Global IndianstoryFrom the perspective of NRIs: Why India’s election and its results matter

From the perspective of NRIs: Why India’s election and its results matter

By: Amrita Priya

(June 5, 2024) India has the biggest diaspora in the world followed by Mexico, Russia and China as per UN’s latest data. According to India’s External Affairs Ministry, there are over three crore Indians currently settled abroad. Of this, close to 1.35 crore are NRIs while the remaining are Persons of Indian Origin (PIO). Addressing tens of thousands of people of Indian origin, the Indian Prime Minister has built a strong connection with the diaspora in the last one decade. Added to that, the external affairs minister Jaishankar’s skillful foreign relations have boosted the interest of Indian diaspora in their native country and resurrected a sense of pride.

The leaders’ consistent outreach to the Indian diaspora worldwide has been a significant feature of their foreign policy. Understanding the value of building ties with the diaspora, even Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been on several visits abroad, primarily at foreign universities addressing the Indian natives. The Indian diaspora across the globe has keenly observed the 2024 elections due to the foreign policies which have a massive impact on them especially from the perspective of the migration policies. While counting of votes was in progress, Global Indian spoke to a few members of the diaspora asking their opinion on the significance of elections for Indians staying abroad. Here‘s what they had to say:

Paras Khuran

Paras Khurana, AI, Cybersecurity & HR Professional, Ontario, Canada

India’s elections hold immense significance for millions of NRIs, as the outcome can directly impact the lives and connections with our homeland. The election results will shape India’s economic trajectory, influencing factors such as investment opportunities, taxation policies, and remittance regulations. NRIs often contribute substantially to India’s economy through remittances, which amounted to a staggering $87 billion in 2021, according to the World Bank. Furthermore, the elected government’s stance on issues like dual citizenship, voting rights for NRIs, and diaspora engagement initiatives will have a profound impact on the NRI community. The election outcome will also influence bilateral relations between India and the countries where NRIs reside, affecting their lives and prospects. As India’s global influence continues to grow, NRIs have a vested interest in the nation’s political landscape and the policies that shape its future.

Sanjay Gupta

Sanjay Gupta, Business Executive, Dubai, UAE

What I realised in my two decades abroad is that a powerful image of India brings a lot of global opportunities for Indians staying within the country and those working abroad. Coming from a country that can boast of a good economy, education, and innovation adds immense value to professionals of the country in a foreign land. As an Indian native, I feel proud highlighting the country’s positive developments in the global arena. Staggered image or poor image of a country, and struggling government would not add value to me as an NRI. Clean and a digitally strong image is what we are looking for and support. I am looking forward to the same good image of India in the coming decade and that is why staying abroad I have been keenly observing the election related developments in India. Stability of government would mean a lot of boosts in the sectors of business economy, trade, startups, foreign collaborations, sustainability, energy efficiency, women empowerment, innovation and research development. The way the government performed in the last one decade has evoked patriotism, nationalism, strength and power at the global platform.

Harold D’Souza

Harold D’Souza, President, Eyes Open International, Ohio, United States

As an NRI, the significance of Indian elections across borders serves as a powerful reminder of our deep-rooted connection to our homeland. Despite living abroad, our nationality, culture, and heritage remain integral to our identity. Keenly following the electoral process of India allowed us to stay connected to our roots, affirm our solidarity with our fellow citizens back home, and ensure that our voices abroad contribute to shaping our nation’s future. It is our continued commitment to the values and principles that define us as Indians, no matter where we reside. To me, India’s elections and results influence policies and decisions impacting not only those living in India but also the global Indian community.

Suresh Jayaraman

Suresh Jayaraman, Technical Auditor, Sharjah, UAE

Staying abroad, I feel so proud to be an Indian and witness how our elections, the world’s largest electoral festival, uphold the spirit of our democracy under the supervision of our Election Commission. As NRIs, we continuously think about the people back home and take an active interest in the electoral process, hoping for a strong government to form at the center and for our country’s values to be showcased to the entire world. However, there are certain areas where the political arena appears unpleasant from the perspective of a common man. Some individuals in politics do not come with the motive of serving the nation; instead, they view politics as a means to make a lot of money. Like every election, I hoped that in this election too, people would think carefully and cast their ballots with the nation’s growth in mind, electing the right candidates.

