Neel Moudgal: Indian-American teen helping scientist efficiently study RNA to cure diseases
Compiled by: Team GI Youth
(March 5, 2023) It was in 2022 that Michigan-based Indian-American teen Neel Moudgal learnt about winning a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Fellows Scholarship Program for his project Using Unassigned NMR Chemical Shifts to Model RNA Secondary Structure. The honour for the Saline resident came from creating a platform that could help scientists easily develop treatments for cancer, viruses, genetic disorders, and other diseases. “It means so much for them to recognize my work as having some benefit to society,” said the teenager, who began working on the project in the summer of 2020. The project has made him win $250,000 at the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023. Neel’s quest to work towards finding cures for diseases is personal – his grandfather suffers from Alzheimer’s and Neel has seen his suffering firsthand.
Neel Modugal
It is no secret that RNA (Ribonucleic acid) teaches the body how to make proteins that can support your immune system or even treat diseases. Scientists believe that understanding RNA structure could unlock cures for many diseases, and Neel’s project aids scientists to help develop treatments for many diseases. For this, he developed a new platform to predict the structure of various RNA molecules rapidly with easily available data, with the help of his mentor Professor Aaron Frank at the University of Michigan.
“Unfortunately, understanding the structure of RNA has been a difficult task due to the limitations in equipment and computational power and remains a major challenge in biophysics. My project focused on developing a new platform that can predict the structure of various RNA molecules rapidly with easily available data, thus allowing researchers the opportunity to develop novel treatments,” the Global Indian wrote on the David Institute website.
Since the project involved science that wasn’t taught in high school, the 16-year-old had to rely on academic papers to learn the required material. And that in itself was one of the exciting parts for Neel – to learn and actively apply it. However, the project came with its share of challenges – the prime being the pandemic. Due to the lockdown, lab access was impossible, and it felt limiting to not be able to walk up to people for quick clarification or feedback on an idea. However, Zoom, Slack, and other platforms came to his rescue and helped him connect with lab members to clear his doubts or seek any kind of guidance.
One and a half years into the research, he found success in developing a platform that can rapidly and accurately predict the secondary structure for RNA molecules using only unassigned chemical shift data. “Our methods can help predict the structure and behaviour of RNA molecules in both physiological as well as pathological states and as a result, this platform has the potential to greatly increase our understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that underlie human diseases,” said Neel, who is hopeful that researchers will have the opportunity to work rapidly with RNA molecules in emerging pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.
Neel, who is a senior at Saline High School in Michigan, enjoys travelling, reading, and collecting rocks, coins, and stamps. He hopes to major in biophysics and statistics in his undergraduate studies and eventually pursue a career in medicine and research. “My goal is to conduct translational research and develop treatments “from bench to bedside,” working in a laboratory to devise cures for diseases and working with patients to deploy these treatments. I feel that this would put my passion for research to use to benefit others.”
(September 9, 2023) We seldom come across a successful professional cricketer who has an equally successful career outside the realm of sports. A principal member of technical staff at Oracle, Saurabh Netravalkar is one such rare cricketer. The India-born is an ace sportstar who has has even captained the USA national team, representing the United States in international cricket. He juggles his corporate role and also plays for the Washington Freedom, an American professional Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Major League Cricket (MLC). It’s not easy to excel in two very demanding jobs. Saurabh works odd hours on tours and even on his team bus to meet his corporate responsibilities. A left-arm medium-fast bowler, Saurabh recently won the ‘Player of the Match’ award in an MLC match with San Francisco Unicorns emerging as the standout performer. [caption id="attachment_32972" align="aligncenter" width="574"] Saurabh Netravalkar[/caption] Not new to outstanding performances, Saurabh has been India's highest wicket taker in the 2010 Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand, and was the man of the series in the tri-nations U-19 tournament in South Africa. The Mumbai-born was also named the best junior cricketer in India in 2009/10. When his cricketing career was just taking
Not new to outstanding performances, Saurabh has been India's highest wicket taker in the 2010 Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand, and was the man of the series in the tri-nations U-19 tournament in South Africa. The Mumbai-born was also named the best junior cricketer in India in 2009/10.
