Jyoti Radheshyam para cyclist | 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics | Global Indian

Global IndianstoryHow para cyclist Jyoti Radheshyam escaped death and made it to the Paris Paralympics 2024

How para cyclist Jyoti Radheshyam escaped death and made it to the Paris Paralympics 2024

Written by: Vikram Sharma

(September 2, 2024) You just can’t beat the person who won’t give up. That’s true of Jyoti Radheshyam Gaderiya. Back in May 2016, when she met with a near-fatal road mishap, doctors had lost all hope of her survival. They even declared her “dead” and sent the “body” for a post-mortem. But she fought a fierce battle with death and came back to life moments later. She spent the next three months in the ICU, battling for life, and her treatment involved the amputation of her left leg. Yet, she did not give up.

“Losing a leg completely shattered me, I felt like a burden on myself. I went into depression for years. Eventually, I pulled myself together and here I am today,” says Jyoti Radheshyam Gaderiya, India’s top para cyclist, speaking to Global Indian.

Over the years, Jyoti made India proud by winning 12 international medals and several national medals in para cycling championships. She is now at the prestigious Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games and says, “My sole aim is to win gold for India and make my country proud. I am completely focussed and working hard for it,” smiles the 26 year old.

Para cyclist Jyoti Radheshyam

Her preparations for the games were intense. Jyoti’s day would begin at 5 am, and she would head to practice, which lasted several hours. “After practice, I do body recovery exercises and drink protein shakes. Evenings are reserved for gym sessions,” she explains.

Rowing to cycling

Jyoti started cycling in February 22, 2022 with support from the Aditya Mehta foundation. Prior to that, she clinched an international bronze in para rowing at the Asian Games in 2019. “I shifted priorities and wanted to do cycling,” says the para cyclist.

Her steely resolve and dedication led Jyoti to win the gold medal in the Malaysia Para Road Championship Time Trial. Held in November 2022, it was a 13km event. Similarly, she clinched gold medals in Malaysia Para Road Race Championship (13.5km), Malaysia Para Track Championship Time Trial (500m) and Malaysia Para Track Championship Individual Pursuit (3km).

“Aditya Mehta Foundation supported me from the very beginning, providing accommodation, food, training and counselling which helped me win medals for the country,” says Jyoti, who was also a participant at the 2023 Asian Games in China.

She also proved her mettle at the 10th Asian Road Para Cycling Championship held in Tajikistan in 2022, World Para Cycling Track Championships 2022 (Ranking Number 8) and World Para Track Cycling Championship Scotland UK 2023 (Ranking Number 13).

“Exploring new places and learning different things has been the most interesting part of all my foreign travels. Winning medals was the icing on the cake,” smiles the para cyclist. The cycle she uses is fully carbon-made. “All its parts are very delicate, and it’s the most expensive thing I own.”

Jyoti Radheshyam para cyclist | 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics | Global Indian

Humble beginnings

Hailing from Dongargaon in Mohadi taluka of Bhandara district in Maharashtra, Jyoti is the daughter of farmer couple Radheshyam Kashiram Gaderiya and Usha Radheshyam Gaderiya.

She always loved athletics, even in school, when she participated in various sports. Until she met with the accident on May 3, 2016, she was a state-level Kabbadi player.

The day that changed her life

Jyoti was returning home from her friend’s house on a two wheeler when the accident took place. “It happened in front of my house, which is on a highway,” says the para cyclist.

After her leg was amputated, Jyoti felt like the ground had slipped from beneath her feet. “My mom and dad were crying beside me, but I hid my tears, though they knew I was completely broken. They gave me courage and strength,” recalls the para cyclist.

Her parents sold everything they had and spent all their life savings, around Rs 80 lakh, on Jyoti’s treatment. “I didn’t want my father to spend all his savings on me, neglecting my three sisters and one brother,” says Jyoti, who participated in the 10th Asian Championship New Delhi 2022 and Asian Para Track Cycling Championship New Delhi 2024 in which she won the gold medal.

