Global IndianstorySupermodel to Emmy-nominated TV host: How Padma Lakshmi became a brand in herself

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Supermodel to Emmy-nominated TV host: How Padma Lakshmi became a brand in herself

Written by: Global Indian

(August 26, 2021) The 80s was a different era for a teenager of Indian origin to find a footing in America. With deep-rooted colorism and cultural bigotry, things weren’t too rosy. But Padma Lakshmi wasn’t the one to bow down to any of it. She not only became the first Indian supermodel to walk for some of the biggest names in the fashion industry across the globe but also authored her first book in her 20s.

In the following years, the 50-year-old maneuvered from modelling, acting, and writing to hosting, and the multi-hyphenate has become a brand of sorts in herself in the last few decades. Here’s the story of this Global Indian who stood against racism and made peace with her scar that finally led her to a life of vanity.

Chennai-New York-Chennai: A childhood between two cultures

Born in Chennai in 1970 into a Tamil Brahmin family, Lakshmi’s parents divorced when she was just 2. To escape the stigma and hostility, her mother Vijaya moved to the US, while Lakshmi stayed behind under the care of her maternal grandparents for two years. At four, when she reunited with her mom in New York, little did this kid know that her baby steps into a new country would open up a world of possibilities. She spent most of her young life traveling between the US and India, existing between two cultures.

However, growing up as an Indian in a white country in the 80s wasn’t easy for a young Lakshmi. In her memoir, Love, Loss, and Where We Ate, she mentions that India was mostly perceived as a third-world country back then and she gradually learned that for many Americans her skin color was associated with stinky food, strange clothes and malaria-infested third-world slums. Such was the pressure to fit in that it made her change her name temporarily from Padma to Angelique during the four years of her high school.

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In a conversation with the People, Lakshmi said,

“I think everyone has experienced feeling like an outsider. And it’s something that I’ve carried with me – it’s like this invisible shadow that’s there because I was always flitting between cultures, so I was never really at home in one, and never really an outsider in the other.”

The accident that left a scar

At 14, she underwent a life-changing moment when her family found itself in a horrific car accident. Though the three of them survived but not without scars. With a fractured hip and a shattered right arm, the accident left a seven inch long scar on her arm. For the longest time, Lakshmi harbored the dreams of becoming a model but the scar cast a shadow on her goal, or at least she thought so.

“Now that I had a caterpillar of scarred skin crawling down my arm, it seemed ridiculous to imagine that any agency would be interested in such an imperfect specimen. It angered me that people saw me as a ruined beauty,” she told The Guardian.

Lakshmi was so conscious of the scar that she would often cover it up with makeup.

It was while studying in Spain in the 90s that she caught the eye of a modelling agent at a Madrid bar. He made her meet celebrated photographer Helmut Newton, and that was beginning of her modelling career. Newton was someone who helped Lakshmi get comfortable in her skin, and especially with her scar. It was the same scar that singled her out and made her a star in the modeling business.

The scar that made Padma Lakshmi conscious initially

Modelling: The new beginning

Lakshmi was among the first Indian faces to model for big brands like Armani, Versace, Roberto Cavalli and Ralph Lauren. She soon found herself on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar and Allure. “I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan and New York. I’m the first one to admit that I was a novelty,” she told Evening Standard Magazine. Modelling assignments took her around the world and helped her pay off her student debt from her time at Clark University. While her popularity grew with each of her modelling projects, she felt that her career wasn’t personally rewarding. “I know that my looks are really the alchemy of my parents’ genetics and have little to do with me or my accomplishment of my own,” she said.

The branching out of a fledgling

It was then that she branched out into writing when she got her first publishing contract in her 20s. It was the inquisitiveness of the people about what a model eats that led to her first cookbook, Easy Exotic: A Model’s Low-Fat Recipes from Around The World. A compilation of recipes and short essays, the book got Lakshmi the best debut award at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

For someone who was already modelling and had a book to her credit, Lakshmi dipped her toes into acting with Italian pirate movies like The Son of Sandokan and Caraibi. In 2002, she made a special appearance as a princess in TV series Star Trek: Enterprise and a few years later, she appeared in ABC’s Biblical TV series The Ten Commandments.