When his cricketing career was just taking off in India, he had moved to the US to pursue his higher studies.
Choosing academics over sports
When someone possesses a brilliant academic record in computer science engineering from one of the nation’s premier institutions, lucrative and stable employment opportunities abroad provide a constant allure. This led Saurabh, an alumnus of the Sardar Patel Institute of Technology in Mumbai to pursue his masters abroad, that too at an Ivy League school, and subsequently bag a lucrative job at Oracle.
However, the cricketer in him was not able to stay away from the sport for long. With his dedication, coupled with luck, he has become a prominent cricketer in the United States in a short span of time. Saurabh has been efficiently giving action-packed performances with his ability to effortlessly swing the ball in both directions.
[caption id="attachment_32967" align="aligncenter" width="518"] Saurabh Netravalkar in action[/caption]
The hard decision
He was 23 when he had to take the crucial decision regarding his career path. The Mumbai boy, who had already proven his mettle as a skilled left-arm pacer, ultimately opted to prioritise further education in the United States, relinquishing his aspirations of a cricketing career in India. This decision came two years after his inaugural match in the Mumbai Ranji Trophy back in 2013, where he played against Karnataka, a match that also featured his former India Under-19 teammate, KL Rahul.
“It was a very emotional decision for me to leave cricket behind and come to the US to pursue higher education,” the Mumbai-born cricketer said in an interview.
Unforgettable experiences
For Saurabh, his experiences in his short but successful cricketing career in India are significant. Those experiences have helped him to charter a fresh path in the world of U.S. cricket.
[caption id="attachment_32980" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Saurabh Netravalkar with Cricket Stalwarts in 2013-14[/caption]
He cherishes participating in the BCCI Corporate Trophy as a member of the Air India team under the leadership of the renowned Indian cricketer of that era, Yuvraj Singh.Other present-day Indian cricket stars like Suresh Raina were also part of the tournament. “My performance in that competition was commendable, and it played a pivotal role in my selection for the India Under-19 squad,” he shared. He had made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the 2013–14 Ranji Trophy.
While K.L. Rahul, along with fellow participants of the 2010 U-19 World Cup such as Mayank Agarwal and Jaydev Unadkat, embarked on their journey towards representing the senior Indian cricket team and securing IPL contracts, Saurabh went on to pursue a master's degree in computer science at Cornell University.
Once a sportsman, always a sportsman
After completing his masters and entering the corporate world, the software engineer has been able to find a foothold in the United States team, and play with some of the current top players. “It was always a dream to play against top international players and test my abilities. I am really grateful to get that chance finally," said the Global Indian who loves singing to the tunes of his guitar.
Saurabh has been balancing his passion and full-time job successfully. “I am a software engineer, so I have to mostly code. The timings are flexible, which is a good thing about this profession. So, I can work at my own time,” he remarked. “My goal in cricket and life is to keep on scaling up and to be consistent,” he added.
In Saurabh Netravalkar, cricket enthusiasts and the diaspora find a remarkable example of someone representing India's beloved sport on an international stage.
(July 12, 2023) It was in her third attempt that twenty-five-year-old Manju Bangalore won Miss Oregon USA 2023 title becoming the first South Asian woman to do so. The persistent and multifaceted youngster called the win, ‘the cherry on top’ because it gave her ‘a bit more platform’ to do the kind of work that she has been doing. Manju is a role model for young Brown girls in the US, not just as a pageant winner but as an aspiring astronaut, actor, model, activist, author and a non-profit founder who started Operation Period and Painting with Parkinson’s. The postgraduate student at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences in the US, will be proudly representing her state, Oregon in the upcoming 72nd Miss USA pageant, slated to take place in October in Nevada. Whether it is the world of pageantry, academics, extracurricular activities or her career, Manju has displayed consistent excellence, occasionally pushing her own boundaries. Her motivations are not solely driven by the desire to enhance her resume but stems from an innate inner drive to fulfil her purpose – personal growth and to make a positive impact on the community. [caption id="attachment_31812" align="aligncenter" width="689"] Manju Bangalore being crowned
Whether it is the world of pageantry, academics, extracurricular activities or her career, Manju has displayed consistent excellence, occasionally pushing her own boundaries. Her motivations are not solely driven by the desire to enhance her resume but stems from an innate inner drive to fulfil her purpose – personal growth and to make a positive impact on the community.
