do it on a cycle. “I have bike packed before from Berlin to Prague and fell in love with exploring places on a cycle. Which is why I couldn’t wait to do this bike packing trip in Italy. On tough days my motivation was finishing in order to eat pizzas and gelato,” laughs Saiyami.
The most challenging parts of the ride were the climbs. The hot weather, rain and hailstorms made it extremely difficult. “I have been used to riding on flat terrains. Gravel biking was something new to me. Nonetheless, it was fun,”says the actress, who is used to climbing mountains, swimming in lakes and go trekking in Himalayas ever since she was a child.
Before the project, Saiyami trained hard but her shoots would come in between. “I would go to the hills for training. I also had a stationary trainer bike at home. But it was not enough and I wish I had more time to prepare well,” she says.
Coming soon, Agni
So what more movies are in the pipeline? “I am looking forward to Agni, where I play the role of a fire fighter,” informs Saiyami, who received the best actor award (female) for her role in web series ‘Choked’ at the Filmfare OTT awards in 2020. She was last seen in the movie ‘8 A.M. Metro’.
She has plans when it comes to adventure too. “I have been training to do the Ironman. But due to work commitments, it got postponed twice. Hopefully, I will do it soon,” says Saiyami, who is learning snowboarding and kite surfing. “Adventure keeps me alive,” she adds.
(January 16, 2025) Evenings spent splashing around in a nearby stream with her friends are some of Natasha Zarine’s most cherished memories. They would wade upstream through the water, stopping to catch crabs and turtles. Every now and then, they would see little mounds of garbage choke the streambed, and were troubled by it. "Even as kids, we could see that someone was doing something wrong," Natasha says, in an interview with Global Indian. "Nobody needed to tell us this, even though throwing trash into the stream was the done thing." She would discuss it with her mother later, trying to make sense of why people would want to do such a thing. Their own lives were very sustainable and in tune with nature – segregating waste was a routine affair – her family maintained compost pits on the farm, reused plastics and handed over what couldn’t be reused to the bhangarwala when he visited with his pushcart. "He would take all the waste and us a watermelon in exchange," she smiles. "That was how I grew up and it was pretty normal in a rural setting, too." Those carefree days of innocence wouldn’t last. The garbage increased and consumed the
Those carefree days of innocence wouldn’t last. The garbage increased and consumed the little stream, bringing those days of play to an end. And when she went into the cities, she would see even the rivers being choked with trash. "Nobody had a solution or even wanted to create one," she says.
She may not have been able to save the stream she knew back then, but Natasha has revived many more. She is the co-founder of EcoSattva Environmental Solutions, a social enterprise that provides solutions in solid waste management, green cover management and water body restoration. In 2024, EcoSattva won the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities and the St Andrews’s Prize for the Environment. Last year, she was part of a cohort of leaders from the Women Climate Collective who were in attendance at the New York Climate Week, in collaboration with the Fondation L’oreal.
[caption id="attachment_63124" align="aligncenter" width="730"] Natasha Zarine founder of EcoSattva, received the St Andrew's Prize for the Environment 2024[/caption]
Finding her way
Natasha’s path to finding her calling wasn’t easy. Since environmentalism was not an option back in the 1980s, she picked Psychology. By the time she graduated three years later, she was sure it wasn’t something she wanted to pursue.
Feeling a little lost, Natasha decided to take a year off. It so happened that an acquaintance at the time was working at a research centre in the Andamans, and Natasha decided to go, although gap years were very frowned upon back then. There, surrounded by zoologists and botanists and Natasha volunteered with a researcher who was looking at the tree canopy ecosystem. Her days were spent using jumars to shimmy up 20-foot trees and sitting among the branches with notebooks and cameras. When the project’s funding was withdrawn, she found a job as a resident naturalist Havelock Island, where her job was to educate people about the local biodiversity.
She went on to study law, where again, theory differed from practice. Everywhere she turned, she was up against a system rife with malpractice, and success, it seemed, was dependent on being able to turn a blind eye.
“I was in my early twenties, hoping something would make sense, but nothing did,” Natasha says. That changed when a friend encouraged her to apply for the Young India Fellowship. The fellowship was transformative, introducing her to thought leaders like Madhavi Menon and Gill Harris. “It changed the way I looked at things,” she says.
