Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveSeher Taneja: The teen innovator on a mission to revolutionise healthcare

Seher Taneja: The teen innovator on a mission to revolutionise healthcare

Written by: Charu Thakur

(June 7, 2022) For a young seventh grader, losing seven close family members to heart ailments within a year was a traumatising experience. Her grief soon turned into a quest to discover the root cause. The findings led to a startling revelation – the lack of heart donors. The obliviousness towards organ donation as a whole prompted Seher Taneja to start Abhigyata in 2018. “When I started researching, I didn’t know much about organ donation, and I realised I wasn’t the only one. On digging deep, I found that for every 50,000 heart transplants needed, we don’t even get 10. It shook me, and I decided to create awareness,” Seher tells Global Indian. What began as a dialogue with family and friends has now turned into a movement of sorts that has reached over 10,000 people.

Her first presentation was at her school (Springdales, Delhi) to “plant the seed of organ donation in young minds.” The 17-year-old believes that it’s important to change the mindset from a young age. Calling the problem deep-rooted, the teen changemaker says that talking about death is almost considered blasphemy. “There is so much stigma around death that it isn’t easy to make people open up to the idea of organ donation,” adds the Diana Award winner.

Seher Taneja

Personal tragedy led to a mission

Born to a paediatrician father and an anaesthesiologist mother, Seher comes from a family of doctors. However, the tragedy that struck home led her on a mission to create awareness on organ donation. “I knew I needed to be well-read and well-versed on the topic, I couldn’t misstate facts. That’s when I came across a program by Dr Smita Mishra,” reveals Seher who calls Mishra her mentor as she helped her understand the myths and the statistics around organ donation. “I started with high school students between 9th and 12 grade. But by 2019, I wanted to create a ripple effect, that’s when I came up with a proper plan to reach out to different schools in Delhi,” says the changemaker, who began building a team with an army of volunteers. Covid-19 took Abhigyata online to a larger audience in 2020. “Our first webinar had Vasanthi Ramesh, the director of NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), and Pallavi Kumar of MOHAN (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) as the speakers. The session was aimed at helping youngsters clear their doubts and also to bust myths around organ donation,” says Class 12 student who also collaborated with various NGOs during that time. “With the pandemic taking a toll on mental health, the webinar was a blessing in disguise as it helped me channelise my energy into something productive,” says the teenager who won the Student Leadership Award 2020 by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics.

Empowering youth during the pandemic

The initiative led her to win the Diana Award in 2021 along with the Tale of Humankind. Started in 2019 to engage and empower the youth, it has worked on 10 campaigns so far ranging from mental health to climate change to menstruation and gender equality. “We are bridging the gap between where we are and where we want to be, with the help and guidance of experts from their respective fields. We want to bring a sense of purpose in youngsters with our initiative,” says Seher, who has learnt to be more empathetic in the process. The innovator adds that the years have made her more accountable for her actions toward the planet.

Innovator at heart

The social changemaker is an innovator at heart. A STEM girl, Seher has a handful of innovations to her credit including the mobile toilet – a sensor-based automated technology to improve sanitation in an eco-friendly manner. But it was SWAR – smart gloves that convert sign language into text and voice – that earned her a spot in the Top 20 at the ATL Tinkering Marathon 2019 and was later selected for Atal Incubation Centre’s Student Innovator Program 3.0. Again, SWAR was conceptualised at home where she witnessed her grandfather struggling with hearing loss. “He was retreating into a shell and was uncomfortable making any conversation. To help him, I started researching more on it and found startling facts in 2018. India is home to 18 million people with hearing impairments with only 250 interpreters. Since the majority doesn’t understand sign language, it creates a divide,” explains Seher who wanted to bridge the gap with her prototype. “The sensors on the gloves help convert sign language into text and speech by using a smartphone,” describes the teenager who has filed for the patent.

