63 more Indians in 30 under 30 achievers
Indian Bollywood actress-producer Anushka Sharma is featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018 list, which includes innovators and disruptors who are reshaping their industries and changing Asia for the better. Anushka, one of Indian film industry’s highest paid actresses, is all of 29.
Anushka started out her career as a model in 2007, making her acting debut in 2008 in the hugely successful ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, which won her a Filmfare award for Best Actress. She has since acted in movies like ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’, ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, ‘PK’, ‘Bombay Velvet’, ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’. As a producer, Anushka, who is married to ace cricketer Virat Kohli, has made films like ‘NH10’, ‘Phillauri’ and ‘Pari’ under her banner Clean Slate Films. She starred in all three films herself.
India’s badminton ace P.V. Sindhu also features in the list. No one has made India quite so proud in the last two years as this badminton star. The 22-year-old from Hyderabad became a national hero when she won India’s first medal of the Rio Olympics, silver in women’s singles. That achievement not only earned her millions in prize money and endorsements back home (second only to famed cricketer Virat Kohli), but also fueled interest in her as a badminton icon. Sindhu has since won titles at the Korea Open and India Open, defeating her Rio gold medal victor, Spain’s Carolina Marin, at the latter.
According to the Forbes announcement, India has the highest number of honorees in the list with 65 young disruptors, innovators and entrepreneurs among the final 300, Forbes announced its third annual list of achievers all under the age of 30, who are challenging conventional wisdom and rewriting the rules for the next generation.
The Forbes 30 under 30 Asia Class of 2018 includes 30 honorees each in 10 categories: The Arts (Art & Style, Food & Drink); Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture Capital; Media, Marketing & Advertising; Retail & Ecommerce; Enterprise Technology; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Healthcare & Science; Social Entrepreneurs and Consumer Technology.
The Forbes list highlights 300 young individuals driving change in Asia. Pakistani singer Momina Mustehsan, who shot to fame with her version of ‘Afreen afreen’ through an Indian Television series, which she sang with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, too finds a mention in the list.
Other notable personalities of India in different categories include Bobble Keyboard’s 26 year old co-founder Ankit Prasad who created the Bobble Keyboard along with cofounder Mohd Wassem. 28 year old Rahul Gayam, CTO of Gayam Motor Works, joined brother Raja in creating electric auto-rickshaws and bikes for the Indian market. They’ve partnered with domestic taxi company Ola and with the government of Andhra Pradesh state on a fleet of electric vehicles.
There’s also Bala Sarda, the 26-year-old founder and CEO of Vahdam Teas. While there’s no shortage of homegrown tea brands in India, Sarda has raised $2 million in funding to operate a direct-to-consumer business. His model, designed to support domestic farmers, emphasizes freshness as they process, pack, and ship teas directly to the consumer within 24-72 hours of production.
King of Jaipur and captain of the Indian National Polo Team, Padmanabh Singh made this year’s Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list. He is an avid sportsman, took up its cause. Not only captaining the first Indian polo team to head to England in 20 years.
Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami (23 and 22 respectively), are also included in the list as they are championing the country’s massive footwear shortage by recycling discarded shoes into wearable footwear for children in need. Through 50 shoe collection centers in India, the duo’s Greensole has refurbished and given away more than 100,000 shoes, sold an estimated 4,000 pairs of sandals, and has partnered with enterprises including the Tata Group and India Bulls.
Twenty-five-year-old Ria Sharma of Make Love Not Scars was inspired after making a documentary about acid attack survivors while a student at the Leeds College of Art in the UK. Setting up a rehabilitation center providing medical, legal, education, vocational and psychological rehabilitation services for Indian acid attack survivors, the UN Goalkeepers Global Goals Award winner for 2017 has helped more than 75 acid attack survivors through her center.
With women’s issues increasingly in the spotlight in India, 23-year-old Suhani Jalota founded the Myna Manila Foundation along with three women from slum communities in Mumbai. Helping provide impoverished women with menstrual hygiene products and employment opportunities for young female entrepreneurs, the Duke-educated social entrepreneur won the 2017 Queen’s Young Leader Award for her work.
Providing schools with health programs and education, medical assessments and insurance services, 26-year-old Priya Prakash’s Health Set Go is busy training health professionals and teachers to help students across the country. Operating in 70 cities, they’ve come to the aid of more than 85,000 students to date with the CARE flagship program.
While Health Set Go looks at human sustainability, the 28-year-old founder of Differniture, Aakriti Kumar, has been working on design sustainability using natural resources to create responsible, zero-waste, chemical-free home furniture. The Parsons graduate and winner of India’s Interior Lifestyle Awards 2016, manufactures her atelier-styled pieces in India. She’s expanding her remit to include designing eco-friendly cabins in the Indian hills.-Agencies
