Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveCrafting victory: Badminton player Chirag Shetty wishes to have a room full of medals

Crafting victory: Badminton player Chirag Shetty wishes to have a room full of medals

Written by: Team GI Youth

(March 12, 2024) A few years back, when an interviewer asked Chirag Shetty what was his future goal, the Indian badminton player had replied, “Currently, my target is to become the World No.1, and I know that I and my partner (Satwiksairaj Rankireddy) can achieve that if we continue to play as well as we did in the Indonesia Open.” And just yesterday, the 26-year-old joined the exclusive ranks of the only doubles pair from India to achieve the prestigious World No. 1 position in the BWF World Ranking. So, now what? “My ultimate target is to win a medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” quipped Chirag, during the press conference.

Player | Chirag Shetty | Global Indian

Known to be the first Indian to win a gold at the Asian games in badminton, Chirag has been working towards just one goal, for the last seven years. “A couple of years down the line when I retire, I want to have a room filled with all the big medals that badminton has to offer,’ said the player, adding, “My ambition is to have a medal in all prestigious events, including the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and world tour finals.”

Chirag Shetty (right) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy with their former coach Tan Kim Her.

Alongside his partner, Chirag has been making waves in the badminton scene, clinching victories at the Indonesia Open, Asia Championships, Swiss Open, Korea Open, and the most recent French Open 2024. “The key was to be steady,” said Chirag talking about a difficult match he had with his Chinese opponents – Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan, adding, “They can be quite a formidable pair. They play some really attacking badminton. So you need to keep your calm. We knew that they would come all guns blazing. But we had to stick to our plan and that’s what we did.”

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Rising star

Born and raised in Mumbai in a Tulu family, Chirag was always inclined towards outdoor sports. While he always participated in various sports activities in school, a real turn came in his life when his father took him to the Uday Pawar Badminton Academy. The young badminton player first held the racket and completely fell in love with the sport. “I started playing badminton at the age of seven under Manish Hadkar. Initially, I started playing just as recreation but gradually when I started winning tournaments, my interest grew,” shared the player, adding, “After completing my 10th standard I chose it as a career option. After passing my 10th standard, I had to choose between science and commerce and I opted for the latter because I wouldn’t have been able to continue playing badminton if I had taken science.”

Chirag Shetty with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The young player later moved to the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, where he crossed paths with his current partner, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. Although he was initially paired with Arjun MR, the team coach, Tan Kim Her, recognised the potential of uniting two tall, strong players with impressive skills to form a formidable doubles pair. “It was one of the best decisions to pair with Satwiksairaj. We are now adept at adapting to a given situation, and our responses in a crisis have been effective. Satwik is a very calm and composed guy, ensuring the pressure doesn’t build up. We complement each other pretty well with a clear strategy going into a match,” Chirag said of his partnership.

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Heightened horizons

Although they have been partners since 2015, the world witnessed the true strength of this duo only in 2018, when they played a crucial role in earning India a historic gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Chirag also won the men’s doubles silver with his partner. “That was an interesting year,” the young player shared, “We won our first big badminton tournament, the Hyderabad Open, by beating an Indonesian pair named Akbar Bintang Cahyono and Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani in the final.” Since then, the Global Indian has won several titles, including the BWF World Tour, Thailand Open, Swiss Open, and India Open.

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All set to represent India at the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024, Chirag is confident that he will be able to bag a medal with his consistent performance in the last couple of years. “We have had some brilliant games, and would like to replicate the performances,” said the player, adding, “Our first target will be to make the quarter-finals in whichever tournament we play and if we do reach the quarters then we will take one match at a time.”

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Published on 12, Mar 2024

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Prajwal NH: The teen innovator creating social impact with affordable technology

(May 11, 2022) Having lived in the US in the early years of his life, Prajwal NH did struggle in the early days as he adjusted to life in India. Seeing potholes on roads and garbage on the sides of the streets was a jarring contrast to the spick and span highways of the US. But that didn't make him detest his surroundings. Instead, he took it upon himself to "solve these problems with affordable technology." The 15-year-old innovator, who has his name in the India Book of Records for being the Youngest Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate, loves "fixing" problems by marrying technology with ideas that help in creating social impact. "Social impact is at the core of everything I do. For me, every innovation should solve a problem on a larger scale. This vision led me to make many apps that are economical solutions to bigger problems like water scarcity or road safety," Prajwal tells Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_16334" align="aligncenter" width="866"] Prajwal NH[/caption] The game-changing moment The Chikmagalur-born moved to the US with his family after his IT professional dad got a transfer. Back then, like every kid growing up in America, Prajwal had dreams of becoming an