Along with her acting career, Lakshmi donned the hat of a host for shows like Padma’s Passport and Planet Food where she whipped up dishes from across the world. But it was Top Chef that changed the game for Lakshmi. In 2006, Lakshmi replaced host Katie Lee Joel, and the show’s ratings shot through the roof helping Top Chef earn an Emmy nomination. The very next year, she cemented her position as a chef when she came out with her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet. Interestingly, Lakshmi’s food career arose from her modelling career and not a culinary school. On her travels, she would often explore the local vegetable markets and ask waiters at the five-star restaurants for recommendations. That’s how she fell in love with food.

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Giving Back

Lakshmi is more than a brand that’s about glamor and gloss. The 50-year-old is also an activist who is involved in spreading awareness about women’s reproductive health. In 2009, she co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America, a non-profit organization that’s focused on increasing awareness, education, research and advocacy against the disease. Her foundation was instrumental in the opening of the Centre for Gynepathology Research.

“I suffered from endometriosis all my life and was never treated for it properly. When I got better and saw how normal women lived during the periods, it got me terribly angry inside. It made me realize that there is misogyny even in healthcare,” she told Hindustan Times. Her foundation educates boys as well as girls.

“They need to understand the disease too, You cannot just educate half the population and expect overall change. The basic problem today is that girls have become liberated, but boys have not caught up,” she added.

Apart from this, Lakshmi is also the American Civil Liberties Union ambassador for immigration and women’s rights. In 2019, she was appointed United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador to shine a spotlight on inequality that can affect the people in rich and poor countries alike.

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From being a glamor girl to a multi-hyphenate star, Lakhsmi’s journey has been one of self-discovery. From someone who hated her scar as a teenager to making it big in the world of fashion to authoring books to hosting an Emmy-nominated reality series, Lakshmi has come a long way. The model, actor, author and host is a perfect example of anything is possible till you follow your dreams and take every chance that comes your way.

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Published on 26, Aug 2021

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EastEnders to Tenet: How Indian-British actor Himesh Patel took over Hollywood

(September 28, 2021) Who would have thought that a boy from the small English village of Sawtry would get to work with Hollywood biggies like Danny Boyle and Christopher Nolan? But that's Himesh Patel for you. A British-Indian actor who broke into the white industry, first with his TV stint and later with a glorious film debut. The 31-year-old, who has been smashing stereotypes with each of his appearances, has become a champion of inclusivity and diversity. But getting to where he is has been a long journey for Patel. For someone who began working as a teenager in a British soap operas, this Global Indian took a leap of faith into filmdom and in no time has become a breakout star. A teenager hero Born in a typical Gujarati family in Cambridgeshire to postmasters, who owned a newspaper-and-magazine shop, Patel loved watching television as a kid and soon began impersonating his favorite TV and film characters. It was while attending Prince William School in Northamptonshire that he was cast in a school play at the age of 11. The play turned out to be a game changer for this kid as his teacher saw potential in a young Patel and

g>Prince William School in Northamptonshire that he was cast in a school play at the age of 11. The play turned out to be a game changer for this kid as his teacher saw potential in a young Patel and asked his parents to sign him up to a local theatre group, the Key Youth Theatre in Peterborough. This love for acting and theatre helped him secure a seat at The Young Actors' Company in Cambridge, where he took film classes too. Living in a small village, drama school was his weekly refuge from isolation. "My weekly haven, to go and have some fun and just learn all the different things that go into being an actor," he told Gentleman's Journal in an interview.

His talent was talked about far and wide, and at the age of 16, he received a call for an audition for the British soap opera EastEnders through an agency in The Young Actors' Company. Patel was able to impress the casting director with his acting prowess, and soon won the part of Tamwar Masood and made his first appearance on Eastenders in 2007. In 2011, Patel won his first Inside Soap Awards with Meryl Fernandes for Best Wedding in EastEnders. The same year, he co-wrote episode one of series three with co-star Charlie G Hawkins. Such was the popularity of the show and his character that in 2013, he filmed an internet spin-off of EastEnders titled Tamwar Tales - The Life of an Assistant Market Inspector.