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Published on 05, Jun 2024

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For art’s sake: Meet India’s leading art collector Shalini Passi

(April 17, 2023) Artist, art collector, design connoisseur, writer and philanthropist: Shalini Passi is a woman of many talents. Shalini is the founder of MASH, a digital platform at intersection of architecture, art, craft, design, and fashion in an accessible and engaging format to support emerging young artists. That apart, she also writes for leading lifestyle magazines like Travel+Leisure and Conde Nast Traveller. Shalini's love for art began young, given her family's legacy in the construction business. The rare works of art that adorn the floors, walls and ceilings of her 20,000 square-foot residence in Golf Links, New Delhi, bear testament to her passion. “I enjoy observing and exploring different aspects of art and design. I believe that designs, architecture and shapes influence our lives and vice versa. It impacts our lifestyle,” smiles Shalini Passi, artist, art and design collector, writer, fashion patroness and philanthropist, in an exclusive conversation with Global Indian. Travel, she says, has been her way of familiarising herself with the changing landscapes of art, design, and fashion. “I travel around the world to cover international art fairs and various other art events and biennales for MASH (Her digital platform) and the travel magazines I write for,”

ation with Global Indian. Travel, she says, has been her way of familiarising herself with the changing landscapes of art, design, and fashion. “I travel around the world to cover international art fairs and various other art events and biennales for MASH (Her digital platform) and the travel magazines I write for,” informs the globetrotter. In recent years, her work-related projects have taken her to Turkey, France, Germany, UK, USA, Bhutan, and China.

The family legacy

Growing up, Shalini would spend hours exploring the offices of her father, grandfather and uncle, observing the blueprints of buildings designed by leading architects like Raj Rewal. “They were the architects who built Palika bazar, the D.D. building and The Vayu Bhawan amongst other distinguished buildings in Delhi,” says Shalini, whose great grandfather came to Delhi from Pakistan and set up the Arya Samaj Mandir on Pusa Road. “I was fascinated by the process of construction, and how the actual plan came alive in real time and space and how powerful the vision of an architect was,” says Shalini, who is also the Creative Director for Pasco group of companies and has been involved in the designing of the showrooms. Her husband, Sanjay Passi, is the managing director of the Pasco group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9-KYdXPUHA

Born and raised in New Delhi, Shalini studied at Modern School Barakhamba Road. “My school day memories are filled with attending classes of art, painting, dancing, singing and theatre, learning how different forms of creative expressions are connected to each other,” recalls Shalini, who participated in the state-level diving competitions and gymnastics alongside long-distance or endurance running.

In those days, she also trained as a dancer. “The rhythm in dance helped me understand painting and colours better,” says the artist. She took to painting different mudras and dance costumes, intricately delineating every fold, trying to capture the dynamism of dance on the static canvas.

Art | Shalini Passi | Global Indian

She credits her teacher Bishambar Khanna, who was an enamellist in Modern School, for being instrumental in her growth as an artist. “He taught me the importance of observation and the role it plays in art. Compete with yourself, is what he told me,” says Shalini, who pursued her Bachelor of Arts from Jesus and Mary College in Delhi.

Architecture to collecting art

Shalini wanted to be an architect for the longest time, but her skills in mathematics could not match the course requirements, so that was something that never happened. “Powerful architecture has played an important role in developing my aesthetics and as a result I also started reading about design,” says Shalini, who has extensively read about different types of architectural movements, deciphering the aspects of furniture design belonging to different eras and movements like Renaissance, Baroque architecture, Neoclassical, Bauhaus and Mid-century modern.

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In the ’80s, she began collecting artworks for her home. “My process of collecting begins with reading and understanding the views and concepts used by an artist. I usually try to visit the studio and like to collect the works of the artists, which inspire my philosophies and vision of life and art,” explains the art aficionado, whose collection is an eclectic mix, including sculptures, paintings, installations, video art and centuries-old pieces of furniture collected from around the world, each chosen after thorough study and research.

At the forefront of contemporary Indian art

Shalini fondly recalls her association with prolific artist MF Husain. “He designed my wedding cards. He created four cards with different compositions full of vivid forms and colours. Those cards are embedded with a personal memory that speaks to me on a sublime level,” smiles Shalini, who has been a patron of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.

Art | Shalini Passi | Global Indian

She also possesses the personal collection of furniture and art that once belonged to contemporary artist Bharati Kher and renowned sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee. She says Bharati worked on the four panels titled ‘Untitled’, where she employed bindis - a traditional symbol of femininity and domesticity in Indian culture - as a motif of abstraction. “Observing the overarching themes of abstraction come to fruition was a perfectly sublime experience,” shares Shalini, who has also hosted a dinner in honour of Christie’s UK Chairman Viscount Linley.

