Global IndianstoryFrom Kerala to the Royal Society: Professor John Kuriyan’s journey to deanship is an inspiration

From Kerala to the Royal Society: Professor John Kuriyan’s journey to deanship is an inspiration

Written by: Namrata Srivastava

(August 4, 2022) As a young kid in India, Professor John Kuriyan would often find himself fascinated by the greenery surrounding him. Today a leading structural biologist with numerous awards and honours, Professor Kuriyan is widely known for his fundamental discoveries concerning the structure and mechanism of enzymes and molecular switches. “Growing up in a tropical country like India, one finds life in almost everything around,” shares the scholar, as he takes out time from his tight schedule to connect with Global Indian, from California, United States of America. “Just a flask of river water would contain so many bacteria and viruses. That is what motivated me to pursue a career in sciences.”

Professor John Kuriyan

Currently, the scholar is serving as a professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Named as the next dean of the prestigious Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences – the first Indian-American scholar to hold the office – Professor Kuriyan is ecstatic about the new inning. “I have spent many decades in academia, and to join the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences is a tremendous privilege. The institution is known for its cutting-edge and interdisciplinary approach to research, and to get to shape the strategies for the future direction of the school will be an honour,” expresses the scholar, who will assume the dean’s office on January 1, 2023.

The world of sciences

A native of Kerala, Professor Kuriyan travelled across the country, thanks to his father’s transferable job as a central government employee. “One of the most distinctive things about my father’s job was that his assignment changed every three to four years. So, I got to see most parts of India, from Assam to Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. I enjoyed it all,” he shares.

While he finished his bachelor’s degree in the US, few people know that Professor Kuriyan was initially enrolled at the University of Madras. “I was studying chemistry at the Madras Christian College in Chennai. It was only during the second year that I received a scholarship from Juniata College in Pennsylvania. I was elated to join them,” he says. The scholar, who earned his BS in Chemistry in 1981, proceeded to enroll in the Ph.D programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a doctorate in Physical Chemistry in 1986. “I completed my post-doctoral fellowship under the supervision of Professors Gregory Petsko and Martin Karplus. It was a great learning opportunity for me and I took full advantage of it,” shares the scholar, who loves birdwatching during early hours of the morning.

Prof John Kuriyan receiving SGRF Lifetime Achievement Award

Armed with a Ph.D, he joined Rockefeller University in New York City as an assistant professor in 1987. In 2001, the scholar joined the University of California, Berkeley as a Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and also of Chemistry. “Teaching young and bright minds is very rewarding,” expresses Professor Kuriyan, speaking about his long career in academics, adding, “The special thing is, if the students have chosen the subject themselves, then to watch them learn, grow and explore the new avenues in the field is pretty exciting.”

Above the curve

A favourite among his students, Professor Kuriyan’s research in the field of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology is inspiring. Concerning the atomic-level mechanism of the enzymes and molecular switches, his laboratory uses X-ray crystallography to study and elucidate mechanisms. His work has helped the scientific world understand how misregulation of these enzymes could be a reason for cancer and immune diseases. The lab has been instrumental in the determination of the switching mechanisms of several tyrosine kinases, including immune-cell kinases ZAP-70 and BTK.

Prof John Kuriyan with world’s leading structural biologists, at the Inaugural Symposium for the Harvard Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center for Structural Biology

The scholar’s research on fundamental discoveries related to the structural basis for high-speed DNA replication has been applauded worldwide. The Dupont-Merck Award of the Protein Society (1997), Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1998), and Cornelius Rhoads Memorial Award (1999) are just a few among the many awards he has won for his research works. In 2005, Professor Kuriyan was conferred the prestigious Loundsbery Award by the National Academy of Sciences. He was also elected as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2015.

Still connected to his roots in Kerala, the scholar lauds India for its technological innovations. “The infrastructure of science has definitely improved in the last four to five decades in India. I think if the country decides to invest more towards scientific research, India has really great potential for dramatic advancement,” Professor Kuriyan shares, before returning to his busy schedule.

