Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveSandy Khanda: Bridging gaps, building futures with Green Pencil Foundation

Sandy Khanda: Bridging gaps, building futures with Green Pencil Foundation

Written by: Amrita Priya

(March 6, 2024) After passing out of engineering college in 2018, Sandy Khanda could have either followed the conventional path of securing a job or pursue a startup venture, a common choice among many young enthusiasts, but he chose to start an NGO. Headquartered in Delhi NCR, his NGO, Green Pencil Foundation has quickly gained momentum, extending its reach in eleven states of India with a strong volunteer base of over 2,000 young volunteers. Together, Sandy and his team have touched the lives of over 20,000 individuals through initiatives that emphasise women’s empowerment, menstrual hygiene management, education for underprivileged children, and action for climate change.

Recognizing the global nature of many societal challenges, Sandy has also expanded Green Pencil’s operations to Indonesia and Iran. “In Indonesia, our outreach extends to various areas in Jakarta and the Papua province, which has the lowest literacy rates in the country,” he tells Global Indian. “With a presence in over 50 schools and underprivileged communities, we are committed to making a difference in remote locations, employing an inclusive approach that transcends borders and religions. Our initiatives also extend to certain regions in Iran” the social entrepreneur adds.

Sandy Khanda

Life’s transformative turns

Sandy was born and raised in a small village in Haryana, and witnessed firsthand the disparities and challenges faced by rural communities. When he moved to Delhi for education, his transition to urban life only heightened his awareness of societal issues such as gender inequality, poor climatic conditions, air pollution, struggles of marginalised populations and plight of kids growing up in slums of Delhi NCR.

Fuelled by a desire to instigate change, Sandy began his journey through grassroots activism, utilizing platforms like writing, teaching slum children, and organising protests to address pressing social issues, while pursuing engineering.

However, his commitment to societal betterment became even stronger following a life-altering experience – a near-fatal accident that left him in a six-month coma. Emerging from this ordeal with renewed purpose and gratitude, Sandy resolved to dedicate his life to serving others. Thus, the Green Pencil Foundation was born, with a mission to empower communities, break down barriers, and drive positive change across India and beyond.

Green for environmental advocacy, Pencil for education

The name of the foundation, Green Pencil, reflects its dual focus on environmental advocacy and education. ‘Green’ stands for addressing the pressing climate change crisis. The foundation advocates improved public policies for reducing carbon footprints, with an emphasis on a human-centric approach.

‘Pencil’ centres around education, particularly the foundation’s efforts to uplift underprivileged children and women. Through educational workshops covering topics such as menstrual hygiene management, mental health, and academic classes, the Green Pencil Foundation empowers individuals for a brighter future. “The primary sources of funding for our initiatives come from individual supporters and corporate social responsibility, enabling us to sustain and grow our efforts in making a meaningful difference,” Sandy says.

ALSO READ | Vivek Gurav’s global impact with Pune Ploggers

Developing a global perspective

Apart from being engaged in his NGO, Sandy has remotely served as the national coordinator and community outreach manager at Atlas, a Brussels based political movement uniting people worldwide to create a freer, better and more equitable planet.

Sandy’s responsibilities encompassed coordinating community engagement to promote Atlas’ endeavours across India. “I was actively engaged in designing and executing comprehensive campaigns to advance Atlas’ principles within the Indian context. This entailed strategic planning, seamless coordination, and effective communication to amplify the organisation’s movements.” His involvement with Atlas provided him with a global perspective on societal issues, a perspective that has influenced the expansion of Green Foundation initiatives beyond India.

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A post shared by Green Pencil Foundation (@greenpencilfoundation)

Green Pencil’s meaningful projects

The youth-led NGO’s impact spans across major metropolitan cities of India including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Manipur, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Amritsar, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Bangalore.

The foundation is spearheading several meaningful projects. Through the ‘Periods of Pride’ initiative, it has conducted a thorough survey in government schools across India, uncovering critical challenges in menstrual hygiene management. The findings reveal prevalent issues including menstrual taboos, inadequate educational awareness, and limited knowledge about menstrual hygiene products, garnering wide attention.

Another project like ‘Slum to School’ aims to educate and enable soft skills development in slum kids to make them independent. “This project is running in more than 25 Indian cities in 11 Indian states to benefit over 3,000 slum kids,” shares Sandy.

