Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveOyon Ganguly: Indian American teen’s attempt to conserve and reuse water

Oyon Ganguly: Indian American teen’s attempt to conserve and reuse water

Compiled by: Team GI Youth

(April 12, 2023) It was the viral ALS ice-bucket challenge – wherein participants dump buckets of cold water on each other’s heads – that made the then nine-year-old Oyon Ganguly come up with an idea of a water-recycling device as he was surprised by the terrible waste of water. 10-minute shower wastes 50 gallons of water – this piece of information was enough for this Indian American to come up with The Cleaner – a water recycling prototype that filters water to be re-used in the shower. The invention won this Massachusetts resident Invention Mighty Minds contest, a national-level contest run jointly by the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) which acts as America’s platform for budding young inventors.

“I asked my mom how much water is used in a single shower and I learned that around 50 gallons of water is used in a single use. Multiply that by five people taking 20-minute showers, that’s around 500 gallons,” he said in a YouTube video. This was enough for him to come up with a device that could recycle and reuse water that drains away during a shower. His invention was made inside a strawberry box that held three layers of cleaning material–gravel, sand, and charcoal.

Explaining how his invention works, the Global Indian said in an interview, “When someone takes a shower, the water goes down the drain and through the pipe before it reaches a filter with three layers: gravel, sand, and charcoal. The water, which is now clean and filtered, sits in a storage tank before it gets pumped back up to the bathtub. Because over time, the filter gets clogged, there will be a little door to make sure you get access to the filter.”

The grandson of Bengali novelist and Sahitya Akademi award-winner Sunil Gangopadhyay, Oyon took the help of his friend Mateo Rosado for the filtering process. Oyon reveals that his invention can save both water and money. “Even though the invention can be expensive, it saves the government from spending more money to get water and also reduced your water bill,” he explained in the video.

He credits his mother for making him participate in the Mighty Minds competition. “I went to Camp Invention in Watertown. We build things with recycled materials and my shower model was built mostly with recycled stuff. I spent an hour over two weekends putting together the presentation,” he said.

Oyon has worked on another invention idea – The Space Cleaner – a solar-powered robot with one arm that melts space junk and the other arm vacuums up the melted liquid. The idea for this came to him while watching Apollo 13 with his parents. The Indian American thought to himself, “What happens to everything that’s flying off the ship into space?”

He plans to be one of the three things when he grows up – an inventor, work at Lego, or for Mojang (the company that develops the video game Minecraft).

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Published on 12, Apr 2023

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Indian-teen Yathaarth Murthy croons 260 national anthems, is a 2-time Limca record holder

(January 6, 2021) Singing the Indian national anthem evokes fervour and patriotism. Some hum the British and American ones. Well, not fully, but at least some words! Yet, this Indian boy’s anthem repertoire is something that will take you aback. The 15-year-old Indian anthemologist Yathaarth Murthy is a two-time Limca Book of Records holder for singing the highest number of anthems in the world. He disarms with his eager smile as he shares how he mastered a whopping 260 national anthems – that is how many there are in the world, incidentally! That’s not all, this teen is also an avid environmentalist and was one of the 20 winners of the India 20 Under 20 organised by White Canvas, a mentoring organisation recognised by Niti Ayog. Born and raised in Bengaluru, Yathaarth’s first tryst with anthems happened when his Hindustani classical music teacher tutored him to perform anthems of four countries – India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Japan -- on the keyboard. “That was back in 2014. It got me hooked. I liked the lyrics and wanted to explore more anthems. So, I began researching on YouTube and Wikipedia, and taught myself several more countries’ anthems,” the Indian anthemologist tells Global Indian. Onward on, one anthem at a time Anthem spurting became a passion for the student of Vidyashilp Academy. “It lit a spark and there was no

wp-image-9313 aligncenter" src="https://www.globalindian.com/youth//wp-content/uploads/2022/01/IMG_31791.jpg" alt="Indian Teen | Yathaarth Murthy | Global Indian Youth" width="417" height="640" />

Onward on, one anthem at a time

Anthem spurting became a passion for the student of Vidyashilp Academy. “It lit a spark and there was no turning back,” he says. Soon he was spending hours pouring over anthems of different nations. While he understood the gist of a few, he enjoyed the lyrics and tunes too.

