Global IndianstoryMeet the Indian gurus who took yoga to the world

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Meet the Indian gurus who took yoga to the world

Written by: Global Indian

Kundalini, Kriya, Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, aerial, acrobatic… there’s a yoga type to suit all kinds of needs and lifestyles. In fact, the yoga industry is so popular that it is worth more than $84 billion today with more than 300 million yoga practitioners across the globe. According to Compare Camp, on any given day there are at least over 1 billion posts on Instagram using a yoga related hashtag. This International Yoga Day we take a look at the five Indian yoga gurus who helped put the discipline on the world map.

Indra Devi (1899-2002)

Indian Yoga Gurus

Called the First Lady of yoga, Indra Devi’s tryst with the discipline began in 1937 when Tirumalai Krishnamacharya admitted her to his school, making her the first woman disciple. He personally supervised her asana and pranayama training. By the end of the year, he advised her to begin teaching yoga. Ever since, Indra Devi, who was of Russian and Swedish descent, was instrumental in the taking yoga to the world. She held classes in India, Mexico, America, Russia, Argentina, and China. Born Eugenie Peterson, her fascination with India began at age 15 when she read books by Rabindranath Tagore and Yogi Ramacharaka. Devi finally settled down in Los Angeles, where she had a large following of stars and celebrities taking to yoga. While Devi might not have been the first to take yoga to the West, she certainly did her bit to bring in the glamour quotient with her celebrity disciples.

BKS Iyengar (1918- 2014)

Indian Yoga Gurus

Born into a poor family in Karnataka’s Bellur, BKS Iyengar’s foray into yoga began at age 15 when he was invited by his brother-in-law Tirumalai Krishnamacharya to Mysore to practice yoga to improve his health. Throughout his childhood, Iyengar had battled conditions such as malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, and malnutrition. This was the turning point in his life. In 1952 he befriended violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who gave him the opportunity that helped him gain international recognition. Menuhin believed that yoga improved his playing; in 1954 he invited Iyengar to Switzerland. That was the beginning of his regular visits to the West to teach yoga. While in Switzerland, he taught Vanda Scaravelli, who went on to develop her own style of yoga. Iyengar taught yoga to several celebrities such as Jiddu Krishnamurti, Jayaprakash Narayan, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, actress Annette Bening, filmmaker Mira Nair, designer Donna Karan, and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. He was awarded the Padmi Shri in 1991 and received the Padma Vibhushan in 2014. In 2004, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine.

Watch BKS Iyengar demonstrate yoga asanas

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918-2008)

Indian Yoga Gurus

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, referred to as the Giggling Guru, was famous for developing the Transcendental Meditation technique. After studying Physics at Allahabad University, he became a disciple of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. His first global tour began in 1958 and his initiatives include schools and universities in countries such as India, Canada, the US, UK, and Switzerland. In the 1970s he started the TM-Sidhi program which proposed to improve the mind-body relationship. He had several celebrities such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys as his followers. In 2008, he announced his retirement and went into silence until his death three weeks later.

Jaggi Vasudev (1957-present)

Indian Yoga Gurus

Born in Mysore, Karnataka, to a Telugu-speaking family, Jaggi Vasudev showed an inclination towards nature right from childhood. He began taking yoga lessons from Malladihalli Raghavendra at the age of 13 and regularly practices asanas and pranayama. When he was 25, he went up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, where he had a “spiritual experience”. Six weeks later, the English graduate quit his business and traveled extensively to gain knowledge. A year later he decided to begin teaching yoga and share his experience. He founded Isha Foundation in 1992, which today has a strong presence in the West too. Jaggi conducts several yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Centre, including his flagship Inner Engineering program. He regularly visits universities in India and abroad and is invited to conclaves as well to share his wisdom. In 2007 he participated in the World Economic Forum and spoke on issues ranging from diplomacy, economic development to the environment. He has also been a delegate to the UN Millennium Peace Summit and the World Peace Congress. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government in 2007 for his contributions to social welfare.

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa (1951-present)

Indian Yoga Gurus

Born in Toronto, Canada, Sat Bir Singh Khalsa is a researcher in body mind medicine, specializing in yoga therapy. A Harvard neuroscientist and an expert in the science of yoga, he has investigated yoga’s efficacy in treating conditions such as insomnia, PTSD, anxiety, and chronic stress. He practices the Kundalini style of yoga, which he took up in 1971. He directs the annual IAYT Symposium on Yoga Research and is editor-in-chief of International Journal of Yoga Therapy and chief editor of The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care. In an interview with National Geographic, he said that epigenetics and neuroimaging reveal how the body and brain interact, unraveling the mysteries of yoga’s power.