//wp-content/uploads/2022/05/prajwal-1-new.jpg" alt="Teen innovator | Prajwal NH " width="866" height="488" /> Prajwal NH[/caption]

The game-changing moment

The Chikmagalur-born moved to the US with his family after his IT professional dad got a transfer. Back then, like every kid growing up in America, Prajwal had dreams of becoming an astronaut. However, everything changed for him when he moved back to India for good after a few years. Seeing the pollution and the trash littered all across Bengaluru, he was taken aback. "Life in the US was quite different. But I think that moment shifted my perspective. I knew I had to find a solution. I didn't know how, but I knew I had to," says the Class 10 student.

Being someone who was fascinated by technology especially battery-operated toys as a child, he loved dismantling them to see what was inside and later use the components to create his DIY gadgets. "I think my dad played an influential role in my journey. He works for IBM and I would often see him work. Though I didn't understand much back then but it intrigued me," says the teenager, for whom a robotics class in his seventh grade turned out to be a game-changer. After taking YouTube tutorials for years, he found the perfect learning ground for programming and Arduino.

Creating impact with affordable technology

This learning led him to make the Fix Me app, a smart way to improve roads. "The idea of fixing the potholes stayed with me ever since I landed in India. But it was only in 2019 that I decided to take it seriously. Upon research, I found that 6000 accidents happen every year due to potholes, and among them 300 are deadly. I realised the process of reaching out to the government officials is tedious and hence, nothing changes," says the BGS National Public School student. The teenager understood the gap and came up with an app through which citizens of an area can send the accurate location of the pothole, reducing complaint time to under three minutes. "It's a digital petition that can be tracked and monitored. The government official has to upload a picture of the fixed pothole for the complaint to be closed," says Prajwal. The app was a winning idea – he won the Top 20 Innovators award at the ATL Marathon 2019. Prajwal is still in talks with the authorities to make this app more feasible for the citizens, after which it will be available on Android and iOS.

Around the same time, he was awarded 'Water Hero' by the Ministry of Jal Shakti for his innovation - Ultrasonic Integrated Smart Water Tap - that's economical and saves 5x more water. "The usual infrared sensor taps are not only expensive (₹5000) but don't work when exposed to sunlight and are colour sensitive. So, I decided to use the ultrasonic technology that kills bacteria and decreases the wastage of water, and made it for only ₹400," says the innovator who has plans of commercialising it soon.

2020 brought with it an international recognition for Prajwal who won the coronavirus app challenge from Massachusetts Institute of Technology US for his Covid-19 Aid app. "I started working on it even before the Aarogya Setu app was out. I wanted it to be a platform where people could report their symptoms, myths about Covid could be busted, and to infuse some positivity during uncertain times," says the innovator, adding, "MIT featured my app on their website."

Turning a teen entrepreneur

The same year, he dipped his toes into the world of startups with Cloud Attack under the mentorship of Bhavesh Goswami, the founder of CloudThat. Learning the nuances of entrepreneurship at such a young age has been a task for this teenager. "The concept of our startup is to help youngsters learn cloud computing by playing a game. Making anything fun makes it easier to grasp the concept. But it has been a lot of trial and error. Understanding the challenges and overcoming them has been the greatest lessons," says Prajwal who has gained experience in hiring, marketing, product development, and management in just two years.

With a startup to his name at the age of 15, he advices youngsters to "not wait for the opportunities. Instead, create them. Just start." The teenage entrepreneur, who is eyeing MIT for future studies, wants to create an empire of technology in India. "I want India to be the technology hub of the world. I want to create opportunities so that there is no more brain drain," says the boy who has found a great support system in his parents. Calling them the wind beneath his wings, he is happy to have been given a chance to follow his dream. "If I hadn't come back to India, I wouldn't have been this proud of myself. The return helped me find a mission in life," concludes Prajwal.

