Global IndianstoryOf form and function: The urban planners transforming modern India

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Of form and function: The urban planners transforming modern India

Written by: Darshana Ramdev

(August 13, 2022) The practice of urban planning in India dates back thousands of years. The remains of the Indus Valley civilisation are testament to well-thought out, detailed city plans. Mohenjo-Daro city included roads with perpendicular intersections and underground drains, in Vedic and Sangam times, cities like Ayodhya, Pataliputra and Madurai respectively included wide roads, arrangements for dinking water and shady enclaves for people to gather. The Mughals introduced havelis and in Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh collaborated with a famous British architect of the time, Howel, to build the city. Western models came in with the British and town planning was entrusted to municipalities.

In modern India, architects like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn handed over the reins to visionaries like B.V. Doshi, Charles Correa and Hasmukh Patel. On Independence Day weekend, Global Indian takes a look at some of the country’s top architects and urban planners today, the men and women behind our metropolises and hi-tech city, whose work, in today’s increasingly borderless world, is an amalgamation of global perspectives and an authenticity that is, at its soul, wholly Indian.

Dr Balakrishna Vithaldas Doshi

BV Doshi | Urban Planners | Global Indian

Architect BV Doshi conducting a walkthrough at IIM Bangalore. Photo credit: IIM-B

With a career spanning 70 years, Dr B V Doshi is a visionary. In 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most coveted prizes in architecture equivalent to the Nobel in the field. Doshi has completed more than 100 projects in his magnificent career, amalgamating modernism with the rich traditions of India’s architecture, craft, culture and climate. Many public institutions like libraries, schools, art centres and low-cost housing societies are part of Doshi’s rich repertoire. The National War Museum and Memorial, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), IIM Bangalore, Amdavad Ni Gufa, and Guggenheim Museum, Finland are some of his notable projects amongst many others.

Bimal Patel

The Kashi Vishwanath Dham

The transformation of the 966.3-hectare waterfront into a sea transport and tourism hub is the Maximum City’s most ambitious project in modern times. The man leading the charge is architect and urban planner Bimal Patel, Managing Director of HCP Design Planning and Management Limited and the President of the hallowed CEPT University in Ahmedabad. Today, he is a household name, as the chief architect for the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, the Sabarmati Riverfront and the Kashi Vishwanath Dham.

Bimal joined his father’s practice in Ahmedabad in 1990, after finishing his master’s degree at Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design and his PhD at the Department of City and Regional Planning, where he learned the importance of intellectual freedom and exploration. The Entrepreneurship Development Institute campus, one of his first projects, fetched him the Aga Khan Award for Architecture two years later. He was also involved with Town Planning Schemes in Gujarat after the earthquake. He is also the winner of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements’ Award of Excellence, the Prime Minister’s National Award for Excellence in Urban Planning and Design and in 2019, was bestowed with the Padma Shri.

Bimal Patel. Photo credit: Umang Shah / HCP

Sheila Sri Prakash

Shirdi Sai Baba Temple | Sheila Prakash | Global Indian

The Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir, Chennai (ongoing). Render courtesy: Shilpa Architects

Sheila Sri Prakash is an internationally acclaimed urban planner, architect and sustainability expert, who became the first Indian woman to establish her architecture practice in 1979. In 2016 The World Economic Forum invited her to be part of the 25-member Global Future Council for shaping the future of environment and natural resource security.

In 2013 Sheila formulated the Reciprocal Design Index to establish, document and incentivize sustainable design of Indian cities. She has been conferred with many national and global honours and accolades including the Bene Merenti Award at Romania. Tamil Nadu’s first platinum rated office complex for Cethar Vessels, and restoration of UNESCO World Heritage site, Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur are some of her notable projects. This top architect and urban designer is widely consulted on matters of urban sustainability by several governments.

Sheila Prakash

Sonali and Manit Rastogi

Infosys Nagpur Campus. Image- worldarchitecture.org

Their designs have a soul – sustainability, optimisation, uniqueness and livability. Inspired by nature and looking to create much more than a concrete structure in all their projects, Delhi-based designers and urban planners Sonali and Manit Rastogi, are slowly changing the defination of contemporary architecture. The duo, who started their journey in the world of urban planning in 1996 with their company Morphogenesis, are the brains behind Infosys’s 142 acre Nagpur campus, which is the world’s largest net zero campus.

An alumni of Architectural Association, London, Manit and Sonali, have been working towards incorporating latest design and technology with nature. Many of their projects are net zero, implying that the greenhouse gases emissions within the buildings is almost negligible. Recipients of many awards, including World Architecture Festival Award and CWAB Awards, India’ Top Architects, these two urban planners are also on the panel of Technical Advisory Committee of GRIHA, India Green rating system.

Sonali and Manit Rastogi

Naresh Narasimhan

Koramangala’s infamous rajakaluve, or storm water drain, will soon become a tourist site, all thanks to leading architect Naresh Narasimhan. An urbanist and social activist, Narasimhan has been responsible for renewing many marketplaces and neighbourhoods across India, including Church Street and Brigade Gateway in Bengaluru, and Nirlon Knowledge Park in Mumbai. An alumnus of Manipal Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School, Narasimhan has created some brilliant designs in his 30-year-long career, which have set benchmarks for their typologies in India.