The idea didn’t just impress commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal, it also found her a place in Startup India. “I am reaching out to corporate companies. SWAR will be launched in the market soon,” says an excited Seher who is moving to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. With an aim to revolutionise the healthcare sector, she plans to launch her startup in near future. “It’s time we stop blaming the people in power and become a shareholder in bringing about change,” says the innovator, who loves chilling with her parents and friends.

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Published on 07, Jun 2022

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Tamil-British girl, Nila Varman bags BBC award for best student radio presenter and the Diana award 2022

(August 13, 2022) British Broadcasting Corporation, one of the world's oldest broadcasters and the name that enjoys a massive global reputation recognised Nila Varman as the best student radio presenter in the whole of the United Kingdom in 2021. The UK-born and raised youngster has also spent some years of her high school in Singapore. Growing up in two very diverse countries, Nila experienced the different cultural aspects of the world very early in her life. She channelised her sweet-sour experiences to establish a strong message for the world through her radio show - The Nila Extract. [caption id="attachment_20770" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Nila Varman, award-winning radio show host[/caption] Giving voice to marginalised communities The radio show has brought her critical acclaim, a loyal audience, and of course, two very prestigious awards among many others. “I started my show to help people from marginalised communities to have a platform where they can be heard,” Nila tells Global Indian, connecting from London. “As I can’t speak about every community, I invite advocates, activists, and celebrities from various indigenous ethnicities from all over the world on my radio show to talk about issues that are considered taboo,” she adds. “I felt it's important to normalise

target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Indian, connecting from London. “As I can’t speak about every community, I invite advocates, activists, and celebrities from various indigenous ethnicities from all over the world on my radio show to talk about issues that are considered taboo,” she adds.

“I felt it's important to normalise these things,” remarks the master’s student of King’s College, London.

Apart from the two prestigious awards, The Nila Extract fetched her the recognition of Spotify New Wave for being the top 10 podcasters in the UK on the streaming app. Frontline 50, a charity organisation in Britain recognised her radio show for the Frontline 50 awards as top ten shows in the country that are creating a social change.

Discrimination within and outside the diaspora

Radio shows and podcasts enjoy a universal appeal and Nila feels great about the fact that they offer opportunities to learn and educate about issues that need to be brought up in the open.

“I have experienced discrimination from people who do not look like me and even within the brown community and other south Asian people. There is so much discrimination and taboo within the Indian community as well,” feels Nila. Dismayed about how people ask about caste even now, Nila adds, “While growing up I thought I was alone but when I started speaking to so many people, I now know that it’s a universal issue.”

Instead of making The Nila Extract, a run-of-the-mill serious discussion forum, Nila often adds a light-hearted and funny take to matters and also highlights the relevant latest news in the sphere.

Keeping thousands of listeners hooked

Through her once-a-week award-winning radio show, Nila has been amplifying awareness about pressing social topics that get neglected in mainstream media and public discourses, enjoying an audience from ‘across the world.’

The 21-year-old has impressive associations lined up with BBC both as a co-host and guest. By the end of this year, she would be teaming up with BBC Radio Nottingham as a co-host for a short segment in a fortnightly programme. The trusted young guest speaker of the broadcasting company that is synonymous with perfection, informs “I am quite often invited to BBC to speak as a guest speaker on social issues, student affairs or current affairs.”

Her love for speaking comes from experiences as a tour guide

Nila’s family shifted to Singapore from Manchester when she was in the final years of high school. Radio was nowhere in her mind then but the love to interact with people saw her donning the hat of a tour guide at the Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

As she has always loved interactions, it was a beautiful experience for more than two years when she showed the zoo around to tourists. “It has helped me as a radio presenter,” she says with a smile. If she would have not forayed into the media space, she would have been a zoologist believes Nila because she “absolutely is in love with animals.”

As a part of getting into the role, she had undergone training and was tested on her knowledge of exotic animals. Feeding the animals, and holding workshops for children were also some tasks that she delved into apart from leading the guided tours. With rich experiences like this and some uneasy experiences of discrimination as a student for three years there, Nila returned to the UK for her higher studies while her parents still work there.

