Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveBend it like Bhuta: US footballer Mia is kicking winning goals

Bend it like Bhuta: US footballer Mia is kicking winning goals

Written by: Team GI Youth

(December 16, 2022) As the FIFA fever reaches its peak, let us introduce you to a young footballer who has carved a niche for herself in the sports world at a very young age. Pittsburgh-based Mia Bhuta, recently scripted history by becoming the first Indian-American footballer to represent the USA in a FIFA World Cup game at any level. “I am an Indian girl living her dream and the girls here need to believe in themselves 100 percent. like I do. I want to do everything possible to inspire them to follow their dreams,” says the 16-year-old footballer, who dedicated her first international goal to her grandfather, who is, according to Mia, “her biggest supporter.”

Mia Bhuta first Indian-American footballer to represent the USA in a FIFA event

The footballer, who is also the current co-captain of the USA team, is one of the most experienced players on the team and has been playing the sport since she was quite young. Inspired by the Argentinian footballer, Lionel Messi, the youngster is currently pursuing a science course at the prestigious Stanford University, and hasn’t made up her mind if she wants to become a professional footballer going forward.

Mia and her team after winning the cup

Mia’s father, who was born in Mumbai and grew up in Rajkot, Gujarat, was a passionate tennis player, who moved to the USA at an early age to explore more opportunities. Speaking about her father, the young footballer said, “My father grew up in Gujarat, and moved to the USA as he was a keen tennis player and wanted to get better coaching. He was 16 years old at the time.” Interestingly, Mia found herself in her ancestral country soon after turning 16, to play in the World Cup held in Odisha. “For me to be here in India at 16 following my dream to be at a World Cup – it is special to me,” the Global Indian said.

Making it big in the soccer world

She was merely five when during an FC Barcelona match, she heard her father cheering for the GOAT, Messi. Completely mesmerised by the football legend, Mia started following him too and would try to copy his moves with her ball in the house’s backyard. When her father noticed Mia’s enthusiasm for the sport, he enrolled her in a local academy, where the youngster learned the nuances of the game. “Messi was the first soccer player that I looked up to. I was passionate about the game, but my parents are one of the main reasons why I’ve been able to make it here. They’ve sacrificed so much for me to be here, and honestly, if it wasn’t for them, I know I would not be here. My parents have done so much just to help with my development,” she said during a press interaction.

Interestingly, the young footballer made her FIFA debut against India’s U-17 team as the two sides are in Group A of the World Cup. However, India, the host nation, never stood a chance as the U.S. poured on goal after goal in an 8-0 rout. The midfielder scored the eighth and final goal in the 62nd minute, making her the first Indian-American to also score for the nation at any World Cup. “Playing for the World Cup is any player’s dream, and I am so excited that I was also able to score in my first match itself. The feeling was incredible, and the crowd was amazing. That goal was extra special to me. My grandfather couldn’t be here tonight because he just had a bypass surgery, and he’s recovering in the hospital,” the champion said after winning the match.

Speaking about her opponent, the Indian team, she said, “India has so much potential. There’s so much talent here. The world needs to invest in it more. They need to believe in young girls and give them opportunities to succeed. And I think they can go far. I hope to be an inspiration for the Indian team and all the young girls here. I hope that when they come to see us play, they can recognise the potential for their own story. I want them to dream big and know that if they work hard and have a real passion, they can achieve anything in their lives regardless of what society may say.”

Still connected to her roots, Mia also shared that her life journey has been heavily inspired by her ancestral connections. “I think that the Indian culture has had a real influence on me and my life. When I heard the stories of my father and other Indians who wanted to achieve more in life, the values of hard work, commitment to education and sport as well as the entrepreneurial spirit came out again and again. My Indian heritage taught me to have these values deep inside me and I think that this is the reason why I was such a dreamer, and I believe that regardless of where I’m from or what the circumstances are, I can achieve anything,” the footballer said.