Once she got better, her father got her admitted to a civil engineering course, but her heart was not in studies any more. In December 2018, Jyoti left home for Pune to work and earn money.

Challenges

While Jyoti did face challenges during her sporting journey, especially with the finances, she did not give up. “The equipment, gear and training put together cost lakhs of rupees,” says the youngster, who ran from the proverbial pillar to post and eventually managed to get the funds needed for preparation for the Asian rowing championship in 2019. Back then, she was training in rowing with Villa Sarve in the Army Rowing Institute. Her hard work paid off as she won bronze in Asian Games.

Jyoti Radheshyam at the Chungju Tangeum Lake International Rowing Regatta. Photo: Facebook

“No task is difficult, you just need to have confidence in yourself and a determination to work hard. No matter what happens, hard work will definitely show its results one day. Just never give up,” is her piece of advice.

When not cycling, Jyoti likes to listen to music and read. “I like to read to keep my mind focused and avoid negative thoughts,” says the determined sports star. She watches romantic movies, sports and Hindi songs to uplift her mood.

Looking back, she says whatever happens, happens for good. “I believe that good things will continue to happen only if one keeps working hard. There is nothing in the past, what matters is today so keep moving forward,” says Jyoti, who is an inspiration for many across the world.

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Published on 02, Sep 2024

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Atul Satija: The social entrepreneur who gave up a lucrative corporate career for poverty alleviation

(September 23, 2021) The IMF recently forecast that India is emerging as one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. While that is certainly a reason to cheer, there is a scenario that one can’t ignore – the damage to the economy due to the pandemic has had far reaching effects. Over 230 million individuals fell below the national minimum wage poverty line, according to a report by the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University (APU). And it is to address issues such as the widespread poverty in India that individuals like 42-year-old Atul Satija, founder of The/Nudge Foundation and founder 2.0 of GiveIndia, have been working towards poverty alleviation. In his LinkedIn profile, Satija writes, “Every human being can live a dignified life out of poverty, and it’s well in our collective means to achieve that goal. Within our lifetime.” A philosophy he deeply believes in and has been working towards ever since he gave up a 17-year-long career in the corporate sector to dive headlong into social entrepreneurship. Humble beginnings Born in a lower middle class Chandigarh home, Satija grew up watching his government employee father and school teacher mother go out of their way to help extended family who

fetime.” A philosophy he deeply believes in and has been working towards ever since he gave up a 17-year-long career in the corporate sector to dive headlong into social entrepreneurship.

Humble beginnings

Born in a lower middle class Chandigarh home, Satija grew up watching his government employee father and school teacher mother go out of their way to help extended family who were of modest means. The family’s financial status made Satija want to study well and earn good money, but his father’s outlook also inspired him to help people. So, after graduating in engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Satija worked with companies such as Infosys and Samsung before doing his Masters from Indian School of Business. He then worked with Adobe for two years before joining Google as the head of business development first in India and then for the Japan and Asia Pacific markets. In 2010 he moved to San Francisco to join InMobi as its Chief Business Officer where he helped scale the organization from a small startup to a global leader in mobile advertising.

When the social sector beckoned

Throughout his career though, Satija would make it a point to volunteer during the weekends with a nonprofit in Gurugram. But it never felt enough. "I was working with Google then. Few months into volunteering, I realized it was the social sector that I wanted to work in over the long term – I was looking for meaningful work and potential for impact,” he told the Global Indian in an exclusive chat.

[caption id="attachment_9222" align="aligncenter" width="581"] Indian social entrepreneur Atul Satija Atul Satija[/caption]

He found that his weekend volunteering kept him from contributing to society as much as he’d wanted to. By 2015, he had quit his corporate job to set up his own startup in the social sector space. “In 2015, I started my journey with The/Nudge Foundation to work towards poverty alleviation,” he says, adding, “The journey has been challenging, understanding the layers of the development sector, grassroot realities and then creating innovative solutions to reach our goals. The journey has also been one of purpose, meaning and satisfaction. I truly believe our generation can eradicate extreme poverty in India, given the resources and talent available now for this work.”

