Where did Nawaz Modi Singhania start her fitness journey?

Nawaz started her fitness journey in Mumbai, where she initially began the fitness center in the hall of her family home while her place was being renovated on another floor in the same building.

What kind of fitness routines does Nawaz offer through her fitness centers?

Nawaz's fitness centers, known as Body Art Fitness centers, offer a wide variety of fitness routines. They include aerobic workshops, equipment-based Pilates and Gyrotonics, Aerial Arts Studio, Personal Training, and more. In total, they offer well over 30 genres of fitness routines.

How does Nawaz stay fit herself?

Nawaz refers to herself as a "long distance horse" when it comes to her own fitness regimen. She keeps fit by teaching Body Art classes and also incorporates Pilates workouts. On average, she works out six days a week.

What does Nawaz think about the importance of cross-training in fitness?

Nawaz believes it is essential to cross-train and engage in a large variety of fitness routines. According to her, a particular workout will only work up to a point, after which one may stagnate and not see further tangible benefits. Engaging in different activities challenges the body differently, leading to various health benefits.

Apart from fitness, what other interests does Nawaz have?

Nawaz is a passionate artist and art collector. She finds art, history, and culture intensely fascinating and enjoys visiting art galleries across the world during her travels. She is also an author and has a book titled "Time Arrest" being launched, offering insights into her journey as a life coach.

How does Nawaz manage her busy schedule with multiple roles and responsibilities?

Nawaz leads a dynamic lifestyle, juggling many roles. Apart from managing Body Art Fitness, she also handles matters related to her household, her children, and her father's requirements and household. Additionally, she is involved with the Raymond group of companies, her writing, painting, travel, social obligations, and more.

What are Nawaz's future plans and projects?

Nawaz has several future plans and mini-projects in the pipeline, but she prefers to keep them to herself until they materialize. She believes that what she does will speak for itself, and time will tell the outcome.

What are some of Nawaz Modi Singhania's dream travel destinations?

Nawaz and the Singhania family love traveling. Some of her dream vacation destinations include the Amazon jungle, Botswana, Madagascar, and Brazil, mostly to do with Safari experiences.

Global IndianstoryMeet the Indian fintech startups that are changing the way India spends

Startups

Meet the Indian fintech startups that are changing the way India spends

Q: Who is Nawaz Modi Singhania and what are her areas of expertise?

Nawaz Modi Singhania is a prominent figure in the field of fitness and wellness. She is a versatile artist, yoga expert, fitness trainer, motivational speaker, and spiritualist. Her contributions have resonated across various domains, inspiring countless individuals along the way.

Q: What motivated Nawaz to pursue fitness and wellness?

Nawaz was tiny, petite, and weak from her early childhood days. Formative experiences in school made her realize that she had to take fitness and wellness into her own hands for the sake of her health and quality of life. Fitness became everything to her, ensuring she turns up as the best version of herself.

Written by: Global Indian

If anything, the pandemic has taught most of us the importance of investing early and investing right. The lockdowns emphasized the need to go digital; even with payments and other financial transactions. And cashing in on this are India’s many financial technology startups that have made life easier for the consumer. With over 2,000 fintech startups operating in India across the areas of stockbroking, loans, and contactless payments, there’s a lot the sector has to offer a nation finding its way around a new way of transacting.

Global Indian looks at some of India’s most promising fintech startups that have been changing the way the country spends.

Zerodha

Global Indian looks at some of India’s most promising fintech startups that have been changing the way people transact.

Nikhil and Nithin Kamath

Founded in 2010 by brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, Zerodha has been changing the way young India invests in stocks. The Bengaluru-headquartered company offers retail and institutional brokerage, currencies and commodities trading, mutual funds, and bonds. With an active client base of over 32 lakh, Zerodha is the largest retail stockbroker in India, beating even traditional brokerage firms such as ICICI Securities and HDFC Securities.

The idea for the startup came about when Nithin, who’d been trading stocks since the age of 17, felt the need for a platform that offered people a seamless trading experience. The operations which initially focused on day traders have now evolved to cater to long-term investors. The company began as a completely bootstrapped venture and has so far not required any external funding; the company has been thriving despite the pandemic with people making a conscious effort to begin their investment journeys in these uncertain times. The platform has seen a 100% growth in concurrent users and won the NSE Retail Broker of the Year in 2018.

