Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveTeens Nitish and Aditya Sood are uplifting the homeless in Atlanta

Teens Nitish and Aditya Sood are uplifting the homeless in Atlanta

Written by: Team GI Youth

(August 24, 2023) Five years ago, Nitish Sood and his brother, Aditya were at the mall with their mother. Bored, the two boys stepped outside for a game of frisbee. A homeless woman sat by the entrance, as people walked past, all of them either pulling out their phones or checking their watches to avoid making eye contact with her. “We were kind of troubled by that,” said Nitish Sood, who co-founded Working Together For Change, a student-run organisation that works for homeless people.

“Our frisbee landed near her so we ended up striking up a conversation,” said Nitish. They asked the obvious question – how did this woman come to be homeless? She responded with a question: “What do you want to be when you grow up.” A doctor, Nitish said at once and to his amazement, the woman pulled out a medical degree. Just before she was placed into a residency, she returned to Atlanta to help her brother, who had been involved with gang violence. “She lost that residency. Medical school bills started piling up and suddenly, she was homeless,” Nitish explained. “My brother and I learned that nearly everyone is just a step away from homelessness. We decided to do something about it.”

Nitish and Aditya Sood

Working Together For Change

That’s how Working Together for Change was born. “We wanted to interact with other homeless folk, the people we tend to avoid by checking the time or looking at our phones.” They realised that they had been wrong about the average homeless person. “We seem to think of middle-aged men, maybe drunk, doing drugs and sleeping on a park bench. Mostly, we believe him to be lazy, uneducated and unambitious. But that is as far away from reality as you can possibly imagine.”

Now a student at the Medical College of Georgia, Nitish Sood is doing his residency in Opthalmology. His brother, Aditya, is a junior biology and social major at Alpharetta and an MD candidate at the Emory School of Medicine. Both brothers are highly accomplished in their own right- Aditya is a black belt in karate and does research at the Neuroplasticity lab at Georgia State University. Nitish is a Presidential Scholar at Augusta University, a Coca Cola Scholar – he was awarded a $20,000 scholarship for exemplary leadership and social activism. He’s also a National Merit Scholar. Both boys were born in India and moved to the US with their parents.

Currently, Working Together for Change has touched over 3,000 lives. The organisation has also raised some $1,20,000 for its cause, has mobilised some 600 volunteers and over 17,000 volunteer hours. They have organised over a dozen medical camps that screen homeless people for vision trouble, cholesterol and diabetes. WTFC even organises ‘sleep-outs’, to give people a taste of what it’s like to sleep on the streets. All that began with the back-pack-a-thon, their first initiative.

Working Together for Change volunteers at their first backpack-a-thon in Augusta in 2018. Photo: Facebook

Life on the city streets

Nearly 3000 people are homeless in Atlanta. The fact is, as Nitish and Aditya also discovered – many more people in American cities are at risk of homelessness. A shortage of affordable housing, limited employment opportunities and not enough social welfare schemes are all possible causes. According to the Atlanta Mission, some 58 percent of this homeless population reports reports symptoms of trauma and 57 percent have a chronic medical condition. The brothers were also alarmed to learn that average homeless person is under the age of 18 and that the fastest growing demographic is under the age of nine.

The Soods got into action immediately. They rallied their friends for a ‘backpack-a-thon’, distributing backpacks filled with essentials like hygiene products, water and socks. Through this, they also hoped to create interaction between students and the homeless community.

Setting up medical camps to building a house in Tijuana

They also created programmes for school students to interact with homeless kids in housing centres. “We gave them a chance to meet. Everyone should have the chance to have some fun,” Nitish remarked.

Still, they knew that raising awareness just wouldn’t do. So, they decided to host a medical camp. They didn’t have doctors, locations, volunteers or work out the logistics of it, but they began work, scouting for locations, visited homeless shelters and told them that they had doctors and volunteers ready. The Soods also asked their friends to sign on.

