Global IndianstoryGopi Byluppalla: Uniting people through food at The Culinary Lounge

Gopi Byluppalla: Uniting people through food at The Culinary Lounge

Written by: Mallik Thatipalli

(May 24, 2024) “I only know four things: people, books, food, and movies,” smiles Gopi Byluppala, a Hyderabad-based entrepreneur whose work revolves around all things food, traditional meals, and recipes, as well as culinary conversations. The 40-year-old, who has founded Hyderabad’s experimental Culinary Lounge, is also working with the government of the Netherlands to find areas of synergy between Hyderabad and Amsterdam, as he believes that food is the only bridge that can connect people from diverse walks of life.

As he pours Nannari sherbet into a glass (earlier found only in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh and something this writer cherished in childhood summers spent in Hindupur), he says that food is the very essence of our being.

Gopi Byluppala, founder, The Culinary Lounge

“Each time I invite people for a meal and they try some long-forgotten recipes or dishes that are no longer made, it transports them to their happiest memories—many say that the food reminds them of their mothers or grandmothers. Or they share their own recollections. Look at our conversation, I mentioned Nannari, and you said you always had it with milk, which was a revelation as I knew it only to be served with soda. Food is the ultimate uniting force,” he tells Global Indian.

Sensory recollections

Growing up in a joint family in Kakinada, where the kitchen was bigger than the living room, Gopi recalls spending a lot of time around food. He reminisces, “My mother was always in the kitchen, preparing breakfast, lunch, snacks, and then dinner, so I used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen to be close to her.”

It was this early exposure that had a great effect on the young Gopi, who wanted to become a chef as early as when he was eight-years-old and loved whipping up his favorite dish (maggi). Fate (and his father), however, had different plans, and he ended up studying engineering at the University of Madras and working at Oracle for a decade.

It was in 2014, when he was shuttling between Hyderabad and Philadelphia (where his wife Swathi worked), that he decided to indulge in his love for food. “After living the corporate life for a decade, I understood that my heart did not lie in it and wanted to pursue a career among my passions,” he shares.

Gopi Byluppala | Global Indian

Turning passion into profession

Combining two of his loves—food and people—the entrepreneur started his first start-up in 2014, Feazt, a unique platform where strangers were invited for a home-cooked meal to bond over food. His first pop-up was called Coconada Meal (the British name for Kakinada), where he served food made by his mother.

“It was an event like no other,” Gopi smiles as he recalls and adds, “I remember my mother wondering if people would pay Rs 500 for a home-cooked meal, but I was sure that there would be an audience. My mother was ecstatic when a young girl hugged her after tasting her Royyala koora (prawn curry) and said that it was so different from what one found at restaurants.”

The concept was a big hit and had only one rule – people should come alone and no guests should know one other – as the idea was to meet like-minded people and not hang out with your existing friends. Another initiative that was unique was Handi Talks (similar to Ted Talks) but focused on food, where entrepreneurs, bakers, chefs, and restaurant owners came together, creating an eco-system of people passionate about food and also sharing knowledge and insights with a close-knit audience.

People and food

In a quest to bring the idea of connecting people and food together, the entrepreneur started Culinary Lounge in 2018. It is an eclectic idea where food takes center stage—where chefs can host pop-ups for specific foods, where people could learn cooking, and where corporates can bring teams for interactive sessions. In fact, the center has played host to many top companies, including Deloitte, PepsiCo, and Google, among others, where leaders can reconnect with their teams over a host of activities, from cooking together to sessions on food histories.

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Apart from companies, Culinary Longue has also played host to delegations from Korea, Japan, Thailand, and the Netherlands, where chefs explore and experiment with Indian food. It has also seen book launches and gatherings by gourmands.

It was through one such delegation from the Netherlands, which prompted his move to Amsterdam in 2022, where he is working extensively on building a culinary corridor to Hyderabad.

He states, “Amsterdam has a rich profusion of Michelin-starred restaurants, world-class bartenders, and some of the best breweries in the world. Hyderabad has a great nightlife scene, and I see a great opportunity for cross-pollination, where Hyderabadis can experience the best of nightlife from abroad and Amsterdam gets a taste of local Hyderabadi favorites like Biryani, Paya, Marag, Gongura, and Pachi Pulusu.”

Is food the ultimate soft power – absolutely says Gopi and adds, “Food is the greatest ice-breaker and tailor made for culinary diplomacy. A great example is the Thai government, which, under the Thai Select Program, started over 100,000 restaurants in the US, resulting in an explosion of interest for Thailand in the US/ Look at how K-Pop, Ramen, and K-drama resulted in a boom in Korea’s tourism!”

