Global IndianstoryAisha Nazia: The only Indian woman to be selected for FIFA Master course

Aisha Nazia: The only Indian woman to be selected for FIFA Master course

Written by: Charu Thakur

(September 22, 2021) One of Aisha Nazia‘s fondest memories is of her standing in a crowd and watching a football match with bated breath. As her favorite team scored the perfect goal, the Kozhikode-born football fan was euphoric. Her hometown is a mecca for football and it wasn’t long before love for the game rubbed off on Nazia, who has now been selected for the prestigious FIFA Master program. She is the only Indian woman out of the 32 people that were selected from across the world for the program. Chosen out of 700 applicants, Nazia has become an inspiration for dreamers as well as go-getters.

A postgraduate sports executive program, organized in partnership with De Montfort University (United Kingdom), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), the FIFA Master course is nothing short of an Ivy league program. The 26-year-old Indian has made the cut this year, but not without her share of struggles and challenges. As she quit a lucrative job to pursue her dreams, Nazia didn’t find many supporters, but she was determined to follow through on her plan.

How a childhood dream found wings

Born in Kozhikode to Malayalam Muslim parents, Nazia found herself attracted to the game even as a child. After her parents’ divorce when she was five, Nazia moved to Chennai with her mother who was then a teacher. But summer vacations took her back to her hometown each year where she fell in love with football. “I loved the way football brought the entire town together and it was the best show of secularism. It was at this tender age that my affinity towards football began to grow,” she tells Global Indian in an exclusive interview from London where she has kick started the first leg of her course.

Aisha Nazia at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester

While the soccer field made Nazia quite happy, she was equally ecstatic nestled between her pile of books. After securing the eighth rank in mechanical engineering at University of Kerala, she found herself working with the Indian Oil-Adani Group Pvt Ltd in Kochi in 2017. Two years before she entered the corporate world though, Nazia had volunteered as a football facilitator for the 2015 National Games that were held in Kerala. Then a third year student at TKM College of Engineering, she heard about the games being held in her city and couldn’t let the opportunity slip by. “It gave me the perfect exposure to the sporting industry and the workings of it,” she adds.

The turning point

Though her job at Indian Oil kept her happy, she would often find herself drawn to the varied sporting events taking place in the country. So when the FIFA Under 17 World Cup was set to make its debut on Indian soil, Nazia found herself looking for volunteer opportunities on their website. Despite the fact that she didn’t have a sports management degree, Nazia rolled the dice of fate and applied for the role of a workforce manager. Luck was on her side, and the 26-year-old found herself at one of the biggest sporting spectacles. Those months with FIFA turned out to be a game changer for this young woman as she learnt the tricks of the trade and found her true calling in sports management. In 2018, she quit her job to chase her dream and moved to Bengaluru.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aisha Nazia (@themustardwall)

Since sporting events in India happen only once every few months, Nazia took up jobs as a consultant with startups to keep her stable financially. In between, she worked on two seasons of the Indian Super League.

When NBA found itself playing in India for the first time ever in 2019, the organizers got in touch with Nazia after reading a feature on her on FIFA. The conversation soon translated into an operations role in logistics.

A chance meeting

After working with the best for a few years and gaining valuable insights into the world of sports management, Nazia knew she was ready to take it a notch higher with the FIFA Master course, something she had heard about six years ago. “While volunteering at the National Games in 2015, a referee from Tamil Nadu who had trained under the Premiere League saw potential in me and encouraged me to take up the FIFA Master course,” adds Nazia. But she wanted to give herself four years after her graduation before taking a plunge into any Masters program.

Aisha Nazia at NBA matches in India.

So when the entire world came to a standstill in 2020 and sporting events became a rarity, Nazia knew it was the right time to pursue her FIFA Master dream. “The selection process for this course is like it would be for an Ivy league school. This year 32 students were selected from a pool of 700 applicants across 29+ countries,” adds the Kozhikode native. The one year course will have Nazia travel to three countries (England, Italy and Switzerland) to complete her Masters in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport.

Crowdfunding, not charity

If securing a seat among 700 students wasn’t a rigorous process, Nazia found herself raising 22,000 CHF (approximately ₹28 lakh) for the course. She is one among the three students to have secured a merit scholarship which has halved her course fee, but the amount is still heavy on her pocket. “In a country like India, you can apply for an education loan against mortgage of property or gold, and I had nothing as security. Crowdfunding seemed like a wise decision to raise money for my education,” says Nazia.

