Indian Author | Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan | Global Indian

Global IndianstoryShobha Tharoor Srinivasan: From first Amul baby to her mom’s biographer

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan: From first Amul baby to her mom’s biographer

Compiled by: Amrita Priya

(June 30, 2023) “My family’s association with the Amul brand is intensely personal,” wrote Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament in one of his gripping articles. Elaborating on the association he shared, “Way back in 1961, Amul’s advertising agency, ASP (Advertising & Sales Promotion Ltd), was looking for a baby to front their milk powder in a first-of-its-kind ad campaign. They went through hundreds of pictures of babies – 712, to be exact – until ASP’s creative head, Sylvester da Cunha, asked my father, his friend and Secretary of the Advertising Club of Bombay: “you have a baby too, don’t you? Mind if you show me a picture?” Shashi Tharoor reminisced talking about how his sister Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan became a model when she was just 10-months-old.

Senior Tharoor shared Shobha’s picture with Sylvester da Cunha and the rest is history. “My sister Shobha became the first-ever Amul baby,” remarked the proud brother, who is known for his gift for words.

No less of a wordsmith herself, Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan is a celebrated children’s book author and has churned several books for top publishing houses in India and the US. She brought her mother into limelight when Penguin launched her first book outside her world of children’s literature – a biography on her mother, Lily Tharoor.

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan

Good Innings: The Extraordinary, Ordinary Life of Lily Tharoor, has received rave reviews and garnered immense curiosity among readers to get a peek into the life of the Tharoors. “This story is definitely a tribute to my mother, but it’s not just that. It’s a tribute to all you women, your mothers, our mothers, our grandmothers, our sisters who hold up our part of the sky,” remarked Shobha at a literary event in Kolkata.

The California-based author is also a poet, translator, editor and has been a former non-profit development professional spending two decades as an advocate and fundraiser for persons with disabilities. A celebrated voice-over talent, she received the National Award for best narration / voice over for the film Rhapsody of Rains: Monsoons of Kerala at the 68th National Film Awards ceremony by President Droupadi Murmu in 2022.

Coming out of comfort zone

When Penguin approached Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan with a request to pen a biography on her mother, she was hesitant. Undoubtedly, her well-travelled mother has lived a remarkable life motivating her children (Shashi Tharoor, Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan and Smita Tharoor) to think out of the box and reach their maximum potential, but ‘would we like to put all that in a book’ she wondered.

The fiercely self-dependant octogenarian, Lily Tharoor is a strong matriarch who believes that ‘the only ground that is stable enough to stand on is the one created by your own hand’. She has had her own share of tragedies, travails and triumphs, but Shobha was unsure to document those.

However, Penguin was persistent. Looking at the journey of the feisty octogenarian who renewed her driving license at 82, and was forthcoming enough to support her son atop the election campaign vehicles, had raised an interest in them to chronicle her life. Finally, Shobha gave in to their request encouraged by her brother who later wrote the foreword of the book.

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan with her siblings Smita Tharoor and Shashi Tharoor

“When I presented the book to my mother, she said, why you have written a book on me. What have I done that needs a book? You should’ve have written about your brother,” shared Shobha.

The author knew that there are many people who could write a book on Shashi Tharoor as he is a public figure but Lily Tharoor’s story could only be written by her children who have seen the marvels of the lady and her amazing everyday story unfolding before their eyes.

“My mother thought it was criminal not to live up to our full potential,” Shobha shared and used the book as an opportunity to inspire younger generation to ‘grow and act’.

Storyteller’s voice matters

“I have been a ‘storyteller’ and communicator all my adult life writes Shobha on her website. In both India and the United States, Shobha’s voice has been used in documentaries, advertisements, corporate training manuals, stage productions, travelogues, educational and journalistic projects, and audio books.

Before becoming a voice over talent, the Global Indian spent two decades in the non-profit sector serving people with disabilities as a grant writer. Even as a grant writer, she utilised the power of words and stories to attract funders to programs they wished to support.

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan receiving award from President Droupadi Murmu

“I take this same love of words to my writing and voice career,” she shared. As the voice over talent with a natural and elegant speaking style and a global accent, Shobha has been the perfect choice for Silicon Valley companies looking for a voice to showcase their products and for their training manuals. While her books are part of some of the school curricula.

Shobha has a home studio in Campbell, California from where she delivers many of her voice-over assignments for all types of media – from individuals to small businesses to large broadcasting organisations.

Miss Calcutta’s journey of life

Raised with the awareness of their Kerala heritage, Shobha spent the early years of her life in many places. “I was the responsible middle child with an overachieving older brother and a mischievous, younger sister so my childhood was full of learning and fun,” she said in one of the interviews. “We were diasporic Malayalees as my parents had lived from a young age away from their roots in Kerala, including abroad in London,” she remarked.

From a very young age, Shobha had developed an immense love for literature and acted in Shakespeare and Osborne plays during a pan-Indian childhood, without missing summer vacation in Kerala every year. “We were raised to be as comfortable eating with our fingers on a plantain leaf as we were dining at the table with appropriate cutlery,” she shared.