A mammoth undertaking

Currently shuttling between Hyderabad and Amsterdam, Gopi is also busy with his current initiative, Onamalu (which translates to fundamentals in Telugu), which aims to document the history of Telugu food from the year 1750 onwards. With the help of a team of chefs, historians, and enthusiasts who will travel the length and breadth of Telugu states—from Telangana to coastal Andhra and Rayalseema to tribal food—it aims to document the lore and legacy of Telugu food.

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Quiz about his continuing obsession with food, and he simply smiles, adding, “In a world full of differences, food can be the unifying factor. We Indians are so fond of Italian and Korean food that I want to ensure that my rich Telugu cuisine is also one day as popular as theirs across the world. Good food can bring us together.”

It is this belief that drives Gopi and gives him strength when he travels away from his young children (Veeksha, 7; Nikshit, 4). Building a community and introducing traditional food to younger generations moving away from it—this entrepreneur is all about creating a better world where we stay in touch with our roots and, of course, share stories over a meal.

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Geetha Bhascker

May 24, 2024 3:42 pm

Very well expressed! Wonderful to read on your passion for people who get connected without inhibitions mostly through food. Food is powerful and passion for home food, however, connects to one’s culture too. It’s heartening to know of your connections through food and your initiative of Onamaalu to put Telugu cuisine on the global platter. Wishing the best to you and your team. As a Telugu in my twilight years, if need be, shall share efforts in your endeavour to the best possible.

Published on 24, May 2024

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Reviving the American dream: Economist Raj Chetty’s research is shaping the global future

(August 17, 2023) Nadarajan Chetty had his luckiest moment before he even came into the world. His mother, Anbu, secured a spot in the first group of 30 young women to attend a medical college. Her journey later brought her and her family to the USA, where her nine-year-old son got the opportunity to become a world-class economist - who has been awarded the Harvard University’s George Ledlie Prize for “wielding big data to break myths about who achieves the American Dream and the obstacles faced by others.” The Indian American, who is the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University, is also the Director of Opportunity Insights, a group of economists based at Harvard who study inequality. [caption id="attachment_43724" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Economist Raj Chetty[/caption] “The big-picture goal,” Chetty had once told the media while talking about his work, "is to revive the American dream. A defining feature of the American Dream is upward mobility—the ability of all children to have a chance at economic success, no matter their background. And we aim to revive that dream." The Global Indian, who became one of the youngest tenured faculty in the history of Harvard's economics department, was also awarded

of the American Dream is upward mobility—the ability of all children to have a chance at economic success, no matter their background. And we aim to revive that dream." The Global Indian, who became one of the youngest tenured faculty in the history of Harvard's economics department, was also awarded the Infosys Prize in Economics, the highest monetary award recognizing achievements in science and research, in India.

A lifetime opportunity

Chetty's mother who was raised in Tamil Nadu, stood out as the brightest student, but her opportunities were limited by tradition. Even though Anbu's father supported her love for learning, there were no colleges nearby, and it wouldn't have been considered appropriate to send his daughter far away for education. However, when Anbu was nearing the end of her high school years, a small miracle changed the course of her life. A wealthy local businessperson, who also had a talented daughter, made a surprising decision. He established a women's college, right within his impressive home. Anbu secured a spot in the first group of 30 young women to attend this college. They studied English in the spacious courtyard, sheltered by a thatched roof. In the early mornings, Anbu took the bus to a nearby college to conduct chemistry experiments or examine frogs' hearts before the men students arrived.

[caption id="attachment_43725" align="aligncenter" width="602"] Economist | Raj Chetty | Global Indian Nine-year-old Chetty[/caption]

Eventually, Anbu enrolled in medical school despite her father's initial disapproval. In 1962 Anbu married Veerappa Chetty, and Raj was born in New Delhi. At the age of nine, Chetty's family relocated to the United States, and he embarked on a journey of achievement almost as remarkable as that of his parents. "My parents, who grew up in very low-income families and villages in South India … the opportunities they had were greatly shaped by the fact that they happened to be the ones who were picked to get a higher education in their families," said the economist during an interview, "And I could kind of see how that’s played out through the generations in my own family, through the opportunities my cousins have had versus what I’ve had … ending up here at Harvard and the various opportunities I’ve had, I felt have stemmed from that.”

A scholar

A brilliant student from the very beginning, Chetty was the valedictorian of his high-school class. After finishing his school, the young economist joined the University School of Milwaukee and graduated in 1997. Chetty earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 2000, where he continued pursuing his Ph.D. from the institution. "I was quite fortunate to complete my dissertation under the direction of Martin Feldstein, Gary Chamberlain, and Lawrence F. Katz. My thesis was titled 'Consumption commitments, risk preferences, and optimal unemployment insurance'," the economist shared.