It was her mentor Gautham Chattopadhaya, who works with NASA, who advised her to opt for crowdfund. “Abroad, it’s a very common concept to raise money for education, but in India, it’s still at its nascent stage. I weighed my options for a long time and even posted on LinkedIn to get some feedback. Many encouraged me to go for it as they couldn’t pursue their dreams owing to financial constraints. The stories of people on the post made me take it up as a social cause to empower people to follow their dreams. Education is a basic necessity and I decided to go forward with it to raise money and also inspire others to follow their dreams,” adds Nazia.

Aisha Nazia at Indian Super League 2019-2020

With GoFundMe inaccessible to Indians, Nazia opted for Ketto to raise money for her education. “In India, crowdfunding is mostly restricted to medical emergencies, so my plea to raise money for education falls a little short in comparison to their issues.”

However, this reality check has inspired Nazia to launch an education crowdfunding platform for Indian students soon. “I want to start a platform for people who dream of studying in India or abroad but are unable to do so due to financial constraints. My priority would be to get meritorious students their due through this crowdfunding platform,” she explains.

Aisha Nazia at a sporting event.

The future

Nazia, who is currently at De Montfort University in Leicester, is excited for the program. “It will be an enriching experience with lots of learning and field trips. After completing three months in the UK, we will move to Italy for the next quarter. And the last six months will be in Switzerland, which is also the headquarters of FIFA. Getting to work with their management will be exciting. Also, at the end of course, FIFA selects three people for employment,” reveals Nazia.

Being an advocate of sustainability, Nazia plans to work for the development of the Indian sports ecosystem after the completion of her course. “I want to focus on inclusion, youth development and come up with solutions to reduce carbon footprint during a sports event,” signs off Nazia.

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 22, Sep 2021

Share with

ALSO READ

Anish Malpani: The social entrepreneur behind world’s first recycled sunglasses made from packets of chips

(April 14, 2023) "This has been the hardest thing I have ever been a part of. Finally, presenting the world's first recycled sunglasses made from packets of chips, right here in India," tweeted Anish Malpani, the founder of Ashaya. In no time, the tweet went viral, and within six days, 500 pieces of these sunglasses were sold in the pilot phase. Working with multi-layered plastic (MLP), which is the least recycled plastic globally, has been one of the hardest things Anish has ever done. "The recycling of emptied packets of chips is almost zero globally, and since you don't make money, no one wants to work in this space. That was essentially the reason I jumped into MLP," Anish tells Global Indian. It was the plastic waste and the difficult conditions faced by waste pickers in India that prompted the entrepreneur to start Ashaya, a social enterprise, in 2020. [caption id="attachment_37331" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Anish Malpani, the founder of Ashaya[/caption] "In India, the waste problem is not just the kachra problem, you have 1.5 to 4 million waste pickers who live multi-dimensionally poor lives. They have low income and have no access to education or healthcare," says the entrepreneur, adding that

, the founder of Ashaya[/caption]

"In India, the waste problem is not just the kachra problem, you have 1.5 to 4 million waste pickers who live multi-dimensionally poor lives. They have low income and have no access to education or healthcare," says the entrepreneur, adding that waste is a resource and he wants to increase the value of waste through his startup.

Having lived two decades of his life in Dubai and the US, returning to India to work on poverty alleviation was challenging for the entrepreneur. However, the 34-year-old was determined to make a positive impact and soon identified waste as a recurrent problem that needed attention. "With MLP, we realised that there is not enough technology that's working fundamentally on increasing the value of waste, along with helping empower waste pickers. And that's the key for everything that we do," he says.

Existential crisis led to epiphany

Born in Aurangabad, Anish moved to Dubai at the age of nine with his family, owing to his dad's job. After spending his formative years in the UAE, he moved to the US for his undergrad in finance and sports management from the University of Texas at Austin. "Shortly, I fell into the rat race." A career in finance kicked off and soon, he climbed the corporate ladder, becoming the youngest director of finance in the company at 26. But something was missing. "While they had applied for my green card and while I was making good money, I also wondered if there was any point of working hard as the environment was becoming toxic and I was becoming a worse person. People didn't understand why I was depressed because on paper I have everything. How dare I complain? But the best thing that happened was, it gave me a chance to reflect and understand the meaning of life."