Follow Professor John Kuriyan on LinkedIn and Twitter

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 04, Aug 2022

Share with

ALSO READ

Indian IT engineer Amitava Ghosh – The whiz with his pulse on cutting-edge technologies that solve world problems

(January 20, 2022) Silicon Valley to Bangalore, Amitava Ghosh has devoted his homecoming to embracing new-age technologies and solving human problems. This unique mandate has shaped his career for two decades. Moves determined by one thing alone – the potential for innovation. Stints with Yahoo, TaxiForSure, Snapdeal, start-ups and his own ventures, the common thread was how Amitava has always played a role in leveraging the latest technology for human good. “While software development and engineering are at the core, I always look out for opportunities where I can make a mark in the latest wave that envisions solving tomorrow’s problem at scale. There are always new challenges that are not well-defined today but technologies play a key role in devising great solutions. I seek to find myself in that place,” says the Indian IT engineer in an exclusive with Global Indian. A multidisciplinary childhood Born and brought up in Suri (West Bengal), Amitava studied at Birbhum Zilla School which was interestingly founded in 1857, the year of the mutiny. He did Integrated M.Tech degree from IIT, Delhi in biochemical engineering and biotechnology. Subtle hints of his geeky-yet-solution-driven approach to science were dropped during his M.Tech - his graduation project

nology. Subtle hints of his geeky-yet-solution-driven approach to science were dropped during his M.Tech - his graduation project in protein folding simulation, something that satiated his thirst for multidisciplinary sciences - engineering, computer science, chemistry and biology. The rest of his waking hours were spent coding software!

Indian Techie | Amitava Ghosh | Global Indian

Coming from an extended family of professors, the 47-year-old was engulfed in science conversations as a child and this became a part of his mental dialogue too. “My family and extended family are all academicians, with a scientific bent of mind so that was what I most loved,” says the macro problem solver.

The family lineage of professors in diverse scientific fields who were only happy to propel his interest in everything science has undoubtedly made him more versatile.

Helping save the world’s power crisis

For the past few months, the Indian techie has been trying to transform the world energy and utilities industry, after the realisation of a scary truth. “The world is just not conscious enough about energy. If we do nothing about it today, the progress of growing economies and sustaining them will be highly challenging, and it will cause massive damage to mankind in environmental impact, impacting GDP,” Amitava cautions. He believes that enormous problems can be offset if we become energy efficient and embrace renewable energy.

Tech-enabling power management

The problem solver who harnesses technology almost subliminally, Amitava joined Silicon Valley headquartered, Bangalore-based Bidgely a year ago. As senior vice-president, engineering, he helps the team unlock the power of AI and ML to help utility companies visualise, monitor, manage and optimise power utilisation by end consumers. Bidgely’s solutions are today used by many large and small power distributors across North America, Canada, Japan and the EU. They are eyeing expansion in India and the Middle East where smart meter adoption has seen growing traction. “Currently, we are expanding the development team globally in Ukraine and Ireland while strengthening the key R&D centre in Bangalore,” he adds excitedly.

Indian Techie | Amitava Ghosh | Global Indian

“We seldom realise how with every passing year, we purchase new gadgets, home automation products, IoT systems, electric vehicles, etc. Each uses power, and the more we use power, the more mindful we need to be about it,” says Ghosh, who with his team has devised solutions that allow end consumers to visualise and optimise power usage.

Travel and bedtime stories

The techie also lives and breathes cricket. Yet, it’s wanderlust that is the clincher. “Chasing the northern lights this winter in Iceland was an out of the world experience and we were determined to travel adhering to all laws despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic,” smiles Amitava. His wife, Rinku Ghosh, is also deep into the tech world in Bengaluru as co-founder of a start up in the consumer data platform space.

Indian Techie | Amitava Ghosh | Global Indian

His ten-year-old son Ritav is still deciding what interests him more, science or the arts. However, “He loves to listen to my travel escapades. He does not sleep till I have shared a travel story at bedtime daily,” shares the doting father.

And it’s all kinds of travel too, “I am a diverse traveller, from Kabini to Ranthambore to Paris – I love the finer things in life, yet revel in the raw and rustic too,” the Indian IT engineer adds.

Boy meets corporate world

Somewhere along the journey of finding an ideal fit, Amitava worked for Sumtotal Systems, an e-learning company based out of Silicon Valley. “We were given the task of setting up the Hyderabad office. Back then, India was not an R&D hot spot. Hence along with building the reputation of a mint fresh centre and making it an integral part of a US-led business, the key challenge was to find and mentor ‘product minded’ and ‘product driven’ engineers in India which were not in great supply,” he recalls.