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan with her parents and siblings when they were young

During her teenage years the family was living in Kolkata. Her mother always encouraged Shobha and her siblings to make every minute count by delving in not just academics but a wide array of activities – dramatic arts to tennis to French classes. When Miss Calcutta contest happened, she sent both her daughters – Shobha and Smita to participate with the intuitive wisdom that they would be able to fair well. And, she was right, While Shobha got crowned as Miss Calcutta, her younger sister ended up being the first runner up.

After leading a protected teenage life in Calcutta, Shobha moved to the US for higher studies. Starting from her bachelor’s studies there she went on to complete her master’s in English at Syracuse University. It was during those days that she met the guy who would be her husband, married him and settled in California. It has been four decades since then. Regular visits to India for work and family commitments continues. The multi-talented author and voiceover artist considers herself more of a ‘global citizen than an Indian or Indian-American’.

From the Archives:

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan as the first Amul baby

Follow Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 30, Jun 2023

Share with

ALSO READ

I have tried to do good in the world via poetry: Usha Akella giving South Asian poets a platform in the US

(June 10, 2024) “I have tried to do good in the world via poetry,” Usha Akella, poet, reviewer, interviewer, editor, playwright, and creative nonfiction author, tells Global Indian. Having published nine books that include poetry, musical dramas, and creative nonfiction and founded Matwaala, the first South Asian Diaspora Poets Festival in the US, as well as the Poetry Caravan in New York and Austin that brings poetry to the doorstep of the disadvantaged, the 57-year-old has always worked towards reaching people with poetry. From her first book, Kali Dances, So Do I which came out in 1998, to her recent work, I Will Not Bear You Sons, she has always touched upon the topics of cultural traditions, feminism, immigration, travel, identity, patriarchy, politics, terrorism, and community. She has edited an anthology, Hum Aiseich Bolte, to celebrate Hyderabad, which was released at the Hyderabad Literary Festival in 2023. And she has edited a festschrift to honor poet Keki Daruwalla that was just published by the Sahitya Akademi. Having immigrated to the US in 1993 after her marriage, she proved that knowledge is a lifelong quest when, at the age of fifty, she earned a Master’s from the University of Cambridge in 2018

thology, Hum Aiseich Bolte, to celebrate Hyderabad, which was released at the Hyderabad Literary Festival in 2023. And she has edited a festschrift to honor poet Keki Daruwalla that was just published by the Sahitya Akademi.

Having immigrated to the US in 1993 after her marriage, she proved that knowledge is a lifelong quest when, at the age of fifty, she earned a Master’s from the University of Cambridge in 2018 in creative writing. Personifying the best qualities of being a Global Indian, she is deeply connected to her roots while she uses her work to create a difference across the world.

[caption id="attachment_52290" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Usha Akella | Matwaala | Global Indian Usha Akella[/caption]

Definitive formative years

Growing up in Hyderabad in the 1970s in a Telugu family, Usha calls them important years when summers were slow, filled with family, relatives, childhood friends, songs by MS Subbulakshmi and Ghanthasala, and an outing meant a trip to the bazaars of the city. Growing up with a father who worked in the then-RR Labs (now the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology) and a school-teacher mother, the campus was a green space and haven that was safe and centered around a close-knit community.

“Life on the RRL campus was a slice of heaven, innocent and uncomplicated,” she recalls and adds. “We are shaped by the times we come from, and those childhood values were instilled in us not by verbal teaching but by living a life centered around family and community. It was a certain India that existed at a certain time.”

The poet, till date, believes that India’s family structure is its greatest asset and that its philosophy of unity in diversity is inspiring. Her thorough grounding in Indian values and culture continues to motivate her and remains her safety net in trying times. It also inspires her constant striving to unite her writing craft with the community.

Unfurling her wings

After marriage resulted in a move to the US (from the Baltimore area to White Plains/Greenburgh in New York and currently to Austin, Texas), Usha drew strength from her Indian roots to assimilate and absorb the new way of life. She states, “The ability to adapt is a quintessential Indian trait. We have the strength to embrace new things and to work hard towards achieving our dreams.”

The only dream Usha always had was to write. Call it fate or genes (her grandfather’s brother, Uma Rajeshwarao, was a Russian and Telugu scholar, while her aunt Nidarmathy Nirmala Devi is a Telugu author, poet, and scholar), her childhood was characterized by three activities: read, write, and dream.

It was a dream that came true when she published her first book of poetry, Kali Dances. So do I in 1998, and I realized a life-long ambition. In those early days, prior to her first book, what helped her along the way were creative writing classes and doing poetry readings in Baltimore and New York to boost her confidence.

[caption id="attachment_52291" align="aligncenter" width="314"] Kali Dances, So Do I[/caption]

“For someone who wrote from the age of eight to finally be published was nothing short of miraculous. It was nothing short of a sadhana (dedication) that allowed me to fulfill a dream. When you pursue something without any expectation and work hard, it simply falls into place,” she states.

