Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveTanveer Sangha: Indian-origin is the rising star of Australian cricket

Tanveer Sangha: Indian-origin is the rising star of Australian cricket

Compiled by: Team GI Youth

(April 9, 2024) At the age of 19, Tanveer Sangha became the second person of Indian origin to make it to the Australian men’s national cricket team. In these years, he played two ODIs and seven T20Is – one in 2023 where he showcased his mettle during a faceoff between Australia and India securing two vital wickets. Now at 22, the cricketer, who plays for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, is eyeing to strengthen his game after a series of injuries. Born in Sydney to Joga Singh, a taxi driver, Tanveer’s journey from a young enthusiast to a standout spinner in Australian cricket is nothing short of inspiring.

Tanveer Sangha

Carving a niche

His father Joga hails from a village near Jalandhar in Punjab and moved to Sydney in 1997. A farmer back in India, he immigrated to the continent on a student visa. After working on a farm, he started driving a taxi, something he still does. His mother Upjeet, on the other hand, is an accountant. Growing up in Sydney, Tanveer’s passion for cricket ignited at the tender age of 10. Encouraged by his father, he began honing his skills on the cricket pitch. By the time he turned 12, Sangha was already making waves in local adult cricket teams, showcasing a talent and determination beyond his years. “Tanveer is a natural sportsperson. He played volleyball, rugby, and kabaddi growing up,” his father had said in an interview. It was while attending East Hills Boys High School, where cricketers like Steve and Mark Waugh did their schooling, that he started playing the sport and it gave him access to a good cricket club.

It was in 2018 that Tanveer was spotted by Australian-Pakistani leg spinner Fawad Ahmed in Melbourne during the U-16 series against Pakistan. “Since that day, he has been my mentor,” said Tanveer. At age 13, his father steered him towards spin bowling. “He is a very good batsman. He batted five times in the U-19 World Cup and had a strike rate of 85.26. To avoid a shoulder injury, I suggested he take up spin bowling instead of pace bowling,” Joga had said. But it was during the 2020 U-19 World Cup that he gained prominence by emerging as Australia’s leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets, catapulting him into the spotlight. The same year, he made his first-class debut in the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales.

A stunning debut

In the Big Bash League (BBL) season 2020-2021, Tanveer earned his debut for the Sydney Thunder, marking a significant milestone in his budding career. As the youngest Australian to take four wickets in a men’s T20 International (T20I) match, Tanveer’s achievement is proof of his skill and potential.

However, his journey to success hasn’t been without its challenges. As a young cricketer of Indian origin in Australia, he has had to navigate through societal expectations and stereotypes. Yet, his dedication and resilience have propelled him forward, earning him respect and admiration within the cricketing community. Especially in 2023 when he was one of the standout players in the Baggy Greens victory against South Africa, even captain Mitchell Marsh couldn’t stop himself from praising the young cricketer. Tanveer made his remarkable debut after leg spinner Adam Zampa fell ill before the match. Seizing the opportunity, he made the best out of his debut performance. “He was in the gym when he found out and he was pretty chilled and said he’s ready to go and it appears that he keeps it very simple, which will hold him in good stead for top-level cricket. His demeanor is fantastic. I’m proud of him to come in and have a debut like that. He’s got a great smile, so hopefully we see it for many years to come,” Marsh had said.

Tanveer’s rise to prominence is also indicative of Australia’s multicultural landscape, where individuals from diverse backgrounds contribute to the nation’s sports. As cricket continues to serve as a unifying force, his achievements reinforce the importance of inclusivity and representation within the sport.

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Looking ahead, his journey in cricket is poised for further milestones and accomplishments. Having played more white-ball matches for Australia than red-ball matches at first-class level, he hopes to add a Baggy Green to his limited-overs playing caps. “I definitely think all three formats are up for play. There’s plenty of time still. Everyone says I’m young. I’m 22. You’re not going to peak until late 20s,” he said, adding that he is still learning and trying different variations. “I’m just trying to think long-term rather than short. It’s a long career if I do make it and I do get through all of it.”