Drawing his inspiration from star urbanists Charles Correa and Joseph Allen Stein, Narasimhan has worked hard to make his designs as cutting-edge as they are ethical. In fact, balancing sustainability with wellbeing-focused design is his expertise. The award-winning architect and founder of MOD Institute is also involved in several pro bono projects with Bengaluru Munciple Corporation to make the city safer and more accessible for vehicular movement and pedestrians.

Naresh Narasimhan on Church Street. Photo: Deccan Chronicle

Rahul Mehrotra

The founder of RMA Architects, Rahul Mehrotra’s contributions towards urban design and planning have been both prolific and diverse. The firm, founded in 1990, has executed projects that include government and institutions, corporate offices and campuses and private homes. They designed the Hewlett Packard campus in Bengaluru, as well as a campus for underprivileged kids, built for the NGO Magic BUS.

Rahul Mehrotra. Photo RMA Architects

He has led restoration projects too, the best known being the Hyderabad’s Falukhnama Palace and also created a masterplan for the conservation of the Taj Mahal. RMA even designed a social housing project for 100 elephants and their caretakers in Rajasthan. Mehrotra has a significant global presence and designed a Lab Of the Future in Basel Switzerland. In 2018, the firm received a Special Mention at the Venice Architecture Biennale, for three projects “that address issues of intimacy and empathy, gently diffusing social boundaries and hierarchies.” Mehrotra is currently the Chair at the Department of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University.

Inputs from Amrita Priya and Namrata Srivastava

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Published on 13, Aug 2022

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Taking Brand India to the world: MM Keeravani at the Golden Globes

(Jan 13, 2022) Cheers erupted from the RRR table as actor Jenna Ortega said the words every Indian was hoping to hear. "And the award goes to, Naatu Naatu, RRR." Looking a little like a deer caught in the headlights, a visibly flustered MM Keeravani clutched his Golden Globe with both hands, saying nervously, "I'm much overwhelmed with this great moment happening." It was a great moment indeed, for Keeravani himself, the RRR team, for Indians around the world and for every underdog everywhere. An underrated genius had finally received his due on a truly global platform, winning one of the most coveted awards in the world. He had hoped to break tradition, he said, by not dedicating his award to someone else, but being up on stage himself, he said, "I'm going to repeat the tradition because I mean my words." He went on to thank the RRR team, starting with his brother and director of the film, SS Rajamouli, for his "constant trust and support," choreographer Prem Rakshith, singer Rahul Sipligunj and Kala Bhairav (Keeravani's son) and actors Ram Charan and NT Rama Rao JR, who "danced with so much stamina." After the ceremony, Keeravani and Rajamouli even

ceremony, Keeravani and Rajamouli even performed the hook step that made the song so popular.

Naatu Naatu was released in April 2022, to much social media hype - Lahari even predicted it would be the 'Dance Number of the Decade'. Two months later, Korean pop music icons BTS released their own choreography to the song, skyrocketing it to global fame. According to media reports, the Global Indian created around 20 compositions for the song, with the final version chosen by Rajamouli and other members from the RRR team.

Early talent

A steady stream of RD Burman hits played through the day in Keeravani's childhood home in Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh. His father, Koduri Siva Shakti Datta, is a painter, lyricist and screenwriter and Keeravani, who grew up steeped in fine arts and the glamour of the Telugu film industry, displayed an early interest in music. His inclinations were appreciated and encouraged at home and he began learning to play the violin at the age of four.

Keeravani showed extraordinary talent even then and by the age of 10, was going on tour with the Pranalingam Accordion Party, a travelling band from Kakinada, for whom he played the violin. He was their piece de resistance, the young prodigy who won his audience's hearts with his solo rendition of Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai.

A rocky start and a big break

Keeravani began his career in 1987, working as an assistant to composers K. Chakravarthy and C. Rajamani. His debut, which came in 1990 with TSBK Moulee's Manasu Mamatha, went out with a whimper, however, as the film was never released, leaving Keeravani's talent unnoticed. His thirty-year tryst with Indian cinema has been something of a comedy of errors, aided in part by the composer himself, and his insistence on having three names. "Stephen King had two names. I have three," he said, in a Rediff interview back in 2004.

As it happened, his great admiration for Stephen King had its part to play in his first big break. Director Ram Gopal Varma, who had heard some of Keeravani's work, was toying with the composer's name for his 1991 film, Kshana Kshanam. The deal was clinched with Varma caught sight of Keeravani sitting quietly by himself in his Chennai studio, his nose buried in a Stephen King novel. "If you like Stephen King, that means we can work together," he told him.

[caption id="attachment_33798" align="aligncenter" width="407"] Composer MM Keeravani[/caption]

The breadwinner goes to Bollywood

Varma, apparently, advised Keeravani to be selective and not take every film that came his way. Pickiness, however, was a luxury the composer simply could not afford. Life was more or less hand-to-mouth back then - in those early days, Keeravani, who lived in a joint family of around 30 people, was the sole breadwinner. The once-wealthy zamindar family had descended into hard times and when Keeravani started out, his cousin, Rajamouli, was still a student. So, he took every job he could get, working with Rajamani and K. Chakravarthy. "There used to be 75-90 Telugu movies produced in a year, and Chakravarthy did 90 percent of those films," Keeravani told Film Companion. "It was work 365 days a year, without a holiday."