[caption id="attachment_31812" align="aligncenter" width="689"] Manju Bangalore being crowned as Miss Oregon USA[/caption]
Bagging five NASA and one White House internship
Before joining the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, Manju graduated from the University of Oregon with a major in physics and minor in maths. An ambitious young woman who wanted a head start in her career, she was looking everywhere for internships. She ended up bagging not one or two but five NASA internships and one White house internship on science policy.
“Over the course of my five NASA internships, four of which were in the astronaut office, I contributed to propulsion research and helped design and build the cockpit displays of the Orion spacecraft,” she said. Talking about her White House experience she remarked, “One of my favourite memories was staffing a Hidden Figures screening for First Lady Michelle Obama.”
Finding inspiration in Kalpana Chawla
From the tender age of four, Manju aspired to become an astronaut. This dream had been sparked during a visit to the air and space museum in her locality. It was there that she had stumbled upon the remarkable story of Kalpana Chawla - the pioneering Indian woman who ventured into space. “Just seeing someone who looks like me doing this incredible thing made me feel like I could do it,” she remarked. Her strong work ethic and the trait of dedication and hard work comes from her parents, Phani and Geetha Bangalore, who migrated from South India and own and operate a seed-testing lab in Oregon
[caption id="attachment_31813" align="aligncenter" width="436"] Manju Bangalore at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences[/caption]
While she was pursuing her undergraduate studies at theUniversity of Oregon, she applied for hundreds of internships and ‘got rejected by ninety-nine percent of them’. Quite by chance she had come across NASA’s portal during her search and had discovered that there was an entire portal of NASA focused on internship. Like other applications she went ahead with applying there too without any high hopes. But to her immense joy, she was selected by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Later, her application to work at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy was accepted too. At the White House, she met astronaut Sunita Williams who guided her to land four more internships at NASA's Johnson Space Center, in the astronaut office. “I learnt quite a lot working on the cockpit displays of the spacecraft that will go back to the moon and then to Mars one day,” she shared.
Fuelled by these experiences, Manju enrolled herself into the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences’ postgraduate programme. “The school hasn’t selected us by any means to go to space, but they are putting us through the training that’s necessary to one day go to space,” shared the happy youngster.
Operation Period and Painting with Parkinson’s
When Manju was 17, she started Operation Period to address menstrual disparities that she saw around her. The seed for starting this venture germinated in her mind when she encountered a woman in a medical store who was desperately in need of menstrual products but could not purchase them due to lack of money. Not only did Manju generously pay for her needs but came out of the store with the determination to do something about women like the one she met in the store.
Through Operation Period, the youngster has made a significant impact, distributing over 300,000 menstrual products worldwide and organizing events to raise awareness about menstrual health education.
She also runs a second non-profit, Painting with Parkinson’s, to help bring meaning through art to people like her father, who suffers from the disease. The non-profit provides free painting kits and organises free painting classes to people affected by PD. “I believe that art has the power to heal, and everyone is an artist and should let that light shine,” she remarked.
From science and service to the world of pageantry
The multifaceted youngster has been participating in pageants since she was in her teens. The Oregon resident had made a couple of unsuccessful attempts in the Oregon Teen USA competition, but she remained determined. In 2017 she had managed to get successful in the local pageant, Miss Benton County USA. When she entered her twenties and could no longer participate in the Oregon teen pageant, she set herself on the Oregon Miss USA competition. It took her three attempts to finally win the crown. Overjoyed with the fruit of her persistence she shared, “The months that have followed after winning have been the best months of my life.”
[caption id="attachment_31814" align="aligncenter" width="444"] Manju Bangalore at an event[/caption]
Multiple experiences on the pageant stage have given the Global Indian a unique perspective on what it takes to be a winner. “A beauty pageant obviously has a component of outward appearance, but also in those seemingly beauty-oriented competitions, they are still looking at how poised you are, how confident on stage you are,” she said adding, “I was by no means the tiniest person on stage; I am curvier, and none of that was held against me.” In fact, Manju thinks it helped her. “It showed that I am confident in my body and who I am. It has helped me develop a thick skin, to face and filter out the detractors.”