Large scale dreams

For the next decade (2004-2013), Amitava worked in Yahoo across functions - communities’ products like message boards to heading the platform team of Y!’s emerging markets business to search & marketplace. “This was a rather exciting phase. I saw a scale of products and a distributed global operation that I had never seen before. The diverse cultural exposure helped a lot. It was also the time when Yahoo was looking to expand into emerging markets such as Taiwan, the Middle East and Brazil, and being part of this growth was an experience I cherish,” says the man with his eye on future tech.

Indian Techie | Amitava Ghosh | Global Indian

Solving the Indian transportation problem

Post Yahoo, Amitava’s focus shifted to real-world problems. This urged him to take charge of TaxiForSure’s technology team as CTO (2014-2015). “Transportation was a huge challenge in India back then. The private transport sector wasn’t organised and I knew technology could drive us towards a revolution of sorts. I had to be part of this revolution,” says the tech whiz who is proud of playing an important role in the revolution.

Hello, ecommerce!

Transportation, done. His next challenge was ecommerce with Snapdeal (2015-17). “My key KRA was to manage customer experience of online shoppers, of course using technology.” Amitava realised that trust was the make-or-break element of ecommerce, and he devoted his time to smoothen creases of order management, customer experience, returns and replacement, rating and reviews and risk minimisation. “All of this while battling tremendous competition. There were new players – big and small – coming up every week, and we had to win many battles,” adds the executive who had his focus on consumer interests.

Word of advice for job-seekers

One of Amitava’s favourite topics are the rapidly evolving human resources trends in the IT industry. “Do not make the herd mentality mistake. Defining a bigger problem area and the purpose is important, rather than just brands. This creates much more long-term value in terms of learning and growth. Today, there are smaller companies doing mind-boggling stuff in technology. You just need to earmark the industry that is fast evolving, and identify a company that does remarkable work. And you will have stories to share,” the Indian IT engineer says. Can’t argue with that going by Amitava’s own rise taking, and embracing new technologies.

Follow Amitav Ghosh on Linkedin

Reading Time: 6 min

Dipak C Jain: Small town boy to global management guru

(Aug 1, 2023) On his first day as Dean at the Kellogg School of Management, Professor Dipak C Jain stepped onto stage, before the MBA class of 650 students to make the customary commencement address. A few minutes in, the director of corporate communications rushed up to him and whispered in his ear, "There has been a terror attack. You need to end your speech before the phones start ringing." That was September 11, 2001. "Who could have anticipated that event," Professor Jain asked, in a talk for SolBridge International School of Business, back in 2018. "Nobody. But what we did know is that when the students graduated, the economic conditions wouldn't be good." Dealing with crisis Flights resumed regular services a month later, on October 3, 2001 - Jain is specific about the date, he remembers it well. "For the next few months, hardly a day passed when I wasn't on a flight, going to meet a potential recruiter." Students, Jain emphasises, come to business school with certain aspirations, they expect good teaching and a good placement, too. When he called his peers at Stanford and Harvard, they were resigned to the situation. "They told me, 'Dipak, it will

the situation. "They told me, 'Dipak, it will affect all of us'. That much is true but how we react can be different." He could use it as an excuse, or do something about it. He chose the latter.

[caption id="attachment_29919" align="aligncenter" width="588"] Professor Dipak Jain. Photo: Twitter[/caption]

"We all live under the same sky but seem to have different horizons," Jain said in a lecture. That year, aside from flying out to meet recruiters, he also wrote to his old students, asking them for work for his fresh graduates. That letter, as it happened, got into the press. Jain was approached by CNN's Lou Dobbs, asking him to appear on the show. He couldn't make it that day but Dobbs ran with the story anyway, saying, "Kellogg Dean begging for jobs." Jain saw it as "the best publicity you can get without paying for advertising." He flew out to meet recruiters. The following year, Kellogg School of Management had the highest placement rate and was rated by Businessweek as the 'top business school in the world'.

Currently, the Global Indian is the co-president and Global Advisor of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), before which he was Director, Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkom University in Bangkok. After eight years as Dean at the Kellogg School of Management, Jain stepped down in 2009. Two years later, he served for three years as a Dean of INSEAD, from 2011 to March 2013. "I was the first Dean of a European School," he remarked. "It's much more difficult in France than most other places to be accepted, as an Indian.” Jain also serves as an Independent Director on the Board of Reliance Industries Limited and has been a consultant with Microsoft, American Express, Eli Lilly and Company and Hyatt International.

