Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveNeeharika Munjal: Connecting young Indian professionals in New England through YIPNE

Neeharika Munjal: Connecting young Indian professionals in New England through YIPNE

Written by: Amrita Priya

(April 16, 2024) After graduating from Boston University in 2022, Neeharika Munjal wanted to diversify her network and make connections within the Indian community in New England, USA, where she had landed a job. However, she couldn’t find a way to do this, as there was no organisation or platform dedicated to it. It gave Neeharika the idea for YIPNE, short for Young Indian Professionals of New England – a collaborative platform dedicated to professionals of Indian origin who live in the New England area helping them build connections through networking opportunities. Neeharika serves as the founder and CEO of the voluntary organisation, which has grown significantly in just two years of its inception, much to her delight.

Basking in happiness of seeing it turn two, the 24-year-old shares her dreams with Global Indian. “I would love to see YIPNE to expand nationwide so we can create a stronger South Asian and Indian professional network in the United States. We have so many CEOs who are Indian here so it would be great to have them all in board and have many more young Indian professionals support each other and get inspired,” she says adding, “Since we have a massive Indian population in the United States it would be great to see them all unite into one community and celebrate each other’s professional success.”

Neeharika Munjal

Neeharika Munjal works as an administrative supervisor at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of New England. The Boston University alumni is driven by two passions in life – working to enhance healthcare systems to ensure optimal and affordable treatment for all and promoting South Asian culture in the Western world.

YIPNE – quickly gaining recognition

Since its inception in April 2022, the voluntary group has seen immense growth, boasting over 6,000 members across Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Its initiatives have included a highly-attended networking event, drawing over 400 young Indian professionals in the New England area, and the launch of a YouTube talk series spotlighting community groups and individual success stories. It has also established a board of advisors comprising esteemed individuals from the Boston Indian community. “The team includes Dipali Trivedi, Yogita Miharia, Sanjay Kudrimoti, Dr Raju Singla, Dr. Rohit Chandra, Kamal Tiku, Dr. Chander Kapasi, Ranjani Saigal and Gaurav Jetly,” Neeharika shares.

Additionally, YIPNE has successfully organised small meetups that consistently sell out. The most recent one was the Holi networking brunch. Another initiative that YIPNE launched is the “South Asian Small Business Saturday” which has been showcasing and supporting Indian-owned small businesses in New England, promoting their visibility and growth.

“Being able to emcee multiple events and organise events on a large and small scale and seeing many individuals build connections and get jobs/internships and other opportunities through the YIPNE platform has truly been a rewarding experience,” remarks Neeharika who did not expect her organisation to become so well recognised and create impressive milestones in such a short span of time.

YIPNE was recently selected to be a community partner at the India Conference at Harvard University which saw highly accomplished Indian-origin entrepreneurs and Bollywood actress, Karishma Kapoor as guest speakers.

YIPNE’s event which drew over 400 young Indian professionals of New England

It started when…

Transitioning from student life to professional life, Neeharika felt lost and did not know how to navigate the real world. Owing to her extraordinary academic excellence she had graduated earlier than her peers. Although she was extensively involved with the Indian community, she wanted to diversify her network beyond that, adding a professional angle to it.

She came across a few networking organisations within her field and in the non-Indian groups in the Boston area, as well as community and charity organisations for the Indian community, there weren’t any that catered to the need of professional networking for the youth of the Indian community in the New England area. “As an American-born Indian, it was important for me to stay in touch with my culture and network with other young professionals at the same time,” she remarks.

It was during a conversation with her mother about the lack of Indian professional networking in the New England area, that the idea of YIPNE struck. “After the conversation I had with my mother, the urge for such a platform got stronger. Immediately after that, I created a logo, and launched Young Indian Professionals of New England on Facebook in April 2022” she says. Neeharika never imagined that it would grow so swiftly. Initially, she thought even if just 10 people joined, she would make at least 10 new acquaintances, and consider it a successful initiative.

Neeharika Munjal and young professionals at the recent Holi Networking Brunch

Love for the community

Born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts, Neeharika had always actively sought opportunities to connect with others of her heritage. During high school, she became involved with an organisation called Ekal Vidyalaya USA, dedicated to providing education to remote villages in India. As an Ekal Youth Leader, she led fundraising efforts and organised events, even contributing her own pocket money to provide lifelong education to children. “We often take education for granted, viewing it as an obligation, but in reality, there are children worldwide who long for an education but lack the means to access it,” she remarks.