“As a south Indian I faced more discrimination in Singapore than in the UK,” she says. But at the same time, Nila is grateful to both the countries for offering good professional and travelling opportunities to her family.

Women and children's health

Nila is pursuing her master's in women and children’s health because she strongly feels that societal discrimination is a big cause of mortality rates in women. “Women of colour have higher mortality rates compared to white women as they are discriminated during treatments in western countries,” she remarks.

The young broadcaster thinks that societal discrimination against women affects their hospitalisation and sanitation needs in non-white countries as well. “They have to go through high-risk pregnancies and many other fatal health problems,” says the thoughtful youngster who is a regular contributor to the Brown Girl Magazine in the UK. She is on the board of Tending the Garden – a non-profit organisation that helps in the healing process of sexual assault survivors.

For the youngster with the gift of gab and extended family in Chennai, UK is home having been born and brought up there. She loves learning about the rich heritage of India and speaks Tamil fluently. So engrossed does The Nila Extract presenter gets in researching about and giving voice to pressing social issues that she often forgets to take a break.

Follow Nila Varman on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and her website
Listen to the The Nila Extract on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Audible, and Pocket Casts

Reading Time: 5 mins

Changemaker Shloka Ashok is ensuring students her age land internships

(April 11, 2023) Studying in X standard, 16-year-old Shloka Ashok wanted to intern at a company that could help her enhance her knowledge and also gains the experience of working in an organisation. Talented, and a brilliant student, the youngster made a list of companies she wanted to work at and started sending internship applications to each one. The trouble was, no one wanted to hire a 16-year-old. While, a year later, the changemaker managed to get an internship through her parents, she couldn't help thinking that she didn't get the internship through her merit. And that is what got her motivated to start her platform, InternMee. The online platform connects high school students with companies offering internships, leadership, and volunteering opportunities. "Our mission is to give students access to the right network, exposure to various careers and opportunities, and ultimately accelerate their journeys into the work world. Our platform is ideal for mid-size to large companies, student-run organisations, start-ups, and NGOs across sectors," the young changemaker said. Enabling over 11000 students through her portal, Shloka recently received the prestigious Diana Award for her contribution towards empowering the world's youth. "I am immensely grateful to receive The Diana Award and

portunities, and ultimately accelerate their journeys into the work world. Our platform is ideal for mid-size to large companies, student-run organisations, start-ups, and NGOs across sectors," the young changemaker said.

Enabling over 11000 students through her portal, Shloka recently received the prestigious Diana Award for her contribution towards empowering the world's youth. "I am immensely grateful to receive The Diana Award and be part of a global community of young, inspirational changemakers. This international award cements my belief that young people have the power to change the world and the recognition not only provides the validation that every young changemaker needs, but also acts as a driving force to do more," the Global Indian expressed, soon after receiving the award.

Driven and passionate

Since a young age, Shloka has been driven and focussed on doing something productive daily. A brilliant student, the changemaker has won several laurels over the years. However, it was quite disheartening for the youngster when she couldn't get any internship, despite being eligible. "Back in 2020, just when COVID-19 hit, I was keen to pursue a meaningful internship during my summer vacation. My research led me nowhere, and my parents used their contacts to help me. But I felt it was unfair as they did not gauge my skills and I was hired purely based on their recommendation," the changemaker said.

While several other students might have dismissed the incident, it got Shloka thinking about how difficult it would be for students whose parents didn't have such a big network. "There are many students who would want to do their internship and look for different companies but are helpless as they don't get an opportunity anywhere. I began thinking about students in India and abroad who might not get beyond the classroom opportunities to gain new skills and understand their true capabilities," she shared.