The Foundation is working in coordination with Greenpeace India, the Indian branch of the global environmental group Greenpeace, a non-profit NGO, with a presence in 55 countries in a project called ‘Power the Pedal’. “This groundbreaking project focuses on providing bicycle training to hundreds of women, aiming to promote sustainable mobility and empower themselves in the process,” tells Sandy.

Green Pencil Foundation and Greenpeace India’s ‘Power to Pedal’ project provides bicycle training to women

Green Pencil’s Initiative, ‘One Home One Tree’ is aimed to influence people and encourage plantation drives to fight air pollution in metro cities.

The project, ‘Festivals vibes with needy tribes’ encourages people to celebrate festivals with needy people around them so that they feel special. “It gives the message of equality in the society,” the social entrepreneur remarks.

The project, ‘Pollution Se Azaadi’ advocates for a shift towards public transport and active mobility as effective means to reduce carbon footprints.

ALSO READ | Empowering change: Activist Sanya Sharma’s pursuit of a better world

Working to expand reach beyond India

Having tasted reasonable success in his efforts to make a difference in India, Sandy Khanda now aspires to extend his impact beyond borders by expanding Green Pencil Foundation’s programmes to various regions of South Asia. “We are working towards expanding Green Pencil Foundation’s footprint in South Asian and African regions with an aim to impact more lives,” he signs off.

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Published on 06, Mar 2024

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Shanya Gill on TIME’s Kid of the Year Honoree List: It’s an honour

(August 31, 2024) "When I learned I was on TIME's Kid of The Year Honoree List, I was initially stunned. It took a moment for the news to sink in, and then I felt a mix of excitement and gratitude," says Shanya Gill, the 13-year-old innovator from San Jose in California, who has invented a rapid-fire detection device. She is among the five youngsters who made it to the list of honorees who are already considering how they can inspire and guide the next generation of exceptional young people. "This recognition is incredibly meaningful to me. It's an honour I hadn't anticipated, and it's certainly a memorable moment in my journey," she tells Global Indian. This year Fairfax-based Heman Bekele was named TIME's Kid of the Year for inventing a soap that could one day treat and even prevent multiple forms of skin cancer. On the other hand, five young guns made it to the Honoree list, including Dom Pecora, Madhvi Chittoor, Jordan Sucato, Keivonn Woodard, and Shanya Gill. "Saving lives with science is something that drives my passion for science every day and seeing more examples from my peers gives me more encouragement," adds the teen. Finding inspiration In

d seeing more examples from my peers gives me more encouragement," adds the teen.

Finding inspiration

In 2022, Shanya was deeply unsettled when a fire reduced the restaurant behind her home to ashes. Despite a smoke detector, the restaurant officials couldn't raise the alarm until significant damage had already occurred. The incident left a profound impact on Shanya who was inspired to develop a rapid-fire detection device that alerts users to potential fires before they even ignite.

This innovative invention earned her the prestigious Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND Award, and now a spot in the TIME's Kid of The Year Honoree List. "It's a testament to the effort and time I've invested in my projects, and it's encouraging to see that work resonate with others," says the Indian-American teen, adding, "More than personal validation, I see it as an opportunity to inspire other young people to pursue their ideas and make a difference."

As young as 12, she undertook the journey to come up with a solution that's more effective than a smoke alarm. What sets Shanya's fire detection device apart from traditional smoke alarms is that while smoke detectors activate only when smoke is already present, often signalling a fire at a more advanced and hazardous stage, her system uses code and a thermal camera to identify unattended fires much earlier in their development.

A STEM lover, Shanya's passion for science and technology deepened through her involvement in regional science fairs, where she merged her interests in coding and building. With her parents - a doctor and a computer scientist - the wind beneath her wings, she found encouragement to pursue her endeavours in the space of science. However, it was the fire at a nearby restaurant that pushed her to seek a real-world solution. Realising that smoke detectors weren't as dependable as she had believed, she turned to thermal cameras to find a better answer. Explaining the process behind the fire-detection device, she says, “The device uses temperature and motion(seeing how a part of an image changes temperature) to detect fires and humans, therefore allowing the device to know whether there is a human and a fire in a scene (attended fire) or just a fire in a scene(unattended fire).”