Charting new courses

Along with her poetry, Usha has worked tirelessly on initiatives that have a larger impact. The Poetry Caravan, which started in 2003, took poetry form from the confines of solitary readers and readings right into the heart of the community.

She explains, “While all of us are able-bodied and have the resources to engage in art (from movies to theater) or literature, what of those who have no access—be it prisons, hospitals, or senior homes? I thought of taking poetry to them via this initiative so that the disadvantaged are not cut off from the margins.” The initiative continued as a collective after she left White Plains for Austin and has offered over a thousand free readings when counted last. Though she is not directly involved with it any longer, it remains a lasting legacy she left behind.

Another brainchild of hers, Matwaala (co-directed with Pramila Venkateswaran), ensures that south Asian poets get the same opportunities as others and are not discriminated against. Working towards changing syllabuses so that there is diversity in curriculum and going to campuses to hold reading sessions where students are exposed to a fungible quality of voices, it works towards equality for poets of color.

She recalls with enthusiasm that during one of their sessions at NYU, Salman Rushdie walked in and stayed back graciously to listen to all the poets!

The power of words

Why does she write poetry? “It is my form of breathing,” she confesses. “Literally, I suppose. I was a chronic asthmatic as a child and youth while growing up in Hyderabad, which meant many days in bed by the window. I wrote to keep myself alive and feel alive. Perhaps the writer’s sensibility in me was formed in those days. I think that the primary reason is unaltered, though I am no longer in the grip of that ailment. I write to know I am alive.”

Art and literature are the glue that holds people together. For the poet, it gives ground for hope. She states, “At any given point in human history, there is always turbulence. It is the arts that unite. Write a poem, paint a canvas, and make a movie, and you are creating a virtual bridge for the world. We need to use art hopefully and carefully given the fractured times we live in.”

As emojis replace words and chats replace conversations, it is poetry that remains the last remaining bastion of emotion. It makes us think, ask questions, and capture consciousness. With her relentless quest to seek answers, Usha, through her work, is creating awareness and a witness to our shared histories.

Beyond poetry

When she is not reading literature of all genres, Usha likes to spend time with her husband Ravi and daughter Ananya, who, like her mother, is interested in the arts and is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She listens to numerous spiritual podcasts, paints occasionally, loves traveling, meeting friends, listening to music of all kinds, and visiting museums across the world.

As she signs off, I ask her, what has been the greatest gift poetry has given her? "Everything," she answers, “Friendships, love, identity, travel, and my channel of evolution. I’ve learned to balance dreams with detachment, ambition with joy, and I see that I am the in-progress sum of all that I experience in my journey. Poetry reflects this centering self.”

Follow Matwaala on their website.

Meet Jason Shah, who plays Inspector Cartwright in Heeramandi

(May 25, 2024) “I’m a go-go kind of person. There is a lot that I want to achieve,” grins Jason Shah. The breakout star of Netflix’s magnum opus Heeramandi, the Indo-British actor who plays the antagonist Inspector Cartwright, has managed to impress the audience with his acting chops and stand out amongst a bevy of established performers. Referring to himself as a ‘Bombay boy’, the 36-year-old is currently soaking in the adulation after Heeramandi. “It shows the power of OTT platforms and their immense reach,” he shares, adding, “People from across the world, from Bengaluru to Brazil, have been sending me DM's on Insta, and it's incredible to receive so much love.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @jasonshah The actor, who is typecast into similar roles (usually playing the villain), has been in the industry for over a decade. Apart from roles in movies including Partner, Fitoor, and Salaar, he has also been part of many television shows, including Big Boss. Heeramandi’s success has been a huge shot in the arm for the actor, who is now excited by the wealth of opportunities that are pouring in from across industries. A Bombaywallah Jason calls

ow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7EjhF1iHDt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @jasonshah

The actor, who is typecast into similar roles (usually playing the villain), has been in the industry for over a decade. Apart from roles in movies including Partner, Fitoor, and Salaar, he has also been part of many television shows, including Big Boss. Heeramandi’s success has been a huge shot in the arm for the actor, who is now excited by the wealth of opportunities that are pouring in from across industries.

A Bombaywallah

Jason calls growing up in Bombay an unusual experience full of fond memories. “My father is a Kutchi-Jain, while my mother is a British citizen, so I grew up in extremely cosmopolitan surroundings. The city in the 90s was so different—we just used to hang out at Marine Drive, and there was a lot of liberty to explore. Bombay, being a port city, has so much to offer—the best of food, culture, and experiences.”

Exposed to a lot of classical movies like Ben Hur and Sound of Music, thanks to his father (entrepreneur Kantilal Shah), who was very worldly and well-traveled, Jason had a cosmopolitan upbringing that put him at ease both at parties and making friends with his Nepali staff.