The big day arrived with a distressing phone call. The bus ferrying the homeless people had broken down. They had doctors and volunteers waiting at the camp and no patients in sight. “We called every adult we knew to use their minivans to ferry the homeless to the camp,” Ntisih said. It worked. “In the end, nobody left feeling dissatisfied. Today, we host medical camps every four months.” The WTFC teams even went to Tijuana to build a house from the ground up. “It’s not feasible for us to do this but WTFC represents the idea that we must do everything we can to help those in need.”

WTFC-YMCA-MoreHouse Medical Fair 2015. Photo: Facebook

The root of the matter

As the years went by, Working Together For Change made a significant impact, crowdfunding thousands of dollars and setting up student chapters across the state. Still, the brothers felt that all this was addressing only the symptoms, not the disease itself. True change would mean getting the homeless people off the streets. They collaborated with United Way Ventures, setting up camps to help reintegrate them into the job market. They also set up coding camps for teens.

The journey hasn’t been easy. “It has meant sleepless nights, passing up sleepovers and not being able to hang out with friends,” Nitish said. “But when my brother and I started this, there was a fire lit within us. None of what we did felt like work. We were doing what we loved.”

Follow Nitish and Aditya on LinkedIn and Working Together for Change on Facebook

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Published on 24, Aug 2023

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How the Robin Hood Army is feeding India’s hungry

(May 20, 2023) When he was living in Lisbon, Portugal, Neel Ghose, co-founder of the Robin Hood Army, came across an organisation named Re-Food. They took surplus food from restaurants and distributed it among the homeless every night. Ghose was struck by the simplicity of the idea - it brought compassion to capitalism, minimised food wastage and addressed the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. Global Indian looks at how Ghose and a team of co-founders, including Aarushi Batra, began the Robin Hood Army, which now operates in four countries including Inda and Pakistan, has served over 68 million means to date. According to UN data, nearly 8.9 percent of the world's population, or 690 million people are hungry (as measured by the prevalence of under-nourishment). The World Food Programme records show that 135 million people suffer from acute hunger due to man-made conflicts, climate change and economic downturns. In essence, a quarter of a billion people are at the potential brink of starvation. The startup model Ghose was so taken by the idea, as well as the success of its execution, he wondered why he couldn't try the same thing in India. "I arranged for a few

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The startup model

Ghose was so taken by the idea, as well as the success of its execution, he wondered why he couldn't try the same thing in India. "I arranged for a few meetings with the founders and decided to replicate it in India. Once I returned, a few friends and I served 150 people in south Delhi on our first night of distribution," said Ghose, who went on to do his masters in business administration from Harvard University.

In August 2014, the Robin Hood Army (RHA) began with a Facebook, inviting everybody they knew. The response was instant and requests came pouring in. "I will never forget that night," Ghose said, at a TedXGateway event. That first night in August, Ghose and a few friends stopped under a flyover in Hauz Khas. They saw a family of six huddled together, sharing a leftover pizza. Further down the road, an old couple, the woman was blind, foraged through a trash can for something to eat. "I have been brought up in India, we have all seen poverty," Ghose said. "But what was overwhelming was that these are our neighbours. We have no idea of the sheer scale of hunger and neglect a few minutes from where we live."

Logistics is key

Hunger, Ghose believes, is not a problem that can be solved by the UN or the governments. "Logistics," he proclaims, "Can and will provide the solution." The Robin Hood Army is not an NGO, nor is it a largescale civic movement. "Ours is a simple model. We function like a startup and our job is to match demand with supply through simple logistics solutions." Young professionals, who work during the day, volunteer their time to a hyperlocal model.

Food is collected from restaurants, weddings and parties and distributed to homeless people in the area. "We distribute it among the homeless, who don't know their next meal is coming from, or if it will come at all," says co-founder Aarushi Batra, in a TedX talk. Responses came pouring in from across the country, with people volunteering their time. The press showed its support and the Facebook page went viral. "Restaurants were so generous," said Ghose, "That many gave freshly-cooked food instead of leftovers." Three years after they began, the RHA had established its presence in 58 cities, with 13,000 Robins and nearly 50 lakh meals served. In 2019, the Delhi Capitals got in touch, asking them to distribute the leftover meals from Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Not long after, the team invited around 15 kids who had been served food from the RHA to watch a match.