Tanveer’s ascent in Australian cricket exemplifies the power of passion, perseverance, and diversity. From humble beginnings to becoming the youngest Australian to achieve a remarkable feat in men’s T20I cricket, his journey serves as an inspiration to aspiring cricketers around the world.

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Published on 09, Apr 2024

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The science of immune engineering: Rishi Goel is at the frontier of healthcare tech

(May 24, 2022) The ongoing global pandemic COVID-19 brought the world's attention to the importance of a good immune system. No remedy was too far-fetched, people around the globe tried everything they could get their hands on, from Ayurvedic herbs to home-made concoctions. Meanwhile, medical student Rishi Goel was hard at work learning more about immune engineering, trying to apply the principles of engineering to design and workings of the immune system. "I am working to understand immune responses to viral pathogens," the young Indian-American youngster tells Global Indian, adding, "My work has contributed to a better understanding of immune memory in the context of COVID-19 and mRNA vaccines. I also helped start the Immune Health Project at Penn, which aims to lead the transformation of routine human immune profiling for impact across medical disciplines.” [caption id="attachment_17065" align="aligncenter" width="624"] Rishi Goel, with immunologist Dr E. John Wherry, after receiving the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship[/caption] The young doctor, whose family hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, is currently a research fellow in E. John Wherry’s laboratory, at the University of Pennsylvania, and aims to become a physician-scientist working on immunology research to enhance the patient experience. Rishi recently received a Paul &

The young doctor, whose family hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, is currently a research fellow in E. John Wherry’s laboratory, at the University of Pennsylvania, and aims to become a physician-scientist working on immunology research to enhance the patient experience. Rishi recently received a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship which provides funding up to $90,000 over two years for postgraduate study. The fellowship is open to immigrants and children of immigrants in the United States.

An Indie kid

Rishi's grandfather, a civil engineer, came to USA about four decades ago along with his son, who was just six or seven years old at the time. "My father," Rishi shares, "is a businessman. My mother, on the other hand, grew up in Lucknow and moved to the US after she got married." Growing up, Rishi was deeply inspired by his grandfather who, he recalls, "brought scientific curiosity and wonder to everyday household tasks." The duo would spend their weekends together experimenting with new ingredients.

[caption id="attachment_17066" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Childhood image of Rishi[/caption]

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Rishi was always a very active child, involved in various sports during his school days. However, as much as he loved the US, he never lost touch with his roots. Growing up in a Hindi-speaking household, Rishi says he loved his visits to India. "We would visit my Nana and Nani during vacation and I used to enjoy my time there. It was kind of a reunion for me, because all my cousins would come home, there would be amazing food, and we would have a gala time," Rishi shares.

Fascinated by immunology

After completing school, Rishi graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a minor in applied statistics. Through his work at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute, Rishi became fascinated with the immune system. "During that time, I designed and tested a novel therapeutic vaccine for food allergies that was able to re-train pathologic immune responses and suppress disease. I was amazed by the immune system's ability to learn and improve over time, and began to wonder how it could be used or engineered to treat disease."

[caption id="attachment_17067" align="aligncenter" width="642"] Rishi with his family[/caption]

Following his undergraduate education, Rishi earned a master’s degree in immunology from the University of Oxford, where he was awarded highest distinction for his academic work and was a member of the Blues lacrosse team. Explaining, the young doctor shares, "There I completed an IRTA Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, investigating new mechanisms of tissue damage in autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis."

[caption id="attachment_17069" align="aligncenter" width="651"] A sports lover, Rishi was a part of the Oxford City Lacrosse Club[/caption]

Focused on understanding the human immune system better, Rishi has published over 20 academic papers, including first-author publications in Science, Cell, and Nature Medicine. His recent work on understanding immune responses to viral pathogens and has led to new insights into the development of immune memory after SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA vaccination. "I aim to bring immune profiling into the clinic to better diagnose, treat, and prevent disease," says the young doctor, who is excited to have received the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship. When he says he hasn’t lost touch with his roots, he means it: "My family is very proud but they keep asking me when I’m going to finish my education, start earning and get married," he laughs.