Neeharika is also associated with We Care Charity which helps people in need with compassion in the New England region and beyond and is a part of TiE Boston, a non-profit network dedicated to helping startups grow. As part of Saheli Boston, she works for the sufferers of domestic violence.

Health and management

When it was time for higher studies Neeharika chose to pursue health sciences with a minor in business administration and management at Boston University combining her interest in healthcare and business management. At the hospital where she works, she prioritises community engagement, striving to celebrate diverse cultures and enhance patient care. As part of the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) board, she emphasises the importance of understanding different cultural backgrounds to provide the best patient care for improved treatment outcomes.

Neeharika Munjal at the Harvard Conference

“Balancing my full-time job, running my own organisation, and staying active in the Indian community of New England gets hectic at times but by organising my day effectively and focusing on what matters most to me, I have learned to multitask,” the youngster remarks stressing on the importance of effective time management.

Awards and recognitions

For her community initiatives, the youngster has received numerous awards, including the Lokvani Magazine Rising Star of the Year award, the Miss Bharat Woman Empowerment award, the Indian Medical Association of New England Presidential Recognition award, and also a recognition from Ekal Vidyalaya.

In 2016 she was named in the India New England 20 under 20 list, and has been appointed as a youth brand ambassador for Mydream Entertainment’s Miss Bharat New England.

Neeharika Munjal

Health and community

While she was studying at Boston University, Neeharika was part of the Partners in Healthcare club, Boston University India Club, and the Healthcare Improvement Inc, BU’s multidisciplinary student organisation dedicated to serving at the intersection of community service, clinical care, and healthcare reform.

Now as a healthcare professional, she is a member of the Healthcare Businesswomen of America Boston Chapter, a global non-profit focused on achieving gender parity in healthcare leadership, promoting career connections, and supporting the development of young professionals through groups like Tomorrow’s Executive.

Second anniversary of YIPNE

“As an American-born Indian, it was important for me to find ways to stay in touch with our Indian culture,” says Neeharika. “I am so grateful and blessed to have the community’s support. The older generation here in the US have provided a foundation for the Indian community but it is up to us – the younger generation to improve and elevate our community,” she shares.

Neeharika’s parents Preeti and Manoj Munjal had moved to the US for their higher education in engineering and are now into commercial real estate and investing. “They are active members of the Indian community in Boston and have worked incredibly hard to reach where they are today. They have been extremely supportive of me. I am always thankful and grateful to them,” she remarks.

“Next month, we are hosting our second anniversary networking gala brunch event at the Treasury Restaurant in Burlington MA. This will be a high-end networking event filled with accomplished individuals along with elevated fusion Indian food,” she shares excitedly.” I cannot wait to see what we accomplish in the future and want to celebrate what we have accomplished so far,” she signs off.

Young professionals at an YIPNE event

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Published on 16, Apr 2024

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How language redeemer Shruti Rijhwani mines your language with AI &ML

(March 23, 2022) Humans aren’t the best at preservation. Case in point, the world as we know it. Now, fathom how a country like India, that had 1,100 languages, has lost 220 forever. That 20 percent is just skimming the tip of this nadir – Across the world too, the findings are concerning. Over 1,500 endangered languages will no longer be spoken by the end of this century. Or that of the world’s 7,000 recognised languages, around half are currently endangered. Language redeemer Shruti Rijhwani decided to address this lacuna, and preserve them. The Pittsburg-based coding whiz used algorithms to preserve languages like Hokkaido Ainu (spoken among few elderly Japanese), Griko (Italiot Greek), Yakkha (from Nepal and Sikkim) and Kwak'wala (estimates state only 200 speak it fluently in Western Canada). Way back in 2011, a young girl aspired for a career in technology. She was to travel to Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, for a BSc in computer science. There, she strengthened her foundation and ambled along to Carnegie Mellon University for an MS in language technologies, followed by a PhD in the same at the School of Computer Science. About to graduate in May 2022, Shruti Rijhwani

022, Shruti Rijhwani was awarded the Forbes 30 under 30 2022. Her metier was restoring lost languages using artificial intelligence and machine learning. In that, restoring world history. The Bloomberg PhD fellow first got interested in languages as a preppy research intern at Microsoft Research (2015).