Famous yoga and wellness retreats in India:

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Published on 21, Jun 2021

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Lulu Raghavan: The brand evangelist who helped build some of India Inc’s most powerful brands

(August 16, 2021) How many of us can claim to love waking up each morning and looking forward to going to work? Every single day, for two decades? Be it to catch a 6 am flight or making it in time for an 8 am meeting? That is exactly how Lulu Raghavan feels about her job as brand evangelist and MD at Landor & Fitch, one of the world’s top branding and design consultancies. With the company for over 21 years now, Raghavan has not just grown with Landor but has also helped it flourish in India with noted clients such as the Tata Group, Mahindra Group, Aditya Birla Group, Axis Bank, Digit Insurance, Delhi Airport, V Guard, and Sony Pictures. Having worked with Landor in the US and UK for seven years, Raghavan moved to India in late 2006 to set up the company’s India office. Over the years, she has become a name to reckon with in the world of branding and design. In 2018, she was invited to be on the design jury of Cannes Lion – the first woman from Landor to do so. She was also featured in several Harvard Business School case studies; especially for her work in rebranding the Taj group of hotels. Raghavan

orked with Landor in the US and UK for seven years, Raghavan moved to India in late 2006 to set up the company’s India office. Over the years, she has become a name to reckon with in the world of branding and design. In 2018, she was invited to be on the design jury of Cannes Lion – the first woman from Landor to do so. She was also featured in several Harvard Business School case studies; especially for her work in rebranding the Taj group of hotels. Raghavan was also invited to Harvard University in 2012 when the case study was being taught for the very first time to a class.

[caption id="attachment_31140" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Lulu Raghavan[/caption]

However, design and branding weren’t always on her mind, she told Global Indian in an exclusive interview. “Although, my mother sensed my inclination quite early on and recommended that I get into image management,” laughs Raghavan, adding that she was initially looking for a job in the banking and consulting sector. But life had other plans; a casual chat with a family friend led her to landing her first job at Ogilvy Consulting in 1997 as a brand consultant for a salary of ₹7,000 per month.

“I loved the job. I was working as R Sridhar’s (advertising veteran and former director of Ogilvy India) assistant and reading books on branding from morning to night. I fell in love with branding; this intangible thing that defines a company. The job taught me so much and Sridhar was very encouraging,” she says.

From Madurai to Bangalore to Mumbai to the world

Born in a Tamil Brahmin family in Madurai, Raghavan spent the first 10 years of her life in Bangalore. She initially studied at Baldwin Girls School before being moved to Jiddu Krishnamurti’s The Valley School in class 3. “This was a different world altogether. Baldwin is a pretty competitive school, but at The Valley School we were competing against ourselves. When I came first in a race, I was awarded an apple; I was quite flabbergasted,” laughs Raghavan. When her family moved to Mumbai in 1987 she joined Queen Mary’s School.

[caption id="attachment_31139" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Lulu Raghavan | Global Indian The first medal Lulu Raghavan ever won in a Tiny Tots race at Baldwin Girls High School; it got her into the spirit of competition.[/caption]

Quite the all-rounder since her school days, Raghavan excelled in both academics and sports. The idea to study abroad was first introduced to her by her mother. “She’d gone to the US for her scholarly studies and came away impressed with their way of education. She wanted me to experience it and encouraged me to move to the US for my higher studies.” So, in 1993 Raghavan enrolled at Davidson College (a premiere liberal arts college) on a full scholarship in North Carolina to study Economics.

Her time at Davidson was defining in many ways: she learnt all about the honor code, about the importance of being original in one’s work, presided over the international student's association, was in the Economics Honors Society and spent six months of her junior year in an exchange program in France living with a French family. “I enjoyed every bit of it. It really shaped my outlook,” she says.

After college when she didn’t land the job she wanted at McKinsey, she decided to return to India. A chat with a family friend led her to landing a job at Ogilvy under R Sridhar; a year later he persuaded her to do her MBA as it was important to add to one’s qualifications. Soon after her MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Raghavan got married to her long-time boyfriend Harsha and the couple relocated to San Francisco in 2000.

New beginnings

It was here that she landed a job with Landor in its naming department. “We had to identify unique corporate product names and my language skills, experience at Ogilvy, and MBA came in handy,” says Raghavan, who then had to wait for six months to move from an H4 visa to an H1B.