Going beyond the call of duty

During the last two years of pandemic, people across the globe have been bombarded with misinformation - not just about the disease, but also about vaccines. When cases peaked in United States last year, Rishi became a leading science communicator on COVID vaccines, with regular contributions to major news outlets such as The Atlantic, Nature News, and NPR.

[caption id="attachment_17068" align="aligncenter" width="637"] Dr Goel, with his friends, at the Bryce Canyon[/caption]

"While there were several health bulletins being published or broadcast across the world, many people were still choosing to believe the forwarded messages of their family members on social media. Even today, many people in the US are hesitant to get vaccinated. I think it is imperative that doctors should be able to communicate in a language that the masses understand. Thus, I started communicating with various media outlets, dispelling the myths about COVID and its vaccinations," shares the young doctor, who wishes to become a physician-scientist in the future.

Follow Rishi Goel on Twitter and LinkedIn

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How fintech entrepreneur Aman Bhayana helped students avert a ‘PayCrunch’

(March 15, 2022) Moving across the country for college, fintech entrepreneur Aman Bhayana, who, at 22 is the co-founder, PayCrunch, quite naturally revelled in his newfound freedom. But even unbridled independence, he found, was something of a mixed bag. Like his classmates, he would count every last rupee - a difficult call to make when popularity and status were so dependent on “being seen” at the right restaurants and making travel plans. Requests to parents for personal credit cards were inevitably met with a resounding “no.” And with no credit scores, borrowing money from mainstream channels wasn’t possible either. “Obviously, my father wouldn’t let me have a credit card,” Aman smiles. Working out of Third Wave in Bengaluru as he spoke to Global Indian, Aman looks every bit the entrepreneurial 20-something for which Bengaluru is now known. PayCrunch, his micro-finance startup for students has already raised $500,000 in funding from Y Combinator and plans for expansion are well underway. [caption id="attachment_12536" align="aligncenter" width="587"] Aman Bhayana, co-founder, PayCrunch[/caption] The need to ideate Growing up in Delhi in a family of businessmen, the fintech entrepreneur to-be seemed all set for a conventional career path, choosing to study at the prestigious Vellore Institute of Technology in

repreneur | Aman Bhayana | PayCrunch | Global Indian" width="587" height="525" /> Aman Bhayana, co-founder, PayCrunch[/caption]

The need to ideate

Growing up in Delhi in a family of businessmen, the fintech entrepreneur to-be seemed all set for a conventional career path, choosing to study at the prestigious Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu. “I was all set to become a coder,” he smiles. “It didn't take me long to realise that it wasn’t for me. I love to write algorithms and design structures but I don’t really enjoy coding. I did at first but I needed something more.” His parents, Sunil Kumar and Poonam Bhayana, run two schools in Haryana – the Tagore Senior Secondary School and IPS Senior Secondary School – a legacy handed down to them by Aman’s grandfather. “My grandfather has been a great inspiration to me,” the young entrepreneur remarks, adding, “He took a loan to start the first school 70 years ago.” Does he see himself in that line of business too? “Not really. I want a career where I am learning something new all the time,” Aman remarks.

To Aman, finding his own path meant leaning into his strengths as a people person and the entrepreneurial acumen that had come to him quite early in life. “Even in school, I was always eager to participate in events in whatever way I could,” Aman says, adding, “If I couldn’t participate, I would anchor them.” This meant taking part in everything from science Olympiads to dance competitions and being a part of various societies in college as well. “In college, I was part of many societies and clubs, I was usually the guy setting things up at an event,” says the boy who draws energy from being around other people. “You gain a lot of knowledge and understanding by observing others. What do they talk about? What they are hearing, and understanding? Right now, we don't understand each other. We need tools to do so and someone has to make those tools,” says the fintech entrepreneur.

When money matters

His experiences in college got Aman thinking. A part of various clubs in college, he even began a small travel-planning business for students. “If a student wanted to travel but had no money, we would ask them for their budget. That was all. We handled the rest,” he adds. The experience gave him an understanding of the challenges faced by college students and look for solutions.

“Everybody wants more spending money, but for students, the need is dire. They don't have the options an employed person has - no credit, banks, etc,” the fintech entrepreneur explains. “But then I thought, why can’t I do something about it? We’re in 2020, there is so much open-source data available to use for behaviour analysis. Why not use that data and give students something they actually need?”