[caption id="attachment_51947" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Indian Artists | Jason Shah | Global Indian Jason Shah[/caption]

Acting grew on him, owing to the multiple experiences he has had. He states, “My father was socially conscious and always took us out to help people. In a sense, I was always in front of people, which gave me the confidence to get in front of people.”

Having spent a few years working for his year, Jason also pursued his dream of playing cricket for a short while training in Australia but soon realized that his calling was in front of the camera.

Movie magic

His initiation into movies was very straightforward. Having acted in commercials, he attended a casting call for the movie Partner, where he was selected in a heartbeat. “I was just a kid back then,” he recalls. “The entire experience was so glamorous. I mean, imagine working with stars like Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in your first major outing. I really cherish working on the film.”

What followed was a bunch of roles on the small screen where Jason got to understand and explore his craft. Roles in serials like Jhansi Ki Rani and Barrister Babu ensured that he was a familiar face to audiences. Long compared with another British-Indian actor, Tom Alter, his stint on the small screen usually had him playing similar characters who spoke Anglicized Hindi or English.

It is precisely why acting in Heeramandi was a challenge. “I really had to put in a lot of work to speak Urdu. It is such an evocative language. In English, love conveys a singular meaning. But in Urdu, you can say ishq, pyaar, or mohabbat to showcase the levels of intensity. Emotions are better conveyed in Indian languages.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @jasonshah

Heeramandi brought him much acclaim. Audiences, confusing him with his character, bombard him with comments saying they hated him, which Jason feels only shows that he was successful in portraying his character.

Calling the whole experience surreal, he explains, “The massive sets and the big ensemble—it was all an amazing opportunity for me. I must say that while I was shooting, I felt disconnected, as I knew my own role and not the entire story. Also, I did not shoot at a stretch. Added to these constraints was the fact that I did not know anyone on the set. All these helped my character create a distance, and when I see it now, it makes a lot of sense because my character needed that space from the others.”

The world is his oyster

While he has predominantly played the antagonist in his career so far, Jason is ready for a change of scene. He says, “I’m looking for challenging parts. I wouldn’t mind playing a good character once in a while (laugh). I’m not so much concerned with the length of the role as with the impact it can create.”

While he looks western, Jason is an Indian at heart. He thinks his appearance is only an asset that helps to create a brotherhood wherever he goes, be it in London or New York.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he smiles. “In fact, I have fun because Indians, especially abroad, don’t really expect me to speak Hindi, and when I do, it really shocks them. It has gotten me many free dinners and kebabs. Jokes apart, Hindi brings a touch of home to Indians abroad, and whenever I travel, I instantly connect with Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis because of the fact that I speak Hindi.”

[caption id="attachment_51948" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Indian Artists | Jason Shah | Global Indian Jason Shah[/caption]

When not working on movies, Jason likes to relax by playing cricket, traveling, and reading. A very ‘in the moment person’, he prefers to savor the moment rather than clicking selfies incessantly! Sit, watch, and breathe are his mantras.

What is his focus currently? “There are a lot of interesting roles and projects. There are a couple I’ve been offered, and I’m keen to work on Telugu and Tamil projects too, as they are larger-than-life. I’m excited about what’s about to come. I also hope to play positive characters at times,” he signs off.

As he looks to the future, Jason remains grounded in his roots and grateful for the journey. With his blend of Western looks and Indian heart, the actor is ready to explore new horizons and leave a lasting impact in the entertainment world. Whether as a beloved hero or a despised villain, one thing is certain: Jason Shah is here to stay, and his journey has only just begun.

Follow Jason Shah on Instagram

Reading Time: 5 mins

Sagar Honnungar: Building disruptive AI at Hakimo

(October 29, 2022) Puzzles can be deceptively simple, if you know how to approach them. Techpreneur Sagar Honnungar, the co-founder of Hakimo has what it takes to solve even the most complex ones. In school, Sagar Honnungar loved solving puzzles. That childhood hobby continued to inspire him, even his work today could be described as solving a mountain of puzzles, as he and his team go about securing big enterprises, including airports and multinational companies. Hakimo, where Sagar is both co-founder and CTO, is a California-based company that acts as an AI assistant for GSOC (Global Security Operations Centre) operators in big enterprises by eliminating most nuisance alarms and enabling them to prioritise high severity alerts using cutting-edge AI solutions. “This significantly reduces the chances of a real break-in going unnoticed by security operators in the midst of false alarms,” explains Sagar, in conversation with Global Indian. The company’s product won the Judges Choice award across all categories in the New Products Showcase at ISC West conference this year — a proud moment for the Hakimo team. [caption id="attachment_31149" align="aligncenter" width="684"] Sagar Honnungar, co-founder of Hakimo[/caption] Growing up in Bengaluru, the garden city and Silicon Valley of India, Sagar did

-31149" src="https://www.globalindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/PHOTO-2022-10-18-00-36-281.jpg" alt="Techpreneur | Sagar Honnunagar | Global Indian" width="684" height="513" /> Sagar Honnungar, co-founder of Hakimo[/caption]

Growing up in Bengaluru, the garden city and Silicon Valley of India, Sagar did his schooling until Class X at S. Cadambi Vidya Kendra, and then went to National Public School Rajajinagar until Class XII. “I had always been the class topper and was taught to aim high in life,” recalls Sagar, who was strong in science and mathematics. His father Kashinath Honnungar was an electronics engineer (now retired), mother Sanjivani Honnungar is a home-maker.