Anish Malpani | Global Indian

However, he didn't take the leap of faith overnight. For Anish, it was a process. From finding the support system in his parents to getting the right exposure to what he wanted to do next, he took calculated risks. "I knew I wanted to go back to India and work on poverty alleviation through social enterprise." But at the same time, Anish was aware that he hadn't been to India in two decades and he "didn't want to be this guy from New York who knows everything." He laid out a plan - to spend six months in South America, the next six months in Africa, and the next six months in South East Asia before starting up in India.

On road to learning and self-discovery

"The goal was to work with the local entrepreneurs and learn by doing. I bartered my skills in finance in exchange for an opportunity." He kickstarted the journey in Guatemala, with a nonprofit that accelerates or incubates local social entrepreneurs. "Six months turned into fifteen months. I had just begun making an impact; however, I wasn't going deep enough. That's when I decided to do Sub-Saharan Africa because statistically, it struggles the most." This took him to Kenya where he worked with two entrepreneurs on a deeper level and knew that he was ready to take the plunge and start his work in India.

While he returned to India after decades, knowing he wanted to work on poverty alleviation, he knew nothing about poverty in India. He began with some research on "finding the poor of India - what their demographics are." He adds, "I wanted to look at poverty from a multidimensional lens. Not restricting it to the definition - living below $1.90 a day but also take into consideration access to income, healthcare, and education."

[caption id="attachment_37334" align="aligncenter" width="667"] Anish Malpani | Global Indian Multi-layered plastic[/caption]

Recycling and empowerment

The research presented to him the waste management space, which attracted him for two reasons. "Firstly, 1.5 million waste pickers who are living very multi-dimensionally poor lives. Secondly, there is the untapped potential in waste. I started focusing on how to fundamentally increase the value of waste and do that to empower waste-pickers out of poverty," says the entrepreneur, who while digging deep into the problem found that multi-layered packaging is a "notorious issue." This intrigued Anish enough to find a way to work with MLP, which gave birth to Ashaya in 2020 to produce high-quality products from MLP. Ask him about MLP, and he produces a packet of chips showing a metal layer inside and two-three layers of packaging outside. "It's called MLP as each layer has a purpose - some protect it from oxidisation, some from sun and some help in preservation for a long time."

However, it wasn't an easy journey and Anish faced many challenges on the go - from being ridiculed to scepticism about credibility to finding the right team. But he persevered.

[caption id="attachment_37336" align="aligncenter" width="726"] Wastepicker | Ashaya Wastepicker Rani shredding MLP[/caption]

After more than two years of research and experimentation, he launched the beta version of the world's first sunglasses made of plastic from used packets of chips under the brand name WITHOUT in February 2023, and he can't be grateful enough to be making a difference. "The recycling of packets of chips is almost zero globally, and that's why we wanted to focus on it. We are not here to make money, we are here to solve problems, creating sustainable business models - from the financial, economic, and environmental perspective." Within six days, they were able to sell over 500 pairs of sunglasses, and are now gearing up for the official launch of the sunglasses in June. "The frames have a QR code inside which you can scan to see where the waste came from and the story of the waste picker and how the product came about," reveals the entrepreneur who is keen to diversify into coasters, lamps, furniture and eventually sell material.

[caption id="attachment_37335" align="aligncenter" width="559"] Ashaya | Sunglasses Recycled sunglasses made by Ashaya[/caption]

The 34-year-old bookworm, who loves a game of football every Saturday morning, believes that waste is a resource that should be used again and again. "Normalise the reuse of waste without necessarily compromising lifestyle and standard of living." At the same time, through Ashaya, the entrepreneur wants to "create positive displacement of waste-pickers - access of education, healthcare and access of psychological health."

Anish's Ashaya is a perfect example of making a meaningful difference by joining forces of purpose with social objectives.