A journey that fulfills

When he began his journey with The/Nudge, Satija spent a few months working with various communities across Bengaluru and Delhi and narrowed down on skill development through gurukuls as their first intervention area. They then began looking for grants, which is when Nandan Nilekani, former CEO of Infosys, supported them with a seed grant of $200,000. “Being our very first grant, it was an important milestone for the entire team. This was quickly followed by a series of partners coming forward to support our work including Mphasis, Cisco, Tata Trusts etc. Similarly graduating the first batch of 45+ students from our Gurukuls with 100% placements was also something that reinforced our approach and belief, and allowed us to stay focused in growing both our programs and impact aspirations,” says Satija.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjV-Sko6sVg[/embed]

In 2017, Satija and Venkat Krishnan, founder of GiveIndia, happened to have a conversation where they discussed working through funding challenges that nonprofits face through a tech platform. The two realized their goals and visions were aligned and soon Satija was brought on board as GiveIndia’s Founder 2.0. “The work at both The/Nudge Foundation and GiveIndia is for the larger purpose of poverty alleviation but the approaches are very different and complementary in India’s development journey,” explains Satija.

An evolving philanthropic culture

Over the years though, Satija has seen philanthropy and the concept of giving back in India evolve. The pandemic has increased the scale of giving by organizations as well as individuals and foundations and philanthropists are now playing a crucial role in strengthening the work being carried out in the development sector. “Digitization has increased connectivity among people and communities. With digitization making giving convenient, donors have increasingly become more forthcoming. In the pandemic, people have given more than they did before. Additionally, the Corporate Social Responsibility laws requiring organizations to give 2% of their profits has increased donor participation in the societal challenges,” he says.

So far, The/Nudge has been working towards addressing livelihood issues but is also aware of other areas that need to be supported such as education, public health etc. “Poverty is a wicked problem - complex, multilayered and multifaceted. We are focused on livelihoods as our primary area of work, and look at solutions that tackle the income in the hands of the poor by providing skilling and job placement, financial security, and social mobility."

Work during the pandemic

The past year has been about addressing the increased socio-economic concerns that the pandemic has raised. The need of the hour for the Foundation was to work towards efficient mobilization of aid to reach more and more of the needy population. “While GiveIndia has been working tirelessly to save lives, The/Nudge has geared huge efforts towards saving livelihoods and empowering the social welfare ecosystem, through its multiple initiatives across our three impact streams – Centre for Rural Development, Centre for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Centre for Social Innovation," says Satija, adding, “We launched Asha Kiran, which aims to serve 5 lakh poor households by 2025. We launched Indian Administrative Fellowship, to aid influx of talent into the development sector and to influence public policy and strategy. We are supporting other Social Enterprises through our incubator/accelerator. Our skilling and employment program has gone online and witnessed more enrolments than ever before, to help in economic empowerment of youth.”

[caption id="attachment_9223" align="aligncenter" width="377"] Indian social entrepreneur Atul Satija Atul Satija[/caption]

In April 2021, GiveIndia relaunched its flagship giving collective that began in April 2020 – India COVID Response Fund (ICRF) to meet the rising demands of the second wave. The organization mobilized aid in the form of oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators to those in urgent need and help families in financial distress. “We also worked closely with several NPOs to deliver ration and food relief into the heart of communities where it was needed the most.”

During the second wave, GiveIndia’s ICRF managed to deliver:

40,000 oxygen concentrators and cylinders at hospitals and to individuals at homes
279 districts of 25 States and 2 UTs supported through oxygen intervention
50 oxygen generation plants are being installed across the country
Over 87,000 diagnostic and wellness kits, 18,000 oximeters and 27,000 isolation kits were distributed
3.8 lakh people reached with meals and food rations
Cash relief provided for over 3,500 families of Covid-deceased

Road map ahead

“Since the inception of The/Nudge, we have been able to impact the lives of over 10 million people through both our direct and indirect work across India. Over the next five years, we want to focus on playing a catalyst role in scaling solutions that work on the ground across rural and urban livelihoods. GiveIndia was formed with an aim to serve the poor of the country. The pandemic has helped us grow as a giving community and we look forward to helping the needy and poor by enabling giving back for both individuals and organizations, and making giving bigger and better,” signs off Satija.

