Global IndianstoryThe Indians who cooked up a storm in the MasterChef Australia kitchen

Indian Origin

The Indians who cooked up a storm in the MasterChef Australia kitchen

Written by: Global Indian

(July 24, 2021; 6.15 pm) For a long time now, Indian food has best been described as ugly delicious. High on flavor and with aromas that tickle one’s senses, it was never much of a looker. Or so we believed. That is, until, Indian-origin chefs began to give traditional Indian flavors a makeover: through fine-dining restaurants on the global stage and on our television scenes on shows like the hugely popular MasterChef Australia. The competitive cooking contest that has captured the world’s imagination and consistently churned out some world-class chefs has also put the spotlight on Indian food with its many Indian-origin chefs. These contestants have had their moment in the spotlight over several seasons with their intense flavor-packed innovative dishes that have wowed the judges and audience alike.

In this Global Indian piece, we look at the Indian-origin contestants that have left a lasting impression on the global audience.

Justin Narayan – Season 13

Justin Narayan

Winner of the latest season of MasterChef Australia, 27-year-old Justin Narayan is the second person of Indian descent to have bagged the coveted title. The Fiji-Indian beat competitors like Kishwer Chowdhury and Pete Campbell with a perfect score with his versatility in whipping up various cuisines. A pastor by profession, Narayan lives in Perth and grew up watching cooking shows.

On the show, he impressed judges with dishes like Indian chicken curry, pickle salad, Indian chicken tacos, charcoal chicken with toum, and flatbread. But not many know that Narayan was on the verge of quitting the show halfway through when his dad’s health took a serious turn. Fortunately, his health improved and Narayan continued on the show.

Having clinched the title, he now plans to open his own restaurant one day and use the profits from his future restaurant to help feed needy children in India.

Sashi Cheliah – Season 10

Sashi Cheliah

Born and brought up in an Indian family in Singapore, Sashi Cheliah fell in love with cooking as a child when he saw his mum and aunt whipped up delicacy after delicacy in the kitchen. Even when he worked as a cop first in Singapore and then in Australia, the 43-year-old chef always wanted to launch his own restaurant. It was why he participated in MasterChef Australia in the first place. On the show he impressed judges with his impressive Asian and Indian inspired dishes, but it was his Sambal Prawns that won him the MasterChef Australia title in season 10, making him the first Indian-origin person to win the contest.

In November 2019, Sashi fulfilled his dream and opened his restaurant Gaja in Adelaide, where he lives. The restaurant serves Asian-inspired food with a Sashi touch and focuses on sustainability in a big way.

Depinder Chhibber – Season 13

Depinder Chhibber

One of the most popular contestants at this season’s MasterChef Australia, Delhi-born Australian Depinder Chhibber elevated simple ghar ka khana to a global stage. A master of most Indian cuisines, Chibber wowed the judges with her chole, kadhai paneer and achaar so much that Melissa Leong asked, “Can we come to your house please?” The 29-year-old pharmacist introduced to the show rich Indian flavors like never before with her okra chips, green curry cake, fried chicken with mango chilli glaze, chicken biryani, ghevar with carrot sherbet and grandma’s pickle. Every dish that she made on the show had an Indian touch, celebrating her roots and identity.

Though she didn’t make it all the way to the end of the show, her flavor-packed dishes hit the spot and made her one of the most popular contestants of the season.

Dalvinder Dhami – Season 4

Dalvinder Dhami

Singapore-born Dalvinder Dhami was 35 when she decided to quit her career as a public servant to chase her culinary dreams and participate in MasterChef Australia. She was the first Indian on the show and created a variety of delicacies that consistently wowed the judges. Some of her most memorable dishes were the pineapple and tomato jam pork served with egg dumplings and Jazadalvs chicken curry. She became rather popular on the show for her intriguing blend of Singaporean cuisine with North Indian tadkas; judge George Calombaris said that the curry she had made was the best he’d ever tasted. After her MasterChef Australia stint, the mom of three has been selling her Indian dishes at Singapore’s local market.