The future plan

Harbouring plans of putting the device on the marketplace for long, she has decided to make the intellectual property public so that "the whole world can build upon it." She has spent the past few months developing vision language models (LLMs) capable of analyzing infrared (IR) scenes and providing detailed analyses. "I'm currently using this technology in my home," she says, adding that she is excited to present this AI model at the International Association of Fire Chiefs Tech Summit and be recognised at the US Fire Administration Summit.

In this short span, she has created Early Fire Alert Inc., a non-profit to facilitate funding and development. This will allow me to receive funding from potential supporters I'll be meeting at these conferences. "The future looks very promising for this project, and I'm thrilled about its potential impact on fire safety," says the Boston-born teenager, who has been acknowledged by TIME magazine.

"Being recognised by TIME reinforces my commitment to using technology and innovation to address real-world challenges. It's a reminder that age isn't a barrier to making meaningful contributions," says the champion swimmer. The acknowledgment inspires her to keep pursuing new ideas, learn from both successes and challenges and work with others to develop solutions that can benefit society.

The eighth grader at Miller Middle School is keen to take her device to a wider audience as she envisions a bright future for it. "With further enhancements and advancements, I believe it has the potential to revolutionise fire detection systems. The goal is to make it more accessible and widely used to enhance safety measures globally," she signs off.

Follow Shanya Gill on LinkedIn

Basketball player Ryan Agarwal wishes to represent India in the American landscape

(February 25, 2023) The news was as exciting as it was historic. One of the most prominent basketball teams in the USA, Dallas Mavericks, had picked Satnam Singh to be their team member, making him the first Indian-born player to be selected in an NBA draft in 2015. Little did the world know that Satnam's entry in the NBA would open doors for an aspiring Indian American basketball player, Ryan Agarwal, who at the time was just another sixth grader at a Dallas middle school. Now a Stanford freshman, Ryan is one of the only Indian-American players on the Division I level and wishes to represent India in the American basketball landscape. "Even as I play today, I just have to keep in mind the fact that I help represent such a big community, and only a few people have the ability to do what I’m trying to do,” the basketball player said in a recent interview, adding, "It’s amazing to see how many people support me and have my back." The Stanford player, who is also deemed as the rising star of US basketball, is fully aware that his game could push him to be greater on the court,

adding, "It’s amazing to see how many people support me and have my back." The Stanford player, who is also deemed as the rising star of US basketball, is fully aware that his game could push him to be greater on the court, but it doesn’t pressure him. "Basketball is just kind of fun for me. I don’t really feel like it’s a burden on me," the Global Indian shared.

A star in the making

Ryan's parents had emigrated from India, and he was born in a Dallas suburb. While the young kid never saw someone playing basketball or considered it as a career path, it was the selection of Satnam in the Dallas Mavericks that encouraged him to start playing. In 2017, Ryan and his cousin had a chance to watch Satnam in an NBA G League game, and it was there that Ryan realised he wanted to play just like him. And once he had made up his mind, there was no looking back. The youngster started playing at his school and was soon picked up to be a part of the local team. Standing at 6’7 and a slender 175 pounds, the Indian American player is a certified bucket.

[caption id="attachment_27827" align="aligncenter" width="651"] Ryan with his family[/caption]

While he loved playing the sport and spending several hours mastering the skill, Ryan credits his parents for supporting him throughout the journey. Even though they were initially unsure about the rigorous world of recruiting and elite sports, watching their son play gave them immense confidence. Eventually, Ryan shared, that several families started reaching out to them to ask for advice, partly on how to encourage their children in sports and get them noticed by college coaches. "I’m blessed with the parents I have, because they put me in every sport possible to just try to see what I love, which honestly, not a lot of Indian parents do,” Ryan said, adding, "I think that’s the biggest thing for me. If it wasn’t for the support from my parents, who knows where I would be.”

More mountains to climb

The 18-year-old, who is a part of the Standford team now, understands how rare it is to see Indian basketball players playing at the Division I level and also realises his responsibility to encourage other South Asian kids, who aspire to be basketball players. "We didn’t really have a lot of players that were Indian-American playing Division I basketball that we could all look up to,” Ryan told in an interview, adding, "In AAU travel ball, I didn’t see any Indians at all. Even in Texas, playing travel ball against other teams, I didn’t see a lot. It was just kind of on my own team if anything.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCnKfoOb-U

However, the teen player didn’t shy away from a certain amount of pressure that comes with people judging an entire culture based on his play. In fact, a few months back, Ryan also shared a video highlighting the efforts of his coaches and relatives who helped him during his journey, saying that he wants "to set an example for a whole heritage and prove that we can do it, too.”