Follow Anish Malpani on LinkedIn and Twitter
Follow Without by Ashaya on Instagram

Reading Time: 5 min

Shivali Bhammer: Blending East with the West through devotional fusion music

(August 4, 2023) The nondescript bhajans, which were once confined to temples and pujas at home, are now charting a new path, thanks to the devotional fusion music genre. It's the amalgamation of mantras with jazz and hip-hop music that's grabbing the attention of the younger generation, and one such artist who is making this genre a hit in the UK is Shivali Bhammer. The British-Indian singer, who calls herself a spiritual being, is blending the beats of the West with the bhajans of the East and how. Brought up in a family that's quite spiritual, Shivali started making music at the age of 15. But it was devotional music that pulled her and she was keen to give it a modern twist so that people could identify with it. This Global Indian has achieved that with her music. From equity trading to devotional music Born in London to Gujarati parents, Shivali comes from a family that delves deeper into the philosophy of life. It was her great grandmother and great aunts who introduced her to spiritual music and at 15, she started making her own music. For the 35-year-old, her musical talent wasn't something that she discovered instead it

h5>
Born in London to Gujarati parents, Shivali comes from a family that delves deeper into the philosophy of life. It was her great grandmother and great aunts who introduced her to spiritual music and at 15, she started making her own music. For the 35-year-old, her musical talent wasn't something that she discovered instead it was a gift bestowed upon her. "Singing comes naturally to me than anything else I do, to me it is like breathing. I can't separate it from who I am. I began nurturing it when I was 15 years old with my best friend Arjun. We didn't think of talent then, we just thought of what makes us happy and what we enjoy doing," she told a magazine. For the next few years, the duo kept making devotional music and titled their collection Basement Bhajans, however, not without adding a bit of zing with their fusion.

It wasn't until she was 22 that she dipped her toes into the world of music as a professional. Before exploding into the music scene, Shivali, a graduate in Economics and Philosophy, worked as an analyst for global investment firm Goldman Sachs, and even contributed articles to the Financial Times and other major publication. However, the 9 to 5 grind made her realise her true calling - music.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SHIVALI BHAMMER (@shivalibhammer)

While she loved devotional music, she wanted to layer it with new melodies and modern instruments in order to make it accessible to the youth. At 22, Shivali pitched the idea to Sony Music and this was the beginning of her musical journey.

A musician in the making

"I felt passionate about music, and about devotion, and that the two should merge and include more than just a harmonium. It was only when I was 22 that I got signed with Sony Music BMG and suddenly my work that I had called Basement Bhajans became The Bhajan Project and it changed my life," the singer said in an interview.

Her maiden album wasn't just a collection of mantras but a blend of beats and sounds from the genres of R&B, soul, rock and pop sprinkled with a generous dose of acoustic guitar. This fusion worked wonders for this talented singer who grabbed eyeballs with The Bhajan Project.

The album earned her two nominations at the Global Indian Music Awards at the age of 23, and soon she was listed among the Top 25 under 25 South Asian Artists in England. "When I look back on that it was a magical moment, where the universe did most of the just done the preparation and arrived on time,"
she added.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SHIVALI BHAMMER (@shivalibhammer)

Blending East with West

Since then, Shivali has been busy perfectly blending Western instruments with her Eastern rhythm. The singer, who calls herself a blend of the East and West, believes that merging the two worlds come naturally to her as she is an Indian who grew up as a British girl.

Without any formal training in music, Shivali has managed to cast a spell on music lovers especially in the devotional music genre with The Bhajan Project and Urban Temple, both of which reached No 1 on the iTunes World Chart. In fact, the 35-year-old has made devotional fusion music quite popular in the UK. "London has a big Asian network and it really embraces people with a different sound. It is receptive of talented young artists – we see them sprouting every day," she told DNA.

The singer is also a motivational speaker who never misses a chance to talk about mindfulness and meditation. Interestingly, she is the only Indian artist to be invited to the prestigious De Doelen Theatre in the Netherlands to story-tell Hindu Mythological love stories. For her, music is art which is an expression of one’s creative love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0WBjRsyceM

Her East meets West sound has put her music at the centre of the world fusion movement in the devotional genre. Her albums are a soothing reminder that devotion exists in every action, and that’s what makes her music appealing to most of the people. Her intention with her music has been to deliver a message with love. When Shivali stepped into the music world, she wanted to change the landscape of the devotional music industry and take it to new heights. And a decade after her first album, Shivali has been able to create a niche for herself in the music world.