[caption id="attachment_22580" align="aligncenter" width="622"] Neel Ghose. Photo: Harvard Business School[/caption]

Pandemic... and scaling up

When the pandemic hit, the team had to come up with a new strategy overnight. Again, working with their decentralised model, volunteers came up with their own safety protocols. They were on call as busloads of migrant workers exited the big cities and started the 'senior patrol'. "During the daily phases of the pandemic, we had people writing to us and saying their parents were stuck at home without access to essentials," said Batra.

The team circulated a basic Google Form and circulated it everywhere. Volunteers addressed thousands of requests - those who weren't living with parents or other senior citizens would go out to pick up medicines, fresh produce and whatever else was needed, which they distributed.

The Robin Hood Army learned to apply their model to tackle a number of other problems. In 2016, when Maharashtra reeled under severe drought, the RHA volunteers mobilised schools, colleges and offices in their neighbourhoods. They began sending 75,000 litres of water to rural areas, on a special train, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As the organisation grew stronger locally, they decided it was time to expand and first on the list was Pakistan, which faces very similar problems.

[caption id="attachment_22581" align="aligncenter" width="591"] With co-founder Aarushi Batra[/caption]

Serving up compassion

"It's not merely about handing out food," Ghose said. "I would like to believe that we have a baseline of compassion in what we do." A team of lawyers who visited a girl's orphanage in South Delhi, would spend time with the kids, talking to them about the importance of school and of knowing politics. "Eight of those girls decided to pursue law as a career," he explained.

Follow Robin Hood Army on Instagram

Shifting the goalpost: Ananya Kamboj spreads awareness through football

(February 4, 2023) "Man up!" Footballer Ananya Kamboj would bristle everytime her coaches hurled the phrase at the girls' team. Were they implying that girls are inferior, she would wonder. Kamboj, the first Indian to be selected at the FIFA U17 global Football for Friendship (F4F) in 2017, decided veiled prejudice would not be taken in her stride. Today, she's an author, a goodwill ambassador for BRICS and addressed the United Nation's ECOSOC Youth Forum in September 2020. Now 17 years old, Ananya is part of various projects for gender equality, including Girls with Impact, Girl Up, Learn in India, She Mercedes and SDGs For Children. She has also been part of three Guinness World Record events, including most nationalities in a football training session in history (2019, the most users in a football video hangout (2020) and the most visitors at a virtual stadium (2021). For three years after her selection, the young Global Indian continued to represent India as a young journalist at the F4F, a programme aimed to unite children of different physical abilities from around the world. "The goal is the development of children's football, fostering tolerance and respect for different cultures and nationalities," she says.

continued to represent India as a young journalist at the F4F, a programme aimed to unite children of different physical abilities from around the world. "The goal is the development of children's football, fostering tolerance and respect for different cultures and nationalities," she says. "The key values that the participants support and promote are friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions and honour."

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The debutante author

When she returned from the Football for Friendship programme in Russia in 2017, her father suggested she write her memoirs. By this time, the teenager had a strong value system in place and was determined to work for equality within the sporting ecosystem around the world. That led to her debut book, 'My Journey from Mohali to St Petersburg', in which she shares the lessons she has learned. "If you are looking at famous sports professionals, don't look at the records they break or the games they win; instead, try to learn some valuable lessons from their approach and their lives too," she writes in her book.

Born in Mohali, Chandigarh, the first turning point in the young changemaker's life came in April 2017, when she happened to spot a FIFA U17 World Cup poster on her way to the bank in her neighbourhood. The poster announced a contest for young journalists, asking students to report on the Gazprom's Football for Friendship Championship in Russia. Applicants were asked to write an inspiring story on football, in under 200 words. That year also happened to mark India's first time participating in a FIFA World Cup and Ananya decided to give the contest a shot.