[caption id="attachment_13118" align="aligncenter" width="522"] Shruti Rijhwani[/caption]

Now, busying with her final thesis, to graduate as a PhD, Shruti Rijhwani speaks from Pittsburgh to Global Indian, “My PhD thesis at CMU encompasses my research on developing machine learning algorithms to improve the accuracy of extracting text in endangered languages from printed books - those endangered. The books and documents in these languages do not have a digital format. My research works towards improving automatic digitisation using machine learning and natural language processing,” explains the traditionalist whose was honoured by Forbes in the science category.

A girl who loved computers

Brought up in Bengaluru, India, her parents and sister, while away from her, are a constant source of motivation. “I really miss my family in India,” says the language champion.

Not just her family, Shruti, misses her visits to India before Covid-19 hit, “I really miss the food – I always look forward to visiting my favourite restaurants in Bengaluru whenever I visit my family,” says the NLP expert.

For laymen, Shruti explains this quest into languages and tech that led her to becoming a research fellow at Microsoft Research then Bloomberg AI, publishing innumerable papers, to then getting consumed into the world of languages.

“I became interested in NLP after an internship at Microsoft Research in Bengaluru,” says Shruti, who then realised that many existing language technologies support a limited number of languages as opposed to being able to support the 7,000+ languages in the world.

“Many communities that speak endangered languages want language technologies that work well for their language, but it’s challenging. My project tries to build algorithms that work well for endangered languages in collaboration with linguists and endangered language communities,” explains the language redeemer.

At heart, a language expert

For Rijhwani, the primary technical challenge was that most state-of-the-art NLP methods rely on a large amount text resources, or data for ML – which endangered languages don’t have. “My research helps overcome a part of this challenge by developing techniques that perform well without much data,” she explains.

As complex as it sounds, the language redeemer breaks it down. “The algorithms take scanned images of non-digitised books and handwritten documents, automatically recognise characters, and produce digitised text. The recognition sees the algorithm looking at the shape of each character, and trying to match it to an existing pattern,” explains Shruti excitedly. While the recognition is not perfect, she has developed algorithms to automatically correct errors using NLP techniques through patterns that correct them.

Incredibly honored to be recognized on the 2022 @Forbes 30 under 30 list in Science!

✨*HUGE* thanks to my collaborators and mentors, @mulix, @anas_ant, @gneubig
✨More about my recent work: https://t.co/Qbum8a2qvL @ForbesUnder30 #ForbesUnder30 https://t.co/xfdWhMffXP

— Shruti Rijhwani (@shrutirij) December 2, 2021

Elaborating on NLP, the 29-year-old explains that it is broad name for technologies that enable the understanding of human languages by computers. “There are multiple applications - automatically translating text (eg, Google Translate), searching the web, or automatic question- answer. Some work I did early in my PhD builds NLP models for automatically processing entities in human language (like location and person names). Now, I am using NLP techniques to improve text extraction accuracy for endangered languages,” adds the PhD student who is grateful for her mentor Graham Neubig’s guidance.

Those early days as a research intern, at Microsoft Research inspired Shruti to apply for a PhD. “During two summers, I worked as a research intern at Bloomberg AI. I enjoyed both, it gave me a good sense of how NLP research works. It also brought about collaborations with researchers at Bloomberg, leading to published research papers,” she adds.

Creating a niche

The Forbes 30 under 30 reveals that she had a fairly normal childhood, grew up in a space where independence was respected. Though not drawn to science as a child, Shruti enjoyed computer programming. Now, graduating in May, deep in her dissertation, and a final project on improving text extracting from endangered language texts, she loves working in her beautiful office, writing code, doing data analysis, or talking with collaborators! “The environment at CMU is exciting for research as many students are working on diverse and challenging problems, so it’s fun to learn about and discuss different research ideas,” says the language restorer.

Shruti loves a challenge, Thus working on difficult research problems is hugely motivational. “I’m not afraid to run from a challenge. I enjoy taking up risky projects. I believe my projects have significant practical or real-world impact,” explains this student for life.

Her dream job predictably also involves being able to develop ML and natural language processing algorithms to solve large-scale and real-life or practical challenges. “I want to develop NLP models and techniques to expand technologies to more languages and tasks, supporting populations that don’t have access to them,” says the coder.

The adventurer behind the coder

All coding and no play is also not what Shruti prescribes to. “I love spending time outdoors: I often go hiking in Pittsburgh, there are so many amazing state and city parks. For a vacation, I’d go near the ocean as I love snorkelling and I’m a certified scuba diver,” says the language redeemer.

