Feature

By Roopika Risam

Top Ten Desis of 2008

Put down the chai and fruitcake! It’s that time of year again—time to look back on the best of 2008 and the movers and shakers doing our community proud. We began the year in the shadow of Benzair Bhutto’s assassination and then moved on to the primaries, captivated by the field of candidates and wondering who would rise to the top. Later, we watched the Battle of the Senators as John McCain and Barack Obama duked it out for the top spot—wasn’t the election better than reality television? Soon, we found ourselves tuned in to the economic crisis, contemplating vast sums of money and bailouts for banks, insurance companies, moneylenders and even automakers. But we were allowed a brief respite from the economic turmoil, enough at least to make history when we elected President-Elect Barack Obama to the highest office in the land—a fabulous achievement no matter your political affiliation. And not too long ago, we, along with the rest of the world, watched the Bombay terror attacks unfold. It’s been quite a year, and we can only guess what 2009 holds in store for us. Keeping with our annual tradition, we’d like to recognize the top ten Desis of 2008. This broad list includes writers, entrepreneurs, actors, reporters and athletes. If anything, this list suggests that the South Asian community only continues to grow more diverse in its contributions to the world.

Aravind Adiga, Author of The White Tiger
In 2008, Aravind Adiga, 34, joined the pantheon of South Asian writers who have won the Man Booker Prize, the prestigious literary prize awarded to a novelist who is a citizen of the British Commonwealth or Ireland. Beating out South Asian writer Amitav Ghosh (Sea of Poppies) on the shortlist and Mohammed Hanif (A Case of Exploding Mangoes) and Salman Rushdie (The Enchantress of Florence) on the long list, Adiga, a Bombay resident, won the prize for his debut novel, The White Tiger, and is only the fourth Booker Prize winner who was born in India. Grab a copy of The White Tiger, and you’ll find yourself lost in the tale of Balram Halwai, a village boy who becomes a Delhi chauffer. Keep your eyes on Adiga, a rising literary talent!

Raj Bhavsar, Olympic Gymnast
Representing South-Asian Americans at the Beijing Olympics, Raj Bhavsar, 28, of Houston, Texas, competed on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in Men’s Gymnastics. Bhavsar’s road to Beijing wasn’t entirely smooth. Originally, he was named the alternate for the team, but he took his place on the team after another teammate’s injury. In competition, however, Bhavsar and his teammates surprised us all by taking a bronze medal in Artistic Gymnastics, making Bhavsar the third South-Asian American to earn a medal at the Olympic Games.

Sanjit Biswas, Entrepreneur
If you had an idea for a technological innovation, would you use your ideas for the common good? Sanjit Biswas, 28, had that very choice, and helped found Meraki Networks to bring affordable Internet access to communities around the world. Biswas developed technology to use unlicensed spectrum frequencies for cheap Internet connections, and he decided to implement the technology in poor countries where Internet costs can be staggering. With the help of classmates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Biswas is a student, he launched Meraki in 2006. The company uses inexpensive WiFi routers and infrastructure to offer cheap Internet access in India, South America, and Africa through grassroots WiFi networks. With fellow founders, Biswas has raised millions of dollars to fund the project, and Meraki provides broadband Internet access in 125 countries. This year alone, Meraki has made great strides, developing a solar-powered WiFi device, solving one of the most challenging problems for making Internet access available in rural and poor areas: the cost of installing electricity.

Amar Bose, Founder of Bose Corp.
Did you know that your high-end Bose audio equipment is the brainchild of South Asian innovator Amar Bose? You will never think of your car stereos or entertainment sound systems the same way again! Bose established his company in 1964, and the consumer products in your home today are the result of years of research by Bose’s company for NASA and the United States Armed Forces. For his great achievements, Bose was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008. Makes you want to go out and buy a pair of those noise-canceling headphones you’ve been eyeing, doesn’t it?