Difficult beginnings

Dipak Chand Jain was born in a small town in Assam, to a "blind father and a mother who never went to school." His grandfather, who had been a schoolteacher, would tell him, "Your father has never seen light. Make sure that you always spread it to the world." Life was tough in his home town as his school had no tables or chairs, or paper to write on. Students sat cross-legged on the floor and scribbled on slates with pieces of chalk, committing what they wrote to memory before they erased it. There was no university either.

[caption id="attachment_29916" align="aligncenter" width="506"] Prof Jain with alumni from CEIBS[/caption]

Finding success

In 1976, when it was Jain's turn to graduate, he topped the university. For a young boy with very few opportunities in life, it was a major milestone. When he finished his honours in Mathematics from Dharam College in Tezpur, he left home for the first time in 25 years. "My father took me to the bus station in Guwahati and I got on a bus for the first time. Who knew that I would one day go on to become the director of United Airlines?" From this, he learned what he calls one of the major attributes to his success. "There are no shortcuts in life. I did my high school, college, a Master's and a PhD. These things take time. Nothing good happens quickly."

There are no shortcuts in life. I did my high school, college, a Master's and a PhD. These things take time. Nothing good happens quickly.

Ten years later, after his PhD, Jain was a student of Mathematics with no business school background. He received his first job offer, to teach a course in marketing at the Kellogg School of Management. His first encounter with Dean Donald Jacobs, who would go on to be a lifelong colleague, mentor and friend, came at the end of his first year. Jain arrived at the faculty dinner where Dean Jacobs stood and decided to introduce himself. "He took one look at me and lost his temper. I had no idea what I had done wrong. He told me to leave."

The importance of feedback

Jain decided to stick around for the dinner anyway, thinking that his departure would reflect poorly on his boss. The next day, a superior told him that no harm was meant by the incident and not to take the matter personally. It was another mantra he adopted for the rest of his life. "Don't take things personally. And when you're given feedback, accept it with gratitude. The same man who yelled at me in public made me deputy dean, a candidate for the next dean. A football coach told me once that he only yells at players in whom he sees potential."

At the start of his teaching career in 1998, Jain found a group of students waiting outside his office one evening to tell him, "Professor, we have come to the conclusion that you don't know the subject." Jain admitted he was new to it, having had no B-school experience. "They said, we are not here to complain but we believe that there is a great teacher inside of you. We are here to promise that we will make you the best teacher you can be." They stuck to their word, bringing him magazine articles and copies of the Wall Street Journal that Jain could use as case studies in his classes. When he became Dean, Jain began to organise an informal session for students and faculty, where the former could freely express their opinions.

Don't take things personally. And when you're given feedback, accept it with gratitude. The same man who yelled at me in public made me deputy dean, a candidate for the next dean. A football coach told me once that he only yells at players in whom he sees potential.

When Jacobs died at the age of 90, Jain, who was in Delhi heading for the funeral, received a call from his daughter. "She said, 'Dipak, dad passed away. Come quickly.' He had made me the trustree of his wealth. Building trust with people will make you what you are."

INSEAD, France

In May 2011, Jain accepted the post as a Dean at INSEAD in France, fascinated by the idea of a one-year MBA. At the time, Jain was involved in two other projects as well - creating a business school in Bangladesh and focussing on entrepreneurship and small business management for women in countries like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, as well as starting a university in Angola. "For global prosperity and peace, we have to target women," he said, at the time of his appointment, in 2010.

With areas of interest that include market segmentation, competitive market structure analysis, marketing of high-tech products and cross-culture issues in global product diffusion, as well as forecasting models, Jain has published over fifty articles and is the author of Marketing Moves: A New Approach to Profits, Growth and Renewal. "Business school is about structured thinking. Solving problems means developing that structured approach." The real-world problems are many - soon, the world will have a large ageing population, with increasing lifespans indicating that the duration of retirement could be as long as the time spent working. "How do we engage the retired population?" This is the age, he says, of "human capital," and the core purpose of business education is "shaping and attracting human talent."