As he prepared to graduate (2019-2020), he and a friend, Meherdeep Kaur, hit upon an idea. What students lacked was a convenient pay later option that could be used through a third-party app or wallet. “Not everyone can get a credit card but everybody uses UPI - more than 15 million accounts have been created in the past four or five years. We wanted to create a system where a student could buy a plate of pani puri and access a pay later option,” he says, of the idea where they could register with a college id, Aadhaar card and KYC process, as PayCrunch accesses open data on their phones.

How human behaviour gave them the way forward

Much of the work involved a study of human behaviour. As they explored repayment systems, they found that customers could be divided into two segments - the ability to pay and the willingness to do so. “We checked their ability to pay by doing the math on the user account. Yet, for willingness? This is something nobody will admit to you - everybody promises to repay debts. So we study past behaviours through social media, transaction data and utility bills,” explains the fintech entrepreneur. It’s a lot less complex than it sounds, for the user at least - the credit lines are approved in an hour or two, after which the user can go to any store, scan a code through the app and pay later.

“It’s not just about money either,” Aman remarks. “In college, there is one thing more important than the money - status. We want to build a whole credit system and offer perks and benefits in the future.” Right now, Aman and his 12-member team are working to partner with stores, restaurants and pubs, and companies like Amazon, Myntra and Starbucks.

People-watching unearthed revelations

Observing people is what Aman enjoys most, thus working out of cafes helps him meet people daily. The fintech entrepreneur explores indie music, loves a good suspense thriller, "Have you heard of a writer named Sidney Sheldon" and looking mystified when met with laughter, he adds, “I have started geeking out into entrepreneurial books as well now.”

Follow Aman on LinkedIn

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Shreya Nallamothu: Indian-American teen helps draft Illinois law for safeguarding child influencers

(August 30, 2023) Holed up at her home during the pandemic, like almost everyone, Shreya Nallamothu, too, took refuge in social media. The then 13-year-old was quick to notice that children, much younger than her, were nothing short of social media stars or kid influencers. While she didn't think much about it initially, but as her Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok pages kept populating with content by children, the Indian-American teen realised the kids can be victims of exploitation, in terms of monetisation of social media content. "I realised there was absolutely zero legislation in place to protect them," she told AP. This led her to campaign for amending child labour laws in Illinois, making it the first state in the country to create protections for minors showcased in online videos, including provisions for their compensation. [caption id="attachment_32788" align="aligncenter" width="626"] Shreya Nallamothu[/caption] The 16-year-old fondly remembers her parents capturing some of her firsts - first steps or first day at school on video camera, and is deeply grateful to them for keep these personal moments private. "It made me realize family vlogging is putting very private and intimate moments onto the internet," she said in an interview. Her parents always

This prompted the University High School student to work on an independent study to help child influencers. During the process, she explained that child influencers include any kids under 18 with their own social media accounts, not just those in family videos, and can earn a lot of money from their followers on TikTok, YouTube and other social media sites. "I definitely wanted to create policy and legislation around child influencers because I felt like Illinois could be kind of a trend setter and a precedent setter for this issue," added Shreya.

[caption id="attachment_32789" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Shreya Nallamothu[/caption]

She began conducting research on child influencers, and found that kid influencers accounts are run by their parents as kids can't set up in their names due to age restrictions on social media. What intrigued her what that due to the social media explosion, parents were using it to monetise kids being on videos. And realised that with money being made and nothing set aside for the kids, it was nothing short of child labour. "A lot of the time (the child influencers) are being forced by their parents to appear in videos, but then because they're a minor they don’t have access to any of that money," the Global Indian said in an interview.

That's when after her detailed research, she wrote a letter to her state senator, Democrat Dave Koehler, urging him to consider legislation to protect young influencers. Two weeks ago, inspired by Sherya's letter, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker approved a new law that changes the Child Labor Law in the state. This law lets teenagers who are 18 or older sue their parents if they appeared in videos on social media that made money, but they weren't paid fairly. This is like the rights that young actors have. July 1, 2024 onwards, parents in Illinois will need to save 50 percent of the money earned from a video for their child. This money will go into a special fund until the child turns 18, based on how much time the child is seen in the video.