The Cast and Crew of Slumdog Millionaire
In our November issue, we told you that actor Dev Patel and Slumdog Millionaire would be ones to watch. Since then, Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and co-directed by Loveleen Tandon, has hit theatres worldwide to great acclaim. As rumors of Oscar nominations swirl, Dev Patel and composer A.R. Rahman are being recognized for their contributions to the film. Who would have thought that a film about a young, slumdwelling contestant on Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) would captivate filmgoers everywhere? The reviews are in and the Slumdog Millionaire cast and crew have made the movie a resounding success.

Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
Partisan politics and exorcisms aside, Bobby Jindal’s adept handling of Hurricane Gustav in August 2008—just eight months into his term—earns him a place on our list for the second year in a row. The thirty-seven-year-old governor looked to the mistakes of his predecessors during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and organized a successful large-scale evacuation of the Louisiana Gulf Coast before Gustav made landfall. Even though he was supposed to appear at the Republican National Convention—having been shortlisted for the vice presidency and invited to Senator John McCain’s top-secret VP weekend getaway in Arizona—Jindal put his constituents ahead of political gain and remained in Louisiana to oversee the evacuation. Jindal’s prescient action has been cited as one of the reasons that causalities from Hurricane Gustav were minimized.

Amandeep Singh Sidhu, Associate at McDermott, Will & Emery, and Gurbir Singh Grewal, Counsel at Howrey Simon
Lawyers Amandeep Singh Sidhu, 30, based in Washington, DC, and Gurbir Singh Grewal, 35, of New York City, make the list for their pro bono work with Jagmohan Singh, a Queens, New York high school student who endured harassment from classmates that escalated to a hate crime attack. While at Richmond Hill High School, Jagmohan was sitting in a class when another student removed his patka (head covering for Sikh men) and punched him with a key in his hand, seriously injuring him. Jagmohan’s story is just one of the hate crimes against South Asians that has occurred in schools. Through the work of these lawyers, Jagmohan Singh now has fine legal representation, ensuring a safe school environment and justice for the violence he endured, and allowing him to transfer schools. For their service and ongoing commitment to the Sikh and South-Asian American communities, we honor Amandeep Singh Sidhu and Gurbir Singh Grewal.

Ali Velshi, Reporter, CNN
Move over, Sanjay Gupta! There’s a new Desi face on CNN—Canadian Ali Velshi, 39. From his coverage of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in late 2007 to his coverage of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav—braving the elements to appear on-location as the hurricanes made landfall—to his sound advice during the ongoing financial crisis, Velshi has proven himself a jack-of-all trades—and master of all. If you’re looking for a Velshi fix, check out his first book, Gimme My Money Back—Your Guide to Beating the Financial Crisis, just published by Sterling & Ross.

Sudhir Venkatesh, Sociologist
You might remember Sudhir Venkatesh from Steven Levitt’s book Freakonomics. The Columbia University professor spent time in urban neighborhoods in Chicago, earning the trust of gang members with his interest in the life of the urban poor. In 2008, Venkatesh released a book called Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, chronicling his experiences. He has also produced documentaries on a variety of communities, including one called Abhidya, detailing a South Asian-American woman’s experiences in post-9/11 America.

You! Yes, You!
A clichéd staple of top ten lists, yes, but you do deserve props for 2008. It was a year of highs and lows, but you made it. Perhaps you were part of the 61.6% of eligible voters who turned up on November 4th to make history. Perhaps you voted for the first African American President of the United States, Barack Obama, whose victory offers hope that one of us could join those ranks and ensures that our children, unlike us, will never grow up thinking they could never be president because they aren’t white. Perhaps you voted for the first woman nominated for Vice-President on a Republican ticket. (It’s okay, I forgive you.) Perhaps you watched and cheered while Colin Powell said of “rumors” of Obama’s “Muslim” identity, “Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is?” Perhaps you posted the video on Facebook and spread the word. Perhaps you watched the coverage of the Bombay terrorist attacks and made a point of telling your friends that the work of a small group of individuals in no way implicates our Muslim brothers and sisters. Regardless of the form your personal contribution took, you were part of a historic year for the United States and, indeed, the world. Give yourself a big pat on the back, and have a very happy new year.