The awards will be bestowed in October.
By Raif Karerat
Three Indians have been selected as recipients of the Asia Society’s Asia Game Changer awards as a reflection of their status as “true leaders making a positive contribution to the future of Asia.”
Indian American actor Aasif Mandvi, designer Kiran Bir Sethi, and ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar were among those honored.
Aasif Mandvi, 49, first burst into the mainstream in 2006 as “Senior Middle East Correspondent†on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” In the years since, he has parlayed his spotlight and media presence to become a poignantly influential spokesperson for both Asian Americans and Muslims.
Born Aasif Hakim Mandviwala in Mumbai, Mandvi grew up in England and Florida before pursuing acting in New York City, according to the Asia Society.
Mandvi aspires not only to provide positive representation for Muslim America — he also hopes to challenge the perceptions of non-Muslim audiences.
As he recently remarked to the New York Times: “First of all, I want them to be entertained. And I want them to laugh. And then maybe it will make people think about the absurdity of fear and prejudice, and say, oh that’s interesting, I never thought about it that way.â€
Kiran Bir Sethi, also 49, was an interior designer who realized her young son was getting an inflexible, un-engaging education from teachers who punished any deviations from the prescribed lesson plans.
In the face of such educational austerity, Sethi founded The Riverside School in Ahmedabad in 2001, aiming to provide an alternative model which focuses on “quality of learning,†“student well being,†and “empathy in education.â€
Per the Asia Society:
For one lesson, Sethi had students roll incense sticks for several hours in order to experience what it means to be a child laborer. “It transformed them,†she later recalled. “Once that happened, they were out in the city convincing everybody that child labor just had to be abolished.†This emphasis on being a good human being has also proven compatible with traditional academic achievement. On national assessment scores in math, English, and science, Riverside rivals India’s top schools and has served as a model for many educators around the world.
In 2009, Sethi expanded on the principles practiced at Riverside to found the “Design for Change†movement with the goal of getting children to drive change in their communities by unleashing what she calls their “I can superpower.â€
The movement to encourage youth volunteerism — which has since spread to more than 300,000 children in 35 countries — is based on a simple but effective model: “It asks kids to feel any problem that bothers them, imagine a way to make it better, do an act of change, and share their story of change with the world.”
Sethi told the Asian Society that the results have been “incredible,†with reports of youth participants affecting positive change in various ways — from filling potholes to stopping child marriages.
Chanda Kochhar was just 22 years old when she joined the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India as a management trainee in 1984. By the time she was 47, she was ICICI Bank’s CEO and in doing so she made history by becoming the first woman to helm an Indian bank.
By shattering the proverbial glass ceiling in India, Kochhar has been an inspiration to many and has amassed up numerous awards and accolades along the way. These include winning the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honors, in 2011; being featured in Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World†in 2015; ranking 36th on the Forbes “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women†in 2015; and ranking second in Fortune India’s list of “Most Powerful Women in Business†in 2014.
Also on the list was, championship boxer, politician, and philanthropist Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, who was named the utmost 2015 Asia Game Changer of the Year.
Other honorees included Major Mariam al-Mansouri, who became the first woman to serve as a fighter pilot for the United Arab Emirates and currently leads airstrikes against ISIS, as well as Lei Jun, the founder of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi who is known as “the Steve Jobs of China.”
The honorees will be presented with their awards at the Asia Game Changer Awards dinner and gala at the United Nations in October.
Nominations for the Asia Game Changers were solicited from the Asia Society global network, which then embarked on a three-month process of feedback and voting that resulted in the final shortlist of awardees. The individual who garners the most support throughout this process is named the Asia Game Changer of the Year.