Page 16 - Seniors Today - January Issue

establishes a direct asked by his father
connect with others.
But it is his ability to
sync with the youth
that has made his
popularity grow. He
creates ripples where he goes, and in a recent
Twitter response to trolls, he said – “Some
people expect a spiritual organisation to
be spineless and without nerve. Indian
spirituality is not wimpy. We stand up for
what matters. If filth is all you can throw at
us, we will make manure and throw it back
hoping you will blossom. Wishing you well!”
41. Amartya Sen, 87, Economist, Nobel
Laureate
An academic to the
core, Sen has worked
(teaching at the best
universities in the
world) away from
India since 1971. But he
visits his homeland frequently. As he sums
it up: “This, combined with my remaining
exclusively an Indian citizen, gives me, I
think, some entitlement to speak on Indian
public affairs, and this remains a constant
involvement.”
In 1998 he received the Nobel Prize in
Economic Sciences for his contributions to
welfare economics and social choice theory
and for his interest in the problems of
society’s poorest members. With the help of
some of the prize money, Sen set up the The
Pratichi Trust – which helps spread literacy,
basic healthcare and gender equity in India
and Bangladesh.
42. Prathap C Reddy, 88, Doctor,
Entrepreneur
After a flourishing (cardiology) practice
of his dreams in the US, Dr Reddy was
16
to return to India. He
soon realised that the
medical landscape in the
country was plagued
by several gaps, such
as, poor infrastructure, abysmal delivery,
and un-affordability. The cardiologist
turned an entrepreneur at 50, despite a lot
of opposition. He founded the first corporate
chain of multi-speciality hospitals in India,
the Apollo Hospitals. Over the last three
decades, India’s medical landscape has seen
a massive shift, and in no small measure,
Apollo Hospitals and Dr Reddy have
played a major role in bringing about this
revolution.
43. Dr Devi Shetty, 67, Doctor,
Entrepreneur
Devi Prasad Shetty, MS,
FRCS, is a popular Indian
cardiac surgeon and
entrepreneur. He is the
chairman and founder
of Narayana Health,
a chain of 21 medical centres in India. He
has performed more than 15,000 heart
operations, and his quest has been to make
cardiac surgeries as low cost as possible, so
as to offer it to sections of society who need
it most but find it unaffordable. Last year, he
expanded his healthcare company, which is
now listed on the stock exchange.
44. Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, Fashion
Designers
The darlings of the
fashionista world, this
duo has cult status
amongst their large
(global) celebrity
fan following. They