India Today 11.1.2021

KIRAN MAZUMDAR THE
SHAW, 68 INNOVATOR

Founder, executive chairperson BECAUSE Biocon owned the Covid-19
of Biocon Ltd crisis in finding solutions to combat the
virus—from repurposing novel drugs to
developing tech platforms for testing.
Biocon’s novel drug Itolizumab was
used to treat severe cases of Covid 19;
the company also supplied CytoSorb
300, a unique device that reduces cyto-
kine storm in critical patients

BECAUSE Mazumdar Shaw is the first
Indian woman to make it as a self-made
billionaire. She has also continued to
call out the government on issues of
governance and transparency. She is
on several public committees and is an
important voice on policies related to
health, ease of doing business, biotech-
nology, pharma industry, gender, the
city of Bengaluru, among others

BECAUSE Mazumdar-Shaw has used
her influence and power to drive resea-
rch, innovation and access to health-
care. From donating Rs 5 crore to Ignite
Life Science Foundation for pandemic
research to setting up a cancer care hos-
pital for the underprivileged, in part-
nership with Dr Devi Shetty, she has
now joined the Bill and Melinda Gates
‘Giving Pledge’ and is giving away half of
her income

COVID CHRONICLE Her blog describ-
ing her experience and recovery from
Covid-19 went viral across the world,
and was even translated into Spanish

VIVAN MEHRA

ANAND MAHINDRA, 66 The Corporate
Mentor
Chairman, Mahindra Group
BECAUSE he is transitioning into the role of
SIMON DAWSON/ GETTY IMAGES non-executive chairman of the Mahindra &
Mahindra (M&M) board in November to
serve as a mentor to the company manage-
ment. The Mahindra Group is one of the
world’s first companies to announce that it
will measure its social impact in financial
terms as part of ESG (environmental, social
and governance) commitments

BECAUSE Group flagship firm M&M posted
revenues of Rs 44,574 crore and profits of
Rs 4,097 crore, and declared its highest-ever
dividend of Rs 8.75 per share in FY21

BECAUSE the largest manufacturer of trac-
tors in the world by volume produced the
highest-ever number of units (354,498) in
2020-21, a 17.4 per cent y-on-y increase

BECAUSE he has a keen eye for talent and
has been using Twitter, where he has 8.5
million followers, to identify and promote
youngsters. Recently, he offered to put
Prem, a youth from Manipur who made an
‘Iron Man’ suit from scrap, and his siblings
through college. He was an early investor
and backer of Uday Kotak in his enterprise,
and the latter considers him his mentor

BECAUSE Mahindra did his best during
the pandemic days by installing 23 medical
oxygen plants and donating 90 ambulances
across 19 states

TOP HONOUR The US-India Strategic Part-
nership Forum honoured Anand Mahindra
with its 2020 Leadership Award for his
contribution to promoting US-India ties

E L E C T R I C M O M E N T In July 2021, Mahin-
dra Racing’s Alex Lynn recorded his
first-ever Formula E podium finish in
Valencia, Spain

POWER PEOPLE

VIRAT
KOHLI, 32

Cricketer

BAT & BRAND

BECAUSE he’s captain fantastic in the Test format.
Under Kohli’s leadership, the team has acquired
an aggressive intensity and high fitness levels that
saw it reach the finals of the maiden World Test
Championship. Kohli is also the most successful
Asian team captain against the SENA countries—
South Africa, England , New Zealand and Australia

BECAUSE Brand Virat continues to be an unbeat-
able force. With 185 million followers on Instagram,
(18th globally), a barrage of endorsement deals—
over 25—and being one half of power couple
‘Virushka’, Kohli is way ahead in the popularity
charts. He topped the Duff & Phelps celebrity brand
valuation study—$237.7 million—for the fourth
year running in 2020

BECAUSE he’s one of the highest paid players in
the Indian Premier League. Despite not winning
the IPL with the Royal Challengers Bangalore,
Kohli is paid an estimated Rs 17 crore per season

PAW S O M E E F F O R T Inspired by his wife
Anushka, an animal lover, Kohli has set up
two shelters for stray animals in Mumbai

RYAN PIERSE/ GETTY IMAGES

POWER PEOPLE

AYURVEDIC BABA RAMDEV,56
ALCHEMY
Yoga guru
BECAUSE from toothpaste
to shampoo to desi ghee ACHARYA
to detergent, Patanjali is BALKRISHNA, 49
now the biggest FMCG
company of Indian origin. Chairman & MD,
With an annual turnover Patanjali Ayurved
of around Rs 30,000 crore
in FY20, Ramdev says he
will topple HUL from the
top spot and make it do a
“sheershasana” in five years

BECAUSE Patanjali became
a big player in the edible oil
segment with the takeover
of the bankrupt Ruchi
Soya. The Rs 4,350 crore
takeover of the maker of
soya food brand Nutrela
also handed Patanjali soya
bean oil brands such as
Ruchi Gold

BECAUSE as a top spender
on advertising, Patanjali
and Baba Ramdev have
major recall among the
public. With 20 million
social media followers and
1.5 million members in the
Patanjali Network, Ram-
dev is among the country’s
top influencers

S L E E P CYC L E S Ramdev
calls Balkrishna a late
riser because he wakes
up only at 4.30 am (the
yoga guru himself is up by
3 am). And while Ram-
dev uses an Indian brand
phone, Balkrishna is par-
tial to Apple products

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

5 4 IN DINA DTOIADATYODAOYC T ONBOEVRE M2 6B,E2R021 ,02 02 1

BIG PILL

DILIP SHANGHVI, 66 BECAUSE Sun Pharma, India’s doctorate education sponsorship
largest pharma company with for medical students, and educa-
MD, Sun Pharma global revenues of Rs 34,333 crore tional aid for children of doctors
in 2020-21, accelerated access to who lost their lives to Covid-19
new drugs for Covid-19 treatment
in May this year. Molnupiravir, an BECAUSE Sun Pharma Consumer
investigational oral therapeutic Healthcare entered the nutrition
drug, was supplied to more than bar segment, launching Revital
100 countries NXT, a health supplement. It
also launched its first innovative
BECAUSE Sun Pharma launched product, Ilumya, in Japan for the
‘Sunkalp’, an initiative for the treatment of plaque psoriasis
welfare of doctors, their families
and the medical community in July H I G H O N R E S E A R C H Sun Pharma
this year, committing Rs 100 crore spent Rs 2,150 crore on R&D and
to the project. The programme was awarded 2021’s best innova-
includes mental health support for tive company at the Indo-Ameri-
doctors and their families, post- can Corporate Excellence Awards

government has hired him to rep-
resent it in the Lakhimpur Kheri
violence case

HARISH SALVE, 66 BECAUSE he is the go-to lawyer for
the big corporates, from the Tatas
Advocate, Supreme to Vodafone to Adani Power to Yes
Court of India Bank’s Rana Kapoor to WhatsApp

POWER BECAUSE his enviable win record
ATTORNEY makes him one of India’s highest
paid lawyers, even though he is now
BECAUSE he is one of the most a London resident, and also part of
trusted lawyers of the Union the bar of England and Wales. Yet,
government, particularly in global for causes he believes in, he appears
courts. The Kulbhushan Jadhav spy pro bono—last year, for example, he
case, which was related to the Hy- turned up for a 94-year-old widow
derabad Nizam’s money in a British who moved the Supreme Court to
bank, the bid to extradite fugitive get the proclamation of Emergency
Mehul Choksi from the Dominican declared unconstitutional
government’s custody, Salve argued
them all. Now the Uttar Pradesh W E I G H T WAT C H E R S Salve has
shed 20 kg in the past year. He
credits the transformation to
second wife Caroline Brossard, a
London-based artist he married
in October last year

REUBEN SINGH

NOOVCETMOBE R 12,62, 022012 0 IN DINIADITAOTDOADYAY 5 557

POWER PEOPLE DEEPAK
PAREKH, 76
5 6 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1
Chairman, HDFC

Financial
Powerhouse

BECAUSE he is one of India’s most
respected bankers and his counsel
is sought by policymakers, the latest
being the Maharashtra government
to revive the state’s real estate sector
during the pandemic. His recom-
mendations, including reducing
stamp duty on property registra-
tion from 5 per cent to 2 per cent till
December 2020, gave a big boost to
home sales in Mumbai, India’s larg-
est real estate market

BECAUSE HDFC, which has fi-
nanced over 8.4 million housing
units, is India’s third-largest com-
pany by market capitalisation, with
a market capitalisation of over Rs 5
lakh crore as on October 14

BECAUSE Parekh has been busy
stitching deals during the pandemic,
with group firm HDFC Life acquiring
Exide Life Insurance in September
2020 for Rs 6,687 crore in one of the
largest deals in the insurance space

BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID
In 2020-21, 33 per cent of home
loans approved by HDFC in vol-
ume terms and 16 per cent in value
terms were to customers from the
economically weaker sections

SPORT S WATCH A keen follower of
cricket, tennis, football and For-
mula 1, Parekh is also a passionate
bridge player

RACHIT GOSWAMI

POWER PEOPLE THE SUN the Bengali TV market
NEVER SETS
SAI SEN/ GETTY IMAGES BECAUSE Sun Direct, a
BECAUSE the publicly-traded traditionally south India-
KALANITHI 29-year-old Sun TV Network, dominant DTH operator,
MARAN, 57 the flagship of Kalanithi with market gains in
Maran’s Sun Group, launched West Bengal, Odisha and
Chairman, a new channel—Sun Marathi— Maharashtra, grew its
Sun Group on October 17, the second subscriber count 74 per cent
outside its home market between March 2018 and
after Sun Bangla, launched March 2021, according to TRAI
in February 2019. It now data. The overall DTH industry
operates 33 channels across six grew 4 per cent in that time
languages. This, while facing
Covid-related headwinds—Sun MEDIA MOGHUL
TV’s profit (post tax) grew from Maran has an abiding interest
Rs 1,387 crore in FY20 to in emerging techonologies—
Rs 1,525 crore in FY21 he was among the first to
bring MPEG4-compatible
BECAUSE Sun Bangla, devices into his sector. He is
launched three years ago, now a dog lover (he has four) and
commands over 10 per cent of a fan of classic cars, buying a
new one every few years