[caption id="attachment_43726" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Economist | Raj Chetty | Global Indian Raj and Sundari Chetty[/caption]

Ambitious and focussed, Chetty became an assistant professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, eventually becoming a tenured associate professor there at 28. Just five years after starting his career, The Economist and The New York Times listed Chetty as one of the top eight young economists in the world, in 2008. And the next year, he returned to Harvard, where he was the Bloomberg Professor of Economics and the director of the Lab for Economic Applications and Policy.

Making America great again

While he has won several awards and recognistions, the work that has earned Chetty great renown resonates with his family's past. He has led the way in a method that leverages recently accessible government data to illustrate the progress of American families over generations. This unveils noteworthy trends of both moving up the social ladder and getting stuck in one place. In a preliminary study, he illustrated that kids born in 1940 had a 90 percent likelihood of outearning their parents. However, for those born forty years later, that likelihood had dropped to 50 percent, akin to flipping a coin.

The Padma Shri awardee has been the man behind making the people believe in the 'American dream' again. "One of the core ideals, I think, of American society—and in some ways, the reason my own parents came to the U.S. like many other immigrants, in search of the American dream—is the idea that no matter what your background, you have a great chance of succeeding in America and of moving up in the income distribution relative to where you started. Our education research tries to approach that from one particular angle, as one factor that might matter," the economist said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2U9-Wq2ub0

His recent recognition, the Ledlie Prize, means a lot to Chetty because of its recognition of economics as a science. "One of the things I’ve been trying to push toward is making economics more of a science and viewed as a scientific field where it’s not just about making different assumptions and you have one view and I have another view and we kind of have a political debate but grounded in data, grounded in empirical science," shared the economist, adding that he has a long way to go and much to research for making the US economy the greatest again.

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Sabu Dastagir: The elephant boy who made it to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame

(July 21, 2023) The West was an elusive concept for many Indians in the early 1900s. Not many had dared to step into the world that was unlike anything back home, especially films. But Sabu Dastagir was one of those rare exceptions who took off to Hollywood when very little was known of it in India. This teenager from a small village in Mysore was one of India’s earliest talent to make it to the international film circuit. He wasn’t just India’s first-ever star to make it to Hollywood but also the the first one to make his debut on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Here’s the story of this elephant boy who went across the ocean with stars in his eyes. [caption id="attachment_41982" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Sabu Dastagir[/caption] Real to reel – Elephant Boy Born in 1924 in Mysore to a mahout (elephant rider) who served the Maharaja of Mysore, Sabu at the age of six started serving in the elephant stables after his father's early demise. Like any average poor Indian kid of those times, he was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father and became a mahout. But destiny had a special plan for him. And that

he elephant stables after his father's early demise. Like any average poor Indian kid of those times, he was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father and became a mahout. But destiny had a special plan for him. And that proposition came knocking on his door in the form of American documentary filmmaker Robert J Flaherty.

Flaherty was in Mysore to scout for location for his upcoming film Elephant Boy, when he chanced upon Sabu, who was mounted on an elephant. Seeing Sabu in his natural poise, the filmmaker knew he had found his lead star.

The film, based on a story Toomai of the Elephants from The Jungle Book by Ruyard Kipling, soon went into production. A real elephant boy was now on reel. After shooting for a few sequences in Mysore, Sabu was flown to England by producer and co-director Alexandra Korda along with his brother to shoot certain parts. And just like that a mahout from Mysore was ready for his debut in an English film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM14Gfpfdrc

In the cold winter of 1937, Elephant Boy opened to a spectacular reception in England, making Sabu an overnight star whose performance was widely appreciated by critics who called him a "complete natural." Such was the success of the film that Flaherty and Korda shared the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival that year. The epic win at the international film festival made Korda realise early that Dastagir had the potential to pull crowds, and soon signed him up for more films.

The Global Indian journey

This was the beginning of Sabu's innings in English films. The next year brought with it the first technicolor film The Drum, and Sabu was roped in to play a prince. Based on the AEW Mason's novel, the film revolved around a prince who is threatened by his uncle and becomes friends with a drummer. The film did well in Britain, however, back home in India, The Drum received backlash for being British propaganda material.

