(October 18, 2023) “I’ve always thrived on building and scaling products that combine deep foundational technology and intuitive user experience to solve customer problems — whether it is Search that instantly finds relevant information, Assistant that you can talk to, or Google Lens that lets you search what you see,” wrote Indian-American tech veteran Aparna Chennapragada on her LinkedIn as she graciously accepted the new position of Corporate Vice President at Microsoft. She recently stepped down as chief product officer of stock trading app Robinhood.
Indian Americans are increasingly making significant strides in various prominent companies, owing to their exceptional talent and contributions. With a strong emphasis on education and a culture that values hard work and innovation, many Indian Americans have risen to prominent roles in the corporate world. This trend is particularly evident in the tech industry as leaders have not only shattered glass ceilings but have also played pivotal roles in driving innovation and growth for their respective organisations. And Aparna Chennapragada is yet another Indian American who has jumped on the bandwagon of Microsoft to help accelerate its generative AI initiatives.
The IIT-Madras alumnus, who later moved to the US for her MS in Computer Science at the University of Texas, was always interested in technology that could transform lives. Interested in building software, she joined her first job as a software engineer in 1999. After gaining experience for a decade, she had the thirst to learn more and enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s System Design and Management program, where she won third place in the MIT Venture Capital Competition 2008.
This led her to the doors of Google in 2008 where started as a product manager and in a span of 12 years made it to the Vice President of the company. “The biggest exciting moment for me is the combination of data and algorithms with useful user problems like looking for information to buy something. Everyone needs information on the go, and you need quick and bite-sized answers. Phones are turning into remote controls for our daily lives,” she said in an interview.
But now with AI taking over in almost every area of life, Aparna will be spearheading the generative AI initiatives within Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Designer. “Every few decades, there is a key shift in computing e.g., PC, the internet, mobile, and most recently AI that opens new possibilities for new helpful products. Just like mobile redefined areas such as news and navigation, I believe that generative AI has the potential to redefine creativity and productivity,” she said, adding, “With generative AI, there is an opportunity to build products that instantly and easily bring your intent and imagination to life. That’s why I am super excited to share that I am joining Microsoft as Corporate VP leading efforts on AI-first creation experiences, across #Microsoft365 and #MicrosoftDesigner.
Before her tenure at Microsoft, Chennapragada held positions at various organizations, including Robinhood, Google, eBay, and Akamai Technologies. Her journey at Google began as a product manager, eventually culminating in her role as Vice President and General Manager overseeing consumer shopping operations across the company. She also spearheaded augmented reality (AR) and visual search products, including Lens. Her impressive stint at the tech giant spanned over 12 years.
Additionally, she served as a board member at Capital One, a financial institution offering a wide range of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients.
This action occurs within the context of a fierce rivalry in the artificial intelligence sector between Google and Microsoft. Chennapragada’s appointment follows a trend of Indian-American experts assuming significant positions at Microsoft. Previously, Rohini Srivathsa took on the role of Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft India and South Asia in September, and in August, Puneet Chandok was named Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for India and South Asia.
Praising Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, with whom she had conversations in the last few months, Aparna has come to appreciate “his vision to empower people and organizations across the world using.” “I’m looking forward to diving in and putting AI to use to unleash our collective creativity,” she wrote in the LinkedIn post.
(July 17, 2022) When a young Vineet Bhatia moved to England in 1993 as the Executive Chef at Star of India, South Kensington, he had no idea about what a Michelin star was. Eight years later, he became the first Indian chef to be awarded a Michelin star for his restaurant Zaika in London. One of the most renowned chefs in the world today, Chef Bhatia is the only Indian in the culinary world to receive two Michelin stars. [caption id="attachment_27006" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Chef Vineet Bhatia[/caption] "The Michelin team goes to restaurants discreetly. So, one doesn't know that they are serving to a jury," shares the eminent chef. "I was thrilled when I received the news that I had won the Michelin star, but more so for creating history, as it nothing less than opening the door for all the Indian chefs and Indian cuisine across the globe. Today, it makes me very proud when I see other Indian chefs winning the star." A living bridge between India and the United Kingdom, the celebrity chef discusses much more than just his culinary journey as he connects with Global Indian from London. Not a born chef Born and raised in the city of
between India and the United Kingdom, the celebrity chef discusses much more than just his culinary journey as he connects with Global Indian from London.