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Published on 16, Dec 2022

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Nebula Space Organisation: These students are building India’s first Gamma-Ray CubeSat to study black holes

(August 28, 2024) In 2021, at the age of 16, Snehadeep Kumar spent the lockdown trawling Discord, looking for like-minded people to join his space tech startup. At the time, the teenager's mission was to build the world's smallest telescope. Three years later, he has altered his goal, but his mission remains the same - to stay on the frontiers of cutting-edge space research. Snehadeep is the co-founder of the Nebula Space Organization, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, an Honorable Kentucky Colonel and a Young Member of the New York Academy of Sciences. The Nebula team is currently working on building India's first gamma base cube sat. Cubesats are a class of nanosatellites, usually measuring 10x10x10 cms. Now, the development of CubeSats is an industry unto itself, as they provide a cost-friendly platform for scientific investigations. "Satellites usually cost anywhere between $75 million. A CubeSat reduces costs by about 90 percent," Snehadeep tells Global Indian, holding up a model of a CubeSat to demonstrate. In 2010, ISRO launched the AstroSat, built with a budget of $50 million. The satellite, which was roughly the size of a room, was searching for gamma ray bursts to understand how black holes

, which was roughly the size of a room, was searching for gamma ray bursts to understand how black holes are formed. "Now, we're attempting to do the same thing with a CubeSat, which will cost only Rs 10 lakh," he explains.

The Nebula team has developed a proof of concept, which they have presented at ISRO. "We were one of two CubeSat based teams selected by ISRO for the National Space Science Symposium," Snehadeep says. They have also been selected to attend the International Astronautical Congress 2024, to be held in Italy this year.

[caption id="attachment_38992" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Snehadeep Kumar, co-founder, Nebula Space Organisation, is attempting to build the smallest CubeSat[/caption]

For over a decade, ISRO has been supportive of students in space tech, and welcomed their innovations. In 2010, ISRO launched STUDSAT, a CubeSat designed by students. The project had been conceptualised and executed by undergraduate students across the country. The picosatellite was launched on July 12, 2010, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. At the time, the objective was for students to get hands-on experience in space missions, and they were given autonomy with the design and fabrication of the picosatellite. It was also the smallest satellite launched indigenously by an Indian organization.

Growing Nebula

What started as an online group has come a long way. "When I started in October 2021, I had to work with an online team, but it's not possible to run a space tech startup that way," Snehadeep admits. At the time, they wanted to build the world’s smallest, functional space telescope, and were also studying the Milankovitch Cycles (changes in climate caused by the Earth’s movements).

His fortunes changed when he began his undergrad, at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in Bhubaneswar. There, he had the opportunity to build a team, and also met Mohit Kumar Nayak, who is the Managing Director of Nebula. "I have always wanted to explore space and space tech, since my childhood days when I would spend nights in my father's village in Odisha looking at the stars," says Mohit. Now, he's responsible for growing the business itself, and spends his time attending conferences and networking with potential investors.

"Nebula is in the growing phase, we have done the theory and the research and we are preparing for the assembling and manufacturing part," Mohit explains. Their aim is to begin building the protype in October 2024, which will go through three rounds of testing.

"The first round of testing is with a hydrogen balloon. Then the prototype will be sent to a private testing unit. The third phase is approaching bigger agencies who can deploy our satellite in outer space," Snehadeep explains.

When science caught his fancy

Snehadeep's talent for science surfaced early - by the age of eight, in fact. His parents, keen to stoke his curiosity, subscribed to several student newspapers like Times NIE, which he read cover to cover. “I would read about science and scientific experiments and be completely fascinated by it all, also films like Interstellar and Inception, and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet inspired me,” says the Indian teen scientist. His father works at SAIL, and his mother is a homemaker.

[caption id="attachment_38993" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The Nebula team[/caption]

In third grade, an astute science teacher at his school DAV Model School, Durgapur, Soma Ghosh, noticed Snehadeep’s inclinations and took it upon herself to encourage him. “She asked me to participate in a science competition - Intel IRIS,” says the lad who grew up in Durgapur, Bengal. With her help, he built a functioning electromagnetic circuit, connected to a bell. “She taught me how to conduct a project, and write about it,” he adds. In Class 9, another mentor, Sushmita Chandra, a science teacher, cemented his knowledge – he worked on three projects with her.