As a child, he wanted to be an astronaut, for he was fascinated by the vast expanse of the sky and space. But when he was first taught Java in high school, Sagar discovered he was that quite good at programming and fell in love with it.

The cream of the crop

Having performed well in the IIT-JEE examination, Sagar went to IIT Madras for his undergraduate studies. “I learnt to adjust to new environments and live independently. The peer group was undoubtedly the best,” smiles Sagar, who maintained a stellar academic record.

He first visited the US in the summer of 2015 as a Viterbi-India scholar to complete a research internship at USC (University of Southern California). Towards the final year of his undergrad, the techpreneur developed an interest in computer vision and computational imaging. He completed his B Tech in Electrical Engineering in 2016 and ranked second in the entire department.

The Stanford experience

Sagar returned to the US a year later and this time, for a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. For this, he received the JN Tata Endowment Scholarship. Sagar describes the Graduate school at Stanford as an intense and enriching experience. “Since it has a quarter-based system as opposed to a semester system, it felt quite fast-paced compared to my undergrad. I soaked up all that I could during my two years there and did a number of research projects in the field of machine learning,” explains Sagar, who graduated in 2018.

[caption id="attachment_31150" align="aligncenter" width="643"] Techpreneur | Sagar Honnunagar | Global Indian The Honnungar family[/caption]

He considers himself lucky to have worked with renowned experts like Prof. Srijan Kumar and Prof. Jure Leskovec on identifying malicious users based on their activity in websites like Wikipedia, and understanding and predicting entity-set interactions in different kinds of networks.

The IT guy

The Stanford alumni’s first job after college was at a fast-growing startup called Rubrik, which was right next to Stanford, where he worked from 2018 to 2020 as a software engineer. “I built Rubrik’s first cloud native data management product for O365 protection on a SaaS platform, designed with a unique enterprise architecture,” informs Sagar, who was also an integral part of the design and implementation of the storage layer which managed the entire lifecycle of data stored on the platform. Two patents were filed based on his work at Rubrik.

Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley

As he was thinking about and researching different startup ideas at the beginning of 2020, Sagar met with his friend, Samuel Joseph, who was also looking to work on something new. Together, they founded Hakimo in California, now a 15-person company that has disrupted the physical security industry like no other.

The Hakimo team noticed a few major trends. For example, the number of cameras being deployed was increasing exponentially and they were mostly for physical security use cases. The cost of cameras was coming down rapidly, and computer vision and deep learning techniques were advancing fast, opening up possibilities for new innovative products.

“With these trends in mind, we spoke to a number of security professionals to understand their pain points,” he says. Two major problems came up repeatedly — false alarms from access control systems and tailgating incidents. He and his team analysed the reasons and came up with solutions.

Building a prototype and a successful launch

Sagar built the initial prototype of the algorithm and tested it out on a few sample alarm videos from a couple of interested customers. “They were highly impressed at what Hakimo’s AI algorithms were able to achieve,” says Sagar, whose elder sister, Shruti works as a software engineer in the US.

They swiftly decided to raise VC funding to take it to the next level. “We raised a $4M seed round in Oct 2020 with Neotribe Ventures as our lead investor with participation from Defy Ventures and Firebolt Ventures and some angels. We have now grown to a team of 15 split between the US and India,” informs Sagar.

Techpreneur | Sagar Honnunagar | Global Indian

One of the logistical challenges he faced was understanding and navigating the visa requirements and constraints when founding a company in the US since Sagar was an Indian citizen. “In the early days, we encountered a lot of challenges which are common among most startups. Hiring a good initial team is very important but also hard since the candidate has to trust the vision of the company and take a big leap of faith without concrete signals of growth or success,” he explains.

How do tailgating detection and false alarms filter work?

Hakimo’s software is layered on top of and integrates with the existing access control system (which manages the badge readers and door sensors) and the video management system or cameras. It ingests alarms from the access control system and for every alarm, fetches the corresponding video from the camera facing the door or alarm point. The AI engine then analyses the video using state-of-the-art machine learning and computer vision techniques to provide a severity score for the alarm and resolves it automatically if it is found to be a false positive.

“Our product can eliminate more than 80% of such nuisance alarms, of which some common ones are Door Forced Open (DFO) and Door Held Open (DHO). We can identify tailgating by correlating the badge reads from the access control system with the number of people entering through the door in the video for that time window,” he explains.

Rooted in tech skills

A strong technical background forms the core of the Hakimo team, with multiple employees from reputed colleges like IITs and Stanford. Each team member has deep expertise in computer vision, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and design of robust, scalable and reliable software systems.