While Yathaarth, the only child of architect parents, found the accents and pronunciation a bit difficult, he kept at it. “The first few tries were difficult. As I continued to practice, I got a hang of the pronunciations too. Before I knew it, I was able to sing more than 100 anthems,” says Yathaarth. Incidentally, the term “anthemologist” was something he coined to describe his unique feat.

[caption id="attachment_9312" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Yathaarth Murthy with Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai[/caption]

It was around this time in 2017, that he told his mother about wanting to apply to the Limca Book of Records. To his surprise, he had in fact made the record. That’s how a young Bengalurean came to hold the Limca record for singing the highest number of anthems – 112 at the time. “When I first picked up learning these various anthems, I didn’t think I’d one day become a record holder or a TEDx speaker,” says the class 10 student. Yet, he soon broke his own record when he learnt all 260 anthems, and once again set a new Limca record in 2019.

Saving the environment, one lake at a time

As a primary school student, Yathaarth used to love watching TedX videos and wanted to be on the hallowed platform himself. His dream soon came true when he was invited to deliver his first TED talk in 2018 at age 12. “My first talk was about my journey as an anthemologist,” says the youth who has so far given four TED talks, the most recent in December 2020. The topics have been varied: environment, anthems, and on pursuing one’s dreams.

After he’d set his second Limca record, Yathaarth wondered, “What next?” “How could I give back to the community and do something meaningful? It was around then that I began learning more and more about the environment and climate change. I watched Greta Thunberg’s speeches. Shortly, I began working in the environment sphere in my own small way,” he adds.

Soon, Yathaarth was holding climate strikes and working on a school project for the World Federation of UN Association which earned him more accolades in 2019. “I worked on a project with four friends. We decided to revive Manae, a 4.5 acre lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The city was once filled with beautiful lakes, but today most are highly polluted or encroached upon,” says the environmentalist, who launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise Rs 8.27 lakh for the lake’s revival. He worked with Anand Malligavad, also known as the Lake Man of India, to revive the lake and would often visit the lake in his free time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IVIcvIMKhU

“When we first visited the lake, we could see the barren lakebed and there was barely any flora and fauna. Today, the lake is thriving and hosts various birds like peacocks, has beautiful flora and is the water source for a neighbouring village,” beams the boy who still visits the lake sometimes. His work to revive this lake earned him a spot on White Canvas’ India 20 Under 20 list.

Making time count

Anthems and the environment apart, Yathaarth Murthy is also a basketball and music lover. As he gears up for his board exams, he has already begun planning for a future as a diplomat representing India at the United Nations. “I’ve chosen sociology, global perspective, history, and environment management, so I can apply to colleges abroad, and work towards working with the UN,” says the teen who spent the better part of the pandemic trying to conduct relief work. From distributing food to the needy through the iCare brigade to organising Housie for a Cause, and diverting funds towards Covid relief, Yathaarth has been busy doing his bit to spread cheer in otherwise dismal times.

Follow Yathaarth Murthy on LinkedIn

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Need for Speed: Racer Nikeetaa Takkale to represent India at 2023 Asia Pacific Rally Championship

(September 24, 2023) Nikeetaa Takkale, a prodigious Pune-based rally driver, has quickly made a mark in the motor racing arena. Within just a year and a half, she amassed over 60 trophies and clinched the title of the fastest driver at the INAC autocross west zone round in 2022. Furthermore, she won the prestigious motorsports award for emerging Indian women in 2022. In a true display of grit, during the Nagaland rally, she overcame severe challenges to secure third place in the Junior INRC. On the international front, Nikeetaa is gearing up to represent India as the sole female driver at the 2023 Asia Pacific Rally Championship. During a brief visit to her hometown, Pune, in 2021, Nikeetaa Takkale was attending an autocross event when she met the person who would change the course of her life. “That’s where I met Chetan Shivram (sir) for the very first time,” she tells Global Indian. “He wanted me to drive the autocross just for fun. My dad encouraged me to try as well and I decided to take part.” She ended up winning nine trophies and the best amateur laurel, on her first attempt. That sparked a passion for motorsports in

up winning nine trophies and the best amateur laurel, on her first attempt. That sparked a passion for motorsports in the already athletic Nikeetaa Takkale.