Dev Mishra – Junior Masterchef Australia Season 3

Dev Mishra

14-year-old Dev Mishra deserves a special mention on this list for the flair with which he presented his Indian heritage on a platter to the judges at Junior MasterChef Australia. He once wowed the judges by cooking five dishes – lamb Mughlai curry, saffron rice, raita, chutney, and smoked chicken kebab – all in 75 minutes. It was his way of showcasing a dish that truly represented him. His love for cooking grew in his family kitchen, and Dev loves making curries. However, the teen is equally comfortable whipping up Italian, Asian, and Mexican dishes as well. He is also heavily inspired by Heston Blumenthal and loves to make technically complex desserts.

While he may not have won the competition, he did make it to the semi-finals and this tennis and guitar player, one day hopes to open his own restaurant that will celebrate authentic flavors.

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Published on 24, Jul 2021

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Sanjena Sathian: The Indian-American novelist redefining identity through her work

(October 8, 2021) What it means to be both Indian and American? An unnerving question that has kept a generation of Indian-American kids grappling with a feeling of otherness in a country they find at times hard to call home. Being divided between the expectation of their immigrant parents and their own free will, it's the crossroads they often find themselves at. And novelist Sanjena Sathian explores this very notion in her debut book Gold Diggers. A melting point of ambition, American dream and alchemy, the book redefines identity. The 29-year-old, born to immigrant parents who moved to the US with an American dream, had to unlearn a lot to find herself and her identity in the chaos. This in turn led to the emergence of his first book that had put her into the longlist for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Not just this, Mindy Kaling is ready to put this piece of work on the small tube with the screen adaptation of Gold Diggers. Sathian's entry into the world of writers has been with a bang but she had to do a lot of soul searching to reach here. Pressure to overachieve Born and raised in

had to do a lot of soul searching to reach here.

Pressure to overachieve

Born and raised in Georgia by South Indian immigrant parents, Sathian grew up in metro Atlanta and attended the The Westminster School. Being the grand daughter and great granddaughter of respected Malayalee translators, a young Sathian always dreamt of becoming a writer. She would spend hours scribbling stories in her diary. When she wasn't writing, she would be competing as a policy debater in high school, eventually winning the national championship as a senior.

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"Once I started winning, I couldn't get enough of it. I became addicted to the hope of winning, and then actually winning — like my existence was confirmed if I won a debate. I sort of became a flat creature if I lost because I didn’t know what to do with that loss," she told Lareviewofbooks in an interview.

Like every second-generation American, Sathian, too, had her eyes on the Ivy League, courtesy the expectation of her parents who wanted her to make it to one of the elite colleges in the US. But internally she often struggled as she felt she was failing to meet the heavy expectations of her family and teachers. And this would put Sathian under immense pressure to overachieve. "It’s comical that I wore this talismanic Harvard sweatshirt and it’s comical how obsessed I was with winning debates. But it’s also tragic that I robbed myself of an inner life and made it really painful for myself to underachieve," she told the New York Times.

Questioning her choices

She didn't land up in Harvard but at Yale University where she earned a BA in English and studied literary journalism and fiction. It was here that she received multiple grants to report from three continents and was awarded the English Department’s highest honors for each of her two senior thesis: one on the novels of Zadie Smith, the other a series of linked short stories.

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Despite her good grades and a great portfolio, Sathian struggled to find a job as a journalist. New York Times revealed that she once called her dad to discuss the possibility of switching to a career "where it's possible to be mediocre." She eventually became an Indian correspondent, based in Mumbai, for a California-based digital publication Ozy. After staying in the role for two years, the 29-year-old felt that writing was her true calling so she returned to the US and dove straight into the two-year Iowa Writers' Workshop residency in 2017.

The book that changed it all

The seed of her debut novel Gold Diggers germinated during one of the workshops at Iowa. What began as a failed short story became an obsession for Sathian, who was keen to explore the characters and the concept of conceit. Soon a handful of pages turned into a full-fledged novel, and Sathian's first book was born.

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Sathian's debut book, which was longlisted for the Centre for Fiction's First Novel Prize, tells the story of a teenager who struggles with balancing his own ambitions and those of his parents, and finding his own way to be brown in America. Being herself the daughter of immigrant parents, Sathian beautifully depicts the crossroads at which often most second generation Americans find themselves.