Incidentally, one month earlier, Ananya, a footballer herself, had met Gurmangal Dass Soni, founder of the Youth Football Club at Lake Club, Chandigarh. "Soni is involved in a global campaign to stem out the increasing use of drugs among the youth in Rurka Kalan and surrounding areas. I found Mr Soni's story fascinating and inspiring. He is an ordinary person who has done extraordinary things," she writes. She knew that his story was the one she wanted to tell.

Leading herself to lead others

Her goal, she admits, was only to participate. When she got the call telling her she was the winner, Ananya was "completely surprised." She would be one of 64 participants to go to St Petersburg, Russia, for the social program sponsored by FIFA and Gazprom. In the meantime, she was also trained by Ranjit Bajaj, the owner, founder and executive director of Minerva Punjab Football Club, where she was provided leadership and motivational training.

Once quick-tempered and by her own admission, "prone to losing control when angry," the first lesson Ananya learned on her path to leadership was to rein in her own emotions. Also a shy person by nature, she learned to face up to her playground bullies, stand by her teammates and grow as a writer."

Rendezvous with Russia

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A twenty-three hour journey later, Ananya stepped out into the biting cold of a rainy day in St Petersburgh, where she was welcomed by the F4F team, who told her, to her alarm, that this was summertime. "The warm, cramped streets of Mohali were left far behind," she writes. This was her first time so far away from home and she was nervous as she met her fellow Ambassadors from Armenia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Iceland, Slovenia, South Africa and South Korea. Ananya was making history that day - she was the first Indian to participate in FIFA U17 F4F.

For the next three days, Ananya learned what it meant to be part of a team, braving the cold to spend hours out on the field. The 'Yellow Team', of which she was a part, made it all the way to the semi-finals, where they lost 4-3 to the Orange Team, who went on to win the championship. "Sports teaches us to take both defeat and victory. We eventually shook off our understandable disappointment," she says. She was also there as a reporter and contributed a number of articles for the daily F4F Newsletter and anchored the Football for Friendship video digest.

"The journey brought about a positive transformation, instilling confidence in me - the confidence to address a crowd over 1,200 people as one of the keynote speakers of the programme," she recalls. "I kept the Indian flag flying high at the F4F Social Programme at St Petersburg."

In 2018, she was invited to hold the world premiere of her book in Moscow. The book was released by Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors as part of the 6th Season of the F4F. She was also awarded the best young journalist award for her efforts.

[caption id="attachment_27177" align="aligncenter" width="1500"] Ananya Kamboj is the first Indian to participate in the FIFA U17 F4F programme[/caption]

United Nations - and Guinness

In 2019 and again in 2020, Ananya was invited by ECOSOC Youth, to speak at the Youth Plenary in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the UN. The idea was to offer a platform for youth to engage with Member Nations, advocate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

At the same, she participated in three Guinness World Record Events. "I feel proud, honoured and happy to have achieved something that on the one hand is rather rare, but on the other is simply the result of my passion for football as something that makes me whole," Ananya told the Hindustan Times.

Follow Ananya on Instagram

Bridging the gap: Indo-Canadian environmentalist Abhay Singh Sachal is connecting communities across the globe

(May 27, 2023) Six years ago, when a grade X Indian-Canadian student, Abhayjeet Singh Sachal, visited the northernmost continent on the planet, he was completely mesmerised by its landscape. Covered in white ice, the Arctic looked nothing short of a magical land to Abhay. On an educational trip with 100 other students from various countries, the young environmentalist was able to learn a great deal about climate change and its effects, more than what he did at his school. However, as the 14-year-old was busy making notes of the environmental issues, he encountered a piece of information that he had never heard of - how these changes were affecting the day-to-day lives of people, including alcohol/drug abuse, mental health issues, and high suicide rates. "I was concerned that no one spoke about these issues," expresses the young environmentalist, as he connects with Global Indian, from Malawi, where he is studying the factors behind the country's successful COVID response. [caption id="attachment_19222" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Abhay Singh Sachal, Indo-Canadian environmentalist[/caption] On his return to Canada, Abhay gave a lowdown to his elder brother Sukhmeet, and the siblings decided to create a platform that can help youngsters from various communities voice their concerns. And

ntalist | Abhay Singh Sachal | Global Indian" width="550" height="663" /> Abhay Singh Sachal, Indo-Canadian environmentalist[/caption]