The Indian-origin American embraces and beholds her looks, her identity and her culture with utmost pride.
Wearing many hats
Manju has a knack for acting since her school days. Her stint in modelling and the world of pageantry led her to some good acting projects. She has guest starred on two television shows - Black is King, Depot and Animal Kingdom and is hopeful for more work on this front in future. Working inBlack is King was particularly special because she got an opportunity to work with Beyoncé, the American singer and songwriter. Recently Manju turned an author with her debut children's book, You can be all the things you want to be.
[caption id="attachment_31815" align="aligncenter" width="457"] Manju Bangalore with her debut book[/caption]
Born to immigrant parents, growing up Manju realised that the world is not an equal place. Instead of being bogged down by racism that she and her family faced, the youngster grew up with the sense of responsibility towards people who are looked down upon for being different. Manju is also a supporter of black and transgender rights and goes out of her way to support these causes. She looks at the Miss Oregon USA 2023 title to be a good platform to work on these issues.
(April 30, 2024) Following in the footsteps of her father, Manoj Nelliyattu ‘M. Night’ Shyamalan, Ishana Night Shyamalan also graduated from his alma mater, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Similar to her father's journey, the Indian American youngster has turned into a filmmaker. She started her career by working on music videos and short films before stepping into the world of filmmaking. The 22-year-old, recently released the trailer of her debut feature film, ‘The Watchers,’ which boasts of an impressive star ensemble including Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, and Olwen Fouere. Scheduled to hit theatres in June 2024, ‘The Watchers’ trailer went viral soon after its release. In her debut feature film Ishana has worked on a horror-themed narrative, a genre that her father is renowned for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrhrNS0JFyg Influences in approach to cinema Although Ishana is deeply inspired by her father, she shared in an interview that a significant influence on her craft also comes from the works of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. “I think like in my bones, I'm most inspired by Miyazaki,” she remarked adding, “Like I just think those have been the movies that throughout my life have moved me the most and
o comes from the works of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. “I think like in my bones, I'm most inspired by Miyazaki,” she remarked adding, “Like I just think those have been the movies that throughout my life have moved me the most and they're very sacred things to me. So, in many ways, this was just like chasing the experience that I feel when I watch those movies, which is one of wonder and adventure and innocence in many ways.”
Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong’s director, screenwriter and producer and Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski are some of the other filmmakers who have had an influence on Ishana’s approach to cinema.
Carrying forward the legacy
“From making shorts, to going to Tisch, to becoming one of our top writer/directors on ‘Servant’ (TV series) to this incredible moment of #TheWatchers in theatres this summer… Ishana has always made me very proud. And even better than making a dazzling film, she is a wonderful person,” tweeted her proud father. He had immigrated with his doctor parents from Pondicherry to the USA when he was six weeks old.
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumni graduated in 1992, adopting 'Night' as his second name during his time there. A blend of Eastern and Western influences in name extended to his three children, including Ishana.
Not the first father-daughter collaboration
It’s not the first time that the father-daughter duo has collaborated for a project. Ishana contributed to M. Night Shyamalan’s eerie Apple TV+ series ‘The Servant,’ as a writer and co-writer for 10 episodes and as director for six episodes. She also served as the second unit director for her father's box office hits, ‘Old’ (2021) and the recent ‘Knock at the Cabin’ (2023). Both the productions had topped the charts during their opening weekends.
While working with him, M. Night Shyamalan, Ishana, his middle daughter, inherited his knack and expertise for crafting suspense, thrills, and compelling drama. “The training from him has existed my whole life,” she remarked.
[caption id="attachment_37460" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Ishana Night Shyamalan at the sets of M Night Shyamalan's movie 'Old' (2021)[/caption]
For her directorial debut, Ishana adapted the screenplay from a novel by the Irish author A.M Shine who has written several literary horror masterpieces.