PRASHANT POLITICAL GENIE
KISHOR, 44
BECAUSE Kishor is a one-man torious chief ministers—Arvind
Election election-winning army. In the Kejriwal, Jagan Mohan Reddy
strategist battle for West Bengal earlier and M.K. Stalin among them
this year, he was a crucial part of
SAMIR JANA/ GETTY IMAGES the TMC’s (Trinamool Congress) BECAUSE apart from those he has
win against the BJP’s massive already helped win, many of In-
election machinery led by Prime dia’s top leaders are now seeking
Minister Narendra Modi. He his counsel. If Telangana Chief
also correctly predicted the BJP Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao
would not win even 100 seats. made the time to meet Kishor in
Now, he is one of the brains person, Akhilesh Yadav and Lalu
behind TMC chief Mamata Prasad keep him on speed dial.
Banerjee’s national expansion Congress president Sonia Gandhi
has been in touch with him since
BECAUSE he has won victories March 2020, while Rahul Gan-
in all the election battles he has dhi has joined the conversations
fought in the past two years, for since the West Bengal polls were
a number of parties—the AAP fought earlier this year
in New Delhi, the YSRCP in
Andhra Pradesh and the DMK S T R E S S B O M B I N G To destress,
in Tamil Nadu. As a result, his Kishor watches historical war
political capital has increased, documentaries. Caesar in Gaul
thanks to his proximity to vic- is an all-time favourite

POWER PEOPLE

RAHUL
BHATIA, 61

Group MD,
InterGlobe
Enterprises

SHEKHAR GHOSH

PREMIUM ECONOMY MONIKA
SHERGILL, 47
BECAUSE in what was a gruelling year,
IndiGo remained India’s most successful Vice President,
airline, according to the DGCA (though it Content, Netflix India
also posted huge losses). IndiGo’s market
share is around 58.6 per cent, up from 52 CONTENT QUEEN
per cent in the same period last year
BECAUSE under Sher- and documentary shows
BECAUSE Bhatia remains one of the few gill’s leadership, Netflix and comedy specials
success stories in Indian aviation and India has ramped up its
plays an important role communicating programming slate. In BECAUSE she’s roping in
the sector’s view to the government. With 2021 alone, the streaming the who’s who of In-
275 aircraft flying to 93 destinations, he giant released 21 originals dian cinema to work with
is a self-made billionaire in India. With a con- Netflix. With stars like
tent budget of Rs 3,000 Mani Ratnam (Navrasa),
BECAUSE in collaboration with French crore for 2019 and 2020, Sanjay Leela Bhansali
hospitality major Accor Group, he is ex- Shergill has greenlit 90 (Heeramandi) and Vishal
panding his footprint in hospitality. The titles across languages in Bhardwaj (Khufiyan) to
mid-segment international hotel chain a variety of formats, from Kartik Aryan (Dhamaka),
Ibis will be adding four more properties series and films to reality Madhuri Dixit Nene
and investing Rs 500 crore by FY24

T H O U G H T F U L AT T E M P T After his first
venture failed, Bhatia contemplated
quitting business to get a postgraduate
degree and start teaching

58 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

BHAVISH
AGARWAL, 36

Co-founder and
CEO, OLA

Big on Electric

BECAUSE he was its 2019 revenue
bold enough to get figure, in excess of
into the manufac- Rs 2,200 crore
turing of electric
vehicles at among BECAUSE he has
the most difficult continued with
times the global acquisitions to
public transport build up OLA’s
market has ever digital ecos0ys-
seen. He recently tem. Recently, the
raised more than company bought
$200 million in a geo-analytics plat-
round of funding form GeoSpoc to
led by SoftBank improve company
and Falcon Edge cab navigation

BECAUSE he is T H E S E E D An ill-
driving his com- fated taxi journey
pany back from early in his
the near-95 per business career
cent revenue loss led Agarwal to
it suffered during envisage the OLA
the lockdown, to cab model

(Finding Anamika) and F U T U R E PL A N S Shergill AFP
Tovino Thomas (Minnal says that apart from
Murali) all treading the keeping an eye on what
OTT path, doing a direct- her rivals are up to, she
to-streaming project is likes to hang out with
clearly no longer being her teenage daughter.
seen as a ‘demotion’ “Getting insight into
a teen’s worldview is
BECAUSE India ranks eye-opening,” she says.
high in Netflix’s plans. When it comes to her
The highest film viewer- vision for 2022, she says:
ship Netflix has seen, “To have an incredible
globally, is in India, with range of big, entertain-
80 per cent of India-based ing stories and brilliant
subscribers watching a storytellers, many of
film every week in 2020. whom will be coming
Because of the potential onto the service for the
of the Indian market, first time. It will be about
Netflix will also be open- working hard to make
ing its first fully-owned Netflix the service of
post-production facility in choice for our entertain-
Mumbai in 2022 ment-loving audiences”

POWER PEOPLE APARNA PUROHIT, 42

6 0 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 Head of India Originals,
Amazon Prime Video

Revenue
Streaming

BECAUSE Prime Video has had
a stellar run in 2020-21. In the
absence of tent-pole cinema
competition, Amazon shows like
Paatal Lok, Mirzapur 2 and The
Family Man 2 kept audiences
entertained. The platform’s over-
all viewing numbers have grown
threefold in the past two years,
with Mirzapur and The Family
Man two of the most-watched
shows in India as per Ormax’s
weekly tracker of OTT audiences

BECAUSE Amazon India has the
second largest production slate
after the US market. With over
70 projects in development, 2022
will see the platform foray into
original films, as well as shows in
more languages and non-fiction
fare. Seventy per cent of its origi-
nal shows return for a new sea-
son. The 2022 slate reflects that,
with new seasons of Inside Edge,
Made in Heaven, Four More
Shots Please! and Panchayat

AT IT Busy reading scripts and
pitches and watching cuts of
shows, Purohit has little time
for anything else. “I don’t sleep
more than four or five hours,”
she says

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

MANDAR DEODHAR

VINEET JAIN, 57 SRI SRI
RAVISHANKAR, 65
Managing Director,
Times Group Spiritual guru

MEDIA COLOSSUS PROPHET OF PEACE

BECAUSE the Times channels—Times Now BECAUSE he used the internet to help
Group continues to en- Navbharat HD and millions improve their mental health and
gage with and inform ET NOW Swadesh immunity through the pandemic. The Art of
700 million Indians (for news and business Living conducted 200+ live meditations with
every month (across news, respectively) an average reach of 2 million. Over 1,000
brands). It has about suicide-related calls were also answered
40 million regular BECAUSE Within 10 BECAUSE He is increasingly being recog-
readers across 100 months of its launch, nised for his efforts to improve conflict
editions, 285 million short video app MX resolution, both in India and abroad
viewers across 14 TV Takatak reached over BECAUSE he used his platform to support
channels and 38 mil- 25 million daily active public health efforts. Art of Living volun-
lion listeners across 73 users and nearly 400 teers also distributed Rs 1.4 crore worth of
radio stations million minutes of relief supplies like oxygen machines and
daily engagement concentrators and set up Covid hospitals
BECAUSE Times Inter- BECAUSE workshops were run for over
net now reaches 600 THEORY PAPERS 50,000 volunteers to provide training on
million monthly users, TimesPro, the Times handling depression
putting it on par with Group’s ed-tech unit, IN HIS WORDS “Covid has demonstrated
Google and Facebook has forged partner- how interdependent we are... A small virus
as the largest consumer ships with noted brought the whole world to a halt. No one
ecosystems in India. Its institutions such can fight it in isolation”
MX Player has passed as the IITs (in Delhi,
one billion downloads Ropar and Roorkee), BANDEEP SINGH
on the Playstore the IIMs (in Indore,
Trichy, Kashipur NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 INDIA TODAY 6 1
BECAUSE it has and Nagpur) and the
forayed into the Hindi NALSAR University
market with two new of Law

POWER PEOPLE

SALMAN KHAN, 55

Actor

LAST KHAN reports, he has been signed on
STANDING for Season 15 at a fee of Rs 350
crore for 28 episodes, or Rs 25
BECAUSE even though his last crore per weekend
film Radhe was a flop, Salman
has upwards of Rs 750 crore TRAILBLAZER
riding on him through his Khan is one of the first from
upcoming films. This includes the entertainment world
the 2022 release Tiger 3, said to join the cryptocurrency
to be the biggest Bollywood bandwagon with BollyCoin.
movie ever made with a budget He has also expanded his
of around Rs 300 crore. The business empire to include
coming year will also see him in hygiene products (FRSH) and
Antim: The Final Truth, Kick 2 a chain of gyms (SK-27)
and Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali
AJIT MOHAN, 46
BECAUSE he is Mr Dependable,
not only in terms of box office Vice-President &
collections but also for anyone Managing Director,
in need of help. The list of Facebook India
resurrected careers to his credit
is phenomenal Shaper of
Opinions
BECAUSE his hosting
Bigg Boss since 2010
has had a role in
reinventing television
programming. In a
first, Season 15 of the
show, which kicked
off on October 2,
will be streamed
on the OTT
platform Voot
and then aired
on television.
Salman’s financial
brawn extends
to the small
screen too. As
per unconfirmed