A prolific and accomplished sportsperson growing up, Nikeetaa Takkale shifted gears for a while, to study BBA and Cosmetology, before following her dreams in racing. In school, Takkale was an award-winning athlete, with 36 medals in the 400 meters, 100 meters and sprint to her credit. She played football too, and won a trophy for best football player’. After completing her IB in 12^th in an international school, she did her BBA from MIT college along with fashion design from INIFD apart from a cosmetology course from Lakme academy.

Accolades Galore

There was no looking back for Nikeetaa after that triumphant first race. She has been in motorsports for a very short time, but has won over 60 trophies in the last year and a half. In 2022, she bagged the fastest driver trophy in the INAC autocross west zone, and in the same year, won her first motorsports award for ‘emerging Indian women in motorsports’. “The very important people behind my success are my parents and Chetan Sir who have always kept me motivated whether I win or not,” she says. “These awards have always made me do better day by day and I have kept improving and am making sure that I collect many more awards in the coming years.”

Now, Nikeetaa is gearing up for the international circuit and is in training for the Asia Pacific round. She will be the only Indian woman in 2023 to represent the country in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. In a short span, she has completed Pune Time Attack Autocross, Pune Auto Prix, Coorg Autocross, Hyderabad Indian National Autocross Championship, Pune Indian National Autocross Championship, and K1000 rally, among others.

On Track

The racetrack is an unforgiving place, filled with challenges. “Every rally has been a learning process. On many occasions, my car has broken down during the race but I always make it a point to finish,” says Nikeetaa. She recalls an experience in Nagaland, for instance, as she participated in her second rally. “Everything was new to me, from the route to the terrain. I was very new to motorsports and day one was fantastic as the timings were good.” Day two started off well too, but as she neared the final stage, the car’s steering wheel broke. “I was not able to drive because the steering wheel was moving around everywhere and it was a downhill section,” she says.

Nikeetaa continued to drive downhill without reducing speed, clinging to the steering wheel with one hand because she knew she could make a podium finish and was determined to finish the rally. “Then my key broke and I opened my car’s bonnet to start it through wires because I had not carried my spare key with me.” She called her tuner and explained the situation to him and followed his instructions to start the car. Despite all these challenges, she didn’t just finish the rally, she placed third at the Junior Indian National Rally Championship (INRC). “This experience gave me confidence and I have learnt that no matter what, it is important to never give up,” smiles the determined young driver.

Training Hard

Each rally is preceded by rigorous training. Nikeetaa drives her rally car to get used to it and hone her skills. “For the Asia Pacific cup, I am training very hard, I have been learning new skills, techniques and getting used to high-speed turns. I am very excited for the APRC round and am hoping for a very good result. My upcoming Coimbatore rally will be fun and it is very new for me because this will be my first time in Coimbatore and I am hoping it will be a successful one,” Nikeetaa explains.

Future Perfect

When she has no rallies, she likes to shop and travel. At home, she likes to spend time with family chilling with her favourite coffee. She also likes learning new things as she believes she is a person who cannot remain idle.