During Covid-19, Shruti discovered a talent for woodwork – even bought a few power tools, and ended up building multiple pieces of furniture and décor.

Her long-term partner is her constant source of support through school and now PhD. “He is incredible at helping me balance work and life, ensuring I take breaks and enjoy life outside of research,” reveals the ML and AI language whiz who wants students to enter stem, especially girls. “Science and stem research is awesome! It’s an exciting career, technologies are being rapidly developed and it’s a lot of fun to learn, and discover new things every day. It’s challenging no doubt, this direction, but it’s absolutely rewarding,” concludes the language redeemer.

Follow Shruti Rijhwani on Twitter and Linkedin

Reading Time: 6 min

The purpose driven: Meet 5 changemakers driving social change

(February 24, 2023) "You are never too small to make a difference." These words by Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg hold true for hundreds of changemakers who are up in arms to create a purposeful change, and young Indians are not far behind. From period poverty to water crisis, they are holding the torch for almost every problem, and showing them the out gate through their incredible ideas and consistent efforts. Global Indian takes a look at five such changemakers who are making a difference at a young age. Amika George "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

ls 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.

[caption id="attachment_23569" align="aligncenter" width="726"] Amika George is the founder of Free Periods.[/caption]

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. "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.

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 "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. The activism carried on for almost three years, which translated into a big win in January 2020 when the British government decided to provide schools with free sanitary products.

Garvita Gulhati

The drought crisis in 2015 left 330 million Indians affected - a number that made the then 15-year-old Garvita Gulhati frantically look for answers. Keen to find a way to conserve water, she started Why Waste? - a youth-led initiative to educate people on preserving water and changing their mind set on water wastage. In the last seven years, it has impacted over six million people and has saved over 10 million litres of water. A feat that has helped the now 21-year-old changemaker to make it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and has won her the Diana Award.

"At Why Waste? our main goal is to let each individual understand the importance of water resources and join hands with us in protecting and conserving this natural resource," reads the official website.

Shreya and Sahana Mantha

The last wish from their dying grandmother, who was then battling pancreatic cancer, played a catalyst for Charlotte residents Sherya Mantha and Sahana Mantha in starting Foundation for Girls (FFG) in 2014 - a nonprofit to help underprivileged girls and women. The journey into social service began early for the Mantha sisters who were raised by their mom to help those in need.

[caption id="attachment_23775" align="aligncenter" width="688"] Shreya and Sahana Mantha co-founded Foundation for Girls[/caption]

While FFG has impacted over 2500 homeless mothers and their girls through coaching, workshops, and care packs, it began with Shreya tutoring sex trafficking survivors and school dropouts when she was in Class 8. "The most important thing our mom taught us was 'treat them as just regular girls your age, and barriers will break down,' and that has how it has always been. So, our foundational principles of inclusivity and equity have much to do with how we live and lead," Shreya told Global Indian.

Arjun Deshpande

One balmy afternoon at a medical shop in Thane, the then 16-year-old Arjun Deshpande witnessed an unpleasant scene. An old man, deep in debt, profusely pleaded with a shopkeeper to pay a hefty medicine bill later. The shopkeeper refused. “His wife had cancer and his son, who was an auto driver, was the sole breadwinner. They had spent a lot on treatment, and were finding it hard to manage money for medicines daily. He was helpless, and felt guilty. I saw how a common man was burdened with paying bills for necessities like medicines. This made me determined to bring about a new era in the world of pharma,” says Arjun who started Generic Aadhaar in 2019 to help provide medicines to the aam junta at low cost. Arjun is on a mission to eliminate middle-chain costs and provide medicines from manufacturer to end customers directly through a pharmacy-aggregator business model.

[caption id="attachment_13569" align="aligncenter" width="635"] Arjun Deshpande is the founder of Generic Aadhaar[/caption]

In four years, Generic Aadhaar has a presence in all states, and has opened over 1,800 stores across India. Such has been the vision and mission of the startup that even Ratan Tata invested in it. “We share the same mission and want to serve people. When he saw the same vision and determination to work for the people, he spontaneously supported Generic Aadhaar,” Arjun told Global Indian.