Follow Prajwal NH on Linkedin

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Amaan Sandhu: Punjab teen basketball player eyeing NBA

(March 29, 2023) On his first day in the gym at the New Jersey-based Monmouth University, his basketball coach King Rice played Mundian toh bach ke rahi, a song by Panjabi MC, to welcome Amaan Sandhu. "I was like damn! These guys know my song! That was pretty cool. It really made me feel welcome," said the Mohali native, who has scripted history by becoming the first male Indian basketball player to commit to an NCAA Division 1 college. It is the highest level of collegiate basketball in the USA and one of the prime recruitment pools for the NBA. Hailing from Punjab, Amaan's ultimate goal is to make it to the NBA. [caption id="attachment_28825" align="aligncenter" width="619"] Amaan Sandhu[/caption] Coming from a family of basketball players where his father played for the national team and his mother played for Punjab, growing up, he also saw his older sister play for the U-18 Indian team. This got him interested in the sport, and by the age of 13 when he was already 6 foot 7, he was scouted by the NBA India Academy located in Greater Noida in 2018. In the following years, he participated in three Basketball Without Borders (BWB)

nd by the age of 13 when he was already 6 foot 7, he was scouted by the NBA India Academy located in Greater Noida in 2018. In the following years, he participated in three Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camps, including BWB Asia 2018 in India, BWB Asia 2019 in Tokyo, and BWB Global Camp 2020 in Chicago during NBA All-Star Weekend. He also represented NBA Academy India at the 2018 NBA Academy games in Canberra, Australia.

On the academy's recommendation, he joined the First Love Christian Academy in Pittsburgh, USA in the fall of 2020. By the time he graduated, he started attracting the attention of many colleges in the US as he had already shot up to 7 feet in height.

But Amaan wasn't always keen on college basketball as NBA was on his mind, always. However, in 2018, when he joined the NBA Academy and started taking basketball seriously, his coaches encouraged him to take up college basketball and that's how he decided to go for it. However, his parents weren't enthused about his decision and he had to convince them. "My parents didn’t know much about college basketball in the USA. So, I had to educate them on how that puts me one step closer to professional basketball. My parents played in the 1990s and 2000s so they have no idea about college basketball because Indian college basketball is really small, It’s not even close to what college basketball in the USA is like," he told Sportstar.

The 19-year-old, who will have a chance to go to the league upon graduation, is keen to major in communication. For this Mohali boy, moving to the US was nothing less than a culture shock. "I ain’t gonna lie. I didn’t speak a word of English before I joined the NBA Academy in 2017. But that was the only way to communicate with my coaches who are all from the USA. I was like I can’t speak to my coaches if I can’t speak English. When I went to school in the states, I saw the way people speak and I picked it right up," added the teenager, who felt welcomed in the US. Being the only Indian in the teams that he played for, he was happy to satiate the curiosity of the Americans who were keen to know more about him, his religion, and India.

For someone who dreams of playing in the NBA, getting selected into a college in the US was a great deal. "It was only when I came for my high school that I learnt there was nobody from India in Division One here. That motivated me to do well," he said in an interview.

Amaan is the third player from the NBA Academy India to earn a Division I basketball scholarship, joining Sanjana Rnesha and Harsimran Kaur on the women's side. " I'm blessed with the opportunity. Like being the first India-born player and the first NBA India prospect to earn a D1 scholarship. It is definitely going to help me a lot."

Follow Amaan Sandhu on Twitter

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Tasting success: Meet the young chefs who are taking the Indian platter to the world

(February 16, 2023) As per a recent study by German food ordering company Lieferando, Indian food is the second most popular cuisine on social media and had the fastest growth rate of 41 percent. In the last two decades, several young chefs from the Indian diaspora are tapping into the potential of regional Indian food and stacking it with consciousness, innovation, and creativity. Interestingly, a young chef from Kolkata - Naureen Shaikh - recently won the bronze trophy at the International Young Chef Olympiad, defeating 50 participants from various other countries. And she is not the only one. The culinary world is witnessing a rise of many young Indian or Indian-origin chefs, who are carving a niche for themselves. Global Indian puts the spotlight on young chefs who are changing the international perception of Indian food from spice-laden meals to delicate cuisine. Naureen Shaikh Going against her mother, who wanted her to pursue a degree in social sciences and become an IAS officer, Naureen Shaikh took admission to a hotel management institute to follow her dream of becoming a chef. And making her mother very proud, the 20-year-old recently won the bronze cup at the International Young Chef Olympiad, held

a chef. And making her mother very proud, the 20-year-old recently won the bronze cup at the International Young Chef Olympiad, held in Goa. The chef, who prepared two portions of French omelette, four portions of a prawn entree, and dessert for the finale, shared in a press conference that her love for cooking started at quite a young age. " My interest in cooking started when I was in Class VIII and I would always look for feedback on what I had prepared because that would help me improve,” she said.