Trained in both Western and Indian traditions, his work was always a seamless blend of both styles. And while the Telugu film industry put food on the table, Bollywood afforded him, or so he thought, a chance to be artistic. He went on to compose Tum Mile Dil Khile in Criminal, Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla in Zakhm, Jeevan Kya Hai in Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Jadoo Hai Nasha Hai in Jism. "Songs in Telugu and other languages are my bread, Hindi songs are my butter," he remarked to singer Sonu Nigam, when he was a guest on the reality show Saregama.

'A man must have three names'

By the late 1990s, MM Keeravani was an established name in the Telugu film industry, starting with his work for Annamayya (1997), which won him a National Award and several state accolades. During that decade, he also managed to set in motion a veritable comedy of errors, thanks to his many names - he goes by MM Keeravani in the Telugu industry, MM Kreem and Margatha Mani, his actual name, which he uses in the Tamil and Malayalam film industries. In Bollywood, he moved like a spectre, the name MM Kreem was a mystery to most. It resulted, as one might imagine, in a lot of confusion.

[caption id="attachment_33800" align="aligncenter" width="508"] MM Keeravani with SS Rajamouli, Ram Charan and NT Rama Rao Jr[/caption]

One story involves media baron Ramoji Rao, who had worked with Keeravani on a number of films. However, the outspoken Keeravani had done the unthinkable - he had a disagreement with the director and wanted to quit. Rao was angry, composers didn't get this much of a say, usually. He told his associates that it was time to replace him, asking them to find the man behind Sur, which had been done by "some guy called MM Kreem," only to find out that they were the same person. In Chennai, Nida Fazli spent a while wandering through the composer's studio asking for a man named 'Kreem', to people who only knew him as Keeravani.

Renunciation

He might appear reserved and mild-mannered, but Keeravani has had his share of rebellion and renunciation alike. An ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, he also had a guru. When he was 33, with his first child on the way, his guru advised him to take sanyaas for a year-and-a-half. Keeravani agreed, sacrificing the comforts of home to live like a hermit and eat only the most spartan, vegetarian food. He even missed the birth of his son and gave his earnings over to charity.

'A student for life'

His cousin, SS Rajamouli, has undoubtedly played kingmaker in Keeravani's life - all his songs for the director have dominated the billboards. However, the composer has had some very successful collaborations with industry heavyweights like Ram Gopal Varma, Mahesh Bhatt and Kumar Sanu, to name a few. He has many inspirations too - he reveres the iconic Ilaiayaraaja, the Burmans, Bhimsen Joshi and is a "great fan of the epic movie Fiddler on the Roof. I get inspired by whatever happens around the world, especially in the West," he told Indian Express. Trained in Indian and Western classical traditions, he man ages to produce a unique signature style to go with each of his monikers. "My inspiration comes from all the great stalwarts and maestros from all around the globe, from John Williams to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, all of them. I believe I'm a student for life."

Flags of Friendship: Vexillologist Raghavendran is on a quest to promote global harmony

(February 8, 2024) The diplomatic representatives from seven nations serving in India, including Costa Rica, Malaysia, El Salvador, Mali, Palau, the UK, and Germany, have paid a personal visit to vexillologist and vocalist Raghavendran V. They have presented him with desk flags typically used during their ceremonial occasions such as agreement signings or bilateral meetings. Their visit has been a gesture of appreciation for Raghavendran's endeavours in advancing peace, harmony, and friendship, aligning with the principles of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (The World is One Family). Many other diplomatic heads have acknowledged Raghavendran’s unique attempt by dispatching their flags with a letter of appreciation boosting his efforts. The Bengalurean has devoted more than six years to his passion for vexillology (the study of flags and their symbolism). [caption id="attachment_48868" align="aligncenter" width="524"] Raghavendran V[/caption] "I have written to high commissions, embassies, and consulates of different countries serving in India, requesting their respective desk flags. I aim to collect flags from all 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations, and the two other countries,” Raghavendran shares with Global Indian. “So far I have been successful in collecting flags of 160 countries and need 35 more to reach my target and apply

tten to high commissions, embassies, and consulates of different countries serving in India, requesting their respective desk flags. I aim to collect flags from all 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations, and the two other countries,” Raghavendran shares with Global Indian. “So far I have been successful in collecting flags of 160 countries and need 35 more to reach my target and apply for the Guinness world record.”

Creating records

The vexillologist, who is associated with organisations like the North American Vexillology Association (NAVA), South African Vexillology Association (SAVA), Vexillology Ireland, and the New Zealand Flag Association, received an appreciation letter from the Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakshi Lekhi, upon reaching a milestone of 150 flags in his collection. He has also earned a place in the Best of India Records Book and the Worldwide Book of Records.