[caption id="attachment_6918" align="aligncenter" width="790"] SabuDastagir Sabu Dastagir in a still from Elephant Boy[/caption]

Regardless, Sabu had become a star in his own right, and was busy signing films with British directors. One such collaboration led him to the 1940 fantasy adventure Thief of Bagdad. Known as producer Korda’s most expensive production ever, Thief of Bagdad saw Sabu give his finest performance. The film was a huge success and went on to win an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design and Best Original Score categories. Sabu found a fan in director Michael Powell, who was in awe of the actor’s “wonderful grace”.

In 1942, the actor shifted gears when Hollywood came calling and played Mowgli in Zoltan Korda's The Jungle Book. Though the film steered away from Kipling's original, it secured an Academy Award nomination for music and special effects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKNbl6rO5FY

That same year, he signed a contract with Universal Pictures. Arabian Nights was Universal Pictures' spin on The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, and this adventure film marked his first appearance with actors Jon Hall and Maria Monez. He later went on to be a part of many such exotic-themed films like White Savage (1942) and Cobra Woman (1944).

The real-life hero

Well acquainted with America by now, he got his American citizenship in 1944 and the actor was also enlisted in the US Air Force. He wasn't just a hero on screen, but in real life too — a distinguished war hero. He served as a tail gunner and ball turret gunner on B-24 aircraft during the World War II. His service earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross award.

At a time when everyone was reeling from the after-effects of the World War II, Sabu, too, started to see a downturn in his career. He struggled to get roles in Hollywood; for the next few years, he made appearances in a handful of films like Black Narcissus (1947) and Harringay Circus (1952). While his professional life was going slow, he found love in real life on the sets of his 1948 film The Song of India, where he met Marilyn Cooper and the two got married.

Sabu Dastagir | Global Indian

An almost Bollywood film

Though Sabu had a number of Hollywood and British films to his credit, his only chance of working with Bollywood was taken from him when he was denied a work permit in India. Had things worked in his favour, he would have been a part of one of the biggest Hindi films of all time — Mother India. Mehboob Khan considered him for the role of Birju, which was ultimately played by Sunil Dutt.

Though working in a Bollywood film remained an elusive dream, Sabu did find himself on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1960, the first from India to do so. Shortly after, he died of a heart attack in Los Angeles at age 39.

[caption id="attachment_6923" align="aligncenter" width="580"] The poster of Sabu and the Magic Ring[/caption]

His career in Hollywood and European films made him the first-ever Indian actor to gain fame and popularity in the West. From being an elephant boy to making his name in Hollywood, the Global Indian can be truly called India's original hero who paved the way for Indian talent abroad.

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Indian Union Budget 2022: Mental health, startups get a boost, while tourism, social sector look on

(February 2, 2022) The Union Budget 2022 announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2022 promised Indian stakeholders “amrit kaal,” with reforms for the next 25 years. While many sectors are reaping the benefits, the common man is short-changed. TEAM GI decoded what the budget amidst the pandemic means for the industries, and how to descramble these numbers. A startup for startups [caption id="attachment_19421" align="alignleft" width="263"] Vijay Anand, founder, The Startup Centre[/caption]

gnleft" width="263"] Union Budget 2022 | Vijay Anand Vijay Anand, founder, The Startup Centre[/caption]
That apart, finance minister Sitharaman has announced an open stack for the national digital health ecosystem, which means unique digital IDs will be provided to promote universal access to healthcare facilities. However, according to Vijay Anand, founder of the Startup Centre, also popularly known as the Startup Guy, “the open stack feature seems promising, but iSPIRT has already been working on this for years.”

The fact that the government has extended tax benefits for the startup ecosystem though is a welcome relief. “Things have been on a massive upswing in terms of the number of startups that have emerged and unicorns that came to be. This move was smart to not rock the boat and introduce minimal interventions this year,” says Anand, adding, “There are some issues that we still need to address overall if we want to make the Indian ecosystem competitive to global ones. There is already an ongoing discussion with the FM regarding these and a 120-point document has been shared, in consultation with startups and stakeholders,” he tells Global Indian.

A socially uplifting budget?

When budget 2022 was announced, many thought that it has missed social sector announcements. Interestingly, this is one sector that was highly neglected. Despite the pandemic creating a severe impact on the health, education and food security of the poor and informal sectors in the past two years, budget 2022 turned a blind eye to the social sector by restricting the spending that could contribute to improvements in human development outcomes.