Reading Time: 10 mins

Roma Agrawal: Meet the structural engineer behind London’s iconic The Shard

(April 28, 2023) Be it the complex, geometric structure of 7850 stars that represents the dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi or the timber-framed 16th century Tudor House Museum, Roma Agrawal has a keen eye for design, and her Instagram is testimony to it. Her love for buildings, construction, materials, and the stories behind how they came into existence reminds one of Ayn Rand's iconic character Howard Roark from her popular novel The Fountainhead. It's exactly this love for design and science that led her to become one of the well-known structural engineers, who is also one of the masterminds behind The Shard. Her love for structural engineering helped her appoint as the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2018 and get her elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2021. [caption id="attachment_37840" align="aligncenter" width="885"] Roma Agrawal[/caption] Finding her calling Growing up, she had an innate curiosity, and would often play with building blocks and construction toys. During her childhood in New York, she was enthralled by skyscrapers and curious about how they were made. Unknowingly, this set the foundation for her interest in the scientific world, however, for the longest time, she

nstruction toys. During her childhood in New York, she was enthralled by skyscrapers and curious about how they were made. Unknowingly, this set the foundation for her interest in the scientific world, however, for the longest time, she didn't associate the word "engineer" with what she was doing. It was her love for science and maths that led her to study physics at Oxford. However, it wasn't until one summer job in the physics department that she saw engineers "doing interesting work" and she knew she wanted to be one.

It was a structural engineer that she chose to become, courtesy of her first impression of American skyscrapers in her childhood. This led to her studying General Structural Engineering at Imperial College London. "I used to think engineering was about maths and calculations and computing and doing quite technical work. But I soon realised that if you can't communicate what you are trying to do, and you don’t have relationships with people, then you're not going to be able to be a successful engineer. And I think that's what now is my first love of engineering — it’s being creative with other people and building those personal relationships," the Global Indian said in an interview.

On building The Shard

She put her knowledge to practice when she started working at WSP, where she helped design a footbridge for Northumbria University in Newcastle. She even worked on a Georgian house in Mayfair and an addition to the Victorian Crystal Palace station in London. But it is her assistance with the foundations of Shard, which took a good six years, that she calls one of the challenging projects, owing to its geography. Placed in the middle of Central London, with a hospital across the street and the London bridge a few miles away, "it was a massive logistical challenge."

[caption id="attachment_37845" align="aligncenter" width="553"] Roma Agrawal | Global Indian Roma in front of The Shard[/caption]

"For me, in some ways, the actual maps and the physics of making the tower stand up are a challenge, of course, but then trying to weave it into the middle of a very busy city… that’s where the smarts come in. That’s where you have to be creative, you have to be collaborative, you have to work with all of those different people who want different things and find a common consensus," she added.

Making her mark in a male-dominated business

Agrawal, who found her inspiration in Emily Warren Roebling, calls her a hero as she was a woman in a very male business. Something that hasn't changed much lately. She told The Guardian that she has been a part of meetings where she was the only woman among 21 people and was often mistaken for a secretary or the junior of a male colleague and asked to make tea and take minutes. "It has got better. There’s a more welcoming environment, but there’s still a long way to go," she told the Daily. It was this that prompted her to write her first book, Built, which puts a spotlight on the unsung women of engineering.

Roma Agrawal | Global Indian

Despite being in the business for decades now, Roma feels that engineering is undervalued, and this has inspired her to create awareness among people through her talks in schools and the release of her three books - Built, How Was That Built, and Nuts & Bolts. "I'm trying to engage people who don't even know they're interested in buildings," she said.