Soon after, Natasha moved to Aurangabad with her husband and began tackling civic issues, particularly waste management. She observed how the same problems existed in both high- and low-income neighborhoods, but the poor always suffered more. “In wealthier areas, garbage was dumped far away. In lower-income areas, the houses were next to the garbage,” she explains. It was clear: she had found her focus.
The waste segregation solution
In Aurangabad, three autorickshaws, one tractor and three staff dealt with solid waste management in a high income neighbourhood with a population of around 2000 people. The lower income area, however, had closer to 10,000 people, with one tractor and one rickshaw that woudl turn up every three or four days. "You could see the stark distribution of resources and how ineffective waste management systems affect people more directly."
As she worked on finding a solution, networked as much as she could, crossing path with stalwarts like Almitra Patel, the high priestess of solid waste management in India, and with numerous organizations in the same space. Things were set in motion, however, at a conference in Hyderabad, when Natasha crossed paths with Indra Sinha Reddy, the chief officer of a small town around 60 km from Hyderabad. This enterprising officer had actually put a segregation system in place and the small agrarian town he oversaw was spotless. People were segregating, there was effective door to door collection and dry and wet waste were managed separately. For things to change, he told her, you need to be on ground and actually demonstrate how the changes work.
The Civic Response Team
In Aurangabad’s Sindhi Colony, Natasha Zarine and Gauri Mirashi, calling themselves the Civic Response Team, took on solving a mess that no one else seemed to want to touch. They saw a community drowning in waste, where the safaikaramcharis—local waste pickers—only worked sporadically, and garbage collected on the streets, untouched for days. One day, Natasha saw a group of women and children cleaning up the waste and asked, “You do these cleanup drives, so you care... but do you want a real, long-term solution?” The women were eager for change, and Natasha saw a chance to create something lasting.
They started by mapping out the routes for waste collection, adjusting for the reality on the ground. “Route mapping makes sense when you're pushing a cart with 200 kilos of waste,” Natasha recalled. They repurposed cement rings—originally meant for waste collection—into compost pits, a decision that was met with resistance, particularly from the community. The waste pickers eyed them with suspicion too - "This is our area," they would say warily. "Why are you here?" But even they came to trust Natasha and Gauri once they saw that their efforts weren’t about taking over their work.
With the backing of Mr. Kendrekar, the local administrator, the project soon expanded. They replaced large tractors with more efficient rickshaws and set up the region’s first Material Recovery Facility (MRF), managed by Ashabhai, one of the original waste pickers. In just four months, the team grew to 27 people, a testament to how far simple, well-planned changes could go.
But, as always, progress came with challenges. “The system is constantly in flux,” Natasha said, as leadership changes—like Mr. Kendrekar’s transfer—left the team to rebuild relationships with new officials. Even with these obstacles, their work showed that with the right strategy and determination, lasting change was possible. And soon, neighboring towns began reaching out, inspired by the tangible results they’d seen in Sindhi Colony.
This marked the beginning of what they called the Botram Method, a waste management system built from the ground up. They didn’t rely on pre-existing data—“Nobody really knows what's going on with waste,” Natasha said. Instead, they went out into the field, collecting their own information: how many vehicles were in use, what resources they had, and where the garbage hotspots were.
In 2018, McKinsey.org set up a team to scout around the world for waste management solutions they could scale up. EcoSattva's BOTRAM method was one of three solutions chosen. "They wanted us to implement our solution in Bueno Cyrus and Bali and we knew our method was transferable across continents, geographies and languages," Natasha says. For EcoSattva, it was a chance to standardize their processes, which they are now doing for their riparian restorations too.
Founding EcoSattva
After their success in Sindhi Colony, Natasha and Gauri were approached by a ward officer from a neighboring town, Rahejapur. His request led to a government contract, marking the beginning of a new phase. “We had to register as a for-profit entity and start bidding for contracts,” Natasha explained. That’s how EcoSattva came to be, and their work scaled fast. In Rahejapur, and later in Ratnagiri, their model helped both towns secure five crores each through the Swachh Bharat ranking.
The key, they found was consistency. Some wards had reliable pickup, while others had piles of waste left on street corners. But the true challenge lay in changing the way people thought about waste. “It’s all about getting them to separate it, to compost it,” Natasha explained. But that’s not enough. Shifting perceptions was just one part of the equation. Natasha Zarine and Gauri knew the system had to be constantly monitored and maintained. “Governments spend on infrastructure, but without upkeep, everything falls apart,” Natasha noted.