Roughly half of Sagar’s workday is spent on managing, coordinating, guiding and unblocking the team on ongoing projects. Then, it’s time for talking to customers, identifying avenues for improvement and product expansion and thinking about the company’s vision and roadmap. “The remainder of my day goes into coding and contributing to product development. I also actively engage in hiring activities for team leaders across different departments as well as engineers in the company,” says Sagar.

Expansion to India

The California-based company already has an R&D centre in India and currently employs around eight people with plans to expand over the next few months. But currently they are selling only in the US market. “Once we reach certain milestones in the US market, we will be looking to expand and get some clients in India as well,” informs Sagar, whose way of giving back is by creating more jobs back home.

Techpreneur | Sagar Honnunagar | Global Indian

When not working, Sagar loves to explore the outdoors and going on hikes in the sunny California weather. Otherwise, one can spot him playing tennis or the piano to unwind during his free time. “I also find solving different sorts of puzzles like sudoku and crosswords very exciting,” smiles the Hakimo co-founder, who is currently reading Masters of Doom, the story of two legendary game programmers Carmack and Romero.

Follow Sagar Honnungar on Linkedin

Reading Time: 8 min

Amazon conservationist Shaji Thomas rows deep into forests to help tribes

(April 5, 2022) The year at a training programme in Brazil was nothing short of a lifetime opportunity for Shaji Thomas. Little did the Kerala-born environmentalist know that in the dense forests of Amazon, he would find a home. In the past 32 years, Shaji has risked his life on numerous occasions, to not only save the tropical rainforests but also for the upliftment of over 60 communities living in the heart of the region. Despite the struggles, he wouldn’t want it any other way. "I intended to stay in this country only for a year when I arrived at Sao Paulo in 1989. But I could never return, and that is one decision I will always be proud of," shares the environmentalist, who lives in Belém, Brazil, during an interview with Global Indian. A green panther Growing up in Ramapuram village of the Kottayam district of Kerala, Shaji was third of the six kids in the family. His father was a local politician and his mother, a housewife. Home tutored in the initial years of his life, the environmentalist was brilliant with numbers. "I even passed the Indian Sainik School entrance exam, but my mother was not in favour

environmentalist was brilliant with numbers. "I even passed the Indian Sainik School entrance exam, but my mother was not in favour of sending me far away," he shares, adding that nature intrigued him even as a child. But he equally enjoyed school. “I was a good student and participated in scouts and guides and NCC. We had agricultural land on which we grew cocoa, rubber, coffee, coconut, paddy and pepper," says Shaji.

[caption id="attachment_22571" align="aligncenter" width="723"] Shaji Thomas[/caption]

However, when his father asked him to join local politics, he packed his bags and left for Mysuru University to pursue social science, politics and economics. At the same time, he received a degree in philosophy from the Institute of Vidyaniketan in Mysuru. “During college, I got an opportunity to visit Odisha, where I lived with tribal communities," adds Shaji.

Upon his graduation, he got the opportunity to do a year of an overseas training programme in Sao Paulo by the Religious Institution Society of Divine Work. With no direct flight to Brazil from India at that time, he spent a week travelling to his destination. "No one came to pick me up and I didn't have enough money to pay for a cab. Almost no one spoke English and I didn't know Portuguese. Fortunately, a taxi driver took mercy on me and dropped me at the institute," reveals the environmentalist.

Guardian of the forest

Although it was his dream, Shaji found Brazil “very strange” in the beginning. From falling sick after gulping down a cup of caipirinha, which he thought to be a juice to learning Portuguese from a Japanese teacher, he had his share of peculiar moments.

[caption id="attachment_22572" align="aligncenter" width="716"] Shaji during a forestation event[/caption]

But it was his institute’s involvement in social movements across Brazil that piqued his interest and understanding of the issues faced by various communities. He, too, dived into one of the largest movements in Latin America, Landless Workers’ Movement which “changed” his life. Upon completion of his training, the institute invited him to study theology, and he decided to stay.

In 1991, Shaji visited Amazon for a vacation, which took him four hours by plane and 12 hours by boat to reach. "I was visiting the Quilombola community, who are people of Afro-descent. I had heard stories about their hostility towards visitors. However, my experience was completely different. Their chief invited me over dinner and offered me the first plate of food - which is a mark of respect," he says.

That’s when he learnt about the several issues faced by the communities. "Most of Brazil is covered by the Amazon forest and many of the communities living here are Afro-descendants. At one point, their forefathers used to own these lands, but now these people are harassed by the land, mining, drugs, and timber mafia. They grab their land, and make them work for free. They do not have clean water, electricity, education, or even access to a medical centre," divulges the environmentalist.

In 1993, he returned to the Amazon forests to fight for the rights of indigenous people and environmental conservation. For the next six years, he lived on a boat in the Amazon river, visiting various communities and helping them in matters of land conflict.