MILIND DHELTE

MAHENDRA MOHAN GUPTA, 80

Chairman & MD, Jagran Prakashan Ltd

SANJAY GUPTA, 58

Whole Time Director and Editor-in-Chief,
Jagran Prakashan Ltd

HINDI LESSONS

BECAUSE as the own- papers and a magazine DEFINING
ers of the largest-selling from over 37 printing PRINCIPLES
daily in India, Dainik facilities. It has 300-plus Jagran’s editorial
Jagran, with a reader- editions across 13 states philosophy draws
ship of 68.7 million, they and Union territories from the strong foun-
can reach Indians across dation of ‘the seven
the country. Readership BECAUSE their music principles’, or the ‘saat
of the group’s 10 print broadcast arm, under sarokar’—poverty
titles is 84.1 million-plus the Radio City brand, eradication, healthy
(IRS 2019 Q4). With its has expanded its pres- society, educated soci-
15 digital portals in 10 ence and operations to ety, women’s empow-
languages, it has a pres- 39 cities and is present in erment, environment
ence all over the world 12 out of the top 15 cities conservation, water
in India by population. conservation and
BECAUSE the group It has a volume market population manage-
publishes nine news- share of 21 per cent ment

YASIR IQBAL

BECAUSE he is arguably the czar its activities in India over the past
of India’s social media space. Face- year—a jump of 43 per cent. An
book, along with the two platforms it increase in digital advertising, the
owns—WhatsApp and Instagram— pandemic-induced influx of social
has a collective user base of over 1 media users and ban on platforms
billion in India. This network makes such as TikTok have contributed to
the social media giant an unmatched the impressive growth
tool to influence public opinion. From
small businesses and government BECAUSE of Facebook’s partner-
initiatives to corporate marketing and ship with Reliance Jio, the JioMart-
media amplification, Facebook’s net- WhatsApp linkage is all set to change
work has become the preferred com- the rules of the retail market in India.
munication tool. Apart from spread- It will connect local grocery stores to
ing awareness on Covid, WhatsApp millions through WhatsApp
was used to facilitate vaccine appoint-
ments and certificate downloads SH A R K TA L E Mohan’s two-year-old
son is obsessed with sharks and
BECAUSE under Mohan, the Face- loves to read and learn about them.
book Group has touched $1.2 billion The doting father can now identify
(Rs 9,000 crore) in revenue through 50 different kinds of sharks

RAJWANT RAWAT

POWER PEOPLE

PRANIC 43 SADHGURU JAGGI
PREACHER VASUDEV, 64

BECAUSE his ecological Spiritual leader, activist and
initiative ‘Cauvery Calling’, founder, Isha Foundation
launched in 2019, to restore
the severely depleted south-
ern Indian river to its former
levels, has helped farmers
plant 57 million saplings so
far, with 11 million planted
in 2020 despite the chal-

lenges of the pandemic

BECAUSE his Isha Foun-
dation has been carrying
out Covid relief work in 43
villages in 17 panchayats
of Thondamuthur block in
Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore
district. Apart from exten-
sive awareness initiatives,
the volunteers have served
over 550,000 meals daily
and over 32 million servings
of the immunity-enhancing
herbal drink Nilavembu
Kashayam to the people

BECAUSE he designed
customised yogic practices,

freely accessible online,
to enhance the body’s im-
munity and oxygen levels
and strengthen the respira-

tory system

ART FOR A CAUSE
In 2020, two of Sadhguru’s
artworks were auctioned
for a sum of over Rs 9 crore.

He used the money to
sustain Isha Foundation’s
Covid-19 relief activities for

rural communities

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

NEERAJ
CHOPRA, 23

Track and field athlete in javelin
throw and Olympic Gold Medalist

The Hero We Needed

BECAUSE his Olympic BECAUSE brands
gold medal, India’s first cannot get enough of
in athletics and only its him. Two months since
second individual gold, led his win, Chopra is
to a surge in non-cricket everywhere—on TV
sports with an estimated and mobile screens
120 million Indians tun- and hoardings. He cur-
ing in to catch athletics at rently endorses 10 brands,
the Tokyo Olympics with more queuing up to
sign him
BECAUSE he captivates
minds on social media. SNEAKER HEAD
With his follower base A self-confessed
growing from 130,000 shopaholic, Chopra
before the Olympics to over loves spending on
five million now, Chopra’s clothes and shoes. He
social media value spiked owns over 40 pairs of
to Rs 428 crore, as per a re- shoes and his collection
cent report by the consul- of Nike’s Air Jordan has
tancy firm YouGov Sport grown since his win

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

COMMON in season two of Mirzapur BECAUSE between Akshay
MAN’S (Prime Video) and Crimi- Kumar, who is co-producing
STAR nal Justice: Behind Closed his next, OMG 2, and Farhan
Doors (Disney+ Hotstar) and Akhtar and Ritesh Sidh-
acclaimed performances in wani’s Fukrey and Mirzapur
three films—Gunjan Sax- franchises, Tripathi’s the
ena: The Kargil Girl, Ludo man of the moment for str-
and Mimi (all on Netflix) eaming and theatrical shows

PANKAJ BECAUSE he has shown that BECAUSE he’s changing VILLAGE ROCKSTAR
TRIPATHI, 44 streaming stars are just as the image of the Hindi film Tripathi’s acting journey
good as the ones on the big hero. When most expect the began in his early teens
Actor screen. With cinemas shut leading man to be brawny doing folk plays during
for seven months last year, or showboat themselves, festivals in Bihar’s Belsand
Tripathi was the entertainer Tripathi’s approach to his village. “It amazes me how
of 2020 enjoying multiple craft is low-key, one that someone like me from a
successes on OTT platforms. emphasises pauses. And it is remote village has come
There were two hit dramas working for both audiences so far,” he says. “I feel I was
and critics alike destined to be an actor”

POWER PEOPLE

RAMESH PATHANIA/ GETTY IMAGES

Delivery Don BECAUSE he has opened
doors for several other
DEEPINDER BECAUSE he managed to BECAUSE Zomato made unicorns to tap the stock
GOYAL, 38 make a stellar IPO debut— this entry despite many markets and seek market
at a premium of nearly 66 odds—the unicorn contin- valuations, instead of
Co-founder and per cent. Zomato raised ues to be in the red; it was convincing fund managers
CEO, Zomato Rs 9,375 crore in mid July snubbed by top market in- of PE, VC etc
this year and had a healthy vestor Rakesh Jhunjhun-
overall subscription of 38x. wala, who said he wouldn’t O FF T HE M E N U Goyal got
Now Zomato has a $5.4 buy its shares at the given the idea for his start-up
billion (Rs 40,546.8 crore) valuation; and it faced the after watching his col-
valuation—about 15 times risk of finding long-term leagues at his first job
its sales for the financial investors at Bain & Co squabbling
year 2020 over menus to order from

47 NITHIN KAMATH, 38

Founder and CEO,
Zerodha

NIKHIL KAMATH, 34

Co-founder and Chief
Investment Officer, Zerodha

POWER BROKERS

BECAUSE with a broking in India a tional businesses
wealth of Rs 24,000 decade ago and is by focusing on the
crore, they are the now the largest player product and
richest self-made en- with over 6 million generating value
trepreneurs in India customers. As per
under 40. Zerodha, news reports, it more DIFFERENT PATHS
an online stock than doubled its net Nithin has said
broking platform, income and revenue that if he wasn’t a
grew 100 per cent to reach Rs 1,000 stock broker, he
month on month crore and Rs 2,500 would have been a
during the lockdown crore, respectively, in sportsperson or in
and accounts for FY21 the music industry.
about 10-15 per cent Nikhil had an early
of the daily equity BECAUSE In an era of start in business—
volume of India aggressive fund-rais- he started selling
ing and advertising, used cell phones
BECAUSE Zerodha Zerodha has stuck to while he was still a
pioneered discount the basics of tradi- class 10 student

SELVAPRAKASH LAKSHMANAN

POWER PEOPLE

BIMAL PATEL, 60

Managing Director,
HCP Design, Planning &
Management Pvt. Ltd.

PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP

JAY SHAH, 33

Secretary, BCCI and President,
Asian Cricket Council

New Player

BECAUSE he is ensuring that with BECAUSE he convinced Virat Kohli
the new BCCI (post the Committee to step back from T20 leadership
of Administrators) reforms in crick- post the World Cup to develop a
eting governance happen smoothly team of a new generation. Kohli
and that cricket gets its respect back will lead the Indian team in longer
after years of controversies formats. Shah also roped in former
skippers like M.S. Dhoni as mentors
BECAUSE amid Covid concerns and Rahul Dravid as a coach
and BCCI president Sourav Gan-
guly’s health problems, Shah en- C O M F O R T F O O D All of Shah’s
sured the Indian Premier League meetings have one fixture—a
goes on and shifted the venue of Gujarati thali. He loves his
the T20 World Cup to Dubai so community’s cuisine so much
that the BCCI doesn’t take much that he serves the same to his
of a hit colleagues and visitors

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

68 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1

Monumental
Architect

BECAUSE he has been Naren-
dra Modi’s preferred archi-
tect since 2011—whether
it is for Swarnim Sankul, a
complex of government of-
fices flanking the legislative
assembly building in Gandhi-
nagar, or the Rs 20,000 crore
Central Vista project

BECAUSE the Central Vista
project, he says, will subvert
the iconography of power.
Making the case that the
present Parliament building
was imagined as a Council
House by the British, Patel
has argued that it’s only now
that India is getting its first
“real” Parliament

BECAUSE his work on the
Kashi Vishwanath Dham proj-
ect shows he does not believe
in patchwork solutions to solve
large-scale urban problems
like overcrowding. Undeterred
by laments about heritage and
the environment, Patel will go
big when he has to

L I K E FAT H E R Patel grew up
in a modern home designed
by his father, the renowned
architect Hasmukh Patel.
Seeing his father explain the
design of the house to guests
and prospective clients,
Patel started doing the same
with unsuspecting visitors.
“I feel doubly privileged,” he
told a magazine. “Not only
did I grow up in a wonderful
house, I also had early train-
ing in explaining design!”