Despite spending more than two decades of his life bedridden, the Carnatic vocalist is a man of many talents. He recently concluded his thirty-fourth concert. As a philatelist, he has collected 10,000 stamps from different countries and boasts of an impressive collection of coins and currency notes of minimum denomination, and also 27 miniature models of airplanes.

Giving Back

As the CEO of the HSVJ Foundation, which he co-founded with a group of friends living abroad, Raghavendran is dedicated to serving disadvantaged communities and has been contributing to keeping the planet green through tree plantation drives. “With support of my friends 675 saplings have been planted so far in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” he shares.

Known for his ability to provide personalised emotional support, Raghavendran is frequently sought after by individuals going through a difficult phase in their lives. Recently he got inducted as the Honorary Director of the Social Inclusion and Global Amity Division of the Confederation of Young Leaders, based in New Delhi.

Rising above odds

“I have lost 22 precious years of my life owing to my medical condition,” he reveals. “I overcame my physical challenges through positive thinking, self-confidence, and hard work,” tells the warrior who lost his mobility and sitting posture after undergoing three unsuccessful ortho surgeries in 1990. “Due to the negligence of the doctor all the three surgeries that he did were defective,” he remarks.

“I then underwent three major and very expensive corrective surgeries in 2013-2014 with the generous support of late playback singer Sri S.P Balasubramaniam, and under the skillful care of Dr Rajasekaran of Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore. It was only then that I was able to walk slowly with the support of a walking stick,” he shares.

[caption id="attachment_48878" align="aligncenter" width="532"] Indian Art and Culture | Raghavendran V | Global Indian Raghavendran V with late playback singer S.P Balasubramaniam[/caption]

Raghavendran was just a ninth-grade student when sudden pain in the joints during a stage performance left him helpless. Despite undergoing numerous treatments in Chennai, his condition deteriorated rapidly within a few days, plunging him into excruciating pain and leading to a decline in his mobility to the extent that he remained completely immobile for 22 years.

Despite being unable to attend formal education due to his physical limitations, he took charge of his own learning journey, relying on BBC radio as a constant companion. "By treating the channel as my friend and companion, I not only expanded my knowledge of the world but also sharpened my communication skills," says Raghavendran, who has cultivated a strong network of friends spanning borders. These friendships have been instrumental in supporting his endeavours in collecting flags, stamps, coins, and currency, and have provided moral support in his career as a vocalist.

Fighting odds through music

“Music became my weapon against trauma," shares the 48-year-old, who has harboured a passion for singing since childhood. In addition to avidly tuning in to BBC radio, and reading some good newspapers like The Hindu, he immersed himself in watching Rajnikant movies and music, honing his ear for melodies. "I can sing up to 400 songs from memory alone," he proudly states.

Raghavendran has been learning Carnatic music vocal from renowned artists like Vidwan Sri Udupi Gopalakrishnan. He is also being guided by Vidwan Dr Vidyabhushana in Bengaluru. These accomplished individuals typically don't make house calls for teaching, but upon witnessing Raghavendran's talent and considering his physical condition, they graciously made an exception, carving out time from their hectic schedules to do so.

[caption id="attachment_48873" align="aligncenter" width="703"] Indian Art and Culture | Raghavendran V | Global Indian Raghavendran V at a Carnatic vocal performance[/caption]

The journey of vexillology

With a knack for networking, Raghavendran has cultivated connections with various individuals, including orthopaedic specialists due to his ailment. People often seek his advice on orthopaedic matters, as he possesses valuable insights to offer.

A few years back, a Bangladeshi acquaintance of his visited him in the hospital upon learning about his hip joint replacement. She sought his assistance in consulting his doctor for her nephew's treatment. During the discussion, she came to know that Raghavendran is fascinated by the flags of different countries, an interest he developed while watching the telecast of one of the Olympics' opening ceremonies. Upon returning to Bangladesh, she sent him a cloth flag as a token of gratitude. "That flag marked the beginning of my collection,” he says. Later, his friends also started bringing back flags from their trips abroad.

While acquiring flags for certain countries proved relatively simple, others like North Korea, Palestine, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan posed more of a challenge. “I have waited for two to three years to get desk flags of some countries,” he says. Some nations are in very remote areas, requiring extra time and effort to obtain their flags, while representatives of some other nations prefer to meet them in person to present the flag, hence the delay.

“For countries without offices in India, like Cameroon, Mauritania, Eswatini, and Gambia, I have corresponded with their offices located elsewhere in the world,” he says. To diplomatic heads of some countries, he has even requested for the flags to be sent to his friends residing in those regions. “They then courier the flags to Bengaluru. That is how I received the table flags from the Kingdom of Jordan and East Timor," he explains.

On social media, Raghavendran actively promotes bilateral relations between India and other countries by sharing images of desk flags representing both nations on special occasions such as their national days. Once I collect flags of all the 195 countries, I would like to meet our honourable prime minister Shri Narendra Modi, and dedicate my achievements and the work I have been doing for our nation,” he remarks.