CRED

Kunal Shah

This Bengaluru-based fintech startup was founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah and lets users pay their credit card bills through an app. They in turn receive benefits via Cred coins and gems that can be redeemed across coffee shops, theatres, and e-commerce sites. The startup has also added a new feature to allow users to pay house rent and has introduced short-term credit lines. By 2021, the company has clocked in over 5 million users and currently offers five products: CRED RentPay, CRED Cash, CRED Pay, CRED Store, and CRED Travel Store.

The two-year-old company is one of the youngest Indian startups to become a unicorn with a valuation of over $2 billion. In April this year, the company had raised $215 million in a Series D funding round led by Falcon Edge Capital and Coatue Management. In January, it had raised $81 million in Series C funding.

Digit Insurance

Kamesh Goyal

Founded by Kamesh Goyal in 2016, Digit became the first startup this year to enter the unicorn club through an undisclosed investment round. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company is backed by the Fairfax Group. Its services include care insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, commercial vehicle insurance, shop insurance. The platform leverages technology to simplify the whole insurance game and offers features such as smartphone-enabled self-inspection and audio claims.

It recently announced that it is now valued at $3.5 billion after raising $200 million in funding from new and existing investors such as Faering Capital, Sequia Capital India, and IIFL Alternate Asset Managers. Since its inception, the company has gathered a customer base of over 1.5 crore.

MoneyTap

Kunal Verma, Anuj Kacker, and Bala Parthasarathy

Founded in 2016 by Anuj Kacker, Kunal Verma, and Bala Parthasarathy, MoneyTap is India’s first app-based credit line. Launched in partnership with leading banks, it caters to the credit needs of middle-class Indian customers. With a presence in over 40 cities, MoneyTap provides small-medium cash loans, quick credit on mobile with affordable interest rates, and flexible EMIs. The founders, who are IIT and ISB alumni, wanted to make credit accessible to those Indians who found it hard to get loans when they needed it.

In the five years since its inception, the startup has now become an RBI-registered NBFC and has over 11 million users with a credit disbursement of over ₹4,000 crore. The startup is now all set to transition into a credit-led neobank FREO and aims to offer an innovative digital banking experience that focuses on the needs of modern Indian and Souteast Asian consumers.

RELATED READ: 5 Indian healthtech startups that empower doctors

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Reshma Shetty: The Indian American biological engineer on Forbes list of America’s self-made women

(September 9, 2021) Back in 2008 when Ginkgo Bioworks was founded by a group of scientists from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it had one goal: to be able to engineer biology and ultimately build a factory for engineering organisms. Today, Ginkgo is the largest user of lab-printed DNA in the world and has over two dozen customers and 50 engineering projects across medicine, food, nutrition, cosmetics, agriculture and more. In the recent past, Ginkgo has been on the frontlines of COVID-19 research as well. And the woman behind it all, Reshma Shetty, was recently named in the Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women with a net worth of $750 million. Shetty, who co-founed Ginkgo, with four others, including her husband Barry Canton, had never planned on turning an entrepreneur. However, over a decade later, her company has become an industry leader and Shetty has been the recipient of several awards and honors: Forbes named her as one of eight people inventing the future in 2008, in 2011 Fast Company named her one of 100 Most Creative People and in 2019, she bagged the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture. [embed]https://twitter.com/reshmapshetty/status/1433548129106862080?s=20[/embed] Trailblazer in the making Born into an Indian family, Shetty was

ture in 2008, in 2011 Fast Company named her one of 100 Most Creative People and in 2019, she bagged the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture.

[embed]https://twitter.com/reshmapshetty/status/1433548129106862080?s=20[/embed]

Trailblazer in the making

Born into an Indian family, Shetty was raised in Utah and led a pretty normal childhood. She never really planned on becoming a founder. Her father, was a university professor, and inspired her passion for science, engineering, and math. However, it was during a high school research program on cone snails that Shetty realized that bioengineering was her true calling. She went on to graduate with a Bachelors in Computer Science from University of Utah in 2002 and went on to do her PhD in Biological Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the time, synthetic biology was just beginning to emerge. “There was this amazing frontier of all this work to be done, and not enough people to do it, which is a really exciting place to be as a researcher,” Reshma told The Petri Podcast.