Sia Godika

The hard, cracked and worn-out feet of construction workers’ children in Sia Godika’s locality stirred this Bengaluru girl into action. "It broke my heart to see them running barefoot on the streets. I rushed home to find some pairs of shoes that I could give them. Seeing my shoe rack, it dawned upon me that I had so many pairs stacked up which I wasn’t even wearing anymore". Upon research, she found 1.5 billion people worldwide don’t have shoes to wear, and around 350 million pairs of shoes are discarded each year. This led the Diana Award winner to start Sole Warriors initiative.

[caption id="attachment_27793" align="aligncenter" width="467"] Sia Godika[/caption]

It was in the fall of 2019 that Sole Warriors took a life of its own after Sia decided to help the needy by collecting used shoes, refurbishing and donating them. In just two years, the 16-year-old’s initiative has created a global movement - donating 21,000 pairs of shoes to the disadvantaged.

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How Lydian Nadhaswaram taught himself to play piano and won CBS’ ‘The World’s Best’

(July 4, 2024) Even before his second birthday, Lydian Nadhaswaram could play a perfect 3/4 rhythm on the drums. When he turned eight, he taught himself to play piano. When he was 13 years old, he won CBS' The World's Best, which came with a $1 million cash prize. He can play 14 instruments and is the first, and only, student of the maestro Ilaiyaraja. In 2019, soon after he walked away with the World's Best trophy, it was announced that Lydian would make his debut as a film composer, in the Mohanlal-directed Malayalam fantasy film, Guardian of D'Gama's Treasure. His Instagram page is filled with celebrity photos, including Ilayaraja, A.R. Rahman, Kamal Haasan, Drew Barrymore and Sivamani. In 2022, Lydian also released his debut jazz album, Chromatic Grammatic. From xylophone sticks to multiple instruments View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lydian Nadhaswaram (@lydiannadhaswaramofficial) When Lydian Nadhaswaram was two years old, the family was celebrating his sister Amrithavarshini's birthday. Lydian picked up two xylophone sticks and played a rhythm. His father noticed his talent instantly and the next day, bought him a small Rototoms drum set. He soon began accompanying his father for every orchestra

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A post shared by Lydian Nadhaswaram (@lydiannadhaswaramofficial)

When Lydian Nadhaswaram was two years old, the family was celebrating his sister Amrithavarshini's birthday. Lydian picked up two xylophone sticks and played a rhythm. His father noticed his talent instantly and the next day, bought him a small Rototoms drum set. He soon began accompanying his father for every orchestra and light music show in town and Lydian would play the drums as he heard others sing, and try his hand at the string instruments and keyboards, too. Even his name holds music. The nadaswaram is a wind instrument and Lydian, a Greek word, is a raga. "In Tamil we have the kalyani raga. My father used to say that Lydian is the kalyani raga." When he was a baby, his father would play the Tamil song Kaatril varum geethame, written in the Lydian raga and even as a toddler, he would smile when he heard it.

So, when he first suggested playing the piano after watching a young Chinese pianist, his father worried he would spread himself too thin. "I told him you are a drummer and that guy is a pianist, maybe one day you can play with him on the same stage, you can't just learn the piano." Lydian, however, was determined. He went to the family's old Samick upright and sat down to play. "Suddenly one day, he came to the piano and started playing something which is not easy for a beginner to play," his father recalls. "He used both his hands like a master and I was astounded. From that day onwards, I encouraged him to play the piano as well." A few months later, although his fingers were presumably too small to cover a full octave, he stunned everyone, including his music director father, Varshan Satish, by playing Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. When he turned 10 years old, in 2016, Lydian finished his grade 8 piano exam, playing Chopin's rubato, Petit Chien Valse. One examiner wrote in his report that "this was played with both delicacy and gusto."

Winning 'The World's Best' and global recognition

After his big break in 2019, the Global Indian's reputation grew in leaps and bounds across the world. Photos of Lydian Nadhaswaram, then barely 13, posing with Drew Barrymore, as he won The World's Best, went viral. Invitations to perform came pouring in, from across India, as well as from the US, Australia and Malaysia. The prodigy, who looked even younger than his thirteen years, went viral for playing two pianos at the same time.

It didn't stop there. "One day, I was playing the piano along with my sister Amritha Varshini, who is a pianist herself," Lydian said. "She playfully threw a towel on me, that fell on my head and covered my eyes but still, I managed to play the piece. That was the day my daddy noticed I could play even with my eyes shut. That practice continued whenever I felt like playing blindfolded." He demonstrated this skill on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In Miami, writes Vishwas R Gaitonde in The Hindu, during a rehearsal for Simpre Ninos, the NBC television show, Nadhashwaram noticed that a string on the Baldwin grand piano had a metallic sound. None of the studio technicians had picked up on it. Lydian's observation caused such a stir that the producers provided him with a Yamaha C3 grand, brought straight from the showroom. His performance went so well that he was invited back on Siempre Ninos.