Multi-talented personality

Raghavendran leads a disciplined life and never wastes time. Deeply intrigued by Android applications, he delved into the technology and developed his expertise. Recognising his proficiency, a Hong Kong-based android developer named Handcent approached him and engaged his services as a freelance consultant to provide insights and ideas for enhancing their applications. "I purchased my first Android phone with the earnings from that opportunity," he mentions happily.

Message for society

Raghvendran is immensely thankful to his parents for giving him all their support and care. “If it would not have been for their compassion and unconditional love, growing up into such a positive and multi-faceted individual was impossible.”

[caption id="attachment_48875" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Indian Art and Culture | Raghavendran V | Global Indian Raghavendran V[/caption]

He advocates for a compassionate society and emphasises the importance of creating an environment where individuals facing disabilities receive understanding and support both within their families and in their communities. He believes that with a positive atmosphere, overcoming challenges becomes significantly easier.

For the ones who are going through a tough phase in their life due to any physical or mental ailment, Raghavendran has a piece of advice too. “Maintain a positive mindset. Tap into your hidden talents, to get rid of negativity and become mentally strong. Disability should never serve as a deterrent; rather, with willpower and hard work, anything is achievable,” he signs off.

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You can reach out to him at: raghavendran24@yahoo.com

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Entrepreneur Meera Singh: Revolutionising the travel industry with innovative logistics solutions

(March 09, 2024) A few years back, when Meera Singh was travelling from Kolkata to Hyderabad after attending a wedding, she was aware that a few of her bags would be checked in as excess baggage at the airport. But what she wasn't prepared for was the exorbitant prices that the airline was charging her for the excess baggage. "My ticket for the airplane was about ₹2500, whereas they were asking me to pay ₹8000 towards excess baggage as I had a lot of luggage. It was extremely frustrating to think that in future I will always have to pay this kind of money for excess baggage," shares the entrepreneur as she connects with Global Indian in an exclusive interview. While most people would have paid the charges and moved on, this incident proved to be a turning point for Meera. The entrepreneur established Avaan India – a group of companies solving the new-age problems of logistics through innovative and sustainable models. "Having worked in the transport industry for about two decades, I understood the costs and woes of the logistics industry. So, I started the company with a focus on customer service and sustainable business models. Our primary focus

he new-age problems of logistics through innovative and sustainable models. "Having worked in the transport industry for about two decades, I understood the costs and woes of the logistics industry. So, I started the company with a focus on customer service and sustainable business models. Our primary focus is to offer a cost-effective resolution to excess baggage challenges, delivering throughout India through two transportation options: Air and Road. Air shipments are guaranteed to be delivered within 72 working hours from pickup, with a cost of less than ₹200/kg. On the other hand, road shipments take five to seven working days for delivery from pickup, with a minimal cost of just ₹100/kg," shares the entrepreneur, who is the recipient of the Startup Business Award at the Economic Times Business Innovation Leaders Awards, 2020. Having a kiosk at major Indian airports already, Avaan India recently started their services at the Jaipur International Airport.

Gangtok chronicles

Meera grew up in the beautiful mountain Kingdom of Sikkim. As her father was good friends with the then King of Sikkim, Meera got a chance to experience Sikkim's capital Gangtok as well. "My family shifted to the mountain country before it became a part of the nation in 1975. My father was the Director of Education there. At that time the Tibetans were coming to Sikkim, and I remember making friends with those refugee kids and learning the Tibetan language from them. I also met the Dalai Lama, when he visited the kingdom a few times. It was a very interesting childhood," shares the entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur | Meera Singh | Global Indian

Unfortunately, the entrepreneur lost her father at a very tender age. "I was about 18 years old." Though the family didn't face any financial issues, the biggest challenge was the sheer suddenness of it. "He was just 48 years old, and it was quite difficult for us to cope with this loss. But, what I learned from this was that nothing is permanent in our lives, and that change is the only constant," she says.

Climbing up the ladder

After finishing her school, Meera went on to pursue a graduate degree in management and hotel administration from the Pusa Institute (IIHM), Delhi, and a post-graduation in management from the Oberoi School of Learning & Development, Delhi. Eventually, she landed a job at The Oberoi, in Mumbai. Although quite ambitious, Meera quit her job quite soon. "I was very well placed in the hotel industry as the F&B manager. But I found that life was very boring after some time, and quit my job," shares the entrepreneur, adding, "I moved to Hyderabad and joined the transport industry. Many people wondered why would a woman leave the luxury of the hotel industry and move to transport, but I enjoyed it. I got to travel so much during my time at Gati Ltd, and was in fact the first person in the country to set up a customer care service for a transport company, something that I learned in the hotel."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fonV1SBP-vc

Thanks to her work, Meera also got a chance to travel the country extensively. "I have been to the biggest cities and the smallest villages in India. I believe there is no greater school than meeting people; there is so much one can learn about management through travelling and talking to people. Also, having travelled the lengths and breadths of this country, I discovered how vibrant and beautiful this nation is. I have lived in Singapore, and yet missed India," laughs the entrepreneur.