[caption id="attachment_11710" align="aligncenter" width="583"] Himesh Patel in a still from Eastender.[/caption]

While Patel continued to cast his spell in the series for nine years, he simultaneously worked in short films to broaden his horizon. His 2014 short film Two Dosas won many awards at international film festivals including Best Short Comedy at the London Short Film Festival and Best Comedy at the Aspen Film Festival.

In 2016, Patel returned to the television with Channel 4 sitcom Damned and the next year brought with itself a new show titled Don Juan in Soho. The same year, his fans saw him in an episode of BBC comedy Climaxed.

The breakout role

It was while doing a play in New York Patel received a mail that was set to change the course of his life with his smashing film debut. But an oblivious Patel didn't know it at that time. The mail was from his agent for a Danny Boyle film with a musical element asking him to tape a monologue from a play and a performance on a Coldplay song. Though performing in front of Boyle and Richard Curtis was scary, but Patel knew he had to give his best shot. In an interview with Curzon Blog, he said, " It felt very daunting. It was scary when I knew I was going to meet Richard and Danny; it was probably the most high-profile audition I’d had at that point, so the stakes were high. But I didn’t want that to overwhelm me to the point where I didn’t enjoy it. It’s a privilege to get to walk into a room with those two so I just enjoyed it as much as I could and I think that did me well in a way because its what’s channeled through their music, that joy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3VeHyedL1U&t=74s

A champion of diversity

His role of Jack Malik in Yesterday, a struggling singer-songwriter waiting for his big break, struck the right chord with the audience. His warmth and charm won over the people across the globe in a film that was about The Beatles. The film was not only a turning point for Patel but all South Asians in Hollywood as the film took a major step towards diversity and inclusion. "The fact that we can finally pass as regular Americans and play mainstream roles without highlighting our individual cultural or ethnic background is a strong step towards the right direction,' he told HT Brunch.

Patel, who grew up at a time when inclusivity was also invisible in Hollywood, found it confusing to not see any Indian faces in mainstream pop culture. "My parents spent most of their childhood in India and came to the UK in their early 20s. I was born in the UK. You live in two worlds and you try to share one with the other. But it is never easy. It was a challenging and confusing time. I definitely faced the gap,' he added. But things have started to change for the better for South Asians, and Patel himself in a true example of it.

[caption id="attachment_11712" align="aligncenter" width="470"] Himesh Patel with Robert Pattinson and John David Washington on sets of Tenet. (Image Courtesy: The Times)[/caption]

The super success of Yesterday landed Patel a role in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi Tenet. Working with a stalwart like Nolan was a great learning experience for this British-Indian actor who was on his toes training under a visionary filmmaker. If Patel's Tenet was minting money at the box office, his small tube appearance in The Luminaries got him a huge thumbs up from critics and fans alike. The 31-year-old, who fell in love with acting as a child, has carved a niche for himself in Hollywood.

Follow Himesh Patel on Instagram and Twitter.

Reading Time: 6 min

Alka Joshi : Re-imagining India as a debutant novelist at 61

(Sheryl Dixit, April 6) Alka Joshi, 63, is a citizen of the United States, born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and currently residing in Pacific Grove, California. Her journey is highlighted by her transformation from an advertising entrepreneur to a best-selling novelist and brand ambassador for India at the age of 61. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from the California College of Arts and runs an advertising and marketing agency. Joshi's Global Indian Quotient is marked by her debut novel, "The Henna Artist," which offers a fresh perspective on India to western audiences. The novel has been translated into 23 languages, with a TV adaptation in the works. Additionally, she impacts the literary community by mentoring fledgling authors and serving as an Author Advocate for 'Room to Read,' a US-based non-profit organization focused on children's literacy. Alka Joshi honestly thought of herself as a ‘hack’, a writer of mini-stories. That was before she won international acclaim for The Henna Artist, her New York Times bestseller that encapsulates a young woman’s drive for self-sufficiency after escaping an abusive marriage and battling conspiring factors that threaten her ingenuity. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it “An amiable and entertaining debut

debut novel about an important theme — balancing family with personal ambition — that allows readers to escape into a fantasy teeming with sensory pleasure.”