That year, he began looking into trapping excess water from the soil. “Roots don’t absorb all the water, so where does the rest go? Can we save it? I placed a device that comprised a filtration tank, and a containment tank - water goes into the container, then into the filter for purifying,” says the Indian teen scientist, of the filtration tank which contained moringa seeds, a natural purifier. “We tested the water, and it was fit to drink. SRM University funded the project. I also began thinking of publishing this in a journal,” he adds. Another project involved creating electricity out of carbon monoxide released from cars – creating a rechargeable hybrid battery.

The perils of publishing

Getting published is tough, the Indian teen scientist found out. He approached Nature.com and Scientific American, and was turned down. “I also learned that we need to pay to have our articles published. Besides, journals like Scientific American accept submissions only from PhD candidates, or people with undergraduate degrees,” the Indian teen scientist says.

By this time, Snehadeep was already in communication with some of the world’s top scientists - Dr Tom Welton, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London and the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gerard ‘t Hooft, who, “likes to chat with students. He would send me practice papers to solve,” smiles the Indian teen scientist, adding, “I have always been interacting with scientists, Nobel Laureates, to discuss problems in maths and physics."

Always on the lookout for new programmes to do, new things to learn, normal teen activities are much too passe for him. “I received an acceptance from the Oxford summer programme but won't be able to attend because of dates,” he mulls. The Indian teen scientist is also part of the Asteroid Search by Nasa’s Astronomers Without Borders, an initiative through which citizen scientists get the chance to make original astronomical discoveries.

Snehadeep's achievements:

Received a Rs 56 lakh scholarship from Lifology, to pursue a bachelor’s degree from select universities across the world.
Top 10 from India by Environcentre Foundation in 2021, for his project “Coagulated water filter and purifier.”
Silver medal in the SRM University Mission Invention. The country's biggest science fair
A Young Fellow of Harvard’s CYES. The Harvard's Entrepreneurship Society, with a very selective procedure
Immerse Education Cambridge Summer Camp in 2020 and Oxford Summer Camp in 2022
A young member of the prestigious New York Academy of Sciences, which selects 1,000 students from over 2 million entries.

Follow Snehadeep Kumar on LinkedIn

Electroshoe to the rescue: How innovator Siddharth Mandala’s device keeps women safe

(April 23, 2022) He was 12 when the infamous Nirbhaya rape case shook the nation in 2012. People took to the streets asking for justice, and his mom was one among them. Curious about the protests and confused about the word rape, Siddharth Mandala joined his mom for one of the protests. “A 40-year-old woman came up to me, and told me not to be like rapists. I didn’t even know what rape meant back then. This was a catalyst for me. I ended up surfing the internet, asking my friends and teachers to get a grasp on this concept called rape. Understanding the gravity of the issue, I decided to do everything in my capacity to prevent sexual assault,” Siddharth tells Global Indian. This awareness led to the birth of Electroshoe, a small badge that can be clipped onto any footwear, or worn as a ring or pendant and can be easily activated during any threatening situation by pressing. “It pulls out two sharp pointers, mimicking stun gun’s mechanism, and pierces through clothing, and even skin to electrocute the attacker,” explains Siddharth who took two years to build a working prototype; and another three years to create a market-friendly

gh clothing, and even skin to electrocute the attacker,” explains Siddharth who took two years to build a working prototype; and another three years to create a market-friendly product by interviewing over 500 women across India and California.

[caption id="attachment_15377" align="aligncenter" width="478"] Siddharth Mandala[/caption]

The Hyderabad born and raised reveals Electroshoe activates an alarm sound to alert nearby police stations and sends location to family members. “It can even sense angst in a conversation, and can raise alarm,” adds the entrepreneur. With a built-in solar plate, it recharges itself when exposed to sunlight. “The idea was that it should be something that women can carry with them easily all the time,” adds the 21-year-old.

An incident caused a shift

Born in 2000 to a businessman father and a criminal lawyer mother (now a homemaker), Siddharth loved to build things as a kid. And he found time to pursue his interest in his growing years. But the Nirbhaya rape case pushed him to put his innovative side to better use, and that’s how Electroshoe came into existence. But it was an uphill climb with many obstacles in the path. He taught himself programming and coding with the help of mentors from Linkedin and social media. While his prototype failed 17 times, he also faced electrocution twice. But Siddharth never gave up.