ALSO READ | Meet Dr Masooma Rizvi, the art curator for the Maharishi Valmiki International Ayodhya Airport

Meera is also one of the only females to have successfully spearheaded the commissioning of the first hydel power project of 110 MW in the State of Sikkim in North East India. "The then CM of Sikkim was my father's close friend and he called me up to take up this project. It was quite a challenging project. In fact, I remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to do this job. But the CM was very sure of my abilities and encouraged me to not only work on the hydel project but also successfully complete it," she says.

A new beginning

After developing and working on the idea of Avaan India, the entrepreneur still wasn't 100 percent sure if the start-up would be received well. "I was at a senior management programme organised by the Isha Foundation. There I spoke about my business idea for the first time in front of so many people who were from the big companies, including Tata and Mahindra. When I was done with my presentation, people were so shocked to know that someone could come up with an idea like this. They were so excited about this idea, and that was very motivating," she shares.

Entrepreneur | Meera Singh | Global Indian

Ask her about the initial capital for the business, and she quips, "Well, all thanks to my mother for teaching me that one should always have a source of income above the regular salary they earn. I have been a serious stock market investor for the last three decades, and that's how I had a good sum to invest in the business. So, finance was never a problem for me."

The road ahead

Now that Avaan is launched in almost all the major international airports of India, Meera wishes to expand the business. "We have already tied up with players like GMR, ADANI, AAI, Gati, Make My Trip, and MarutiCourier and are delivering worldwide through various partners such as DHL, Aramex, and UPS. Now, promoting our services digitally is the next course of action for the growth of the business. The next ventures in the pipeline for Avaan Excess are Pet Express and Art Express. Through Pet Express we shall transport pets like cats and dogs across India at affordable prices. We are also working on having a white glove service called Avaan Art Express through which we will be transporting exclusive art pieces and artefacts with packaging from a professional German packaging company," shares the entrepreneur.

ALSO READ | Art in her heart: Gunjan Gupta is making India proud globally

Meera has established Gati Academy, a venture under the Avaan India brand, aimed at fostering the skill development of students, with a particular focus on Tier 3 rural areas. Additionally, she has founded Gati Intellect, a startup dedicated to eLearning, and Avaan Avishkaar, a marketplace showcasing a diverse range of ethnic Indian products such as handicrafts, Ayurvedic items, and traditional Indian weaves. This initiative not only enhances the skills of students but also creates employment opportunities for them.

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"Being a female entrepreneur is both a challenging and exhilarating journey. It presents daily obstacles that contribute to personal strength and the ability to lead assertively," says the entrepreneur advising other businesswomen, "Women should not feel daunted; there is no concept of a glass ceiling. Success is not limited by gender but is determined by one's conduct and leadership within a team. Throughout history, women have excelled as intuitive and empathetic leaders. To all emerging female entrepreneurs of the modern era, my advice is to believe in yourself, work hard with humility, and success will inevitably follow."

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Conservationist Suprabha Seshan is creating a rainforest at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary

(August 22, 2022) At dawn, the heavy trapdoor to the roof groans as it is hauled open and the slight figure of Suprabha Seshan emerges, to survey the acres of rainforest that surround her, as far as the eye can see. This is the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary in Wayanad, in the middle of the Western Ghats and conservationist Suprabha Seshan's home for over two decades. The sanctuary is flanked by the Banasuramala, rising 2000 metres above sea-level, and the Brahmagiris, famous for their shola grasslands. These days, Suprabha remains more or less off the grid, lost in what she calls "the rewilding of habitat", far from the rampant consumerism of urban life. To those in the know, however, Suprabha is a towering figure among India's conservationists - her efforts have been an integral part of restoring some 50 acres of forest land, "nurturing forest beings," as the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary website would have it. In 2006, Suprabha received the UK's top environmental prize, the Whitley Award, also known as the Green Oscars. Her writing has also been published in Scroll and the Economic and Political Weekly. Global Indian takes a look at the remarkable life of one of India's leading

om//" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Indian takes a look at the remarkable life of one of India's leading conservationists.

"Plants are doing the hardest work, keeping the planet going," she says, as she shows a group of visitors around the Gurukula Sanctuary. Five acres out of the 50 are open to visitors, usually environmentalists, conservationists, and school kids. "Anything that we can do to serve the plants is a good thing. And plants should not just be seen as 'plants for edible purposes' but as creators of environments."

The Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary was founded by Wolfgang Dieter Theuerkauf, who was trying to regrow the rainforest. "We're a small group of people, who have been concerned with the rapid disappearance of biodiversity," she says. We believe that plants are the basis of all existence. Without the plants you can't have animals, without the plants you can't have human life. Without plants, you don't have the biosphere."

Theuerkauf's approach, Suprabha explains, was a different one, more so when he began his work 40 years ago. "Even now, when we think of reforestation, we do so in terms of tree cover," Suprabha says. "Yes, it is a tree-based biome of course. But to think of it as only trees is like saying there are only tigers in the forest and no tree frogs," she told The Kodai Chronicle. GBS looked at orchids and ferns and tender herbaceous plants as well. They asked questions about diversity, evolution, and biogeography. Their approach was through the lens of cultivation, rescue, and restoration."