For about six months before the competition, she would spend almost 12 hours in the institute 'making the same dish over and over again'. “It was exhausting and at times frustrating. But hard work, consistency, and dedication matter. It was a Michelin-star restaurant. Working in the kitchen, I learnt that the customer gives us bread and butter and we have to give them value for money," shared the young chef, who wishes to open a restaurant in Kolkata in the next few years.

Arnav Kamulkar

While his classmates at J.P. Stevens High School in New Jersey were looking up which college to apply to, this 17-year-old chef was busy experimenting with new recipes and designing a menu for his restaurant - Clove 12. Redefining the genre of the typical Indian restaurant with innovation and uniqueness, Arnav Kamulkar began cooking at the age of 6 with traditional Indian dishes because that's what his mother made. When she became a "bit explorative" and tried other cuisines, Kamulkar, who was her sous chef, found his spark. "From there it just kind of snowballed. I started making my own stuff. Originally, I was just helping my mom cook vegetables and watching her cook and then slowly I wanted to make my own recipes, and do my own stuff. And that's how it kind of led to what I'm doing today," the chef told in an interview.

Drawing inspiration from across the globe, the young chef features fusion offerings at his restaurant, that according to him, "marry the best flavors from all cuisines to provide a one-of-a-kind gastronomic experience." Speaking about his plans for his restaurant going ahead, the teen chef said, "I'll explore gastronomy. I'll do molecular cooking. Like, sometimes I'll make plant-based caviar. And I'll also do fusion foods, like Indian tacos. Clove 12 is definitely a mix of all cuisines. Although I do like to keep a bit of a foundation of Indian food because that's how I first learned how to cook."

Madhumitha K P

Just 19, and already ruling the culinary world. Bengaluru's Madhumitha K P represented India at the 2019 Young Chef Olympiad and came back home with a shining trophy. Though none of her family members are into this profession, she was inspired by her mother and dreamt of becoming a famous chef. "Even as a young girl I would cook at home under my mom's supervision, and by the time I finished my schooling, I was sure that I wanted to do hotel management."

The young chef wants to work in a standalone restaurant in Europe in the coming years and hopes that it will give her the necessary experience in cooking. In the next five years, she aims to start her own food court chain across India. She also hopes to adopt orphanages and old age homes so that she can provide them with regular food.

Dev Mishra

Who can forget 13-year-old Dev Mishra - the young chef who bowled over top Australian chefs with his finger-licking lamb mughlai curry? The teen chef earned rave reviews from the judges on the show Junior MasterChef Australia, for his first-ever meal in the show, with chef Jock Zonfrillo saying, “I feel as if I’m eating at your table at home with your parents and your brothers.”

Like many chefs across the world, Dev's love for cooking was inspired by his mother. "I started learning to cook for as long as I can remember. My mum always wanted my brother and me to be independent and she encouraged us to learn cooking. My first memory of cooking is when my mum would give me some dough to knead and roll to make roti or mix and prepare ingredients," the youngster had informed during an interview. Currently running successful YouTube and Instagram food channels, the young chef plans on opening his chain of restaurants. "My restaurant will serve food from across the world. I cook different cuisines, and I try to recreate authentic flavours with my twist to them. That’s what I want to showcase at my restaurant," he shared.

Meet Sneha Revanur, the Gen Z activist championing AI governance

(September 16, 2023) In an ever-evolving world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, a glaring gap in governance looms large. Despite the awe-inspiring strides of AI and its integration into our daily lives, governments worldwide have yet to craft the essential regulations and laws needed to both unlock AI's immense potential and guard against its unforeseen risks. There, however, is one young Indian American activist who is taking these issues head-on - Sneha Revanur. The 18-year-old student of Williams College in Massachusetts, is the founder and President of Encode Justice, the world’s first and largest youth activist group in AI. And just about a few days back, the young activist was recognised on the ‘Time AI 100,’ the magazine’s maiden list of people who work with this emerging technology and “make critical decisions on when and how to best use it." "I am working towards safeguarding human rights, you know, democracy and equity in the age of artificial intelligence," the Global Indian recently said in an interview, adding, "Encode Justice emerged from that ballot campaign with a focus on the use of AI algorithms in surveillance and the criminal justice system. It currently boasts a membership of 600 high school and

ttp://www.globalindian.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Indian recently said in an interview, adding, "Encode Justice emerged from that ballot campaign with a focus on the use of AI algorithms in surveillance and the criminal justice system. It currently boasts a membership of 600 high school and college students across 30 countries."