Three weeks after she joined Landor in January 2001 the dotcom crash happened and massive layoffs began taking place. “Fortunately, my job was safe; perhaps because I represented the future of the company,” she says, recalling the early days of her career. She spent four years working at Landor, some of them closely with the company’s CEO. When her husband moved to New York, her CEO was more than happy to facilitate her move as well and she continued to work from the company’s Union Square office.

[caption id="attachment_31141" align="aligncenter" width="621"] Lulu Raghavan with her daughters. Photo: Instagram[/caption]

A year later in December 2005, the couple relocated to London and so did Raghavan in her job with Landor. It was here that she was exposed to other nuances of a corporate job such as business development and client management.

“Some of the big projects that I’d worked on from the London office was the rebranding of Jet Airways and Reliance ADAG. I learnt so much here; how pitches are made and how to write proposals. It was extremely fulfilling.”

By 2006 the couple was ready to move again – this time back home to India. But Landor didn’t have an office in the country at the time.

A leader in the making

“They asked me to build an India office,” says Raghavan. “My boss at the time guided me and was incredibly supportive. But he let me do everything myself and take credit for it too.” Some of her first big projects were for Café Coffee Day and the Delhi Airport. “They were such great learning experiences: I learnt how to manage a people’s brand and the airport was our first space branding project.”

How Global Indian do you feel?

Lulu Raghavan, who has spent a number of years living in the US and UK, feels quite like the global citizen in terms of her outlook. Yet, she is firmly rooted to her traditions and Indian upbringing. At work, she is equally comfortable switching between her identities as a Global Indian and believes that her time at Davidson College really helped shape her outlook towards her profession.

More marquee brands - Mahindra, Taj Group, Tata Consumer Products, Axis Bank, and National Stock Exchange - followed. When Raghavan began making inroads into the Indian market, she learnt a few important lessons. “I was a woman in the field and a westernized one at that. But I learnt to wear a sari and adapt myself to the market here. It worked like a charm,” she says. Eventually Landor integrated with Fitch (a retail and experience design consultancy) and Raghavan was soon leading a 100-member team.

A leader in the making

The woman, who has become a doyen in the corporate brand building space, believes that Brand India’s story can be told much better. “Somewhere along the way the diversity, complexity, and paradoxity have been lost. There’s so much depth to Brand India and it all depends on how we unveil its layers,” she says, adding, COVID-19, has given Brand India a huge beating, undoing a lot of positive work done in the last 10 years.

She believes that each individual that goes outside of India is representative of the country and its image.

“Brand India is much more than just campaigns; it goes much deeper than that. Brand India is our people and it has to be built up story by story,” she says.

Giving Back

In the last few years, Raghavan has taken to mentoring and has been keenly teaching people all about the power of brands. She also does pro bono work quite often. “Outside of Landor & Fitch I write about personal branding; that is my way of giving back. I am a champion for personal branding for women.”

Key Takeaways

Have clarity on the unique value you’re providing to stakeholders
Tell your story powerfully across touch points
Brands are much more than logos
Personal branding is important for professional growth
Brand is a valuable asset

Global Indian Impact Analysis

Reading Time: 10 mins

Neelam Jain: Changing lives for India’s transgender community one respectable job at a time

(November 22, 2021) How often have you watched the trans community forced into sex work, or even begging to eke out a living? Not many can step out of their comfort zone to help or even empathise with their misery. The community’s years of study and degrees often come to naught because the society is not ready to accept different gender expressions. A Marwari girl from Chennai decided to step out of her own life to find meaning for their lives. Today, she has transformed the lives of many transgender people with her initiative PeriFerry. Neelam Jain, its founder, decided to chuck her cushy investment banking job and embark on creating an inclusive world for trans people. Jain began by making education and careers accessible for the community and giving them a chance of leading respectable and equal lives. Launched in 2017, PeriFerry helps the trans community, offers training programmes, placements and conducts sensitisation programmes at corporates to promote an inclusive atmosphere. So far, Jain has helped at least 230 trans people get jobs in corporates. She is resolute about changing mindsets, and busting the stigma and misconceptions plaguing the community. Girl with a vision Interestingly, the former financial analyst

full wp-image-16378 aligncenter" src="https://stage.globalindian.com//wp-content/uploads/2021/11/neelam1.jpg" alt="Global Indian Neelam Jain" width="1080" height="498" />