The Krishnamurti Foundation, UK to the prairies of the Midwest

Suprabha was born in Delhi, in the heart of India's urban chaos but even as a child, was close to nature. She grew up with people who loved nature, and who lived rural lives. Her first turning point came when she went to study at Brockwood Park Centre, owned by the Krishnamurti Centre in England's South Downs National Park in the UK. Run in accordance with the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, it was here that Suprabha first heard of the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary. She also became fascinated with the constantly changing ecology of the land and the role of human intervention in this transition.

After this, she moved to the United States, where she continued to experiment with her own approach to conservation. She studied the annual wheat monoculture, and the topsoil of the grasslands and learned about the indigenous communities of the Midwest.

The rewilders

What does re-growing a forest actually entail? As she walks visitors through the sanctuary, she pauses beside a tree to explain. "These small plants," she gestures, "are in high danger of being extinct, especially now. We run a search-and-rescue operation'. We go all over the mountains to find them, pick them up and bring them back." These are around 2000 species in total, accounting for nearly half of the flora of the Western Ghats.

The plants are then brought back for cultivation in the sanctuary's greenhouses, overseen by the sanctuary's experts : Laly Joseph, Suma Keloth, Leelamma and Purvi Jain. "We deploy a range of methods, from intensive care nurseries to outdoor habitats rich with herbs, tubers, succulents, shrubs, trees creepers, climbers, epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants) and lithophytes (plants that grow on rocks)," Suprabha writes in Scroll.in.

This process of rewilding is a delicate one, requiring just the right amount of human intervention. Sometimes, it's as simple as putting plants in a pot, at other times, the trick is to let the land rewild itself. "it's the greatest joy to see land that's been completely decertified come back to life. That's when you realise the true power of natural life, that it can heal."

Suprabha has also been involved with work on upland ecology, along with Vasanth Godwin Bosco and Sandilya Theuerkauf, Wolfgang's son. This became part of an effort to restore the shola-grassland species.

Follow Suprabha and the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary on Instagram

Reading Time: 6 mins

Ameet Patil: Using deep tech AI to digitize hospitality in India

(September 30, 2024) "Do you save the receipt you get when you get to a store," Ameet Patil asks, as he begins his interview with Global Indian. No, I admit, I throw it away by the time I leave the shop. "That's the answer I was expecting," he says. It was the very reason why he founded Ecobillz, a SAAS-based realtime platform which uses deep tech AI to help the top-end hospitality sector hop onto the digital bandwagon. During a quick stop at the supermarket, he was handed a foot-long bill. "Think about it - how many receipts are printed in a day?" That chance observation resulted in Ameet Patil and his co-founder Nitesh founding Ecobillz, which currently works with over 150 hospitality establishments across India and is now gearing up for its global expansion in Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia. In simple terms, if you were to stay at a five-star hotel in the country, you no longer need to spend time on a lengthy check-in, or pick up a door only to promptly lose it. Ecobillz works to digitize services across the spectrum, to make the process more efficient and reduce paper consumption to almost

ger need to spend time on a lengthy check-in, or pick up a door only to promptly lose it. Ecobillz works to digitize services across the spectrum, to make the process more efficient and reduce paper consumption to almost zero.

Being an "analytics guy," he sat down to do the Math. As it turns out, India generates a whopping 20,000 km of receipts, with the cost of paper amounting to around ₹400 crore. At the time, he and his now-co-founder, Nitesh Singh Rathore, who were jogging buddies ever since their early professional life together, were on the hunt for a startup idea and "looking for a problem to solve." This was in 2016 and Ameet returned to his hometown, Belgaum, to get things started. His desire to make a difference back home and hopefully, put his tier-2 city on the world map, had brought Ameet back home from the UK, where he had been on the verge of becoming a permanent resident.

The growth of a prodigy

Born in Belgaum, Ameet had "a very different kind of childhood." His father's job took them to the Sandoor Mines in Bellary, where Ameet studied at the Sandoor Residential School, one of the best at the time. There, his life changed. He would spend much of his time in the vast library and was drawn to science and technology. "I realised then that I was very good with computers."

In third grade, he was introduced to his first computer, a "black-and-white television screen converted into a monitor." Back then, a computer meant "half a room filled with hardware," he smiles. The older kids learned programming (BASIC) but the younger ones, like himself, would play around with floppy disks. Ameet offered to become the school's floppy disk cleaner, in exchange for being allowed to play games on the computer. He progressed quickly to programming and by the time he came to the sixth grade, had become very good at it.

[caption id="attachment_57141" align="aligncenter" width="467"] Ameet Patil | Ecobillz | SaaS entrepreneur | Global Indian Ameet Patil[/caption]

That talent continued to grow and moving from one school to another helped him develop the art of being able to converse with everyone. Back in Belgaum, he would spend his days with his uncle, who had just started a 'computer institute', where Ameet would teach the kids who came to learn. As it happened, his first assignment as a coder in 1994 was to create a software on Windows 3.1, to digitize (as the term meant then) - the billing process for a local foundry. In college, although he admits his attendance was very poor, he was happy to step in when his teachers didn't show up and take the class instead.