Referring to Mrinalini Mukherjee, Shalini says her visual endeavours have shaped the vocabulary of modern Indian modern art in multitudes of ways. She loaned her personal collection of Mrinalini’s works to Frieze London 2019 for their solo booth exhibit featuring international artists who have worked with the mediums of tapestry and textiles. “Her work has held a special place in my collection,” she says. Shalini’s art collection also includes works by Indian contemporary artists including Riyas Komu, Anita Dube, Zarina Hashmi, Subodh Gupta and Atul Dodiya as well as international artists including Jeff Koobs, Damien Hirst and Vladimir Kagan.

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A post shared by Shalini Passi (@shalini.passi)

Through MASH, Shalini aims to provide a platform that will act as a “catalyst for recognising young talent and individuality, and simultaneously, to expand the conventional canon of contemporary art,” says Shalini. As a member of the Advisory Board of Khoj, the not-for-profit contemporary arts organisation based in Delhi, she works to facilitate and support the development of experimental contemporary art practice in India and South Asia. She supports and donates to "The Delhi Society for the Welfare of Special Children" as well.

Philanthropy

Shalini, her husband Sanjay and their son support several religious, cultural and healthcare institutions, which they usually keep away from limelight. “We believe in the philosophy of gupt daan, and always try to support initiatives that are for the betterment of society as a whole,” says Shalini. Whenever the family travels to a religious institution, they try to support organisations, initiatives, and schools around that area to support education, healthcare infrastructure and provide aid to the people in the region.

Since 2010, she has been actively involved in educating underprivileged children in Delhi, through a series of workshops that provide opportunities for them to learn about the arts and crafts with skilled individuals.

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

Above all, Shalini enjoys travelling and exploring different cultures. “I visit various religious places including temples, mosques and churches in India and abroad. I like to research the hidden pieces of heritage and art as well as exploring the adventures of skiing, scuba-diving, and hiking as well,” she says. When not working, she likes to read books about design, art, architecture and fashion besides learning Bharatanatyam, Katha and Salsa.

Follow Shalini Passi on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

Reading Time: 6 mins

US-born sensation Sreeleela takes Tollywood by storm with her versatility and charisma

(July 1, 2023) With an innate passion for entertainment and a magnetic presence in front of the camera, Sreeleela is an unstoppable force taking the Kannada-Telugu film industry by storm. Born and raised in the United States, this multitalented actress effortlessly captures hearts with her charismatic performances. While her acting career has taken center stage, Sreeleela is not one to be confined to a single pursuit. Pursuing her dreams of becoming a doctor, she delves into the intricacies of medical cases as part of her MBBS curriculum. "Entertaining people has always come naturally to me, ever since childhood. While acting has become my full-time profession, I am equally passionate about my journey towards becoming a doctor," shares Sreeleela in an exclusive conversation with Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_40977" align="aligncenter" width="535"] Sreeleela[/caption] A quick rise to stardom In a short span of time, the US-born Sreeleela has put a number of big projects in her kitty, taking the south Indian film fraternity by storm. “I just go with the flow and give my 100%. I have learnt to not take things too seriously. I put in my best effort and leave the rest to destiny,” says the actress. She has seven big-ticket

eleela has put a number of big projects in her kitty, taking the south Indian film fraternity by storm. “I just go with the flow and give my 100%. I have learnt to not take things too seriously. I put in my best effort and leave the rest to destiny,” says the actress. She has seven big-ticket films to her credit, possibly the highest number that any top actress has had at a single point in time, even at the peak of their careers.

Among them are Ustaad Bhagat Singh with Pawan Kalyan, a film with Vijay Deverakonda and Aadikeshava, another with Allu Arjun besides playing the female lead in Bhagavanth Kesari. Her most recent achievement has been bagging the role of the female lead in Guntur Karam with Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu. Her career took off with a Kannada film Kiss in 2019. The film achieved considerable success at the box office and earned her the Best Female debut (Kannada) award along with the most promising newcomer award. “The title of the film (Kiss) was a shock but the film itself had nothing to do with the title,” Sreeleela remarks. She marked her entry into Tollywood with the Telugu film PellisandD in 2021 and then Dhamaka happened the following year. There has been no looking back since.

She feels it’s just the beginning of her journey. “Nothing in life comes easy. One has to be smart and hardworking, irrespective of any field. I have a long, long way to go,” says the 22-year old, adding she is grateful for the big ticket projects coming her way. She recently wrapped up shooting for another film opposite actor Ram Pothineni.