Diving in the world of AI

Originally from San Jose in Silicon Valley, the young activist started getting involved in tech advocacy when she was just 15. In 2020, she volunteered for a campaign that stopped a law in California that wanted to replace cash bail with a computer system. She got interested in it when she read an article in The New York Times about a clever AI chatbot. Lately, people have been worried that generative AI might trick and control people, and they're also concerned about a more advanced type of AI called "artificial general intelligence."

Speaking about her involvement in the campaign in California, the activist shared, "I came across an investigation into an algorithm called COMPAS, which is a risk assessment tool used to evaluate whether a defendant is at risk of committing further crimes or recidivating in the period between their arrest and sentencing. That really was my first encounter with this realm of algorithmic injustice and the existence of AI bias. What I found out through that investigation was that the algorithm was actually twice as likely to rate Black defendants as high risk even when they weren't going to commit any future crimes. We oftentimes perceive technology as perfectly scientific, objective, and neutral, but in reality, it's actually amplifying and encoding the existing systems of oppression. That really shocked me. Later, when I found out that there was a ballot measure in my home state of California in the US that would have expanded the use of the same sort of algorithms, I knew I had to do something."

[caption id="attachment_33104" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Sneha is a student of Williams College in Massachusetts[/caption]

The activist adds, "I was outraged to see that there was almost no youth involvement in fighting the measure and there was no organised pushback to it. So, I decided to jump onto the scene and we formed Encode Justice and our first initiative was focussed on fighting that ballot measure, California Proposition 25. After dedicated organising and advocating we were able to eventually defeat the measure by a 13 percent margin. That was a pretty energising victory for all of us."

Leading the way

In her inaugural year as a college freshman, Sneha couldn't help but observe the swift integration of the term "ChatGPT" into the daily vocabulary of our world. It struck her as a compelling development, one that bore witness to the remarkable adaptability of Generation Z in embracing generative AI tools. For the activist, this newfound omnipresence of AI in her generation's lives seemed to beckon an essential question: if they were at the forefront of its utilisation, should they not also play a pivotal role in shaping its regulatory landscape?

[caption id="attachment_33105" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Sneha speaking at a conference held at the White House[/caption]

"Our generation possesses probably the highest rates of digital literacy, we have been exposed to technology all of our lives; it's always been at our fingertips. And I think that it gives us a unique understanding of human-computer interaction, our relationship with technology, and also how it shapes our worldview. And that's why I think it is important for young people across the world to talk about this new technology and its long-term impact on society at large," the activist shared.

In 2022, the activist took a leading role in orchestrating an open letter, urging congressional leaders and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to integrate the perspectives of the younger generation into AI oversight and advisory boards. Her advocacy didn't go unnoticed; shortly thereafter, she received an invitation to participate in a high-level roundtable conversation on artificial intelligence, graciously hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris. “For the first time, young people were being treated as the critical stakeholders that we are when it comes to regulating AI and really understanding its impacts on society,” she told Time, "We are the next generation of users, consumers, advocates, and developers, and we deserve a seat at the table.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnfumRZL0Go

Talking about her future plans, the activist mentioned, "I am planning to continue to expand our current initiative to ban facial recognition. I also hope to continue to expand internationally and to elevate diverse perspectives, especially perspectives from the Global South, on AI development. I wish to reach out to more and more young people - especially through Encode Justice's workshop programmes."

Follow Sneha Revanur on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram

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Amika George: How the Indian-origin activist ended period poverty in the UK

(September 11, 2024) "Girls Too Poor to Buy Sanitary Products Missing School" - this headline on the BBC website in 2017 was the starting point of a revolution that was set to change the course of the education system in the UK. Behind this tectonic shift was a then 17-year-old Amika George, who stumbled upon the fact that period poverty was a startling reality in not just India or Kenya, but the UK too. One in ten girls in the UK was unable to afford sanitary products. Many girls were forced to miss school every month for the lack of access to menstrual products - this shocking truth led the activist to set up Free Periods, to campaign against period poverty. It was on Instagram that the movement took off in April 2017 and soon turned into a peaceful protest outside Downing Street with a turnout of 2000 people including big names like Suki Waterhouse and Adwoa Aboah. "Even though everyone was protesting period poverty – something so horrendous – it was also a celebration of periods," she told the Guardian in an interview. The activism carried on for almost three years, which translated into a big win in January

ig win in January 2020 when the British government decided to provide schools with free sanitary products.