Follow Shivali Bhammer on Linkedin and Instagram

Reading Time: 5 min

Eric Garcetti: The US Ambassador’s Passage to India

(May 23, 2023) Eric Garcetti's Indian love story began when he was a teenager. He recalls that trip vividly, down to the name of the tea stall in Old Delhi, 'Aap ki Pasand', which he visited twice. And most of all, he remembers the warmth he received from the Indian people. "I came to India for the first time when I was a teenager. And even though the place has changed so much, the warmth and friendliness of everybody remains the same,' he said, speaking at event shortly after he took charge as the US Ambassador. As it happens, the ties run even deeper than that - remarkably enough, Garcetti came back when he was 19, to stay with the then-US Ambassador, because his son was his college roommate. "The universe works in mysterious ways," Garcetti remarked. In fact, back in 2013, Garcetti, who was a mayoral contender then, attended a breakfast meeting of entrepreneurs and addressed a Sikh businessman in Hindi. Even so, maybe there was a fault in the stars, but Garcetti's passage to India as the Ambassador was not an easy one. He was nominated back in 2021 by US President Joe Biden, as he served the

en, as he served the last few years of his tenure as Los Angeles mayor. That final leg was steeped in controversy - the Senate stalled his appointment. The key post been left vacant for well over two years, after Kenneth Juster's term ended on January 20, 2020. It was the longest time without a US envoy to India. Finally, in 2023, Garcetti was sworn in by US Vice President Kamala Harris.

[caption id="attachment_39039" align="aligncenter" width="474"] US Ambassador Eric Garcetti with Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani[/caption]

Garcetti is here at a crucial time, as India and the US recently launched the Critical and Emerging Technology initiative to focus on the development and production of military hardware equipment and expanded cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. And despite differences over the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Joe Biden cabinet hopes India will balance the rise of China. He has been well-received, spotted posing with the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani, trying his hand at a game of cricket and eating vada pav.

Garcetti’s legacy as mayor

They have found the right man for the job. Garcetti is no stranger to challenges - he entered the mayor's office as the youngest mayor in LA for over a century. He came prepared for the unexpected and his expectations were surpassed. "I have told my successors and other contendors, there are two jobs to being mayor. One, there are the things, you want to see, your proactive agenda. Second are the things you hope will never happen but you know will, like an earthquake, civil unrest, or in my case, a pandemic," he said in an interview, looking back at his thorny decade as mayor.

The homelessness crisis skyrocketed, going up by over 30 percent during his tenure, which he described as the 'result of four decades of failure'. He also guided the city through the pandemic, soothed civil unrest during the 'defund the police' campaign, and oversaw the passage of 'Measure M' to make public transport more affordable. He also brought about the Twenty-eight by 28 initiative, an effort to complete 28 transport infrastructure projects before the 2028 Summer Olympics to be held in L.A.

Early life

Eric Garcetti was born on February 4, 1971 in Los Angeles. He grew up in Encino in the San Fernando Valley, the son of Sukey and Gil Garcetti, who is the former LA County DA. His paternal grandfather was born in Chihuahua, the son of an Italian immigrant who married a Mexican woman. He was hanged during the Mexican Revolution and his son, Salvador came to the United States. His maternal grandparents were Russian-Jewish immigrants - both sides of the family put down roots in Boyle Heights, where Garcetti grew up.

"I have an Italian last name, and I'm half Mexican and half Jewish," Garcetti remarked during his first run for the Mayor's office in 2013, after having served as Councilman for nearly a decade. He donned a yarmulke and sang Hanukkah songs with rabbis, and stood on the steps of City Hall wearing a Peruvian headpiece and speaking Spanish to show his support for the stretch of Hollywood's Vine Street that was renamed Peru Village'. It went a long way with LA's multicultural fabric. He became the city's first Jewish mayor and the second Mexican American.

The young Garcetti was an excellent student and politically savvy, too. In high school, he was a member of the Junior State of America, which promoted civic engagement and political debate among students. He majored in political science and urban planning from Columbia University, which he attended as John Jay Scholar. Even there, he was on the student council, president of the St Anthony Hall fraternity and founded the Columbia Urban Experience.