Born to dance

Born in Detroit, Michigan in June 2001 into a Telugu speaking family, Sreeleela started learning Bharatnatyam when she was just three. Even as a child, she was passionate about dancing. “My mother did not want me to be content only with one dance form so she enrolled me to ballet classes as well,’ informs the star, whose second Kannada movie was ‘Bharate’. Within a few years of staying in US, they shifted back to Bengaluru.

She says both the dance forms being so diverse, it would be confusing for her while practising either of the two. “But it later helped me adapt to whichever form that I was performing,” smiles the actress. At the same time, academic rigour was a non-negotiable rule, enforced by her mother, Swarnalatha, who is a gynaecologist in Bengaluru. “My mother was very strict when it came to academics. After my classes and dance practices, I would have to attend Math tuition without fail and then it was homework time,” recalls Sreeleela, who studied in Bengaluru.

Navigating fame in the age of social media, OTT

By her own admission, Sreeleela has always been a ‘drama queen’. “I used to entertain visitors who came home by either imitating someone or throwing starry tantrums and behaving like an actress,” laughs Sreeleela, who is also a swimmer and briefly played hockey in her school in Bengaluru.

Ask her if an actor’s life is like a roller coaster, given the hits and flops which constantly make or mar their careers, Sreeleela says actors across all film industries have their share of ups and downs. “The one piece of advice I follow is never to take success or failure too seriously. That keeps me going.”

Coming to pressures from social media, Sreeleela feels “It’s pressure if you choose to see it that way.” She says no one is forcing anyone to post something on Instagram. “For me, social media is one way to communicate with people. It’s a great platform if used in the right way. It was difficult initially as I am a very private person. But I am enjoying it now,” she informs.

She feels OTT is a great platform where different subjects and characters are being explored. “For theatre release, we need some theatrical elements but for OTT, it’s not necessary. It has widened the film making process,” she says. Movie shoots leave her with little to no time. “Post shoots, I do a bit of reading for my MBBS. It helps me relax,” she says.

Follow Sreeleela on Instagram.

Who is Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar? The scientist after whom Elon Musk named his son

(December 8, 2023) Early this November, a conversation between billionaire Elon Musk and India's IT Minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar at AI Safety Summit, UK, unearthed a revelation. The 52-year-old disclosed that his son with Shivon Zilis has an Indian connect. He bears the middle name "Chandrasekar," a homage to the Nobel Laureate Professor Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Making the revelation, Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted, "Look who i bumped into at #AISafetySummit at Bletchley Park, UK. @elonmusk shared that his son with @shivon has a middle name "Chandrasekhar" - named after 1983 Nobel physicist Prof S Chandrasekhar." Look who i bumped into at #AISafetySummit at Bletchley Park, UK.@elonmusk shared that his son with @shivon has a middle name "Chandrasekhar" - named after 1983 Nobel physicist Prof S Chandrasekhar pic.twitter.com/S8v0rUcl8P — Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) November 2, 2023 Replying to Rajeev Chandrasekhar's tweet, Shivon Zilis tweeted, "Haha, yes, that’s true. We call him Sekhar for short, but the name was chosen in honour of our children’s heritage and the amazing Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar." Indian scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983 "for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars." Global Indian puts the

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Replying to Rajeev Chandrasekhar's tweet, Shivon Zilis tweeted, "Haha, yes, that’s true. We call him Sekhar for short, but the name was chosen in honour of our children’s heritage and the amazing Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar."

Indian scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983 "for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars." Global Indian puts the spotlight on the Indian physicist.

The child prodigy

It was in the Pre-Independent India that Chandrasekhar was born into a free-thinking and Tamil speaking Brahmin family in Lahore to a civil servant father CS Ayyar. For him and his siblings, education began at home where their mother Sitalakshmi taught them Tamil and English, and their father would take the charge of teaching arithmetic and English before leaving for work every day. At the age of eight, he moved to Madras with his family as his father was promoted to the role of a deputy accountant general, and by 1921, he started going to a regular school. In the second year of his school, he was introduced to algebra and geometry, and he was so fascinated by the subjects that he ended up devouring the books the summer before the start of the school.