Talking about her adaptation Ishana remarked, “It’s a journey of suspense that hopefully leads into a feeling of wonder at the end. My hope is it’s an experience that plays on that sense of unease – then takes you to a bigger, wonderful place.”
Pursuing art to survive
Since she was a child Ishana was creatively inclined whether it was painting, ballet, poetry and even designing clothes.
“I’ve moved through different forms of art throughout my whole life and kind of later in life came to filmmaking. But there’s really been no other option in terms of my psyche – I’ve only felt that I need to be doing art to survive,” she remarked.
For nearly twenty years, Ishana and her family, including her siblings Saluki and Shivani, along with their parents Bhavna and their father, have lived in Ravenwood, a 1937 Georgian revival house nestled on a 125-acre estate in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Proudly, the father has also backed Ishana’s directorial debut through his production company, Blinding Edge Pictures.
(February 27, 2024) Getting off the Chapora Fort on his maiden trip to Goa in 2022, Digvijay Singh saw a woman selling sherbet. Exhausted from his day trip, he decided to quench his thirst with a kokum sherbet - a native fruit of Konkan he had never heard of. Taking his first sip, the teen chocolatier realised that it could be paired very well with dark chocolate due to its tartness. A few months later, he stumbled upon a rose apple in Kolkata, which natives refer to as gulab jamun. "I thought, I know of cranberry or strawberry or macadamia nuts which have perhaps nothing to do with India but I know nothing about the fruit that grows in the Konkan belt which is hardly 1000 kilometers from where I live," the Udaipur resident tells Global Indian. This epiphany led him to bring indigenous berries and fruits into the conventional world of chocolate making with Saraam - a homegrown artisanal chocolate brand. Finding the real deal in exotic native fruits With the chocolate market almost saturated with flavours like cranberry, orange, and hazelnut, Digvijay saw an opportunity in the often-overlooked native fruits. "The biggest issue is that the people haven't
With the chocolate market almost saturated with flavours like cranberry, orange, and hazelnut, Digvijay saw an opportunity in the often-overlooked native fruits. "The biggest issue is that the people haven't invested in the supply chain of these fruits as they don't have a long shelf life. People don't grow them anymore and they are at the mercy of the wild. There are a few collectors who collect and sell them," explains the 19-year-old who is ready to change the game. "India has long overlooked what's within and it's time that we look inwards," adds Digvijay, whose brand sells Kulfi and Orange & Coffee chocolates.
However, the teen chocolatier was aware that such a drastic combination might call for strong reactions." Some chefs thought it was blasphemy to make such combinations but to me that suggested the strong personality of the product," says Digvijay, adding, "I'm not disregarding their experience or their opinion but if you have been institutionalised long enough with French culinary school, and you have seen what works and what's demanded, it becomes difficult for you to give different options a chance. On the other hand, because of this push and pull, there was a great pull towards the other end where people find such combinations intriguing."
In just two years, Ber and Kulfi have become their bestsellers which sell a lot more than coffee and orange flavour. "There are people who are ready to try new flavours out of curiosity, and they have already taken the bet by trying a new brand," says Digvijay who started making chocolate at the age of 16.
Learning chocolate making during the pandemic
When the entire world was locked indoors during the pandemic, Digvijay was keen to start his "gig" and googled recession-proof industries. Apart from edtech, it was chocolate that popped on his screen. "Since I hardly know about technology and less about education, chocolate was something I wanted to try. I started reading about it and even tried a lot of fine chocolates. This got me thinking that it can be a lot different than the artisanal chocolates we find in the country. This idea led to Saraam - which means essence in Sanskrit and Tamil."
A few months later, his cousin Mahaveer Singh joined, and now the two run the venture which began taking shape with the help of YouTube tutorials. Calling it a great start for beginners, their biggest learning came from experimenting and sampling chocolates. "I wouldn't have waited to get a diploma to start making chocolate. I don't think people should wait for an institutional validation to start a venture, as any source of learning can be good enough for a start," says the teen who consulted with many chefs.