POWER PEOPLE

SHEKHAR GHOSH

CLICK BAITER

CARRYMINATI, 22 BECAUSE he is Asia’s biggest in India, or scathing review of
individual YouTuber. With 32.5 the reality show Bigg Boss, which
YouTuber million subscribers, CarryMinati made use of animation, people
a.k.a. Ajey Nagar is one of the listen when CarryMinati talks
most popular digital creators,
with each of his videos garnering BECAUSE his audience is only
at least 40 million views. Brand growing. The past 12 months saw
integration for one video on his him add 6 million subscribers
main channel costs an estimated even though he uploaded only six
Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore videos, including the rap track
‘Yalgaar’ which has over 250
BECAUSE his reckless com- million views
mentary resonates with the
youth. Profanity-laden rants and BOLLYWOOD CALLING
allegations of being insensitive CarryMinati will make his fea-
haven’t stopped young men and ture debut in the Ajay Devgn-
women from embracing him. Be directed Mayday, in which he
it his roast of TikTok, which was plays a role he is familiar with—
the top trending video of 2020 that of a social media sensation

By M.G. Arun, Kaushik Deka, Shwweta Punj, Sonali Acharjee, Suhani Singh,
Amarnath K. Menon, Anilesh S. Mahajan, Anshuman Tiwari, Shelly Anand,
Rahul Noronha, Mohammad Waqas, Shreevatsa Nevatia, Romita Datta



POWER PEOPLE—INDEX

THE TOP GUNS
The readout of India’s most significant personalities in 2021, from the country’s
businesspersons and politicians to its athletes, entertainers and spiritual leaders

MUKESH AMBANI RATAN TATA AZIM PREMJI

CMD, Reliance Industries Chairman Founder Chairman, Wipro
Emeritus, Tata
11 88
Sons
2021 2020 SAME 2021 2020 SAME

GAUTAM ADANI The oldest N. CHANDRASEKARAN
person on the
Chairman, Adani Group Chairman, Tata Sons
list, at 83
23 1 9 11 2
10
2021 2020 GAIN 2021 2020 GAIN
THE NUMBER
KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA OF NEW CYRUS & ADAR POONAWALLA

Chairman, Aditya Birla Group ENTRANTS Cyrus Poonawalla Group,
TO THE LIST Serum Institute
32 1
IN 2021 10 28 10
2021 2020 LOSS
2021 2020 GAIN
RATAN TATA
AMITABH BACHCHAN
Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons
Actor
45 1
11 9 2
2021 2020 GAIN
2021 2020 LOSS
UDAY KOTAK
NANDAN NILEKANI
MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank
Co-founder, Infosys
54 1
12 -
2021 2020 LOSS
2021 2020 NEW

SAJJAN JINDAL CARRYMINATI SHIV & ROSHNI NADAR

Chairman, JSW Group YouTuber HCL Technologies

66 13 12 1

2021 2020 SAME 2021 2020 LOSS

SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL The youngest AJAY PIRAMAL
person on the
Chairman, Bharti Enterprises Chairman, Piramal Group
list, at 22
7 14 7 14 13 1

2021 2020 GAIN 2021 2020 LOSS

72 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1

ANIL AGARWAL CYRUS/ ADAR SANJIV GOENKA
POONAWALLA
Vedanta Resources Chairman, RPSG Group
Cyrus Poonawalla
15 20 5 Group; Serum 24 19 5
Institute
2021 2020 GAIN 2021 2020 LOSS

DR NARESH TREHAN KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW

Medanta Heart Institute Founder, Biocon

16 25 9 25 27 2

2021 2020 GAIN 2021 2020 GAIN

AKSHAY KUMAR 18 ANAND MAHINDRA

Actor-Producer STEPS UP: Chairman, Mahindra Group
THE GREATEST
17 18 1 GAINERS WERE 26 16 10
CYRUS AND ADAR
2021 2020 GAIN POONAWALLA, 2021 2020 LOSS

SANJIV PURI WHO ROSE VIRAT KOHLI 17
TO #10
Chairman & MD, ITC Ltd Cricketer LOSS

18 17 1 27 10

2021 2020 LOSS 2021 2020

R.C. BHARGAVA BABA RAMDEV & ACHARYA
BALKRISHNA Patanjali Ayurved
Chairman, Maruti Suzuki
28 31 3
19 15 4
2021 2020 GAIN
2021 2020 LOSS
19 DILIP SHANGHVI
BYJU RAVEENDRAN
STEPS DOWN: MD, Sun Pharma
Founder, BYJU’s THE GREATEST
29 29
20 24 4 FALL WAS
SALMAN KHAN, 2021 2020 SAME
2021 2020 GAIN
WHO ENDED HARISH SALVE
RAKESH JHUNJHUNWALA AT #40
Advocate, Supreme Court
Investor, film producer SALMAN KHAN
30 33 3
21 - Actor
2021 2020 GAIN
2021 2020 NEW
DEEPAK PAREKH
VIJAY SHEKHAR SHARMA
Chairman, HDFC
Founder & CEO, Paytm
31 -
22 23 1
2021 2020 NEW
2021 2020 GAIN
KALANITHI MARAN
AMIT AGARWAL
Chairman, Sun Group
CEO, Amazon India
32 39 7
23 7 16
2021 2020 GAIN
2021 2020 LOSS

NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 INDIA TODAY 73

POWER PEOPLE—INDEX

PRASHANT KISHOR MUKESH AMBANI AJIT MOHAN

Election strategist Chairman, Reliance MD, Facebook India
Industries
33 - 42 48 6
6
2021 2020 NEW 2021 2020 GAIN
PEOPLE
RAHUL BHATIA RETAINED THEIR SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV

MD, InterGlobe Enterprises RANKS FROM Spiritual leader, activist
LAST YEAR:
34 40 6 MUKESH 43 43
AMBANI (#1),
2021 2020 GAIN SAJJAN JINDAL 2021 2020 SAME
(#6), AZIM
MONIKA SHERGILL PREMJI (#8), DILIP NEERAJ CHOPRA
SHANGHVI (#29),
VP, Content, Netflix India MAHENDRA Olympic Gold Medalist
MOHAN/ SANJAY
35 50 15 GUPTA (#41) AND 44 -
SADHGURU
2021 2020 GAIN JAGGI VASUDEV 2021 2020 NEW

BHAVISH AGARWAL (#43) PANKAJ TRIPATHI

Co-founder & CEO, OLA SADHGURU Actor
JAGGI VASUDEV
36 - 45 -
Spiritual leader,
2021 2020 NEW activist 2021 2020 NEW

APARNA PUROHIT DEEPINDER GOYAL

Amazon Prime Video CEO, Zomato

37 42 5 46 49 3

2021 2020 GAIN 2021 2020 GAIN

VINEET JAIN NITHIN & NIKHIL KAMATH

MD, Times Group CEO, CIO, Zerodha

38 36 2 47 -

2021 2020 LOSS 2021 2020 NEW

SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR JAY SHAH

Spiritual Guru Secretary, BCCI

39 34 5 48 -

2021 2020 LOSS 2021 2020 NEW

SALMAN KHAN BIMAL PATEL

Actor HCP Design, Planning
& Management
40 21 19
49 -
2021 2020 LOSS
2021 2020 NEW
MAHENDRA MOHAN GUPTA
& SANJAY GUPTA CARRYMINATI

Jagran Prakashan Ltd YouTuber

41 41 50 -

2021 2020 SAME 2021 2020 NEW

74 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1



HIGH & MIGHTY

POL I T ICI A NS

TWHIEELCDLEORUST

THE GLOBAL COVID PANDEMIC, which hit the
world last year, not only took away the lives of millions

and devastated economies, it also reorganised the
political order in many regions. India was among the
countries hit the hardest by the ravaging virus, yet, the
political impact of Covid is still not evident. Six states
went to polls since the pandemic broke out in India in
March 2020—all before the second wave of Covid hit the
country in early April 2021—but it was not an electoral
issue during the campaigns. The political power order
of the country has remained largely unchanged with the
RSS-BJP ecosystem firmly entrenched at the top. While
de facto Congress chief Rahul Gandhi remains the sole
national voice against the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi-led BJP government, recent political movements
have seen the emergence of regional satraps as new
power centres. West Bengal chief minister Mamata
Banerjee not only withstood a massive BJP campaign
to dethrone her in the assembly poll earlier this year but
is also now projecting herself as an alternative to Modi.
In this quest, she will need the support of Maratha
stalwart Sharad Pawar, who is the unofficial nerve centre
of the Maharashtra government. The INDIA TODAY
political power list of 2021 provides a quick overview
of the strongest players giving direction to the political

discourse in the country.