[caption id="attachment_9807" align="aligncenter" width="574"] Indian American Reshma Shetty Reshma Shetty[/caption]

By the time this Global Indian had wrapped up her PhD, she decided to stick together with her friends from MIT and work towards expanding the horizons of biological engineering. One thing led to another, and the five decided to set up Ginkgo Bioworks. “Starting a company was really like a means to an end, not an end in itself,” she said. The company was completely bootstrapped to begin with: the five would take on part-time consulting gigs and ensure they maintained low overheads. Shetty and the group were able to love off $30,000 for five years while developing a strategy and plan to launch Ginkgo, which derives its name from a dinosaur era tree.

Bootstrapped to success

Ginkgo uses data analytics and robotics to speed up the process of discovering and making new organisms. It specializes in using genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications and designs organisms for customers across a range of industries. It is one of the largest privately held biotech companies in the world.

However, it wasn’t always a smooth ride for Shetty and her team. Soon after the company was founded, the global economy crashed; certainly not an ideal time to start a business or look for investment. This led to the founders coming up with creative ways to keep the company going. That’s how the group decided to bootstrap the company, which helped cement its place in the industry. Things began looking up when funding began flowing in. In its series B funding, Ginkgo managed to raise $45 million in one go. "That was more dollars dumped into our bank account at one instance than we ever had before. My thought was, ‘well pretty serious people with serious capital are choosing to take a bet on us’,” Shetty told Synbiobeta in an interview.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSZidU6R_mU[/embed]

By 2017, Bayer chose to work with Ginkgo on engineering biologicals for agriculture. “It proved three things at the time. One, that engineered microbes in the environment could be a thing, that [they] could be a product category. There are serious people taking serious bets that we’re going to be able to release engineered microbes in the future. Two, that Ginkgo’s platform had value even in areas that we hadn’t previously been in. Three, it proved to the world that Ginkgo was really a platform company, that we weren’t simply going after a few products in the industrial biotech market.”

In a world affected by pandemic

With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, Ginkgo has been at the front line of the covid response. The company has been working on testing, therapeutics, and vaccine development and also helped push pooled testing for screening into places like schools to support them to safely reopen while preventing a further spread of the coronavirus.

Colleagues-turned-mentors

Although Shetty founded the company along with Tom Knight, Jason Kelly, Barry Canton, and Austin Che, she also considers all of them to be her mentors, saying she’s benefitted as much from them as from her supervisors through the years. “I've been really lucky in my experience at Ginkgo. My co-founders have all been tremendously supportive, and we've really operated as a team. My advice for women who are thinking about starting companies is to find a co-founding team who has your back. That's the most important thing," she told The Petri Podcast.

Though Shetty didn’t really set out to become an entrepreneur, she decided to start a company because it seemed like the best way to achieve her goal of making biology easier to engineer. In an interview with Huffington Post, she said, “I’d never try to encourage someone to become an entrepreneur. Instead, I would encourage them to figure out what they are passionate about, what they want to change about the world and what they want to achieve with their life. Then figure out the best way of making that happen.”

Reading Time: 8 mins

The Complete Woman: Nawaz Modi Singhania is shaping fitness in India

(June 5, 2023) Nawaz Modi Singhania, a prominent figure in the field of fitness and wellness, captivates attention with her diverse expertise and achievements. As a versatile artist, yoga expert, fitness trainer, motivational speaker, and spiritualist, her contributions have resonated across various domains. With an unwavering dedication to her craft, Nawaz Modi Singhania has made a profound impact, inspiring countless individuals along the way. The wife of business tycoon Gautam Singhania, Chairman and MD of the Raymond Group, Nawaz's dynamic lifestyle is a testament to her passion and relentless pursuit of excellence. In an exclusive interview with Global Indian, Nawaz opens up about her multifaceted journey, sharing valuable insights into her remarkable career. She is the founder of Body Art Fitness and was the first to offer equipment-based pilates and gyrotronics in India. “No two days are the same for me as I go about my work, which involves so many things. I can certainly never complain about having a dull moment,” she smiles. Call to action By her own admission, Nawaz Modi Singhania was tiny, petite and weak from her early childhood days. “In school, when we would line up in front of the physical education teacher to do summersaults and

">Call to action

By her own admission, Nawaz Modi Singhania was tiny, petite and weak from her early childhood days. “In school, when we would line up in front of the physical education teacher to do summersaults and my turn came, the teacher would just look at me, shake his head, roll his eyes and say, ‘Oh never mind. Just go!’,” recalls the 51-year-old. Those formative experiences helped her realise that she had to take fitness and wellness into her own hands, for the sake of her health and quality of life.