Cleaning the River Kham
In 2020, Verock Industries approached Natasha Zarine and Gauri to help restore the Kham River, which had long been considered a "gutter." Once an important water source with a 400-year-old aqueduct system, the river was now polluted by garbage, soil mining, and invasive species. "It’s not just the Kham; it's the story of feeder rivers everywhere," Natasha said. The nala system, seasonal rivers meant to feed ponds, lakes, and larger rivers, had become synonymous with pollution. In some places, 62% of people thought it was normal for these nalas to carry sewage.
The team applied their Botram Method to the river, expanding it to tackle both solid waste and water bodies. "We had to restore the riparian zones," Natasha explained, through planting trees, cleaning the banks, and improving water flow.
Sustainability as a system
As Natasha Zarine and Gauri expanded their work along the Kham River, they started organizing waste collection routes and training local waste pickers, like Renuka, to manage the process. Through their efforts, they helped set up a proprietorship for Renuka and other local workers, offering end-to-end waste management services to villages along the river. “If we set up systems, we can generate jobs,” Natasha said. “People often think job creation happens through infrastructure building, but setting up effective systems is a great way to create sustainable jobs.” This system led to 164 green jobs, empowering locals and improving waste management.
They also realized that long-term success required data. They conducted micro and macro-level research, including orthophoto drone surveys, to map garbage vulnerable points and floodlines along the Kham River—an area where such basic data had never been collected before. “We incorporated the floodlines into the city’s development plan,” Natasha explained. This helped protect the floodplains and stop encroachment, while sewage that had been flowing into the river was diverted to an underground treatment site. “We diverted and treated 4 MLD of sewage,” Natasha said. “And now, fresh water springs are coming up.”
“A space that was seen as a wasteland has become a place for people to meet and interact,” Natasha reflected. But the work was far from easy. “A lot of this has been trial and error,” she admitted. They had to constantly recalibrate their expectations as the challenges of restoring the river became clearer. “What we hoped to achieve and where we’ve landed is not the same,” Natasha said.
Now, they were asked to work on restoring the entire Kham River basin. “To restore the river, you have to fix sewage, waste management, and even agriculture,” she said. They knew the road ahead would be long, but they had seen what was possible with the right system in place. The restoration is being done through the $100,000 monetary award they received with the St Andrew’s Prize.
[caption id="attachment_63126" align="aligncenter" width="764"] Natasha Zarine at Kham River basin[/caption]
New York Climate Week
In August-September 2020, Natasha and Gauri participated in New York Climate Week as part of the Women's Climate Collective (WCC), a network focused on amplifying the voices of women-led organizations. Natasha reflected on how the experience changed her perspective: “It’s not about how competent you are, but how well you network and build relationships,” she said, acknowledging the challenges women face in a male-dominated space. Through WCC, they gained access to opportunities, including the WRI Rothcentre Prize for Cities and support for attending COP29. “Knowing that an organization cares so much makes a huge difference,” Natasha added. WCC helped her shift her focus, making fundraising a priority and strengthening their ability to advocate for the solutions they knew were necessary.
(August 13, 2024) “As children of the pre-digital era, we have all grown up in homes and environments that have been driven by tradition. From food to craft and clothing, everything had a story and was a hand-worked skill passed through generations, be it the chutneys that were made at home or the sweaters that were knit. So there always was an inclination towards culture and the traditions of the past,” Nishant Malhotra reminisces as he connects with Global Indian. Although he was always fascinated by India’s luxurious heritage and traditions, he had never imagined that he would one day work with it. After spending several years in the banking and finance sectors, Nishant Malhotra founded WeaverStory nine years ago, finding both purpose and an avenue for social impact. [caption id="attachment_53617" align="aligncenter" width="482"] Nishant Malhotra at WeaverStory curated runway show at BNI4M2024 event[/caption] Led by artisans The craft-led textile brand has come a long way. Launched with just five sarees on a Facebook page, WeaverStory has grown into a 30-member team working with over 400 weavers from 10 different weaving clusters. “This transformation has significantly improved the lives of weavers and their families and enhanced the experiences of our customers
="aligncenter" width="482"] Nishant Malhotra at WeaverStory curated runway show at BNI4M2024 event[/caption]
Led by artisans
The craft-led textile brand has come a long way. Launched with just five sarees on a Facebook page, WeaverStory has grown into a 30-member team working with over 400 weavers from 10 different weaving clusters. “This transformation has significantly improved the lives of weavers and their families and enhanced the experiences of our customers spread across more than 20 countries," tells the entrepreneur.
