Page 20 - Seniorstoday January 2024 Issue

The engineering graduate from the Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
points out that 15 billion Parle G biscuits
stacked side-to-side (each biscuit measures
53mm), would be enough to cover the
distance from the earth to the moon and
back.
That’s equivalent to the monthly sales of
Parle G.
Parle (named after the Mumbai suburb of
Vile Parle), was co-founded by Vijay’s late
father Kantilal Chauhan as a confectionery
maker in 1929 in Mumbai.
Brand Parle’s appeal cuts across
generations of Indians who have adored its
many manifestations across retail shelves.
From the humble Parle-G to the indigenous
cola Thums Up, and an idea ahead of its
time – Bisleri, the story of these brands is as
unique as the story of the Chauhan family.
Three crore packs of Parle-G biscuits were
distributed to the poor and needy during
the Covid-19 pandemic. It inspired the
brand to contribute more towards a humble
and caring narrative that fits like a glove
with one of the world’s best loved biscuits.
40 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 71,
Entrepreneur
A self-made woman and
one of India’s richest,
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,
Executive Chairperson
of Biocon Ltd. and
Biocon Biologics Ltd
experienced 2022 as year of great personal
loss. She lost her mum and husband within
four months of each other.
But brave souls here on earth, continue
their journey with grit and courage. A
1st-generation entrepreneur and global
business leader with over four decades of
experience in biotechnology. Recipient of
20
This great lady deservedly rakes in the
awards y-o-y with élan. Among the latest
feathers in her cap, she was named World’s
100 Most Powerful Women 2023, by
Forbes, honored with Ban Ki-moon Award
2023 for Women’s Empowerment, by
Asia Initiatives (AI), and honoured as the
Outstanding Business Leader of the Year
at the 19th edition of CNBC-TV18’s India
awards.
Said Mazumdar-Shaw, “As a scientist, I
was inspired by the vision of creating an
organisation that leverages science and
technology to widen access to lifesaving
drugs for patients on the lowest rung of
the economic ladder. It is through our
philosophy of affordable innovation that
we have been able to make a difference to
global health equity by ensuring that no
patient anywhere in the world is denied
essential and lifesaving biologic drugs on
account of affordability.”
41 Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, 66, Yogi,
Author
Sadhguru keeps himself
relevant and sought
after – whether it’s his
#SaveSoil movement
which has won him
global acclaim and
followers, his participation in global events
or his advice to the youth on sex and living.
He is the quintessential guru about town,
or rather, the world. Extensively involved
in a range of issues, it is his ability to
sync with the youth that has made his
popularity grow.
He creates ripples where he goes and
he goes places. Actively involved in the
COP28 Summit, he lauds India’s effort in
fulfilling its promises. Sadhguru said, “We