Girl with a vision

Interestingly, the former financial analyst never thought of herself as a social entrepreneur till she decided to quit her job at Goldman Sachs and take a plunge into social enterprise. Born into a Marwari business family, Jain did her Bachelors in commerce from Stella Maris College (Chennai). She landed a job at Goldman Sachs in 2014, and was one among eight chosen from a batch of 100. Moving to Bengaluru as a financial analyst inadvertently put on the path she would choose in life – helping transgenders. It was in the Garden City that she first met members of the trans community at a Pride event. “I was inspired, but like everyone else, I didn’t think too much about it,” she told Global Indian in an exclusive. “A few months later, I participated in an Analyst Impact Fund competition where we could pitch a social cause and the best pitch would be awarded $100,000 to partner with an NGO and work on it,” Neelam adds.

That was when Jain decided to create a pitch for equal opportunities for transgender. people “You could say the basic model for PeriFerry was built during that competition,” she adds. Her interactions and conversations during this time opened her eyes to how the community was one of the most neglected in India. “Investment banking didn’t seem as exciting anymore. I knew I’d be giving up a huge pay cheque, but I truly wanted to work for the transgender community,” says the 27-year-old, who featured in Forbes 30 Under 30. Incidentally, PeriFerry was inspired from the English word periphery, and Jain explains, “We see ourselves as a ferry taking people from the peripheral corners to desired destinations.”

[caption id="attachment_16382" align="aligncenter" width="849"] Global Indian Neelam Jain Neelam with her team[/caption]

In 2016, she quit her job at Goldman Sachs, moved back to Chennai and began volunteering. Along with her friend Steevez Rodriguez, a photographer who had worked extensively with Chennai’s trans community, Jain began spending time with the community, understanding their problems and challenges. By 2017, she decided to launch PeriFerry, a firm that would act as a recruitment agency for members of the transgender community. “We did look to raise funding initially, but nothing clicked. Though the initiative was applauded, nobody wanted to invest in a hitherto unheard-of plan. That was when I decided that PeriFerry would be a social organisation that would not depend on anyone for funding,” she says.

Changing the game

This inclusive objective began by launching a video on YouTube, Would Your Hire Them? which went viral. “It was our attempt to bridge the gap between the two segments of society that were so far apart. Gradually, word spread, and Trishala S and Steevez came on board. Trishala built solid relations with community members, and began training them while Steevez helped with the community network. I worked on bringing in companies to hire trans employees,” she says.

The team had no guide or yardstick to learn from. This on-the-job training enhanced their passion and vision. They basically worked from ground up to build trust in the trans community and give them an entry into the corporate world. The first couple of years were a huge learning curve for Jain herself. She did everything - Counselling, accounts, sales, marketing, etc. Soon, Nishant Agarwal came on board as a co-partner after being inspired with their vision, and he now heads the recruitment division. “In the first year, we had no revenues. We slowly began bringing in revenues by charging corporates; there was no other external funding. It took us 18 months to be able to bring in enough revenue to pay nominal salaries to four people,” says the social entrepreneur who often plays tennis, and picks up instruments which she hopes one day she will master.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqP75y7ha0E[/embed]

Making headway

Jain’s first breakthrough came when ANZ became PeriFerry’s corporate partner a year after its launch. “That was a huge win. It offered us some sort of financial stability, helped us place some trans people in respectable jobs, and basically opened up the entire corporate market. The people we placed became our representatives to corporate India,” recalls Jain.

PeriFerry has also launched a two-month residential training programme in Bengaluru to prepare the community for participation in job fairs and placement programmes. From team-building exercises and digital literacy lessons to polishing communication skills, trainees are guided through a host of courses with mentors including psychologists, HR professionals and expert speakers from various corporates. Simultaneously, Jain and her team also began conducting sensitisation programmes for employees at corporates to encourage an inclusive atmosphere.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTYY2IKsdbg[/embed]

Scripting success

So far, PeriFerry has placed over 230 trans people in the corporate sector in executive-level roles, admin, HR, accounts, operations to even blue-collar jobs like security and housekeeping with companies like ANZ, Accenture, Thoughtworks, Wipro and Walmart.

Neelam has also been working with the corporate sector to ensure that the trans community has access to inclusive policies - medical benefits for gender transition, infrastructure (washrooms), and also helping corporates understand why trans inclusion matters, and business implications of the movement. "The Article 377 judgement was huge, it set things rolling for us as more and more corporates warmed up to the idea of trans inclusion. Even from the trans community perspective, there is now more awareness. Their self-esteem is growing,” says Jain who is now focusing on scaling up operations.