Not a born chef
Born and raised in the city of dreams, Mumbai, Vineet, too, grew up with a dream of his – to become a pilot. "I lived quite close to an aerodrome, and so I used to watch planes flying in and out every day. Being a pilot was the only plan I had as a kid," shares the celebrity chef, who also cracked the National Defence Exam to join the Air Force. "But I wasn't tall enough," he shares, adding, "They told me that I could join the Indian Army or Navy, but I wasn’t interested."
[caption id="attachment_27007" align="aligncenter" width="653"] Chef Vineet Bhatia with HRH Queen Elizabeth II[/caption]
Disheartened, but not defeated, Chef Bhatia turned towards the culinary world. But not before giving bartending a shot. "I wanted to become a bartender. But again, I wasn't tall enough," he laughs. However, his experience in the kitchen was life-changing. "As a 17-year-old, I was fascinated with how the kitchen was run so immaculately and that everyone involved was disciplined.”
After completing his training at the Oberoi School of Hotel Management, New Delhi, Chef Bhatia worked as the Chef de Cuisine or head chef at The Oberoi in Mumbai for the next three years. However, it was an uphill task initially. "In the kitchen, you have to earn the respect of your staff. When I first joined, one of my staff members told me, 'I have more pending leaves than your whole experience.' So, I worked hard to earn their respect. I told them that I wasn't there to teach them how to cook, but help them in whatever they needed to put out a great dish," shares the chef, whose comfort food is a simple meal of tadka dal, chawal, and achar. "As soon as I land in Mumbai, I go to the pani puri stall and have a nice plate of golgappa and chaat. And later a cutting chai," share the chef with a smile.
[caption id="attachment_27009" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Chef Bhatia's pistachio chicken seekh kabab[/caption]
A decade after moving to the UK, the chef and his wife Rashima Bhatia, opened their first restaurant, Rasoi in Chelsea in 2004, which earned him his second Michelin star in 2006. Since then, he has opened 11 restaurants across the globe including Moscow, Los Angeles, Dubai, Mumbai, Doha, and Jeddah.
Behind the scenes
While the dishes that come out of the kitchen look beautiful, the kitchen itself is a bit chaotic. Giving a peek inside a star kitchen, the seasoned chef says, "Kitchen is not easy. There are so many things happening at the same time. The front of a restaurant seems so calm and controlled - which is the way it is supposed to be - but the kitchen is where all the action is going on. Everyone in the kitchen is running around to put that dish on the table. So, your movements have to be very coordinated. There is food in the oven, overhead grill, tandoor, and pan. There is a dessert going out and the plates are falling short... Something is happening in the kitchen at all times. It is a mechanism that works in tandem."
[caption id="attachment_27008" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Chef Bhatia making Indian tacos[/caption]
Having opened so many restaurants, the chef calls it a long and tedious process. Apart from deciding the food and beverages that will feature on the menu, the restaurateur also has to work on its theme, colour palette, style, and overall ambiance. "We have to sit with the designers of course, and can take very long to decide all the factors, before the execution. The staff, again, has to be very well-trained, because otherwise, everything will collapse. So, we take time in training all of them.”
Man of many talents
A world-renowned chef, author, TV personality, and social activist – Chef Bhatia dons many hats. But not many know that “travel” has his heart. "My work takes me to places, but I enjoy travelling a lot," shares the chef, who was very recently on a trip to the Arctic, an experience he calls “magical.”
Interestingly, Chef Bhatia is the only chef in the world to cook at the base camp of Mount Everest in 2018. Calling the experience "stunning", the chef shares, "We were raising funds for a charity called Heart For India in Chennai, which looks after 3000 kids, and also the victims of the 2015 Himalayan earthquake. So, my team and I trekked for 15 days to get to the base camp of Mt Everest and set up a restaurant for two days. We gave the mountaineers and trekkers free food, whatever they wanted to donate went towards these two causes. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life."
[caption id="attachment_27010" align="aligncenter" width="596"] Chef Bhatia with his family[/caption]
An active campaigner for sustainability in the culinary world, Chef Bhatia was also recently appointed as the GREAT ambassador to the United Kingdom. "I think it is important that while we want to have the products from the international market, we have to ensure that they are ethically sourced. It is not just about using paper over plastic, but also about how the farming is done or how the meat is sourced," explains the chef, before he signs off.