His dream piano is the Steinway grand - no surprises there. After his visit to Miami, Lydian went to New York City, where he visited the Steinway headquarters. In the visitors' room, he played a Model A. The showroom manager was so impressed, he led Lydian to the Model D concert grand, the company's top of the line model. He played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Mastering the craft and future aspirations

Today, a Steinway grand sits proudly in his studio, where a picture of Beethoven hangs on the wall. Only the teddy bear sitting on the piano hints at his age. And Lydian Nadhaswaram's repertoire has only grown. He plays 14 instruments, including the guitar, the violin and harpejji, a gift from A.R. Rahman. In this studio, he re-created Ilayaraja's most complex compositions, earning himself the honour of being the maestro's only student.

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A post shared by Lydian Nadhaswaram (@lydiannadhaswaramofficial)

After he graduated from Trinity College, he joined A.R. Rahman's KM Music Conservatory, to specialise in the Russian style of playing the piano. When he was 10 years old, he was vinted to India's first ever TED show, hosted by Shah Rukh Khan and curator Juliet Blake. Blake then invited Lydian to play a fusion piece with LA-based violinist Gingger Shankar and Swiss drummer Carlo Ribaux.

Lydian has gone on to win several awards, including the Cicely Goschen Shield, the Rajagopal Menon Prize, the PP John Memorial Prize and the Amy de Rozario Cup.

Follow Lydian Nadhaswaram on Instagram and YouTube.

Reading Time: 5 mins

The Indian students who won Belgium university’s KICK Challenge Award with their edible cutlery innovation

What does a brewer’s spent grain have to do with cutlery? Absolutely nothing, yet in this latest innovation, everything. The next time you order food, gobble away, and chomp on the Eco Ware edible cutlery instead. There will be much less plastic in the world. Three Indian students from Ku Leuven University in Belgium created a biodegradable, edible cutlery brand called Eco Ware from a beer by-product, and it won the 2021 KICK Challenge Student Award. Anusuya Samantaray, Apoorva Vardhan and Varun Singh won this university business competition which focuses on social entrepreneurship. Their end goal is now to create a sustainable world, and reduce the human carbon footprint at a time when the latest Climate Change report warns us of the consequences of living on the edge. [caption id="attachment_12770" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Apoorva Vardhan[/caption] What got them started Anusuya was pained at the sight of the trashed beaches in Odisha, and even helped clear plastic waste as a child while Varun and Apoorva also wanted to help Belgium (and the world) answer the single use plastic menace. Apoorva (Faculty of Science), Varun (Faculty of Bioscience Engineering), Anusuya (Master of science in sustainable development) found that spent was perfect to make Eco Ware

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Anusuya was pained at the sight of the trashed beaches in Odisha, and even helped clear plastic waste as a child while Varun and Apoorva also wanted to help Belgium (and the world) answer the single use plastic menace.

Apoorva (Faculty of Science), Varun (Faculty of Bioscience Engineering), Anusuya (Master of science in sustainable development) found that spent was perfect to make Eco Ware edible cutlery.

“Apoorva, Varun and I did a lot of research and found that spent grain, a byproduct of the beer manufacturing industry is edible and a rich source of fiber. Restaurants in Belgium also use spent grain in pizzas. The country has over 1,000 beer brands and generates 60,000 MT of spent grain annually. We decided to use this to come up with an edible cutlery range including spoons and dip cups,” Anusuya told Global Indian about Eco Ware edible cutlery.

“We were aware of edible cutlery and its presence in minimum capacities in India. There was also this concern that it’s being made out of agriculturally stressed products (wheat for example). We wanted to find possibilities to make it as eco-friendly as possible. Thanks to Varun, we discovered how brewers spent grain (BSG) could be of use. Apoorva and I, as students of sustainability, further incorporated ideas to reduce the carbon footprint by going local with our project.”

[caption id="attachment_12771" align="aligncenter" width="754"] The edible cutlery developed by the Anusuya, Apoorva and Varun[/caption]

Work in progress

The team came up with Eco Ware edible cutlery cups and trays that were awarded the Gemma Frisius KICK Student Award for a business idea with impact. The trio researched extensively, and conducted a small pilot survey to understand consumer behavior with a focus on edible cutlery — 91% were open to the use edible cutlery, 3% showed partial interest.