“We’re currently placing 25 people per month in corporate jobs. From next year we hope to step it up to 50. We’re also stepping up our training capacity; right now, there is a very small population of transgenders that is corporate job ready,” she signs off.

Groundbreaking Changes: A first-person account of life before, and after PeriFerry

Ajitha Lakshmi, 24, business associate @ Accenture

Ajitha Lakshmi

"I’d always known I was different. Even as a child, I found it hard to identify with myself. My body was male, but I felt female. I come from a small tribal community in Salem district, Tamil Nadu where there was no place for this disparity. There was nobody I could speak to or express my true gender.

After engineering, I landed a job in a small company, but when my colleagues figured out that I was different, they began ridiculing me. They would tease me for being feminine and it got to a point that I quit within a month. I didn’t know where to go or what to do so I ended up staying home, jobless for over three months. But I couldn’t hold back my true self forever. I wanted to go to North India, in search of a better life, but had no money even to buy a train ticket.

A Google search led me to PeriFerry. I landed in Chennai, called Neelam, and as I waited for her at the train station, I saw trans people begging. That disturbed me. I kept travelling from Chennai to Arakonam and back in my distress. Neelam reassured me, told me to go home and wait to get into a training programme offered by PeriFerry in Bengaluru.

When she called, I packed my bags and left for Bengaluru telling my family that I had gotten a job. At the end of the programme, I landed a job at Accenture as a business operation associate and finally began my professional career in March 2020. I am now discovering equal opportunities. My colleagues are friendly and I am treated like an equal. I earn fairly well and help support my family.

Last year, I finally came out to my family. Though they found it difficult to accept, they are now beginning to come around to the idea of me being a daughter, not a son. Today, I feel like my work and talents are recognised. I can now begin climbing the corporate ladder. I want to be a corporate queen.”

Reading Time: 10 mins

Educated in India, this Afghan comes across Taliban and hopelessness everywhere in Kabul

(August 23, 2021) As Hamid Bahraam stepped outside his house located in Police district 8 (locally known as PD 8) in Kabul last evening, the first thing that caught his attention was a group of armed Taliban militia, patrolling the streets in armored vehicles. He then came across a few children playing outside their homes under the watchful eyes of their family members even as a handful of people including women hurriedly walked past shops and establishments on a largely deserted road. The tension in the air was palpable. "There is nothing unusual about the behavior of the Taliban, at least for now, which makes things on the ground look normal. But this is just the beginning (of Taliban rule). All Afghans fear that the Taliban may go back to its old ways (of brutality and violence)," says the 26-year-old, who quickly walked back home after purchasing a few essentials, the prices of which have shot up since the country fell to the Taliban. [caption id="attachment_7970" align="aligncenter" width="571"] Hamid Bahraam[/caption] It was on July 29 that Hamid arrived in his country from Hyderabad, India when the Taliban was still far away from seizing Kabul. "It was just like any other normal day. Only

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[caption id="attachment_7970" align="aligncenter" width="571"] As he stepped outside his house in Kabul, the first thing that caught Hamid Bahraam's attention was a group of armed Taliban militia. Hamid Bahraam[/caption]

It was on July 29 that Hamid arrived in his country from Hyderabad, India when the Taliban was still far away from seizing Kabul. "It was just like any other normal day. Only that the regular Afghan army and police were patrolling Kabul in their vehicles instead of Taliban," he says, drawing a comparison of how things took a turn for the worse in a matter of days.

Afghanistan plunged into chaos after the Taliban took control of the country's capital on August 15. Like all Afghans, Hamid and his family remained indoors that day, staring at an uncertain future, memories of Taliban brutality coming back to haunt them. All that the Afghans saw from the doors and windows of their houses were several groups of Taliban members criss-crossing the city, all in a celebratory mood.

"People are very scared, especially women. There is panic everywhere and people mostly prefer to stay indoors. I stepped out after four days," informs Hamid, speaking exclusively to Global Indian from Kabul. His father Naquibullah Bahraam is a principal in a government-run school there. It was in 2014 that Hamid first visited Hyderabad to pursue a Bachelor of Arts course in Osmania University. After completion of the course in 2017, he went back to his country only to return to Hyderabad two years later to pursue his MA, which he completed in July this year.