76 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1

SARAHBETH MANY/GETTY IMAGES 1*

NARENDRA MODI, 71

PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

MASTER
OF ALL HE
SURVEYS

BECAUSE he continues to be the
supreme commander of the government

and the ruling BJP. Despite the many
crises such as the pandemic, economic

distress and farmers’ protests, he
remains way ahead in the popularity
stakes, as a range of opinion polls show

BECAUSE his personal stamp is
evident everywhere, be it the Union
cabinet reshuffle or the change of chief
ministers in BJP-ruled states. The
nationwide celebration of his birthday
and completion of 20 years in public
office was almost an official acceptance
of his cult status, an unprecedented
phenomenon in the Sangh Parivar

BECAUSE he rarely blinks under
pressure, be it on the farm laws or a
caste census. And despite some flip-
flops, under him, India has anchored
the world’s largest vaccination drive

CAT CH ’E M YO UN G After the 2019 win,
PM Modi had asked J.P. Nadda and
B.L. Santhosh to keep an eye out for
younger leaders, especially women

and those from the backward classes.
Their recommendations have come
through as candidates for MLCs, the
BJP organisation team and also in the
recent cabinet reshuffle

A PR I*LAr3r,o2w0s17su geINstDdIrAopT/OrDisAeY/ no c7h9ange in
ranking; 2020 ranking alongside

POL I T ICI A NS

DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY 3

MOHAN BHAGWAT, 71

RSS Sarsanghchalak

THE INVISIBLE LO

QAMAR SIBTAIN

2 BECAUSE the opinion and
AMIT SHAH, 56 vision of the top two heads of
the RSS matter in the policy
Union Minister for directives of the BJP-ruled
Home Affairs Union government and the
18 states the party rules (12
THE ULTIMATE ENFORCER alone and six with allies). The
RSS’s influence is evident in
BECAUSE he is PM everything, be it org- groups in the North- some of the key developments
Modi’s right-hand anisational work or east and is de facto of the past few years—con-
man and handles all policy decisions J&K administrator struction of the Ram Mandir,
critical assignments, abrogation of Article 370,
including being inter- BECAUSE as home H O M E B O U N D The criminalisation of religious
locutor with warring minister, he is resp- Union home minister conversion for marriage. The
RSS affiliates over the onsible for India’s loves homemade Centre is also taking forward
government’s policies internal security and gajar ka parantha for the RSS’s economic agenda of
the challenges the breakfast. No matter swadeshi or self-reliance
BECAUSE even though country faces on many where he is, he al-
he is no longer party fronts—cross-border ways checks in with BECAUSE the RSS is now no
president, he is still terrorism, homegrown family—wife Sonal, longer just the ideological
the chief architect insurgents, drug son Jay, daughter- fountainhead of the BJP, it is
of the BJP’s poll smuggling etc. He also in-law Rishita and also helping the government
campaigns, and his monitors peace talks four-year-old grand- ensure the implementation of
opinion counts in with several insurgent daughter Rudri certain schemes and projects
as well, such as ‘Azadi ka
Amrit Mahotsav’ and ‘Sewa
hi Sangathan’

BECAUSE RSS pracharaks,
who play crucial roles in the
BJP’s electoral machinery,
directly report to the duo, and
they, in turn, advise the BJP

7 8IND IAINTDOIADATYODAAYPR INLO3V, E2M01B7E R 1 , 2 02 1

NEW 7 CHANDRADEEP KUMAR
YOGI
DATTATREYA ADITYANATH, 49
HOSABALE, 66
Chief Minister,
General Secretary, RSS Uttar Pradesh

ONG ARM THE MILITANT MASCOT of governance, blend-
ing big-ticket develop-
and its brass on corrective BECAUSE the BJP’s BECAUSE despite the ment works such as the
measures, whenever required national electoral Covid second wave 340-km-long Pur-
fortunes depend on its horrors in UP, the vanchal Expressway
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS performance in Uttar Yogi government with a drive against
Despite pursuing a Hindutva Pradesh, and Yogi is came to grips with the corruption and iron-
agenda, Bhagwat strongly their man there. By situation quickly and fisted law and order
believes that ‘liberal Mus- constantly raising managed to curtail management
lims’ can be political allies issues such as ‘love ji- the virus. Despite the
of the RSS. He regularly has had’ and ‘cow protec- large population, UP G R E E N T H U M B Yogi
private as well as well as tion’, he has emerged now reports very few has set up a kitchen
public meetings with the as the ‘Hindutva face’ Covid patients garden at his official
community’s leaders of the party. Many see residence in Luck-
him as the inheritor of BECAUSE Yogi has now. He loves eating
STUDENT OF POLITICS the Modi-Shah legacy projected a new model the produce from his
Hosabale, who is considered garden
close to PM Modi, is the first
RSS Sarkaryavah to have 8
spent much of his early time
in an anushangik (frontal NITIN GADKARI, 64
organisation)—the student
wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidy- Union Minister for Road
arthi Parishad (ABVP) Transport and Highways

Infrastructure Powerhouse

ROHIT CHAWLA BECAUSE he continues Srinagar distance to PM Modi’s pet project
to anchor the coun- eight hours and Delhi- of building infrastruct-
try’s infrastructure Mumbai to 12 hours ure for green electric
overhaul plan, unlock- vehicles
ing highway projects BECAUSE Gadkari
worth more than Rs 5 has acceptance across CHAI PE CHARCHA?
lakh crore. He is also party lines. He has also There was a time
executing the Bharat- earned the reputation when a Gadkari invi-
mala projects with of being a doer and tation to have a cuppa
the ports ministry is respected for his meant a feast, but
and Sagarmala with vision, understanding now he has turned
the shipping ministry. of his subject and his calorie conscious—
Next mission: green- upfront approach healthy poha has
field highways which replaced all those
will reduce the Delhi- BECAUSE he is leading fried goodies

NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 INDAIAPTROI LDA3Y, 2 01779

POL I T ICI A NS in creating a permanent
rift between one-time
DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY SHARAD staunch allies BJP and
PAWAR, 80 Shiv Sena. At the same
9 time, he has an excellent
MAMATA President, rapport with PM Narendra
BANERJEE, 66 NEW Nationalist Modi, making him the real
power broker for the MVA
Chief Minister, Congress Party government
West Bengal
The Persistent BECAUSE his open criti-
Matchmaker cism of Congress and its
role in leading the Opposi-
BECAUSE Pawar is the tion has given other parties
architect of the Maharash- hope that Pawar could be a
tra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a binding force for non-BJP,
first-of-its-kind experiment non-Congress parties in the
where three mainstream 2024 general election
parties got together to form
a coalition government CHECKM ATE During the
lockdown, Pawar spent
BECAUSE he has succeeded time listening to Marathi
songs and playing chess
with daughter Supriya
Sule. His favourite Marathi
number is Tarun aahe
ratra ajuni (The night is not
over yet), a romantic song
by Asha Bhonsle

The Tallest Challenger

BECAUSE in the ruling BJP, subtly J.P. NADDA, 60 NEW
West Bengal ass- occupying the space
embly poll, she of the Congress National President, BJP
crushed the BJP’s
massive election BECAUSE she is COUNTERPOISING WEIGHT
machinery led by focused not just on
the Modi-Shah rhetoric but is also BECAUSE as president of BECAUSE Nadda has been
duo, cementing building the party’s the world’s largest politi- very effective in ringing
her position as the organisational cal party, he has quickly in change in the party
undisputed leader of structure in new carved out a space for him- without creating much
the most politically regions such as the self despite working under friction. This includes giv-
significant state in Northeast and Goa the Modi-Shah duo ing more space to women,
eastern India OBCs, Dalits, tribals and a
CLOSE WATCH BECAUSE he ensured a younger leadership
BECAUSE Mamata Mamata recently smooth transition of power
is now projecting shifted from her in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand FREE KICKS GALORE
herself as the leader old Titan watch to a (twice), Assam, Karnataka Nadda is a keen foot-
of all forces inimi- new Apple wrist- and Gujarat. PM Modi ball follower and fan of
cal to Modi and the watch. Reason: did most of the talking tournaments such as the
BJP in the 2024 Lok being a fitness with the incumbent and European Champions
Sabha poll. On every freak, it gives her outgoing CMs, but Nadda League. In his younger
big national issue, minute-by-minute is the one who ensured the days, he was also a
her party , the TMC, health updates, the transition did not lead to swimmer and loved
has been trying to number of steps any untoward incidents horse-riding
emerge as the first she takes, heart
voice against the and pulse rates, etc.

8 0 IN DIANDTOIADATYODAAYPR INLO3V, E2M01B7E R 1 , 2 02 1

MOHD ZAKIR/GETTY IMAGES

NEW

B.L.
SANTHOSH, 56

General Secretary
(Organisation), BJP

TRUSTY GO-BETWEEN

BECAUSE he is the official noire B.S. Yediyurappa as 10
RSS link to Sangh affiliates Karnataka chief minister RAHUL GANDHI, 51
and the BJP. As chief of BJP
organisation, he has imme- BECAUSE he is the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP, Congress
nse clout within the party. go-to man for expansion
No BJP chief minister keeps in south India. Santhosh His Party’s Voice
him waiting when he visits has also ensured a ceasefire
a state among the party’s warring BECAUSE he is de asserted his author-
groups in states such as UP, facto leader of In- ity by gradually
BECAUSE he played a crucial Manipur, Tripura, Goa dia’s main opposi- sidelining the veter-
role in the organisational tion party with a ans and installing a
and cabinet reshuffle. His BRICK BY BRICK Santhosh pan-India presence. new order. Did not
loyalists got crucial posi- is a qualified engineer and Since the pandemic hesitate in sack-
tions in both moves. San- the first national gen- struck last year, he ing party stalwart
thosh was also instrumental eral secretary in the BJP to has been the most Amarinder Singh
in ensuring the exit of bête have a professional degree vocal and consistent even if can potential
Opposition voice on ly split the party in
BANDEEP SINGH every national issue. Punjab
That every state-
ment of his against THE MAKEOVER
PM Modi gets a Team Rahul is on
collective response an image-building
from BJP leaders exercise to demol-
shows he is still the ish the BJP-creat-
prime challenger ed ‘Pappu’ tag, and
target first-time
BECAUSE as leader voters for 2024. The
of the Congress, idea is to present
his involvement is him as a new-age,
crucial for the succ- educated and
ess of any united visionary leader.
alliance against the A new wardrobe,
BJP, a fact not lost showing off his
on veterans such physique, interac-
as Sharad Pawar tions with global
and poll strategist thinkers, videos of
Prashant Kishor his skills as a pilot
etc., are all part of
BECAUSE he has the exercise