He's one of India's top writers and journalists, currently a columnist in Mint, the former editor-in-chief of Open (back in the heyday of journalism in India), the creator of Netflix's hit series, Decoupled, and the author of three books - Serious Men, The Illicit Happiness of Other People and Miss Laila: Armed and Dangerous. Manu Joseph sat down with Global Indian at the Bangalore Literature Festival 2022 to talk about his life, a middle-class childhood in Madras, working his way through college and grappling with trauma at a time when society lacked the vocabulary to fully articulate grief. (January 4, 2022) Back in 2017, when Manu Joseph and I sat in the authors' lounge at the Bangalore Literature Festival – he had graciously granted me an interview - the first question came out of me in a rush - "What have you been through, Manu, to write something like The Illicit Happiness of Other People?" He only smiled, saying, "I can't think of anything in particular." Still, I was pretty convinced that such writing cannot come through merely observing sorrow in others, it’s impossible that the author had not experienced a journey of his own. But he wasn’t telling. Not
ible that the author had not experienced a journey of his own. But he wasn’t telling. Not then, anyway.
My answer came five years later, a few weeks ago in December, at BLF 2022, as we sat down together again for an interview with Global Indian. He's had a string of successes in the intervening years, including Netflix adaptation of Serious Men and becoming the creator of the very popular series, Decoupled. And this time around, Manu decides to speak, granting me a glimpse of depths that underly the master of satire. It's like being in a JD Salinger novel, Franny and Zooey, maybe – but one doesn't say these things to Manu Joseph, not unless you want him to make fun of you. Sure enough, he remarks a few moments later, "One kind of boring conversation is when people are quoting others, either to show what they have read or because they don't have an original idea. When you're sixteen, you're talking about what you feel."
[caption id="attachment_33491" align="aligncenter" width="651"] Manu Joseph[/caption]
Observations on grief
That sixteenth year was crucial to Manu’s life. Looking back, he knows it to be adolescence trauma, "but at that age, we had no labels. There was no such thing as depression of trauma. If you are sad, you make yourself happy. You just live. It was that kind of situation. That’s when a friend, another sixteen year old, sat him down one day and asked, “What we see around us, through our eyes, is not the real stuff.” The observation stunned him. Teenagers usually talked about cricket or girls; in Madras they spoke about Brilliant Tutorials. And he had never considered, really, that conversations could be like this, that this sort of thing can be spoken and that it can actually make sense.
"I had not thought about this before. It is a different genre of conversation. As you grow, you speak about different things and discover the different things you can speak about," he says. The friend had tried to have that conversation before, unsuccessfully, with several people. For a month, the boys had a series of intense conversations, pondering the meaning of life, much like his posthumously-described protagonist, Unni, in The Illicit Happiness Of Other People. The idea of a universal truth, of hitting on a magic formula that allowed you to see the why and how of everything, was intoxicating to a teenager struggling with yet-unnamed demons, who spent his time reading Rushdie and Hawking.
The pursuit of enlightenment
Manu calls it the most important thing, “Even today, it is most important thing that happened to me. It defined my character. Nothing changes your character but if it had 10 ways in which it could manifest itself, this was the early event that gave me direction. The idea that my reality was an illusion and that the true reality had to be pursued through ancient techniques made me immensely happy, partly because my life was not very good then and the idea that it was a part of illusion was fantastic. So, just like that, I believed deeply that there was something out there and a certain technique can help you get it.” It would go on to become the stuff of a very successful novel but back then, he says, “It was my life. It defined me through my twenties and influenced everything I did.”
Growing up with a journalist father and a very religious mother, Manu was 12 when he decided he was an atheist. Being middle-class meant being closer to the poor than to the rich, "I remember, all the rich people were called 'smugglers', it became another word for the rich," he says. "The rich were also supposed to be unhappy. I remember my mom saying things like, 'Look at that woman in the car, didn't she look unhappy'?" These were the ideas with which one grew up, where even ambition, which Manu says he never lacked, became an act of rebellion. "You want to be rich and you want to be happy but you still think that the wealthy are unhappy."
The power of misconception
Driven, Manu says, by “misconception,” he chose journalism, just as his father had done. He was supposed to study engineering, as all Indian boys his age were doing but picked literature in the end. “Misconceptions are so powerful, they give you direction. I had misconceptions about writing. And that saved me. If I had known too much, I would have tried to escape from the writing.” He was acting on intuition, “a subterranean knowledge,” as he puts it, which came mainly from ignorance. He had wanted to write for films but in his teens, as he discovered Salman Rushdie, Stephen Hawking, Wodehouse and Arthur Hailey, he decided he would write a novel.
