He is the recipient of the Toto-Tasveer Emerging Photographer of the Year, 2015, and the Magnum Foundation’s Photography and Social Justice Fellowship in 2017. In 2015, he also received a grant from the India Foundation for the Arts to document the lives of jatra (Bengali folk theatre) artistes. Coming from a family of jatra artistes, Bose’s work evolved from merely photographing the performers in staged environments to include archival photographs, found letters, used items and lived spaces, as well as audio and video recordings of his subjects.
His works have been published in leading publications of the country.—Jasodhara Banerjee
Ecommerce Aniket Deb | 28Sachin Agrawal | 27Ankit Tomar | 27Co-founders, BizongoIn February 2016, Aniket Deb, Sachin Agrawal and Ankit Tomar took a tough call to down the shutters on the chemicals and polymers segment, which accounted for about 90 percent of their business-to-business marketplace Bizongo’s revenue.
The plan was to instead focus on packaging materials, a fledgling, but high-margin segment. “The month after [closing the chemicals and polymers segment], revenue dropped by 90 percent, but we knew that we were doing the right thing,” says Deb, the chief executive.
Today, Bizongo, which works with about 3,000 manufacturers, has emerged as the go-to destination for companies such as Flipkart, Myntra, Lenskart, Cadbury and HUL to source packaging materials.Backed by Accel Partners and IDG Ventures, it facilitates transactions worth almost a $1 million every month.—Sayan Chakraborty
Entertainment Yashaswini Dayama 23ActorIf her debut as the protagonist’s spirited neighbour in Phobia (2016) made audiences take notice of her, Yashaswini Dayama’s portrayal of Jackie, Alia Bhatt’s friend in Dear Zindagi (2016), established her as a ‘natural’ performer. The Mumbai girl began her career as a child voiceover artist, and later as a model for TV and print advertisements. She will next be seen in a web series, Made in Heaven, directed by Zoya Akhtar, Nitya Mehra, Alankrita Srivastava and Prashant Nair, and will play a lead role in a feature film, The Odds, directed by Megha Ramaswamy.—Neeraj Gangal
She has also been championing the cause of promoting indigenous handwoven eri (peace/ahimsa silk) and being sustainable by employing zero waste pattern-making techniques in her designs. Apart from eri silk, Lama sources pashmina, cashmere, angora and other ethical fabrics from weavers and she showcased a capsule collection at the HUL Green Wardrobe Week with Lakmé Fashion Week. “Lama’s garments reflect a deep understanding of technique and design, with great use of textile, all sustainably,” says Narendra Kumar, creative head, Amazon Fashion. -Benu Joshi Routh
—Salil Panchal
Having grown up amid a culture of devotional music, Joshi took to this genre naturally. However, she has expanded her horizons to include ghazals and fusion music and is able to straddle multiple genres with ease. It is this versatility that has grown to be her biggest strength. Joshi has collaborated with world music band Maati Baani to produce music that is classical in nature, but set within the cultural contexts they come from.—Jasodhara Banerjee
Science & Green TechNelson Vadassery | 29Sri Sailaja Nori | 29Sowmya Balendiran| 29Co-founders, Sea6 EnergyBiotech company Sea6 Energy, started by Indian Institute Technology, Madras, students Nelson Vadassery, Sri Sailaja Nori and Sowmya Balendiran in 2010, is on the cusp of commercially generating the synthetic fuel biocrude from macroalgae (seaweeds). Backed by several investors, including Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Tata Capital Innovation fund, the laboratory-tested concept is expected to be commercialised in the near future. Meanwhile, to earn revenue, the startup, based at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms in Bengaluru, has been successfully marketing its bio-fertiliser Jingo NXG, also manufactured from seaweed, since 2016.—Pramod Mathew
Ramkumar Ramanathan | 23
Tennis playerIn 2017, Ramkumar Ramanathan not only beat the World No 8 Dominic Thiem in straight sets at the Antalya Open, but also qualified for the ATP 500 event in Washington and made his masters debut in Cincinnati. He started the year with a tame loss to Yuki Bhambri, but climbed over 130 spots in the ATP rankings to No 136.—Kathakali Chanda
First Published: Feb 09, 2018, 18:43
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