Follow Professor Dipak C. Jain on Twitter or listen to him on YouTube

Mukti Bosco: The Indian social entrepreneur who is changing lives with her healing touch

(September 2, 2021) Twenty years ago Mukti Bosco, then a post graduate student in health management, was on a field visit to Hyderabad’s Charminar area. She struck up a conversation with some women from the area and asked them what they would do in the face of an unforeseen emergency, most of them said that they would mortgage their assets. But it was one woman’s response that changed Bosco’s perspective forever: she told Bosco that she had to pull her six-year-old son out from school and send him to work at a tea shop as she had borrowed ₹5,000 for her husband’s typhoid treatment. The incident moved her so much that Bosco decided she didn’t want to be a mere bystander, she wanted to do something to change things - and Healing Fields Foundation (HFF) was born. Headquartered in Hyderabad, HFF has been providing training and support for women as health change agents in their communities. The Foundation works in rural areas of poorer states to impact change in the areas with the greatest need. From working to prevent health problems and facilitate access to health services and entitlements from the government, HFF has been working across the sector and has done extensive pandemic relief work as well. In fact, HFF has recently been recognized

and Healing Fields Foundation (HFF) was born. Headquartered in Hyderabad, HFF has been providing training and support for women as health change agents in their communities. The Foundation works in rural areas of poorer states to impact change in the areas with the greatest need. From working to prevent health problems and facilitate access to health services and entitlements from the government, HFF has been working across the sector and has done extensive pandemic relief work as well. In fact, HFF has recently been recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of India’s Top 50 COVID-19 Last Mile Responders.

[caption id="attachment_9131" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Indian social entrepreneur Mukti Bosco Mukti Bosco[/caption]

Rocky beginnings

Growing up with medical professionals at home - her father being an eye doctor and her mother a nurse - Bosco knew she would also follow in their footsteps. But her path was unclear until she finished her degree from Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore. "That is when I knew what I wanted to do something for the society," recalls Bosco in an exclusive chat with Global Indian. She graduated in Occupational Therapy from Vellore and later completed her Master's degree in Healthcare Management from the Administrative Staff College of India and John Hopkins University.

[caption id="attachment_9132" align="aligncenter" width="564"] HFF volunteers A Healing Fields Foundation CHE at work[/caption]

The Charminar incident shook Bosco more than she’d anticipated. "It broke my soul and that's how Healing Fields was conceptualized," she says. Mother to a 5-year-old son herself, Mukti resolved to do something in the health sector so that no underprivileged person had to sacrifice their children's future again.

The initial days of the Foundation were difficult. Few people took her seriously, but Bosco knew what she was doing. "When they saw I was determined, support started pouring in," smiles Bosco, who is also an Ashoka Fellow. With zero experience in the social sector, she stepped in with a positive mindset. "Social entrepreneurship is always in a startup mode and nothing can be taken for granted. I learnt most of it on the job," she says.

Working for impact

In the last twenty years, Bosco has been giving back to society by leading Healing Fields Foundation into several areas. From training and supporting health and hygiene initiatives for women in rural areas to training health professionals at the grassroots level and beyond, the aim has been to reach as many people as possible. Healing Fields has worked across the country in states like Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, and Jharkhand.

Healing Fields has so far has trained 5,000 community health entrepreneurs across 10 states, reaching 6.25 million people. This year, HFF plans to undertake a new project called TeleHealth. "This project aims to train a health leader to conduct basic health checks, as well as connect her to a network of clinics through a digital platform," says Bosco. "She will be therefore able to earn extra income for herself while bringing last-mile health services for her community," she adds.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usiLaSLakBg[/embed]

One evening in June, a health worker at the Healing Fields Foundation in Bihar received an urgent call from Bheriya village in Kaimur district. Around 20 children were vomiting and displaying symptoms of diarrhea in the village. Immediately, a team comprising Community Health Entrepreneur (CHE), the Gram Pradhan, Healing Fields staff, and the doctor was formed.

The CHE assessed every child who was unwell and advised the parents regarding maintaining hydration. ORS and medicines were given free of cost, and children with severe symptoms were shifted to a hospital. The team also coordinated with the local government officials and organized a health camp in the village to assess and identify the cause of the illness. It turned out that it was due to food served at a wedding.

The quick action by HFF meant that the problem was nipped in the bud. When a problem relates to children, the Foundation makes it a point to solve the problem as early as possible.

It may have been a twenty-year journey with Healing Fields Foundation, but for Bosco every day is new, filled with challenges and new ideas to serve the community.