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While she wanted to do something to help the other student, she didn't know what or where to begin. "I conducted a survey among 350 students across the globe and found out that 95 percent of them were thinking to do an internship, but didn't know what to do," said the changemaker, who after reviewing several survey applications, decided to start a platform to allow these young minds an insight into potential career paths, enabling them to explore their interests and aptitudes in search of their ikigai.

Standing up for a noble cause

In December 2020, Shloka launched InternMee - which is purely for students and run by students. "The type of internships that students want to take up and the connections they want to make do matter for their future. Through InternMee, we connect students with start-ups as well as NGOs or social initiatives that they'd be interested in volunteering for. We also connect them with other student-run organisations. All this is for free and we don't charge a single rupee for connecting students and companies," she said.

I am grateful to receive the @DianaAward This award cements my belief that young people have the power to change the world. I aim to continue working towards creating equitable opportunities & this award has motivated me to dream bigger & take on more social responsibilities(1/3) pic.twitter.com/PKgqwW3XUP

— Shloka Ashok (@shloka_ashok) July 2, 2022

So, how does the platform works? Students have to just sign up on the platform and gain access to a range of internship opportunities across fields. They can apply to postings that interest them and the applications would be sent to the concerned organisation, which would evaluate candidates before choosing to offer them the position. "We don't charge the companies either on our platform. But what we have started monetising is the partnerships or collaborations that we post on our website and Instagram page," she said. The platform has over 35,000 students registered, from over 85 countries and was featured in the top 10 internship search websites by a recent survey.

Going forward the young changemaker plans to leverage InternMee, to open doors to the less privileged, by building a focussed track for students in government schools. "I aim to continue working towards creating equitable opportunities and receiving The Diana Award has motivated me to dream bigger and take on more social responsibilities. We are in discussion with some NGOs and see this as one of the future paths for our organisation," she expressed.

Follow Shloka Ashok on Instagram

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Arpit Dhupar: Saving environment by turning rice stubble into biodegradable packaging

(February 8, 2024) Each year, Delhi/NCR greets the sunrise under a heavy smog blanket, pushing the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) into the alarming red zone. This concerning situation is a result of the burning of crop residues in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, which contributes to 26 percent of the capital's air pollution. This led IIT grads Arpit Dhupar and Anand Bodh to form Dharaksha - a startup that specialises in converting rice stubble into biodegradable packaging. Started in 2019, the deep-tech startup uses a biotechnology process to produce packaging material capable of biodegrading within 60 days under standard soil conditions. [caption id="attachment_35688" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Arpit Dhupar[/caption] It all began when an innocent drawing from his nephew made Arpit think hard. A typical scenery painting had all the elements - the sun, the mountains, the sky, and birds - but the sky was coloured grey as opposed to the blue that took him aback. "We shouldn’t live in a world where we have to explain to kids that the sky should be painted blue. It should be a given," the Forbes 30 Under 30 said in an interview. The painting gave him some food for thought, and

dn’t live in a world where we have to explain to kids that the sky should be painted blue. It should be a given," the Forbes 30 Under 30 said in an interview. The painting gave him some food for thought, and he began building a startup that could help keep the skies blue.

It was during his sabbatical from work that he travelled through the remote villages of Punjab and Haryana to understand the grim issue of stubble burning. Upon his interactions with locals, he found that farmers were keen to get rid of the leftover crop as it was of no use to them. Due to high moisture, they can't be used for fuel as well. So he came up with the idea of using baler machines to compress and stack the stubble and began working on Dharaksha with Anand Bodh. To solve the stubble-burning crisis, he decided to use mushrooms to degrade the stubble, which led him to conceive a biodegradable material like thermocol. Arpit realised that harvesting mushrooms on the stubble gave strength to the structure. "This wasn’t a waste material but could be a usable one. Through bio fabrication, we could use the stubble waste to create a material similar to thermocol, but one that was biodegradable," he added.