“I did pursue filmmaking through my twenties but nobody I knew had the capacity to make films. But as I read, Western culture took over me. Also, I realised that I didn’t have to collaborate with anyone to write a novel, or need funds to finish.” In his mind at the time, it was all pretty straightforward – he would write a novel, it would be great and people would want to publish it.
It led him to a “very bad journalism course” in Madras Christian College. Circumstances weren't easy, financially speaking and Manu had to take care of his own fees. He was twenty by then and had no choice but to work. He liked the Indian Express and approached them, but was told that interns weren't paid. "I badly needed the money."
Catching a break
The answer found him. Someone walked up to him in the college canteen, holding up an ad by Magna Publications. "I don't remember this guy's face but if he had not shown me this, a whole string of things would never have happened," Manu recalls. He was interviewed by Ingrid Alberquerque and was given the job at Magna. He dropped out of college and moved to Mumbai. "From there, I jumped to Outlook." He went on to become editor-in-chief at Open the Magazine, until he quit in 2014, announcing his resignation on Facebook.
By then, he had already written two novels - the first, Serious Men, came in 2010 and won the Hindu Literary Prize and the PEN / Open Book Award and was adapted as a feature film by Sudhir Mishra. Two years later, in 2012, came The Illicit Happiness of Other People, followed by Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous in 2017. "I started writing my first novel in my early twenties," he says, dismissing the idea that he started young. "When you look back, though, it seems silly, you don't have life experiences to fill a novel. It's either light or pretentious or fake. But sometimes you just want to write it anyway."
It's a problem that most Indian writers face, Manu remarks. "We feel that the novel has to be grand, it has to be very important. I still have that problem." In fact, when he came up to say hello the previous day, he said, about writing another book, "Novels need worthy subjects."
[caption id="attachment_33492" align="aligncenter" width="701"] Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Serious Men[/caption]
The ‘humility’ of screenplays
In 2020, he returned to screenplays, joining director Sudhir Misra for the Netflix adaptation of Serious Men. Then came Decoupled, with R. Madavan starring as the frank-talking Arya Iyer, whom haters were swift to label "toxic". Opeds were written about the show's ideology but it did become the second-most watched show on Netflix a mere three days after its release. "Many asparagus-eating friends have written privately to me to say they enjoyed Decoupled. I see that they are restrained in publicly sharing this view to appease the more delicate," Manu tweeted. Screenplay writing taught him, he says, to take himself less seriously. "There is humility in a screenplay that is not required in a novel. A novel does not require the inconvenience of humility. A novel need not try to reach out to you; it is often created in a pure state and waits for the readers to come find it. Also, a screenplay is simpler. I cannot take you inside the head of the character. Film writers will disagree but that is because they don’t realise that most of a literary novel is about characters thinking. In a film, generally, I can only say what I can show.
The process of screenwriting, in my adult life, and the sheer number of columns I write every year, has led to its own evolution. “I’m moving away from beautiful prose,” he says. “I used to be incapacitated by the beginning, the beginning of any kind of writing. I used to spend ten hours just to get the start of a column right. I must have been so full of myself. Today, I don’t mind starting even a novel with ‘She was having coffee’. I have no problem with that. I may not downgrade myself so much that I’ll ever start a novel with a recipe, but yes I’ll begin with an ordinary, unremarkable sentence.”
The process has led to its own evolution. "I'm moving away from beautiful writing," he says. "I don't mind starting a novel with 'She was having coffee'. I have no problem with that." There is a novel in the pipeline, he says, one that's different from anything he's done so far. "I'm not afraid of melancholy now. Even with Illicit..., I was holding back, afraid to go too deep. I don't mind deriving power now from something melancholic. I’m not responsible for your happiness, I’m not your dad, I’m a writer.”
The end of the pursuit
That moment with his friend, of discovering a new dimension to life itself, Manu says, was like “going through a slum in Madras and then suddenly finding yourself in Switzerland. I had escaped, forever.” He was the boy who was saved by hope so it’s a bit of a jolt when he says now, “I no longer believe in that. I don’t believe there’s something out there. I once believed that you can reach a state of being where you comprehend everything, I don’t believe that anymore. That search has done its job, it has defined my character.”