On his return to Canada, Abhay gave a lowdown to his elder brother Sukhmeet, and the siblings decided to create a platform that can help youngsters from various communities voice their concerns. And thus, Break the Divide - a non-profit that promotes global awareness among youth - was born. The organisation, which was started in a school in British Columbia, Canada, has about nine chapters today, including one in South Africa and Taiwan. "Climate change is affecting our lives. We wanted to establish a platform where people can speak about their issues without any hesitation," shares Abhay, who is counted among the top 10 International Youth Changemakers in Canada.

Starting young

Born in Amritsar, Punjab, he moved to Canada with his family in 2002, when he was all of 11 months old. The son of a journalist father and interior designer mother, the young environmentalist credits his family for his connection with nature. "One of my most vivid childhood memories is of my father taking me and my brother to the local parks and forest for a walk. I loved spending time in nature. I remember, my brother was involved in community service, and that motivated me to look into various social issues quite early," he shares.

[caption id="attachment_19223" align="aligncenter" width="427"] A young Abhay, after winning a school award[/caption]

A brilliant student, Abhay took part in various extracurricular activities in school. The youngster also played club-level ice hockey. Encouraged by his family, Abhay joined his school's Green Team, which was an environmental club focusing on sustainable initiatives. In 2016, when he was just 14, Abhay applied for a scholarship to be a part of the Students on Ice, a non-profit foundation that helps students understand the importance of the earth's poles through group expeditions. "I received a $12,000 scholarship for a three-week excursion to the Arctic. There were about 100 students from across the globe and 100 educators, including scientists, historians, and musicians, who went on that trip," shares the youngster, exclaiming that the trip was a "life-changing experience."

[caption id="attachment_19224" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Sachal brothers, Sukhmeet and Abhay[/caption]

"Till that visit, I had only read about climate change. But it was in the Arctic that I experienced it first-hand. I witnessed the melting glaciers to the effects of weather change on the local wildlife. What hit me the most was how these changes were affecting the lives of people," adds Abhay, who resolved to do something about the issue, and later started Break the Divide.

Bringing communities together

Many students from Abhay's school joined the organisation after its launch, and spread the word through social media. Soon, other schools from various parts of Canada joined in to form a chapter of Break the Divide. "Some years back, students in Cape Town also formed a chapter to talk about the water crisis in their local community. They even started a campaign to save water," shares Abhay, who is currently pursuing a double major in Global Health and Peace & Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.

[caption id="attachment_19225" align="aligncenter" width="547"] Abhay at the G20 Youth Interfaith Forum, Bologna[/caption]

A key presenter at various international conferences on environment-related issues, Abhay was recently recognised as Canada’s Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalists and was featured as one of 10 International Youth Changemakers in Canada. "There is much work to be done. We are working on the Break the Divide Indian chapter, which will address the religious, geographical, and political divisions among the people. We are also expanding our reach in other countries - addressing not just climate change, but also mental health among people. We also want to work with the LGBTQ+ community,” he signs off.

Follow Abhayjeet Singh Sachal on Twitter and LinkedIn

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An Indian ballet star in the Miami City Ballet, Amiruddin Shah pirouettes to glory