Upon some research, he found that thermocol is worse than plastic, and burning it releases toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and about 90 different hazardous chemicals. "It's shocking how little conversation there is around this material." Explaining the process, he says that once the stubble makes it to the factory, it's sterilised and the mushroom culture is added. "The mycelium grows, forming a sort of interlocked structure that holds the material in place. This makes it strong, so no resin needs to be added. The mix is then put into the oven, where the mushrooms are neutralised," he elaborated.

This led to the making of a packaging material that's flameproof and can endure high moisture conditions. Interestingly, each piece of material produced helps prevent 250 tonnes of thermocol from making it into landfills. "We have formed internal software and processes which enables us to keep track of each unit produced from Day 0 till the end of its life cycle. Each unit produced holds a separate identity in our systems. We manufacture 20,000 pieces per month currently and are scaling up 5x in the next few months," said Anand, adding that companies like Dabur, V-Guard, Pernod Ricard, Nestle, Fyllo, Gourmet Jars are their customers.

"I started the venture with the aim of making the skies blue. I feel satisfied that we are making a difference,” he added.

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Vinusha MK: The little entrepreneur’s sweet and savoury journey of Four Seasons Pastry

(November 22, 2022) When as a nine-year-old, Vinusha MK, was seeking an internship in baking and approached hotels and bakeries, she was turned down by all, owing to her age. It was Nina Reddy, joint managing director of Savera Hotel, the oldest four-star hotel in Chennai who recognised the passion and talent in the kid and agreed to her request. Now at 12, Chennai girl, Vinusha has been an entrepreneur for the last three years, running her business venture, Four Seasons Pastry profitably, selling 5000+ cupcakes, and other confectionery until now. [caption id="attachment_24485" align="aligncenter" width="707"] Vinusha MK[/caption] It was in 2019 that she established her business, and since then the young entrepreneur has not looked back. Such is the expertise that she has developed in both baking and entrepreneurship that the class seven student gets invited to address college students who are much older than her. “I have recently been to Vellore Institute of Technology and PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore to address food technology and retail management students,” she tells Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_24477" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Vinusha during a talk at VIT[/caption] The journey of baking Talking about how it all began, Vinusha remarks, “A few years

o are much older than her. “I have recently been to Vellore Institute of Technology and PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore to address food technology and retail management students,” she tells Global Indian.

[caption id="attachment_24477" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Vinusha during a talk at VIT[/caption]

The journey of baking

Talking about how it all began, Vinusha remarks, “A few years ago I had developed a keen interest in watching videos on baking and one day on my mother’s birthday tried making a cake in a pressure cooker. Surprisingly, it turned out well.” This successful experiment in the kitchen built great confidence in her to do more such experiments. “I got so obsessed with it that I started constantly thinking and talking about baking. That’s when my parents bought me an oven and enrolled me in a baking class,” she says.

[caption id="attachment_24467" align="aligncenter" width="594"] Cupcakes made by Vinusha[/caption]

The youngest learner in the batch of her baking class learned the craft amidst much older batch mates, either newly married women or young professionals. However, after the short course ended, Vinusha’s urge to learn more surfaced. She approached multiple hotels and bakeries for an internship in baking but got turned down by all. “They thought I was too small for it.”

Luck prevailed

During one of the festive carnivals where the little baker had set up a stall to sell her goods, she got an opportunity to meet Savera Hotel’s, Nina Reddy. This proved to be a turning point in her entrepreneurial journey. So impressed was Nina with Vinusha’s efforts that she readily agreed to the little girl’s request for an internship in the kitchen of her hotel.

[caption id="attachment_24468" align="aligncenter" width="699"] Vinusha with Nina Reddy, joint managing director of Savera Hotel, Chennai[/caption]

“It was a great opportunity for me,” The kitchen of the magnificent hotel opened up horizons for Vinusha. “The majority of knowledge that I have acquired about baking is thankfully because of the opportunity to learn in Savera’s Kitchen,” tells she.