Advocating STEM among girls

An advocate for engineering and scientific careers, particularly for young women, she wants to encourage more girls to opt for STEM. Having grown up in Mumbai during her formative years, she saw that in India there is a focus on STEM subjects. However, after moving to the UK, she found it strange that not many girls enjoyed STEM. "I feel like from a very young age, we are putting children into these stereotyped boxes and that continues through school. I consistently hear women saying, “I’m not good at maths.” There’s a lack of confidence among teachers and parents who don’t see STEM careers for their daughters because most of the role models that they see are men. So, it’s really about us trying to question these deeply ingrained stereotypes that exist in our society, but I don’t believe for good reason," she added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJf8vkyJq-o&t=109s

Roma, who is trying to push the envelope with each of her structural designs, has a word of advice for novices. "Do your research because there’s so much information at your fingertips now. And if you’re passionate about solving problems and helping people, then engineering can be a fantastic career for you."

Follow Roma Agrawal on LinkedIn and her website

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How Ritu Arya of Barbie fame found her footing in Hollywood

(April 11, 2024) Growing up playing with Barbie dolls that looked a certain way (Read white, blue eyes, and blonde hair), Ritu Arya never thought that she'd be playing the character on screen. However, there she was taking up the space as a South Asian actor playing the role of a famous Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and reporter who lives in Barbie Land. Living in England, she grew up watching people unlike her on the small and big screen. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ritu Arya (@rituarya) Representation in the 90s was so feeble that she noticed its sheer nonexistence while watching television at home. That's when she decided to become the poster girl of diversity when she grew up. And the 35-year-old actor did that when she landed roles in series like Sherlock, Doctors, The Umbrella Academy and Red Notice. "Films contribute massively to shifting culture. They should inspire conversation," said Ritu in an interview. Following her dream Entertainment while growing up in Guildford, England meant watching television, and Goodness Gracious Me, the British-Asian comedy show, was the first time she saw South Asians on screen. "Our family homes, stories about them, that allowed

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A post shared by Ritu Arya (@rituarya)

Representation in the 90s was so feeble that she noticed its sheer nonexistence while watching television at home. That's when she decided to become the poster girl of diversity when she grew up. And the 35-year-old actor did that when she landed roles in series like Sherlock, Doctors, The Umbrella Academy and Red Notice. "Films contribute massively to shifting culture. They should inspire conversation," said Ritu in an interview.

Following her dream

Entertainment while growing up in Guildford, England meant watching television, and Goodness Gracious Me, the British-Asian comedy show, was the first time she saw South Asians on screen. "Our family homes, stories about them, that allowed us to just poke fun at ourselves. It was brilliant." Inspired, she along with her cousins would write her story and build characters. "I guess I felt seen from that." Though she was keen to take up acting, conforming to the traditional norm of finishing a degree, she ended up studying astrophysics at Southampton University. However, her desire to act led her to enroll in the on-campus comedy society. However, she knew her heart was in acting and it was Google who came to her rescue. "I googled how to become an actor. The answer was drama school," she added and went on to study acting and drama at Oxford School of Drama.

The big debut on TV

Switching from physics to acting was a journey but Ritu knew how to learn, and she remained curious and open to acting. She soon landed her first role in the British soap opera Doctors. The British-Indian actress smashed the ball out of the park in her debut and was nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer. While Ritu stayed on the show for four years, she expanded her horizon by making an appearance in the popular British crime TV series Sherlock. In 2016, she diversified with the sci-fi series Humans had her play the role of robot Flash.

[caption id="attachment_50656" align="aligncenter" width="662"] Ritu Arya | Global Indian Ritu Arya[/caption]

While Arya was gaining popularity in the world of television, she exploded on the film circuit with the 2019 rom-com Last Christmas. The film starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding was a major commercial success with a box-office collection of $123.4 million.