Alka says The Henna Artist is bringing India to the world: It’s being serialized by Miramax, and the second book The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is due for a mid-year release.

Alka’s a great example of pursuing your dreams and pushing the boundaries: she was 61 when the book launched. Starting her career as a copywriter and later advertising agency promoter, Alka created campaigns for TV and radio. Over three decades she became adept at crafting themes with dialogue in a very short timeframe. Then Alka’s husband motivated her to try writing long-form fiction. “He said: You’re always telling stories about people and situations just to entertain me,” she recalls. Taking up the challenge Alka completed a two-year writing course at the California College of Arts, and came away with a Masters and a draft of her book.

Alka’s Indian heritage complimented her natural creative flair as a wordsmith. “Hard work is an Indian ‘thing’ because we are determined to succeed,” says Alka.

In 2008 after a gap of 40 years, Alka traveled back to India with her mother. Exploring her ancestral roots in Rajasthan not just transformed her into an Indophile, but set the scene for Alka’s book.

“I had no expectations of a land I barely remembered. But what a trip that turned out to be,” says Alka. India embraced its prodigal in a fulfilling and kaleidoscopic reunion. Alka’s senses were wonderfully overwhelmed: Colourful saris gracefully draped, enticing foods to delight the palate, aromas of wood fires, warm jelabies and henna drying on hands were visuals that eventually found expression in the book. “The markets, handicrafts, monuments...I saw India through my mother’s eyes and rediscovered my heritage. I was proud. I felt that I could breathe again.” says Alka.

Alka has lived in the US since 1967 when the family joined her father Ramesh in the US to do his doctorate. Determined that his children should have the best education, the family lived in mostly white neighborhoods with good schools. Alka and her brothers were the only brown kids and their school friends only knew India as an underdeveloped, starving, illiterate nation. At the impressionable age of 9 Alka started to feel ashamed of her origins, so she simply disassociated herself from the Indian stereotype.

But the trip to India changed everything. Also, the book’s title protagonist and henna artist evolved as Alka uncovered her mother Sudha’s traditional veneer that masked an independent and quietly assertive spirit. Sudha motivated her children to make their own choices, while her life remained embedded in convention, one in which she still cooked chappatis for Alka’s dad every night.

Alka is a spirited feminist having faced racism, sexism and wage disparity throughout her career. “I am all about women’s rights and choices. I hired only women (in her advertising agency) so they could gain confidence and experience. We were successful and we had fun,” she says.

Grateful for her privileged life, Alka pays back by supporting disadvantaged women and girls, and mentoring fledging authors.

That’s why she loves being Author Advocate for ‘Room to Read’, a US-based global nonprofit for children's literacy and girls' education. She represents them across geographies, encouraging kids to read, write, find and develop their talents.

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Yogendra Puranik became Japan’s first Indian-origin politician. Here’s how

(July 21, 2021; 5.30 pm) Back in 2016, Tokyo’s Edogawa ward was contemplating the creation of a Singapore-like Little India in Nishikasai, an area that boasts a sizeable Indian population. A banker, Yogendra Puranik was the only Indian from a professional background at the meeting; everybody else was a restaurant owner. The imbalance wasn’t lost on Puranik, who also found that the Little India model was not socially healthy or sustainable since it didn’t factor in the community’s daily needs. Puranik strongly felt that public opinion should also be factored in since the plan involved an Indian street with at least 50 to 60 establishments spanning restaurants, groceries, and clothing along with a temple, and hospital. He told Japan Times that he didn’t think the plan was financially viable and had plenty of other ideas to put forth; but they were met with resistance. “My suggestions to the city councilor turned into an argumentative debate,” which spiraled out of control - the councilor threatened to have Puranik thrown out of Nishikasai. That was a turning point for him and he decided to join politics himself. Three years later, Puranik, who is popularly known as Yogi, was a councilor; the first person of Indian origin

nancially viable and had plenty of other ideas to put forth; but they were met with resistance. “My suggestions to the city councilor turned into an argumentative debate,” which spiraled out of control - the councilor threatened to have Puranik thrown out of Nishikasai.