So far this season, Agarwal has come off the bench for Stanford in nearly two-thirds of its games, averaging roughly eight minutes when he plays. Rivals.com once ranked Agarwal as a top-20 shooting guard, but Stanford Coach Jerod Haase believes that Ryan is a more complete player because of his size at 6-foot-6 and his passing ability. "I want to continue getting better and better and ready for the next level. I’ll be in the gym probably more than ever with my trainers and by myself," the player shared.

Follow Ryan Agarwal on Twitter

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California teen Adarsh Ambati uses AI to save water

(November 19, 2022) In 2018, then 13-year-old Adarsh Ambati's life came temporarily to a standstill when his mum suffered a third-degree heart block. Adarsh recalls seeing her connected to wires that were meant to monitor health but didn't allow her to move around. So, Adarsh Ambati, now the founder of the Green Initiatives Movement, decided to develop a portable, cost-effective device that could monitor vital signs without hampering mobility. Nine months later, the prototype for the vital signs monitor was ready. By the time he won the prestigious Gloria Barron Prize in 2021, Adarsh had also devised the Community Sprinkler and started an Amphibian Biodiversity Protection Initiative. [caption id="attachment_24431" align="aligncenter" width="545"] Adarsh Ambati[/caption] The Contactless Monitor Now a freshman at Stanford University, Adarsh's first project, the Contactless Monitor, was ready nine months after his mother's illness. Fortunately, her mobility had been restored, so Adarsh ran over 1000 tests on his protype, as part of a 40-participant pilot study. "It took me around nine months to develop the device and build an app with notifications so doctors could use it, but also regular people," he told The Guardian. "Because it's contactless and relatively portable, it could even be used to detect

Even as a teenager, the young Global Indian was especially perceptive of the world around him, alive to its problems and eager to find solutions, which he does using his deep interest in technology and coding. Growing up in California, he noticed his neighbours using automatic sprinklers, using vast amounts of precious water on landscaping.

A low-cost community sprinkler alert system

"While going to school in the rain one day, I saw one of my neighbours with their sprinklers on, creating run-offs," he told Vintage Billboard. "Through research, I found that 25 percent of the water used in an average American household is wasted each day due to overwatering and inefficient watering methods."

In 2016, Adarsh began work on a prototype for a smart, low-cost, community sprinkler alert system. When he conducted a two-month pilot with 10 neighbouring homes, he found they had the potential to save some 50,000 gallons of water in a couple of months. "The sprinkler system is compliant with water regulations, to cost-effectively save water for entire neighbourhoods using a Raspberry Pi, moisture sensors, PyOWM (weather database) and by utilising free social media networks like Twitter," he added.

The idea was to save the excess water that is wasted during general-purpose irrigation. The device can detect and integrate real-time weather forecast data to provide the optimum levels of water. It doesn't stop there. The sprinkler alert system is also connected to social media and can publish information on when to turn on sprinklers and for how long.

The prototype cost about $50, which, incidentally, is less expensive than the higher-end smart sprinklers. By Adarsh's estimate, it can be brought down to about five cents or less per household, since the device can serve an entire community.

A scalable model

Some 83 percent of water used in outdoor landscaping can be saved, a huge deal in Northern California, 100 gallons of water is used for outdoor landscaping everyday, in an average household. The sprinkler alert system was also presented to the San Jose City Council, who even considered installing the system in their public grass areas.

Recognition found Adarsh in 2019, when he won MagPi Magazine's Coolest Projects USA competition. Phil Colligan, the CEO of Raspberry Pi, also expressed his support. In 2021, he received the prestigious Gloria Barron Prize. Adarsh is also the founder of Gro-STEMS, which sells succulents to support technology training at San Jose's LifeMoves Homeless Shelter and Aarti Girls School for abandoned children in Kadapa, India.