But one big opportunity came knocking at her door in the form of an American superhero TV series The Umbrella Academy. Based on the comic book of the same name, it revolved around a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings who reunite to solve the mystery behind their father's death. To prep for the show, Arya, who played Lila Pitts, read all the comic books to get into the skin of the character, a wild card entry that the fans of the series cannot stop raving about. It's her quirks and eccentricity in the Netflix show that catapulted Arya into the league of the best.

Such was the impact of her stellar performance that Ritu was soon roped in for Red Notice, a heist thriller alongside Hollywood action heavyweights like Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot. The actress plays an Interpol agent. "It’s such an incredible experience. I'm just so aware of what I can say and what I can't! I'm so anxious! But it's so fun, and I feel like I'm learning and growing so much," she had said. Made on a budget of $130 million, the film was one of Netflix's biggest investments.

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Representing South Asians

But it's her role in the Oscar-nominated Barbie that's challenging stereotypes like no one else and is making South Asians proud with strong representation. "Representation is a huge reason why I even got into acting. I was not seeing people that looked like me on my screen, and I thought, “Well, I’ll be the change” and that’s a huge motivation," she said in an interview.

Ritu has become a force to reckon with in the TV and film world but not without her struggle with racism. The British-Indian actress, who was bullied at her predominantly white school and was called all sorts of names, has always tried to empower herself to create change. In an interview with the Hindu, she said, "It drives me to push boundaries for women and people of colour, to gain further equality by taking up space and having a voice. I try not to complain, but rather lead by example. And always, always leading from love and compassion."

Ritu Arya

The British-Indian actress has finally arrived and how. Arya, who was keen to portray diversity, is taking every step towards her dream and is smashing the glass ceiling, one project at a time.

Follow Ritu Arya on Instagram

Sunil Chhetri: The athlete who put India football on the world map

(July 15, 2021; 7:15 pm) Sunil Chhetri may not be a name taken in the same breath as Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi but the Indian footballer is nothing short of a shooting star in a cricket-crazy country. The 36-year-old striker has many accolades up his sleeve but this year's unbelievable feat of surpassing the Argentinian football superstar as the second-highest active international goal-scorer is undeniably an applaud worthy achievement. Chhetri is one player who has kept the football fever alive in a country like ours. From making stellar contributions in several Nehru Cup wins to weaving his magic at the AFC Cup final, the footballer has risen to the occasion when it mattered the most. Streets of Delhi to Mohun Bagan Born a year after India brought home its first cricket World Cup trophy, Chhetri grew up at a time when football was hardly an aspirational sport for Indians. With the likes of Sachin Tendulkar taking on the international cricket in his growing years, the 5 feet seven inches lad was keen to be the next master blaster. But destiny dealt him a different hand. Raised in a simple middle-class family, Chhetri couldn't muster up the courage to ask

fferent hand.

Raised in a simple middle-class family, Chhetri couldn't muster up the courage to ask his parents to buy him a bat and pads which could cost a few thousand back in the day. So, he chose football instead. In a conversation with Sportskeeda, he said:

"The moment I realized that the price of the bat and pads was that, the dream was finished there. I didn't have the guts to tell a guy who used to earn 8000 rupees, my father, to give me 2000 rupees just for my pads and my bat."

Chhetri went through many hardships before getting his big break. He wouldn't have shoes sometimes or would stitch his football shoes to continue playing as his father, an army man, couldn't afford a new pair each time. "We weren't poor but come 20th of every month, things started looking bit tough. I didn't have shoes sometimes or didn't have enough money to go for a trial or didn't have enough money to take care of my diet."

Stealing money

Chhetri once revealed that he used to steal money from his mother at times, but one such instance changed his life forever. He straightened up after his mother embraced him teary-eyed and apologized to him for 'making a thief out of his son.'

"That's something that shook me. Then I realized that I cannot act like a mischievous kid."