After graduating, Garcetti was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and studied at Oxford and the London School of Economics. He did his research and human rights missions in East Africa and was a visiting instructor of International Affairs at the University of Southern California, and an assistant professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve Information Dominance Corps from 2005 to 2013.

[caption id="attachment_39044" align="aligncenter" width="592"] Garcetti served as a Lieutenant in the US Navy Reserve for eight years. Photo: LA Times[/caption]

Public life

In 2001, Garcetti was elected to City Council District 13. In 2006, he was elected as Council President and remained in the post for six years. He implemented the Constituent Bill of Rights, ensuring that phone calls from constituents were returned in a day, and also held "office hours", meeting with them face to face. In 2004, Garcetti composed Proposition O to clean the city's waterways and helped the city cut its water use to deal with drought.

Garcetti declared his mayoral candidacy in 2011 and was elected two years later. In 2017, he won by a landslide, serving for five years and six months, much longer than the standard term of four years. He worked towards LA leaving behind its personal car culture in favour of walkability and public transport, a big step in the city's urban plan.

In the arts

He's an accomplished pianist, given to "soul, jazz and Keith Jarrett-esque improvisations," as he puts it. In college, he performed in the student-written musical tradition the Varsity Show, for three years. "My great grandparents played the piano, my grandparents met at music school and my mom played as well," he said. "I was continuing the family tradition." He even kept a piano in the mayor's office, playing for a few minutes between meetings or whenever he got the chance, to "clear his head."

Garcetti married his longtime girlfriend Amy Elaine Wakeland, a fellow Rhodes scholar, whom he met a Oxford. They adopted their daughter, Maya Juanita, and have also fostered seven children.

Follow Eric Garcetti on Instagram and Twitter.

Chetan Singh Solanki: The Solar Man of India transforming global energy access and sustainability

(September 7, 2023) Chetan Singh Solanki is a man on a mission. For the past eleven years, Chetan, who has earned himself the moniker, Solar Man of India, has been on an extended 'Solar Yatra', hoping to increase awareness around energy conservation, and promoting the use of solar energy. Climate change is a reality that no one can really turn their back on. And for someone who has committed 11 years for the cause of energy to the extent that he has promised not to go home is a cause that needs to be applauded. Chetan Solanki is known for his global work in Energy Access, Energy Sustainability, and Climate Change. The IIT-ian gave up on the cushy job prospects that come with being part of the academic elite. Instead, he headed to Belgium for a PhD and when he returned, coined the term 'Energy Swaraj', which aims to bring localised energy solutions to off-grid communities around the world. For over three years now, he has travelled the country on the Energy Swaraj bus to spread awareness, develops solar PV technologies, conducts training, and executes large-scale projects across the globe. Solanki also collaborates with policy makers and recently became the

ross the globe. Solanki also collaborates with policy makers and recently became the Brand Ambassador of Solar Energy for the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

[caption id="attachment_44637" align="aligncenter" width="438"] The Solar Man of India posing beside solar panels | Global Indian Chetan Solanki, the Solar Man of India[/caption]

Looking Back

Solanki was born in a small village in Madhya Pradesh and his primary school had just one room for five classes. His parents managed to send him to Indore where he completed his engineering. “I was encouraged to pursue higher studies by my teachers, I could clear the entrance examination and went on to do masters in microelectronics from prestigious IIT Bombay. Since I came from a rural background, I always wanted to do something for village people. After my master’s degree, I wanted to work in the social sector. I tried to pursue a Ph.D. in social science and tried to get a job in the social sector. But it did not work, as I had masters from IIT Bombay, I was turned down saying I was overqualified. I started my job of chip design in a multinational company,” Solanki tells Global Indian. But he was not satisfied as he wanted to work on some technology that would be useful for society. Around 1998-99 he thought about solar energy solutions being beneficial for the society, and particularly, for rural areas and it was then that he decided to leave the job and headed to Europe to do a Ph.D. in solar energy.