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Mangka Mayanglambam puts Manipuri folk music on world map

(May 7, 2023) When Mangka Mayanglambam, the world-famous Manipuri folk singer, formally started learning music as a nine-year-old, her guru was her grandmother, Oja Langathel Thoinu. Despite the family ties, the budding singer was given no extra privileges as a student, learning in a strict, guru-shishya atmosphere, just like her fellow pupils. Now the face of Manipuri folk music, Mangka has represented India on multiple platforms globally. With the international ongoing collaborative project ZIRO Focus (2020-2023), supported by British Council and Art Council of Wales, the folk singer has collaborated with Eadyth, an artist from Wales, England. They have created an NFT song RaRaReHei. [caption id="attachment_24694" align="aligncenter" width="651"] Mangka Mayanglambam[/caption] International collaboration The collaboration is part of ‘India-Wales, Connections through Culture’, a celebration of the long-standing relationship between the two countries on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day. Apart from creating the NFT, Mangka travelled to Britain as part of the bilateral cultural exchange to perform in some of the cities there. “The first time I represented India internationally was back in 2014 — I was selected to be at one of the world's biggest radio festivals in Colombo. That is an experience I will forever cherish,” she

tional collaboration

The collaboration is part of ‘India-Wales, Connections through Culture’, a celebration of the long-standing relationship between the two countries on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day. Apart from creating the NFT, Mangka travelled to Britain as part of the bilateral cultural exchange to perform in some of the cities there.

“The first time I represented India internationally was back in 2014 — I was selected to be at one of the world's biggest radio festivals in Colombo. That is an experience I will forever cherish,” she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx0xGwRMGcw

Since then, the folk artist has travelled across the world, performing at premiere music festivals. She was awarded the national young artist scholarship award by the ministry of culture in 2017, and the national child talent scholarship award by CCRT, New Delhi in 2009. The Election commission of India selected the Global Indian as the state icon of Manipur in 2017.

Music in her blood

Born into a family of musicians, Mangka’s environment was full of music from the time she was born. Her father, Mangangsana, who is her biggest inspiration, is a renowned folk musician, a national award winner and a versatile artiste. Mangka was deeply influenced by music from the time she was a little girl, thanks to her grandma, who was her first teacher, her father, who trained her later and the artistes who would come home to learn and practice.

“I was not pushed into taking up music by my family, I chose it,” she said. “I urged my father to help me take my passion further by constantly trying to prove that I had potential,” she says, adding, “For this I participated in all the school and neighbourhood functions, without letting go of any chance to perform and impress my father.” Looking back, she is grateful to her father and grandma, for never having favoured or discriminated between her and their other students.

Manga completed her masters in sociology in 2020 and has been associated as a researcher with ‘Laihui Ensemble’, the centre for research on traditional and indigenous performing arts in Imphal. Her father has been the composer, and artistic director of the national and international programmes organised by the centre.

Setting new grounds

Since she was a kid, the folk artist has been singing the traditional songs that the family’s ancestors once sang. “I have grown up singing ‘Moirang Sai’ and ‘Pena Ishei’, which are ballads central to Manipuri folklore,” she revealed. The young artist also sings contemporary songs based on Manipur’s folk tunes that are composed and written by her father and other renowned lyricists.

The artist is a befitting example of Indian youth who are choosing folk music to express themselves and keeping their culture alive. The youth icon has always worked towards putting Manipuri folk music at the international map. “Folk music is a bridge between the past and the present and that’s why it’s so significant,” she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npdJ7adAk6Q

Mangka is the only female Pena (a Manipuri traditional fiddle instrument) player. She started learning how to play it from Padmashree Khangembam Mangi, when she was 13. “I also learned Hindustani Sangeet from Visharad Guru M. Jiten.” Another guru of hers, Langathel Thoinu helped her hone skills in Basok and Moirang Sai (a rare traditional female performing art), beginning her training before she hit her teens.

She learned Khongjom Parvah, a 130-year-old Manipuri ballad singing tradition from guru Khumantham Sundari. The ace performer has also learned Manipuri dance for years, earning the visharad (graduation degree) and has been a student of mime. All this extensive training makes her a riveting performer.

Preventing Manipuri folk art from getting extinct

Today the icon for the entire state of Manipur is an inspiration for children of the state who turn up to her for learning music. She has more than 300 students. Teaching is her way to preserve the folk art and counter the threat of it getting extinct by making the next generation equipped to take it further. “Being around children is something that I love a lot,” she says. It’s not just her music but the way she carries herself is something that adds to her huge fan base of youngsters who fondly call her the Princess of Manipuri Folk Music.