[caption id="attachment_7972" align="aligncenter" width="318"] As he stepped outside his house in Kabul, the first thing that caught Hamid Bahraam's attention was a group of armed Taliban militia. Hamid Bahraam[/caption]

"Before I left Hyderabad, I knew of the tense situation prevailing in my country. But not once did I expect that Kabul would fall to the Taliban and the democratically elected government would be overthrown. In fact, all Afghans were under the impression that it was just another fight (between the Taliban and the Government) and a compromise would be reached soon. None in my country had imagined that Kabul would collapse so swiftly," says Hamid, who worked in Kabul-based Gardez radio as a news presenter between 2017 and 2019. The family also run an institution called Bahraam Public Speaking Centre, where both father and son teach public speaking and English to Afghans of all age groups.

As a child, Hamid has faint memories of the ouster of the Taliban regime way back in 2001. "My parents and relatives have lived under the Taliban regime and they have seen the collapse of peace and security post 2001," he says. The family has even been issued threats by the Taliban. "My father is a social activist, a doctor and also worked in a radio broadcast for some time. The Taliban always has problems with media and social activists. Due to his nature of work, the militia had once threatened my father with dire consequences," recalls Hamid, adding that the Taliban has a history of killing and violence which no Afghan can ever forget.

Having completed his MA, Hamid was looking forward to working in media organizations and had even applied for a few jobs. But he is now a disappointed man. "Right now, I have no option but to wait for the situation to normalize. If my plan to join a media house does not materialize owing to the prevailing situation, I will go back to teaching public speaking and English at my academic centre. Hundreds of Afghans have benefited from the academic centre," he informs.

Originally hailing from Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan, Hamid Bahraam takes pride in the fact that his father is a Tajik, a Persian-speaking ethnic group and his mother a Pashtun. "Pashtuns and Tajiks live together in Paktika which is a very unique composition. I speak both Persian and Pashto fluently," he smiles. In Afghanistan, Tajiks dominate the Afghan army while Pashtuns dominate the Taliban. Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Ask him why, despite the deteriorating situation, he chose to return to his country from India, the youngster informs that his visa was to expire in September this year. "Once I completed my course, there was no legal reason to stay back in Hyderabad. Most importantly, I could not have left my family here by themselves."

Reading Time: 5 mins

Raj Echambadi: Indian American iMBA pioneer and first person of color to helm a 131-year-old American university

It was like being “forged by fire” says Raj Echambadi as he describes his first tryst with the American academia; he stands to take charge as the 10th president of the illustrious Illinois Institute of Technology. The India-born educator will be the first person of color to head the 131-year-old research-focused university. Considered a pioneer in online iMBA which he conceptualized in 2016, Echambadi has also been working with the Indian government to build entrepreneurial hubs in Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati and Utkal University in Odisha. The incident he mentions is an episode from his early academic years in the mid-1990s which is etched in his mind and shaped his outlook towards education. As a young PhD scholar at the University of Houston, Echambadi had thought that the dissertation proposal he’d submitted was pathbreaking. “During a discussion with my mentor, we spent the first five minutes talking about my Indian roots in what seemed like a casual conversation,” he says. “For the next 15 minutes, however, my mentor launched a professional criticism of my dissertation. It was eye-opening. He dissected my dissertation and told me why it was wrong. I was stunned.” “The funniest thing was that after the meeting ended we had coffee and spoke about tennis; just like friends. He made sure I was comfortable with his criticism.” This incident, he says, was demonstrative of the quality of US

PhD scholar at the University of Houston, Echambadi had thought that the dissertation proposal he’d submitted was pathbreaking. “During a discussion with my mentor, we spent the first five minutes talking about my Indian roots in what seemed like a casual conversation,” he says.

“For the next 15 minutes, however, my mentor launched a professional criticism of my dissertation. It was eye-opening. He dissected my dissertation and told me why it was wrong. I was stunned.”

“The funniest thing was that after the meeting ended we had coffee and spoke about tennis; just like friends. He made sure I was comfortable with his criticism.”

This incident, he says, was demonstrative of the quality of US academic dissemination, and the caliber of culturally sensitive faculty members.

From Chennai to the US

[caption id="attachment_4282" align="aligncenter" width="413"] Indian American Raj Echambadi will be the first person of color to helm the 131-year-old Illinois Institute of Technology. Raj Echambadi with his friend Ramesh Kumar during his MBA days in India[/caption]

Born in Chennai, Echambadi graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University in 1989. He went on to work as a sales executive at Castrol in Chennai before moving to the US to do his PhD in Marketing from the University of Houston. He then went to work at the University of Central Florida for 11 years, before joining the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was during his time here that Echambadi conceptualized and launched the first-of-its-kind MOOC-based online MBA (iMBA as it is popularly known) in partnership with Coursera. The iMBA has now reached over 80 million people around the world and is considered one of the most disruptive and breakthrough programs in graduate MBA.