Sun Shine

At IIT Bombay, Solanki has two major accomplishments to his name. He was instrumental in setting up the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE), one of the best research centres in the PV domain that comprises nine laboratories. Faculty members and students from six to seven departments collaborate to conduct research. “Secondly, I led another important project, which was dear to me, it was Solar Urja through Localization for Sustainability (SoULS) project. Through this project we localised the solar energy solutions, empowering local communities to assemble, repair and maintain solar projects. We have trained nearly 10,000 rural women for the job. And through the SoULS project, we reached 7.5 million families providing them clean light. This project earned me a lot of recognition and awards with total cash prizes of more than Rs. 1 Crore,” says Solanki. He has also written four books on solar energy and his books, research papers, and US patents reflect a journey of innovation and impact. Solar Photovoltaics demystifies solar energy's potential while his research papers advance solar tech, addressing climate challenges.

Energy Swaraj Yatra

[caption id="attachment_44639" align="aligncenter" width="497"] The Solar Man of India has been on the Energy Swaraj Yatra for over 1000 days[/caption]

On his 11-year journey, onboard a bus named Energy Swaraj Yatra, the Solar Man of India plans to change the world in the manner it generates and consumes energy. The Energy Swaraj Foundation spearheads a transformative public movement towards Energy Swaraj or Energy Independence, towards 100% solar powered living. It is the only organisation that empowers individuals, communities, and institutions to impart awareness about climate change and encourage masses to adopt renewable energy solutions. The ever-growing generation of and consumption of energy has contributed to the problem of climate change, which is now becoming catastrophic and even raising the questions on continued human existence beyond this century.

“Solar energy solutions if adopted in a sensible manner can not only solve the problem of climate change but also provide jobs, strengthen local economics, and provide clean energy supply. I have embarked on an 11-year journey to ignite the change towards 100% solar powered life. This nationwide movement aims to empower communities with sustainable energy solutions. Through workshops, seminars, and activations, we will raise awareness and drive action for decentralised, solar-powered living. It is a call to embrace energy self-reliance, bridging gaps and fostering a greener future,” says Solanki.

The Road Ahead

The Solar Man of India believes that persistence fuels progress. His Energy swaraj Yatra has now completed 1000 days and has reached 22 states, covered 43000 km, and met more than two lakh people collaborating with more than 2100 organisations. “Slowly it has become clear to me that the way the world is using technology and growing economically, the humans are creating more problems for themselves, rather than making their lives easier. With increase in advancement, there is greater stress, depression levels are rising, degradation of natural resources is more than before and above all climate change is accelerating. But unfortunately, most people are sleeping on the current dire and critical situation we are living on the planet. I have learned that climate correction is beyond any government or policies now," Solanki opines.

Blindly accepting solar energy solutions is not the solution either, Solanki says, especially without knowledge of the boundary conditions o flivingo n the planet. "I have learned that modern humans have become experts in solving one problem and creating another problem. We have not aligned ourselves with nature, and in that case no technological solution be ever sustainable,” says Solanki. Going forward, the number of Energy Swaraj Yatra buses will be increased and initiatives like Energy Literacy Training, Ek Kamra Solar Ka that can be adopted globally will be pushed ahead. “We are going to collaborate with a wider network to bring these solutions beyond India. Through our online platform the Energy Literacy Training is already taken by people from more than 50 countries,” concludes Solanki.

Follow the Solar Man of India on LinkedIn and the Energy Swaraj Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, X their website

Darwinbox: Pioneering the next chapter in Indian HR tech evolution

(Aug 18, 2023) When Darwinbox was first conceptualised, the other players on the field were two Goliaths, SAP Labs and Oracle. The idea was so daring, it was audacious, more so in the hands of three first-gen entrepreneurs, Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti and Rohit Chennameni. This was in 2015. In less than a decade, Darwinbox went on to achieve unicorn status, stands proudly alongside industry titans and has put India on the global HR-tech map. Darwinbox boasts clientele like Domino's, Domino’s, Starbucks, Kotak, and Swiggy, helping them manage their HR processes, including hiring, attendance, and resignations, through a tech-enabled, user-friendly, end-to-end experience. In the end, it was about identifying a gap in the market, and the courage to take a risk, which all three founders possessed in spadefuls. [caption id="attachment_43786" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Entrepreneurs Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti, and Rohit Chennameni.[/caption] The story and journey of Darwinbox is unique in many ways than one. “We were one of the rare SaaS (Software as a service) companies that set out to build a product from Asia for the world, while most SaaS companies focused on the West. Our fundamental premise was that it is difficult to build systems that cater to the different

Starting out

The career paths of all three co-founders had one thing in common - they advised large enterprises on business transformation, digitalisation, and M&A. They found, across the board, that their clientele struggled to streamline HR processes, and organisations struggled to furnish critical information about human capital. The gap was most evident in a large-scale merger conversation in the life sciences sector led by Jayant in November 2014, where to his surprise, neither of the stakeholders was aware of the percentage of their talent attrition.