The young artist loves wearing traditional attire with the strong notion that in this time of modernisation, sticking to the roots is something that has added to her personality’s ‘unique brand quotient’. The singer has conducted many seminars, conferences and workshops. When she is abroad, she makes it a point to hold folk art sessions for children of Manipuri diaspora there.

She has also written a book of songs, ‘Langathel Thoinu’s Moirang Sai, Thoibi Loi Kaba.’ “It’s a gift for my guru ‘Langathel Thoinu’ and I would like to have an English translation for it,” she said. “I enjoy what I do and that is why it’s not hard for me to do so many things at the same time” she adds.

International collaborations and performances of Mangka Mayanglambam:

‘Asadoya Yunta – Singel’ – an international collaboration with Japanese artist Kazuki Oshiro with performances across Japan and India
‘Ingelehua – Two Cultures Entwined’ – a Manipuri and Hawaiin dance and music collaboration
Performance at Awa Kongchat a cultural exchange programme in Myanmar
‘Nura Pakhang’ - an international collaboration with Cla, the iconic Portuguese band
Performance at the Esplanade Festival, Singapore
'Shakuhachi meets Pena’ – a collaboration of Manipuri and Japanese traditional music

Follow Mangka Mayanglambam on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube

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Akash Manoj: Innovator develops revolutionary device for silent heart attack detection

(December 9, 2023) At 13, Akash Manoj lost his grandfather to a silent heart attack. Despite being a diabetic and someone with high blood pressure, he was a healthy person. But seeing him collapse and die, owing to a silent heart attack is one of the most heart wrenching moments for him. "Silent heart attacks happen to people who have underlying conditions like diabetes and these patients have nerve damage that blocks out all the alarm signals that the heart is sending," Manoj explained in an interview. That's when he began research in the space as he decided to go on war against a deadly killer as it becomes fatal for patients without any noticeable symptoms. Moreover, the silent heart attacks account for 50 percent of all heart attacks across the globe, and more than 8 million people die each year due to silent heart attacks. "I took time off to read as much as I can on the heart during my school. I was just wanting to find a solution." This prompted him to work for three years with varied government and private labs to come up with a skin patch that can detect a silent heart attack six

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This prompted him to work for three years with varied government and private labs to come up with a skin patch that can detect a silent heart attack six hours before it happens. His breakthrough innovation – which could revolutionise healthcare – won him an award at Intel ISEF 2018 and has received clinical validation from the Tokyo University of Science, London’s Royal Society of Medicine and Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

"It is a watch-like device that you wear around your wrist and place a patch near your chest. The non-invasive device will identify the alarm signal your heart is sending through a unique bio-electric system that I have developed so you don’t need a blood test at all," Akash, who is the President’s Gold Medal recipient, had told in an interview.

The patch work emits a small amount of positive charge, which attracts the negatively-charged FABP3 protein, a biomarker for heart attacks. If analysis shows an increased level of the protein, a heart attack is underway.

[caption id="attachment_34516" align="aligncenter" width="457"] Akash Manoj receives Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar[/caption]

Akash, who calls himself a cardiology researcher, uses a cardiac biomarker called heart-type fatty acid binding protein in his preventive technology "which is released up to six hours before a heart attack, thereby giving us a way for early detection. If the levels are beyond the recommended threshold, that would mean you are at risk of a potential heart attack, so you need to rush to the doctor for immediate medical care".

The student at medical school in Prague, Czech Republic began studying on the subject in school after his grandfather's death. He was in eighth grade when he started visiting the library at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, which is quite from Hosur, his hometown in Tamil Nadu. But he was determined to understand more about the heart and find a solution. "Journal articles are expensive, so visiting the libraries was the only way I could do it. Otherwise, it would have cost more than a crore (of rupees) for the amount I read. I was always interested in medical science and I liked reading the journals…cardiology is my favourite," he told a daily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blQpT50WW9s

After years of research, he made a breakthrough with a non-invasive device which is inexpensive, portable and wearable by at-risk patients at all times. "It requires no blood test and works 24/7 collecting and analysing data at preset intervals, he said in a TedTalk.

The device is being tested on patients with health issues. "We have seen positive results so far, but any tangible conclusions can only be made after the study has been completed," Manoj said, adding that the device might be available in the market in the next few years. "I am also working with key stakeholders in the wearables industry to integrate this system into watch-like wearable devices," he said.

What's your Global Indian story? Write to us at editor@globalindian.com

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