Reading Time: 5 mins

The science and art of Ice Cream making: Deepak Suresh’s Amadora revolution

Cookies, fruits, coffee, chillies, peanuts, limes and of course the evergreen chocolate and vanilla, they all find their way into the ice creams at Amadora. What is the secret behind their popularity? (December 3, 2023) Ice creams and cakes are always irresistible, no matter what age you are or which part of the world you live in. And making a successful business of both these universal and perennial favourites is Deepak Suresh with his brand of artisanal ice creams and more called Amadora Gourmet Ice Cream. [caption id="attachment_47149" align="aligncenter" width="448"] Deepak Suresh, founder, Amadora[/caption] Like a lot of engineers these days, Deepak changed career trajectories and after an MBA in Spain where he fell in love with food and everything around it. After a stint in the corporate world, he decided he wanted to be in the culinary field. The engineer in him zeroed in on ice creams from the start. In an exclusive with Global Indian, Deepak says, “The process of manufacturing ice creams is process driven, as opposed to a biryani, which is formula based. If you have good ingredients, and can create flavours and the right texture that will appeal, along with your imagination, ice creams were

rel="noopener">Global Indian, Deepak says, “The process of manufacturing ice creams is process driven, as opposed to a biryani, which is formula based. If you have good ingredients, and can create flavours and the right texture that will appeal, along with your imagination, ice creams were the obvious choice for me.”

The Right Choice

Another reason for choosing ice creams was the fact that Deepak associated a lot of happy memories of his own childhood in Chennai with ice creams. He recalls, “As kids we used to go to Das Prakash for ice creams and they had this ice cream sandwich with cake all around it. They were always fantastic and we loved going there.”

He also reveals that he found a big gap between the store-bought range of ubiquitous ice creams like Amul, Kwality Walls and others, and the premium range like Haagen Daaz. His price points too are placed between these two ranges and given the high quality of ingredients used, including Belgian chocolate in larger quantities than his competitors do, they seem worth the price.

Having lived in the US where he had done his Master's degree in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University, he decided to return to India to start the business. He did his research and launched the brand Amadora Artisan Ice Creams Pvt. Ltd, in June 2011. “By March 2012, we were winging it.”

I dream of ice cream

From the outset, Deepak implemented engineering principles to streamline production processes, emphasizing precision and consistency in every scoop he served up at Amadora. He also decided to do a week-long course in ice cream making at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. “It was more a scientific course, focusing on the pasteurising and ageing process and other aspects. It was too much science,” he adds candidly.

Candour in fact is the underlining trait with which Deepak speaks because he openly talks about what worked, what didn’t and why he makes ice creams in the flavours that he does. He says, “I make the flavours I like. The most important part of an ice cream is the mix – if you get the mix right, whether it is vanilla, coffee, chocolate or pineapple, the rest is easy. Perfecting the mix is the most difficult part about making an ice cream.”

To date, Amadora has made over 300 flavours of ice creams and sorbets, like frozen hot chocolate, trifle pudding, mango raspberry, roasted banana, peanut butter and hot fudge and plenty more. There is even a chilli cheese toast flavour for the adventurous! The range also includes ice cream sandwiches and ice cream bars; and ice cream cakes and sundaes. Each outlet stocks 16 ice cream flavours and 14 cake varieties. And the sorbets work for the vegans because they are made without any milk, cream or egg.

Baked goods too got added to the menu and a popular item is the under-baked cake. Deepak says, “To go with ice creams, I started making brownies. During one baking attempt, we made a baked bar that came out under-baked and it tasted amazing. So, we decided to market it as an under-baked cake and it is one of our most popular items.”

For the ingredients, Deepak believes in zero compromise. The five-bean vanilla ice cream for instance, one of their bestsellers, has a story to it. Deepak recalls, “When I created the vanilla ice cream, I was looking for authentic vanilla beans. I met Dr Mahendran in Polachi in Tamil Nadu; his beans are the best we felt, and each litre of ice cream made had the intensity of five vanilla beans; hence the name Five Bean for the ice cream. I have been buying from him for the last ten years.” The milk he uses for the ice creams are Amul and Nandini.

Hits and Misses

Flavours are the hall mark of Amadora and Deepak says they launch a new flavour a week. Between the sorbets and the ice creams, Amadora has over 300 flavours created. But, Deepak himself admits that some of them were “horrible.” He reiterates with candour not usually found in his line of business, “We once received some gajar halwa from my wife’s family in Jagraon, Punjab. It was amazing and I had it with vanilla ice cream. But when I tried to recreate the flavour as an ice cream, it didn’t do well. Similarly, we got some freeze-dried jackfruit powder. Again, we made it into an ice cream and I personally thought it was an incredible flavour, but it did not do well at all.”