He had his share of trials before getting the big break at Mohun Bagan in 2002. It was during the Durand Cup that he was playing for City FC from Delhi that he was noticed by Bagan. Seeing the teenager striking some clean goals, Mohun Bagan offered him a three-year contract. He told YouthIncorporatedMagazine,

"I could have never expected it in the wildest of my dreams. Here's a 17-year-old kid getting signed up by a club as big as Mohun Bagan, that too in the senior team. It felt like a dream."

International debut at 20

After three years, he earned a call-up to the national team and made his debut in the blue jersey against Pakistan in 2005. Then a 20-year-old Chhetri got his breakthrough at the 65th minute, and since then, there has been no looking back for this football star. It was in the 2007 Nehru Cup that his international career truly kicked off with four goals, and the striker helped India lift the winner's trophy.

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Global Indian footballer

In 2010, Chhetri was signed by Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer making him the first Indian to play with the club. This feat gave him the opportunity to play against Manchester United. The 36-year-old came on as a substitute in the 69th minute and showed his world-class game for the rest of the match. His dribble against Paul Scholes was one of the highlights of the match. Though he couldn't convert any of his strikes to a goal, his team, Kansas City Wizards emerged as the winners.

Nehru Cup star

Back home, Chhetri scored 22 goals in just 33 appearances and helped India win Nehru Cup once again in 2012. A year later, Chhetri became the torchbearer for Bengaluru FC, and as they, the rest is history. Under his captainship, Bengaluru FC spread its wings and went onto win 2 I-Leagues and 2 Federation Cups. Chettri himself scored 49 goals in four seasons, and the club went onto become the first Indian club to reach the AFC Cup final in 2016.

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A post shared by Sunil Chhetri (@chetri_sunil11)

Chhetri helped the club make the transition from I-League to Indian Super League.

He continued to cast his spell in India and was named the AIFF Player of the Year for 2011, 2013, and 2014.

When Chhetri overtook Messi

Over the years, Chhetri has kept the football mania alive in India. But Indian football fans couldn't keep their calm when in June this year Chhetri surpassed Lionel Messi to become the second-highest active international goal-scorer in the world during FIFA 2022 qualifying match against Bangladesh. Chhetri is truly one of the best football players of recent times.

Editor's Take

India is known to be a cricket-crazy country with fans glued to ODIs, IPLs, and tests. Amid this mania, Sunil Chhetri has made people sit back and take notice of football. From making India win Nehru Cup thrice to playing against the biggest clubs such as Manchester United or beating Messi to become the second-highest goal-scorer in international football, Chhetri has put his name on the world soccer map. His retirement, whenever that happens, would leave a big hole in Indian football. Chhetri’s story needs to be told more often so that the next generation of Indian footballers can identify with a local role model.

Reading Time: 5 mins

James Beard Awards: Chef Meherwan Irani’s Chai Pani named ‘most outstanding restaurant in the US’

(June 16, 2022) "Restaurants are so much greater than the sum of what's inside the four walls. A restaurant has the power to transform the people that work there, the people that come in, transform the communities we are in, transform society," said Chef Meherwan Irani, as his restaurant, Chai Pani, was named the US' most Outstanding Restaurant at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago. Born in London, chef Irani returned to India when he was a child and grew up in Maharashtra. An MBA program brought him to San Francisco and he has remained in the United States since, spending over a decade in car sales before giving it up to follow his dream. Founded in 2009 in Asheville by Chef Meherwan Irani and his wife, Molly Irani, the Chai Pani Restaurant Group quickly garnered quite the reputation with its desi street food favourites, like aloo tikki chaat, vada pav, pav bhaji and chicken tikka rolls. Customers looking for a traditional meal won't go home disappointed, there are several thalis on offer, including a Chettinad Thali from Tamil Nadu. Those with a more fusion palette can try the sweet potato chaat and the kale pakoras. "From Bombay to Buncombe and Asheville to Atlanta," reads the 'about' page

he sweet potato chaat and the kale pakoras. "From Bombay to Buncombe and Asheville to Atlanta," reads the 'about' page of the Chai Pani website. Today, the team is over 300 strong and Chef Irani is a prominent voice in the conversation around cultural exchange through food. In 2018, the Indian-origin chef was named as one of the '31 People Who Are Changing The South' by Time Magazine. Much of the inspiration came from Irani’s own longing for home-cooked food – he would wander through Indian stores in South Carolina, picking up all the spices he could find and trying, unsuccessfully to create a blend that compared somewhat with what he remembered from back home. When Chai Pani began, Irani’s mother arrived in the US to train the staff for two months, teaching them the complex, exacting art of working with Indian spices.