That was a turning point for him and he decided to join politics himself. Three years later, Puranik, who is popularly known as Yogi, was a councilor; the first person of Indian origin to be elected to office in Japan. “I wanted to join the other side of the table so I could take the opinion of the foreign community to the city administration.” A naturalized Japanese citizen, Puranik announced his candidacy in the regional elections that were to be held in April 2019. The Indian-origin politician and member of the Constitutional Democratic Party won by a huge margin.

[caption id="attachment_5646" align="aligncenter" width="592"] How Yogendra Puranik became Japan’s first Indian-origin politician Yogendra Puranik after he was elected as councilor[/caption]

From Ambarnath to Tokyo

Born in 1977 in Ambarnath in Mumbai to Rekha, a teacher, and Sharad, a machinist in the Ordnance Factory, Yogendra Puranik studied at the Kendriya Vidyalaya School. When the family relocated to Pune, he transferred to the school’s Pune branch. He graduated from Sir Parashurambhau College in Science and also studied languages like Japanese and German from the Foreign Languages Department of Pune University. In 1997 he was awarded the Study Tour award, a scholarship from The Japan Foundation and that is when his interest in Japan began to develop. He then pursued a Business Management program from IIM-Calcutta with a focus on strategies for doing global business.

[caption id="attachment_5644" align="aligncenter" width="639"] How Yogendra Puranik became Japan’s first Indian-origin politician Yogendra Puranik with his mother Rekha and son Chinmay[/caption]

While he began his career in 1996 with a small-scale IT firm called Sutra Systems, he moved to Japan in 2001 where he worked with companies such as Infosys, Fujifilm and Polaris before switching to the banking sector in 2010 as vice president of operations strategy at Mizohu Bank. His last position was at Rakuten Bank as vice director of corporate planning before he took the plunge into politics.

In summer 2001 he married his Chinese girlfriend and they had a son together, Chinmay. However, the couple divorced shortly thereafter and ever since Puranik has raised his son as a single parent with help from his mother, who now runs an Indian restaurant in Kasai.

Giving Back

Puranik moved to the Nishikasai area in 2005 for the sake of his son’s cultural education and because he needed support from the Indian community as a single parent. He eventually became involved with both the Indian and Japanese communities through cultural festivals and voluntary activities. As a result, he became a sort of liaison between his Indian and Japanese neighbors.

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZvxmdbu8mA[/embed]

When the earthquake struck Tokyo and devastated northern Japan in 2011, Puranik and other volunteers stepped in to help neighbors and victims of the disaster. “We also started a helpline for Indian people and I shared my personal phone number,” he told Japan Times. Within a few days he had answered over 200 calls about radiation, food and water safety. His work here cemented his standing as a social volunteer.

It was shortly after this that he decided to settle down in Japan and got citizenship. Puranik also runs the Edogawa India Culture Center, which hosts free classes on yoga, languages, cooking, art, and music.

Three years after the Little India incident, Puranik is a councilor; the first person of Indian origin to be elected to office in Japan.

“I want to be an assemblyman who can connect everyone regardless of nationality, age, or even disabilities, through my 20 years of living in Japan.”

Reading Time: 8 mins

Priyanka Das Rajkakati: The Indian-origin scientist sending her artwork to the moon

(November 16, 2021) Science and art have been as different as chalk and cheese for centuries now. If one is based on facts and logic, the other plays with creativity. But Priyanka Das Rajkakati is one of those rare people who is enjoying the best of both worlds by being a space scientist and an artist. The 29-year-old, who hails from Assam, is now a part of the Moon Gallery project wherein she will be sending her artwork to be showcased on the moon in 2022. This Global Indian, who has made it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, for her work in science and innovation is one of the most promising scientists in the field of space. But Rajkakati took a while to find a balance between the two things that she love the most to reach the top. [caption id="attachment_15859" align="aligncenter" width="682"] Priyanka Das Rajkakati is a space scientist.[/caption] Torn between science and art Originally from Assam, Rajkakati grew up in Delhi and had her heart both in science and art. If the colors and designs fascinated her, she was equally captivated by the stars and the moon. It was hard for her to choose between the