Children "deserve to be shielded from parents who would attempt to take advantage of their child's talents and use them for their own financial gain," said Alex Gough, a spokesperson for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, after the governor signed the legislation.

Shreya's determination and awareness have brought about a significant change in Illinois. Recognising the exploitation faced by young influencers, this Indian-American teen took action to protect the rights and futures of children in the world of social media. By identifying a gap in legislation and sharing her concerns with Illinois state Senator David Koehler, Shreya set in motion a series of events that led to the proposed bill amendment. Her efforts demonstrate how the proactive actions of a single individual can catalyse positive change, ensuring a safer and fairer environment for child influencers and ultimately inspiring others to advocate for meaningful reforms.

Follow Shreya Nallamothu on LinkedIn

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On Top of the World: Teen mountaineer Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest to conquer Everest, sets sights on Antarctica

(May 28, 2024) On May 19, when Kaamya Karthikeyan and her father, an Indian Navy Commander S Karthikeyan were hours away from Camp 4 in Mount Everest, at an elevation of 7,950 metres (26,085 feet) — they were greeted by extremely heavy winds, laden with small pieces of snow which cut through their skin. It fogged up their glasses, making it difficult to walk through what was already a precarious route. Braving it all, the 16-year-old and her father reached Camp 4. As the night approached, the ferocity of winds increased drastically as they set their sights on the summit. Several hours later, both were on top of the world — against all odds. “At Camp 4, we were extremely nervous as our oxygen supplies were limited and we could not afford to spend another night there (due to the worsening weather). Thankfully, the weather cleared up slightly early morning and we were finally able to leave for the summit,” smiles Kaamya Karthikeyan, the second youngest girl in the world and the youngest Indian mountaineer to summit the world’s highest peak from the Nepal side. She accomplished the mission on May 20. Speaking exclusively to Global Indian from Kathmandu, hours after descending from Mount

ndian.com/youth//wp-content/uploads/2024/05/kaamya-1--1024x1024.png" alt="Indian Mountaineer | Kaamya Karthekiyan | Global Indian Youth" width="594" height="594" />

Speaking exclusively to Global Indian from Kathmandu, hours after descending from Mount Everest, Kaamya says she was extremely excited and somewhat in disbelief after reaching the summit. “Thankfully, I was still feeling strong and was able to converse clearly. Being able to talk to my mom from the summit was definitely an amazing experience,” says Kaamya, class XII student of Navy Children School, Mumbai.

Sitting in Mumbai, her mother Lavanya Karthikeyan was both excited and relieved after having a brief conversation with her daughter and husband over satellite phone.

The father-daughter duo left for the summit at 3 am from Camp 4. “We reached Camp 4 around 1:30 pm on May 19 and we were supposed to leave for the summit around 9:30 that night. But bad weather played spoilsport. Once it improved slightly, we left at 3 am,” she informs.

Just 24 hours after Kaamya achieved the feat, a British climber and his guide, who too summitted Everest went missing during descent and have not been found since.

Prepping up for Everest

Kaamya says the physical preparation for summitting Mount Everest was very strenuous. “ we would go on long runs or cycling thrice a week. On other days, we climbed the stairs of our 21 floor building 10-15 times with a bagpack!,” informs the mountaineer.

Other than that, Kaamya had also been reading a lot about the expedition and details of the climb to mentally prepare herself for the long expedition.

Mt Vinson Massif next

Having conquered Mount Everest, Kaamya has now set her sights on Mt Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica. “I will be leaving for Antarctica in December this year,” she informs adding that she intends to climb many more peaks in the Himalayas in the near future.

[caption id="attachment_9220" align="aligncenter" width="559"] Kaamya Karthikeyan at the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro[/caption]

Under the umbrella of Mission SAHAS, Kaamya had previously climbed the highest peaks of Africa (Mt Kilimanjaro), Europe (Mt Elbrus – where she set the world record for being the world’s youngest to ski descent from the peak), Australia (Mt Kosciuszko) and South America (Mt Aconcagua). “I also climbed Mt Mentok Kangri in Leh in 2019, summitting my second 6,000 metres plus peak as a practice climb prior to climbing Aconcagua,” says Kaamya, who is an avid runner, cyclist, skier and scuba diver.