(May 22, 2024) An excited Asif dances his heart out to the beats of the dhol at a Dahi handi celebration in Mumbai, reprimanded by his uncle for participating in a Hindu festival. The opening scene of Yeh Ballet, a Netflix biographical film of an Indian ballet dancer, Amiruddin Shah, speaks volumes about a boy from the slums of Mumbai who made it to London’s Royal Ballet Theatre. “It’s true. My uncle was against a Muslim dancing at a Hindu festival. But I kept doing what I liked,” smiles Amiruddin, who is today a corps de ballet member at Miami City Ballet, in an exclusive with Global Indian. Rags to riches – A ‘balle’ to ballet The 20-something’s rags to riches story is inspiring. From doing odd jobs in Mumbai’s slums to becoming the first Indian ever to be selected at the Royal Ballet Theatre, Amiruddin's story is about patience, perseverance, and resilience. Amiruddin’s story unfolded in the Sanpada slums. His father left his village in UP over three decades ago to eke a better life in the City of Dreams. Struggling to make ends meet, the children chipped in. “From selling eggs to slippers, shoes, mango pickles on the

slums to becoming the first Indian ever to be selected at the Royal Ballet Theatre, Amiruddin's story is about patience, perseverance, and resilience.

Amiruddin’s story unfolded in the Sanpada slums. His father left his village in UP over three decades ago to eke a better life in the City of Dreams. Struggling to make ends meet, the children chipped in. “From selling eggs to slippers, shoes, mango pickles on the roadside, I did everything,” recalls the Indian ballet star, the youngest of five brothers and two sisters.

Despite studying at a government school, he hardly attended classes. “We went to school because free meals were provided. Not too great, they sufficed, and many families sent their children for that full meal, and to keep them away from trouble,” says the boy, who grew up amidst violence. “When you see people dropping dead in street fights, you begin to look at things differently,” reminisces the Indian ballet star.

With no clear interest in studies, it was dance that called out to the young lad. “I was sort of dyslexic and never understood how to write or count. It seemed too difficult - I felt comfortable and at ease with the arts. Dancing made me feel alive,” chirps the street dancer.

Then came a Danceworx jazz and contemporary dance programme for underprivileged students. His older brother Nizamuddin introduced him to it, and he even impressed the instructor. This led to him trading places with his brother who was already enrolled. “Both couldn’t be a part of it due to financial constraints, so my brother stepped down,” says an emotional lad, who felt trapped seeing his brother give up his place.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRq_32JmczQ[/embed]

The right place, at the right time

That was when Israeli-American ballet master Yehuda Maor spotted his natural talent and persuaded him to ditch hip-hop for ballet. “He kept looking at my arched feet while (I was) stretching, and knew I was made for ballet,” reveals Shah. New to ballet, he hated every moment, especially, comprehending English commands as he didn’t know the language. “It was nerve-wracking to be doing a dance form I had no clue about,” adds Shah.

The initial years of training were exhausting as Yehuda was a taskmaster. For someone who began ballet at age 12, Amiruddin was working hard to make up for lost years. “Yehuda was packing all those years of (lost) training. It was so intense that I hated him,” he laughs. Today, he calls Yehuda his mentor, someone who changed his life for good.

In less than three years, Shah had aced the language of ballet. Spreading his wings, he won a scholarship to study at the Joffery Ballet School in New York but couldn't make it as his visa was rejected. Demotivated, his fortunes changed when he won a one-year scholarship at the Oregon Ballet Theatre.

“My study expenses were covered, I needed money for lodging and food. We needed $20,000 - Yehuda paid half, and the rest we raised through crowdfunding in six months,” recalls Shah. In the US, his excitement soon faded as he had to learn the Balanchine method, a technique quite different from what he knew. Adjusting to American ballet was tough, “They were so quick on the toes, and it felt like the dancers were flying. The speed was killing me. It wasn’t the right institution so Yehuda and I decided to quit the school,” he adds, very disheartened at quitting.

Back to basics

Back in Mumbai, he continued practicing with Yehuda but with a new perspective and zeal. He was then selected by the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York on a half scholarship, but with his funds depleted due to the Oregon Ballet School stint, he had to bow out.

News of an Indian boy making it to the American Ballet School spread like wildfire. “BBC called me the Billy Elliot of India, and it went viral in the UK. The director of Royal Ballet Theatre saw the news, and offered me a full scholarship in 2017,” smiles the first Indian to ever receive the Nadia Nerina Scholarship (for talented students from beyond EU for three years), and first Indian to study at London’s Royal Ballet Theatre.