Stepping into the entrepreneur’s shoes

Vinusha wanted to take her passion for baking even further. “I was always fascinated by the word ‘entrepreneur’ and wanted to know all about it so that I can be one myself.” Her chemical engineer father and homemaker mother proved supportive once again.

“My parents took me to an entrepreneurs’ workshop where I met lots of entrepreneurs Their stories and ideas were so inspiring that I wanted to plunge into entrepreneurship instantly,” says the student of Ology Tech School.

[caption id="attachment_24470" align="aligncenter" width="765"] Vinusha during an internship at Winner's Bakery[/caption]

Shortly after, the then-nine-year-old Vinusha launched Four Seasons Pastry in 2019. Since then, she has been steadily catering to orders of customized cakes, cupcakes, brownies, blondies, and chocolates. Her clients place the order either through her website or social media handles, and the products are delivered to their homes.

Though baking is solely handled by Vinusha, it’s only when she is hard-pressed for the time that her mother chips in to help. “Diwali and Christmas are the period of maximum business for us. Other than selling confectionaries, I hold workshops for those who want to learn how to bake,” she says.

Diversifying the business

The young entrepreneur also sells baking kits. “My ‘Do it Yourself Baking Kits’ are for youngsters in the age group of seven to 14 who want to bake independently.’ It contains all the ingredients in the right measurement so that kids can make cupcakes, blondies, and cookies without compromising on the taste.

The kit contains recipes and useful information about the science of baking along with the ingredients.

[caption id="attachment_24466" align="aligncenter" width="561"] Vinusha with her 'Do it Yourself' baking kit[/caption]

While Vinusha’s baking kits can be delivered across India, her chocolates are available within Tamil Nādu, and cakes, pastries, and cupcakes orders are catered across Chennai. Her mother who ran a play school earlier has shut it down to manage Vinusha’s entrepreneurial goals and busy schedule, accompanying her to all the venues to which she is invited as a trainer or guest speaker.

“Social media helped us a lot in connecting to people. All the clientele I have got is purely organic, there have been no investments in marketing so far,” she informs.

Powerful inspirations and big dreams

The budding entrepreneur talks about a whole list of people who inspire her. From CK Ranganathan the Founder Chairman of CavinKare, Zoho founder, Sridhar Vembu, and Suresh Sambandam, founder of Kissflow to Thyrocare founder Arokiaswamy Velumani, Vinusha ardently follows their leadership mantras. ‘Despite being super successful they are mostly down-to-earth people and this is what I like about them,” she says.

The young entrepreneur has got immense support from Geetanjali Sasikumar, director of Ology Tech School, who has even offered her the opportunity of scholarship to study in the school.

‘I want to make my brand bigger in the future,” tells the multi-tasker who manages her studies and her business venture by meticulously dedicating time to both. When it comes to her personal favorites, it’s all about chocolate. “I love my brownies, chocolate cupcakes, and Choco-lava cake the most,” she says.

Follow Vinusha MK on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Reading Time: 5 mins

Grammy whammies: Notes from 12 Indian musicians that shone at the awards

(April 8, 2022) When Ricky Kej’s soulful notes coupled with Steward Copeland’s eclectic music gave Divine Tides an ethereal essence, one was transported into a reverie of beautiful music. Winning the Grammy in the best new album category at the 64th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Las Vegas in April, brought back the spotlight on Indian talent and how it has shone on the world stage. Falguni Shah took home the statue in the children’s music album category. It is shocking though that melody queen Lata Mangeshkar never won a Grammy. Global Indian turns the spotlight on the 12 outstanding musicians from India who have been honoured with the Grammy since 1959. Some are multi-Grammy winners too. Here’s the GI list of maestros… Pandit Ravi Shankar, sitarist and composer Shankar (7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) got nominated for the Grammy awards six times, and won it five times, out of which two were posthumous honours. The sitar maestro was recognised as the world's best exponent of north Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century. He developed a distinct style establishing confluence of north Indian classical music with rhythm practices of Carnatic music. Shankar was fond

classical music in the second half of the 20th century. He developed a distinct style establishing confluence of north Indian classical music with rhythm practices of Carnatic music. Shankar was fond of closing his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumri genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS8rwRwmwRE

The stalwart introduced at least 31 new ragas, including Ahir Lalit, Bhawani Bhairav, Bairagi Rasiya, Yaman Manjh, Tilak Shyam, etc. He also introduced a new percussive sitar technique called Goonga Sitar, in which the strings are muffled with a cloth.