But things started to shift when he moved to the US to pursue further studies. “I grew up reading about startups in the Silicon Valley and wanted to be a part of that environment. But I realised it was more about finance and investment,” reveals Siddharth. Around the same time, he met Zach Latta, founder of the hack club, who told him that San Francisco was the place to be for his startup. “I dropped out of my college in California and lived homeless to fundraise for Electroshoe. My parents sold their house in India to send me to college in America. Hence, I didn’t tell them. I used to go to meetups and pitches for free food, where I tried to convince as many people as possible to help me out," reveals the young innovator who didn’t find much support from investors.

[caption id="attachment_15372" align="aligncenter" width="847"] Electroshoe[/caption]

An uphill task

But that didn't deter Siddharth who tried making “shoe attachments from greeting card sound chips that make a sound when you step on them” and tried to sell them in San Francisco. But he didn't know where he could meet women. “I tried standing outside Starbucks and selling them to women. That did not work. I realised that only two types of people will listen to me: My parents, friends, and people who are interested in me. So I went on dating apps. I’d go on dates and somewhere in the conversation would show the product and sell it to them. This is where we found the first 50 users,” reveals Siddharth who returned to India and worked on his product.

Siddharth, who is pursuing a degree in international relations and computer science from Claremont Mckenna College, spent six years turning a prototype into a product “that has gone through almost 30 iterations.” It is no secret that electric shock can often cause internal damage, even leading to cardiac arrest or trauma. However, Siddharth reveals, “We spent years creating the exact amount of voltage to ampere ratio that electrocutes lethally but not enough to kill a person." But he had to face a blow ahead of its launch owing to the Covid 19 pandemic. “We were very close to partnering with Telangana police but Covid first wave kicked in,” says the boy who has branched out his personal safety company to real estate and crypto.

[caption id="attachment_15376" align="aligncenter" width="631"] Siddharth Mandala working on Electroshoe[/caption]

Innovator-turned-activist

Apart from being an innovator and entrepreneur, Siddharth is also an activist who started a nonprofit Cognizance Welfare initiative with his friend Abhishek to spread awareness about rape. “Together we filled over 50 potholes in Hyderabad, we made underprivileged children build inexpensive GPS trackers to track their younger siblings and prevent human trafficking, we even helped a California-based non-profit adopt a village called Kanigiri in Andhra Pradesh and helped them build libraries and infrastructure,” beams Siddharth with pride, adding, “We even built an education class module and spent three months travelling to different cities educating young children about sexual assault and how to detect it very early.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMck9K6D15o

Siddharth, who has come a long way, advices youngsters to “get started and build something already. Even if it’s broken, miscalculated, and consumes most of your time, do not worry. These things usually take time, however, the key is to put something out and let the world see it and show you the path.”

An innovator at heart, he has designed a hardware wallet and a mobile app that can protect people, and their funds safe in the crypto space. "When I was in California, people in the NFT and crypto space were being kidnapped and beaten to share their private crypto keys. Once shared, even police can't trace down the funds. So the wallet acts like additional security feature," concludes Siddharth who loves working out in his free time.

Follow Siddharth Mandala on Linkedin

Reading Time: 5 min

Rohan Kalia: Indian-American teen wins President’s Scholarship for glaucoma detection device

(August 25, 2023) It was after one of Rohan Kalia's family members was diagnosed with glaucoma that the Indian-American teenager began researching an affordable technology that could be used for early detection. A sophomore at Wheeler High School in Marietta, the 17-year-old found that glaucoma ranks as the second most prominent cause of irreversible blindness on a global scale. The startling fact prompted him to look for an affordable solution in the form of a device that can accurately diagnose the condition. This gave birth to EyePal, a portable device that can detect glaucoma with 95 percent accuracy. The invention won the teenager the 2023 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) President's Scholarship, which comes with a prize of $10,000. Glaucoma is an eye disease involving the degradation of the optic nerve that carries visual information, leading to a gradual loss of vision. If not detected early, it can lead to some degree of permanent blindness. The condition is detected from images taken of the retinal fundus (the back surface of the eye's interior) during a standard examination by an opthalmologist. During his research, Rohan found that a person's socioeconomic condition impacts the diagnosis of glaucoma. "I learned that

oma. "I learned that there's a huge disparity in eye care treatment across the world," Rohan said, adding, "Diagnosis and prevention of glaucoma is not accessible."