American dream

"I grew up being told that there were 'real Indians' like my parents, and then ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis) like me. I think that's just a ridiculous way to teach someone to think about their identity — as though the fact that I'm born in America inherently makes me confused. What it does is give me a multiplicitous identity, which is something that writers like Smith and Rushdie have engaged with much more richly. So the book is concerned with identity, but in ways that are less basic than 'Am I Indian or am I American or both?', she told the Hindustan Times.

Being raised in the US in a family that was fixated with the American dream, this Global Indian realized that the concept was ingrained deeply in the minds of the people who left their homelands to find a better life in the US. But the writer calls American dream a dangerous idea that is playing with the ideals and aspirations of the immigrants and their families.

"The American dream is a fiction that we Americans feed ourselves to believe that there is such thing as hmeritocracy in this country. This is an appealing idea because, as in books like The Great Gatsby, Americans are taught to believe that it’s possible to remake ourselves entirely, to come up from nothing and wind up rich or famous or wildly successful. Of course, that’s a compelling idea -- so many of us want more for ourselves and our families. And that idea is what brought many Indians of my parents’ generation to the US, especially those who left in the 1960s-80s when the Indian economy was closed. But the American dream is also a deeply dangerous idea because it presupposes that those who aren’t wealthy somehow just aren’t striving enough," she added.

Gold Diggers: From book to TV

It's this very notion of identity that has made Sathian's novel a hit with booklovers. Such has been the success of Gold Diggers that even Mindy Kaling's production couldn't turn a blind eye to this bestseller. Kaling, who is championing diversity with her shows like Never Have I Ever, is keen to adapt Gold Diggers for television. And it is this very feat that has put the Indian-American novelist on the list of new talent to look out for.

Passing the knowledge

Sathian, who has tasted success with Gold Diggers, is imparting her knowledge in the field of writing with the Bombay Writers' Workshop that she started in 2020. "My hope is to bring the kind of creative writing education and community I got at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop to artists of all ages and skill levels writing literary prose in Mumbai. The bulk of writing is a solitary act, and you can’t really teach someone how to do that. But I can help writers who want to better their sentences or learn more about story structure or just read others’ work. Last year, the online course was pretty incredible — a talented bunch of people in both India and the diaspora. I always hope to pay it forward by passing on to other writers whatever small knowledge I’ve gotten from my teachers and friends."

Reading Time: 7 min

White Castle to White House: How Kal Penn made America fall in love with him

(August 24, 2021) Who could have possibly thought that an Indian-American actor would not only campaign for Barack Obama but also earn a position in his administration? But that's Kal Penn for you. A Hollywood actor who decided to work for the people of America because he believed in the cause and purpose. It wasn't just his stunning performances on the big screen that amazed people across the globe, but his decision to serve the people of America too came as a welcoming surprise to many. The 44-year-old, who began his career in films and TV in America, has come a long way. Here's the story of this Global Indian who put a South Asian in the White House. [caption id="attachment_8154" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Kal Penn at the White House[/caption] Love for theatre translated into films Born as Kalpen Suresh Modi in New Jersey to Gujarati Indian immigrant parents, Penn was closer to his roots as he visited Gujarat every year during his school vacations. It was here that he heard the stories of his grandparents marching with Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian Independence movement. Imagining his own grandparents playing a pivotal role in the most crucial chapter of history got Penn

rong> in New Jersey to Gujarati Indian immigrant parents, Penn was closer to his roots as he visited Gujarat every year during his school vacations. It was here that he heard the stories of his grandparents marching with Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian Independence movement. Imagining his own grandparents playing a pivotal role in the most crucial chapter of history got Penn interested in politics at a young age. Apart from politics, it was music and theatre that had a huge influence on his early life. During his school days, he played baritone saxophone in the jazz band and was an active member in theatre productions. This love extended to college where he majored in theatre from the Fine and Performing Arts Academy, and he soon graduated from UCLA with a double major in sociology and film.

Acting was Penn's first love and he wanted to explore it as a career beyond his training in theatre. But he wondered if Kalpen Suresh Modi on his resume would get him any calls as his friends warned him that only anglicized names appeal more to a white-dominated industry. "Almost as a joke to prove friends wrong, and half as an attempt to see if what I was told would work, I put Kal Penn on my resume and photos," he said in an interview. Interestingly, his audition callbacks rose significantly, and he continued using Kal Penn for professional purposes.