Studying in the same ballet school that trained the likes of Sergei Polunin gave Amiruddin goose bumps. “He is one of the best ballet dancers in the world, and at just 19, he became Royal Ballet’s youngest principal dancer. This was enough validation and motivation,” enthuses the 20-something Indian ballet star, who finished a higher level of education in arts & ballet from the University of Roehampton.

Royal Ballet was intense. He repeated a year due to constant injuries, and lack of nutrition. “The body has to look a certain way for ballet. Since childhood, with no nutritious food, it showed in my stamina, led to injuries. I had to give myself a year to heal,” says the Indian ballet star, who performed in Giselle, Sea Interludes, and Elite Syncopations during this period.

Shah also started The Art Door, an app platform to help global artistes collaborate virtually or physically. “Art has the power to change the world and it’s important that we have a platform to join forces.” It helps artistes create high-quality professional digital artworks.

From the slums of Mumbai to London’s Royal Ballet Theatre, his perseverance is inspirational. Director Sooni Taraporevala was totally awestruck, and turned his captivating story into a Netflix original film in 2020. “I am grateful to her for bringing alive my story but I wouldn’t have given her my story if it wasn’t for my brother Nizamuddin acting in the film,” says the boy, who admits he still hasn’t watched the film as he doesn’t connect with his past anymore.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpeOrmjRK90[/embed]

It was also Shah’s way of giving back to his brother who had exchanged places with him a long time ago.

A member of the Miami City Ballet, he was a soloist lead in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC in November 2021. “It was a profound moment,” gushes the Indian ballet star.

From Mumbai to Miami, the Indian ballet dancer has come a long way because he believed in himself. Sharing some wisdom, he says, “Have more faith in yourself than anyone else has in you. Talent can be missed twice, but not thrice.”

Follow Amiruddin Shah on LinkedIn

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Laalitya Acharya: The Indian American raising awareness on global water crisis

(October 16, 2022) A family trip to India was nothing short of an eye-opener for the Ohio girl Laalitya Acharya, who was a witness to the glaring water gap and the lack of access to clean drinking water and its implications. Seeing the damaging impact of contaminated water on health - leading to stomach flu and other ailments - made her dig deep into the statistics. In 2017, nearly 75 million people in India had no access to safe water. The startling numbers made her think hard, but after she fell ill from consuming contaminated water despite taking precautions, Laalitya knew it was time to make a change. "When I returned home, I found that this is a global crisis that affects billions all across the world. I decided that I wanted to find a solution to this problem and thus the foundations for The Nereid Project were born," the changemaker tells Global Indian. Nereid - a low-cost device that can detect water contamination within seconds using Artificial Intelligence - made Laalitya bag the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes recently, for making a positive impact in people's lives and communities. In the last few years, the Nereid Project has

aking a positive impact in people's lives and communities. In the last few years, the Nereid Project has grown by leaps and bounds, and Laalitya calls it an organisation that "aims to raise awareness for the water crisis through research, advocacy, and policy." They are now working on implementing Nereid in Ohio, India, and Morocco.

[caption id="attachment_23046" align="aligncenter" width="415"] Laalitya Acharya developed Nereid[/caption]

Foundation laid by curiosity

While Nereid has put this Indian-American teen on the global map, Laalitya's interest in technology and science began at a tender age. The Bengaluru-born grew up in a suburb of Ohio after her parents moved to the US in search of better opportunities. Being a first-generation Indian American, "the importance of education was constantly emphasised," and she naturally gravitated toward scientific experimentation. It was in high school that her passion flourished as she found herself participating in scientific research and science fairs. "My high school did not have a traditional research program, so I decided to do 'at-home' independent research instead. This was where the basis of my research, Nereid, began," the changemaker reveals.