So, he has turned his focus instead to staying very fit, tapping into his ambition and all his ‘materialism of vanity,’ which he says is different from the ‘materialism of gluttony’. “I have complete disdain for mediocrity, especially in myself. If you’re lucky enough to be healthy, you can’t just let yourself go, you know? I can go to any length to do what is right for me.”
"Why are you wasting your life on this? Why don't you just follow the path that has been laid out for you, where you're already crushing it?" When Balaji Bondili, then a senior consultant at Deloitte, began pitching his idea to crowdsource talent and expertise to meet the company's ever -growing, global client needs, he was met with skepticism. He chose not to back down. This was the year 2013, and Balaji was then pitching what would become Deloitte Pixel. In the last decade, the company's open talent model has helped it stay ahead of the curve in the new age, disrupt-or-disappear marketplace. Pixel has completed 450 crowdsourcing challenges across 250 projects and worked with tens of thousands of participants. [caption id="attachment_53481" align="aligncenter" width="292"] Balaji Bondili[/caption] Success as an intrapreneur, or as a 'corporate explorer', as Balaji has been described by Michael Tushman in Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game, was an uphill journey. When he began working on the idea, Balaji had been travelling the world for nearly ten years, and was thriving professionally. However, the idea to take the leap into innovation, and push an idea that seemed unheard of at the time, within
on the idea, Balaji had been travelling the world for nearly ten years, and was thriving professionally. However, the idea to take the leap into innovation, and push an idea that seemed unheard of at the time, within a company like Deloitte, came from a personal need.
"I joined Deloitte in 2003," Balaji tells Global Indian. "It was also when I got married. But as two consultants travelling the world, you don't spend much time with each other. So I was thinking about what I wanted to do next, and if I could figure out a career and do really well without having to travel."
Finding his voice
Balaji joined Deloitte in 2003. He was living in Hyderabad then, where after completing his undergrad in genetics, microbiology and chemistry, he found he had no interest in the field. "I'm not good with rules and tests, and I have issues with testing as a concept," he admits. This tenacity, and the determination to do what he believed in, would eventually pay off.
"I grew up in a joint family, the youngest of 16 cousins. I was always the little boy and that was foundational in a way. When someone tells me I can't do something, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Not in a negative sense, but when you're the youngest of 16, you have to tell people that you exist," he says. So, instead of taking the tried and tested medical / engineering path to professional success, he did an MBA.
An upward trajectory at Deloitte
In 2003, Balaji joined Deloitte, then a newer company, as a research analyst. "I built credibility in the company, so when they started their consulting team, I was the first person to join," Balaji recalls. This would mark a new phase in his career, and he had to start the process of recruiting from all the business schools.
This led him to strategy consulting, and built a team intended to stay in India and deal with clients locally. However, he flew back and forth to the US, where he had clients, and eventually became the first person from India to lead a project in the US for Deloitte. The team grew into a cohort of people who were actually travelling to where the work was located.
"I was travelling to the US, and spending up to six months there each year," he said. "By the time I moved fully, I was spending nine months of the year there." However, the busy lifestyle and the constant travelling took their toll, and Balaji was beginning to understand, firsthand, the downsides to 'old school consulting'. "I was also running a VC fund for a Top 5 Pharma company and dealing with Series A and Series B startups. New companies were looking for new ways to solve old problems and I wondered why Deloitte wasn't doing that."
New solutions to old problems
The 'old school consulting problem', Balaji explains, is that it involves hiring very smart people and deploying them on client projects. "For every dollar of revenue you create, you have to hire someone new every time." The company was growing really fast and there aren't enough graduating students to keep up with the demand. That impacted the quality of hires, the amount of travel involved was only growing - even in 2020, Deloitte remained one of the largest travel buyers globally.
At this point, the idea of crowdsourcing was just a ripple in business communities. It reminded Balaji of an experience back in 2004, when the tsunami hit South East Asia. At the time, he was reading up on the disaster and found a website named tsunamihelp.blogspot.com. He signed up there as a volunteer, becoming part of a team spread out around the world. That relief effort grew hugely, and Google even linked their website to its homepage, as it had become one of the biggest clearing houses for relief efforts. "I had never met the founders, volunteers or the core team but we created an impact that was massive," he says.
If a crowdsourcing system could be set up and structured right, could it be a new age solution to the old consulting problem? This would bring in fresh ideas from around the world, with a diverse set of perspectives to a single problem. It was also more economical. "On the other hand, designing an app in-house costs tens of thousands of dollars. We're always told that we can't have all three: cheaper, faster, better. AI and crowdsourcing break that paradigm altogether."