“Fitness to me is everything – quality of life, health and ultimately - self esteem, in a nutshell. It ensures I turn up as the best version of myself,” feels Nawaz, for whom spreading fitness with all it’s benefits to as many people as she can, is a mission.

[caption id="attachment_39627" align="aligncenter" width="365"] Nawaz Modi Singhania[/caption]

Childhood in Mumbai

Born in Mumbai, Nawaz went to pre-school in the New Activity School at Hughes Road. Thereafter from the 1st to the 10th grade, she studied at the Cathedral and John Connon school in Mumbai.

Her family consisted of her father, her mother – who had left the family by the time she was aged 10, – and an elder and younger brother. “My father is a lawyer. Both my brothers got into the law and are practicing lawyers, my elder brother is a Senior Counsel at the Bombay High Court,” informs Nawaz, who is a Law graduate herself but never practiced it, as she was always passionate about fitness.

“I was not into sports at a young age, and got into fitness only in college. I was born frail, under-weight, white as a sheet, with the umbilical cord having gone around my neck four times over and choked me as a result; I was thought to be still-born. But you now know that I wasn’t!,” quips Nawaz, who did her Junior College and Bachelor of Arts at the St. Xavier‘s College in Mumbai.

Thereafter, she studied Law at the Government Law College and the KC Law College, both in Mumbai, and became a Law graduate. “Simultaneously I traveled to America where I got trained and certified as a Fitness Professional at the American Council of Exercise (ACE) and the International Dance Exercise Association (IDEA), where I taught for experience before returning to India to start my own brand (Body Art Fitness centres) in Mumbai,” says the Mumbaikar.

Carving her niche

Having no other place, Nawaz, then 21, initially started the fitness centre in the hall of her family home, while her place was being renovated on another floor in the same building. “I first started out just with an Aerobic Studio, with very few classes in terms of variety and also number of batches,” recalls Nawaz, who quickly built up on that to about 25 different routines of completely different genres and many more classes running through the day, seven days a week.

“Somewhere down the line, I added on a gym and later on, I pioneered the first equipment-based Pilates & Gyrotonics Studio in India. Next came an Aerial Arts Studio, Personal Training, and more,” informs Nawaz. The business soon expanded into a second location, followed by a third and fourth. Different centres would have different facilities, including Aqua Aerobics, Aqua Yoga, Spinning, amongst others.

“The offerings we have are humongous, and unlike many other centres, which just have a gym offering, we don’t have just one pill for every disease,” says Nawaz, whose fitness centres have a large variety of offerings just in her aerobic workshops. Presently, she runs five centres across Mumbai and has further expansion plans.

Nawaz’s fitness plan

“I am a long distance horse,” she says, about her own regimen. “I keep fit by teaching Body Art classes. It is sub-maximal work. On the days I might not be teaching, I get a Pilates workout in,” says Nawaz, who works out six days a week on an average. Depending on what kind of fitness routine she is following or teaching, her taste of music differs. “The music could widely vary from rock, pop, jazz, house, acid, lounge, hip-hop, Hindi, Punjabi, and more,” she says.

Nawaz specialises in power yoga as well. Ask her which one is more beneficial, yoga or workouts, she says it is important to cross train and engage in a large variety of fitness routines. “A particular workout will work for you, only up to a point – after which both physically and mentally one stagnates and does not see any further tangible benefits,” she explains adding that people get bored of the routine and its monotony. It ends up losing interest and ditch the exercise programme, she says.

She feels the body has to be challenged differently, for which it’s important to keep engaging in different activities to see the results in terms of fat loss, weight loss, toning, strengthening, flexibility, mobility, health benefits, and more. “Yoga is just one of our many offerings. All in all, we offer well over 30 genres of fitness routines,” informs Nawaz.

Move away from fitness talk and Nawaz comes across as a very passionate artist and art collector. “Its a very individual and personal journey into the depths of myself, my subconscious and core, crossing back and forth between worlds and realms, breaking barriers and more,” she feels.

The artist and author

Nawaz makes it a point to visit art galleries across the world during her travels. “I find art, history and culture intensely fascinating from the point of view of having an insight into the trajectory of mankind from wherever their individual beginning might have been,” she says.

Elaborating further, Nawaz says unanswered questions about why it is that we are where we are, and why it is that things are the way they are — can all be traced back in a very logical and fulfilling manner. “I find that riveting. Everything is inter-generationally linked, and to uncover the mysteries of life today, I find that in looking back, I excavate very plausible, relatable answers,” she says.