The initial struggle with typecasting

It was in 1998 that he made his feature film debut with a short film Express: Aisle to Glory. But at that time Hollywood was playing heavily on cultural stereotypes and Penn found minimal exposure with films like American Desi, Cosmopolitan and Love Don't Cost A Thing. The scripts never got fancier beyond the roles of a computer geek or a foreign student or a terrorist during the initial days at work.

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In a conversation with Hindustan Times, he said,

"Being an actor is tough no matter what your ethnic background, but adding race to the game makes things hundreds of times harder. Starting out for me was particularly difficult. There wasn't and still isn't relatively, much support for the arts in the South Asian American community. In the workplace, it's tough to get seen for roles that aren't written with a specific "look" in mind, so there are times when one makes a decision to take a role based on the need to build a resume rather than an artistic outlet."

The breakthrough role that made Penn popular

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But it was the 2004 film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle that catapulted Penn to fame. His breakthrough performance made him a household name. This popularity translated into more roles on American TV as well as in films. Mira Nair, too, was impressed with his performance and cast him in the role of Gogol Ganguli in the screen adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's Namesake. Penn moved away from his regular roles and pulled off a character that was deep and complex.

"The film itself was the most artistically rewarding experience of my life. The experience I had working on The Namesake showed me that it was possible to tell a refine, compelling story that is universal as it is personal," he told the Hindustan Times.

From White Castle to the White House

With shows like 24 and House in his kitty, Penn was happy playing the roles that were getting him diversify as an actor. But the 2007 writer's strike came as a blow to the industry which almost paralyzed much of Hollywood. Penn found a unique opportunity in this as he packed his bags and moved to Des Moines to help the Barack Obama camp get ready for the Iowa caucus in January 2008. It was Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic convention that vaulted him to the national stage, and Penn believed him to be a rising politico who was changing the status quo.

So when the chance came to be a part of the campaign, Penn grabbed it with both hands. "The thing that drew me to his campaign was that he wasn't taking lobbyist money; he actually opposed the Iraq war early on; he had a plan for a lot of things that a lot of other folks just seemed resigned to doing," Penn told the Los Angeles Times.

After the writer's strike was called off, Penn returned to work but he did make time for Obama's presidential campaign in 2007 and 2008. It was in early 2009 that Penn took a year long break from his career in Hollywood and took up the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. In his new role, Penn served as a liaison with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. In June 2010, keeping up with his agreement, Penn returned to his acting career and after completing A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas in November 2010, he resumed his work in the Obama administration.

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After his re-election, Obama appointed Penn to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. A year later, he served as the Master of Ceremonies for the White House Student Film Festival. It was in 2017 that he and other members of the committee resigned in response to President Donald Trump's remarks on the Unite the Right rally.

Giving back

In 2017, Penn won the MasterChef Celebrity Showdown and donated the $25,000 cash prize to UNRWA, a United Nations relief and human development agency that supports Palestinian refugees.

The same year, following a racist comment from a user on his Twitter feed, Penn crowd-funded a fundraiser for the refugees of the Syrian Civil War and raised $813533 at a time when Donald Trump had banned immigration to the US from Syria, Yemen and Sudan.

From being an outsider with no godfather to becoming a household name in Hollywood, Penn is one of those South Asians who are representing diversity on a global scale. The 44-year-old is one of those rare Indians who made a stellar appearance on the big screen as well as in politics.