Nikeetaa admits that her racing career is most important to her and as her parents have always travelled with her, she really does not feel the pressure to juggle her personal and professional life. She adds, “Racing has taught me to never give up, no matter what and be competitive. Dedication is the key to success. As I have been very successful in such a short time frame, I would advise aspiring racers to always keep trying because not every day will be yours. One must win and one must lose but the day you lose will be the day you will start winning. Always keep trusting yourself and be dedicated to what you are doing. You will be rewarded for your efforts one day that will make you see the kind of success that you would have never imagined.” Apart from the upcoming Asia Pacific Cup, she wants to drive in the World Rally Championship which is her biggest dream in motorsports. Until then it is time to cheer this youngster as she steers her way in a trajectory that few have tread – and done so successfully.

Follow Nikeetaa Takkale on Instagram

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Dev Sharma: British-Indian teen championing food poverty activism

(April 16, 2023) "Let's clarify, we did not cause the current climate disaster, but we are facing the health effects — even if we may not have started this catastrophe, we must be the ones to resolve it. We'll demand answers from the producers of fossil fuels." That's how the 17-year-old British Indian Dev Sharma addressed the House of Commons, calling for swift action on climate change to prevent its adverse impacts on health. Being one of the 250 members of the Youth Parliament from across the UK who were invited to debate on topics related to health in the chamber, Dev took the opportunity to raise his voice against food poverty. "We look at you and ask why we don't have clean air to breathe, why huge parts of the world have drowned (and) why you don’t act,” asked Dev. The young activist has been a powerful voice for youth on issues like holiday hunger and free school meals. At age 15, the young MP for Leicestershire won the Diana Award for food activism. [caption id="attachment_29292" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Dev Sharma is young MP from Leicestershire[/caption] An active voice in the world of food poverty, he has been a vocal

/dev2.jpg" alt="Dev Sharma | Global Indian" width="720" height="480" /> Dev Sharma is young MP from Leicestershire[/caption]

An active voice in the world of food poverty, he has been a vocal campaigner on the influence of junk food advertising on young people, especially on social media. "I feel like I'm being bombarded with junk food ads on my phone and computer, and it's overwhelming. They are everywhere, popping up when we're watching videos, when I’m gaming with friends, and we don’t have an escape, especially not at the moment when we are living on our screens. It’s an overwhelming rising tide of advertising, I and every other young person need support. The health of one in three children is already at risk from the food they eat," he wrote on The Food Foundation website.

That's when he began the campaign to ban junk food advertising online, starting an online open letter campaign to Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock so that young people in his community could choose the food they wanted without the nonstop corporate pressure. After a few years of campaigning which he found the support of celebrities like Jamie Oliver, he was successful in getting the government to ban junk food advertising online in June 2021. Dev, who is from the Rushey Mead area of Leicester, currently works as the chair of Bite Back 2030, a youth-led movement, working towards fighting for children's health and revolutionising the food industry.

[caption id="attachment_29293" align="aligncenter" width="672"] Dev Sharma won the UK Parliament Award[/caption]

It was while studying for his GCSE exams in 2021 that Dev recognised that he was being bombarded with fast food advertisements on YouTube, promoting unhealthy eating habits. This inspired him to liaise with his team at Bite Back to launch a national campaign to put an end to the adverts. "After research found that 15 billion ads were being seen by children and young people, there was a consultation launched by the Government to ban junk food. The Government asked for the public's opinion on the matter. But I felt like the voices of young people weren’t really being heard. So, I wanted to do something about it," he said in an interview.

He wrote to the then health secretary Matt Hancock requesting a ban on such advertising. "Each time a member of the public signed the letter, an automatic email would be sent directly to the Health Secretary. Because we got so many signatures, Mr. Hancock's emails were flooded with emails supporting our cause," he said, adding, "This led to the Government agreeing to meet with us and our campaign reached the House of Commons. The government agreed that these adverts were harmful. And so, they agreed to ban junk food adverts."

Even during the pandemic, he put his campaigning skills to use when the UK was under lockdown and the schools were closed and children went without their free school meals. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he shared his views with the media, met with Government Ministers, and even supported footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford in his advocacy campaign to end child food poverty. Thanks to these efforts, more than one million people signed the petition to support the cause, and it led to some important policy changes - the UK government extended free school meals over the holidays.