Zubin Mehta, conductor of eastern and western classical music

Mehta (born 29 April 1936) has been nominated an impressive 23 times between 1969 and 2007, winning five times. He is currently the conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO). Several orchestras throughout the world have bestowed on him the title of honorary conductor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSp0sApmS6Q

Recently, Mehta made extensive number of tours with the Bavarian State Opera. Mehta and philanthropist Josef Buchmann have founded the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music as a partnership between the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Tel Aviv University. Mehta is the school's honorary president and has remained actively involved since its inception.

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Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram, percussionist

Vinayakram (born 11 August 1942) has been revered as the god of ghatam (earthern pot) as his renditions with Carnatic music explore the versatility of the ghatam, making it immensely popular. He won in the category of Best World Music Album in 1991 with Ustad Zakir Hussain for their work, Planet Drum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22c100WxNrY

Vinayakram is the principal of Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya in Chennai. The academy was established by his late father and teacher in 1958 and Vinayakram has been taking the legacy forward guiding and producing new stars of Carnatic percussion.

Ustad **Zakir Hussain, tabla maestro**

Hussain (born 9 March 1951) wears many hats. He is a tabla maestro, percussionist, music producer, composer and film actor. He has been nominated thrice for Grammy bagging the award twice.

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A post shared by Zakir HQ (@zakirhq9)

The founding member of Bill Laswell’s World Music Supergroup Tabla Beat Science was amongst many musicians invited by President Barack Obama to the International Jazz Day 2016 All-Star Global Concert at the White House. He has been performing at concerts across the globe.

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Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Hindustani classical music instrumentalist

Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), plays the Mohan veena (slide guitar). He was nominated twice and won the Grammy once. Many western musical instruments like violin, harmonium, mandolin, archtop guitar, and electric guitar have been accepted in the Indian classical music. Bhatt developed and named his hybrid slide guitar as Mohan Veena. It has been accepted in the list of Indian classical instrument as well.

[embed]https://twitter.com/VishwaMBhatt1/status/1470379217024008197?s=20&t=3p5Bju1onfZ5ETQrEL1C3Q[/embed]

He is also known for fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with western artists such as Béla Fleck and Jerry Douglas. He returned to stage after a crucial head surgery last year.

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AR Rahman, music composer

Rahman (born 6 January 1967) has been primarily working in Hindi and Tamil films since his film debut Roja in 1992. He has been nominated to the Grammy twice in the same year (2008) for best compilation soundtrack album and best song written for visual media for Slumdog Millionnaire, and he won in both the categories. The film fetched him an Oscar as well.

[embed]https://twitter.com/arrahman/status/1510768641142272003?s=20&t=PYe1CmTPEk2Jp59utZWYAA[/embed]

In 2009, he was featured on the Time list of the world's 100 most influential people and in 2017, he made his debut as a director and writer for Le Musk. He has recently released a modern-day anthem, Moopilla Thamizhe which is composed, arranged, and produced by him celebrating Tamil culture and the achievements of the people of the state in various fields.

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Sridhar, sound engineer

Sridhar (born 1958 – 1 Dec 2008) was known for his work with AR Rahman. He won the Grammy in 2008 under the best compilation soundtrack album category for the movie Slumdog Millionnaire with AR Rahman and PA Deepak.