“Most innovation is politics”
Having a winning idea is one thing, bringing it to fruition quite another. And being an intrapreneur doesn't mean an easier path, as Balaji would learn. "You have to prove that you can solve the problem, then get funding. So for example, as a client project is happening, we also crowdsource ideas on the side. Then we show the blind outcome to the client. We saw that there was a significant statistical chance that at a lower price, we could generate equivalent or better outcomes," Balaji explains.
"There is a culture component to innovation," Balaji agrees. At Deloitte, another challenge was that people would not openly criticise. "Instead they say it is very nice, so you have to look for nuanced perspectives. If you ask 10 people, nine will say okay but not do anything about it. We call that Benevolent Neglect." He learned to not give up, and to follow through on the person who agrees to try the new tool. And if the outcome is good, others will follow - slowly.
Change is harder in a large company, also because it has a leadership ecosystem meant to protect it from rapid change. "If you don't respect that, you're also going to make enemies," Balaji says. "Most innovation is politics." He also learned to do away with what he calls the 'entrepreneur's ego', by hiding the mechanics of the solution and only showing people the outcome on the frontend. "Entrepreneurs want to communicate everything they know, they want to prove how much they know. But that's irrelevant to the consumer. How many people understand TCP / IP protocols? Do they need to understand it?"
"Kill the brand"
When it came to scaling, Balaji chose a "completely integrated end point." This meant he worked to integrate Deloitte Pixel into the core of the company, to the point where people didn't even know if they were using the old option or the new one. "You blur the line until it becomes part of the fabric." The other option, he explains, is to set up a completely different, distinct vertical on its own. "Right now, Deloitte Pixel has scaled significantly. My choice was to kill the brand. Because sometimes, a distinct brand could again just be serving the entrepreneur's ego. If a team wants app designs, they get app designs, they don't need to know who is making it."
Other pursuits
Balaji, who recently quit his full time job at Deloitte, lives in Nashville with his wife and their daughter. He also teaches at Harvard Business School and Stanford School of Business a few times each year. His wife is the founder of Butterfly Voyage, a real estate company and also teaches at Harvard Business School and Stanford School of Business a few times a year.
[caption id="attachment_53483" align="aligncenter" width="381"] Balaji with his wife and daughter[/caption]
Apart from that, he makes sure he focuses on work-life balance, and quality family time. "I have my own formula - 35 percent of my time is is for work, 40 percent is for family and the rest is just for me." He likes to read and has a soft spot for Indian historical fiction, enjoys painting, loves going to EDM concerts and takes pride in his shoe collection.
(November 19, 2024) In the quiet labs of the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, groundbreaking discoveries are made in the fight against one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases—tuberculosis (TB). At the centre of this transformative work is Dr Lalita Ramakrishnan, a visionary scientist and physician who has pioneered the use of freshwater fish, the zebrafish as a model organism to unravel the complexities of TB. Her journey, spanning continents and disciplines, is as inspiring as her discoveries. In November 2024, her groundbreaking contributions were recognized with the prestigious Robert Koch Prize, awarded in Berlin. This accolade, endowed with €120,000, celebrates outstanding achievements in the field of infectious disease research and is a result of her lifelong dedication to science. [caption id="attachment_60264" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Lalita Ramakrishnan with other recipients of the 2024 Robert Koch Prize, in Berlin[/caption] The Robert Koch Prize is a highly esteemed scientific award presented annually by the Robert Koch Foundation to honor exceptional contributions to scientific research. Named after Robert Koch (1843–1910), the German physician who pioneered modern bacteriology and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1905, the award celebrates groundbreaking advancements in science. Lalita
y the Robert Koch Foundation to honor exceptional contributions to scientific research. Named after Robert Koch (1843–1910), the German physician who pioneered modern bacteriology and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1905, the award celebrates groundbreaking advancements in science.
Lalita Ramakrishnan's efforts to address the deadly impact of tuberculosis are not confined to well-resourced countries. The Global Indiancollaborates closely with clinicians in high-burden regions like India, Vietnam, and Indonesia to ensure that her findings reach those most affected “Clinical work is slow no matter where you are, but in under-resourced areas, it’s even more challenging. It’s crucial to bring these innovations where they’re needed most,” she emphasised.