Ask him if making chocolate is an easy or complex process, and he quips, "How we make chocolates is different from how Amul or Cadbury's make as theirs would be much more standardised and easier as their recipes are set and they have got big machines. Small manufacturers like us use a wet stone grinder, which is a humble idli grinder from Coimbatore modified into a chocolate melanger of sorts." He adds that it's quite tedious to make chocolate on this small scale because of the precision it requires. "As there are only a few steps to follow, you can go wrong at many steps - be it sourcing or roasting. Since it doesn't have any additives, it can also get affected by the odours around it during storage."
Getting the attention in India and abroad
Five months into learning the art of chocolate making, Saraam bagged its first order from a car dealership after he pitched the idea of customising their packaging for marketing. "I knew we didn't want to grow on that but it could be a good strategy to begin with. Finding first customers in a category that's competitive with many similar-looking chocolates in the market, we knew it would be an uphill task," says Digvijay. Despite being a new brand that works out of the basement, Saraam got tremendous attention from artisanal chocolate lovers in India and abroad. "We were not equipped enough to leverage the kind of attention we got from the NRIs in the US and UK as we weren't equipped enough to deliver it to them. Many people wanted to try it in the stores in their cities, and we couldn't do it," says the teenpreneur who is keen to solve the functional and execution problems.
Saraam sold 20,000 bars of chocolate in 2023, with most of their sales happening during the festive and wedding seasons. "We sell it online, through selected retailers, and send it to a few hotels." The homegrown brand sources its cacao from small farms in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but finding exotic fruits is a challenge. "We have found a few collectors and dehydrators who provide us with the fruits," reveals Digvijay, who is studying Philosophy (H) at Delhi University.
A global brand in the making
Three years into chocolate making, Digvijay has plans of revolutionising the chocolate market and is keen to make something in confectionery that comes especially from India. "We haven't scratched that surface and I think India does have a potential as we grow our cacao."
Ever since its inception, Digvijay has seen Saraam as a global brand. "It doesn't mean we have stores in 200 countries but it's a brand that has global appeal and people anywhere in the world have desires to consume it. There are 4.4 million NRIs and yet are underserved in terms of things that come from India. I want to take Saraam to them," says the teenpreneur who believes the revolution in the chocolate industry is yet to come. "I do look at its global consumption - through online fulfillment or physical presence. This is for the Global Indian rooted in India story," he signs off.
(September 25, 2024) Early this September, British-Indian teen Prisha Tapre found herself fulfilling a dream of hers - swimming across the English Channel. She was 12 when she harboured the dream. Now four years later, she covered a treacherous 21 mile stretch from Dover in the UK to Cap Gris Nez in France, in a span of 11 hours and 48 minutes to become the youngest British Indian to swim across the English Channel. "My dream has come true and it's an experience you can only hear about in the movies and, and actually experiencing it, it just feels amazing," Prisha said in an interview. But her desire to swim across the English Channel wasn't just to make or break a record but the teen saw herself doing one of the most iconic swims to raise funds for a charity. Through her challenge, she raised £3,700 for Akshaya Patra UK, a charity dedicated to ending hunger and child food poverty in India and the UK. [caption id="attachment_39449" align="aligncenter" width="602"] Prisha Tapre[/caption] A goal bigger than her Her family migrated to the UK from Maharashtra, and it was at an early age that Hertfordshire girl fell in love with swimming. However,
Her family migrated to the UK from Maharashtra, and it was at an early age that Hertfordshire girl fell in love with swimming. However, her dream of swimming across the English Channel took root in 2020 when she was 12 years old as wanted to prove to herself that she could do something big. "Before that, I was a normal club swimmer who trained for fun and socialising but I decided to do something bigger for myself," Prisha said. After discussing with her parents, she decided on the English Channel and her coaches directed her towards Jeremy Irvine - her current coach, and "that's when it started."
The English Channel, a stretch of water separating southern England from northern France, is a popular yet challenging route for long-distance swimmers. The narrowest point between Dover and Calais is approximately 21 miles (34 km), but due to strong currents, swimmers often cover much greater distances. The cold water, unpredictable weather, and shipping traffic add to the difficulty of the crossing. Swimmers attempting to cross typically follow strict guidelines, including starting from Dover and landing on the French coast.Often called the Mount Everest of Open Water Swimming, swimming across the English Channel is considered challenging. Uptil now, fewer than 2000 have successfully completed the 20.5-mile swim.