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Torn between science and art

Originally from Assam, Rajkakati grew up in Delhi and had her heart both in science and art. If the colors and designs fascinated her, she was equally captivated by the stars and the moon. It was hard for her to choose between the two as she loved both of them. So when she decided to graduate, Rajkakti found herself in a fix. While she did graduate in Physics from St Stephens College, she had almost come close to studying product design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She did attend NID for a month but something gnawed within her. She was unable to shut her equally strong calling for science, so she left her creative journey to jump onto the bandwagon of science.

After completing her graduation, Rajkakati moved to France at 21 to explore new horizons, learn a new language and eat French food. In between, she joined Ecole Polytechnique in France where she did a double master's in Artificial Intelligence and Aerospace Engineering.

Dreams of entering the space

Rajkakati, who was always interested in space, knew that her next step towards her dream was a degree in Aerospace Engineering for which she enrolled in the ISAE-Supaero.
This helped her bag an assignment to work for the satellite navigation wing of Rafale Fighter Jets of France. While pursuing her PhD, she contributed her expertise in satellite navigation for the French Defence Company, Safran. Not just this, she even constructed a micro-satellite in Paris. In 2018, she added another feather to her cap by becoming the ambassador of 'For Girls and Science' to inspire scientists of the future. Talking about the initiative, she told PTI, "As part of the programme, we meet middle school and high school students, and through talks and presentations, we try to clear the misconceptions about scientists and women in science."

[caption id="attachment_15860" align="aligncenter" width="759"] Priyanka Das Rajkakati experiencing zero gravity.[/caption]

The very next year brought another opportunity for this 29-year-old who became one of the youngest women of Indian origin to be selected for the fifth edition of Homeward Bound, a global initiative that conducts leadership expeditions for women in science to Antarctica. A stepping stone to her dream of being an astronaut, the programme provided her with the perfect training. Rajkakati, who dreamt of exploring space, soon co-founded The Exploration Company that develops and operates Nyx, a modular and reusable vehicle that can be refuelled in the orbit and carries cargo.

Art on its way to the moon

The scientist is also an artist who explores the art-science harmony through exhibitions and residencies, drawing inspiration from mathematics, space, scientific projects, travel, and Indian roots. "When I discovered that one of the angles of an obsession of mine is Space, which is, in fact, a highly interdisciplinary field, I finally found a valid context for experimenting with Art and Science," she told TIME8. Now she is set to send her artwork to the moon in a compact form by 2022. Called Bhedadipika - an illustration of duality, her artwork is inspired by her Indian roots and Vedic influence. "It is to showcase to the world that art and culture are core elements of humanity. Future human settlements in space, if we ever reach such a stage, will therefore also require us to integrate art and culture to have stable and functional space societies," she added.

Well! If hasn't been a great start to 2021!

I owe this one big to all the people - friends and family - who've believed in my crazy dreams and constantly motivated me to touch the stars!@FranceinIndia @ISAE_officiel @Polytechnique #WomenInScience #artscience #womenintech https://t.co/FAmaDrISVb

— Priyanka D. Rajkakati 🚀 (@PriyankaSpace) February 5, 2021

Her artwork will be sent to the moon as part of The Moon Gallery which is a project that brings together a gallery of ideas that are worth sending to the moon.

[caption id="attachment_15862" align="aligncenter" width="725"] Artwork by Priyanka Das Rajkakati.[/caption]

Rajkakati, who has made it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, is one of those rare scientists who have beautifully fused science with art. The 29-year-old is an inspiration for many women who are looking to immerse themselves in the field of science but also keep their creativity intact.