Tuberculosis: A global health challenge
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, primarily affecting the lungs but capable of impacting other parts of the body. It remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, claiming over 1.5 million lives annually, with millions more falling ill each year. TB disproportionately affects low and middle-income countries, perpetuating cycles of poverty and poor health. It's drug-resistant strains pose a growing threat to global public health efforts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ACub0wgeKo
Indian footprints in global science and health research
Driven by curiosity and ambition, many Indian researchers venture abroad to access advanced facilities, collaborate with leading global scientists, and explore cutting-edge technologies. These experiences not only enrich their expertise but also position them as key contributors to solving critical global health issues.
From pioneering affordable vaccines to advancing genomics and epidemiology, Indian scientists and researchers have consistently demonstrated excellence on the international stage. Figures like Lalita Ramakrishnan, a trailblazer in tuberculosis research, highlight India's growing influence in shaping global health solutions.
Using the freshwater fish, zebrafish as model to study TB immunity
Lalita’s journey to using zebrafish for TB research began during her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Her mentor, Stanley Falkow, discouraged her from working on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that cause TB in humans, because it grows very slowly and requires special safety precautions. Instead, he suggested she try studying Mycobacterium marinum, a close relative that infects fish and amphibians.
Curious, Lalita dug into a bacteriology manual and decided to experiment with M. marinum in zebrafish larvae. These tiny, see-through fish turned out to be perfect for her research, as their transparent bodies made it possible to watch infections unfold under a microscope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQij4xtnkx0
“When we saw granulomas, the hallmark structures of TB, forming in zebrafish, it was a eureka moment,” she said. This approach gave scientists a completely new way to understand how TB bacteria interact with the body’s immune system.
Early Influences: From India to a global stage
Lalita Ramakrishnan’s scientific journey began in Vadodara, India, where she was born in 1959 into a family of scientists. Along with her parents, her brother, Venki Ramakrishnan who is a Nobel laureate instilled in her a curiosity for science. While her mother’s battles with spinal tuberculosis left an indelible mark, exposing young Lalita to the harsh realities of the disease.
“I was only 17 when I began medical school in Baroda,” Lalita recalls, “but I soon realized that medicine alone wouldn’t satisfy my curiosity.” She later pursued a PhD in immunology at Tufts University in Boston, merging her medical training with research. “As I was doing my PhD, I saw medicine in a new light,” she shared.
She completed her medical residency at Tufts Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco. It was during this time that her interest in TB crystallized. “TB was attractive to me because it is obviously a huge problem, but, at the same time, I found biology really fascinating,” she explained. Her postdoctoral work at Stanford University further cemented her path as she developed the zebrafish model that would become central to her groundbreaking research.
In 2001, Lalita Ramakrishnan set up her own lab at the University of Washington. There, she thrived in a dynamic research community, and her bold decision to use zebrafish led to groundbreaking discoveries that reshaped the understanding and treatment of TB.
Bridging basic science and clinical applications
Lalita’s research seamlessly bridges lab discoveries with human health implications. Her academic and professional journey also took her to Cambridge in 2014, where she joined the University of Cambridge as a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow. This move marked another chapter in her career, allowing her to work in a globally renowned research environment in the United Kingdom. Here, she continued to expand her work on host-pathogen interactions, collaborating with scientists worldwide to translate her findings into clinical solutions.
Beyond TB, Lalita has used zebrafish to study leprosy, uncovering how the bacteria cause nerve damage. Her insights have broad implications for infectious diseases and human biology. “The TB bacterium has evolved with us; understanding it helps us understand ourselves,” she reflected.
Addressing public health misconceptions
One of Lalita’s most important contributions was challenging the long-held belief that a third of the world’s population has latent TB. Her research showed that most people clear the bacteria within two years, proving that latent TB isn’t a lifelong condition as previously thought. “The realisation that the true number of latent cases is much lower makes the problem more solvable,” she explained.
This discovery has major public health benefits. Instead of focusing on an overestimated number of latent cases, resources can now be directed to recent infections and vulnerable groups. “If you think a quarter of the world is infected, the challenge feels insurmountable,” Lalita said. Her findings have even influenced the World Health Organization, helping to reshape global TB strategies. Lalita’s willingness to challenge established ideas has not only transformed TB research but also inspired a new generation of scientists to think critically and creatively.
Life beyond the lab
Outside the lab, Lalita finds joy in cycling, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. Her global network of collaborators and former students testifies to the relationships she has built throughout her career. “Science is a team effort,” she said, “and it’s the people I’ve worked with who have made this journey so fulfilling.”