—Kaushik Deka, Anilesh S. Mahajan, Ashish
Misra, Romita Datta and Kiran D. Tare

GETTY IMAGES

POWER-CRATSHIGH & MIGHTY

ADMINISTRATORS BUREAUCRATS ARE INDISPENSABLE to the Narendra Modi
government. This truism held good in the first term of the government.
Midway through its second term, the government has increased its reliance
on a set of key bureaucrats in a way few other administrations have.
Officials not only draw up important policy decisions—from divestment to
the restructuring of the defence ministry—but also implement them. They
are thus seen as critical to the government’s performance. Efficiency and
achievement are rewarded through extensions and key bureaucrats are
retained in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as advisors after retirement.
The Modi government’s PMO is arguably the most powerful since Indira
Gandhi’s in the early 1970s and later in the early 1980s. It straddles every
aspect of governance, from national security to the economy and Covid-19
management, and relies on the corps of efficient bureaucrats working
under the watchful eye of the PM. The career progression of former
bureaucrats now extends even into the Union cabinet. After the July
2021 reshuffle, there are now a record five former civil servants serving as
cabinet ministers—Hardeep Singh Puri, S. Jaishankar, R.K. Singh, R.P.
Singh and Ashwini Vaishnaw. Two key former civil servants in the PMO—
Principal Secretary to the prime minister, P.K. Mishra; and National
Security Advisor Ajit Doval—also enjoy cabinet minister rank. This might
just be the golden age of the bureaucracy.

8 2 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1

NUMERO UNO

1 BECAUSE ‘PKM’ is the country’s accomplished almost without
most powerful bureaucrat. As incident for over seven years
P.K. MISHRA, 73 Prime Minister Modi’s closest
aide, he has shaped key govern- BECAUSE he continues to focus
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE ment policies over the past year, on his primary expertise of creat-
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA from Covid management to en- ing disaster management sys-
suring that vaccine production tems, which he first used in Gu-
runs on full steam. Has ensured jarat after the Kutch earthquake
a smooth passage for reforms in of 2001. As of 2021, he co-chairs
defence, space and finance the international Coalition for
Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
BECAUSE the inscrutable bu- with UK MP Alok Sharma
reaucrat continues to perform
a critical function in the Modi POWER HOUSE
government—getting the right Moved into the late Arun Jait-
person for the right job. He vets ley’s former residence,
the appointments of all bureau- 2, Krishna Menon Marg, after
crats, officials and politicians to being elevated to cabinet
positions in government, a task rank in 2019

SECURITY CZAR

BECAUSE India’s longest-serving basis with not just his
NSA has become the indispensable global counterparts
second engine of national security but his office staff as
to diplomacy—from addressing ten- well. Cultivates an
sions with China in Ladakh to en- air of informality
suring a painless exit from Afghani- and approachability
stan to opening up a back channel at work. Just about
with the Taliban and liaising with anyone can walk up to
his counterparts around the world him with a suggestion

BECAUSE his office at New Delhi’s T O TA L R ECA L L The Indian
Sardar Patel Bhawan is where the Army Corps of Engineers
who’s who of the intelligence and recently gifted Doval
security world can be spotted— a copy of his military
Richard Moore of MI6, William J. veteran father Major
Burns of the CIA and Russian NSA Gunanand Doval’s ‘Part
Nikolay Patrushev, to name a few II order’—announcing
his son’s birth in 1945
BECAUSE Doval is on a first-name

2 AJIT DOVAL, 76

National Security

Advisor

AP

ADMINISTRATORS

ANI

RAJIV NEW
6 GAUBA, 62
AJAY KUMAR
Cabinet Secretary BHALLA, 60

SONU MEHTA/ GETTY IMAGES Home Secretary

The Deliverer GENERAL BIPIN RAWAT, 63

BECAUSE he is leading India’s bureau- Chief of Defence Staff
cracy at a time of enhanced social sector
spending and delivering governance to COMMAND AND CONTROL
the end of the queue. The government has
to battle the pandemic and also carry out BECAUSE as Secretary Department of Military
the world’s largest vaccination drive
BECAUSE Gauba is a close confidant of 5 Affairs, Chairman Chiefs of Staffs Committee
PM Modi. His one-year extension in the
country’s most influential bureaucratic and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), he is India’s
post this August testifies his importance most powerful armed forces officer. Served as
BECAUSE he is candid enough to accept the bridge between the government and the
why ‘Make in India’ didn’t succeed and
is applying the lessons learned to its three services during the Ladakh stand-
rebooted avatar, ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, off to ensure a united military front in
with better policy and implementation response to Beijing’s belligerence
D I F F E R E N T S T RO K E S Graduated from
Patna University in 1980 with BJP BECAUSE he has laid the groundwork
president J.P. Nadda. Gauba was the for independent India’s biggest military
low-profile studious BSc Physics gold
medallist, Nadda the voluble JP move- reform—the creation of five inte-
ment student activist with a BA in grated theatre commands, which
Political Science will replace the present 17 single-
service commands by 2023
8 4 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1
BECAUSE the ‘Integrated Capa-
bility Development Plan’ he is
working on to present next year
will radically transform the way

the three armed forces acquire
their hardware

S TA R P OW E R Became India’s
longest-serving four-star
officer in December 2020,
eclipsing General K.S. Thi-
mayya’s record of four years

ARVIND YADAV/ GETTY IMAGES

POLICY PUNDIT

BECAUSE he oversaw the of the empowered group for 10 AMIT
successful passage of some pandemic response and co- KHARE, 60
of the Modi government’s ordination, he has been the
most controversial legis- government’s point person Advisor to Prime
lations—the Citizenship to respond to Covid-19 Minister of India
Amendment Act (CAA)
and the withdrawal of the NO MHA-BHARAT
special status of Jammu Resolved Centre-state
and Kashmir standoffs in Delhi by
steering the Government
BECAUSE he was given a of National Capital Ter-
rare one-year extension ritory of Delhi (Amend-
as home secretary, which ment) Act in March 2021,
will see him in office until which officially gives pri-
August 2022 macy to the Lt Governor
over the elected govern-
BECAUSE as the chairman ment in Delhi

8 YASIR IQBAL

TARUN MAN WITH A PLAN
BAJAJ, 59
BECAUSE he is one of Prime Minister
Revenue Narendra Modi’s most trusted bureaucrats.
Secretary Knows the PM’s mind and delivers results to
his satisfaction. Was appointed to the post
Money Manager less than a fortnight after his retirement in
September 2021
BECAUSE he is considered of Doing Business
to have PM Modi’s ear, BECAUSE he designed and implemented
and his views on policy BECAUSE he is working two of the government’s most high-profile
matters, especially those extensively on PM Modi’s policies in recent times—the New Education
related to Production pet project to reform Policy, 2020, and the Information Technol-
Linked Incentives, en- tax (direct and indirect) ogy Rules, 2021. The reticent bureaucrat,
couraging capital expan- compliances. He is the who served as secretary in the education
sion and disinvestment, architect of ‘transparent and information and broadcasting (I&B)
are regularly sought and taxation’—faceless tax ministries, also handled the communication
well regarded assessment to reduce the and public awareness campaigns around the
scope for corruption and two initiatives
BECAUSE he headed the overreach by officials
empowered group of four BECAUSE as I&B secretary, he was tasked
secretaries tasked with KEYNESIAN COINAGE with the government’s communication strat-
economic and welfare Emphasising the need egy for the Covid pandemic
measures during the for private investments
pandemic and beyond. in the economy, he TAS TE O F IND I A Khare loves travelling
He is the brain behind pointed out to corpo- by train and early this year undertook
blueprints for initiatives rates in August 2021 that a 24-hour journey with his family from
like the Aatmanirbhar their “animal spirits” Rangiya (Assam) to Lucknow, crisscross-
Bharat Abhiyan and Ease had gone missing ing Kishanganj, Begusarai and Hajipur in
Bihar, where he had served earlier

NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 INDIA TODAY 8 5

ADMINISTRATORS

NEW NEW

T.V. RANDEEP GULERIA, 62
SOMANATHAN, 56
Director, All India Institute
Finance Secretary of Medical Sciences

PMO Point Person COVID STRATEGIST

BECAUSE he played a key role in BECAUSE AIIMS has been plant to cope with the demand
nearly all major schemes of the leading the country in Covid
government to contain the pan- research. Significant papers by BECAUSE as a member of the
demic’s fallout, from Aatmanirbhar the institute include work on Covid taskforce, he played a
Bharat to expenditure rationalisa- death rate among the Covid key role in formulating policies
tion across ministries. His imprint reinfected, child vaccination, on vaccination, treatment and
is visible on the Rs 1.5 lakh crore and treatment for Long Covid oxygen availability
saved by the government in FY21
and the budgetary stimulus offered BECAUSE AIIMS chalked K ID S F IR S T Was one of the
without populist announcements out a special plan to handle first public health experts
BECAUSE he gave the final push the second Covid wave. The to stress the need for
to the finance ministry’s recently- institute added 150 beds vaccinating children and
announced ‘bad bank’ meant to and set up its own oxygen graded opening of schools
VIKRAM SHARMAclean up the high NPAs clogging
BANDEEP SINGHfinancial sector balance-sheets. HeAMITABH KANT, 65NEW
was instrumental in ending extra-
budgetary borrowings to keep CEO, NITI Aayog
expenditure in check
BECAUSE despite moving on from Can-do Chief Executive
being joint secretary in the PMO,
he remains one of PM Modi’s most BECAUSE he helms The influential
trusted advisors the government’s policymaker got a
RO L E M O D E L S. Malathi, a 1977 ambitious pro- fourth tenure exten-
Tamil Nadu cadre officer and for- gramme of raising sion as NITI Aayog
mer state chief secretary. Som- Rs 6 lakh crore by CEO in June 2021
anathan says he tries to emulate 2025 through asset
her dedication and quiet efficiency monetisation. Kant BECAUSE he can
works with min- market reforms
8 6 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 istries to identify as- and get things
sets, work through done—from Incred-
the process and ible India to Make
monitor progress in India, Startup
India, ease of doing
BECAUSE his business and now
views on critical asset monetisation
subjects, such as
entrepreneurship, VOLT POPULI
electric vehicles, Drives an electric
disinvestment and cycle and electric
sustainability, drive car. Has ensured
decision-making. all senior officers at
NITI Aayog use EVs