Reading Time: 7 min

Indo-Canadian mathematician Sujatha Ramdorai awarded with Padma Shri 2023

(March 1, 2023) On Republic Day 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced the names of the recipients of the highest civilian awards of India – the Padma Awards. The list included Sujatha Ramdorai, the Indian-origin mathematician who is a professor of mathematics and Canada Research Chair at University of British Columbia. The algebraic number theorist is known for her work on Iwasawa theory - the study of objects of arithmetic interest over infinite towers of number fields. Professor Ramdorai has earned several awards and accolades over the years for her contributions to mathematics. She became the first Indian to win the prestigious ICTP Ramanujan Prize in 2006 in recognition of her work, which has implications in the fields of complex geometry, topology, number theory and cryptography. She is also a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award - the highest honour bestowed by the Government of India in the field of STEM. One of the finest Indian mathematicians, Professor Ramdorai received the Krieger–Nelson Prize in 2020 for her pathbreaking research by the Canadian Mathematical Society. [caption id="attachment_35602" align="aligncenter" width="401"] Professor Sujatha Ramdorai[/caption] Despite achieving so much both in India and abroad, the Global Indian remains humble and is not at all a fan of the pursuit of

Ramanujan Prize in 2006 in recognition of her work, which has implications in the fields of complex geometry, topology, number theory and cryptography. She is also a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award - the highest honour bestowed by the Government of India in the field of STEM. One of the finest Indian mathematicians, Professor Ramdorai received the Krieger–Nelson Prize in 2020 for her pathbreaking research by the Canadian Mathematical Society.

[caption id="attachment_35602" align="aligncenter" width="401"] Indian Origin | Sujatha Ramdorai | Global Indian Professor Sujatha Ramdorai[/caption]

Despite achieving so much both in India and abroad, the Global Indian remains humble and is not at all a fan of the pursuit of success. “Today we have put success in such a high pedestal that we have lost our moral moorings,” she said in an interview.

We worship others’ success without questioning how they really achieved that. Many people succeed by deliberately pushing others to the ground. I don’t think that kind of success should either be worshipped or appreciated.

The ace mathematician believes in acknowledging not just those who have attained success but even those who might not have succeeded but have done good work to help the society. “This approach should be applied to both individuals and nations,” she remarked. “How much money one has accumulated should not be an indicator of success. I don’t think that’s a good lesson to impart to youngsters,” believes the ace mathematician.

The math guru

In one of her TEDx Talks, Professor Ramdorai cited Galileo - the father of modern science, who made major contributions to the fields of astronomy, physics, cosmology, philosophy and mathematics. “Learn math because it’s the language in which the Gods have written the universe,” she shared, elaborating how Galileo’s words have affected her choices in life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=--LI0ZRsglg

The illustrious professor is a member of the scientific committees of several international research agencies, including Banff International Research Station, International Centre for Pure and Applied Mathematics, and Indo-French Centre for Promotion of Advanced Research. In the past, she was also associated with the National Knowledge Commission, a think tank constituted by former PM Manmohan Singh, and Government of India’s Scientific Advisory Council.

A little-known fact…

While people may be aware of her achievements in maths, Professor Ramdorai is a true inspiration in many other ways. In 2015, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and had to undergo an emergency surgery. “For me the main concern was whether I would be able to do math again, she said during one of her TEDx Talks. “This deep concern led me to think about, why I love mathematics so much – there is a sense of mystery, there is a sense of being confronted with the unknown,” she told.

Throwing light upon the connections between math, and art she pointed out:

There is a component of mathematics which is pure art. In the sense, if you prove something in maths, small bits come together, it’s like crafting and planning a symphony.

Her road to recovery from brain cancer interestingly involved discovering a new hobby, and that was painting.

Making math more welcoming

Professor Ramdorai strongly believes in transforming learning of mathematics in the classroom in a way that encourages students to develop more interest in it. “We don’t have to make it competitive. Make it cooperative and make students aware that knowledge is a collective endeavour.” This, she believes, would turn the whole process of learning into a more equitable endeavour, making students embrace the subject wholeheartedly. “They would become more imaginative. It will give a ‘can do’ feeling to the learners,” she remarked.

[caption id="attachment_35603" align="aligncenter" width="351"] Indian Origin | Sujatha Ramdorai | Global Indian Photo Credit: International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy[/caption]

Along with her husband, Srinivasan Ramdorai and Indian mathematical writer VS Sastry, the Padma Shri awardee has partially funded the Ramanujan Math Park in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, which was inaugurated in 2017. The park is dedicated to mathematics education and honours the work of the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, who is an inspiration for Ramdorai. “He is one of the greatest mysteries of the mathematical landscape. He had a great grasp on the subject and was self-taught. This to me is tremendously admirable,” she said.