As the trio went a step deeper to solve the problem, they realised the real trouble was with multiple systems (every organisation had an average of 3 HR systems) across the employee lifecycle which made it difficult to sync and analyse data. And in cases where there were integrated options, the solutions were rigid and clunky for the HR and employees alike resulting in poor adoption. To deal with these challenges and to make HR technology more intuitive, integrated, and insightful, Darwinbox was conceived and started in 2015.

Within a short span, Darwinbox became one of Asia’s fastest-growing HR technology platforms that helped enterprises cater to HR needs across the entire employee lifecycle. It became a success story and the founders, were poster boys of the Indian start-up scene.

Meeting an unmet need

The trio challenged the status quo and entered the playground of global legacy players. Initially, they put in their life savings before the venture capital funds discovered the start-up in 2017. They were aware of the challenges they faced and knew that they had to create a holistic solution that would stand the test of time. The initial offerings from Darwinbox were attendance and payroll which was the need for every firm but slowly they started to build up the platform by adding aspects like automation, simplifying regular processes (like leave and appraisal), and digital education.

In eight years, all their gambles paid off and Darwinbox has emerged as a leading player in South Asia (3rd largest), Southeast Asia, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) by displacing some of the heavy hitters like SAP, Oracle, Workday, and others that boasted decades of legacy. Today more than 800+ enterprises, and two million employees from across 90+ countries love the Darwinbox experience, and the company is backed by reputed global investors like Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), Salesforce, Sequoia, Lightspeed, 3one4 Capital, and Endiya Partners.

[caption id="attachment_43789" align="aligncenter" width="463"] Global Indian | Darwin Box Rohit Chennameni., co founder of Darwinbox.[/caption]

What contributed to their success was thinking ahead of the curve. When they started, most companies were focussed on the US, the entry barriers were tough and nobody considered Asia to be a viable and attractive market. Rohit recalls, “The competition was deeply entrenched and difficult to shake – SAP and Oracle. While these were some of the perceived challenges that we have overcome or are in the process of overcoming, we are on our way to becoming the top Human Capital Management player in Asia.”

Breaching barriers

As the start-up is valued as a Unicorn, Chaitanya adds, “We are very grateful to have the valuation we have now, but it is a milestone and part of our journey and not the destination. Innovating on the product is an ongoing process and the Unicorn valuation only reinforces our commitment to our customers. We are obsessed with customer success, and we will keep a steady focus on that every day.”

Rohit says that it has been an immensely satisfying journey. He adds, “It feels like yesterday when we had this idea to start Darwinbox Today we are one of the top three HCM players in Asia and have taken on the giants on their battlefield. We have grown to 750 plus employees and a Unicorn valuation in eight years. We service 650 plus enterprise clients and are present in over a hundred countries.”

[caption id="attachment_43790" align="aligncenter" width="596"] Global Indian | Darwin Box Chaitanya Peddi, co-founder of Darwinbox.[/caption]

The start-up has over the years increased its range of offerings. Today, it also provides a social network that enables better employee connectivity and is quick to integrate AI as part of the services, be it leveraging the technology for leaving applications or meetings that can be scheduled at a voice command. As they scale the summit of success, they remain motivated and enthused about the product they created. Jayant explains, “It’s a balance between growth and profitability that we are focusing on. There is a lot of opportunity globally for this space and we are bringing in a lot of innovations as well. As we take on the global giants, the balancing act is critical.”

The trio are gunning for global dominance. They aim to continue to grow in Asia to become the no.1 HR tech player in Asia ahead of SAP and Oracle apart from looking at expanding to new markets like US, UK, China, and Australia. “We want to be #1 in all the markets we are present. In the next 2-3 years, the aim is to get to $100 million in revenues. Given our experience in displacing global competition here, we are set to launch in the US market later this year. And are now ready to compete head-on in the largest enterprise technology markets in the world.” they sign off.