Following this, Echambadi was appointed the Duncan Family Dean at D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University in Boston.

In pursuit of excellence

Raj Echambadi belongs to a generation of Indians who migrated to the US in pursuit of excellence in diverse fields such as academia, medicine, and technology. Their success stories, in turn, sculpted India’s repute in the global order. Asked what worked for the diaspora, he says: “When I came here, there was no safety net. We had to survive. And, the Indian middle class’ emphasis on the value of education played a role too.” This is precisely what the Indian-American educator wants to impart to the next breed of aspirants.

[caption id="attachment_4283" align="aligncenter" width="569"] Indian American Raj Echambadi will be the first person of color to helm the 131-year-old Illinois Institute of Technology. Raj with his brother Rajnarayan and cousin Sreedevi in the US in 2013[/caption]

The democratization of education by making it both affordable and accessible has been central to his initiatives such as the iMBA program at the University of Illinois – which scaled up the institution’s outreach and gave access to global learners. The breakthrough iMBA project brought down the cost of the two-year program from $100,000 to just $22,000. A significant number of Indians from both inside and outside the US benefited from it.

Besides, the academic research expert’s initiatives – through collaborations between American institutions and the Andhra Pradesh government – to teach entrepreneurial skills to high school and college students are beginning to bear fruits. “The Indian government has invited us after seeing our pilot project in Andhra Pradesh. I’m hoping this model will benefit over 10,000 students by 2025.”

Hoping to make a similar impact in his new role at Illinois Institute of Technology from August onwards, he reveals the recipe for the success of any project.

“Start small, dream big, experiment, iterate, and scale-up very fast,” he says.

As a parting shot, Echambadi ends on a somewhat philosophical note on his continuing educational endeavors and giving back to the global community. “Action is thy duty, fruit is not my concern,” quoting Bhagavad Gita.

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Reading Time: 5 mins

Homai Vyarawalla: Meet India’s first female photojournalist who broke gender stereotypes

"Looking through the camera, focusing on a subject, and isolating it from its surroundings. These were the things that attracted me. The viewfinder of the camera attracted me to photography." This quote by Homai Vyarawalla is the testimony of her love for the art of photography. Picture this: It is the early 1900s. A woman in a sari takes up a Rolleiflex camera and cycles across the city to click photographs. Some men snigger at her, others completely ignore her for she is no authority on the subject or the object of her fascination—her camera. But she sticks her ground and captures moments and emotions on her lens that speak to millions of people. This is the story of Homai Vyarawalla, India's first woman photojournalist. She broke into the male-dominated profession of photography and proved her mettle with every frame that she composed. Here's this Global Indian's fascinating journey. A meeting that changed her life Born in 1913 in Gujarat to a Parsi family, Vyarawalla's childhood was mostly spent on the move as her father was an actor with a travelling theatre group. It was only later that the family settled in Bombay where she completed her studies. Owing to

mily, Vyarawalla's childhood was mostly spent on the move as her father was an actor with a travelling theatre group. It was only later that the family settled in Bombay where she completed her studies. Owing to her humble background, she often shifted houses and had to walk long distances to reach her school. Despite the social prejudices and barriers prevalent in those times, Vyarwalla was keen to finish her matriculation at a time when she was the only girl in a class of 36 students. A young Vyarawalla then enrolled herself in St Xavier's College for a degree in Economics, after which she opted for a diploma from the prestigious JJ School of Art.

It was here that she met Maneckshaw Vyarawalla, a freelance photographer, in 1926: the man who changed the course of her life. He not only introduced her to the art of photography when he gifted her a Rolleiflex camera but also married her in 1941.

The camera became Vyarawalla's object of obsession as she started capturing her peers at college and Bombay in general through her lens.

[caption id="attachment_7746" align="aligncenter" width="463"] Homai Vyarawalla with her still camera[/caption]

The initial struggle

It was under Maneckshaw, who was then working with The Illustrated Weekly of India and The Bombay Chronicle, that Vyarawalla started her career in photography as an assistant. Her initial black-and-white photos captured the essence of everyday life in Bombay and were published under the name of Maneckshaw Vyarawalla as Homai was then unknown and a woman. The publishers believed that Maneckshaw's gender gave the photos more credibility, reported the Homegrown.