Prisha began her training by swimming one kilometre and later moved to three kilometres. "It used to take me around 25 minutes per lap for 1k around the lake and now I take 15 minutes a lap. So, in four years, I've managed to cut down 10 minutes for 1k which is amazing and then it just shows how far you can go," the teen said.
Initially, she was aiming for 12 hours swim across the English Channel but during the swim, she lost all sense of time. "I came out thinking that I got 15 hours," said Prisha, who swims with Watford Swimming Club. When her coach Jeremy on the boat inquired her about the time she took, she found out that she took 11 hours and 48 minutes, making her quite proud of her performance.
The English Channel challenges
Swimming across the English Channel isn't an easy feat since it requires constant swimming with only minuscule breaks for feed. Her coach calls English Channel, one of the most iconic swims as it is also one of the busiest shipping channels. "The traffic that you get is insane, so hats off to the pilots that navigate us across," he said, adding that Prisha was swimming alongside a fishing boat that was watching the traffic and communicating with everyone the entire time.
In preparing for the swim, she had to get comfortable with a certain degree of discomfort while during the channel swim. She began acclimatisation by starting longer and colder swims. She would sit in a cold bath for 20-minute sessions, just to the point where the body needs to generate its own heat. "It prepares the body and the mind," said Jeremy, who calls hypothermia the biggest challenge in such swims.
Alongside physical strength, it requires mental resilience to swim for 11 hours and 48 minutes. But having been brought up in a spiritual family, Prisha always found her mother, an athlete herself, listening to meditations. It was at age 11 that she too started meditating, and found herself in a better mental space. "My mom gave me this Hare Krishna chant that I often chant during swimming when my head is ever in a bad space. I have realised that your mind is in control of your body." However, the chant did not work during the long swim, instead, she started counting to eight over and over again, which was more like being in a meditative state for her.
But the first two hours of the swim were challenging as it was choppy and dark. "But once the sun came up, I knew I had passed the toughest bit. The water became still, and the conditions were better than I could have asked for her," she said in another interview.
Striking a balance
Prisha's accomplishment is all the more impressive considering how she managed to juggle her demanding training regimen alongside her preparation for GCSE exams. "I was preparing for my exams while striking a balance with my channel swim training. It was really hard as I had to give time to both as I couldn't fall behind on either," said the swimmer who would train for six hours.
Her parents have been the wind beneath her wings as they always encouraged and supported her in her passion. "They inspired me on days that I thought I couldn't do it, and constantly reminded me why I started doing it in the first place."
Representing India and UK
Being a British Indian, Prisha Tapre feels proud to represent India in the UK. "I feel in certain sports there are many Indians who represent their country. So doing a sport where there aren't many Indians, makes me feel really proud that I am able to represent not just myself but an entire country. It gives me hope that one day, other people could do the same," she said, adding, "I want to inspire other people to get into the sport because sometimes when you come into a different country, you might not feel as comfortable doing anything as you would in India. At first, I wasn't as comfortable as I would be in India but then the community that Jeremy introduced me into was so welcoming."
Having raised £3,700 for Akshay Patra, a charity in the UK, Prisha Tapre calls the cause closer to her heart. "In the UK, it provides after-school and in-school meals for children who sometimes won't be able to get meals after school, and in India, it helps children get an education along with mid-day meals which encourages more children to go to school." The cause is close to her heart as she has experienced life in both countries. "I can fast for a day knowing that I will have a meal at the end of the day, But I can't imagine being in a situation where I might not have a meal the next day. Raising money for this charity means a lot to me," she added.
Saurabh Netravalkar in action[/caption]
Saurabh Netravalkar with Cricket Stalwarts in 2013-14[/caption]
Manju Bangalore being crowned as Miss Oregon USA[/caption]
Manju Bangalore at t
Manju Bangalore[/caption]
Manju Bangalore at an event[/caption]
Manju Bangalore with her debut book[/caption]
Ishana Night Shyamalan at the sets of M Night Shyamalan's movie 'Old' (2021)[/caption]
Saraam chocolate[/caption]
Nice Article