[caption id="attachment_47310" align="aligncenter" width="689"] Subramanyam Chandrasekhar | Global Indian Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar[/caption]

This interest led him to Presidency College in 1925, where he studied physics, maths, chemistry, Sanskrit and English. While his interest in physics and maths kept going, he was also inspired by S Ramanujan who had gone to England and was counted among the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. Though he eyed mathematics honours, his father was keen that his son too becomes a civil servant. But it was Chandrasekhar's mother who backed him up and asked him to follow his heart. Chandrasekhar opted for Physics honours in order to placate his father because his paternal uncle CV Raman was a noted physicist who had won a Nobel Prize in 1930.

The discovery that led to Nobel Prize

At the age of 17, he spent a summer working in his uncle's lab but soon realised that experimental physics wasn't his calling. However, in those days he befriended one of Raman's colleagues who introduced him to the work of Arnold Sommerfeld, one among a group of theorists revolutionising the field of physics through the principles of quantum mechanics. This group also had Ralph H Folwer who helped Chandrasekhar publish his first professional paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Towards the end of his college, he was offered a scholarship from Govt of India to study in England, and in 1930, he set off sail for the University of Cambridge. It was during his voyage that the 19-year-old, while reading physics publications, came across an insight that led him to win a Nobel Prize in 1983.

Almost seven decades ago astronomers saw a white dwarf for the first time. It's a tiny, hot, and super dense leftover from a star that ran out of fuel. But something didn't add up—this object should have collapsed under its own gravity. Fowler, who was going to be Chandra's teacher for a Ph.D. at Cambridge, figured out the mystery by using quantum theory to explain why the white dwarf didn't collapse. He explained that when the nuclear energy source in the center of a star such as the Sun is exhausted, it collapses to form a white dwarf, and he demonstrated that there is an upper limit — now called the Chandrasekhar limit — to the mass of a white dwarf star.

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar | Global Indian

Moreover, up until that time scientists used to think that when a star used up all its fuel, it would become a cold ball of ashes—a white dwarf star. Chandra's math proved that a white dwarf heavier than the sun couldn't exist. Instead, it would collapse forever into an incredibly tiny point with infinite density. This collapse would create something called a black hole, a place in space where nothing, not even light, could escape. Chandra's work was the first undeniable proof, backed by math, that black holes, as we now call them, had to be real.

The controversy that changed it all

Excited about his discovery, he thought that he would be welcomed with open arms in Cambridge, however, his hoped were dashed as the scientists ignored his discovery. Depressed, he continued and finished his doctorate in 1933. The same year he also won a fellowship to continue his work at Cambridge. Feeling encouraged by these achievements, he went back to studying what happens to stars in the future. Surprisingly, the well-known Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, a leader in astrophysics, started visiting him often to check on his progress.

Encouraged by his support, Chandrasekhar prepared a paper for a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society in London in 1935 that was to have all the leading figures in astrophysics in attendance. He presented the paper, showing a chart that if a star was heavier than a certain amount, it would definitely shrink away to nothing and even more. However, Eddington didn't back Chandrasekhar's conclusions and even stating that it has no basis in reality. His reputation was so strong that nobody felt brave enough to disagree with him. Chandrasekhar wasn't even allowed a chance to respond. The argument continued for many years in papers and during scientific meetings.

Subramanyam Chandrasekhar | Global Indian

The confrontation had a lasting effect on Chandrasekhar, who for decades, didn't follow up on his discovery and even turned to a different field, and took up a position in University of Chicago. A few decades later, scientists trying to make the hydrogen bomb noticed that it resembled an exploding star. In 1966, at the Livermore National Laboratory in California, scientists started using computer codes for both astrophysics and hydrogen bombs. This breakthrough led the scientific community to accept that a star could indeed collapse and turn into a black hole.

Six years later, scientists identified the first black hole, named Cygnus X-1. Since then, many more black holes have been discovered. This meant that, 40 years after Chandrasekhar's first discovery, he was proven right, and Eddington was proven wrong. Chandra received the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his research on white dwarfs.

Subramanyam Chandrasekhar | Global Indian

The scientist breathed his last in 1995 and four years later, NASA's premier X-ray observatory was named the Chandra X-ray Observatory in his honour.

And now the Nobel laureate is again in news as Elon Musk has named his son after Chandrasekhar. His groundbreaking contributions to astrophysics, particularly his work on the Chandrasekhar limit, significantly advanced our understanding of stellar evolution. Musk's choice to honour this scientist underscores the enduring impact of scientific pioneers and the importance of recognising their invaluable contributions to humanity.