This oblivion on the part of men who failed to recognize her potential was a blessing in disguise for this Parsi woman. At a time when women were not taken seriously as photojournalists by men, their ignorance helped Vyarawala take the best pictures without any interference.

"People were rather orthodox. They didn't want the women folk to be moving around all over the place and when they saw me in a sari with the camera, hanging around, they thought it was a very strange sight. And in the beginning they thought I was just fooling around with the camera, just showing off or something and they didn't take me seriously. But that was to my advantage because I could go to the sensitive areas also to take pictures and nobody will stop me. So I was able to take the best of pictures and get them published. It was only when the pictures got published that people realized how seriously I was working for the place," said Vyarawalla.

Creating history through her photos

The World War II and the events that followed gave Vyarawalla many opportunities to capture its political consequences in India. It was a time when women were coming out in the public domain as they played agents of change, and the photographer in her captured every event in its true essence. Soon she began to draw attention with her body of work which was published under the pseudonym Dalda 13.

In 1942, she and her husband were commissioned by the British Information Services as photographers which took them to Delhi. The capital remained home to the Vyarawallas for almost three decades. Running their business from a studio in Connaught Place, the Vyarwallas captured history in the making. This was the beginning of Vyarwalla's long innings as the first female photojournalist in India.

[caption id="attachment_7747" align="aligncenter" width="494"] Homai Vyarawalla clicking Indira Gandhi during an event.[/caption]

Clad in a sari with a Rolleiflex by her side, Vyarawalla cycled across Delhi to capture moments that would define the contours of 20th Century history. Her camera, which documented the last few days of the British empire and birth of a new nation, reflected the euphoria of Independence along with the unresolved issues that came with it. From photographing leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru to capturing independent India's first flag being hoisted at the Red Fort, Vyarawalla gave India some of its most iconic photographs. The unique opportunity of capturing intimate political moments was something that she earned with integrity, dignity and perseverance.

By the early late 40s and mid 50s, Vyarawalla's demure persona was present at every significant soiree, documenting historical events and capturing big names like Martin Luther King Jr, Jacqueline Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II.

Vyarawalla had become so popular that Life Magazine approached her in 1956 to photograph the 14th Dalai Lama when he entered India for the first time through Nathu La. With a camera on her back, Vyarawalla took a train to Darjeeling and after a five-hour car drive, she reached Gangtok to take the perfect shot. But it was her courage to travel alone with no place to stay in times when women's safety was an issue was a testament of her strength and dedication to her work.

1956: The Dalai Lama enters India through a high mountain pass. He is followed by the Panchen Lama. pic.twitter.com/W2yIZC0zqZ

— #IndianHistory (@RareHistorical) December 3, 2015

The photographer who made Nehru her muse

Vyarawalla had photographed many eminent personalities but none were as captivating to the photographer's eye than Jawaharlal Nehru, who was her muse of sorts. She found Nehru a photogenic person and captured the many phases of his life. Such was the trust that Nehru let her capture him even in his unguarded moments. One of them led to the iconic photo of Nehru lighting a cigarette for the British Commissioner's wife, while one dangles from his own mouth.

She even captured Nehru in his last moments. "When Nehru died, I felt like a child losing its favorite toy, and I cried, hiding my face from other photographers," she said.

[caption id="attachment_7743" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Jawaharlal Nehru's photo clicked by Homai Vyarawalla Homai Vyarawalla clicked this photograph of Pandit Nehru[/caption]

After creating some profound and iconic moments through her lens, Vyarawalla hung up her boots in 1970 shortly after the death of her husband. With yellow journalism picking up, Vyarawalla bid adieu to her career.

"It was not worth it anymore. We had rules for photographers; we even followed a dress code. We treated each other with respect, like colleagues. But then, things changed for the worst. They were only interested in making a few quick bucks; I didn't want to be part of the crowd anymore," she added.

After giving up her 40-year-old career, Vyarawalla gave her collection of photographs to the Delhi-based Alkazi Foundation of the Arts. Later, the Padma Vibhushan-awardee moved to Pilani with her son. It was in January 2012 that she breathed her last after suffering a long battle with lung disease.

Making a name for oneself at a time when women were relegated to the confines of the house, Homai Vyarawalla gave the world a perfect example of a woman who was ready to take on the world with her talent.

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