Recently, he spoke at the UN Food Systems Summit, and Global Obesity Summit in New York and switched on Leicester’s Diwali Lights, the largest celebration of Diwali outside India.

Follow Dev Sharma on his website, Twitter and LinkedIn

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Dev Shah: 2023 Scripps Spelling Bee Champion

(Jun 9, 2023) Carrying forward the legacy set by 26 Indian origin teens before him, Dev Shah, an eighth-grader from Florida, is the 2023 winner of the prestigious Scripps Spelling Bee. After three years of dedicated study and navigating numerous setbacks, Shah outperformed 230 participants to lift the coveted cup. The win also comes with a cash prize of $50,000 and a commemorative medal. Shah had to prove his mettle through 14 challenging rounds. He made it, though, spelling his way through tricky words like ‘probouleutic’, ‘schistorrhachis’, and ‘zwitterion’ to emerge the winner. The teenager appeared dazed as he lifted the cup, remarking, “It’s surreal. My legs are still shaking.” [caption id="attachment_30887" align="aligncenter" width="710"] Dev Shah, 2023 Scripps Spelling Bee Champion[/caption] The word that secured victory It was the word ‘psammophile’ that determined Dev’s win. Although the smile on his face showed his confidence, he asked for all the details first - definition (it’s an organism that thrives in sandy areas), part of speech, orthography and usage in a sentence, before venturing the spelling. Later in an interview with NDTV, he remarked, “I expected to spell it correctly because I had studied it before.” In another interview he

0"] Dev Shah, 2023 Scripps Spelling Bee Champion[/caption]

The word that secured victory

It was the word ‘psammophile’ that determined Dev’s win. Although the smile on his face showed his confidence, he asked for all the details first - definition (it’s an organism that thrives in sandy areas), part of speech, orthography and usage in a sentence, before venturing the spelling. Later in an interview with NDTV, he remarked, “I expected to spell it correctly because I had studied it before.” In another interview he mentioned, “I was confident, I knew it”.

On the day of the championship, before his fate was determined, the teenager had to endure one final commercial break. “That was the most nerve-wracking experience, and Charlotte (the runner up) and I just talked about what’s going to happen next,” he said. When the final question was posed it took him just 45 seconds to seal his win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbXa6YIQFCw

Though Indian-origin teens have ruled the roost in Scripps Spelling Bee championship in the United States, Dev brought the first victory to his state, Florida since 1999. A resident of Largo, near St Petersburg, he wanted to win the championship anyhow as it was his fourth attempt and the last chance.

Not an overnight success

Dev’s win has been a culmination of years of commitment. He participated in 2019 and came in at the 51st rank, then fell to 76 in 2021. Even in 2022, he did not progress beyond the regional competition in his home state and the cup went to another Indian-origin teen, Harini Logan.

In an interview just after the win, the Global Indian said, “As my parents rushed on stage to embrace me, it reinforced my belief that I should never give up.” Being in eighth grade, this was his final year to compete. Seeing other kids winning over the years inspired him and kept him motivated to keep trying despite the previous results in which he was slipping down in ranking year after year.

Talking about his predecessors, the 14-year-old said, “If they could do it, I could do it too, I had been telling myself.” During the past year he devoted 10 hours of study every day to perform his best in the final year of his attempt.

Inspirations of life

The teenager, who is a fan of tennis champ Roger Federer, and the movie ‘La La Land’, looks at his grandmother as his biggest inspiration. “I am very close to my grandmother. She’s been an inspiration to me and I am very grateful to her for coming here. She’s been a great part of every moment from beginning to end,” he said talking about his spelling bee journey.

His parents were the first to notice Dev’s remarkable memory. When he was only three years old, Dev became fascinated with a geography programme on their iPad. They saw he had a streak of curiosity and channelled his urge to learn and explore into a fascination for spelling and words. His father became his first coach.

[caption id="attachment_30888" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Dev Shah with his family, minutes after the win on the spell bee stage[/caption]

Dev secured his win in the 2023 championship under the guidance of his coach, Scott Remer, while his parents who gave him confidence to keep going despite slipping below in ranks in his previous three attempts.