Reading Time: 6 min

Amit and Shilpa Singhal: NRI couple transforming lives of underprivileged kids

(June 28, 2023) Living in a mud house in Rajasthan's Jodhpur, 18-year-old Kusum Chaudhary comes from a family of farmers, but with no land to call their own. This mostly meant money constraints and even cast an eclipse on her future as the family had no means to support her education beyond Class 12. But things took a turn for the better when in 2016 her uncle asked her to fill out the form of Sitare Foundation. She sat for an entrance exam and qualified for a full scholarship. Five years later, with a visa in her hand, she was ready to fly to Maryland University in the USA to pursue a four-year undergraduate degree in computer science, thanks to an NRI couple. Joining Sitare Foundation, a nonprofit that helps children from low-income household's access quality education in private schools, and find opportunities to study abroad, changed Kusum's life forever. But she isn't the only one to have benefitted from it, hundreds of children have been empowered through education by NRI couple Shilpa and Amit Singhal, who founded Sitare Foundation in 2016. The couple, who quit their cushiony jobs in the US to return to India, believe in the power

uple, who quit their cushiony jobs in the US to return to India, believe in the power of education, and hence, provide all financial support — school fees, travel, accommodation, food, and more — for seven years of a child’s education, from classes 6 to 12.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZn0BQ16ZvQ

"We believe in the power of education and its potential to change lives, communities, nations, and the future of our planet. Our vision behind Sitare was not limited to educating underprivileged children but also nurturing them to become world-class professionals and great humans so they could become a beacon of hope for their community and millions of other underprivileged children," Amit said in an interview.

The power of education

Coming from a humble background, Amit's great-grandfather used to repair bicycle punctures on the roadside in UP's Bulandshahr. The only thing that he could give his son was permission to study, and after earning a BA in English, Amit's grandfather joined the post of teacher. He passed on the importance of education to his son (Amit's father) who attended IIT Roorkee and became a civil engineer.

Growing up, Amit too was bent towards studies, and after pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Roorkee, he did his master's from the University of Minnesota Duluth and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. "I left the country with only a few hundred dollars and two suitcases. The only thing every generation gave the next generation was education and no money," the Global Indian told Better India.

[caption id="attachment_40775" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Amit and Shilpa Singhal | Global Indian | NRI Amit and Shilpa Singhal founded Sitare Foundation[/caption]

It was education that took him to the US, and got him a job at Google, where he worked for 15 years and even provided for a good lifestyle. This was enough for him to realise the power of education, and nudged him to do the same for underprivileged children. "Fundamentally, education is the only sustained way out of poverty. And education is near and dear to our hearts," he added. His wife Shilpa, who has a master’s degree in Physics from Binghamton University, and in Computer Science and Engineering from Cornell University, too joined him in the venture.

Looking for bright stars among low-income families

The NRI couple was keen to give back to society by empowering and uplifting underprivileged children through education. "The only useful thing that one could do with their money is to improve some lives," said Amit, who spends an average of $2000 per student per year from his savings.

This led to the setting up of the Sitare Foundation, but their foremost and biggest challenge was to find bright students to whom they could offer help. They only received 240 applications in the first year, out of which 50 were selected to join the foundation. But over the years, the word spread, and more than 70,000 applications reach Sitare Foundation each year, of whom 100 make the cut for the programme. Currently present in five cities across Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - Jodhpur, Jaipur, Ajmer, Bhopal, and Indore, Sitare Foundation has partnered with private schools to provide quality education to bright underprivileged kids.

Amit and Shilpa Singhal | NRI | Global Indian

Giving children wings to fly

"Besides education, we support them with food, clothing, books, school supplies, and transportation. Additionally, we have a fully residential programme for students to focus on their college admissions," Amit told Your Story. Post completing Class 10th, the students are enrolled in a residential programme where students live in hostels and focus on studying for exams like JEE, NEET, and CLAT, depending on the subjects they’ve chosen, and at the same time, preparing their applications to study in the US.

However, the biggest challenge for the NRI couple has been to change the perspective of the parents, especially of a girl child, towards education. Since the parents are not educated, it's hard for them to understand the importance of education. "Girls are disproportionately impacted by the home environment in India. They are often required to work, help their mothers at home, take care of younger siblings, and go out with their mothers to help them on the farms," revealed Amit, who says child marriage is another factor that derails the progress. Often NGOs counsels these children and their families to get them back on the path of learning.

As of now, Sitare Foundation has educated over 400 underprivileged students, with five of its Class 12 students — Kusum Chaudhary, Mahendra Kumar, Milan Ramdhari, Nisha Chaudhary, and Tanisha Nagori - securing admissions in multiple US' top universities, including the University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, University of California, Case Western Reserve University, and Arizona State University. "Our mission is to transform fifty thousand lives through education by 2050.”