[caption id="attachment_32712" align="aligncenter" width="596"] Rohan Kalia[/caption]

Moreover, he discovered that people in rural areas are worst affected as many individuals face difficulty in accessing glaucoma testing due to a shortage of eye doctors and testing centers, coupled with the expensive equipment, absence of health insurance, and high-test costs. Understanding the severity of the condition, Rohan knew he had to find a solution. Explaining the working of EyePal, he said, "The EyePal uses a quality camera, a Raspberry Pi minicomputer, machine-learning technology, and a mobile app. The camera takes photos of the fundus and sends them to a mobile device that can be examined by a specialist. EyePal showed 95 percent accuracy when tested on sets of fundus images."

Apart from its accuracy, the device's portability is yet another plus point as it can be employed in rural medical centres and health clinics as opposed to the standalone specialised equipment that can be used only in a doctor's office or vision testing center. "The device costs less than $100," Rohan said, adding, "It's 50 times cheaper than the average price of ophthalmology equipment, in addition to being highly portable. What I did was create this new ensemble-based system of diagnosis."

The invention won him the President's Scholarship, which refers to as a "nice surprise." Moreover, EyePal was presented at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May in Dallas, Texas.

The inventor, who loves creating solutions and plans to work in the field of research, advices future engineers to keep going despite the obstacles. "In an engineering project, you're going to face times you want to give up, but keep persevering. Pick a project topic that you really like,” the Global Indian says, adding, "When you’re really interested in the topic, it will give you the motivation to keep pushing through."

How Indian teen scientist Snehadeep K started the world’s first student-run space org & scientific journal

(March 12, 2022) At the age of 17, as most kids struggle with board exams, Indian teen scientist Snehadeep Kumar founded and continues to run The Aurora Academic Journal, a platform for students to publish. In October 2021, he founded the Nebula Space Organisation, the world's first space organisation run by students. It's an ambitious project, one that involves creating a floating settlement on Mars and caught the attention of Harvard University, resulting in a collaboration. He now has high aspirations of building the world’s smallest space telescope too. As he juggles his projects with his own research, the budding young Indian scientist is busy trying to decide at which University he can begin his scientific career. [caption id="attachment_12384" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Snehadeep Kumar[/caption] How a journal became the crux of knowledge When he said he wanted to reach out to the world’s top scientists to support The Aurora Academic Journal, Snehadeep was met with skepticism from friends and peers. He gave it a go anyway, dashing off emails to Bill Gates, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Peter Ratcliff, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, Fields Medal Winner Edward Witten, the

world’s top scientists to support The Aurora Academic Journal, Snehadeep was met with skepticism from friends and peers. He gave it a go anyway, dashing off emails to Bill Gates, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Peter Ratcliff, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, Fields Medal Winner Edward Witten, the legendary anthropologist and primatologist Jane Goodall and Nobel Prize winner Dr Akira Yoshino, who developed the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery.

The initial response was as they feared – lukewarm. “We weren’t getting replies,” recalls the Indian teen scientist. In the end, persistence won the day. “I kept at it, I sent emails every day, telling them about our journal and what we hoped to do. One day, the responses began to arrive,” says Snehadeep Kumar in an interview with Global Indian. The celebrity testimonials are on display at the bottom of their website.

The Aurora Academic Journal takes entries from all over the world, across disciplines. Snehadeep stresses on the latter - there is more than just science. The website gets 500 hits a day, with interviews with Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, Nobel laureate in chemistry and Dr. Tom Welton, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

When science caught his fancy

[caption id="attachment_12393" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Snehadeep with the project that started it all[/caption]

When experiments need publishing

The venerable halls of Cambridge, Oxford and the Imperial College, London, are his deepest desire but “there are financial issues,” he admits. Even Ludwig Max Institute of Technology in Germany, known for its physics research in the fields of atomics and astrophysics, is on his coveted list.