Mt Aconcagua

As a 12-year old, Kaamya had scaled Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain peak of Andes mountains. In early 2020, she travelled halfway around the world to reach Mendonza in Argentina — the base town for Mount Aconcagua.

Accompanied by her father, the mountaineer was to obtain a special permit from the Aconcagua National Park to scale the highest mountain peak of the Andes mountains. Yet, within hours of her arrival, she was confronted by a mountain of challenges, not just the permit. As a minor, the authorities wanted a resolution from the court.

“Will a 12-year-old be able to climb this mountain peak?” the court enquired, ordering a series of medical tests. Stranded for 14 days, experiencing red-tapism on foreign soil, finally luck favoured Kaamya. The judge went on leave, was replaced, and he fortuitously was a mountaineer himself! He swiftly went through Kaamya’s credentials and granted her a permit. Overcoming all challenges, Kaamya made India proud by becoming the youngest in the world to summit Mt Aconcagua.

Conquering Aconcagua brought laurels her way – The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for her remarkable feat, and she was the first to virtually interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2020. “I was elated. The PM advised me to treat this award as a stepping stone for future accomplishments and not as an achievement by itself,” says the teenager, who actively participated in debating. She is also the first runner-up at Mindwars — a debating TV championship.

Trekking Himalayas at seven

Born in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) in August 2007, Kaamya was barely three when she started accompanying her parents on trails in Lonavala, where her father Navy commander S Karthikeyan was posted. By seven, she was trekking the Himalayas.

Her first expedition above 6,000 meters to Mount Stok Kangri in August 2017 made her the youngest girl in the world to have scaled a peak at those dizzy heights. “Scaling this peak three days short of my 10th birthday was special. I had been to the base in 2012 when my dad was climbing it, and had wondered when I would climb it too. There I was, after five years,” says Kaamya, then 14.

Her father had completed his mountaineering courses and was training in and around Lonavala. Both Kaamya and her mother would accompany him on easy trails, and that is where her love for the wild was cemented.

First trek

Once her father started leading expeditions, his daughter wondered why mountains attracted her father so much to leave the family for days on end. She asked her mother, and “she told me to find out first-hand. So I did my first Himalayan trek in Uttarakhand,” says Kaamya, whose mother Lavanya Karthikeyan heads a Kindergarten school.

She explored beautiful treks across Chandrashila, Kedarkantha, Roopkund, Brighu Lake, Har-ki-dun and Sar Pass.

[caption id="attachment_9222" align="aligncenter" width="559"] Kaamya Karthekiyan with her parents at Mt Stok Kangri[/caption]

In May 2017, she trekked to the Everest base camp. After climbing Stok Kangri, the Indian girl mountaineer asked her father what next. He questioned whether she even realises that she had climbed a peak higher than the highest peaks in five of the seven continents!

Training

Training for expeditions is tough. Kaamya would run over 10 km or cycle for 20-25 km four days a week. On other days, she would do indoor exercises or climb stairs at her 21-storeyed apartment complex in Mumbai (helped train her muscles). And on weekends, a trek on the Sahyadri mountains helped with balance training.

Gulmarg has been her winter training ground for the past six years. “In early 2021, I had the opportunity to train with the Army’s High Altitude Warfare School where I practiced techniques like walking with trekking shoes, skis and sledge pulling,” informs the hardworking girl who has also participated in the junior national skiing and snowboarding championship in Gulmarg.

In the tough terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, she also did a basic mountaineering course from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports. The future is bright, and peaking Kaamya’s schedule is packed in 2022-2023. “I hope to climb Mt Denali (the highest peak in North America) and ski to the South Pole.”