Follow Sitare Foundation on Instagram
Follow Amit Singhal on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 5 min

Surabhi Yadav: Launching dreams through Sajhe Sapne

(April 26, 2023) “One day, women of Indian villages will be known for their potential, not their pain, for their aspirations, not their needs, for being leaders, not being led. We will make it happen, one Sapna Center at a time.” This is social entrepreneur Surabhi Yadav’s vision, which she realises through her project, Sajhe Sapne (Shared Dreams). The IIT-Delhi and University of California, Berkeley alumna has been working relentlessly to launch the careers of rural women in modern workforce. Since 2020, Surabhi and her team have enabled rural young women grow their skills, salary, satisfaction, support system and most importantly, their opinions. With her dream of Har gaon ko ho sapna center ki chaon (to create a series of Sapna centers in every village), Surabhi has been working on her cause starting with Kandbari, a picturesque Himachal Pradesh village. [caption id="attachment_37766" align="aligncenter" width="373"] Surabhi Yadav, founder and CEO, Sajhe Sapne[/caption] Popularly known as ‘Sapna Centres’, the Sajhe Sapne training centres are run for a cohort of trainees called ‘Sapnewaalis’ (women who dare to dream). “Sajhe Sapne’s first cohort was from Bihar's Musahar community, one of India's poorest and most socially ostracised castes,” says Surabhi, in an interview with Global Indian.

p-image-37766 size-full" src="https://stage.globalindian.com//wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screenshot-2023-04-25-170549.jpg" alt="Indian Social Entrepreneur | Surabhi Yadav | Global Indian" width="373" height="523" /> Surabhi Yadav, founder and CEO, Sajhe Sapne[/caption]

Popularly known as ‘Sapna Centres’, the Sajhe Sapne training centres are run for a cohort of trainees called ‘Sapnewaalis’ (women who dare to dream). “Sajhe Sapne’s first cohort was from Bihar's Musahar community, one of India's poorest and most socially ostracised castes,” says Surabhi, in an interview with Global Indian.

Launching dreams

“There is no channel or pathway that connects modern workforce with villages,” says Surabhi and this is the gap she has chosen to address. Her non-profit is not into just providing livelihoods and creating gig workers but focuses on working towards the career development of rural women.

“I have put into Sajhe Sapne all that I have learned over the years,” remarks Surabhi. Growing up in a Madhya Pradesh village, she was no stranger to rural women resigning themselves to sub-optimal dreams. She thought it was a matter of courage and wondered why these women refused to dream big. “I remember many women in my extended family telling me that when you grow up, employ me as your chaprasi (peon).” Why do they want to be just be satisfied with that, Surabhi often wondered.

[caption id="attachment_37760" align="aligncenter" width="581"] Indian Social Entrepreneur | Surabhi Yadav | Global Indian Sapnewalis at work[/caption]

“With Sajhe Sapne, my goal is to shift the mindset of rural women from that of a livelihood to one of career development,” Surabhi says. “The ideas that encompass a growth path make the full form of ‘Sajhe’ – “S for skills, A for agency, J for job retention, H for hope and sense of possibilities and E for ecosystem of support,” she adds.

Over the last three years, Sajhe Sapne has trained a cohort of women from states like Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, MP, UP, Punjab and Maharashtra, from its Kandbari facility. “Our Sapnewalis have fire in their bellies and Sajhe Sapne fans that fire,” tells the founder and CEO.

The Sajhe Sapne model of growth

When Surabhi started out in 2020, she was brimming with ideas, but funds were scarce, so she settled on crowdfunding. She set out to arrange ₹15 lakhs for the startup but ended up getting ₹26 lakh within three days of her crowdfunding campaign. It wasn’t just family and friends – celebrities also took notice and re-tweeted her initiative, helping her exceed her collection target. “In fact, more people were willing to contribute but I stopped the campaign midway because I did not want to use so much money on the pilot run of my project, despite friends advising not to do so and allow money to come.”

Now, Surabhi has come up with a unique model in which she instils a sense of responsibility in the alumni group (Sabal Sapna Dal), She tells them, “Once you graduate with a job, pay for someone just like someone paid for you.”

She wants to make her alumni network strong enough to be the biggest investors, influencers and inspiration for the future batches. There is an expenditure of ₹96,000 on each trainee in the year-long residential programme at Sapna Centre. Surabhi is proud of the fact that her funding model has already started gaining momentum. “So far ₹4.5 lakhs have already been donated by former trainees,” she shares joyfully.