Whether it is the famed yarns of Banaras, the vibrant hues of Gujarat, the ethereal threads of Chanderi, intricate works of Kashmir, poetic weaves of Bengal, or resplendent silks of Kanchipuram - WeaverStory has been championing authentic handmade products like luxurious sarees and fabric, bespoke occasion wear, bridal couture and accessories blending tradition with modernity.
GI certified handloom
The textile brand’s products are silk mark and craft mark-certified with GI tags. It has been participating in the Government of India’s ODOP (One District One Product) initiative which aims to promote indigenous and specialised goods and crafts distinct to various districts across the country. “WeaverStory sources 350 products from over 19 Geographical Indications (GIs), thus ensuring genuine handloom apparel from the craftspeople who bring them to life.”
The hand weaved textiles are delivered through retail stores in Delhi and Hyderabad and the brand’s website. It also retails online through domestic and international marketplaces such as Pernia’s Pop Up Shop, Aza, Aashni + Co., Nykaa Fashion and Etsy.
[caption id="attachment_53634" align="aligncenter" width="720"] One of the WeaverStory stores[/caption]
The journey of transition
As a banking and financial services professional, Nishant often travelled to rural areas and smaller cities in India, working on financial inclusion projects. These experiences exposed him to not only the challenges faced by the local population but also to the complexities of implementing programs to benefit them.
“I realised that even small steps could have a significant impact on their lives and it was this thought that drove me to start WeaverStory after a trip to Banaras that proved pivotal in the transition,” tells the Delhi based entrepreneur.
Starting small
In Banaras, Nishant met a weaver who had been forced to quit his craft due to low income and the pressure of supporting his family. Instead of engaging in his creative work, the weaver was folding sarees at a retail shop. This deeply moved Nishant. Upon his return to Delhi, he began conversing with others to understand the market need for Indian handlooms – the artistic heritage of India.
“I discovered that there was a demand for handloom products, but people were unaware of authentic sources,'” he says. This realisation led him to start a small initiative by creating a Facebook page, where he showcased five well-crafted saris by a weaver of Banaras to help people appreciate the value of craftsmanship of the weaving community.
Within months, his initiative started gaining recognition, motivating Nishant to leave his job and pursue social entrepreneurship. He had found the purpose of creating better opportunities for the artistic weavers of India and making a difference in their lives.
“It started as a mere passion project with no intention of launching a full-fledged brand. However, that small step transformed everything, leading us to where we are today,” says Nishant who had over 15 years of corporate experience with Fortune 500 companies and biggest conglomerates like the TATAs and Reliance group at the time of stepping into social entrepreneurship. “Through WeaverStory my attempt has been to bridge the gap between true fans of original Indian handlooms and those with a century-long lineage in this artistic heritage. We work towards preserving our heritage and enabling weavers to become financially successful,” he says.
Rising above challenges and earning trust
In the initial days of his venture gaining the trust of the weavers was a challenge. “Coming from a banking background with no experience in textiles, I wasn’t attempting to become a designer. My goal was to create an ecosystem around handlooms. However, understanding the craftsmanship, the uniqueness of handwoven fabric, and effectively communicating with the weavers required substantial knowledge,” Nishant mentions.
When he approached weavers, they were sceptical. “They doubted my understanding of their craft and feared their products would be rejected after completion.” An online brand, was an unconventional idea in 2015, especially for the rural weavers for whom trade meant an offline activity.
To alleviate their fears Nishant started work on the model of buying products outright from the weavers addressing their concerns. “By ensuring immediate and fair compensation, we gradually earned their trust and overcame their initial resistance,” he says.
[caption id="attachment_53624" align="aligncenter" width="523"] A Madhubani artist associated with WeaverStory[/caption]
Assuring quality
Earning the trust of the weavers was just one side of the story. Nishant highlights that when purchasing a premium product like a handwoven saree, customers seek assurance about their investment. Therefore, early in their journey, the WeaverStory team began conducting video calls with customers to showcase the products in detail, thereby earning their trust as well.