It was creative thinking that led her to explore scientific research, something she calls "crucial" to her journey. While most think science and creativity are separate entities, Laalitya begs to differ. "People tend to believe that science is not for the creative but I could not think that falser. All of the research and novel developments that we have, are born out of creativity, not in spite. The Nereid device, for example, utilises an intersection of biology, computational science, and artificial intelligence - it required unique thinking to create a unique solution," she elucidates.

[caption id="attachment_23047" align="aligncenter" width="501"] Laalitya Acharya recently won the Gloria Barron Award for Young Heroes[/caption]

Making an impact with Nereid

So, what exactly is Nereid? It's a portable device that works as a microscopic camera that takes images of a water sample which are then analysed using AI technology to determine if it's safe or contaminated, thus helping to alleviate the global water crisis. Such is the feasibility of the device that it can be easily integrated into a water system. "The coming months will help me to gather real-world data to hopefully implement Nereid globally," adds the changemaker. Not just this, the Nereid Project also expands to hosting STEM education programs and water summits which "are conferences centred around ways each of us can mitigate the global water gap." Along with it, they are working to use the legislative arm of policy to ensure access to this global necessity for all.

A STEM champion

Laalitya, who is currently majoring in biomedical engineering at Columbia University, is keen to work at the "intersection of STEM and public policy" to create legislative changes that incorporate science-based solutions. A STEM champion, she calls it the need of the hour to solve issues such as climate change or reform US healthcare. The 19-year-old is happy to see girls "crushing the game" in STEM. "The growth that I have seen even in my career of the science fair, and research has truly shown the power of women in science. I've also worked to create educational programs for young girls interested in science through The Nereid Project. Seeing their excitement and being able to support them on their STEM journeys has always been immensely gratifying for me," adds Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021 finalist.

The young changemaker is taking baby steps to cause a tectonic shift in the world through her work, and is keen to see "a world where people have access to their basic human rights and necessities." Knowing that the world is in crisis right now, she says, "it is our job to fix it."

[caption id="attachment_23048" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Laalitya Acharya with US Senator Chuck Schumer of New York[/caption]

"The United Nations defined their Sustainable Goals (SDG)s as due in 2030. We are less than 8 years away from this and I truly hope that we can continue our exponential growth in solving these global crises. I am doing my part to close the water gap and I aim to help the UN reach SDG #6 (which regards clean water access)," adds the changemaker, who was a Casework Intern for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in May where she worked with the constituents of New York to resolve any issues they were facing.

Challenges and learnings

However, this journey came with its share of challenges, and COVID was especially a tough time. But Laalitya was able to see a silver lining in each of her difficulties. "A lot of what The Nereid Project did was dependent on in-person camps/summits. Overnight, this changed and we were forced to move to a virtual format instead. But this shift led us to engage with more people outside of my local area. We worked with students from across the world and helped them kickstart their scientific journeys. Today, in a post-pandemic world, we have decided to keep our online format and return to in-person events - thus allowing us to expand our reach," the changemaker says.

A voracious reader, she loves to devour historical fiction and memoirs. "I also play the violin and run as I find both activities to be very soothing. It helps me to take care of my body and mind which is crucial in this line of work," says the changemaker.

[caption id="attachment_23049" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Laalitya Acharya encourages kids in the space of STEM[/caption]

The last few years have been a learning curve for Laalitya as she extends some pieces of advice to youngsters looking to make an impact. "It's okay to be a one-person-show," she suggests, adding, "It can be super scary to put yourself out there as an 'organisation' when it's just you wearing 5 different hats at the same time. But in reality, we all start small, and even the smallest changes can cause a ripple effect." However, she emphasises the importance of finding one's niche. "Go narrow and deep. Delve into a few sectors that you are particularly fond of and then you can expand as you grow," adds Laalitya, who believes in building a network and finding a community - in terms of family, mentors, friends, advocates, and or organisations. But her biggest learning was understanding that the way to a 'yes' is through many 'no'. "You will face negative comments, criticism, and other not-so-fun conversations on your journey. But the best way to think about it is that every 'no' gets you closer to a 'yes'," signs off Laalitya.

Follow Laalitya Acharya on Linkedin and her website

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