Early years

Professor Ramdorai grew up in Bengaluru (then Bangalore) and loved mathematics, even as a child. “By the time I was in class five, I realised that maths was a subject where all you need to do is to understand what was happening. You didn’t need to learn by rote, like in History, where I faced problems remembering the details like the dates of wars, ascensions to the throne and how long the various rulers ruled and so on,” she said, reminiscing about her childhood.

For me mathematics was equivalent to the computer games that today’s children play.

Ramdorai used to indulge in the fascinating world of numbers wherever she could. “For instance, after I learned addition, whenever I went out in a car or a scooter, I used to add the digits on the number plates of the vehicles on the road. It became a game for me and my brother, both wanting to add the numbers faster than the other.”

One of the greatest influences in Professor Ramdorai’s life has been her grandmother from whom she imbibed the values of discipline and earnestness. “She taught me and my brother the dignity of labour. Whatever you do, do it to the best of your abilities is what she used to tell us,” she said in an interview.

[caption id="attachment_35604" align="aligncenter" width="354"] Indian Origin | Sujatha Ramdorai | Global Indian Photo Credit: Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru[/caption]

After finishing high school, the math enthusiast completed her B.Sc. in Mathematics at St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru and went on to do her M.Sc. from Annamalai University. She completed her PhD from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) where she worked for a few years before moving to Ohio State University to do her post-doctoral research.

Life then took her to Canada where she currently works and lives with her husband. “Whether you are a boy or a girl, just keep in mind that you can do anything. Gender does not come in the way of attaining knowledge if one is curious, focused and believes in deep learning,” believes Professor Ramdorai.

Follow Professor Sujatha Ramdorai on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 5 mins

Baiju Bhatt: The Indian-American entrepreneur who revolutionized the US brokerage industry to become a billionaire

(October 21, 2021) Nine years ago two young men shook up the world of investing in America with the launch of their app Robinhood. The investment app, geared towards the millennials, wanted to equalize the world of investing through a unique no-brokerage stock trading model. The concept caught on and pretty soon Robinhood was the go-to app for most Americans when it came to trading in stocks. Before the turn of the decade, it was valued at over $6 billion, was racing towards an IPO and its founders were catapulted into America’s big league. One of them is Indian-American billionaire entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, who is credited as the creative one with a focus on product development. As it successfully listed on Nasdaq, it also made Bhatt the latest entrant in the Forbes 400 list for 2021 with a net worth of $2.9 billion. Today the app has over 21 million active users and is valued at over $40 billion and continues to enjoy popularity among America’s younger investors and traders who enjoy the fact that they can invest in some of the country’s top stocks of major companies in an otherwise seemingly intimidating stock market. The Indian connect Born in 1984 in a Gujarati family to Indian immigrant parents, Bhatt grew up in small town Poquoson, Virginia as an only child. His parents

ct that they can invest in some of the country’s top stocks of major companies in an otherwise seemingly intimidating stock market.

Indian American entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt

The Indian connect

Born in 1984 in a Gujarati family to Indian immigrant parents, Bhatt grew up in small town Poquoson, Virginia as an only child. His parents migrated to the US when his father was accepted into a PhD program in theoretical physics at University of Huntsville, Alabama. Bhatt followed in his father’s footsteps and went on to study Physics at Stanford University. He stayed on at Stanford to do his Master’s in Mathematics and it was during this time that he met and befriended Vlad Tenev, his roommate and future co-founder. In an interview with Life Hacker, Bhatt said, “In college, I met Vlad Tenev, who at the time was a long-haired, string-bean kid with a quirky sense of humor and a penchant for late-night games of chess. The two of us would become the best of friends and go on to co-create two companies in New York together before starting Robinhood in California.”

Like Bhatt said, he and Tenev together launched two companies in New York: high-frequency trading company Celeris in 2010 which they closed in 2011 to create Chronos Research to sell low-latency software to trading firms and banks. By 2013, the duo co-founded Robinhood, a disruptive new trading platform that let people trade easily in some of the country’s top stocks and with no-brokerage costs involved. They struck gold with Robinhood and a funding round in 2018 increased the company’s valuation to $6 billion, making both Bhatt and Tenev billionaires.