—by Sandeep Unnithan, Shwweta Punj,
Anilesh S. Mahajan, Kaushik Deka and Sonali Acharjee



HIGH & MIGHTY

GLOBAL 1REUTERS
I N DI A NS 1

THHEOMWEORINLD

By SHREEVATSA NEVATIA

IT WAS A MATTER OF TIME before the highest political
offices in the West came to be occupied by ‘Kamala’, ‘Rishi’
and ‘Priti’. There is something altogether thrilling about the
familiarity with which these names roll off our tongues, and
the affinity we feel is not wholly invented. We share with
today’s US vice-president and Britain’s chancellor a cultural
heritage that goes beyond the oftentimes limiting tropes
of nationality and genealogy. When Priti Patel, UK’s home
secretary, speaks to her Conservative Party colleagues about

the value of seva (service) in Manchester, she is making
Indianness a part of their discourse.

In a year when discussions about race and identity
seem to have radically altered, we see immigrants owning
their narratives like never before. But while there is, on the
one hand, a clear, new confidence with which the Indian
diaspora is now doing its business, we also see that they are
demonstrating a greater responsibility towards the world in
which they live. Having been made Microsoft chairman this
year, Satya Nadella has shown an earnest commitment towards
reducing his company’s carbon footprint. Despite record profits,
ArcelorMittal Group executive chairman Lakshmi Mittal is,

similarly, just as concerned about the environment.

Some NRIs have also proven true that Indian adage—it
is invariably our own people who come to our aid when we
are in peril. As Covid exacerbated concerns about our health
and economy, it was Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief
scientist, who helped us prepare better for adversity, and
it was the IMF’s Gita Gopinath who gave us an economic
roadmap for recovery. Be it a simple Google search or fighting

the pandemic, there now seems to be an Indian hand in
everything. This is our best moment.

88 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1

KAMALA HEALING her strategy from the start has been
HARRIS, 57 TOUCH to “unify and heal”

VICE-PRESIDENT OF BECAUSE Prime Minister Narendra BECAUSE she doesn’t shy away from
THE UNITED STATES Modi was right when he said she difficult conversations. Meeting
is a source of “inspiration for so Vietnamese leaders in August,
many around the world”. As the first she asked them to release political
woman, the first African-American, dissidents. In September, she
and the first South Asian-American even reminded Modi that “it is
to be elected Vice-President of the imperative we defend democratic
United States, Harris has come to principles and institutions within
signify both hope and possibility our respective countries”

BECAUSE she has taken to heart FA MILY FIRS T Harris’s husband,
her mother Shyamala Gopalan’s Douglas Emhoff, has said that
lesson—“When you see a problem, she never loses sight of what is
don’t complain. Do something to truly important—family. Even at
make it right.” Having inherited the peak of her campaign, she
from Donald Trump a divided US, would keep tabs on everyone and
often send him videos and photos
from the road

GLOBAL INDIANS

22 13
RISHI SUNAK, 41
SOUMYA
UK’s Chancellor of SWAMINATHAN, 62
the Exchequer
NURSING BACK TO WEALTH Chief Scientist, WHO

BECAUSE he has helped people at large Oxford and Stanford DOWN TO A
Britain’s economy University. He even SCIENCE
survive the pandemic. BECAUSE he acknowl- co-founded a large
More pragmatist than edges the role that race investment firm and BECAUSE she has not flinched
ideologue, he found a plays in one’s personal worked with compa- in the face of adversity. During
way of managing the and public life. In his nies in Silicon Valley the pandemic, she has tirelessly
UK’s colossal spending first speech to Parlia- and Bengaluru. For worked with the world’s scien-
and borrowing ment, he joked about these opportunities, tists, helped advance clinical
how his Yorkshire con- he often thanks his trials and developed bench-
BECAUSE he is loved stituents often teased parents. His father marks for vaccines
by even those he taxes. him about his “tan” was an NHS family GP,
Even though Sunak’s while his mother ran a BECAUSE she has always fol-
tax rates were the high- H E A D S TA R T Sunak local chemist shop. It lowed the science and resisted
est in 50-odd years, studied at presti- was here that Sunak the temptation of unneces-
polls showed he is gious institutions like first added numbers sary forecasting. “No one has a
admired by the British Winchester College, and health crystal ball and it’s impossible
to predict a third wave,” she told
TOLGA AKMEN/AFP an interviewer in August
90 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1
BECAUSE she doesn’t let jargon
obfuscate the WHO’s or her
own message. Whether it’s the
subject of vaccine efficacy or
Covid’s impact on children, she
has kept things simple

BOOKWORM
She was once a voracious
reader. Her love for animals
made her a fan of Gerald Dur-
rell’s work, but her book-
shelves also had dog-eared
copies of Jane Eyre and Sher-
lock Holmes. A great admirer
of Rabindranath Tagore, she
said in an interview, “I am a
huge fan of Indian literature,
but after getting into medi-
cine, there was less and less
time to read fiction”

4 SUNDAR PICHAI, 49
3
CEO, Alphabet, Google

Taking Everyone Along

BECAUSE not only BECAUSE when to manage, Pichai’s
has Google doubled promising that job is not easy. And
its workforce since Google will invest Covid only made it
he became CEO in a billion dollars harder. A firm be-
2015, Alphabet has in Africa, he said, liever in the idea of
tripled in value, too “Every new tech- equal participation,
nology—from the Pichai developed a
BECAUSE he re- rotary phone to the trick. “I’ll go around
mains desi at heart. television—changed the table, one by
Not only does he my family’s life for one, and ask people
quote M.S. Dhoni in the better. That’s to clearly state
his tweets, he also why I’m a technol- their position,” he
said to the BBC in ogy optimist” told an interviewer
July, “I’m an Ameri- in March. “You are
can citizen but India HE A D C OACH With not just a manager.
is deeply within me” 140,000 employees You are a coach”

GEERT VANDEN WIJNGAERT/GETTY IMAGES

54 REUTERS
SATYA NADELLA, 54
Chairman & CEO, Microsoft

LEADING POSITION

BECAUSE by electing him Amazon and just a bit
chairman, Microsoft has behind Apple
given him a chance to have
greater influence. After get- BECAUSE under him, Micro-
ting the board’s vote of confi- soft is all set to shift to a 100
dence, Nadella is now helping per cent renewable energy
the company strategise for model for all its data centres,
the next decade, where there buildings and campuses by
will be 50 billion connected 2025
devices. He believes that the
next decade is all about dis- G A ME FACE Nadella played
tributed and ubiquitous tech cricket for his school in
focused on every industry Hyderabad. The lessons he
learnt from the sport, he
BECAUSE under him, Micro- says, exceeded just in-
soft continues to reach new swingers and cover drives:
heights. With a market capi- “I learnt that leadership
talisation of about $2 trillion is about bringing out the
(Rs 150.6 lakh crore), it is best in everyone and about
the clear No. 2, well ahead of when to intervene”

NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 INDIA TODAY 91

GLOBAL INDIANS 77

A Fine Balance

6 5

GOPICHAND
P. HINDUJA, 81

Co-Chairman, Hinduja
Group, and Chairman,
Hinduja Automotive Ltd, UK

GITA
GOPINATH, 49

Chief Economist,
International
Monetary Fund

SIMON DAWSON/ GETTY IMAGES AP

‘Good’ Business Sense 8 LAKSHMI

BECAUSE to him and his family, values mat- 6 N. MITTAL, 71
ter more than profits. For instance, when
the Hindujas saw their hospital in Mumbai’s Executive Chairman,
Khar area was making a profit, they merged ArcelorMittal
it with their hospital in Mahim to make it a
non-profit. “The first right of a human being Steeling the Show
is health and education,” he says
BECAUSE he has added £7.899 bil-
BECAUSE he wants to “make India the lion (Rs 81,700 crore) to his wealth
cyber security headquarter of the world” last year and, as a result, jumped
and “upgrade the old economy with new from No. 19 on the The Sunday
technology” Times annual rich list to No. 5

BECAUSE even though he and his brother, BECAUSE he is spending nearly
Srichand Hinduja, may have slipped to No. £290 million (Rs 3,000 crore) on a
3 on The Sunday Times annual rich list, pilot project to slash the carbon foot-
their collective net worth is still a whopping print of his ArcelorMittal Group
£17 billion (around Rs 1.8 lakh crore)
BECAUSE by naming his son Aditya
M I N D OV E R M AT E R I A L Hinduja uses his the CEO of ArcelorMittal, Mittal has
considerable wealth to impact the world shown he knows when it is time to
positively. In May, when the Hinduja pass the baton on
Foundation decided to help mitigate
mental health stress, it was G. P. Hinduja CL O SE SH AV E Once while taking
who led its efforts a helicopter ride to Paris, Mittal
was chased by a French helicopter.
9 2 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 Seeing their guns, Mittal imagined
the worst. But after inspecting his
passport, they said: “We know who
you are, you can go.” Mittal said
with a big smile, “Thank goodness
this isn’t the US, where they shoot
first and ask questions later”