“At WeaverStory, our values of purity, pride, and intention have always been at the core of everything we do. We have consistently strived to present our customers with a curated collection of authentic weaves in pure fabrics that best represent India’s textile heritage and the skills of our weavers,” the entrepreneur mentions.
Weaving stories
To bring the stories of the rural weavers to the forefront and change the narrative in their favour Nishant Malhotra and his team does not just look at them as mere suppliers of products that they are marketing but provide the weaving community a sense of close collaboration. “This outlook is one of the major factors contributing to our growth story,” says Nishant.
“Our product curation and storytelling are deeply influenced by the intentions and narratives of the weavers, and we make it a point not to interfere with their stories. The authentic stories behind each weave is what attracts our customers; and they want to buy, own, and cherish these unique pieces of art.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_QW-F7l3Yk
WeaverStory Foundation
Recently, the entrepreneur has started the WeaverStory Foundation, which will undertake projects aimed at providing sustainable livelihoods and skill development for weavers, with a special focus on women artisans. “We are actively seeking and collaborating with like-minded partners to further this mission,” Nishant points out.
Awards galore
The textile brand has instituted several reward and recognition programs, such as Kala Nishtha, Kala Samridhi and Craftales to encourage lesser-known and new weavers to look at their skills with more optimism and be part of the WeaverStory network.
“These initiatives help create visibility for them, especially among their peers and within their communities, where weaving is often seen as a low-paying job.”
In the WeaverStory model, the products are purchased outright from the weavers. “WeaverStory ensures that weavers are paid fair market prices that account for the scale and input while keeping the product competitive. This approach rewards the weavers for their skill, time, and labour,” Nishant says.
[caption id="attachment_53627" align="aligncenter" width="723"] Naseem Bano (extreme right) is one of the weavers that WeaverStory works with to upskill village women artisans[/caption]
New Initiative - Revival collection of Venkatagiri sarees
On the occasion of National Handloom Day which falls on 7th August and coincides with WeaverStory’s foundation day, the textile brand launched a revival collection of Venkatagiri Sarees.
“Venkatagiri was once known for its fine-count cotton sarees with gold khaadi borders woven on a traditional pit loom. It held a place of pride in Andhra’s handloom traditions. However, with the advent of the power loom, the decline in the value of cotton, and a shift in market demand that leaned towards Banarasi, Kanchipuram and Paithani styles, the weavers of Venkatgiri lost touch with their traditional design language and eventually met with flagging patronage and diminished popularity,” informs Nishant.
For the past several months, WeaverStory has been working with Tata Trusts’ Antaran to revive the lost designs of the Venkatagiri cluster. The textile brand has launched a collection of sarees with four archival designs that have not been woven in over 70 years. “The aim is to rekindle significant market interest in this historic craft and give saree connoisseurs across the world a piece of heritage to own,” says the entrepreneur who works with the vision of promoting the exquisite craft of handweaving, ensuring its legacy continues to thrive.
[caption id="attachment_53637" align="aligncenter" width="722"] Nishant Malhotra with Mridula and Parvez Alam from Tata Trusts during the unveiling of Venkatagiri Revival Project[/caption]
(August 21, 2024) Sundar Nathan teaches at the University of Texas at Austin as he crafts his next books in ‘The Naraka Cycle’ series - 'Demons & Their Gods' and ‘Prince of Naraka’. An engineer, product marketing leader, and entrepreneur in the software industry, pursuing a successful career in Silicon Valley, Nathan embarked on a seven-year journey culminating in his first mythological thriller - Ravan's Trial. ‘The Naraka Cycle’ series will comprise nine books, with they being released every quarter starting March 2024. An epic start Sundar Nathan has been passionate about mythology and storytelling since he was a boy when his grandmother Namagiri and his mother Saroja regaled him with tales from the great Indian epics - The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. “I grew up in a family with a vibrant Indian cultural background, wherein my childhood was deeply influenced by the epic tales of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. These stories, fondly narrated by my grandmother Namagiri and mother Saroja intrigued my interest in mythology. My passion for technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship helped me explore various roles in product marketing which then led me to start a go-to-market strategy company,” he tells Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_54114" align="aligncenter" width="568"] Sundar
Despite a successful career in Silicon Valley, the urge to pursue storytelling continued in his mind strongly across various instances in his life. The tales about the ancient myths he grew up with left an ineradicable mark on him, and he found himself compelled to keep these timeless narratives alive through modern storytelling. This passion for epic tales and the desire to explore the depths of human nature through the lens of mythology drew him to become an author. “My debut novel, Ravan's Trial, is a mythological thriller that brings ancient myth and modern turns together. It’s part of a larger vision that I have for a nine-book series titled The Naraka Cycle. My recent book, Demons and Their Gods transfers the readers to a world where celestials, hybrids, and demons coexist in a fragile fabric. This story follows Ravan, a young prince of the Asuras, and explores complex relationships, challenging traditional concepts of good and evil,” he says.