Follow Priyanka Das Rajkakati on Twitter

Reading Time: 6 min

Sirisha Bandla: The second Indian-origin woman to fly to space

As a child, Sirisha Bandla was always fascinated with the sky. Perhaps that is what drove her to delve into the mysteries of deep space. Today, the 34-year-old astronaut is the second Indian-origin woman, after Kalpana Chawla, to travel to space aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity. Bandla will be one of the six crew members aboard the spaceship which is set to take off on July 11 from New Mexico. Bandla presently works as Vice Present of Government Affairs at the British-American spaceflight company owned by Richard Branson. When the flight was announced last week, Bandla took to Twitter to announce: [embed]http://twitter.com/SirishaBandla/status/1410946704875130882?s=20[/embed] Journey to space Born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, in a Telugu family, Bandla’s dreams got wings when her father Muralidhar Bandla, an agriculture scientist, migrated to the US; she was 4 at the time. The family settled in Houston, Texas and their many field trips to the Johnson Space Centre, proved to be a catalyst for Bandla’s love for space. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2011. Incidentally, former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and Gus Grissom are some of the notable alumni of this university. Bandla then obtained an MBA from George Washington University in 2015 before joining Branson’s Virgin Galactic where she rose to her current position. She had earlier worked as Associate Director for Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association of commercial spaceflight companies. [caption id="attachment_4426" align="aligncenter" width="505"] Sirisha Bandla with her fiance Sam Hu[/caption]

esh, in a Telugu family, Bandla’s dreams got wings when her father Muralidhar Bandla, an agriculture scientist, migrated to the US; she was 4 at the time. The family settled in Houston, Texas and their many field trips to the Johnson Space Centre, proved to be a catalyst for Bandla’s love for space.

She completed her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2011. Incidentally, former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and Gus Grissom are some of the notable alumni of this university. Bandla then obtained an MBA from George Washington University in 2015 before joining Branson’s Virgin Galactic where she rose to her current position. She had earlier worked as Associate Director for Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association of commercial spaceflight companies.

[caption id="attachment_4426" align="aligncenter" width="505"] Astronaut Sirisha Bandla Sirisha Bandla with her fiance Sam Hu[/caption]

In an interview with Astronautical, Bandla said:

“I was one of those kids that wanted to be an astronaut and go into space, and that’s something that I never grew out of.”

She initially wanted to become an Air Force pilot and eventually a NASA astronaut; however, her poor eyesight threw a spanner in the works. “In 2004 SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X Prize and became the first private vehicle to travel into space multiple times. That accomplishment really put me back on my path; it showed me that NASA was not the only way, and that I could still follow my passion,” she said.

While in college, Bandla was part of the Purdue Zero-Gravity Team and had the opportunity to fly one of her experiments in microgravity. She now helps in coordinating the Mathew Isakowitz Fellowship Program, an internship, mentorship, and networking opportunity for exceptional college students who are keen to pursue careers in the commercial spaceflight industry.

Bandla is also on the board of directors for the American Astronautical Society and Future Space Leaders Foundation and is a member of the Young Professional Advisory Council at Purdue University. Strongly connected to her Telugu roots, Bandla has been actively associated with the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), the oldest and biggest Indo-American organizations in the American continent.

To Earth with Love

[caption id="attachment_4430" align="aligncenter" width="548"] Astronaut Sirisha Bandla Sirisha and four other will fly along with Richard Branson[/caption]

As part of her space voyage, Bandla will be in charge of the researcher experience profile on the Unity 22 mission. This will be Virgin Galactic’s fourth crew-manned flight to space. Branson had announced the flight earlier in June; meanwhile Jeff Bezos, Amazon and Blue Origin’s founder, will fly into space on his New Shepard rocket on July 20. Both the billionaires, are competing in the race to take paid passengers on short flights to the edge of space. According to UBS, the space tourism market size could be around $3 billion per annum by 2030.

Commenting on how the space industry is evolving, Bandla told Astronautical:

“I think the big pull about commercial space is that it’s an industry that is its own marketplace, so it’s going to need specialized lawyers and people in charge of branding, marketing, and outreach. It’s a lot more than just engineering. In the future, I hope to see the space industry grab more of these diverse types of people and pull them into the industry.”

Reading Time: 10 mins