Budget 2022 sees Health and Family Welfare that accounts for ₹83,000 crore, go up by only 16 percent. Calling out the discrepancy, Avani Kapur, a senior fellow at Centre for Research Policy tweeted, “Investments in the social sector remain neglected in this year’s budget. What has been particularly surprising is the low investments for health and also for some key schemes that were a safety net during the peak of the Covid-19 crisis. For instance, while there remain 77 lakh households that had demanded work under MGNREGS still to receive it, allocations for the scheme saw a 26 percent decrease over past year’s revised estimates. Food subsidy has seen a 28 percent decrease even as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana providing additional free grains to families was extended till 2022. Similarly, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, sees only a ₹200 crore increase this year.”

[caption id="attachment_19422" align="alignright" width="180"] Union Budget 2022 | Mayank Midha Mayank Midha, CEO of GARV Toilets[/caption]However, the allocation of ₹60,000 crore to provide tap water to 3.8 crore households under Har Ghar, Nal Se Jal Scheme, has been welcomed by the social sector. Mayank Midha, CEO, GARV Toilets, is glad to see the government’s commitment to delivering basic necessities. “There has already been significant progress in this project since its launch in 2019 and the target to reach 16 crore households by 2024 seems practical with fresh commitment of funds. Providing access to tap water for every household will positively impact community health, women empowerment and socio-economic parameters,” says Mayank Midha.

Mental health for the pandemic inflicted

The burden of mental health issues in India clocks 2,443 DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) per 100,000 population. Lancet’s 2019 study stated that one in seven Indians are affected by mental disorders, and a survey by NIMHANS calls out a treatment gap between of 70 percent – 92 percent.

With this budget giving the health sector a robust boost, ₹4,176.84 crore allocated, this added focus on health infrastructure has been lauded by business leaders and the industry too.

[caption id="attachment_19423" align="alignleft" width="292"] Union Budget 2022 | Dr Amit Malik Dr Amit Malik, founder, InnerHour[/caption] Dr Amit Malik, founder and CEO, InnerHour, a healthcare technology company looking to disrupt the psychological wellness and mental health, says, “India has nearly 200 million people with a mental health need and lots of barriers to access of high-quality professional support. The treatment gap for mental health in India is nearly 95 percent, and all partners, government bodies like NIMHANs, private partners like InnerHour, and NGOs need to work towards bridging this huge need gap.”

Optimistic about the passing of the Mental Health Act, the new initiative with NIMHANS and IITB in Budget 2022, Dr Malik adds, “It is very encouraging for those suffering from mental illness. It will increase awareness and provide early access to mental health support. We see this as a great step in the right direction and welcome it wholeheartedly.”

Tourism sector wants more

India saw 17.9 million foreign tourists arrive in 2019, while in 2018, the number was 17.4 million – seeing a growth of 3.5 percent. The recent budget allocation to the ministry of tourism - ₹2400 crore, 18.42 percent higher than 2021, is a start to revive the industry.

[caption id="attachment_19424" align="alignright" width="205"] Union Budget 2022 | Sriharan Balan Sriharan Balan, chairman, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India[/caption] However, Sriharan Balan, chairman Adventure Tour Operators Association of India - Tamil Nādu chapter and managing director, Madura Travel Service (P) Ltd says, “Budget 2022 is yet a big disappointment, and it’s very unfortunate that suggestions given by FAITH, TAAI, IATO, and other travel associations were neglected. An industry that contributes to 7 percent of GDP and 10 percent of direct and indirect employment has been left unheard.”
The pandemic has seen industries struggle, and bailouts given to travel in foreign countries. This would have been apt for the Indian tourism industry. Balan explains, “There is more burden in terms of TCS for outbound travel. Back-to-back lockdowns and increases in fuel price have played a spoilt sport. The government has definitely come out with a Bailout Funding Scheme rather than loans to uplift the industry from complete closures.”

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Raj and Aradhana Asava: Mobilising Indian diaspora and other communities in the fight against hunger across the US

(August 27, 2023) "Over 34 million people, including 9 million children, in the US are food insecure.” A number that Raj Asava was oblivious to before meeting the Mayor of Plano one balmy afternoon in 2015. Having lived in the suburbs of the US for decades, Raj and his wife Aradhana (Anna) Asava had only seen affluence and had no idea about the shocking reality of hunger in their neighborhoods and across the country. "We live in North Texas and almost a million people there struggled with food insecurity. We were shocked," Raj tells Global Indian. This prompted the Indian American couple to start HungerMitao, a movement to activate and mobilise the Indian community in helping fight the hunger crisis in the US. In six years, the Indian community has galvanized around this cause and made possible more than 55 million meals for Food Banks across the country through Feeding America and HungerMitao's seven chapters in Houston, New York, Tarrant Area, Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit, with two upcoming chapters in San Jose and Austin. Hyderabad to US on a one-way ticket Born in Hyderabad, Raj was in his late teens when his father got him a ticket to the US

it, with two upcoming chapters in San Jose and Austin.

Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian | HungerMitao

Hyderabad to US on a one-way ticket

Born in Hyderabad, Raj was in his late teens when his father got him a ticket to the US in the 70s. " My dad believed in the importance of education. He made sure that all eight of his children had global exposure. During those formative years, along with instilling the Indian values and culture, we were exposed to the English American influence. So, when the opportunity presented itself to move to the US, it was a seamless transition." However, Raj calls it a “turning point" as leaving behind his family at a young age was a tough call. But within the first few years, he felt right at home in the US.

Interestingly, Raj's father had sent him to the US on a fly-now-pay-later ticket. "Immigrants come here with a few dollars in hand, I came with a debt," laughs Raj, who worked as a dishwasher in a hospital for two years to pay off his debt. Now free to pursue education, he joined the local community college in their computer program and then the Central Michigan University for his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management. But it was computers that intrigued him. Over the years, he invested himself in the world of Information Technology (IT) and made a successful career. In 1981, he first met Aradhana in India, and within a few months, the two tied the knot.

[caption id="attachment_44184" align="aligncenter" width="611"] Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian | HungerMitao Aradhana and Raj Asava[/caption]

Resetting priorities – Time to give back

Both originally from Rajasthan, Raj and Anna grew up in South India. Anna relocated to America after their wedding in 1982, a transition she calls "seamless" as some of her family lived there. A graduate in English Literature, Anna joined the workforce after her youngest son started school full-time. After their sons' graduation, the empty nesters were keen to give back. "We firmly believe in the philosophy that life is best lived in three stages - learning, earning and returning," says Raj, adding, "At some point we wanted to indulge in purposeful giving back rather than just accumulating wealth." For decades, Raj and Anna had been involved with charities back home. But after Anna quit the corporate world in 2009, the two wondered whether in the race to add more to their bank accounts, they were "losing out on the time account." In 2010, they reset their priorities, and Raj also left corporate America. "We wanted to do more than just cheque writing. We wanted to be deeply engaged in philanthropy" says Anna.

The opportunity came in 2015 when Raj, during one of his quarterly meetings with the Mayor of Plano, was asked to support the backpack program. Initially mistaking it for a marketing gimmick, Raj was corrected by the mayor who told him that “it’s a backpack filled with enough food for a child to last a weekend." He assumed it was a program for children living in the impoverished areas but was surprised to learn that it was a common practice among the affluent schools too. "One in four students leaves school on Friday only to have the next full meal on Monday." Upon returning home, when he told Aradhana about the situation, she thought he must have misunderstood. "Where is hunger, I only see affluence around us," she remarked. But when they invited the Food Bank leader and a few community friends to their home to get clarity; the stats and data left everyone shocked. The couple couldn't sleep that night. They came up with a plan to understand the gravity of the hunger issue and find a possible solution. Their next two years went into volunteering and understanding the problem. One thing that struck them was the lack of participation of the Indian community in volunteering at the Food Bank. It dawned upon them that just like them, there were others who could be equally oblivious to the hunger issue in the US.

Aradhana Asava | Global Indian

The emergence of HungerMitao movement

"By then, we were clear that we don't want to start anything new because the problem is so pervasive. The Food Bank is doing a tremendous job and it will be here even after us. Moreover, the food it provides is nutritious. So, it made best sense to put our resources behind something so efficient," says Anna. The couple reached out to the CEO of the North Texas Food Bank in August 2017 with a proposition and a $100,000 cheque. "We were willing to give three years of our lives to raising awareness within the Indian community about the hunger issue in North Texas and across the US," reveals Raj. "We are four million strong and the most affluent among all immigrant communities in America." Anna chimes in, "We wanted to activate the Indian community." Their proposition was well received. A month later in September 2017, HungerMitao kickstarted, which Raj calls a "pure movement to raise awareness among the Indian community about the hunger issue and get them involved in various capacities."

To spread the word, Raj and Anna invited their Indian friends for a launch party, along with the promise of enabling one million meals by the community. "If we don't integrate and engage in the pains of the US, we will always be considered foreigners," says Anna. The next seven months were spent conducting over 100 awareness sessions across the US. “In seven months, we were able to cross the 1 million-meal mark, “says a proud Raj, who is quick to add that all funds and donations are made by donors directly to the Food Bank. HungerMitao is primarily an enabler. "When it comes to empathy, compassion and giving back, Indians are second to none, and we have proved that with HungerMitao."

Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian | HungerMitao

Sharing the importance of the movement, Anna says that it has unified the Indian community in the fight against hunger and amplified the collective impact. People now recognize the efforts of the Indian community. With HungerMitao, Raj and Anna have brought forth the Indian Americans that no longer want to be anonymous but seen as a community that's giving back.

Spreading across US and its communities

When HungerMitao started six years ago, Raj and Anna wanted a model that could be easily replicated by other communities, and it happened in the heart of the pandemic when the Chinese community became victims of hatred in the US, owing to the virus. They reached out to HungerMitao asking for help in replicating the model, so their image perception was improved. "We shared our entire model with them. What took us years to plan, organise and execute, we had up and running for them in two months," says Raj. The Chinese version of HungerMitao, Nihao, is operational in North Texas and has already raised over a million meals. In 2022, the Hispanic community followed suit and launched SinHambre, wherein Raj and Anna helped them with all the contacts, tools and templates. The kind of impact that HungerMitao has made in the last few years is incomparable, and Raj says that now it has gone beyond Indian community, "it's now for humanity."

[caption id="attachment_44188" align="aligncenter" width="746"] Raj and Aradhana Asava | Global Indian Raj and Aradhana Asava at the 2022 Golden Forks Award.[/caption]

The couple, who found their calling in 2015, says, "We didn't go looking for a cause, but the cause found us." In the years of their partnership in HungerMitao, the two have been each other's sounding board. At the start, it was just Raj and Anna, but over time, they formed a strong steering committee. "We also engage the community in a three-year commitment with the Food Bank. The steering committee also reaches out to their networks and engages more people." From radio shows to food drives to musical concerts, HungerMitao is using every channel to spread awareness. "The community is stepping up and owning HungerMitao. Even the youth understand the issue and participate in the movement. They are asking the right questions and doing everything to help create awareness," says Raj, who is happy to share the model and make it possible in other parts of the world, starting with India. "We are open to take this forward with people who might be interested in starting this even in a single state of India, and then scaling it across the country," adds the philanthropist.

Raj and Anna, who call themselves Bollywood buffs, never thought that HungerMitao would reach such heights. "Our goal was simply to spread the word. We are here today on the shoulders of less than1 percent of Indians in America who have enabled more than 55 million meals. Imagine if just 10 percent of us get involved in a sustained manner, we can make billions of meals possible," Raj signs off.

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How Venkatesan Sundaresan’s 2024 Wolf Prize-winning agricultural discovery will feed billions

(August 8, 2024) For addressing a long-standing problem in the sphere of sustainable agriculture and food security, Indian-American plant biologist Venkatesan Sundaresan has been awarded the 2024 Wolf Prize in Agriculture. Often referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize for agriculture,’ this prestigious award comes with a monetary prize of $100,000. Rice, a staple crop for half of the world’s population, is relatively costly to breed into high-yield hybrid strains, imposing a big problem for farmers. Berkeley-based Innovative Genomics Institute explains: “For 10,000 years, the major world food crop, rice, has reproduced sexually, rearranging its DNA with each generation and often losing desirable traits.” The process has also not just been expensive but also time-consuming for farmers. Venkatesan Sundaresan and his team at the University of California-Davis (UC Davis), after years of research, have introduced asexual reproduction of seeds into rice crop species through a process called ‘apomixis’ – finding a long-sought solution of the need to create exact replicas (clones) of hybrid rice plants from seeds without fertilisation. “The resulting increase in yields can help meet global needs of an increasing population without having to increase use of land, water and fertilizers to unsustainable levels,” the Global Indian was quoted in

t-weight: 400;">The resulting increase in yields can help meet global needs of an increasing population without having to increase use of land, water and fertilizers to unsustainable levels,” the Global Indian was quoted in one of the publications of his workplace, UC Davis.

[caption id="attachment_53407" align="aligncenter" width="787"] Indian Scientists | Venkatesan Sundaresan | Global Indian Dr Venkatesan Sundaresan in his lab | Image Credit: UC Davis[/caption]

His groundbreaking discovery is being perceived as the one set to revolutionise agriculture as his method would not just reduce costs for farmers but allow them to save improved seed from one season to another.

Asexual reproduction of crop species

Plants are living organisms and reproduce either sexually or asexually. Until Sundaresan’s discovery, rice plants were reproducing only sexually. Sexual reproduction in rice plants happens when pollen from the male part of one plant fertilises the egg in the female part of another. This combines genetic material from both parent plants to create seeds. These seeds grow into new rice plants that have a mix of traits from both parents, leading to genetic diversity.

In contrast, asexual reproduction is a mode of reproduction where a single plant produces offspring. The new plants produced are genetically and physically identical to the parent, effectively making them clones.