Striking the balance
He admits that balancing a demanding career in Silicon Valley with his writing pursuits requires meticulous time management and a deep-seated passion for both fields. “I view my tech career and writing as complementary rather than conflicting interests. The discipline and analytical skills I developed in my tech roles have been invaluable in structuring my writing process. At the same time, the creativity of storytelling provides a fulfilling counterbalance to my tech endeavours,” he explains. And it helps that he is deeply motivated from the stories and teachings of his childhood. “The epics narrated by my grandmother and mother instilled in me a deep understanding and appreciation for mythology and the moral questions it poses. My drive comes from the deep desire to bridge the ancient with the modern, creating narratives that reverberate with modern-day audiences while idolizing the timeless wisdom of these epic tales,” he adds.
So what is his advice to aspiring authors? “The first thing that any author must pursue is to remain persistent in their approach to the story. They must remain true to their voice always. Writing is a journey that has its own set of challenges and introspection, but in the end, it has a deep reward that awaits to be explored. One must accept their unique perspective, seek inspiration from the experiences, and be prepared for real-time learning and growth opportunities. Also, maintaining a balanced approach to writing, with a fair focus on creativity and structure is crucial,” he says.
[caption id="attachment_54115" align="aligncenter" width="316"] Book 2 of The Naraka Cycle[/caption]
Breaking blocks
Overcoming challenges for him has been a matter of resilience and adaptability. While transitioning from the job at Silicon Valley to writing, he came across innumerable roadblocks, right from time management fiascos to creative blocks. “I overcame them by remaining deeply committed to my goals, seeking support from mentors, and continuously upgrading my skills. Accepting challenges as opportunities has been a crucial part of my process to keep growing continuously,” he says. And these have taught him some valuable lessons too. “I have learned that while taking up the role of an author include the importance of persistence, the invaluable support of your peer circle, and the need to have a balanced approach to creativity as well as discipline. I have also realized that storytelling is a powerful tool for connection and that genuineness in writing connects deeply with the readers,” he adds.
Looking ahead
During my free time, Sundar Nathan enjoys spending time with his family, especially travelling, and immersing in literature to explore new ideas from different cultures. He also finds joy in teaching and sharing his knowledge and experiences with students at the University of Texas at Austin, which keeps him engaged and inspired. “Travel opens new vistas in my mind. The world-building ideas in my books emerge when I travel both within the United States, i.e., cross-country road trips with my dog, and travelling internationally which includes visits to the temples in South India or exploring the heritage of Egypt and Africa,” he says. His plans as of now will be continuing to expand The Naraka Cycle series, diving deeper into the mythological worlds and characters that keep him fascinated. “I aim to understand and leverage new narratives that make a reader think from different perspectives. Also, I hope to expand my teaching activities, helping the next generation of storytellers and thinkers to shape their conduct better,” he concludes.
Learn more about Sundar Nathan's writing on his website.
Natasha Zarine founder of EcoSattva, received the St Andrew's Prize for the Environment 2024[/caption]
Natasha Zarine, Co-Founder of EcoSattva Environmental Solutions[/caption]
Nishant Malhotra at WeaverStory curated runway show at BNI4M2024 event[/caption]
One of the WeaverStory stores[/caption]
WeaverStory team[/caption]
A Madhubani artist associated with WeaverStory[/caption]
Naseem Bano (extreme right) is one of the weavers that WeaverStory works with to upskill village women artisans[/caption]
Nishant Malhotra with Mridula and Parvez Alam from Tata Trusts during the unveiling of Venkatagiri Revival Project[/caption]
Sundar Nathan[/caption]
Book 2 of
Pridhee you have set foot on a beautiful venture so that diaspora children do not lose their roots. May you grow. Wishing you all the best