Her upcoming book, Time Arrest, published by Penguin Random House, is being launched in August 2023. “It would give the best possible peak into my journey as a life coach,” she informs.

Juggling so many roles is not easy. For Nawaz, everyday is very different from the last. Focussing on growth and management of Body Art, managing all matters related to her household, her children apart, she handles her father’s requirements and his household as well. “Besides, my varied involvement with the Raymond group of companies, my writing, painting, travel, social and other obligations that need to be met keep me busy,” smiles Nawaz.

Future plans

There are many future plans and mini projects in the pipeline, says Nawaz, who feels it’s best to keep them to oneself till they actually materialize. “Call me superstitious, or the fact that energy is very real and if it stays within you, it comes out in the right way, but if it leaves you in the wrong way, it perhaps never manifests. What I do will speak for itself, rather than just my words. Time will tell,” she says.

Nawaz says she has been lucky enough to engage in all her hobbies adequately. “I am very creative with my hands and fascinated with all things to do with the mind, psychiatry and psychosis,” says Nawaz, who watches TV just for News. For Knowledge, she tunes into Nat Geo and the Discovery Channel! “I consume a lot of educational content on YouTube. When time permits, I enjoy the odd Netflix flick.”

The Singhania family loves travelling. “I am very well-travelled, though there are a few places I still have on my bucket list. Mostly that’s to do with Safari. The Amazon jungle, Botswana, Madagascar, Brazil are my dream vacays,” she informs.

Follow Nawaz on Instagram.

Reading Time: 6 mins

Building better lives: How Nowsheen Yaqoob went from aviation to human development through NLP

(March 27, 2023) Nowsheen Yaqoob believes no matter what the adversity is, one must learn to be joyful in all situations. Joy, she believes, is a basic emotion – It was the conviction that led to the creation of Auracious Global Consulting - a human development company based in Dubai, that helps individuals and organisations across the globe achieve their full potential on the personal and professional fronts. Their approach, according to the company's LinkedIn profile, involves the latest developments in neural and behavioural science, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis and Quantum Physics, as well as Life Coaching and Change Management models. Auracious works with a diverse clientele from around the world, as well as with clients like FedEx, De Montfort University Dubai and Amity University Dubai. Nowsheen, who left behind a lucrative career in the aviation sector to help people and organisations transform themselves, has come a long way. The wind beneath her wings Born in Srinagar, Nowsheen is a qualified Architect and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, besides being a certified life coach. Growing up, she always dreamed of a profession that would allow her to fly. "When I would watch planes fly as a child, I

Administration, besides being a certified life coach. Growing up, she always dreamed of a profession that would allow her to fly. "When I would watch planes fly as a child, I dreamt of working in a profession that would allow me to travel across the world. However, when it actually happened I felt something was missing,” Nowsheen said, in an interview with Global Indian.

[caption id="attachment_36614" align="aligncenter" width="361"] Nowsheen Yaqoob, founder, Auracious Global Consulting[/caption]

So, after more than a decade of working in the aviation sector she realised that it wasn't her calling. She loved communicating and connecting with people more. Nowsheen went on to do a Master’s in Neuro Linguistic Programming and life coaching. During this time, she realised “there were many people, especially youngsters, who were unable to experience joy because of some trauma they were carrying,” she says. "I transform the way people understand themselves, their relationships, career, and health. The intent to help people in an authentic manner, backed by professional tools, put me on the road to making Life Coaching my career."

Nowsheen constantly feels this desire to add value to people’s lives, especially the ones who feel they are under societal pressure and have issues that prevent them from achieving their best potential due to self-limiting beliefs. She finds it extremely fulfilling personally and professionally in more ways than she could have imagined.

The entrepreneurship route

It was this passion that led to creation of Auracious Global Consulting. "As an Internationally certified Master Life Coach and Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner, my work focuses on human development, along with personal and professional coaching solutions," Nowsheen explains. She remarks, that in her quest for excellence, she has taken purposeful strides to blaze new trails in her specialisation, combining the best of her experience and expertise to help people and individuals achieve growth.

Nowsheen ensures that her beliefs and values hinge on achieving human connectedness, growth and contribution, in a manner that brings the best benefits for those who gain from it. "I give my best in everything I do, and be as genuine as humanly possible, with a never-give-up attitude. It is this same belief, ‘yes, it is possible’ that I share in my work, to help transform an individual’s mindset to realize their infinite horizons, dimensions, and potential."