Venkatesan Sundaresan, his postdoctoral team member Imtiyaz Khanday, and their colleagues in France, Germany, and Ghana discovered that a rice gene called ‘BBM1’ belongs to a family of plant genes known as ‘Baby Boom’ or BBM. They found that BBM1 enables a fertilised egg to form an embryo that grows asexually into a clonal seed.

[caption id="attachment_53408" align="aligncenter" width="698"] Indian Scientists | Venkatesan Sundaresan | Global Indian Dr Venkatesan Sundaresan with Dr Imtiyaz Khanday | Image Credit: UC Regents[/caption]

While asexual reproduction through seeds occurs in several plant species, it has not been observed in important staple crops like rice. Sundaresan and his team successfully tested this method in their laboratory, producing viable seeds (progeny) from hybrid rice plants. This means farmers could replant seeds from their own hybrid plants and benefit from high yields year after year. It is being believed that apart from helping farmers, Sundaresan’s method would also enable seed companies to produce hybrid seeds more quickly and on a larger scale.

Gamechanger for rice growing farmers

Sundaresan and his team’s discovery, long sought by plant breeders and geneticists, represents a major breakthrough, facilitating the propagation of high-yielding, disease-resistant, and climate-tolerant crops worldwide.

Currently, the high cost of producing hybrid seeds is a significant barrier for farmers in developing countries, especially in South Asia and Africa. Sundaresan believes that if efficiently deployed, his method could potentially be a game-changer for poorer farmers. They would only need to purchase hybrid seeds once and could then replant the progeny seeds from their own harvest in subsequent seasons.

“Rice is grown over such a vast climatic and geographic range that specialised hybrids will have to be developed for each region,” highlighted Sundaresan in an interview to the Nature India journal. “It will be interesting to see how all these plays out in the years to come,” he added.

[caption id="attachment_53410" align="aligncenter" width="782"] Indian Scientist | Venkatesan | Sundaresan | Global Indian Dr Venkatesan Sundaresan with one of his research team members, Hui Ren | Image Credit: UC Davis[/caption]

Addressing a fundamental plant biology question

Sundaresan and his team have explored fundamental questions in plant biology, specifically how a fertilised egg develops into a new plant. This basic understanding, combined with innovative asexual breeding technologies, paves the way for breakthroughs in plant agriculture by preserving beneficial traits that might otherwise be lost through sexual reproduction.

The method of ‘apomixis’ discovered by Sundaresan and his team enables a plant to grow genetically identical to its parent plant.

"Apomixis in crop plants has been the target of worldwide research for over 30 years because it can make hybrid seed production accessible to everyone," Sundaresan said. "In particular, rice is a genetic model for other cereal crops, including maize and wheat, which together constitute major food staples for the world," he remarked. The plant biologist noted that these results could be applied to other such food crops so that the world’s food security index registers an improvement.

From Pune to United States

Born and raised in India Venkatesan Sundaresan majored in physics, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pune, and the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur. Following this, he went on to pursue a degree in physics from the Carnegie Mellon University.

Later, he transitioned to life sciences for his doctoral studies and obtained a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard University, where he researched the regulation of nitrogen fixation genes in bacterial symbionts of legumes. This was followed by postdoctoral research in plant genetics at the University of California-Berkeley.

[caption id="attachment_53409" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Indian Scientist Venkatesan Sundaresan | Global Indian Dr Venkatesan Sundaresan[/caption]

Sundaresan's first faculty appointment was at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. He later became the founding director of the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology (now the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratories) at the National University of Singapore.

Since 2001, the scientist has been serving as a faculty member at the UC Davis, where he has also served as Chair of the Department of Plant Biology and as Program Director of the BREAD program, a collaboration between the National Science Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also served on the editorial boards of several journals like ‘Genetics’, ‘Plant Reproduction’, ‘The Plant Cell’, and ‘Trends in Plant Science’.

“My lab’s research focus is on plant reproduction, particularly the genetics and genomics of this process using Arabidopsis and rice as model systems. We aim to understand the underlying mechanisms and employ genome editing techniques to enable asexual reproduction in crop plants, which can revolutionise agricultural practices. Additionally, we study root microbiomes, exploring their assembly, structure, and function,” writes Sunderesan on his lab’s website. “Our work delves into host-microbiome interactions in rice roots, seeking to uncover how these relationships influence plant growth and drought tolerance. Through these studies, we aim to enhance crop resilience and productivity, contributing to sustainable agriculture and food security,” mentions the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Wolf Prize in Agriculture.

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