Given that KU Leuven is the European capital of innovation, they were confident that the idea will kindle eco-consciousness among all. In agreement about the lack of sustainable policies in India, poverty, policy making and execution hurdles, they hope to ignite the same fervor back home. Even as Leuven sets the pace for such interventions, Anusuya feels there is a lot to learn from the indigenous communities in India, “Their knowledge of organic material such as using sal leaves to stitch plates, natural non-toxic dyes, farming methods, there is much tacit knowledge of the environment that could be used to build on innovating sustainable ways of living.”

For any foodie, taste is tantamount to consumption, so how does spent grain translate on the taste meter? Spent grain is used by farmers as fodder, and there has been a growing interest in alternative uses of spent grain in the food industry. “Brewer’s spent grain is a perfectly edible by-product of the beer industry, and is being significantly incorporated into breads, cookies and even pizza doughs because of its rich fiber content," says Anusuya says of the ingredients of Eco Ware edible cutlery.

“As a matter of justification, according to a paper presented at the 18th European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production Conference (ERSCP 2017), spent grain is proven to be rich in fiber and protein content. The only reason breweries simply give away the grains as fodder or discard them is because there is no current large-scale industry set up to add value to the processed spent grain/flour. Processing of spent grains into flour is an energy demanding task, so they find it feasible to sell it as fodder. We want to bridge the gap."

Being eco conscious

Anusuya’s upbringing had much to do with her chosen course. Her father’s naturalist leanings helped her gain knowledge about coastal bio-diversity. In fact, Sanjay Samantaray is the chief organizer of the India Surf Festival and founder of Surfing Yogis. A childhood amidst the tranquil seaside forests of Puri, influenced by her father who is action oriented and hosts events like beach clean-up drives, and promotes eco-tourism, she adds, "Sustainable development addresses the intricacies of the complexities; a process that is holistic and takes into account all three dimensions — societies, ecology and the economy to pursue sustainable growth,” says the girl, who did her BSc in sustainable development at Xavier University, Bhubaneswar.

[caption id="attachment_12773" align="aligncenter" width="631"] Varun Singh[/caption]

Kanpur boy Varun Singh, 25, is doing his Masters in Food Technology (IUPFOOD), offered by KU Leuven and Ghent University. It is his experience that cemented this innovation. A B.Tech in food technology from Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Prayagraj, Varun also worked as a manufacturing executive in Too Yumm and a research associate at Mordor Intelligence.

“The knowledge and exposure at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering is life-changing. I get to work on critical industrial problems related to food processing, packaging, and preservation. Added is the access to labs equipped with the latest equipment, valuing millions of Euros, used for the sole purpose of increasing food safety, food innovation, and promoting healthy eating,” says Varun as he works on Eco Ware edible cutlery. His research interest is working on chocolates as Belgium is world-famous for its expertise, and loves composing music, playing the guitar, and sketching.

For Apoorva, who is originally from Delhi, but has lived in Pune, her bachelors in Plant Sciences from University of Delhi paved the way for a degree in sustainable development with a specialization in ecology. She too is passionate and is inspired most by, “How you can come up with solutions that have the power to change the world and bring systemic change in society,” says the student, who will be traveling to Rwanda shortly for field work and master thesis, and is interested in agroforestry and food systems, for her PhD or career.

[caption id="attachment_12826" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Anusuya Samantaray[/caption]

Road ahead

They now want to develop a finished product with the help of Leuven Research and Development department of KU Leuven, collaborating with researchers and research labs at KU Leuven’s beer institute. Working on developing partnerships with breweries in Leuven, they will go local before expansion. Product development, manufacturing and building partnerships is their focus, and they are on the lookout for funds and partnerships for distribution. They believe in ideating and challenging frontiers. In unison they say, “Keep hustling,” adding that research was their foundation.

As they work towards a tangible product in Eco Ware edible cutlery, there is a second year to complete, projects, and master thesis to finish too. Anasuya adds, “While most other companies are exploring the market using rice and wheat, which are agriculturally stressed commodities, the spent grain initiative is most eco-friendly. Upon discovering sustainability, it made me believe that the problems we face today are not isolated affairs. Sustainable development addresses the intricacies of the complexities; a process that is holistic and takes into account all three dimensions — societies, ecology and the economy to pursue sustainable growth.”