Despite her busy schedule, Lalita Ramakrishnan remains grounded, finding balance through hobbies and outdoor activities. Her love for cycling has not only kept her physically active but also allowed her to form friendships outside her professional sphere. “It’s a great way to stay connected with the world beyond science,” she shared.
A legacy of curiosity and impact
Lalita Ramakrishnan's journey has redefined TB research and inspired countless scientists. As she continues to probe the mysteries of TB, she remains hopeful about the future. “Understanding TB is not just about solving a medical problem; it’s about understanding ourselves,” she said.
Through her pioneering work, Lalita Ramakrishnan has changed the narrative of TB, and illuminated a path for tackling the world’s most pressing health challenges. Her story highlights the enduring impact of science driven by compassion and curiosity. As an Indian researcher contributing significantly to global science, Lalita’s accomplishments also highlights the vital role of women in STEM, inspiring others to break barriers and pursue transformative research that benefits humanity.
(February 13, 2023) She was only 16 when she made her way to the US to study at Georgetown University, and "after 17 years on an alphabet soup of visas to become a US citizen", Pramila Jayapal was lucky enough to have the "opportunity to live the American dream" - something that's still a distant dream for many immigrants today. And now she is set to make this dream a reality for many immigrants as the Indian-American Congresswoman has been named Ranking Member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee's panel on Immigration, making her the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role for the subcommittee. "It is extremely meaningful to me that I will now be in this position to better move the needle and re-center our broken immigration system around dignity, humanity, and justice," she said. Interestingly, she is the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role for the subcommittee. "As the first South Asian woman elected to the US House of Representatives and one of only two dozen naturalised citizens in Congress, I am honoured and humbled to serve as the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement," added the 57-year-old
dded the 57-year-old who is representing the 7th Congressional District of Washington State.
Born in Tamil Nadu, she grew up in India, Indonesia, and Singapore before moving to the US in 1982 to study English and Economics at Georgetown University, and later enrolled in Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management for an MBA.
It was in the 90s that she began her activism as a community organiser in Seattle, Washington, working on a variety of social justice issues, including immigrant rights, environmental protection, and affordable housing. She served as Director of the Fund for Technology Transfer at Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (1991-1995), a program that funded critical health projects in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. In 1995, she was awarded a two-year fellowship from The Institute of Current World Affairs to live in villages and towns across India and write about her perspectives on modern Indian society in the context of development and social justice. In 2000, she published her first book Pilgrimage to India: A Woman Revisits Her Homeland.
Then 9/11 happened, and that's when Pramila started OneAmerica — originally called the Hate Free Zone Campaign of Washington — as a response to the hate crimes and backlash against Arabs, Muslims and South Asians. "What started as simply protecting people against hate crimes turned quickly into much more—working to defend our civil liberties and rights for all immigrant communities," the Global Indian wrote in a blog.
She soon realised the importance of federal immigration reform policy to the US. "In 2003, through the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride, we began working on immigration reform and never stopped. We built political power for immigrants in our state, registering and mobilising to the polls tens of thousands of New Americans. We organised in different ethnic communities and advocated for better policies. We worked with the media to improve the narrative around immigrants and immigration. Together, with partners, allies, and members, we built OneAmerica from a fledgling effort into the largest immigrant advocacy organisation in Washington and a strong national force for justice," she added.
It was in 2016 that she ran for the House of Representatives and was elected as the first Indian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. In Congress, she has been a vocal champion of a wide range of progressive causes, including healthcare reform, environmental protection, and reproductive rights. She is also a leading voice in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform and has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies.
Moreover, she played a key role during the Covid-19 pandemic through American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package aimed at providing relief to individuals and businesses impacted by the pandemic. Furthermore, she is a philanthropist and an advocate for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and healthcare. She has introduced several bills aimed at improving the lives of marginalised communities, including the Medicare for All Act of 2019.
She is married to Steve Williamson, a long-time labor leader, and strategist, and is the proud mother of a transgender daughter named Kashika.
Chef Vineet Bhatia with HRH Queen Elizabeth II[/caption]
Chef Bhatia's pistachio chicken seekh kabab[/caption]
Chef Bhatia making Indian tacos[/caption]
Chef Bhatia with his family[/caption]
Manu Joseph[/caption]
Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Serious Men[/caption]
Balaji with his wife and daughter[/caption]