Life ahead

This year the youngster has left behind two big stressors – middle school and the spelling bee. Hogging the limelight for the time-being he is looking forward to start doing the ‘normal stuff’ with friends like before. Upon his return to Florida from Maryland where the competition was held the youngster seemed happy to see not just family and friends but also his previous and current school’s teachers waiting eagerly to welcome him.

“I am glad to be back,” said the champion who wishes to be a neuro-surgeon as well as an engineer with little clue whether he would be able to pursue both. He is all set to start as a freshman at Largo High School, soon.

When reporters asked him tips to remember spellings, he had a playful reply. “Now we have spellcheck so you don’t have to worry about your spelling,” he smiled, while the crowd gathered to welcome him at the airport giggled. They were carrying a banner with 'psammophile,' written on it - the word that Dev spelled correctly for the win.

[caption id="attachment_30889" align="aligncenter" width="832"] Dev Shah received a warm welcome in his home state, Florida[/caption]

No mean feat

This year it was the 95th year of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. It began with about 11 million students in grades 8 and younger who competed in local and regional spelling bee competitions to qualify.

The final championship welcomed 231 spellers from the United States and its territories - Canada, Ghana, and The Bahamas. After competing in quarterfinals and the semi-final rounds held on May 30 and May 31, the competition narrowed down to 11 finalists who competed on the night of June 1, 2023 in a live event.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Anil Kumar Reddy, Sandeep Sharma and Sarang Bobade: Revolutionising the mode of giving through Donatekart

(April 6, 2024) While volunteering during the relief efforts for the 2015 Chennai floods, Anil Kumar Reddy found out that although many people donate goods, their contributions don’t really align with the actual necessities on the ground. It sparked the inception of Donatekart, a platform where donors don't simply give away anything or donate money in the traditional sense, but instead shop for specific items requested by nonprofits, as per the actual requirements of the ground. At the time, Anil was pursuing engineering at the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in Nagpur. He made the bold decision to forego a campus job offer from a grocery-tech startup to pursue his social entrepreneurship journey with his venture Donatekart. His friends Sandeep Sharma and Sarang Bobade joined the initiative with a shared purpose, and together, the trio achieved great milestones while positively impacting lives. [caption id="attachment_37036" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Anil Kumar Reddy, founder, Donatekart[/caption] Founded in August 2016, the social enterprise secured ₹25.5 million in seed funding from a consortium of investors led by LetsVenture in its third year. In 2022, Anil, Sandeep, and Sarang were featured in the Forbes 30Under30 list in the social entrepreneurship category. The social enterprise has begun expanding

ocial enterprise secured ₹25.5 million in seed funding from a consortium of investors led by LetsVenture in its third year. In 2022, Anil, Sandeep, and Sarang were featured in the Forbes 30Under30 list in the social entrepreneurship category. The social enterprise has begun expanding internationally with a campaign for the Turkey earthquake in 2023 that killed more than 40,000 people.

The Donatekart model

Donatekart's business model revolves around facilitating donations of supplies that meet the specific needs of beneficiaries. The social enterprise assists nonprofits in launching crowd-sourcing campaigns and outlining the precise products they require, ranging from grocery kits to medical supplies, construction materials, stationery, and educational digital devices.

“When we saw the problem while volunteering for the Chennai floods as students, we realised that no one else has built any solution around the problem. As budding engineers, we felt our idea was good enough to start off as we would be the first people to work in this space.” remarked Anil in an interview with Forbes.

Donors can choose from any products listed on the campaign page while donating to their favourite cause. The donors add their supplies to their online shopping cart the way they do in their other shopping sprees.

[caption id="attachment_37037" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Sandeep Sharma, CMO and Cofounder, Donatekart[/caption]

Donatekart procures the products, delivers them straight to the NGOs without any monetary transactions with them, and furnishes reports to donors detailing the utilization of funds.