Mafia, violence and gunshots

Though the environmentalist is happy living with his family in Brazil, the journey was not all peachy. Working with over 60 communities, fighting for their rights, while protecting the forest got Shaji in trouble with people, including the land and wood mafia. He wasn't only threatened but also attacked by them. "A few times the timber mafia even tried to sink my boat, but I was lucky to escape," says Shaji. Few of his friends, including famous Brazilian activist Dorothy Stang, however, weren't as lucky as him and were shot by the forest mafia. "I worked with Dorothy in the same organisation for the protection of Amazon’s residents. Her death was a big blow, but we knew we couldn't stop fighting," shares the activist.

[caption id="attachment_22573" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Shaji Thomas[/caption]

Though he continued to fight for the locals, his status as a foreigner often worked against him. "To prove to them that I wasn't going to go away, I took Brazilian citizenship in 2003," says Shaji. Realising that understanding the law of the land will help him serve these communities better, Shaji decided to pursue law at the Estácio do Pará College in Belém in 2007.

Miles to go...

After three decades, Shaji continues to work with the communities. Living in Belém, with his wife Elysangela Pinheiro, a Brazilian lawyer, a 17-year-old son Santosh and four-year-old daughter, Sofia, Shaji feels there is still more to be done. "Until 2002 these people had no help from the government. While the situation was getting better after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came to power, the subsequent governments have not worked for the betterment of these communities. There are no measures in place to control the land grabbing. Several hydroelectric projects have been established in Amazon, due to which the region's massive biodiversity — the largest in the world — is going underwater,” he explains.

[caption id="attachment_22574" align="aligncenter" width="711"] Shaji with his family[/caption]

Currently he is working as a researcher at the Federal University of Pará, in natural resource management and climate change. He has been conducting several forestations drives and workshops on legal awareness for the indigenous communities. In his free time, he loves to tend to his kitchen garden with his son or take long walks with his family along the Amazon.

While the couple did visit India a few years ago, Shaji isn’t in touch with his family much. “My father is no more, but my mother was very happy with my visit," he concludes.

Follow Shaji Thomas on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram

Reading Time: 6 min

Raj and Aradhana Asava: Mobilising Indian diaspora and other communities in the fight against hunger across the US

(August 27, 2023) "Over 34 million people, including 9 million children, in the US are food insecure.” A number that Raj Asava was oblivious to before meeting the Mayor of Plano one balmy afternoon in 2015. Having lived in the suburbs of the US for decades, Raj and his wife Aradhana (Anna) Asava had only seen affluence and had no idea about the shocking reality of hunger in their neighborhoods and across the country. "We live in North Texas and almost a million people there struggled with food insecurity. We were shocked," Raj tells Global Indian. This prompted the Indian American couple to start HungerMitao, a movement to activate and mobilise the Indian community in helping fight the hunger crisis in the US. In six years, the Indian community has galvanized around this cause and made possible more than 55 million meals for Food Banks across the country through Feeding America and HungerMitao's seven chapters in Houston, New York, Tarrant Area, Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit, with two upcoming chapters in San Jose and Austin. Hyderabad to US on a one-way ticket Born in Hyderabad, Raj was in his late teens when his father got him a ticket to the US

with two upcoming chapters in San Jose and Austin.

Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian | HungerMitao

Hyderabad to US on a one-way ticket

Born in Hyderabad, Raj was in his late teens when his father got him a ticket to the US in the 70s. " My dad believed in the importance of education. He made sure that all eight of his children had global exposure. During those formative years, along with instilling the Indian values and culture, we were exposed to the English American influence. So, when the opportunity presented itself to move to the US, it was a seamless transition." However, Raj calls it a “turning point" as leaving behind his family at a young age was a tough call. But within the first few years, he felt right at home in the US.

Interestingly, Raj's father had sent him to the US on a fly-now-pay-later ticket. "Immigrants come here with a few dollars in hand, I came with a debt," laughs Raj, who worked as a dishwasher in a hospital for two years to pay off his debt. Now free to pursue education, he joined the local community college in their computer program and then the Central Michigan University for his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management. But it was computers that intrigued him. Over the years, he invested himself in the world of Information Technology (IT) and made a successful career. In 1981, he first met Aradhana in India, and within a few months, the two tied the knot.

[caption id="attachment_44184" align="aligncenter" width="611"] Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian | HungerMitao Aradhana and Raj Asava[/caption]

Resetting priorities – Time to give back

Both originally from Rajasthan, Raj and Anna grew up in South India. Anna relocated to America after their wedding in 1982, a transition she calls "seamless" as some of her family lived there. A graduate in English Literature, Anna joined the workforce after her youngest son started school full-time. After their sons' graduation, the empty nesters were keen to give back. "We firmly believe in the philosophy that life is best lived in three stages - learning, earning and returning," says Raj, adding, "At some point we wanted to indulge in purposeful giving back rather than just accumulating wealth." For decades, Raj and Anna had been involved with charities back home. But after Anna quit the corporate world in 2009, the two wondered whether in the race to add more to their bank accounts, they were "losing out on the time account." In 2010, they reset their priorities, and Raj also left corporate America. "We wanted to do more than just cheque writing. We wanted to be deeply engaged in philanthropy" says Anna.