When research led to discoveries

In 2021, Snehadeep met other scientifically inclined children through his favourite social media platform, Discord. “I decided to start my own journal to help brilliant kids with original research who cannot afford to pay for publishing, get a fillip,” explains the Indian teen scientist. Reaching out to friends across the globe through Discord, soon he had a team in place. The Aurora Academic Journal, an interdisciplinary online magazine for students to publish research, was born. “We have 63 members in all, and 10 on the executive team,” he smiles.

[caption id="attachment_12394" align="aligncenter" width="680"] The Moon, August 13, 2021. Shot by Jasa Rebula for the Nebula Space Organisation[/caption]

In October 2021, Snehadeep co-founded the Nebula Space Organisation, the first space organisation run entirely by students. “We would like to build the world’s smallest, functional space telescope. If all goes well, we would like to launch it by 2023-24,” says the Indian teen scientist. The team is also studying the Milankovitch Cycles (changes in climate caused by the Earth’s movements), and hopes to apply its principles on Mars. “We’re looking into what it will take to create a floating settlement on Mars,” he explains. The Nebula Space Organisation is now collaborating with Harvard University, working with students and faculty from various departments.

Teen-tastic achievements

Received a Rs 56 lakh scholarship from Lifology, to pursue a bachelor’s degree from select universities across the world.
Top 10 from India by Environcentre Foundation in 2021, for his project “Coagulated water filter and purifier.”
Silver medal in the SRM University Mission Invention. The country's biggest science fair
A Young Fellow of Harvard’s CYES. The Harvard's Entrepreneurship Society, with a very selective procedure
Immerse Education Cambridge Summer Camp in 2020 and Oxford Summer Camp in 2022
A young member of the prestigious New York Academy of Sciences, which selects 1,000 students from over 2 million entries.

Follow Snehadeep Kumar on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 6 min

Maria Thattil: The Indian-origin beauty queen who is one of Australia’s boldest voices

(June 23, 2023) In 2020, Indian-origin Maria Thattil captivated the world by becoming Miss Universe Australia, one of very few ladies of colour to achieve this feat. Since then, she has fervently utilized her platform to advocate for empowerment, inclusion, and equality. A prominent South-Asian Australian media personality, writer, speaker, and founder of the Mind with Me podcast series, she is considered one of Australia’s boldest voices. Identifying as queer, the former beauty queen from an immigrant background, intimately understands the challenges of grappling with a sense of belonging. Recently, Maria launched her book Unbounded which is a memoir and self-help guide combined. She courageously shares her personal journey, narrating poignant stories of resilience in the face of racism, sexism, financial hardships, intergenerational trauma, homophobia, and mental health struggles. Throughout the narrative of her experiences, Maria has steadfastly clung to hope, nurturing the belief that trials can be transformed into sources of strength and positive influence. [caption id="attachment_31356" align="aligncenter" width="375"] Maria Thattil[/caption] Full of excitement amidst an enthusiastic audience at her book launch she said, “Life is more than what we know. It is what our imagination can conceive. I cannot wait for ‘Unbounded’ to be out in the world

mental health struggles. Throughout the narrative of her experiences, Maria has steadfastly clung to hope, nurturing the belief that trials can be transformed into sources of strength and positive influence.

[caption id="attachment_31356" align="aligncenter" width="375"] Maria Thattil[/caption]

Full of excitement amidst an enthusiastic audience at her book launch she said, “Life is more than what we know. It is what our imagination can conceive. I cannot wait for ‘Unbounded’ to be out in the world because it’s going to inspire everyone to live up to all that they are.”

Amplifying underrepresented voices

Maria, who has devoted her career to advocating for societal change and amplifying underrepresented voices, draws upon her educational background in psychology and management, as well as her training in neuro-coaching to come up with her debut book.

She has presented a transformative path highlighting active personal growth, unwavering self-love, and liberation. Through her words of wisdom as an author she has attempted to empower readers to embrace fearlessness and embark on a journey of self-discovery to create positive change in their lives and communities. “It’s so much of my personal story but it’s more than that. It’s an active guide for people to learn how to manifest a life beyond limits. It’s a call to action,” the Global Indian said in an interview with an Australian TV channel after the launch of her book. The chapter titles are all verbs, meant to encourage people to take action to change their lives for the better.