Her personal transformation

Nowsheen has had her own journey of transformation. "The amalgamation of my life experiences with how I overcame many challenges and obstacles in life, and my passion for sharing my learning with people helped me to take this up as a career," she explains. From her early childhood years and well into adult life, hers has been an arduous journey towards overcoming many fears and anxieties. When she triumphed over them, it inspired her to go forward confidently in her chosen field of work.

In order to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, Nowsheen had to overcome her own self-limiting beliefs and rise above the apprehensions, fears, doubts and vulnerabilities, as well as a certain level of self-directed scepticism. "Now, I am living my passion of helping individuals to break their shackles of fears, anxieties, traumas, and stress, to live a confident, happy, and fulfilled life."

Her focus areas

Today, Nowsheen helps individuals and corporations to transform the way they understand themselves, their relationships, career, and health, thus becoming their personal and professional best.

Nowsheen Yaqoob, founder, Auracious Global Consulting, Global Indian

"I work on bringing about a dynamic transformation in people’s lives through the principles of Human Potential Development, NLP and Life Coaching through individual sessions, awareness workshops, corporate trainings, group coaching, webinars, seminars, social media awareness, eBooks, self-help PDFs and podcasts."

Human connectedness is the core value on which her Life Coaching approach is founded. Each step of the personal empowerment journey is designed to the highest degree. Auracious Global Consulting uses a well-structured combination of scientifically proven tools and techniques that are an amalgamation of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Life Coaching processes, Compassionate Counselling, Hypnosis and Meditation. “I have been a full-fledged Life Coach since 2015. However, my career in training and development has grown over the past 18 years, with many milestones, experiences, and learning.”

A global mission

She works with people of over 200 nationalities and Auracious Global Consulting is based out of Dubai. Still, Nowsheen keeps her ties with her homeland. “I visit India off and on for counselling; have conducted many sessions in Kashmir with schools, different organisations. I work with multinational companies and conduct workshops for employees and top-notch CEO’s,” she says. These days, Nowsheen has people calling her up from across the world seeking counselling.

In 2022, she also launched Auracious Global in Kashmir and provides online consultations. When she is in Kashmir she does in-person consultations. “People just need to be more aware that help is available and they need to be guided in the right direction. In order to create awareness I make the best use of my social media handles – both personal as well as professional.”

“It is a rewarding journey of transformation and fulfilment for those who I work with, by helping them overcome struggles to achieve their goals,” the entrepreneur remarks. Nowsheen loves to work closely with her clients and seeing them experience their personal breakthroughs is a constant source of fulfilment and gratification for her. “I give my 100 percent to my clients which led my clientele to grow organically through referrals and meaningful associations.”

Overcoming obstacles

Taking on huge responsibilities at an incredibly young age, with minimal guidance and no mentor presented Nowsheen with a mountain of obstacles to surmount.

“However, successfully overcoming those early challenges gave me that all-important thrust in the right direction. I had to break free from the imaginary mould of ‘perfection’ to face realities and to see for myself that inner happiness is more validating and satisfying than trying to live up to anybody else’s definition of perfection. We are not here to live up to a mark sheet of perfect expectations. We are better off discovering and creating our own happiness in each moment of our lifetime, she explains.

Making a difference

At various points in her personal and professional life, Nowsheen has been able to give back to society in many ways where her expertise could be harnessed free of cost to those who needed it. “Throughout the year 2020, especially when the pandemic forced people to give in to mental, emotional, and psychological pressures, and income sources dried up, I was able to provide professional life coaching pro bono to one and all.”

Lately, she has been working towards building a community of transformational coaches, thought leaders, mentors and change facilitators – who offer help to those who cannot afford or access professional coaching. “The foundation of this community lies on shared ideologies, and a fluid forum that inspires, sustains, and encourages progressive thoughts and sustainable human potential transformation.”

Nowsheen’s own struggle for inner transformation and her courage to follow her dreams, have led to her living her greatest passion - making a meaningful difference to people’s lives, by helping them make empowering decisions. She helps people to create the best version of themselves for themselves, and for the larger benefit of society.

“The greater aim is to make the world a better place through individuals who are joyful, confident, and evolved.” Apart from receiving many awards and appreciation during her course of journey, having received the Business Excellence Award from Padma Bhushan Javed Akhtar in November in Dubai has been quite a humbling experience for Nowsheen.