The opportunity came in 2015 when Raj, during one of his quarterly meetings with the Mayor of Plano, was asked to support the backpack program. Initially mistaking it for a marketing gimmick, Raj was corrected by the mayor who told him that “it’s a backpack filled with enough food for a child to last a weekend." He assumed it was a program for children living in the impoverished areas but was surprised to learn that it was a common practice among the affluent schools too. "One in four students leaves school on Friday only to have the next full meal on Monday." Upon returning home, when he told Aradhana about the situation, she thought he must have misunderstood. "Where is hunger, I only see affluence around us," she remarked. But when they invited the Food Bank leader and a few community friends to their home to get clarity; the stats and data left everyone shocked. The couple couldn't sleep that night. They came up with a plan to understand the gravity of the hunger issue and find a possible solution. Their next two years went into volunteering and understanding the problem. One thing that struck them was the lack of participation of the Indian community in volunteering at the Food Bank. It dawned upon them that just like them, there were others who could be equally oblivious to the hunger issue in the US.

Aradhana Asava | Global Indian

The emergence of HungerMitao movement

"By then, we were clear that we don't want to start anything new because the problem is so pervasive. The Food Bank is doing a tremendous job and it will be here even after us. Moreover, the food it provides is nutritious. So, it made best sense to put our resources behind something so efficient," says Anna. The couple reached out to the CEO of the North Texas Food Bank in August 2017 with a proposition and a $100,000 cheque. "We were willing to give three years of our lives to raising awareness within the Indian community about the hunger issue in North Texas and across the US," reveals Raj. "We are four million strong and the most affluent among all immigrant communities in America." Anna chimes in, "We wanted to activate the Indian community." Their proposition was well received. A month later in September 2017, HungerMitao kickstarted, which Raj calls a "pure movement to raise awareness among the Indian community about the hunger issue and get them involved in various capacities."

To spread the word, Raj and Anna invited their Indian friends for a launch party, along with the promise of enabling one million meals by the community. "If we don't integrate and engage in the pains of the US, we will always be considered foreigners," says Anna. The next seven months were spent conducting over 100 awareness sessions across the US. “In seven months, we were able to cross the 1 million-meal mark, “says a proud Raj, who is quick to add that all funds and donations are made by donors directly to the Food Bank. HungerMitao is primarily an enabler. "When it comes to empathy, compassion and giving back, Indians are second to none, and we have proved that with HungerMitao."

Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian | HungerMitao

Sharing the importance of the movement, Anna says that it has unified the Indian community in the fight against hunger and amplified the collective impact. People now recognize the efforts of the Indian community. With HungerMitao, Raj and Anna have brought forth the Indian Americans that no longer want to be anonymous but seen as a community that's giving back.

Spreading across US and its communities

When HungerMitao started six years ago, Raj and Anna wanted a model that could be easily replicated by other communities, and it happened in the heart of the pandemic when the Chinese community became victims of hatred in the US, owing to the virus. They reached out to HungerMitao asking for help in replicating the model, so their image perception was improved. "We shared our entire model with them. What took us years to plan, organise and execute, we had up and running for them in two months," says Raj. The Chinese version of HungerMitao, Nihao, is operational in North Texas and has already raised over a million meals. In 2022, the Hispanic community followed suit and launched SinHambre, wherein Raj and Anna helped them with all the contacts, tools and templates. The kind of impact that HungerMitao has made in the last few years is incomparable, and Raj says that now it has gone beyond Indian community, "it's now for humanity."

[caption id="attachment_44188" align="aligncenter" width="746"] Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian Raj and Aradhana Asava at the 2022 Golden Forks Award.[/caption]

The couple, who found their calling in 2015, says, "We didn't go looking for a cause, but the cause found us." In the years of their partnership in HungerMitao, the two have been each other's sounding board. At the start, it was just Raj and Anna, but over time, they formed a strong steering committee. "We also engage the community in a three-year commitment with the Food Bank. The steering committee also reaches out to their networks and engages more people." From radio shows to food drives to musical concerts, HungerMitao is using every channel to spread awareness. "The community is stepping up and owning HungerMitao. Even the youth understand the issue and participate in the movement. They are asking the right questions and doing everything to help create awareness," says Raj, who is happy to share the model and make it possible in other parts of the world, starting with India. "We are open to take this forward with people who might be interested in starting this even in a single state of India, and then scaling it across the country," adds the philanthropist.

Raj and Anna, who call themselves Bollywood buffs, never thought that HungerMitao would reach such heights. "Our goal was simply to spread the word. We are here today on the shoulders of less than1 percent of Indians in America who have enabled more than 55 million meals. Imagine if just 10 percent of us get involved in a sustained manner, we can make billions of meals possible," Raj signs off.

Follow Raj Asava on LinkedIn
Follow Anna Asava on LinkedIn
Follow HungerMitao on Instagram

Reading Time: 7 min