[embed]https://twitter.com/arr4u/status/1002082445775261696?s=20&t=5eP86tZwz0OgE9HPvBlO9w[/embed]

In his career, he engineered over 200 films and worked closely with Indian directors of repute. Incidentally, he engineered all songs and background scores for the renowned music director AR Rahman. He had pioneered the use of digital sound for Indian films in the DTS format. He had also engineered and mixed albums for international artists.

PA Deepak, mix engineer and record producer

Deepak (born 10 January 1982) won the Grammy for the movie Slumdog Millionaire with AR Rahman and H Sridhar. He started his career as a guitarist and later became a recording engineer.

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A post shared by P.A.Deepak (@padeepak)

Apart from being a full-time mix engineer, he does music programming and plays various string instruments out of pure interest and passion. He has been collaborating with various renowned artists and performing as a music producer and mix engineer.

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Tanvi Shah, recording artist

Tanvi (born on 1 December 1985) is the first Indian woman to win a Grammy. She sings in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Afro-Cuban. She experiments with a wide range of music with her band. Her adaptability has been proven in her collaborative work with international music producers such as Jeremy Hawkins (USA), Gio Ortega (USA), David Batteau (USA), Che Pope (USA), and DJ Salah of Germany.

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She has donated her song, Zindagi, produced by JHawk, to the End Polio campaign album that features international artistes such as, Ziggy Marley, Itzhak Perlman, David Sanborn Donovan and members of the Congolese band.

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Gulzar, lyricist

Gulzar (born 18 August 1934) wears the hats of a poet, lyricist, screenwriter, author, and film director. He picked his first Grammy in the category best song written for visual media for Slumdog Millionaire with AR Rahman and Tanvi Shah. He also won an Oscar for it too. Gulzar made his debut as a lyricist with the 1963 film Bandini and has since worked with many music directors – from RD Burman to AR Rahman. Gulzar has prolifically written lyrics and dialogues for several popular Doordarshan TV series including Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, and Hello Zindagi. His latest work as lyricist is for Darlings, a comedy drama releasing this year.

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Ricky Kej, music composer

Kej (born 5 August 1981) is not only a music composer but also an environmentalist. He was nominated for the Grammy twice and won both the times, one in 2015 for Winds of Samsara and another in 2022 for his album Divine Tides in the best new age album category. The talented artist has performed at venues in over 30 countries including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva. Kej was named a UNCCD Land Ambassador at the COP14 to raise public awareness about the challenges of desertification, land degradation, and drought.

[embed]https://twitter.com/rickykej/status/1510809703403597826?s=20&t=3p5Bju1onfZ5ETQrEL1C3Q[/embed]

He also serves as a UNESCO - MGIEP Global Ambassador for Kindness, ambassador for the Earth Day Network and UNICEF Celebrity Supporter. Kej has performed in three large-scale virtual concerts between April and July 2020 due to the pandemic restrictions with audience of over 75 countries with an estimated viewership of over 200 million people.

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Neela Vaswani, artist

Neela Vaswani (born 11th September 1974) is an American writer of Indian origin, and professor of creative writing, literature and cultural studies. She narrated the audio version of I am Malala winning Grammy for it in 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4utcZ3IoPgo

She lives in New York City, and is the founder of Storylines Project that she started in partnership with New York Public Library. Before the win Neela did not even know that it is possible for a children's audio book to be nominated for such a prestigious award.

Falguni Shah, vocalist and composer

Falguni blends ancient classical Indian melodies with contemporary western sounds. She has won the Grammy 2022 under the best children music album category for her album A Colourful World. Since 2020, Falu also teams up with bassist Yasushi Nakamura, drummer Clarence Penn and guitarist, and vocalist Clay Ross to form the American Patchwork Quartet.

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The Quartet interprets timeless songs in a modern 21st century perspective, leveraging immigrant histories and backgrounds. The group has been tour performing arts centres around the world, till date.

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Reading Time: 8 mins

Seher Taneja: The teen innovator on a mission to revolutionise healthcare

Written by: Charu Thakur

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