Follow Nowsheen Yaqoob on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 6 mins

Putting rural India first: These startups are making quality healthcare accessible to rural India

(October 6, 2021) Everything as easy as tap and go these days. From ordering groceries, funds transfer, knowledge transfer to even healthcare. All you need to do is pick up your phone, select a healthcare specialty, book diagnostic tests, consult an expert and get a diagnosis, all from the comfort of your home. But what of rural India, where digital connectivity and accessibility of smart devices remains at an abysmally low level? For that matter, what of the rural India where healthcare, or the lack of it, leaves a lot to be desired? According to the National Health Profile that was released last year, the ratio of medical experts (allopathic) to patients stands at 1:11,000. An appallingly low figure. However, a clutch of new startups is turning their attention towards bridging this gap in Indian healthcare. From helping store medicines better to transport them to rural India, making top doctors available for remote consultations, helping expedite emergency medical care in areas with little or no healthcare facilities, to Covid care, these startups are ensuring that a healthcare needs across the spectrum are being met for the often-overlooked towns and villages. Here, Global Indian turns the spotlight on a few such enterprises that are using innovation to bridge that last mile healthcare gap where it most matters. Gramin Healthcare Launched

d towns and villages.

Here, Global Indian turns the spotlight on a few such enterprises that are using innovation to bridge that last mile healthcare gap where it most matters.

Gramin Healthcare

Launched in 2016 in Gurugram by Ajoy Khandheria, Gramin Healthcare has been setting up healthcare centres in villages in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. Well-equipped and staffed with nurses, these centres are frequented by villagers as the company aims to institutionalize healthcare in such areas to help bring down costs of travel for patients. Doctors screen cases remotely and employ telemedicine to carry out diagnoses. With over 120 centres, Gramin Healthcare’s patients are given health cards and their medical history is digitized. The Gramin team has a 24x7 COVID-19 hotline and is in the process of setting up pharmacies for easier access to affordable medicines in the villages.

As it goes about revolutionizing the health care delivery mechanism, Gramin Healthcare also focuses on employment generation, bridging the gap between gender spaces and provide affordable and accessible healthcare to under-served communities.

Blackfrog Technologies

Founded in 2015 by Mayur Shetty and Donson Dsouza, Blackfrog Technologies was initially an engineering consultancy before transitioning into a product company to address the need for efficient vaccine storage and transportation. It’s aim now is to be the future of medical-grade refrigeration and launched its flagship product Emvólio, solar-powered vaccine carrier that can be worn like a backpack. It also features an IoT device to track the vaccine and the device maintains the pre-set temperature for up to 12 hours to facilitate last-mile transportation of vaccines, blood serums, breast milk, plasmas, medications, and specimens with minimal free-thaw cycles. This comes as a boon at a time when the need for vaccines is high. According to Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates, 25% of all vaccines get wasted due to temperature fluctuations. In an interview with Forbes, Shetty said, “Ice boxes usually end up freezing the vaccine, and one risks accidentally administering vaccines that have lost potency. Emvólio helps in reducing the economic burden of these vaccines and nullifies the chances of inefficacious vaccines being administered.”

Blackfrog currently has a production capacity of 1,500 units per month and Emvólio is being used in large numbers across North East India under the National Health Mission. Backed by the likes of BIRAC, Qualcomm and Social Alpha, Blackfrog is set to change the way immunization programs are conducted across the country.

AI Health Highway

Founded by Dr Satish S Jeevannavar, Dr Radhakrishna S Jamadagni, and Anuj Pandit in 2019, AI Health Highway is an IISC incubated startup that has been trying to reduce the burden on hospitals by developing a web app for COVID-19 self-screening to help identify low, mid and high-risk groups who could be prone to the coronavirus based on demography. Its COVID-19 pre-screen and triage tool is easily accessible on its website and it provides solutions based on risk-assessment scores of COVID-19; these are linked to clinical symptoms, comorbidities, and contact history. This is essentially aimed at the rural population which has limited access to quality healthcare facilities.