LUDOVIC MARIN/ GETTY IMAGES

BECAUSE at a time when re- managing director Krista- 10 12
cession, jobs and inequality lina Georgieva, said, “Gita’s PRITI PATEL, 49
are the issues of the day, she contribution has been truly UK Home Secretary
has used her science back- remarkable, her impact
ground and mathematical tremendous”
rigour to make better sense
of them for us all S TA R P U PIL That
she studied at Princeton
BECAUSE hers is a credible is known, but not many
voice the world listens to, know how she got there.
whether on the global eco- She was accepted by both
nomic outlook in pandemic Harvard and the Univer-
times and monetary policy sity of Washington but
or exchange rates and trade chose the latter since
its PhD programme was
BECAUSE when she returns funded. However, her
to teach at Harvard in Janu- supervisor at Washington
ary, she would be leaving was so impressed with her
behind a legacy that’s hard that he personally recom-
to match. Her boss, IMF mended her to Princeton

9 8 AFP

RAJEEV Pillar of Strength
MISRA, 59
BECAUSE she can and this can be neatly
CEO, SoftBank weather any storm— defined by the Hindu
Investment everything from word ‘seva’, which can
Advisers cabinet reshuffles to mean service, com-
the harshest criticism mitment and dedica-
COMEBACK KING tion to others”
BECAUSE she wants
BECAUSE he knows how next frontier for any show to make Britain IRON L A DIE S One
to bounce back. After his of strength, or a form of safer for women. can only imagine
Vision Fund recorded an Cold War, will be fought in Even while PM Boris Patel’s joy when she
investment loss of nearly the battleground of tech- Johnson has been saw that a newspa-
$17 billion (Rs 1.2 lakh nological supremacy. Mark dragging his feet, per columnist had
crore) in a single fiscal year my words, for the next 10 Patel has cam- compared her to
(2019-20), Misra ensured years, it’s about who has paigned hard for Margaret Thatcher,
a $13 billion (Rs 97,963 better technology” new legislation that saying they were
crore) gain in just a quarter criminalises public made of the same
E A SY- G O IN G Years ago, sexual harassment stuff. Thatcher is
BECAUSE his gambles Misra had the smoke Patel’s hero and the
usually pay off. The Indian alarms in his office BECAUSE she primary reason why
companies in his portfo- removed because he never shies away she joined politics
lio—PolicyBazaar, Delhiv- wanted to smoke in- from showing her at 18. She had once
ery and Lenskart among doors. Some of his former Indian roots. Earlier said, “[Thatcher]
them—continue to make colleagues have also said this month, she told had a unique abil-
him a profit that a barefooted Misra her Conservative ity to understand
would steal food from Party colleagues, what made people,
BECAUSE his predictions work desks when no one “Our values embody households and
about the future are often was looking, and some- service before self businesses tick”
true. Sample this: “The times even if they were

MILIND SHELTE SMART SHISHIR JOSHI, 52
SOLUTIONS
Founder & CEO,
Shishir Joshi Project Mumbai
at Dharavi,
Mumbai Mumbai

Making E ach morning, amid the United Nations SDG Soli-
Mumbai the the doom and gloom darity Action Award 2020 for its
Kindness of the pandemic last Covid relief work. It was among
Capital year—when visuals 50 organisations globally to
of overburdened receive the award.
Happiness delivery: hospitals, homeless migrants
Organising meals and and burning pyres dominated Project Mumbai, a public pri-
vaccinations for the the news—volunteers of Proj- vate people partnership model,
underprivileged in Mumbai ect Mumbai took some joy in focuses on initiatives in the areas
and offering educational the smiles they were bringing of healthcare, environment,
and financial support to to the faces of children among governance and education. Their
children orphaned during whom they had just distributed target group changes depending
the pandemic bananas and packets of Parle-G
biscuits. In 2021, as the situation HAPPINESS
By ADITI PAI eased a bit, they moved on to MANTRA
donating mobile phones among
municipal school students so “The last-mile
that they could attend online beneficiary—the
classes. The NGO also deposited citizen—should
Rs 25,000 each in the name of
three girls who lost a parent to be happy by
Covid. “It has offered them a our outreach
sense of security because they programmes”
have some money to meet their
expenses,” says Shishir Joshi,
founder and CEO of Project
Mumbai, an NGO which won

on the situation—if 2020 Road and Byculla prisons Four Ways to RAJWANT RAWAT
was all about provid- as well as the Regional Promote Happiness
ing meals, medical aid, Mental Hospital in Thane.
sanitisers and PPE kits, They have also provided Among Children
in 2021, Project Mumbai door-to-door vaccinations
has focused on providing for those who are bedrid- DR SAMIR PARIKH
medical equipment, oxy- den and homebound.
gen cylinders and financial “There is immense relief Director, Department of Mental Health and
assistance to those who and happiness on the Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare
lost their means of liveli- faces of family members
hood in the pandemic. when their elderly and 1. Create a safe space: Children need relation-
homebound get doorstep ships where they can have open communication
During the second vaccination support, that is free of judgement and criticism. Such
wave, Project Mumbai especially when stepping spaces give them the chance to speak their minds
also launched a free out remains a huge risk,” freely and seek help when needed;
delivery service of oxygen says Joshi.
concentrators to those 2. Integration of social behaviour: There is a
below the poverty line and Their work hasn’t lot more to life than just work. It is important that
provided ventilators to 15 stopped there. “The pan- children are encouraged to play, make friends,
districts of Maharashtra. demic has affected people connect with their grandparents and family
Their work, though, didn’t beyond their physical members;
stop with the number of health. Mental health and
Covid cases dwindling. means of livelihood have 3. Suitable role models: So much of what
After the second wave, also been severely impact- children pick up comes from parents and family
Joshi partnered with the ed. Children’s education members. It is important that children are given
government of Maharash- has suffered,” says Joshi. quality time and the right kind of mentorship.
tra to fund the education To address these issues, Mentors can really help them understand the
of children across the state Project Mumbai launched importance of mental wellbeing and develop their
who lost a parent to Covid. a toll-free mental health personality in a holistic manner;
“Nearly 12,000 children counselling helpline in
across Maharashtra have Marathi and launched 4. Develop creative skills: Creativity can
lost at least one parent to a free data top-up for bring a lot of joy. In whatever manner a child
Covid and there are more municipal school children chooses to express herself or himself, they
than 400 who have lost to ensure their studies should be encouraged to do so.
both,” says Joshi. So far, continue unhindered. It is
they have donated money also in talks with a digital WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY
towards paying the school educational platform to
fees of 65 students after upload free content on SONAL MANSINGH
verifying details of all to children’s phones to
such requests. provide them with quality Dancer & BJP MP
content. “The pandemic
In June, when Mumbai has been particularly “I am generally a very happy person. Being
was scrambling to acquire tough on children. Our happy is in my DNA and that is what has seen
vaccines, Project Mum- focus is on their emotional me through my life. The concept of inner joy,
bai launched vaccination wellbeing, as well as their or ananda, remains with me always, no matter
drives for the neglected education. We want to
sections of society, includ- see a smile on the face of what. But when I see a wonderful dance
ing those in prison and every beneficiary child,” performance, art work, or attend a beautiful
destitute homes or people says Joshi. ■ music concert, or when I am sailing on a river
without identity cards,
such as street dwellers. Happiness Quest: A joint or swimming in the ocean, it augments my
The first-of-their-kind enterprise of India Today ananda and happiness”
in Mumbai, these drives,
done in collaboration with and the RPG Group cel- NOV E M BE R 1 , 2 02 1 INDIA TODAY 9 5
the state authorities, were ebrating exemplary initia-
conducted at the Arthur
tives to spread happiness

QA

MY FAVOURITE
THINGS

RUSKIN BOND started writing
at 17. Today, at 87, he is as prolific
and precise. As a new anthology
hits stores, he takes stock of both

past and future

Q. You describe the stories and pieces
collected in Writing for My Life: The Very
Best of Ruskin Bond as your “favou-
rites”. Did these works shine more than
others at the time of writing itself?
I guess I am happiest when writing about
childhood, about growing up. I like going back
in time. And I now like writing about nature—
birds, animals, trees, forests, the natural
world. I can’t complain if some stories do not
appeal to the general reader and some do.
That is a matter of chance.

Q. You say you became a writer by read-
ing secretly in your school library. Do
you worry that fewer children are avid
readers today?
Children were never avid readers. In my
class of 35 boys, there were just two or
three of us who read books. Reading was
a minority pastime and it always will be.
Today, however, if there are just two or three
children who read in a class of 35, it amounts
to an overall readership of tens of thousands
because education has spread so widely.
That helps me make a living.

Q. What will be your advice to younger
writers who are struggling to make their
voices heard?
I never discourage anyone from writing, but I
always tell them to get the basics right. I see
youngsters rush into print when they're not
even spelling correctly, and some vanity pub-
lishers won’t even correct them. There are
hundreds of good writers getting published,
but there are also thousands who just want
to be published, regardless of the merits of
what they have written.

Q. What’s the weather in Landour like?
Are the effects of climate change visible?
Last week, it was so warm, it felt like sum-
mer. Today there is heavy rain, cold wind and
here I am with the heater on. I’ve seen certain
birds, plants and wildflowers disappear—
things I used to look out for on my walks. This
change is affecting the natural world, which
will, in turn, affect us, too.

—with Shreevatsa Nevatia

Photograph by SANDEEP SAHDEV

96 Volume XLVI Number 44; For the week October 26-Nov 1, 2021, published on every Friday Total number of pages 98 (including cover pages)





RNI No. DELENG / 2006 / 20557. Not for sale. To be
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NCR, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. “Supplement
to India Today issue dated November 1, 2021”

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