The popular flavours are vanilla and chocolate in all its variants – they are the top sellers. Another hit with customers is the Mami’s filter coffee ice cream which for Deepak, coming from Chennai, was a no-brainer and had to be part of the oeuvre. Caramelized White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Sorbet, Vanilla Caramel Crunch, Strawberry Shortcake etc are some of the other choices. Even the cakes are fast becoming popular and now account for 30 percent of Amadora’s business.

And while Deepak, candidly again, admits that he has had “tremendous amounts of luck in finding the right location, architect and good staff, towards starting what is predominantly a self-funded business, labour remains a challenge as attrition in this industry is high.”

With three stores in Chennai and two in Bengaluru, with two more coming up in both cities and a store in Mumbai scheduled for mid-2024, Deepak has his hands full. He wants to, in the future, experiment with all the varieties of mango available across India in ice creams; he is already making use of the hapoos or Alphonso and the Banganpally mangoes.

Deepak admits, “I am lucky I do what I do, and seeing the joy on the face of my four-and-a-half-year-old son when he tries the ice cream, makes it so much more worthwhile.”

Ice creams and cakes, and an entrepreneur with a passion for creating their best possible avatars – a match made in heaven.

Follow Amadora on Instagram and explore the brand through their website.

What's your Global Indian story? Write to us at editor.gi@globalindian.com

Ryuko Hira: Bridging cultures and building legacies between India and Japan

(October 2, 2024) It was in 2022 that Ryuko Hira found himself accepting the Padma Shri award from the then President of India - Ram Nath Kovind - for his contribution to trade and industry. Having played a pivotal role in India-Japan trade relations, the President of HMI Hotel Group in Japan, Ryuko moved to the land of rising sun in 1966. Over the years, he found strong ground as a hotelier, investor, and philanthropist in Japan, who became widely recognised for fostering Indo-Japan economic ties, advancing Indian cultural outreach, and his steadfast devotion to Sri Sathya Sai Baba. [caption id="attachment_57190" align="aligncenter" width="548"] Ryuko Hira received Padma Shri in 2022[/caption] Pioneering Indo-Japanese Trade Relations Born as Kamlesh Punjabi in Jaipur in a family of Jagtianis who were in the business of procuring jewels and ornaments from Muslim Royalty or Mirs. Over the years, the family expanded their business across Southeast Asia and Japan. Taking advantage of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902-1922) which allowed 50 Indian companies to set up operations in Japan, Hira's uncle partnered with a firm in Yokohama. Soon he expanded into the export of silk and seeing the business flourish, other family members joined him. After the Great

cross Southeast Asia and Japan. Taking advantage of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902-1922) which allowed 50 Indian companies to set up operations in Japan, Hira's uncle partnered with a firm in Yokohama. Soon he expanded into the export of silk and seeing the business flourish, other family members joined him. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, the business shifted base to Kobe and they switched to buying cultivated corals for export to India. Post WWII, Japan saw a period of intense industrialisation and the businesses grew rapidly. Keeping up with the modernisation, Hira's two brothers established offices in Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong in 1950, around the time when Hira was born.

After attending school in Mumbai, Hira graduated in gemology from the Gemological Institute of America and even attended a 12-week course at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. But things took a U-turn after tragedy hit their family as Hira's father, uncle, and eldest brother passed away in the same year, leaving Hira with the option of stepping up. He left for Hong Kong to learn the tropes of business from his elder brother, and soon the business shifted base to Tokyo in 1966.

Kamlesh Punjabi to Ryuko Hira: A Journey of Transformation

Being born in the same year as independent India, growing up, Hira saw three wars with China and Pakistan. "I was fortunate as my family had some small overseas business which is now nearly 100 years of age. As soon as I finished high school, the Pakistan and the Chinese wars were going on and the ladies and the young ones at home were sent abroad for safety. So a decade later in the 1970s, the situation in India got from bad to worse," said Hira in an interview, adding, "Being a stateless refugee family from Sindh, Pakistan where we had lost and left everything due to the partition (of India and Pakistan), we did not want to live in poverty once again. So my eldest brother said one family member should become a Japanese national to save the family's assets from being nationalised in foreign countries."