[caption id="attachment_13572" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Indian American entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt Baiju Bhatt with his co-founder Vlad Tenev[/caption]

Protests that inspired

Bhatt’s idea for Robinhood stemmed from the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests; offering no-brokerage stock trading, the app cut out the high fees charged by stockbrokers, which otherwise made investing in stocks feel like an intimidating experience for those with low funds. They also moved back to California to launch Robinhood (named after the legendary outlaw who stole from the wealthy to give to the poor) with the mission to democratize finance for all.

What made Robinhood also click was its efficient and frictionless interface that made trading in stocks feel like a game to the younger investors. It offers an expansive range of investments, including stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies. Given that there are no commission fees involved, Robinhood makes revenue from back-end payments. So popular was Robinhood’s no-brokerage model that it forced other major brokers to eliminate commissions as well. The app opened the door to trading to millions of people, mostly millennials. Bhatt estimates that nearly half of all new US brokerage accounts in the last few years are by Robinhood accounts.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjPNwhSP8Jg[/embed]

The COVID-19 pandemic has only helped the app see a surge in users and business with millions of first-time investors signing on. However, in 2020, this Global Indian decided to step down as co-CEO of the company as it headed towards an IPO and decided to focus on product development.

A focus on self

Over the years, Robinhood has been battered by controversies, most of which it has managed to emerge from and Bhatt continues to ride the wave. The 37-year-old, who is married to Adrienne Sussman with whom he has a son, is an avid runner who’s participated in several half marathons over the years. He told Life Hacker, “I run outside almost every day of the week. I’ll usually step out during lunch for an hour-long jog around the neighborhoods of Palo Alto and through Stanford campus. It helps me clear my head and put all the things I’ve been thinking about back together in creative ways. Also, by the time I get back, I’m energetic and generally feeling awesome.”

[caption id="attachment_13573" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Indian American entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt Baiju Bhatt with his father[/caption]

What keeps him ticking is his strong willpower, which he says has helped him overcome several challenges over the years. “A personal but very important example comes from my childhood. As a kid, I had always struggled with being overweight. When I was a sophomore in high school, I decided I wanted to change that once and for all. That spring, I started exercising every single day, and by the time I started junior year, I had lost nearly 70 pounds. I looked and felt like a completely different person.”

That same willpower is what helped this Indian American entrepreneur launch Robinhood, disrupt a centuries-old industry and see it through its share of rough patches.

Reading Time: 8 mins

First among equals: Who is Rishi Sunak, the man leading the race for UK’s PM?

(July 16, 2022) "Rishi is one of the most decent, straight people with the highest standards of integrity I have ever met in British politics." Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was one of the candidates eliminated in the first round of voting on July 13, threw his weight behind former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, for whom he was full of praise. With Priti Patel bowing out of the Prime Ministerial race and Attorney General Suella Braverman winning a paltry 27 votes in the second round of voting, Conservative Party MP Rishi has emerged as the Indian-origin strongman, topping the first round with 88 votes. Global Indian takes a look at Rishi's life and his rise in politics. A glowing article in The Tatler, describes Rishi from his days waiting tables at an Indian 'curry house' named Kuti Miah. The restaurant's owner was friends with Rishi's parents, Yashvir and Usha. Which is not to say that Rishi Sunak comes with a tear-jerker of a rags-to-riches, immigrant in the UK origin story. Far from it. Born to a physician father, while his mother ran a pharmacy, his life was decidedly upper-middle class. Far from his exotic, immigrant status giving him

at Rishi Sunak comes with a tear-jerker of a rags-to-riches, immigrant in the UK origin story. Far from it. Born to a physician father, while his mother ran a pharmacy, his life was decidedly upper-middle class. Far from his exotic, immigrant status giving him a leg-up, Rishi's upper crust life has made him 'less relatable' among the hoi polloi, which could prove to be a disadvantage. What's more, the re-emergence of an old clip, in which he says, "I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are, you know, working class, but... well, not working class," could hamper his prospects. However, for a man who has overcome great odds as a candidate of colour in a conservative party, it might not be too big a hurdle to overcome.