Reading Time: 7 min

The art of the hustle: How Aamir Qutub became one of Australia’s top young entrepreneurs

(March 28, 2023) Every day, when Aamir Qutub drives to work, he chooses from his fleet of luxury cars to take him to his office in Geelong, where the headquarters of Enterprise Monkey Proprieter Ltd are located. Aamir is the founder and CEO of Enterprise Monkey, which operates out of four countries, and continues to head Angel Next Door, which he founded during the pandemic, to help make life easier for everybody. The entrepreneur and tech investor has come a long, long way from when he boarded a plane for the first time in his life, bound for Australia, where was all set to begin life as a student in Deakin University. Born in Aligarh, UP, Aamir had a middle-class upbringing, and dreamt, even as a child, of owning a business some day. He wanted to study more, he had his sights on Deakin University in Australia, but didn't want to ask his father for money. While his parents weren't poor, the tuition cost at a foreign university was beyond them. With some difficulty, Aamir's father scraped together the fee for his son's first semester. [caption id="attachment_28811" align="aligncenter" width="511"] Aamir Qutub[/caption] Hustle to make it Alone in Geelong, Aamir had

e.globalindian.com/youth///wp-content/uploads/2023/03/aamir-banner-cutout.jpg" alt="Aamir Qutub | Enterprise Monkey" width="511" height="511" /> Aamir Qutub[/caption]

Hustle to make it

Alone in Geelong, Aamir had to find ways to fund his study. He applied for dozens of jobs - and got no responses. In the end, he landed a job as a janitor at the airport in Geelong. "In India, a cleaning job is looked down upon," Aamir said in an interview. "In Australia, it's like any other job. When my parents found out about work, they became quite sad. My relatives also started gossiping about me and giving the family a hard time."

Aamir remained unfazed, working the 6 am to 6 pm shift, studying during his breaks. The long hours got in the way of his work and he was forced to quit. He found himself another job and would wake up at 3 am to deliver newspapers. He continued to search for work, finally landing an internship at at IT firm and then at ICT Geelong, where he was promoted quickly and soon worked directly under the general manager. When his boss quit, he was appointed the interim GM and was promoted again, becoming the company's youngest GM. "Within a year, the revenue of the company increased by 30 percent," Aamir said.

Striking out as an entrepreneur

In 2014, the Global Indian registered Enterprise Monkey Proprietor, with an investment of AUD 4,000, which he had managed to save. He hired himself an assistant in India and began working with a team of four. Business grew and Aamir scaled up on hiring, only to find, he dind't have the money to pay them. "We were making money, but I was in debt. I took a loan of around AUD 100,000 from private lenders to maintain the cash flow," he recalled.

Again, he was in a financial quandary. He had left the safety being employed, turning his back on what had promised to be a glowing career, even if it wouldn't one of entrepreneurship. He took that leap and found success, only to find himself back where he started - wondering where they money was coming from. The situation worsened, to the point where Aamir couldn't afford to put fuel in his car. "I had 17 employees, the turnover was big but the profits weren't there."

This was his most troubling time as an entrepreneur. Aamir knew he had to step back and assess the situation. He realised that he had taken on small clients - that move hadn't paid off. He had also fallen into the trap of planning, taking focus off the goal itself. "The business was repositioned on profitability rather than on growth, and voila! I repaid the debt within three months."

Today, the company employs a 100 people and has a turnover of over Rs 12 crore. Enterprise Monkey Proprietor Ltd was also awarded the Australian Smartest Innovation of the Year.

Giving Back

These days, the business runs on "auto-mode," as Aamir puts it, leaving him with room for other pursuits. He set up the Aamir Qutub foundation and continues to work with students in India. This included setting up the first-ever recruitment drive in his alma mater, Aligarh Muslim University, during which 2000 students were placed in 30 companies. He also introduced free WIFI on campus and Smart classrooms, even lobbying national policies for the students.

During the pandemic, Aamir founded "Angel Next Door," an outreach program that mobilised the community, allowing citizens to ask for - and provide - help discreetly. Aamir, who was also named the Australian Young Business Leader of the Year, continues to live in Geelong with his wife, Sarah Niazi, who is a dentist. "My life has always been exploring new possibilities," he said, adding, "I always wanted to be successful, I just wanted to pursue what I loved and I had this belief in myself."

Follow Aamir Qutub on LinkedIn