Given that these items are typically acquired in large quantities, the enterprise garners an average commission of 10-15 percent per transaction, constituting its primary revenue stream. Additionally, donors have the option to contribute to six percent of their donation value to the platform.

“If you look at the percentage of the population giving to charities in India, it's less than 30 percent but if you look at developed countries like the US and the UK, it's over 70 percent. So, we believe that with our transparent product donation model we can bring in every individual to contribute at least two percent of their annual income to various charitable causes.” Sandeep remarked.

Milestones and expansions

2019 was an eventful year for the social entrepreneurs. Apart from earning Rs 25.5 million in seed funding from a consortium of investors like Shanti Mohan, founder of LetsVenture and former cricketer Yuvraj Singh, the team was invited by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2021, the social entrepreneurs were thrilled to surpass the one billion mark by successfully raising over $1 billion worth of products with support from five lakh donors. Amid the second wave of Covid that same year, they raised $300 million worth of medical products."

[caption id="attachment_37038" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Sarang Bopade, CEO and Cofounder, Donatekart[/caption]

Last year, the social entrepreneurs extended their efforts beyond India to provide rapid disaster response for the Turkey earthquake, which impacted thousands of lives.

“We aim to be a market leader in retail giving across sectors and causes,” remarked Sandeep.

So far, Anil, Sandeep, and Sarang have successfully raised over ₹200 crore impacting more than 1400 NGOs through over 5000 campaigns and counting.

More than 50 brands and companies have partnered with Donatekart on their philanthropic and CSR journey. Additionally, several celebrities have come forward to lend a helping hand and start fundraisers on Donatekart.

The trio

Coincidentally, all three - Anil, Sarang, and Sandeep are currently 28 years old. Apart from Donatekart, Anil Kumar Reddy and Sandeep Sharma are also co-founders of Devaseva. The startup organises authentic pujas online based on the Vedic calendar on auspicious days throughout the year, providing devotees an opportunity to participate in sacred rituals from their homes if they find organising a puja for every occasion challenging.

While Anil and Sandeep were batchmates at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in Nagpur, Sarang Bopade pursued his bachelor’s at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. They received the Nasscom Social Innovation award in 2018.

[caption id="attachment_37039" align="aligncenter" width="506"] Anil Kumar Reddy, Sandeep Sharma, and Sarang Bobade | Photo Credit: Forbes[/caption]

Looking at future with hope

The social entrepreneurs view Donatekart's growth as a reflection of the increasing trend in online crowdfunding.

“If you look 10 years back, people did not know what crowdfunding or crowdsourcing was.” Anil remarked. “A lot has changed in the last 10 years mostly because of the mobile penetration and the financial inclusion that has happened. Today more than 350 million people do online transactions on a daily basis. On Donatekart we have one million people who have donated to one or the other cause. Our goal is to reach 50 million donors in the next five or 10 years down the line,” he added, looking at the future with hope.

Follow Anil Kumar Reddy, Sandeep Sharma, and Sarang Bobade on LinkedIn
To know more about Donatekart visit its website

Reading Time: 5 mins

Oyon Ganguly: Indian American teen’s attempt to conserve and reuse water

Compiled by: Team GI Youth

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ALSO READ

Indian-teen Yathaarth Murthy croons 260 national anthems, is a 2-time Limca record holder

Onward on, one anthem at a time

Saving the environment, one lake at a time

Making time count

Need for Speed: Racer Nikeetaa Takkale to represent India at 2023 Asia Pacific Rally Championship

Accolades Galore

On Track

Training Hard

Future Perfect

Dev Sharma: British-Indian teen championing food poverty activism

Dev Shah: 2023 Scripps Spelling Bee Champion

The word that secured victory

Not an overnight success

Inspirations of life

Life ahead

No mean feat

Anil Kumar Reddy, Sandeep Sharma and Sarang Bobade: Revolutionising the mode of giving through Donatekart

The Donatekart model

Milestones and expansions

The trio

Looking at future with hope