[caption id="attachment_27001" align="aligncenter" width="830"] Rishi Sunak. Photo credit: Rishi's website[/caption]

Despite early hurdles, Rishi was quickly picked out as a rising star - according to The Tatler, this quality was spotted early on, even by his former boss at Kuti Miah. That year, in 1998, as the then 18-year-old Rishi was all set to enter Oxford University, his boss remarked, "You're going to be someone, Rishi." Sure enough, the fiercely patriotic young man, who grew up, thanks to his parents, immersed in the local community, never looked back.

Head boy to hedge funds

His broad grin, which he flashes generously, belies the seriousness that lies beneath - Rishi's flawless record goes back a long way, he was Head Boy at Winchester College, an independent boarding school for boys and also editor of the school paper. He went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, where he first dipped his toes in politics, as an intern at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters. He graduated in 2001, which was also the year he gave the fateful interview about his 'working class friends' to Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl.

After graduating from Oxford in 2002, Rishi joined Goldman Sachs, where he worked for three years as an analyst. He, then, moved onto The Children's Investment Fund Management, a hedge fund firm and became a partner in 2006. That year, he moved to America to get his MBA from Stanford University, as a Fulbright Scholar.

It was at Stanford that Rishi would meet his future wife, Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayan Murty, marrying her in 2009. As the media is only too happy to point out, the couple is the 222nd richest people in Britain, with a combined fortune of £730 million as of 2022.

[caption id="attachment_27002" align="aligncenter" width="724"] Rishi Sunak | Global Indian Rishi Sunak with his wife, Akshata Murty[/caption]

In the political fray

Rishi's entry into politics began in 2015 when he won the constituency of Richmond, North Yorkshire in the general elections, becoming the Conservative Party's rising star almost instantly. His entry, however, was not well-received by other conservative candidates, who resented this apparent upstart claiming territory they believed to be theirs. His victory was even more noteworthy because he contested "as a rank outsider," according to the Business Standard, "in the 97 percent white, prosperous rural Conservative bastion of Richmond in Yorkshire, where, the joke goes, there has been no immigration since the Norman conquest in 1066." However, his right-wing economic views - Rishi is an enthusiastic believer in free markets and a vocal critic of Brexit - helped him secure a historic win.

In 2018, Rishi was inducted in the UK government by then British Prime Minister Theresa May. At 37, Rishi was a Conservative party MP (Richmond, Yorkshire) with great promise, entering the government as the parliamentary-under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Incidentally, he was joined by another Indian-origin MP, also a pro-Brexit campaigner - Suella Braverman, who was Suella Fernandes at the time.

Rishi went on to make several contributions in the House of Commons, on issues like digital economy, social mobility and foreign direct investment. "From working in my mum's tiny chemist shop to my experience building large businesses, I have seen how we should support free enterprise and innovation to ensure Britain has a stronger future," Rishi told the media back in 2018.

Rishi Sunak | Global Indian

On a sticky wicket?

As a conservative candidate of colour, Rishi Sunak's position is always likely to be precarious. Will he usher in a post-race era, or speak up for the hyper-local, ethnic problems that minorities face in the UK? Always fiercely patriotic, his loyalty to the UK cannot be called into question. However, he remarked, to the Business Standard, "British Indian is what I tick on the census, we have a category for it. I am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu." Although he is given to phrases like "Oh crikey," he does speak a smattering of Hindi and Punjabi.

In 2019, Rishi became the first Indian-origin to be named Chancellor of the Exchequer, taking over 11 Downing Street as one of the most powerful people in England. His term was, admittedly, fraught with controversy - he was charged with breaking lockdown laws, for instance. And the debate around wife Akshata Murty’s non-dom status (it exempted her from paying some ₹196 crore in taxes) continues to rage on.

On July 5, 2022, Rishi resigned from his post as Chancellor of the Exchequer, withdrawing support from PM Boris Johnson over a sexual harassment scandal within the government. He did, however, refuse to badmouth Boris, calling him, "one of the most remarkable people I've ever met." He said, in no uncertain terms, that "he would have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris." With that final, noble gesture preceding his entry into the prime ministerial fray, perhaps Rishi Sunak will have his own chance at rewriting history after all.

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