[caption id="attachment_25844" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Meherwan Irani | Molly Irani | Chai Pani | Global Indian Chef Meherwan Irani and his wife, Molly.[/caption]

In 2012, the group opened the MG Road Bar & Lounge which has received media attention from around the world. Chai Pani Decatur came in 2013 in Decatur, Georgia. Known for its Pani Puri nights, it has been a staple on the 'Best Restaurants in Atlanta' list ever since it opened up. At Botiwalla, in Ponce City Market and Charlotte, Chef Irani returns to the kabab houses from his own childhood, as well as the many grills and rotisseries that pop up in Indian cities after sundown, where spicy stir fries and rolls see brisk business.

Chef Irani also branched out into Spicewalla, to supply fresh Indian spices across North Carolina, paying homage to his own childhood. At his grandmother’s house in Mumbai, the family would sit together in winter to make their own dhansak masala. "Whole spices were brought to our home, often in jute sacks from the spice merchants," he says. "For days, the air would be heady with the scent of roasting coriander, mace, cumin and cinnamon. After the spices were roasted and cooled, we would blend and grind them in our old, large hand grinder using recipes written on scraps of paper that my grandmother would keep in a box in her dresser." In 2019, Oprah Winfrey added Spicewalla to her list of favourite things. "That was full circle," Irani said in an interview.

Chef Irani's earliest lessons in the kitchen came from his mother. Growing up, he was exposed to a versatile mix of cuisines, from pastas and casseroles to chicken cutlets served with tomato ketchup - all homemade. "We never knew what would be on the table for lunch and dinner each day. She could make potatoes taste like masala, with mustard seeds and fresh limes, or roast them with rosemary and olive oil... She applied Indian spices to dishes without changing the DNA of it," he told bon appetit.

[caption id="attachment_25845" align="aligncenter" width="639"] Meherwan Irani | Chai Pani | Global Indian Chef Meherwan Irani. Photo: Instagram @meherwanirani[/caption]

After graduating with an MBA from the University of South Carolina, Chef Irani moved to San Francisco. There, he began working at Lexus dealership, spending over a decade selling cars. In 2009, Irani quit his sales job to open his first restaurant - Chai Pani, in downtown Asheville where he lived with his wife. Today, he has five James Beard nominations for Best Chef in the Southeast under his belt and his restaurants have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, GQ, Men's Health, USA Today and Bon Appetite.

By Chef Irani’s side from the very start is his wife, Molly, who, unlike Irani, grew up in the restaurant business. Her parents owned a restaurant in the south-east (America) and Molly is no stranger to kitchens, chefs and restaurants. Having travelled to India for many years, she has brought rich and diverse experiences to the table at the Chai Pani Restaurant Group, where she is Hospitality Director & co-founder. Incidentally, Molly's family restaurant is where the two first crossed paths. Chef Irani said in a 2020 interview with Garden & Gun that his first job was "waiting tables in Myrtle Beach at a French patisserie. I married the owner's daughter, Molly."

As is evident by now, Chef Irani’s food comes wrapped in stories, which are consumed with equal gusto. Through these stories, Chef Irani finds his own connection between Southern India, from where he hails, and the American deep South, where he now lives. Despite the fact that his restaurants have expanded to other states, Asheville is his home: "What if we did what we really wanted to do," he once asked his wife, before the Chai Pani Restaurant Group began. "I honestly believe because we were in Asheville, we were able to answer that question, and Chai Pani was born."

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