[caption id="attachment_37761" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Indian Social Entrepreneur | Surabhi Yadav | Global Indian Sajhe Sapne team[/caption]

Sajhe Sapne has three career tracks for women to choose from to shape their careers - project management, primary math teaching and coding and web development. After they finish the year-long training programme, while Surabhi and her team try to bring employment opportunities, the programme also prepares women to look for job opportunities and apply on their own. “We try to bring in work opportunities from progressive organisations that value diversity,” Surabhi explains.

The organisation also runs a one of its kind podcasts by rural women where people get to learn from their life and derive leadership lessons from what they have done differently to change their lives for the better. Such has been the impact of Sajhe Sapne's idea that apart from Surabhi’s eight-member team, some very well-placed individuals like a San Francisco based product designer working in Uber are volunteering for the organisation deeply believing in the cause.

Life in IIT-Delhi

Surabhi grew up in Khargone Madhya Pradesh and studied there until standard 12, after which she went on to do her BTech and MTech in bio-chemical engineering and biotechnology from IIT Delhi.

Breaking barriers, she was the first person in her village to move to a big city to study. People in her community didn’t even understand the magnitude of her achievement when she secured an admission to IIT. “It was just another technical institute to them,” she says. “When I came to IIT, I realised it’s a big mela where you get to engage in so many things. I was awestruck with the three floors of library that had books that I could touch. It was such a beautiful experience for me coming from a village of scare resources,” she adds. “IIT became a big playground for me to explore interesting things.”

[caption id="attachment_37764" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Indian Social Entrepreneur | Surabhi Yadav | Global Indian Team of friends[/caption]

Surabhi’s interest in social development had begun early in her life, so after her M.Tech, she remained at IIT to work with a Professor of the Humanities and Social Sciences department as a research assistant. While thinking, reading, and writing about inclusive innovation and how to use technology for social good, she was soon neck-deep into development studies. It was the impetus that led her to University of California, Berkley to do a masters in development practice.

Realising her dreams

When she returned from California, Surabhi worked for an NGO for a short while and then started on her dream project.

“My father is the first person in the village to get a full education and a sarkari job. My mother fought to study until class eight. Since they worked very hard for their own education, they were very committed to their children’s education. Also, they treated social work as a way of living and not as a moral obligation,” Surabhi tells. This is where her dedication for social development stems from.

[caption id="attachment_37768" align="aligncenter" width="445"] Indian Social Entrepreneur | Surabhi Yadav | Global Indian Surabhi with her mentors[/caption]

Now a retired horticulturist, her father has helped many farmers without any benefit. “Being raised by such parents filled me with a sense of responsibility towards my community. In my formative years, I might not have known the phrase ‘social development’ but I grew up learning the importance of giving back to my community,”

Project Basanti and BIRD

Surabhi has been involved in other projects around gender equity and the rural development space. Her feminist bent led her to also launch Project Basanti – Women in Leisure, a multi-media project named after her late mother. “It explores time as a feminist issue and consists of a rich repository of photos and videos of women and girls taking time out for themselves.” Surabhi has been happy to see more than 20,000 people participating in interesting social media conversations around women in leisure. “Have you seen a well-rested woman,” asks Surabhi. Project Basanti is all about capturing such rare moments.

Surabhi is also a co-lead at Billion Readers – BIRD, an IIM-Ahmedabad project. There, she assists the BIRD team to support the government’s language literacy initiative and improving reading habits of individuals. While people watch entertaining content on television or YouTube, subtitles encourage them to read, without pushing them to do so.

Driven by purpose amidst nature

To be able to work from Kanbadi is like living a dream for Surabhi. “Nature was important, a small place was important, not having a crowd was important. I get the quiet, I get the mountains and I get this beautiful organisation to run with a wonderful team,’ she smiles. “This place gives me the tranquility that requires to think creatively,” tells Surabhi who has been learning flute and sitar amidst the blissful quietude.

[caption id="attachment_37769" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Indian Social Entrepreneur | Surabhi Yadav | Global Indian Sapnewalis at work[/caption]

“I am walking in my balcony with the Dhauladhar mountain range and lush green fields in front of me,” she smiles as we come to the end of our conversation. Life is just the way she wanted it to be. Working amidst the beauty of nature, Surabhi is polishing up her development model while corporates line up to partner with her to open Sajhe Sapne's Sapna Centres in other villages as part of their CSR activities.

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