The IT boom

By the time Ameet Patil graduated, it was evident that he wasn't cut out for a run of the mill day job. In 2000, he and a friend were the only two students to be recruited during the campus placement process. "I had an offer from Wipro but I never joined," he says. Still, he was well and truly captivated by the IT boom in nearby Bengaluru, with Wipro, Infosys and TCS landing huge contracts. "By the time I joined Wipro, the recession had hit and all job offers had been deferred."

This was a difficult time, Ameet says. Frustrated, "after having done so much," he had to return to Belgaum. He joined his alma mater as a lecturer, where he taught data structures, algorithms and analysis. His brief encounter with corporate life came at Oracle in Hyderabad, where he spent two years. Like most other IT whiz kids, he was fascinated by Linux, "I would borrow the magazine PC world, which I couldn't even afford to buy, and read every word." He would hurry home from the office to develop his own, real-time office. It was also when he met Neil Audsley, a professor of real-time and embedded systems at the University of York.

Ameet wrote to Neil sending him notes and bits of code he had written. Audsley wrote back, impressed, asking Ameet to join him for a PhD. The idea came from out of the blue - Ameet was doing well at Oracle, the company was even planning to send him to America. "When you join an MNC, they send you abroad so you don't leave," he says, by way of explanation.

In the UK

“I trust you, but I want to keep my house,” were his father’s anxious parting words, as Ameet Patil left for the UK. His decision had alarmed the family for various reasons – one, it was very expensive. Besides, those were the days when doing a PhD meant a tacit admission of professional failure. Finally, his father mortgaged the family house so his son could study.

Ameet Patil | Ecobillz | SaaS entrepreneur | Global Indian

Ameet remembers his father’s words with some amusement now but it was, at the time, a sombre occasion. “I was confident,” he says. Sure enough, the faculty was so impressed with his work that he was offered the role of a research assistant and paid a stipend with all his expenses covered. Before he knew it, the young man from Belgaum was traveling the world, from Korea to Mexico, presenting papers and journals.

Four years later, he was handpicked by RAPITA systems for his expertise in real-time software. He did well there and was on the verge of becoming a permanent resident but couldn’t ignore the niggling in the back of his mind. “I wanted to come home, to start my own business in Belgaum and put my hometown on the world map,” he says. He did just that in 2009. Back in India, he founded Spundhan Softwares Pvt Ltd, which was later merged into the LinkEZ Technologies Private Limited. The company was working on cutting edge IoT ecosystems.

Ecobillz – the early days

True to his word, Ameet returned to Belgaum to start up Ecobillz in 2016, where unfortunately, the idea floundered. His customer base comprised smaller, brick-and-mortar retail stores, with a turnover of around ₹1 crore. Saving paper wasn't really the need of the hour. "It was a struggle," Ameet says. "Nitesh and I wondered if we had made the wrong turn." That changed, however, when they were selected by NASSCOM's 10,000 Startups Programme, which brought Nitesh to the organisation's incubation centre in Domlur, Bengaluru. When they did that, "the horizon changed," he says.

In 2017, they approached the Future Group, then at its peak. "They evaluated our product and before we knew it, were live in 2500 stores across India, all in the span of three months.”

In 2019, when the Future Group declared bankruptcy, Ecobillz was the first to go. However, Nitesh, who worked out of the NASSCOM office in Domlur, would look at the five-star hotel opposite and wonder if their prospects in the hospitality business would be any better.

The first foray into hospitality

The two co-founders, reeling from yet another setback, picked up the phone and began calling the hotel. "We made hundreds of calls, none of which were answered," Ameet says. Finally, their persistence won the day and they were asked to meet with the General Manager. They sat down and were told, "I'm so irritated with the two of you. All the same, I'm intrigued." One conversation was all it took.

[caption id="attachment_57139" align="aligncenter" width="401"] Ameet Patil | Ecobillz | SaaS entrepreneur | Global Indian Ameet Patil and Nitesh Singh Rathore[/caption]

The Ecobillz team was offered office space in the hotel, where they remained for the next couple of months, "day in and day out, working in F&B, guest experiences," and all the various other processes. They created a digital experience for guests to check in and check out, replacing the lengthy bill that was once the norm. "We integrated the payment gateway too," he says.

Business was thriving once more and Ecobillz was approached by another leading five-star hotel chain. "They invited us to the Gurgaon hotel for one month." This group, one of the largest in the country, owns 22 properties across India - Ameet and Nitesh stayed at all of them as they worked. Audits were being done on paper and huge bundles would go from various locations to the central offices. The load was so big that the hotel had a chartered flight system, carrying the audits on planes to Delhi. The process, Ameet says, would take about a month. "We digitized everything. People with the right access can log into the centralised database form anywhere. We also did automated audits, freeing up time for employees in the process." Now, the company works with nearly all the major five-star hotel chains in India.

The company is expanding across the world and Ameet, who now lives in Bengaluru with his wife and kids, is looking at the Quick Restaurant Space as well as aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato. "And to think," he smiles, "I almost became another cog in the brain-drain trend, had I stayed on in the UK for one more year!"

Follow Ameet Patil on LinkedIn.

Reading Time: 8 mins