Meeting a legend

Before her expedition to Mt Elbrus, she had the opportunity to meet legendary naval mountaineer Captain MS Kohli, the leader of the first successful Indian expedition to Everest in 1965. “He told me whenever I felt tired on a mountain, I should always look back instead of looking ahead — advice that has greatly helped me,” says Kaamya who is also learning Bharatnatyan, and is a grade 2 and grade 5 pass piano player (Trinity College of Music). “I enjoy the journey, not just the destination. I love being in nature’s lap and pushing myself. I like the competition within – it keeps me going,” says the girl whose mother was her trekking-partner early on, and now with climbs getting tougher, treks with her father. She thanks her school for being supportive too.

Dangers

Mountain climbing has its own perils, and Kaamya recalls an avalanche hit her group during her recent expedition on Mt Trishul in October 2021. “Sadly, we lost a few close friends but thankfully we returned safe. It has made me more respectful of the mountains, and more determined. Mission SAHAS is my way of paying tribute to the lost souls,” says Kaamya, who loves reading adventure/crime thrillers, the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, and Agathe Christie.

Her idea of a birthday celebration is to take her friends for a hike! “The path to the summit is not easy. But if I can do it, so can you,” smiles the mountaineer who always carries a small idol of Lord Krishna, and always bring down something special from each expedition as a souvenir.

Follow Kaamya Karthikeyan on Instagram.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Sri Nihal Tammana’s Recycle My Battery helps rid the world of hazardous waste

(September 17, 2024) When Sri Nihal Tammana, founder of Recycle My Battery, turned 10, his father sat him down and told him about the world in which they lived. "It was my birthday and my dad said I had to be more concerned about what was going on around the world," says the US-based Nihal who is now 13 and has been running his non-profit, Recycle my Battery for three years. The Edison teen is the winner of the prestigious CNN Heroes Young Wonder Award, for his work in making sure that batteries don't end up in landfills or in the water supply. After that fateful conversation with his father on his tenth birthday, Nihal began watching the news. One day, he learned that a waste disposal plant had caught fire. He found that the cause was a lithium-ion battery that had been thrown into the trash, where it exploded. "I remember watching the chaos and it was super scary," he said. Nihal thought of his favourite toy - his drone, which also runs on batteries. "I asked my dad if anyone could do something about the problem and he said yes but they aren't trying to fix the problem.

Importance of Battery Recycling

"Batteries power nearly all our devices and we are going to be using them more and more," Nihal explained. "I realised that the problem wasn't with batteries themselves but with what we do with them after they run out of juice." The answer, he knew, wasn't in banning them altogether but simply in disposing of them correctly. "I'm a realist," he remarks. "I can't imagine not using my battery-powered devices, not even for a day. The battery isn't going away and it won't help us to stop using them either. The answer is recycling."

For over a year, Nihal studied the impact of batteries on the planet. Then, he looked at solutions for the disposal process. He went door-to-door, talking to everyone who would listen about the issue. He also visited local businesses to make sure they were recycling properly. His cousin soon joined him and in 2019, they founded their own non-profit, Recycle My Batter. "We talked to everyone at school and around the neighbourhood. Many people decided to come and help out. Changing the way people think and act as a community is the most important thing we can do today."

School children in New Jersey rallied to his cause. Recycle My Battery then began setting up battery bins in offices, schools, public libraries and other locations, also working with Call2Recycle, the largest organisation of its kind in the US and Canada. A little over three years after it was founded, Recycle My Battery now functions with a team of 300 school kids, who spread awareness and install free-to-use battery bins in schools and other public locations. The organisation has collected over 225,000 used batteries, successfully keeping them out of landfills and ensuring that they recycled. "People have been very supportive," he remarks, adding that his efforts at school have earned him a new nickname - Battery Boy.

Nihal is also an active proponent of spreading awareness, which he does through conferences, webinars, email campaigns and going door-to-door. These efforts have helped them reach out to millions of people around the world. In 2020, over 20 school superintendents signed up for the installation of the battery bins on their premises. "That's more than 200 schools and over 200,000 students," Nihal says.

In December 2022, as Nihal received the CNN Heroes Young Wonder award, attending the ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "The earth has done so much for us," Nihal said. "We should do something back. I hope that other people have an epiphany too and make a change, even if it's a small one."

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