[caption id="attachment_23569" align="aligncenter" width="656"] Amika George is the founder of Free Periods.[/caption]

An article that led to a revolution

An article about young girls missing up to a week's classes in the UK every month due to the unaffordability to buy sanitary products left Amika shocked. "It seemed unfair that a natural biological process was responsible for girls falling behind. To imagine being absent from school hit me," she told the Hindu. The fact that the girls were no different from her except for their financial background, led her to start a Free Periods petition, especially at a time when the government was rolling out tampon tax - seeing it as a luxury item.

The response was unprecedented, with girls from Asian communities and other ethnic backgrounds emailing her about their struggles during periods. They told her their families had a hard time affording two square meals, and there was no money for sanitary pads. One mail made her realise how "deeply entrenched" the taboo is after a girl wrote to her saying that she would search her parents' wallets or sofa for coins every month to buy pads as she felt embarrassed to ask for help or talk about periods.

"I was shocked and decided to start a campaign to lobby the government, urging them to give free menstrual products to children from the lowest income families. I found support quickly and globally. So many people outreached to offer support, with many telling me that this was something they were going through and needed to be addressed." she told Pink Parcel.

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Ensuring equal access to education for all children, irrespective of their sex was the foundation of the Free Periods movement which later turned into a legal campaign against the UK government, along with a collaboration with the Red Box Project. "Period poverty is a situation many girls and women find themselves in when they cannot afford costly period products. Globally, period poverty intersects with other forms of disadvantage, including poverty and geography. It costs young girls their education. It impacts their ability to fulfill their potential and affects their ability to secure decent jobs and lift their families out of poverty. Period poverty is an issue of gender inequality," she wrote for UN Women.

Much-needed change

As soon as her petition attracted 1,80,000 signatures, she led a protest outside the British PM's residence in Downing Street in December 2017. However, the journey was long with its share of ups and downs. There were times when nothing worked, and social media was the only place that kept her goals afloat as she found support from many people online. On other occasions, she kept demanding change through media interviews and school visits. To give momentum to the campaign, she launched Free Periods - a nonprofit in January 2019 - to work with human rights lawyers who could persuade the UK government to pay for menstrual products and make sure that every child in the UK attended school regularly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRuKvLMkpA

The journey towards activism

Her efforts were paying off as she became the poster girl of youth activism by making it to the Time Most Influential Teens of 2018 list, and later to Teen Vogue's 21 under 21 list. The 24-year-old, who studied Indian colonial history at Cambridge University, also became the youngest recipient of Member of the Order of the British Empire at the age of 21. However, it was nothing short of a double-edged sword for her because it was while pursuing her degree in history did, she learn about the atrocities of the British empire on Indians, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be a Member of its Order.

While she was born in London, her grandparents moved to the UK in the 70s, and her extended family still resides in parts of Kerala. However, after much apprehension, she decided to accept the award stating that young people of colour are underrepresented in politics and activism.

All her hard work paid off after years of determination and persistence. "That took two and a half years. I started my campaign before I could even vote, and I think that’s a testament to the fact that you can achieve change as somebody who is not represented in politics," the Global Indian said. This gave her the confidence that activism at the grassroots level can change the course of history and motivated her to pen her first book Make It Happen to inspire others to contribute to a better world through practical steps. The step-by-step guide sheds light on every possible stepping stone from how to choose a cause to how to make allies to bring change at a time when the world needs it.

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"I’m not the loudest person in the room. Neither am I the most confident. If you’d told me four years ago, I would be speaking in front of TV cameras, or that I’d be standing alone on an open stage holding a mic on the other side of the world, I wouldn’t have believed you. But the urge to act takes over, and you feel you just have to do it. That feeling comes from something which matters to you. Whatever you want to change, whatever issue you feel is demanding to be heard, it can be you who makes it happen," reads an excerpt from her book.

Follow Amika George on Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram

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