The Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list aims to acknowledge the youth icons of the continent who are creating positive impacts on the society at large and bringing about positive changes.
This year’s list features Anushka Sharma as the only Bollywood actress.
“One of the Indian film industry’s highest-paid actresses. The 29-year old 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. Going on to act in a further 19 films (three of which have not yet been released), Sharma also holds social causes dear to heart, appearing in a ‘Right to Education’ advert released by the Indian government,” elaborates the magazine.
Anushka shares the prestigious league with other innovative, accomplished and young Indians like 25-year-old Ria Sharma (founder of ‘Make Love Not Scar’, an initiative for acid attack survivors), 26-year-old Ankit Prasad (the founder of Bobble Keyboard), 23-year-old Suhani Jalota (co-founder of Myna Mahila Foundation , working on menstrual hygiene among impoverished women) and more.
Take a look at the young Indian minds who made the cut here:
- Ankit Prasad, the 26-year-old co-founder of Bobble Keyboard. According to Forbes, ‘determined to make the mobile texting experience more individual, visual and expressive, he created the Bobble Keyboard along with cofounder Mohd Wassem.’ All you need to do is download the Bobble Keyboard app, take a selfie, and the technology will create a cartoon image of you to apply to the keyboard’s database of stickers, GIFs, fonts, emojis, and comics — all for you to share with friends.
- Rahul Gayam, this 28-year-old is the CTO of Gayam Motor Works where he works along with his brother Raja and together they create electric auto-rickshaws and bikes for the Indian market. They have partnered up with with the government of Andhra Pradesh and domestic taxi company Ola to create a fleet of electric vehicles.
- Bala Sarda, at the age of just 26-year, he is the CEO of Vahdam Teas. 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, according to Forbes.
- Padmanabh Singh, this 19-year-old Royal who holds the titular Maharaja of Jaipur is an avid sportsman who took up the game of polo for a cause. Singh not only is the captain of the first Indian polo team to head to England in 20 years, he is also a student at the New York University and has become the youngest Indian member of a World Cup polo team. He is also the youngest ever winner of the Indian Open Polo Cup. In addition to this, Singh has also taken up the responsibilities as the King of Jaipur seriously.
- Anushka Sharma: The 29-year old Indian film industry’s highest-paid actresses, made her debut as a model in 2007. Since then, she has come a long way. According to Forbes, Sharma holds ‘social causes dear to heart, appearing in a “Right to Education” advert released by the Indian government.’
- Shriyans Bhandari (23) and Ramesh Dhami (22), fulfill the country’s footwear shortage by recycling discarded shoes into wearable footwear for children in need. 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, according to Forbes.
- Twenty-five-year-old Ria Sharma is the founder of Make Love Not Scars. She has helped more than 75 acid attack survivors through her rehabilitation centre that provides medical, legal, education, vocational and psychological rehabilitation services for Indian acid attack survivors.
- Suhani Jalota is the 23-year-old founder of the Myna Mahila Foundation and she works along with three women from slum communities in Mumbai in order to provide menstrual hygiene products to impoverished women. This Duke-educated social entrepreneur won the 2017 Queen’s Young Leader Award for her work.
- 26-year-old Priya Prakash has set up HealthSetGo to provide health programs and education, medical assessments and insurance services. HealthSetGo operates in 70 cities and till now has helped over 85,000 students with its CARE flagship program.
- 28-year-old, Aakriti Kumar is the founder of Differniture that works towards design sustainability using natural resources to create responsible, zero-waste, chemical-free home furniture. According to Forbes, Kumar is now expanding her remit to include designing eco-friendly cabins in the Indian hills.