[caption id="attachment_57193" align="aligncenter" width="566"] Ryuko Hira | Global Indian Ryuko Hira with former Japan PM Shinzo Abe[/caption]

Being a little fluent in Japanese, thanks to the language course from Sophia University, Tokyo, he turned out to be the perfect family member to achieve the feat. He married a Japanese woman, became a naturalised Japanese citizen, and adopted the name Ryuko Hira. However, he was initially hesitant to change his name and give up on Indian nationality. A disciple of Sathya Sai Baba, he spent some time at the sacred Mount Fuji asking for guidance from Baba. "I came back with the answer that a passport document of nationalisation doesn't make you an Indian or another national. As Baba said - a true Indian is a person who carries the divine values in his heart," he added. Moreover, the reason for changing his name took root in the fact that Japanese language is calligraphic. They don't use alphabets, instead the pictorial characters make the Japanese script. It was a priest at a Hindu temple on top of Mt Hira in Shiga who gave him the name. "Hira is the name of the mountain on which the temple stands and in Ryuko, 'Ryu' means the dragon and 'ko' means tiger," he revealed in an interview.

The HMI Hotel Group: Building a Hospitality Legacy

Over the years, Hira expanded his business to such great success that it became one of the leading foreign enterprises in Japan. So much so that the achievement was highlighted in a one-hour special documentary aired by Japan’s National Television, NHK in 1984. After the untimely death of his elder brother in 1986, the family business was divided harmoniously, with Hira taking responsibility for the real estate development sector. Drawing on his talent, experience, and the traditions of his family lineage, the Global Indian went on to establish the foundation of the Ora Group of Companies in 1986.

In four years, he established the HMI Hotel Group, which now welcomes over 13.7 million guests each year and has been recognised by the Nikkei Marketing Journal as the eighth-largest hotel chain in Japan. Hira’s group of companies also excels in various areas, including proprietary hotel management, hotel management services, capital raising through building leases and trusts, hotel planning and development, property management, technical consulting, and the hotel supplies industry.

[caption id="attachment_57194" align="aligncenter" width="700"] HMI Group Hotel Hotel Pearl City in Kobe[/caption]

Strengthening Indo-Japanese Relations

Apart from being a businessman and investor, Hira has played a significant role in strengthening Indo-Japanese affairs. In June 2004, he became the first Indian to be elected as a Director of the Japan-India Association. He also serves as the representative director of the Sai Hira India Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to fostering public benefit between Japan and India through tourism, economics, philosophy, and culture.

The growing Indian community in Japan, though modest in size, has played a vital role in fostering trade and cultural exchanges between the two nations, exemplified by figures like Ryuko Hira. The Indo-Japanese trade relationship has evolved into a robust partnership, with Japan being one of India’s largest investors, particularly in infrastructure, technology, and automobiles. India's exports to Japan include textiles, seafood, and chemicals, while Japan’s exports to India focus on machinery, vehicles, and electronics. Figures like Hira have not only bridged economic ties but also fostered mutual respect and cultural integration, underscoring the shared values that strengthen the partnership between the two nations.

Spiritual Values Guiding Business and Philanthropy

A strong advocate for Indian culture and traditional values in Japan, he has established prayer halls across the country where Japanese men and women gather to chant the Vedas and sing bhajans. At these prayer halls, volunteers also prepare 20,000 meals annually to support homeless individuals. Hira explained that all volunteers recite hymns and prayers while cooking, offering blessings for the recovery of the homeless. Having established five prayer halls dedicated to community service, he describes this work as both the passion and mission of his life. In October 2019, Hira organised the foundation stone ceremony for the Sri Sathya Sai Sanathana Samskruti - Spiritual Centre at Tsumagoi Resort - Sai No Sato. This project aims to enhance cultural exchanges between India and Japan.

[caption id="attachment_57195" align="aligncenter" width="587"] Sri Sathya Sai Prayer Hall in Tokyo[/caption]

Ryuko Hira's journey from Kamlesh Punjabi to a respected figure in Japan shows his commitment to connecting India and Japan in both business and culture. He has made significant contributions to the hospitality industry and engaged in charitable work, promoting Indian spiritual values in Japan. As a businessman, Hira grew his family’s legacy into a successful company, and as a philanthropist, he helped strengthen ties between the two countries. His desire to give back to society, inspired by his faith in Sri Sathya Sai Baba, continues to motivate him. Today, Ryuko Hira is not just a symbol of strong India-Japan relations but also an example of how cultural exchange, humanitarian work, and a life guided by spiritual values can make a difference.