The third-culture kid

The youngster calls herself ‘the third culture kid’ - influenced by Indian roots in a western society. “I belong here and at the same time, I strongly resonate with my Indian roots. I have found a balance between the two. It is not either-or for me. This is who I am and it is unique,” she had said in an interview after being crowned Miss Universe Australia 2020.

[caption id="attachment_31357" align="aligncenter" width="417"] Maria with her family when she was small[/caption]

The Indian lineage

Maria’s parents had migrated from India to Australia in the early 90s. She was born there, in Melbourne. While her father is from Kochi, Kerala, her mom is from Kolkata, West Bengal. When she migrated, her entire family migrated with her. This gave an opportunity to Maria and her brother to grow up with a large family of uncles, aunts and cousins, spending all their weekends together, getting a good taste of a typical Indian set-up.

Maria remains connected to India as her father’s family still stays in Kerala. They have travelled to India to meet the family.

The mental health crisis

Growing up, she felt a strong need to fit in with her peers at school. It took Maria some time to accept her identity. “I went through a phase during my teenage and early 20s, where I tried hard to mask elements from my culture to fit in," she said. It was the time when she went through a mental health crisis. As a shy, introverted kid, she experienced frustrations about feeling that she didn’t belong. Racism and bullying at school were difficult to handle.

She struggled with a sense of pain and anger, and projected it onto her parents which now makes her feel sad. Giving an account of this heart-breaking phase of her life in the book was the most painful part of writing. “As a child, I felt it was easier to blame my parents than face up to the bigger picture,” she said.

However, as she grew up Maria realised that to feel happy it’s better to focus on who she really was. “I started to just be who I am — an Indian-Australian girl whose culture is a blend of both eastern and western ideals,” she shared.

[caption id="attachment_31358" align="aligncenter" width="378"] Maria Thatill with her debut book - Unbounded[/caption]

Another painful experience while writing her debut book was reliving the financial insecurity that the family faced while Maria was growing up. Before coming up with the final version of the book, she showed it to her parents asking them whether they would like to omit anything.

They were encouraging enough to allow her present the facts as they were. “There are going to be families who have experienced what we have and kids who lived and walked in your shoes. If they can pick up the book and realise that such a situation is not permanent and doesn’t define the rest of their lives, then put it out there,” her parents said.

The queer identity

In a chapter titled ‘Shed’, Maria talks about shedding the beliefs that didn’t serve her. Coming out as bisexual to traditional Indian parents was not easy for her. It was challenging to explain them who she was.

“I didn’t expect them to understand everything initially as they are from a totally different generation and cultural context. However, they have come a long way and are proud of me and my brother who identifies as gay,” said Maria. She is also the Olay ambassador for their ‘Glow Your Own way’ campaign which touches on LGBTQIA+ themes.

[caption id="attachment_31360" align="aligncenter" width="435"] Maria honours key dates in history that have progressed LGBTQIA+ rights[/caption]

Advocate of diversity and inclusion

At the time of winning the crown Maria worked as a talent acquisition professional armed with degrees in psychology and management. As part of the hiring team, she strongly advocated representation.

“I have always championed inclusion and not just limited it to ethnicity but also sexuality, gender, and ability. I strongly believe representation matters. A society where every voice can thrive. We need to make space for people to express themselves irrespective of their background,” she said an interview. After becoming Miss Universe Australia 2020, working on these causes became easier. She got the right platform to strongly voice her opinion and play a role in ushering change.

Today, Maria Thattil stands tall as a beacon of hope for the Indian diaspora, reminding that one’s roots need not hinder the ability to soar to new heights. Through her relentless pursuit of excellence and her unwavering commitment to her community, she has become a source of inspiration, empowering a new generation to embrace their cultural heritage and conquer the world irrespective of their identity and unhappy experiences.

Life ahead

Acting has been a passion of the Indian-origin youngster since childhood. Recently, she also tried her hand at acting, playing the role of Naomi in a web series titled, ‘Let’s Get Ducking Famous’. It’s the story of her character Naomi, her friend and their pet duck whom they are trying to make famous in social media. Having thoroughly enjoyed the experience, she is looking forward to do a film or a television show in the future.

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