The tool is adapted with a nurse-led model for COVID-19 and other non-communicable diseases. People from rural areas can connect with their nurses over an IVR Helpline for medical aid. The startup uses telehealth intervention to help the rural population screen not just for coronavirus, but also for NCDs such as uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and chronic heart and lung ailments. The tool is currently being used in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Byju Raveendran: The teacher-turned-entrepreneur helming India’s most valued startup

(October 29, 2021) Years ago in the picturesque coastal town of Azhikode was a young lad who studied at a Malayalam-medium school. Born to teacher parents, he would often skip classes and learn at home instead. But who was to know that a few years down the line, he was going to become a teacher himself and build a world-class product that brought learning right to one’s doorstep. Byju Raveendran’s success story is fit for a film script. From helping friends with CAT prep to acing the exam himself with minimal preparation, he’s had a flair for business and management and it shows in the success of BYJU’s. The company that this Global Indian built with his wife Divya Gokulnath is today considered one of the most valuable education technology companies. In fact, this entrepreneur has found his fair share of accolades coming his way as well. From being awarded the 2019 Manorama Newsmaker award, the 2020 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year title, to being listed in Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 and receiving the 2021 Forbes India Leadership Award, he has managed to add many a feather to his entrepreneurial cap. [embed]https://twitter.com/BYJUS/status/1443917078801518592?s=20[/embed] The boy from coastal Kerala

e Magazine’s 40 Under 40 and receiving the 2021 Forbes India Leadership Award, he has managed to add many a feather to his entrepreneurial cap.

[embed]https://twitter.com/BYJUS/status/1443917078801518592?s=20[/embed]

The boy from coastal Kerala

Born in 1981 in Azhikode to teacher parents, Byju’s journey was always deeply entrenched in academics. His father was a Physics teacher and his mother a Math teacher at a Malayalam-medium school in Kannur; the same school where Byju studied. The boy would often skip classes, but made up for it by learning at home. He went on to graduate as a mechanical engineer from the Government Engineering College in Kannur before moving to Singapore in 2001 to work with a shipping company. When he’d visit home, he’d often spend time tutoring his friends preparing for the competitive CAT.

Curious to see how he’d score, he took the test twice himself... with minimal preparation. He got through both times having scored 100 percentile and got interview calls from the IIMs. But Byju’s heart lay in teaching and an MBA was not his cup of tea. By 2005 he’d quit his job and moved back to India to teach MBA aspirants and his popularity as a teacher soared. In 2011 he formally set up his company Think & Learn, today BYJU’s parent company. While it initially offered coaching for CAT aspirants, Byju gradually expanded to other subjects as well.

Global Indian Byju Raveendran

Entrepreneurial journey

As business grew, Byju launched BYJU’s - The Learning App, an online offering in 2015; it soon climbed the popularity charts for offering students personalised learning programmes. Four years in the making, the app offered educational material to school students as well as coaching for CAT, NEET, UPSC, GMAT, JEE and GRE. What clicked for the app was how interesting and engaging the educational material was made.

Today, BYJU’s is the largest edtech platform in India with several lakhs of subscribers in its kitty. But according to Byju, they have only reached just 2% of the country’s student population. In an interview with The Week he said, “Education is the best way to make it big and our efforts are to help children become self-learners in order to chart their own journeys. In this segment, the fun is in helping millions think and learn better.”

[caption id="attachment_14419" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Global Indian Divya Gokulnatha Byju Raveendran's wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath[/caption]

The app’s Knowledge Graphs point students in the direction of how different concepts are related to each other and shows them relevant concepts or information based on what he/she is learning at that point of time. This allows the whole learning process to get personalised as per the student’s learning pace and strengths.

From strength to strength

Today, BYJU’s is one of the most funded education startups in the world with a total of $1.6 billion in funding. Some of its marquee investors include Mark Zuckerberg, Tencent, Naspers, and Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital.

The pandemic and resultant need for online learning has only helped further leverage BYJU’s popularity. The startup doubled its revenue to ₹2,800 crore in 2020; the edtech industry in India is estimated to be worth $750 million. According to an EdTech in India report, the online education in India is projected to increase by 6.3 times by 2022. BYJU’s, thus, happens to be at the right place and at the right time.

Since its launch, the startup (now a decacorn) has come a long way and is now India’s most valuable startup, overtaking even Paytm with a valuation of $16.5 billion.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7YdX7-46zI[/embed]

Giving Back

Last year Byju launched an Education for All initiative to make digital learning accessible to millions of children from underserved communities. The programme aims at democratizing education by ensuring that all children get equal access to quality learning opportunities. To this end, BYJU’s signed MoUs with mission-aligned partners like The American India Foundation, Magic Bus, Save the Children, United Way and Vadham Tea. Through this, Byju hopes to impact at least 5 million children by 2025.

Reading Time: 8 mins